Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

 DS
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 242 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 203 out of 242
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 242
  3. Negative: 9 out of 242
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  1. AutumnF
    Nov 28, 2009
    6
    Half of the time you have no idea what is going on!
  2. drlowdon
    May 6, 2020
    7
    Baby Mario and his friends are forced to flee the Mushroom Kingdom when it’s invaded by an alien race known as Shroobs, meanwhile years in the future the gang use a time machine invented by Professor Gadd to defeat the threat once and for all.

    Partners in Time is well written, even funny at times, and the combat is enjoyably challenging. Some of the drawn out boss battles are a pain    Baby Mario and his friends are forced to flee the Mushroom Kingdom when it’s invaded by an alien race known as Shroobs, meanwhile years in the future the gang use a time machine invented by Professor Gadd to defeat the threat once and for all.

    Partners in Time is well written, even funny at times, and the combat is enjoyably challenging. Some of the drawn out boss battles are a pain though, and at over twenty hours in length it began to drag a little towards the end.    … Expand
  3. Vidyafan9999
    Jun 15, 2013
    7
    I like this series almost as much as I like Paper Mario, but this one was somewhat underwhelming. The whole time travel scenario is just for show, as the past is just an excuse to throw the babies in the mix. The various time portals are basically the equivalent of level portals, as they transport you to secluded areas which are basically dungeons. There is no open world and you can'tI like this series almost as much as I like Paper Mario, but this one was somewhat underwhelming. The whole time travel scenario is just for show, as the past is just an excuse to throw the babies in the mix. The various time portals are basically the equivalent of level portals, as they transport you to secluded areas which are basically dungeons. There is no open world and you can't explore anything other than the castle in the present, so really, the entire time travel aspect is severely underused.
    The gameplay is pretty fun as always, and gets challenging later on, but I feel like the 4 button gameplay is a bit convoluted. The battles do get repetitive in the long run.
    The RPG elements are very light but acceptable for this kind of game. The music is pretty good, has many remixed tunes from Super Mario 64, and some original ones, overall it's acceptable, but not too special. Sound effects are typical Mario stuff, with Mario and Luigi talking in their made up language, which is pretty funny.

    Overall, it's a fun game, but I don't see myself replaying it any time soon because of the seriously underwhelming setting, convoluted button combinations, and repetitive combat.    … Expand
  4. ShadowR
    Nov 13, 2013
    6
    Meh... It's not as bad as Touch & Go, but is DEFINITELY not as good as it's successors. The one thing that makes it good is that it is SUPER difficult. Don't even get me started on Elder Princess Shroob.
  5. Darkychao
    Mar 1, 2016
    5
    Excessively lengthy boss fights ruin what would otherwise be alright game.

    But although they were the biggest, the bosses aren't the only problem this game has. The game felt extremely linear, both with how they gave you field moves the at the beginning of every "chapter" the same exact way every time, and as well with how every single area of the game is in a completely different map    Excessively lengthy boss fights ruin what would otherwise be alright game.

    But although they were the biggest, the bosses aren't the only problem this game has. The game felt extremely linear, both with how they gave you field moves the at the beginning of every "chapter" the same exact way every time, and as well with how every single area of the game is in a completely different map only accessible through the hub world. Also the replacement of bros. moves with bros. items didn't work very well.

