The release of Mario & Luigi: Brothership is finally upon us. The latest in this long-running spin-off RPG series sees the platforming bros take on a new adventure with turn-based RPG combat. There are now so many different RPG spin-offs of the Mario franchise. But what is the best Mario RPG of all time across the Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi series?

Here is what some of the Siliconera staff has to say on the matter.

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While I have enjoyed all of the Mario RPGs to some extent, the one I liked the most by far was Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. Bowser is such a fun character, especially when he’s playing the reluctant hero. Having one of the leads be, well, the opposite of a silent protagonist meant a lot more dialogue, and when the writing is as good as it is in the Mario & Luigi games, that’s a win. The balance between Bowser’s adventures on the outside and Mario and Luigi’s struggles inside his body made for a more varied adventure, and the ending was sweeter than a piece of Peach’s shortcake. -- Shaun

My personal favorite Mario RPG is the original Super Mario RPG. It was the first I tried of the RPG spin-offs and it still remains my favorite to this day. I love Squaresoft’s spin on the Mushroom Kingdom and the remake only made it even better to play. It feels so alive and full of fun characters, intriguing locations, and active enough turn-based combat. If I had to pick a runner-up, though, I am a sucker for a good GBA RPG. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is highly nostalgic for me and the vibrant visuals still hold up even now. It would be my close second place. Honestly, though, I really need to dig more into the Paper Mario games, as I feel like I should adore them. -- Cody

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is now available for Nintendo Switch.

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Nintendo shared a new tweet on its official X for its physical stores in Japan. It promotes bags and other merchandise themed after Mario and Luigi ahead of the global release of Mario and Luigi: Brothership in early November 2024.

The tweet is also available to view right below:

The items shown are not newly released, though. The Mario merchandise has been available since as early as 2021. The items themed after Luigi debuted more recently on June 27, 2024. Nintendo released the latter to coincide with the global launch of Luigi's Mansion 2 HD on the same day.

Even though the goods have been available since long before the release of Mario and Luigi: Brothership, Nintendo still has ample stocks for most of them in its storefronts in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. The metal clasp purses are available at 1,980 yen (~$13) each, while the tote bags are priced at 4,180 yen (~$27.45) for the regular size and 3,300 yen (~$21.70) for the mini version. Nintendo added, however, that the available stocks for Mario's tote bags as of early November 2024 are not as many as Luigi's versions.

Mario and Luigi: Brothership will be available on Nintendo Switch simultaneously worldwide on November 7, 2024. The game is also alternatively known in Japan with a slightly different title, which is Mario and Luigi RPG: Brothership.

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When writing game reviews, it’s usually an important factor to consider the game within its intended context. For example, if a game’s geared toward online multiplayer, or if it’s for late night scares, or perhaps it’s supplemental for fans of a particular franchise? That has to be central to your process.

We bring this up because Mario & Luigi: Brothership also really benefits from meeting it in its intended place: as a work for children.

Of course, children across the world have always loved Mario games, and that’s not fundamentally an issue! Because there are three primary ways to approach “children’s” entertainment. There’s the way made most famous by Pixar: making a compelling movie for all ages, while keeping themes and plots accessible to all ages. (This is how a lot of tentpole Mario releases handle it.) Or you could do things the Dreamworks way, using the narrative equivalent of parallax scrolling to tell a kids’ story in the foreground and layer references and plots behind that for older viewers.

But the third way? That’s the land of the Saturday morning cartoon. These are built not just primarily but truly exclusively for kids, and they put no stock in their capacity to or pay attention. It must make viewers feel like a lot is going on, but not require much from them. Episodes have to be self-contained. And characters are one recurring quirk and nothing else!

So yeah, Mario & Luigi: Brothership feels like part of this last group. The game is broken up into small islands with one episodic quest each, and these quests are almost invariably solved by “Luigi logic.” It’s talked up in the game like these are brilliant and wacky ideas! But in practice, they’re “Luigi solves the problem in a cutscene or quick-time event.” They’re either ways to block you off from solving the problem yourself until the game wishes you to do it — “weird, there are invisible walls preventing you from jumping on that platform-looking tree next to the objective” — or they’re ways to circumvent the need for gameplay — “we don’t have development time to make this playable, so just animate Luigi doing it and call it a day.”

We spent our first few hours with Mario & Luigi: Brothership figuring this was just another Nintendo hand-hold, an overly tutorialized early game that would open up and relax a bit over time. Instead, it basically doesn’t? Be ready to be told what to do three times for each step in the story, and don’t even bother trying to go off the beaten path. Oh, and there’s a story scene skip button for videos, but the overly verbose characters (ittedly a Mario & Luigi trademark) can only be slightly sped up text box by text box.

