Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Dream Team does a lot of things right, and is a satisfying detour for a franchise that is risking too much predictability it its main guise. It's hard to shake that feeling of a missed opportunity, of a premise not fully realized that therefore exposes some comparative shortcomings.

Dream Team‘s bright and friendly world is an easy one to fall in love with, but by the time you reach the end, that love will have been tested repeatedly by uneven design and a lack of narrative follow-through. Many of its flaws could be reduced to its strict following of the series’ formula without expanding on what makes it endearing. Much like Luigi’s dreams, AlphaDream’s latest is a little pre-occupied with expectations of Big Bro.

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel and really struggles to get going, but for the most part it’s a nice variation on many mechanics we already know and love.

This still is a seasoned and distinct piece of rpg. But between the slow start, the often slumberous and drawn out palaver and some redundant carrot-dangling in the main quest, this clearly is the weakest entry in the acclaimed series.

Following the excellent Inside Story was always going to be a big ask, so it’s hardly a surprise AlphaDream never quite manages to conjure up anything better than being Bowser. Still, while the comparison to its predecessor does it few favours, rest assured that Dream Team Bros’ additions and curiously entertaining battles do enough to reawaken the desire to see this adventure through to the end.

This is an enjoyable but rarely essential entry to the Mario & Luigi suite, then. AlphaDream is to be commended for its willingness to build each new game around a different kernel of an idea, but, perhaps inevitably, some of those ideas will be smaller than others.

With its weaker writing, less compelling action, and many moments where the game just drags its heels, Dream Team manages to retain a basic level of enjoyment that just comes natural to this series, while sadly representing a noticeable step down in quality.

The end result is okay, but nothing more. Dream Team is not a terrible game.

Due to a slow start, forced puzzle moments and a crude visual surface Mario & Luigi: Dream Team doesn’t hold up to the predecessors high standards. It is in no way a bad game, but more should be expected from Alpha Dream and Nintendo.

A pleasant but rote and slightly bland RPG with a handful of fine ideas that aren't pushed enough. [Oct 2013, p.68]

It's a quality game, but you can actually feel your soul leaving your body the dozenth time that stupid star sprite guy floats out to reiterate some basic point he just made two minutes prior.

Mario & Luigi has also become known for its sharply humorous writing. While that's definitely present here, it's obscured by the sheer mass of dialogue.

The game looks great, the battles play great, but the amount of handholding and overly intrusive, repetitive dialogue turn the game into a chore when it should’ve been as refreshing as a good night’s sleep.