    But it also manages some good things as well. The dialog, both banter and otherwise, is, as you'd come to expect from it's predecessors, fairly well written. The story is pretty good albeit a little confusing at times.
    Other than that this game also lays some groundwork for the mechanics that made it's sequel great.    … Expand
  6. CoreyS.
    May 20, 2006
    7
    A great game, but it's not better than the orginal in any way.
  7. AlejandroG.
    Aug 10, 2006
    7
    Moderately long, with almost no replayability, yet fun and (a bit) challenging. The final battle takes almost 2 hours to finish.
  8. AndrewC.
    Jan 10, 2007
    6
    As a huge fan of the original Mario & Luigi (one of the very best GBA games ever!), I was surprised by how little its sequel did right. The battle system works all right, though almost every boss battle is way too drawn out and easy. The dialogue and story are both rather weak in comparison to the original, and the adventure is rather linear. There are absolutely no sidequests, so the As a huge fan of the original Mario & Luigi (one of the very best GBA games ever!), I was surprised by how little its sequel did right. The battle system works all right, though almost every boss battle is way too drawn out and easy. The dialogue and story are both rather weak in comparison to the original, and the adventure is rather linear. There are absolutely no sidequests, so the value of the game is nil. Really, really disappointing. Could have been more, but the satisfying moments are few and far between. Shame...… Expand
  9. StevenC.
    May 29, 2007
    7
    Having not played the previous (and supposedly fairly similar) Mario & Luigi GBA game, I bought this game with an open mind. The game focuses around Mario & Luigi, and their "partners in time" mario and luigi babies. Going round the slightly loony plot (going back in time here and there, killing alien mushrooms called shroobs) There are plenty of puzzles involving both pairs of bros, or Having not played the previous (and supposedly fairly similar) Mario & Luigi GBA game, I bought this game with an open mind. The game focuses around Mario & Luigi, and their "partners in time" mario and luigi babies. Going round the slightly loony plot (going back in time here and there, killing alien mushrooms called shroobs) There are plenty of puzzles involving both pairs of bros, or just one of the pairs, although for the most part they're trivial and there's no other way you can do it. The battle system is turn based fighting that properly rewards good reactions speeds and quick thinking, be it attacking (chaining your special item attacks to produce the most damage you possibly can, which is tough on the final real high damage items) or defending (counter attacks or simply evading attacks from the enemies). The boss fights, as with most of the enemies, is merely a case of working out the attacks and then trying to capitalize on taking the least damage possible, and all fights are fairly simple in the game. It will likely take you less than 20 hours to complete the game if you know what you're doing, and the unfortunate thing is there's no real replay value in the game. Still, an ejoyable title that gives you smiles along the way with its mild humour. And by the way - if you can get a string of "great" hits on the Mix and CopyFlowers, you're a better man than me.… Expand
  10. xZippy
    Jan 18, 2016
    6
    It's a decent sequel in the Mario and Luigi series, but nowhere near as good as the other ones in the series. The story is weak, confusing and rushed. There aren't many interesting characters. The combat mechanics are clever, but some points in the game are extremely hard and packed with artificial difficulty. It's good for one playthrough, but doesn't have enough appeal for any more than that.
  11. marineunit
    Dec 27, 2014
    5
    Battling in this game is ridiculously difficult and repetitive. Some of the areas and battles just drag on and on and on. Some enemies can take 50% of your health in one hit, spam over 5 attacks in one turn, and heal like crazy. I don't know why Nintendo decided to make this game so difficult and long.

    As for the overworld parts of the game, it's pretty fun. There are some interesting    Battling in this game is ridiculously difficult and repetitive. Some of the areas and battles just drag on and on and on. Some enemies can take 50% of your health in one hit, spam over 5 attacks in one turn, and heal like crazy. I don't know why Nintendo decided to make this game so difficult and long.

    As for the overworld parts of the game, it's pretty fun. There are some interesting puzzles and neat moves the 4 characters can use to navigate around the world.    … Expand
  12. BeeSting1
    Jan 1, 2021
    6
    Some visual issues hold it back.

    Good - transition between lower screen and top screen when controlling the two duos is fast and seamless. Unlike in Bowser's inside story where the transition takes a few seconds - the battles make use of all four buttons which makes it much more challenging, especially the Bros attack. - being able to separate the past Mario Brothers and the    Some visual issues hold it back.

    Good

    - transition between lower screen and top screen when controlling the two duos is fast and seamless. Unlike in Bowser's inside story where the transition takes a few seconds

    - the battles make use of all four buttons which makes it much more challenging, especially the Bros attack.

    - being able to separate the past Mario Brothers and the present Mario Brothers, and control them separately is pretty interesting.

    - the partner battle mechanics and puzzles were really creative. Having to hit extra buttons to perform attacks made the gameplay more challenging.

    - the dialogue is charming and funny as with all the other Mario and Luigi games.

    - enemies are very creative.

    Bad

    - having to buy bros attack means they aren't readily available for me to use if I run out while in the past world. I would have to go back into the future to buy it in a shop.

    - too much lag before the hammer counter. makes it hard to time the counter

    - shadows are difficult to see during battles making it difficult to tell which brother the attack is going for.

    - certain parts of the level is hard to tell whether it is on a higher level or lower level. This probably has to do with the limitations of the DS hardware.    … Expand
  13. FireBroFilms
    Aug 15, 2022
    7
    ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎
  14. Yojimbo2015
    May 21, 2023
    7
    A kind of RPG/platform hybrid simplified to its basic elements for younger players, but the sense of humour and fun presentation may appeal to the nostalgic looking to rekindle the magic of the old SNES days.
  15. Pilest
    Jul 3, 2023
    7
    I want to like this game but it kinda sucks. Just kinda. The bros. items are cool but too cheesable. The art style just looks off like they were trying to enhance the sprites from the first game. I didn’t get interested in the story. Do I even like this game. 5/10

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best DS Game of 2005
6
#6 Most Discussed DS Game of 2005
7
#7 Most Shared DS Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 45
  3. Negative: 0 out of 45
  1. Play Magazine
    85
    I don't often get a good belly laugh from a video game, but then not many games pack the humorous charm of Mario and Luigi 2... [Nov p.99]
  2. Nintendo Power
    90
    A worthy follow-up to "Superstar Saga," and the first great RPG on the DS. [Jan 2006, p.110]
  3. Game Informer
    83
    It may not be the most emotionally complex RPG on the market, but it's solid entertainment with a quirky twist. [Dec 2005, p.187]
See all critic reviews »