Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story for Nintendo DS

September 27, 2009 by Christmas Gifts
Filed under Nintendo DS Video Games

A single player action RPG (Role-playing Game), Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story takes players on the DS literally into the belly of the beast - that beast being Bowser. Set within an off-the-wall storyline that turns the world of Nintendo on its ear and featuring the ability to toggle between playing as the team of Mario and Luigi, and playing as Bowser himself, this third installment of the Mario & Luigi franchise is not to be missed.

Mega Mushooms power-up in action in New Super Mario Bros. for DS

Split play time between Bowser.
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Map of the game worlds to visit displayed on the lower DS screen in New Super Mario Bros. for DS

And the team of Mario & Luigi.
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Mario facing Bowser in an underworld boss battle New Super Mario Bros. for DS

Two stories and gameplay paths that can affect each other in real-time.
View larger.

Story
The story of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is an atypical one in the world of Mario and Luigi in that the two plumbers team up with Bowser for the good of the Mushroom Kingdom, even if Bowser is totally unaware of it. As the game opens the Mushroom Kingdom is seen to have been struck by a sort of infection known as "The Blorbs," and exposure to it has caused out of control physical ballooning of the Toads. A council of the who's who in the Kingdom, including Mario and Peach, is assembled to try and figure out what to do about it, when right on queue, in barges Bowser, intent on dragging away Peach. He is stopped and shown the door by Mario, but later is tricked by the villain Fawful to eat a "Lucky Mushroom." Brainwashed by this, he returns to the council where the mushroom causes all the council to shrink to a tiny size and Bowser to literally inhale them. Fawful and his henchmen then set about taking over all of the Mushroom Kingdom, even the parts that Bowser has staked a claim to. Nobody, except maybe Mario, takes what is Bowser's, so there is going to be trouble. Although now very small, Mario realizes a few things. Peach, as usual, has gone missing, Bowser and he are on the same side in this fight and that Bowser will need help. How will Mario save the day this time? That's up to you.

Gameplay
A single player action RPG, action in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is split between the player-controlled team of Mario and Luigi, trapped in Bowser's stomach, and Bowser himself. These play out as two separate paths of action, constantly overlapping, which players can toggle between and engage in. As they do so players see that Bowser's actions on the outside affect the conditions for Mario and Luigi in his stomach, and the actions of the plumbers can add or subtract from Bowser's abilities. Examples of this are the good and bad things that Bowser swallows that the Bros. must deal with, and conversely the toll an illness the Bros. can affect has on Bowser's physical abilities. Players can see this link for themselves when at times during the game Mario and Luigi are shown on the lower DS screen, while simultaneously Bowser moves in in-game real-time on the top screen. Again, these two paths lead to the same place, the defeat of Fawful. The challenges that players face in doing this is the basis for the RPG gameplay, with players gaining experience points in the challenges that they face, which can be used to level up character-specific fighting and other abilities and even buy in-game gear. Additional gameplay includes puzzle-solving, searching for hidden items, mini-games and more, engaged in as the team of Mario and Luigi, and Bowser on his own.

Key Game Features

Two Separate Storylines - One features Bowser and his efforts to stop an arch-villain from taking over his castle. Meanwhile, inside Bowser, the microbe-sized Mario and Luigi must muscle their way through challenges and keep their nerve if they want to find a way out. They take action to control Bowser from the inside – but without his knowledge.
Switch Between Storylines at Will - What happens inside Bowser affects what he’s doing on the outside. Sometimes Mario and Luigi must solve puzzles and challenges behind the scenes to help Bowser overcome various obstacles and advance the plot.
DS/DSi Integrated Gameplay - In some battles, Bowser grows so large that players must turn their Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi system sideways, blow into the microphone or tap on the touch screen with the stylus to keep up with the action.
Distinctive Nintendo Humor - The game features the same hilarious dialogue that has been the hallmark of the Mario & Luigi series.
RPG Gameplay - A players work their way through challenges they can level characters up with experience points.

Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story
Average Customer Rating:
Customer Reviews (32)

List Price:	$34.99
Brand:	Nintendo
Model:

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Product Description

Split play time between Bowser.
View larger.

