After helping out the poor villagers of Rumbla Island, Mario and Luigi breathe a sigh of relief. The light above a large tree shines brightly and melodic piano music plays. The scene feels poetic and solemn, like the ending to a great movie. Little did I know I was still in the very first hours of a game that took me dozens to complete. I would soon have to repeatedly save an expansive set of islands, rewatching the light shine above the tree each time.
In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, our favorite mustachioed heroes vow to save a world called Concordia by connecting its many islands to each other. Doing so means they must embark on an arduous sea voyage (and rescue Princess Peach, of course). Their hard work is actively being thwarted by goons called the Extension Corps, led by their foggy-headed leader, Zokket, who wants to make the world a lonelier place. And as predicted, Bowser sticks his head in their business, too.
Bringing classic RPG elements with more robust animation and fresh writing, Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a meaty feast for the eyes. It clearly has a lot of heart, too, especially for a game meant for kids. I was excited to see the all-new original story and where it would take the brothers, but Brothership doesn’t hit its stride until 20 hours in — and even then, its story beats are largely predictable.
Welcome to the Bro-down
Brothership is chock-full of content. At various times, Mario and Luigi are called upon to hack pass codes, majestically save local villagers, unlock giant-sized puzzles, and, of course, perfectly time their jumps and hammer swings. Nintendo clearly spared no expense, and Brothership is packed with mini games and extra side content to explore, from optional quests to uncharted islands. You can’t go a few minutes of sailing without running into something worth checking out, and every little buddy has a quick one-liner to bark at you.
The combat is crunchy and attention-grabbing (even after 50 hours of grinding in dungeons) thanks, in part, to the game’s new Battle Plug system, which adds a lovely layer of strategy. Equipping different Plugs gives you attributes that benefit you in battle. One automatically feeds Mario a mushroom when he’s low on health, for example, while another has him deal more damage. Figuring out great Plug synergy provided enough variety that I was entertained even during the onslaught of foes. Battle Plugs kept the game fresh when I would have otherwise been bored.
Baked into the combat is Brothership’s theme of, well, brotherhood. Mario and Luigi can perform Bro Moves together to travel to greater heights though anime-like special moves. The brothers can combine and turn into a floating disc in a move called U.F.O. As they progress through the story, they unlock even more fantastical skills (like the power to roll as a marble) to reach far-flung corners of the game and collect extra bounty.
Brothership does a good job of providing more experienced players with a challenge while still having accessibility options. For those who don’t want to fight (or can’t manage to nail all the quick timing) game progression is still possible. If you lose a battle twice, you’ll be offered an easy mode option. If you lose a third time, a cakewalk mode appears.
As per usual, you mainly play as Mario, leaving Luigi as second fiddle. However, a feature called Luigi’s Logic gives the younger brother plenty to do. At the press of a button, he’ll go around collecting loot and solving puzzles for you whenever he thinks up an idea. The result is that both brothers have a common say in what happens in the game and a fair amount of agency. Given that Mario can command Luigi to go fetch items and press buttons, Luigi occasionally feels more like a butler than a brother, but it’s nice to have a little help sometimes.
Brothership doesn’t want you to know exactly how long it is (spoiler alert: it’s very long) and just how much of your life it may manage to snatch. Each task looks unassumingly straightforward, and the to-do list never gets too overwhelming. The feeling that the final boss battle might break out at any moment follows Mario and Luigi through the story. It’s as if you’re hurtling towards the finale, and every fight could turn into the final battle. Just before things get tedious, Mario and Luigi gain more powers, the ability to fish, uncover more interesting lore that’s actually thought-provoking, and faster ways to travel. This is the way Brothership cleverly keeps you on the hook.
Kid-Friendly Comedy
Brothership is rated E for Everyone, but that doesn’t mean the writing has to be so sugar-coated. Puns are sprawled all over Concordia, and the corny jokes get old quick. Mario’s new sidekick, a small pig called Snoutlet, can’t help but reference bacon and pigs with nearly every line of dialogue. Everyone is just a little too happy, which is what’s so dull and off-putting.
In contrast, the villain writing is some of the best in the game. The main antagonist, Zokket, seems unable to remember anybody’s name, even mistaking Mario and Luigi for Marigold and Linguini at one point. You also get a mix of the classic characters you know and love, like Bowser and his army of Shy Guys, plus tons of new ones and strange lore to go with them.
It’s apparent that a whole lot of time and care was put into the development of this game, just looking at the sheer size of the virtual world and the cast of characters. I found its level design creative and fascinating; one of the islands twists into itself at different heights to stunning effect. (There’s even a cute Easter egg referencing Paper Mario when a character quips that it would be weird if they could turn into thin pieces of paper and fit through the bars of a jail cell.)
Final Thoughts
In a year already packed full of great RPGs, Mario & Luigi could be a tough sell. The fact that it arrives mere weeks after Metaphor: ReFantazio and Dragon Age: Veilguard makes it even easier to shrug off the idea of sinking 50 hours of your life into eating mushrooms and bro-ing down with island villagers. Then again, the audience for Brothership is different. Nintendo made this game for kids, and that means more mature audiences may get bored — although there’s plenty to enjoy here for Mario and Luigi fans of all ages.
Brothership is a sleek product that’s designed to be entertaining. You can never really be disappointed, but nor are you really surprised too often. For those who do decide to delve in and grind to the end, Brothership has a message about how we’re all in this together. And watching the classic brothers get up to all sorts of creative hijinks is always a fun nostalgia trip, providing just enough cuteness to see this journey through.
8/10
Mario & Luigi: Brothership arrives on the Nintendo Switch on November 7.
INVERSE VIDEO GAME REVIEW ETHOS: Every Inverse video game review answers two questions: Is this game worth your time? Are you getting what you pay for? We have no tolerance for endless fetch quests, clunky mechanics, or bugs that dilute the experience. We care deeply about a game’s design, world-building, character arcs, and storytelling come together. Inverse will never punch down, but we aren’t afraid to punch up. We love magic and science fiction in equal measure, and as much as we love experiencing rich stories and worlds through games, we won’t ignore the real-world context in which those games are made.