It’s sort of heartbreaking that this is the case! There are some Mario & Luigi fundamentals here. The combat is still very Mario, with timing-based actions and dodges, and all that was rebuilt well here. The worlds are whimsical in the way you’d expect. Brothership comes from the Sparks of Hope school of making exploration like a little theme park, with collectibles and activities along the way. Are they perhaps superfluous? Yes. But the last thing the developers want is to leave you with nothing to keep your hands busy.

The game is structured as a series of islands. You’ll direct the ship through a series of currents, finding islands and smaller locations as you go. There’s no time pressure here, so feel free to use the fast sailing function and navigate all available areas when they unlock to see more of the map. Once you enter an island for the first time, though, you’re stuck there, unable to return until you complete a quest and connect the location’s lighthouse to your boat. These main-quest blinders always seemed a bit strange to us, and it didn’t feel like the restriction of movement led to any clever puzzles or combat challenges. But hey, islands are generally short enough to get through without the age of an hour.

It doesn’t help that Mario & Luigi: Brothership has to follow the re-release of the best attempt at a Mario RPG, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. ing where the Mario & Luigi sat in the 3DS era with games like Paper Jam leads to a more favorable comparison; many (though not all) of Brothership’s failings are part of a decades-long shift in Nintendo’s approach to Mario RPG design.

Still, the combat is fundamentally engaging. It’s mostly straightforward to choose the most effective move for the situation in the menu, but executing the timing and staying on guard to dodge and counter enemy attacks is genuinely fun. The “Bros. Attack” options you unlock are little quick-time events, sometimes designed with a bit of randomness to make sure you’re paying attention. We skipped out on these for minor battles a lot, simply because of the time cost of using them, but they’re useful for bosses and large enemy groups.

The leveling and equipment systems are also a bit deeper than you’d expect. Every batch of seven levels, you can essentially pick a perk for Mario or Luigi, making them specialize in particular stats or attack types. We did our best to take advantage of this, making Mario a hammer specialist with high attack damage and crafting Luigi as a jumping tank. Equipment also has a variety of secondary effects, but generally the optimal move is to just use the ones with the best stat boosts and hoping they do an additional helpful thing occasionally.

Since the game’s built around an electrical wiring motif, there’s a part of that in the gameplay systems too: Battle Plugs. You collect little shinies around the environments and use them to add elements to your attacks. These can be boosts to damage, recycling items and such. They each have limited uses before needing to recharge, so the idea is that you cycle through these and fights have a bit of extra variety. We certainly used the item recycler as an opportunity to burn the best consumables we had at will, since they just replaced themselves. It also serves as a much more effective reward for exploring environments than coins, which quickly pile up into the thousands and are largely used to buy equipment that becomes available at the shop at roughly the same time as you find it for free in the world.

There are a few specific story points that give you an actual choice. These seem to be a way to make multiple playthroughs different, at least at the margins. We won't spoil the narrative parts of these, but they seem to affect whether certain types of equipment are more available and how combat plays out for short stretches. This is genuinely a nice touch!

It took us some real adjustment to accept Mario & Luigi: Brothership for what it is, but once you do, there’s genuine enjoyment to be found here. You have to learn to follow its pace and accept its shortcomings, because it won’t change its ways and blossom into a top-tier Mario RPG. Still, the ride will be worth it for some to experience its bright points.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership launches November 7, 2024 on Nintendo Switch.

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Nintendo shared a new Mario & Luigi: Brothership gameplay trailer and, while it mostly focuses on RPG elements we , it also touches on new features like Luigi Logic. The five minute video shows exploration, story scenes, and some of the fights.

The video first begins with a look at Concordia. Mario and Luigi are there to help restore the peace to the continent after it was destroyed and turned into multiple islands. This means part of the gameplay in Mario & Luigi: Brothership involves sailing to find additional locations, exploring them, dealing with problems there, and fighting enemies as you work your way toward reunification. Some of the first locations teased are Allsand Island, Heatfreeze Island, Raynforest Island, and Rumbla Island. Each one has its own biome. 

From there, it looks at exploration. There will be puzzles to solve, and both their hammers and jumps will be needed to get to places. They can also use Bros Moves to do things like cross gaps, get through small spaces, and use fire and ice to through blocked spaces. As for new Luigi Logic, it can be used to discover solutions to some of the puzzles.

The battle system is covered at the end of the Mario & Luigi: Brothership gameplay trailer. It shows how it is a turn-based system that also involves using timing and additional attacks to deal more damage, dodge, or counter. However, missing the timing means you could miss attacking or get hit. Battle Plug items can also be picked up and used in fights to deal different types of damage.

Here’s the latest trailer:

Mario & Luigi: Brothership will come to the Nintendo Switch on November 7, 2024.