And the team of Mario & Luigi.
View larger.

Two stories and gameplay paths that can affect each other in real-time.
View larger.

Key Game Features

Two Separate Storylines - One features Bowser and his efforts to stop an arch-villain from taking over his castle. Meanwhile, inside Bowser, the microbe-sized Mario and Luigi must muscle their way through challenges and keep their nerve if they want to find a way out. They take action to control Bowser from the inside – but without his knowledge.
Switch Between Storylines at Will - What happens inside Bowser affects what he’s doing on the outside. Sometimes Mario and Luigi must solve puzzles and challenges behind the scenes to help Bowser overcome various obstacles and advance the plot.
DS/DSi Integrated Gameplay - In some battles, Bowser grows so large that players must turn their Nintendo DS or Nintendo DSi system sideways, blow into the microphone or tap on the touch screen with the stylus to keep up with the action.
Distinctive Nintendo Humor - The game features the same hilarious dialogue that has been the hallmark of the Mario & Luigi series.
RPG Gameplay - A players work their way through challenges they can level characters up with experience points.

Product Details

RPG gameplay in which players work their way through challenges they can level characters up with experience points.
Two separate storylines, one featuring Bowser as a playable character, and the other revolving around the microbe-sized Mario, Luigi and Peach.
Integrated gameplay action which the player toggles between, where Mario and Luigi must solve puzzles and challenges behind the scenes to help Bowser overcome various obstacles and advance the plot.
DS/DSi integrated gameplay in which players must turn their Nintendo DS/DSiDSi system sideways, blow into the microphone or tap on the touch screen with the stylus to keep up with the action.
Distinctive Nintendo humor featuring the same hilarious dialogue that has been the hallmark of the Mario & Luigi series.

Customer Reviews

Easily surpasses its excellent predecessors!

Review Date: September 20, 2009

Reviewer: Mark E. Valenti, Pennsylvania

I've played and beaten all seven Mario RPG's (not just the Mario & Luigi games, all seven Mario RPG's), and Bowser's inside story is, without a doubt, the best one. That's incredible because I never played a Mario RPG I wouldn't give a score of at least 85/100 to. Bowser's Inside Story is the best Nintendo DS game made so far. Bowser gets a huge portion of the gameplay, and it's awesome. There are three different battle systems. One for Mario and Luigi, one for bowser, and one where Bowser becomes huge to fight huge enemies (This is the best part of the game, it's epic). It will take the average player 25-30 hours to beat the game, while there are 5-8 hours of extras. What's really amazing is that there's so much diversity in the gameplay, it NEVER ONCE gets repetitive or boring.

Good Things
- Never boring or repetitive.
- Three different, all amazing battle systems.
- 25-30 hour adventure.
- Great graphics and sound.
- Worth replaying at least two times.
- Unique, unpredictable, epic RPG.
- All-around incredible game.

Bad Things
- A VERY MINOR complaint, the game has lame box art.

Presentation- 97.5/100
Does a very good job getting you into the game, I liked the game so much, it's all I did in my free time until I beat it.

Graphics- 95.5/100
Strictly 2D, but still incredible.

Sound- 98/100
Sounds incredible. Sounds like a Mario game should, but the music is a little less cheery than a typical Mario game.

Gameplay- 100/100
So many different parts of gameplay, and they all come together perfectly!

Innovation- 96/100
The game designers really got creative with this Mario RPG, that's for sure!

Replay Value- 98.5/100
You should replay it at least twice and try to see all the extras it has to offer.

Difficulty- Medium
It's not quite as hard as Partners in Time. It seems easy until the final part of the game, where the difficulty goes up significantly.

Overall- 99/100
Bowser's Inside Story comes out to be a near-perfect game, overall, and amazingly surpasses Kirby Superstar Ultra to become the best game on the DS.

Maybe the Best DS Game Ever Made!!!!!

