Mario & Luigi: Brothership, the latest installment in Nintendo’s beloved RPG (Role Play Game) series, offers a promising start. If you were to only catch an hour of gameplay, you might walk away thinking it’s one of the year’s standout RPGs for the Nintendo Switch. Yet, as the game stretches far beyond that opening act, some of its charm starts to fade.
The game continues the classic formula: a humorous and lighthearted RPG starring Nintendo’s iconic duo, Mario and Luigi. This time, they find themselves far from the Mushroom Kingdom, stranded in a fractured world called Concordia. Mario and Luigi’s task is to reconnect these islands to the mystical Uni-tree, restoring peace to the oceanic realm.
The game’s nautical theme is one of its strongest elements, bringing a sense of adventure to the traditional turn-based combat. For younger players or newcomers to the genre, there’s even a surprisingly deep system of customization, allowing you to tweak combat with collectible “plugs” that add unique effects to attacks.
Combat remains the heart of the game, with Brothership staying true to its predecessors’ formula. Every attack involves both Mario and Luigi, with a reliance on timing to maximize damage or evade enemy strikes. The introduction of “plugs” adds a fresh layer of strategy, allowing players to modify attacks with special effects. However, it takes roughly 15 hours before this system truly comes into its own, and the pacing can feel slow until you reach that point.
Outside of combat, Brothership leans heavily on puzzle-platforming. Sailing between islands, a key feature of the game, also feels underdeveloped. While you can activate a fast-travel option, the lengthy journeys often feel like filler, encouraging players to step away from the game as they wait for their ship to arrive.
The game’s length may also be a sticking point for some players. Brothership’s campaign can exceed 30 hours, yet it exhausts its bag of tricks around the 20-hour mark. For those unfamiliar with the series, this may not be a significant issue since there’s plenty of content, and the mechanics are strong enough to sustain interest. However, longtime fans might find Brothership falls short compared to the charm and inventiveness of earlier titles like Superstar Saga.
Ultimately, Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a solid entry that does many things right but rarely excels. Its engaging combat and appealing visuals are weighed down by a story that fails to leave a lasting impact, a stretched-out runtime, and a lack of standout moments. As the first new game in the franchise in nearly a decade, Brothership’s return to the spotlight lands somewhere between a nostalgic nod and an average adventure, but not quite the triumphant comeback fans might have hoped for.
