The Biggest Changes In Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Key Takeaways

• Mario & Luigi: Brothership is the first game without AlphaDream, featuring a return to the original two party members.
• The leveling-up mechanics have changed, with a new tier system replacing the traditional stat boosts.
• Luigi’s movements are more automatic, with a new feature called Luigi Logic allowing for seamless exploration.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership marks the series’ return in almost a decade. The series began in 2003 with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, an RPG for the Game Boy Advance. It hit a plethora of portables before ending on the 3DS in 2015 with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. Technically, there were games after that, like for the 3DS, but they were remakes, not original games.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is also the first game that AlphaDream, the creators, did not have a hand in, as the company closed its doors in 2019. This is all to say that a lot has changed between sequels, so let’s go over the big shifts.

6 It’s Back To Two Party Members

There Is More Emphasis On The Brotherly Love Though

Most of the Mario & Luigi games have featured the two brothers as the only playable characters with some exceptions. In the immediate sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, they were aided by their younger selves through the magic of time travel. In the last game, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Paper Mario was a third playable character in battle which was a big crossover event.

So, while the series has dabbled in multiple party members before, it’s back to basics in Mario & Luigi: Brothership. That said, Mario and Luigi’s attacks are a bit more involved now in basic combat. When each character attacked in the previous games it was a solo effort. Now, each brother will aid the other just like with the more involved special attacks called Mario Bros. Attacks which always featured the two brothers.

5 The Leveling Up Mechanics

Reaching Tier Points

Leveling up in these games was always a fun nod to the original Super Mario Bros. wherein levels ended with players raising a flag on a flagpole. When players gain EXP in this RPG series, a flag will rise and once it reaches the top, it will be time to level up. In the previous Mario & Luigi games, stats were boosted automatically like in a traditional RPG leveling system.

Players could also choose one stat to boost more and they would spin a box to dictate that number. In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, that is not a feature anymore but it has been replaced with a new bonus system. At certain tiers, the first of which is Level 8, players can choose a bonus feature for each character. For example, Mario could gain a new accessory slot or increase his EXP percentages.

4 Luigi’s Movements Are More Automatic

He Also Has A Lot Of Ideas

One of the most unique things about this top-down RPG series is the control scheme. In battle, each brother is controlled by a single button. Mario is mapped to A and Luigi is mapped to B and this has been the standard since the first game, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and it’s true for Mario & Luigi: Brothership too.

This works while exploring as well with the two brothers being able to jump with A and B. Whoever was in the lead, as players could swap between brothers, the other character would follow behind automatically but players would still need to manually issue jumps for the brother in the back row. In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Luigi can still jump on command but he will also jump automatically in certain situations which is a nice quality of life improvement.

3 Luigi Logic

Letting The Luigi AI Run Wild

There’s another new movement feature tied to exploration. Players no longer need to switch to Luigi because almost everything he does in the world is automatic in Mario & Luigi: Brothership. Players can trigger a new system called Luigi Logic with the L button on the Switch controller and they will get a prompt when he is ready. For example, there may be some boxes he can smash with a hammer or some turnips hiding Gold Coins underneath that he can pull up.

If players ignore these prompts, Luigi typically won’t help but hitting L will put Luigi to work. Some players may not like that Luigi is now a more robotic AI figure in the game or worry this is now the Mario Show but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Luigi has more agency in combat now than ever before, for example, and he’s still a big playable part in this adventure.

2 Your Traversal Methods

Ahoy Matey!

In any of the previous games, Mario and Luigi were not aided by vehicles in their travels. Except for fur Warp Pipes offering fast travel, the worlds were traversed on foot. That’s mostly true in Mario & Luigi: Brothership, however, the main crux of this adventure is the theme around an island shaped like a ship aptly titled Shipshape Island. It can sail the brothers to new but players will not have direct control of the vehicle/island hybrid.

However, they can choose where to sail in these currents which is a neat idea that feels like a callback to another big Nintendo game, The Legend of Zelda: The Waker. That game also featured sailing heavily and in a more direct way. Maybe the next Mario & Luigi game can give the brothers more direct control of their vehicle from a new boat to an airship like in Final Fantasy.

1 A New Way To Track Side Quests

Gotta Keep These Plumbers Busy

Side quests have existed in the series since the beginning, but it was up to players previously to keep track of them all. Also, they weren’t that numerous but in Mario & Luigi: Brothership, players will slog through a lot of them. Some of them will be simple from testing out a hammer or visiting an NPC to going on a more lengthy scouting mission to find an archipelago of rock formations on the high seas.

While none of them will reach the heights of bigger RPGs like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, they shouldn’t be skipped. Thanks to the map tracking system, they’re easy enough to complete and the rewards will often be worth the effort. It’s a good way to grind through the early hours of Mario & Luigi: Brothership at least.