Review Date: September 18, 2009

Reviewer: Brandon, Ridgeview

I want to start off by saying that this game does almost everything right and hardly anything wrong. The gameplay is great. You use Bowser on the top screen with the D-Pad and X makes Bowser punch and Y makes Bowser breathe fire. Mario and Luigi are controlled by the D-pad and the A and B buttons. The action is very smooth and well done in this game. The Bowser battles are a lot different then the Mario and Luigi battles but that helps make the game even greater. The characters in this game all are full of life, color, and humor. The boss battles are fun, and the battles that Bowser grows and you have to turn your DS around like a book are very fun. The storyline is crazy but its funny, and the text in the game and actions of the characters are 100% classic. Some of my favorite parts of the game are when your Bowser and you meet up with any of his minions that always leads to a funny moment.

Fun Factor- A+
Graphics- A
Sound- A
Controls- B+
Lasting appeal- A

Best RPG out now on ANY console!

Review Date: September 28, 2009

Reviewer: M. Rocha, Texas

I am a die hard RPG fan. Since first discovering Final Fantasy 8 from a Pizza Hut demo disc as a young teen to playing Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon in recent months, I just can't get enough of them.

I would border on calling this a "lite" RPG. It is not going to be as complex as any of the big console rpgs, and it is not supposed to be. You can pick it up, play for 15 or 20 minutes and get back to working (shhh, don't tell). The leveling system is very nice as there is minimal involvement in how you build your characters. When you gain a level, the only input you have is what bonus the characters will receive, ie. hp, power, defense, luck etc. You also will rank up, allowing additional gear to be worn or better items to be purchased.

The game play is very addictive as well. Each of the enemies has a little quirk to them, and makes each battle fresh and fun to play. Personally, I feel there aren't enough battles in the game! Again, I think this is more of a "lite" rpg, as your actions are limited in battle as well. You can do your usual stomp, hammer, item, or special attack. As Bowser you will have your fire, punch, item, special and vacuum options.

Yes, you can play as Bowser, and boy is he very fun to play as! Offering new attacks, specials and own set of environment interactions, he is just as fun to control as the Italian duo. It is a nice change to play as Bowser, and only adds to the greatness of the Mario RPG series.

This is one of the best games to come out this year on any console, period. Buy it and enjoy the experience!

This Is One of The Games You Bought Your DS For

Review Date: October 8, 2009

Reviewer: Kyle M. Wallace,

The game was an absolute blast and was one of the more endearing and creative RPGs I've ever played. I'm not hot on spoilers, so sadly I can't say too much about the game, but here are a few small details that rule.

- You can equip up to three pieces of equipment.

- When the brothers are inside of Bowser, they're exploring a 2D world instead of the top-down outside world.

- Bowser is such a funny character, almost every other line he yells is worth a chuckle.

- The game contains some amazing and humorous animations between Bowser and the brothers, and while they may only be used once or a couple of times in the game, they're so worth and I'm glad the team put so much heart into the game to create them instead of constantly recycling animations.

One small complaint:

The game is an absolute blast to play and I am a bit confused at Nintendo for marketing it to kids so heavily because the dialogue in the game is advanced and some characters make heavy use of weird accents and ticks within their monologues. Of course, maybe I'm just dating myself and predicting that children are dumber than they are. The game could be really easy for kids to read, I'm not entirely sure, although I would say at the minimum age is like a 13/14 year old would be comfortable with the game.

All in all though, the title itself and not the marketing surrounding it, make for such an amazing experience on the DS. The game clocks in around twenty hours and every one of those hours are worth it! So much fun.

Best Mario RPG/Adventure in years!

Review Date: October 16, 2009

Reviewer: lizipoo, Medford OR

Great in every game element, good graphics, ease of game play, equipping gear/items and learning special attacks attached to a very cute story concept. It's a must-have if you are a long time loyal fan of the whole gang and a good introduction if not. Absolutely DO the little side quests especially the "kitty" twitties and the search for beans. This was the most entertaining game of this type I've played in several years. Had to check out a couple FAQ walkthroughs from time to time as there is a lot going on in this game. Best thing is you can't get too lost and out of sequence before the game pushes you in the correct direction. Buy it and ENJOY!