SearchThisVideo: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga | The Bros and the Beans

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[Music]

all right everybody I have a

never-before-seen concept for you you

know those two Mario RPGs that we got

what if we add Luigi the year is 2003

and the gameboy advance as well into its

lifecycle and shockingly enough there is

no original Mario game in sight yeah we

got a couple of quality ports here there

but nothing in terms of a brand-new

adventure starring the portly plumber

despite that Nintendo insisted on

constantly giving us the same version of

Mario Bros across multiple games why did

you do this I don't understand

and that is where newcomers Alfa dream

come in developing an RPG featuring not

only Mario but his lesser-known brother

green Mario you got our member here at

this point Luigi getting a headline roll

was kind of a big deal Luigi's Mansion

was the first time he was more than the

typecast player - we don't count Mario

is missing in this house so the idea of

not only playing as Luigi but both

brothers at the same time in a brand new

adventure

well boy howdy sign me up it's also the

game that added striped socks to Luigi's

cannon so that's good to know

classic Alfa dream is of course known

for this series but at the time these

devs didn't really have much under their

belt they made Hamtaro rainbow rescue

for GBA that's cool not the first and

probably not the last time I'll bring up

these Hamtaro games on this channel I

swear but more interesting tomato

adventure I don't really know much about

it but it looks very similar to what

they would go on to work on soon after

and that's good enough for me it's an

RPG that never left Japan will probably

never get any recognition from Nintendo

ever again and will be quite a while

before a fan translation is completed so

I can understand why tomatoes are the

main aesthetic here not gonna lie I'm

very confused as of late 2019 Alfa dream

shut their doors after filing for

bankruptcy now this doesn't mean that

the series is done with need I remind

you Nintendo owns both Mario and Luigi

but it's definitely the end of an era

this is a very fascinating franchise

that I feel doesn't really get talked

about all that much

they just happen to be the Mario RPGs

that you find on portable consoles and

that's it five games and two remakes

that is certainly an impressive lineup

and I figured now is a better time than

ever to take a look at what this entire

series is all about starting off with of

course superstar saga does anybody else

remember when Nintendo advertised in

this new sub series using live-action

shots of two boys playing around

that was weird can't say I don't have a

few more questions but hey I got the

game anyway so clearly they were onto

something Mario and Luigi superstar saga

aka the game where Mario and Luigi

danced following the trend the original

Super Mario RPG started superstar saga

tells the story of the Mushroom Kingdom

under peril from a brand new threat that

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of cack Letta and her assistant fawful

after disguising themselves to meet up

with Princess Peach they managed to

steal her voice and replace it with

bombs

whoa that's that's pretty sick dude and

this is all to take control of the

powerful beam star in order to take over

the kingdom so it's time to of course

bring in the Mario Bros to set things

right

I always loved this part here getting to

play as toad right at the beginning it

is the only time in the game you can do

this but it does a good job letting you

know right off the bat that this is

going to be a bit of a different journey

I mean for crying out loud

toad sees Mario naked I wouldn't want to

wish that upon my worst enemies during

this opening segment two of these series

prominent features start to shine first

off the humor primarily from Luigi

Hebert Mario was certainly charming and

funny as well but more of that stuff is

certainly not a bad thing

Luigi didn't even want to be on this

adventure but my boy he didn't have a

choice and all of the original designs

for the characters - it's so cool

whether it be these quirky redesigns of

series staple characters or brand new

ones that are very much out there it's

just very pleasant and refreshing to

look at and the bosses in particular are

really neat one of them is like a hermit

crab with the Christmas tree shell

finally my fantasy fulfilled and we have

all of this on top of exploring a brand

new land the bean bean Kingdom I don't

know what compelled to the developers to

make a land based on beans but hey it

works

as you progress the story stays pretty

straightforward a couple hours in you

actually get to encounter Caleta and the

beam star tackling the main antagonist

in a battle that isn't the final one is

something the series would go on to do

quite often and it's kind of cool to see

but naturally of course that's not the

end just when you think things are all

nice and safe fall takes an injured

Bowser and implants him with cackle

Etta's soul creating the incredibly

disturbing looking Bal Letta another

trend of the series would work with in

the future

oh and why is bowser injured you may be

asking well that's because after Bowser

was shot out of a cannon and presumably

lost his memory this little guy here

poeple threw a mask on him called him

rookie and recruited him as his partner

and after a battle that led them flying

way up into the sky on an enraged beam

star and just as Bowser's memory is

getting back to him they all fall off

and scatter bing bang boom Bowser looks

scary now it's totally the lack of nose

and the addition of breastplates Hekla

to really knew how to assert her

dominance at the core of the experience

yeah this is a pretty standard

light-hearted RPG there I say a gateway

RPG a game that follows all the tropes

of the genre but simplifies them to a

bare-bones level to keep things straight

forward and at the forefront fun it's a

style that the previous Mario RPGs went

for but there was a lot of stuff here

that makes it different than those

previous attempts and it all lies within

the brothers actions being at your

fingertips at all times well until one

of them gets like abducted or something

for a while this game is bonkers one

brother is controlled by a and the other

with be that simple approach keeps this

entire quest engaging from controlling

each of their jumps for platforming or

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timing their dodges when being attacked

