The original title to kick off the Mario & Luigi series. Developed by AlphaDream for the GBA, this first installment in the series had a lot of bases to cover considering it was starting a whole new series. The idea is still pretty weird to me, despite there now being five games under the name. Mario in a turn based RPG? Don't know how, but it worked WAY better than I could've ever imagined.

This is one of the only Mario games with a story that's more than just "go rescue the princess." It mainly takes place in a neighboring kingdom to the Mushroom Kingdom, the Beanbean Kingdom. The two main antagonists, Cackletta and Fawful, steal Princess Peach's voice to awaken an ancient relic called the Beanstar. Once awoken, it will grant the user one wish of their desire. This is obviously bad, so Mario and Luigi must go and stop them. This main plot point interestingly ends well before the actual game ends. Mario and Luigi recover the Beanstar and protect Peach from any harm, so now, all is well. That doesn't last long, as Cackletta and Fawful unleash an assault on the entire kingdom using Bowser's castle, which can now fly. The game ends with a long gauntlet in the castle, which I'll get to later.

I didn't really have any expectations because I didn't really expect a Mario game to have a story like this, but it's very welcome. It's nothing outstanding, but what makes it immensely enjoyable is the colorful cast of characters. Although some characters don't get nearly as much screen time as they should, each character is still enjoyable enough with their amount of screen time given.

For starters, a villain that isn't Bowser is always welcome. Both Cackletta and Fawful are incredibly entertaining, Fawful especially taking the cake here. The way he talks and his mannerisms are something like I've never from any other video game character. Aside from them, there are many characters that either get a lot of screen time at one specific point of the game, or get bits of screen time throughout. The one exception being my personal favorite of the game, Popple. This little guy shows up a handful of times, and each time is a pure treat just because of how animated he is. There are some other cool characters that show up, just not nearly as much as the ones aforementioned, and thus, aren't as memorable. Prince Peasley and Queen Bean are fun, and every duo that shows the bros how to use a new move is enjoyable. On top of that, they're all hysterical. The writing throughout the entire game is incredibly charming and offers some of the funniest dialogue I've seen in a video game. A great cast of characters, but it's a shame that a bunch of them don't show up much.

In case you couldn't tell, this game has lots of charm. Every line of dialogue, every animation, every song is filled with this unexplainable amount of care to create a new world with these classic characters. Mario and Luigi dance when it's their turn in battle. They DANCE, that alone makes this game an 8/10. The sprite work still holds up today if only because of the charm present, the character designs and locations are that good.

The pacing is near perfection. The game always leads you to where you need to go with some puzzles along the way, usually topping it all off with a boss fight. The puzzles don't feel out of place and they utilize the overworld mechanics really well. Not too many enemy placements means that it isn't an issue to run into each of them for the EXP. The Mario & Luigi series is very forgiving when it comes to levelling up, so there's never a need to go back and grind unless you ran away from every fight for some reason. I usually walk into any enemy I see because there aren't too many of them and the battles are over quickly.

Although I haven't played many other RPGs, the Mario & Luigi series has some of the best RPG gameplay I've seen. Once you engage in battle, you can choose to use a solo attack, bros attack, item, or run away. Solo attacks involve one of the bros attacking one enemy by jumping on them, smashing them with their hammer, or blasting them with fire/thunder. These attacks require a well timed button press to increase strength. Bros attacks use BP (Bros Points) to perform, and utilize both Mario and Luigi. Each of them have 4 of their own unique attacks, which all require specific button presses at specific points to increase the damage potential. Each bros attack also has an advanced version which you can unlock by performing a certain bros attack enough times. When the enemy attacks, Mario and Luigi either get ready to jump or pull out their hammers depending on the situation, requiring more well timed button presses to evade attacks.

I think that this gameplay is much more effective than any other RPG that I know of. Even the Paper Mario series doesn't have this kind of gameplay. In most RPGs, you simply command your character to attack and then watch them get attacked. Sometimes the focus is different, like Fire Emblem, where it's more about troop placement on the battlefield. However, most I've seen simply stick to this "attack, get attacked" formula, and I don't like it at all. This change of gameplay in Mario and Luigi is a breath of fresh air. Something as miniscule as well timed button presses makes all the difference between this and other RPGs. Being able to control Mario and Luigi, on offense and defense, and have it affect how much damage you deal and take gives a better sense of control to the player. In other RPGs, there is little sense of control because you just tell your characters what to do. You don't actually do the attack yourself, and there's nothing you can do to prevent damage from the enemy. The Mario & Luigi series refines the RPG formula to allow the player a greater sense of control, making this the best gameplay in any RPG series.

This includes the gameplay outside of the battle. Traversing the overworld, you control Mario and Luigi, walking back to back. You can switch between which one is in front which will affect what moves you can perform. These are incorporated in puzzles, which aren't very stand out moments, but aren't bad by any means. I would say this aspect also makes it stronger than other RPGs, which don't have as much of a focus on the different ways you can get around the overworld. You'll need to switch between Mario and Luigi and their current action for all the different overworld moves, which can get confusing, but you unlock the moves in a gradual way so you have plenty of time to get used to each move. There are some collectibles, mainly the beans that you find by drilling underground, which are optional. Getting a certain amount in any given main area gives you a stats boost when you trade them in. They're fun to find and there's plenty of them, so you'll get at least some along your way.

I praised the pacing earlier for being near perfection, and that's because it's perfect almost the entire way through. However, that one point where it isn't good, it really isn't good. The ending gauntlet in Bowser's castle, before fighting the final boss, drags on for quite a while. The puzzles present inside are alright, but after each main room is a boss fight with one of the Koopalings. They don't have varying attacks or anything, which makes the fights seem repetitive. It's bearable, and does a good job at testing everything you've learned thus far with the puzzles, but it could do with a shorter length and/or less boss fights.

One other small criticism is this weird escort mission involving Peach. You're supposed to help her get to a village safely through a valley of bandits. She walks along a set course while you complete fast platforming puzzles to get the gate to the next area open before she gets there. I like the idea, but it leaves literally no room for error. If Peach walks off screen even for half a second, she gets kidnapped and you have to rescue her underground, and then start that area over. If she runs into an enemy, she gets kidnapped, same thing. You have to clear out the enemies before they can get to Peach while also keeping her on screen and completing the platforming puzzles. It's a neat idea, but the difficulty is harder than some boss fights.

One thing I don't have to criticize at all is the soundtrack. Being the first title in the series, Superstar Saga also established an amazing soundtrack that each later installment would follow, and even surpass. But let's not undermine the OST just because later games have a better one, there are some killer tracks present here. Popple's battle theme fits his character well when you fight him, and so does Cackletta's battle theme. Before later titles established a pattern with their boss themes, this game has an incredibly intense and dire boss battle theme, it makes me a bit uncomfortable at times. And, of course, the standard battle theme is amazing. Easily the most recognizable and iconic part of the game. Other tracks, while not standout, work well in the game and add to the world.

Everything great in this title built the framework for the best RPG series out there. The story is strangely intriguing for a Mario title, and the characters that make it up are incredibly fun. The gameplay helps this stand above every other RPG franchise, as it's interesting, engaging, and constantly adding more to keep you interested. The overworld is fun to traverse as the story progresses and apart from the final area, none of the different locations overstay their welcome. There are some minor inconveniences along your journey, but none of them are significant enough to ruin the overall experience. I couldn't have asked for a better title to kickstart this amazing series.