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Nintendo revealed new information and details about Mario & Luigi: Brothership, the first console title in the RPG series, including some insight into the new islands that the duo will visit in their new adventure and new Bros Attacks they will use. The new details appeared on the Japanese Nintendo website only, and some of the new details shared haven’t been given localized English names yet.

The story of Mario & Luigi: Brothership will take place in the new world of Concordia, which spans a vast ocean. Mario and Luigi come to Concordia from the Mushroom Kindgom and will explore using Shipshape Island as a boat, where the mysterious "Connectal Tree" grows.

Mario is the well-known "superstar" of the Mushroom Kingdom and Luigi is his goofy and resourceful brother. While the duo hangs out at the gardens of Princess Peach's Castle, they are absorbed into a mysterious vortex that appears in the sky above them. After meeting Connie and Snoutlet, they learn that they have been taking to the vast ocean of Concordia.

Connie is a kind hearted girl who teaches the protagonist duo about Concordia. An incident led her to live aboard Shipshape Island and she tends to the island's tree. Meanwhile, Snoutlet is a unique character who looks like a piggy bank and an electric outlet, hence the name. Snoutlet serves as a guide to both Mario and Luigi in their adventure.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership features a number of drifting islands to explore in the ocean of Concordia, including Gran Gran Island, the nature-filled Tuis Island, Sabiretta Island, the urban island of Zenialevar, or the ice and fire island of Kandan. You can check out some of the new environments that the brother duo will visit here:

Nintendo also shared a new video featuring the new Combination Attacks that the duo can perform by collaborating while using their signature Hammer and Jump attacks. You can check out the clip below.

Mario and Luigi are also shown using a new Bros Attack in which the pair summons a giant storm cloud that drops thunder and lightning over the enemy group, and you can check it out here:

The game was revealed during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct presentation as both the first title in the series to release in a home console, as well as the fully 3D Mario & Luigi title.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership will release for the Nintendo Switch on November 7, 2024.

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A Nintendo Direct debuted after Summer Game Fest 2024, offering fans of the Nintendo Switch possibly the final major glimpse at the lineup for the console before its successor arrives. Fortunately, the June 2024 Nintendo Direct was jam-packed full of thrilling Switch games, such as Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and here's the full list of everything shown.

Nintendo Direct June 2024 Switch games and their release dates e3256

From the latest The Legend of Zelda game to a new entry in the Mario & Luigi series, there are a ton of games in the most recent Direct. Here are all of the new Switch games from this Direct, plus their respective release dates, below:

• Ace Attorney Investigations Collection: September 6, 2024
• Among Us New Roles Free Update: June 18, 2024
• Darkest Dungeon II: July 15, 2024
• Disney Illusion Island Mystery in Monoth Free Update: June 18, 2024
• Donkey Kong Country Returns HD: January 16, 2025
• Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake: 2025
• Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake: November 14, 2024
• Fairy Tail 2: Winter 2024
• Fantasian Neo Dimension: Winter 2024
• Farmagia: November 1, 2024
• Funko Fusion: September 13, 2024
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure: 2025
• The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy: Early 2025
• Just Dance 2025 Edition: October 2024
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: September 26, 2024
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Four Swords (NSO): June 18, 2024
• LEGO Horizon Adventures: Holiday 2024
• Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports: Fall 2024
• Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD: June 27, 2024
• Mario & Luigi: Brothership: November 7, 2024
• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics: 2024
• Metal Slug Attack Reloaded: June 18, 2024
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond: 2025
• Metroid: Zero Mission (NSO): June 18, 2024
• MIO: Memories in Orbit: 2025
• The New Denpa Men: July 22, 2024 (for free)
• Nintendo Switch Sports Basketball Free Update: Summer 2024
• Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition: July 18, 2024
• Perfect Dark (Nintendo Switch Online+Expansion Pack): June 18, 2024
• Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero: 2025
• Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven: October 24, 2024
• Stray: Holiday 2024
• Super Mario Party Jamboree: October 17, 2024
• Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game: Holiday 2024
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (NSO): June 18, 2024

In case you missed it, you can see the Nintendo Direct and all of its new games below:

The post Here Are All Nintendo Direct June 2024 Switch Games appeared first on Siliconera.

The June 2024 Nintendo Direct opened with the reveal of Mario & Luigi Brothership, the first title in the RPG series in almost 9 years. The game will appear in November 7, 2024 on Nintendo Switch.

This new game will be the first 3D title ever in the Mario & Luigi series, and the game will take the brother duo in an adventure across several islands. The reveal trailer showed various platforming and exploration sections, as well as the series’ signature turn-based combat.

You can check out the reveal trailer for the game shown at the latest Nintendo Direct here:

Mario & Luigi Brothership will come out on November 7, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch.

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