A fun, funny 15+ hour trip to the Beanbean Kingdom. The writing holds up and the 3DS visuals have a nice Saturday morning cartoon look. Some aspects haven't aged as well: I thought the dungeon design was more longwinded than clever and some bosses felt like frustrating minigames instead of skill testing epic battles. The timed button Bros Attacks, while engaging early on, also make M&L drag due to their length and necessity in most late game combat. This game gave me a new appreciation for the brevity of most timed button combos in the Paper Mario series.

I've played the GBA version and prefer the 3DS remake due to some new quality of life features (save anywhere, easier access to essential moves during exploration, etc.). The original is still a great way to experience this game, however, and it is accessible through NSO.