India platforming there is a ton of it

here and it feels great to do and

throughout the adventure you also gain a

bunch of new abilities that can be used

for traversal in the overworld and new

attacks for battles and speaking of the

battles retain their action command

system as well a must-have for RPGs of

the Mario variety and something pretty

cool that I always appreciated you learn

the majority of your new moves from

other duos they really took this whole

red and green pair working together

thing and went all-out with it and it

immediately gives this series a unique

identity admittedly though the fire and

lightning

that you get do seem like a bit of an

afterthought unlike jumping or using a

hammer there's rarely any benefit of

using them in battle and the overworld

puzzles that you do use them in are far

from clever but hey at least we get to

see the brothers getting a massage

that's always nice and then we have bean

bean Kingdom itself I love this place on

paper a lot of it does seem like your

traditional Mario flair just with beans

but a lot was actually done here to let

you know that these aren't the lands

that you're familiar with for one each

section is named after some sort of

synonym for laughs whoo-hoo village

chuckle Huck woods

titi Valley that's really clever I like

it really adds to the cartoony charm

here and admittedly since this is on the

GBA I remember thinking to myself for a

while that the world felt pretty small

but an hour or so into the game at the

top of who-who mountain there was a

telescope that you can interact with

suddenly whoa this place is actually

huge and you get to visit every inch of

it it's a good thing you have your

trusted passport on you at all times

it may seem pretty minor but I would

argue this goes a long way to world

building there's only so much you can

convey on a small screen so getting to

see this huge landscape in the palm of

your hands I love it and there are such

a handful of memorable moments sprinkled

throughout the entire landscape moving

from one area to another via a minecart

segment or riding atop of Luigi

transformed into a surfboard you get to

explore a brewery that's creating a ton

of the popular drink chai Cola Cola

before fighting a monster made out of

ciccolo Cola after going inside

woo-hoo-hoo niversity you are being

greeted by the viruses from dr. Mario

and these spouts of water that you find

early on you can get Mario fat off of

them this game does everything there's

also that part where Luigi dresses up as

Princess Peach and not gonna lie he

nails the look oh and that's right

there's also that part where Gino shows

up to explain that one random minigame

and then that would be the last time he

ever made an official appearance aside

from a costume in Smash Brothers I'll

never forget

playing this game is a ton of fun but as

time goes on

signs of first game in this series itis

do start to show things that later games

would do better that end up showing some

slight faults with this first attempt

unlike the rest of the series there are

no gimmicks tying anything together it

is pure Mario and Luigi gameplay which

is fine but just know that this is the

only game in the series to not have some

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sort of overlying concept aside from

purely going on an adventure and also

the game is pretty short [ __ ] in at

about 10 plus hours which again totally

fine but it is also super easy

whenever you level up you have a choice

as to where some skill points will go

just keep adding points to attack in

this game is a total cakewalk nobody

stands a chance it's not bad since it's

all still a matter of mastering the

timing based moves you have access to

but it's certainly odd to have really no

incentive to grow the other stats unless

you want to just make the game harder

for yourself the stash stat is pretty

neat though raising this grows your

chances of critical hits and lowers item

prices cool I just don't see any reason

to put any extra points into it granted

I guess it's not too different than

playing Paper Mario and strictly

upgrading flower points but I still feel

like you have to strategize around your

decision there here whether you're not

UMaine the attack set really just makes

the game easier or harder for yourself

that's it the simplest of bosses that

took a few tries for me when I was

younger don't stand a chance anymore

they go down in like a minute

honestly I know these were small

complaints but they're the only ones I

have I love this game to death I just

don't want to come off as biased okay

okay thank you

regardless of how you layout your stat

points the end of the adventure is still

pretty cool after all the trials and

tribulations you face along your journey

you eventually travel to Bowser's

floating Castle rockin that same brick

and lava aesthetic that we're all

familiar with and within you get to

fight there returning Koopalings I

always loved this series of fights while

most people remember New Super Mario

Bros Wii as the return of the Koopalings

yeah this game did it earlier it's a

great use of them too each one is

presented with a different gimmick

rather than being slightly more powerful

attack sponges I am a big fan the

platforming here is really solid too

Bowser's Castle in this game is just

sweet overall and then there's the final

cackle

Fite home and the final fight the

initial form is a bit of a pushover if

you keep attacking her head-on

especially with an all-out attack stat

holy cow like 30 seconds is all it took

I swear

but then she inhales you and you get to

fight tackle Etta's soul the atmosphere

is eerie the music heart pounding you

start with one health okay yeah this is

cool at all but it is also a bit of a

problem while this would definitely set

the stage for future epic final fights

in the franchise a common complaint with

this game in particular is the

difficulty spiked with this encounter

and to be honest it is the reason why I

do like to play this game on these

self-induced quotes easy mode basically

it's a fight that you can get good at

but the game doesn't properly prepare

you for what's in store dodging attacks

is a lot more difficult

opening up the weak spot takes a decent

amount of time she'll regularly heal

herself and if you screw up and die you

gotta go back and do the fight before it

once again since I've beaten this game

multiple times already this is a total

breeze but I've heard many stories of

people who have played this game for the

first time hating this fight and I can

see why if you are at all familiar with

this series you already know that final

battles here are a big deal and this one

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unfortunately is one of the weaker ones

but hey with enough perseverance cake

lettuce soul is gone for good

Bowser returns to normal and before he

wakes up we leave him to fall with the

crashing ship poor guy didn't know what

hit him with the day saved the gang ride

off into the sunset

wrapping up the first adventure in this

new series at the end of the day

superstar saga is a simple fun and funny

RPG there's like that one escort mission

in the desert that kind of sucks and

there's a fetch quest near the end of

the game that does feel like a bit of

padding but they're all relatively minor

blemishes honestly if anything that

final fetch quest is the only time in

the game you're encouraged to explore

the entirety of bean bean Kingdom so you

can get to the paths that you pass over

by going through the main adventure

it is definitely padding that's just

what it is but I always enjoyed running

around to gather fruit to feed the

different colored Yoshi's to spice up

their special movie theater that's just

cool any place showing a Kirby and

Starfy movie has my support 100% there's

a

side-quests that you can tackle too like

making a bunch of shirt patterns

minigames that are mandatory during the

adventure have some high score

challenges when you return to them and

probably the most famous of all beans

back in the star beans cafe you can take

a ton of different beans that you've

collected along the journey and assist

professor egad with making a bunch of

different blends to gain some stat

points and also obtain some extra prizes

but what's known about this quest isn't

what's here it's what isn't here taking

a look at the cut content from the game

shows that not only were you originally

making these blends for egad but also

for other Nintendo characters captain

olimar samus link fox mccloud

the Excitebike racer this would have

been so cool in the final product you

already get items based on these

characters too it makes their removal

seem all the weirder sadly it would be a

few more years before we get to see

Wario letting his gas loose onto the

world but after all this time mario and

luigi superstar saga remains one of the

most memorable mario adventures it is

part of the one-two punch that made

luigi a character worth caring about

and it is easily one of the finest games

the GBA has to offer

oh yeah the 3ds version 14 years later

we were graced with a remake on the much

more powerful 3ds and it's pretty sweet

I wanted to focus on the original

release for this video since it holds up

so well but to be honest this is

probably the best way to experience this

game nowadays it looks better it sounds

cleaner there's a ton of quality of life

improvements like full analog control

there's an easier way to swap between

all your Bros abilities when you're in

battle the alternate bros moves are now

separated from the original ones which

is awesome because now you're now

required to remember a few button combos

and you can speed up cutscenes thank god

there is a meebo support as well which i

mean it's a thing we got some neat

figures out of it so that's nice but the

content itself not too compelling

honestly the biggest argument against

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this version is the quote lack of charm

in the transition to a new console and

trust me I love me a good pixelated

aesthetic as much as the next guy but

damn this game still looks super good

there are

certainly elements that should have been

brought over to maintain that original

identity like why did you change the

tree that was far from the biggest issue

about the original game but when you

look at the entire picture it's really

not too much of a downgrade I feel and

unlike the other 3ds games in this

series that opted for 3d worlds for this

remake it plays on 2d art instead with

much more advanced lighting effects and

it is pure eye candy this also gives us

a smooth 60fps - and man it is so good

to see up close and even though kak

Letta is still relatively tough here

it's like one of the only things in this

game that's a 3d model and that's pretty

sick there's no Gino anymore though that

kind of sucks and those movie posters

that I mentioned earlier got changed to

more fitting art for the series which I

guess is understandable I still want a

Starfy movie though and this game also

doesn't support 3d I know contain your

tears in general though the pros

definitely outweigh the cons just don't

play that new Bowser's minions mode wow

it's it's so so bad it provides more

story details to show you what's

happening when Mari and Luigi are off

somewhere else and that's kind of neat

but all men is this ever the most boring

thing I've ever done in my life it's

like the squad building thing of a bunch

of the game's enemies and as a commander

you issue orders to your group and on

paper sounds pretty cool kinda sounds

like Pikmin but in practice oh man there

is so much time that goes by with you

barely doing anything I can't imagine a

single instance where this isn't the

worst thing ever

you often literally do nothing this is

insulting this beans war

I genuinely appreciate the effort to add

something new here I do but I would

argue the core game is so strong this

shoehorned side mode simply wasn't

necessary at the end of the day it is

nice having all of these games in this

series now playable on 3ds I love that

Game Boy Advance version I have so much

nostalgia for it but it's really cool

being able to now have everything under

one roof that makes this remake worth it

for that alone yeah you're gonna want to

remember I said that for the future if

you enjoy Mario RPGs you already know

that superstar saga is one of the finest

it does sort of fumble at the very end

and that entire side mode in the 3ds

version is hot garbage but on the whole

fantastic game and it is the great start

to a fantastic series with many highs

and many lows but let's say you're not

into RPGs but for whatever reason this

cartridge in particular really stuck out

to you well need I remind you you can

totally bypass the core adventure and

just play arcade Mario Bros

why did they do this

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