Mario & Luigi 4 (Dream Team)!

[Carbo]

It's easy for a Dream Team Bros. review to become a list of neat stuff. It's a game that introduces a new idea, mechanic or boss fight every half an hour for around 35 hours- and that's without investing in side content: excavating stat-boosting beans, waking scattered Pi'illos, reassembling CCTV footage (don't ask), an extra tough boss rush mode... It's absolutely rammed and gets better the less you know, so we'll draw a line under it there.]So it is that 3DS's incredible first-party run continues. In the year that has given us the definitive Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing it only makes sense that AlphaDream should step up and deliver the best Mario and Luigi game yet.

VERDICT

+ A near constant drip-feed of barmy invention

+ Smart twist on traditional turn-based brawls

+ One of 3DS's funniest games

A game set in Luigi's wildest dreams turns out to be the game of our wildest dreams. What are the odds of that, eh? This is tirelessly inventive fun.

92%

[KrazyBean]

Oh man, why can't this game come out now?

[SilentDoom]

Whilst I'm very excited for this game (LOVED M&L:BIS, one of my favourite DS games) I'll wait for more reviews.  ONM lost almost all credibility to me a good while ago.  I don't doubt this game will be amazing, I just don't like ONM much anymore.

[Arcade Racer CC14]

A fan translation of the Iwata Asks for Dream Team is up. Bullet points below:

 

- To get the #DreamTeam Alpha up and running took 1.5 years for Alpha Dream
- They had so much stuff this time they even went into a Gamma Phase, which Iwata notes as unusual as games typically only have Alpha and Beta
- They chose sprites because it's part of the Alpha Dream heritage...but also because they had few 3D production resources
- The 3D Mega Luigi model was done by a 3rd party after they realized there was a limit to doing that in 2D.
- A challenge was shifting from drawing sprites for 8-way movement on DS to 16 way movement on 3DS.
- They couldn't even just flip the sprites for the other direction due to the 'L' on Luigi's hat.
- They banned themselves from flipping the sprites for Mario either, partly because of Mario's right arm going up when he jumps.
- They had 5-6 staff working on the character animations for all the characters in the game.
- The requests by Nintendo on Alpha Dream were not always accepted and often required meetings, or discussions with the SPD producers
- They talk about including an easy mode. For example, when active, a hint block will appear when you redo a battle after dying
- The Mario & Luigi RPG series is also quite popular with women
- A Hard Mode unlocks for experienced players after clearing the game. Even the producer has trouble with it, it's so difficult
- The put a lot of extra stuff into Dream Team after hearing fans say they wanted to play more of M&L RPG 3.
- The producer says long term fans shouldn't worry - the series is still the same, despite the switch to 3D worlds for Dream Team

 

Woah, this is sounding like it has A LOT of content. I can't freaking wait to play it in a month.

[RK64]

A fan translation of the Iwata Asks for Dream Team is up. Bullet points below:

 

 

 

 

Woah, this is sounding like it has A LOT of content. I can't freaking wait to play it in a month.

 

From the sounds of it, they didn't lessen to Nintendo's "advice" to drastically change the game (unlike Intelligent Systems leasing to Miymoto to make more like a traditional Mario game), and if that's the case, good move Alpha Dream

 

When I get a 3ds in the future, this will be one of the first games I get for it as it sounds like this will be awesome (and judging from reviews, better than the original in some ways )

[t0ms0nic]

A fan translation of the Iwata Asks for Dream Team is up. Bullet points below:

 

 

-Wow-, that's easily going to be one of the best reasons for replaying this straight afterwards! I imagine it'll get a little grind heavy on the speculated basis that everything will still give the normal amount of EXP, but it'll be great for Mario & Luigi to have that challenging touch and give it a light 'hardcore' addition... it's also going to allow us to hear more of the dreamworld battle music, which I can't ask enough of.

 

So glad I preordered, especially to get my hands on that Luigi keyring mentioned on the previous page.

[Phantomime]

-Wow-, that's easily going to be one of the best reasons for replaying this straight afterwards! I imagine it'll get a little grind heavy on the speculated basis that everything will still give the normal amount of EXP, but it'll be great for Mario & Luigi to have that challenging touch and give it a light 'hardcore' addition... it's also going to allow us to hear more of the dreamworld battle music, which I can't ask enough of.

 

Now, I'm all for adding a hard mode in a game like this for replayability purposes, however, I really hope they don't implement a lackluster kind of hard mode.

 

What I mean by this is the kind of difficulty which just involves nerfing player damage/buffing enemy damage/giving enemies more heath and the reverse.

 

Thing is, this is a turn based RPG where it's very possible (and an integral part of gameplay) to avoid damage entirely. A hard mode making it much more difficult to avoid attacks, by way of speeding up enemies, generally altering the timing needed to dodge attacks, or even adding whole new or different moves to make fights more dangerous rather than just making them take forever would be really nice. Of course, less effective items and more damage-spongey baddies could always be added too. 

 

Granted, that might be too much to ask for, and the game looks fantastic, so I wouldn't exactly be disappointed if it ends up being a kind of boring hard mode, but it's a thought.  

Edited July 2, 2013 by Phantomime

[Marcello]

Hopefully most of that extra stuff aren't shitty minigames like BiS'. Those were awful.

[Tails spin]

Full Iwata asks for M&L

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/mario-and-luigi-dream-team/0/4

[Cola]

New French Commercial!

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5qKHRpnDn4 

 

 

POPPLE RETURNS

Edited July 3, 2013 by Cola

[Cola]

My apologies for the double post, but I couldn't fit the following videos in it without going over the media limit. It's not something I want to do, but it will have to suffice.

 

We've got a whole 5 minute overview trailer AND a commercial!

 

 

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHz3r6nFNkc 

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP4DS5JiQqE 

[KrazyBean]

This game is gonna be flippin' brilliant.

[Nintendoga]

New French Commercial!

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5qKHRpnDn4 

 

 

POPPLE RETURNS

Best character from Super Saga returns!?

my hype is exploding through the roof!

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Holy CRAP, Popple?! That's AWESOME! Definitely didn't expect to see the likes of him again. The only thing that'd make it better is if he were packing Midbus as his new rookie. XD

This is really shaping up to be AlphaDream's magnum opus. It's like they took all the best parts of the previous three games, mixed them together into one perfect blend, threw in lots of cool new stuff, and topped it off with even more beautiful graphics and art direction. This game can't release soon enough!

[Nintendoga]

Oh god! oh God!
Someone got the game!
And they already put up the final boss!

I tried to resist but...I'M WEAK!

Dunno if there's a video but here's the pic

Warning final boss pic, obviously spoilers!

I'M WARNING YOU MAN!  

LAST CHANCE!

ALRIGHT YOU ASKED FOR IT

I'm not sure if there is a big twist or not. For all we know Luigi could be fighting somebody else in the real world while Mario fights Antsanama or whatever his name is in the Dream world

EDIT: OR for all we know, the guy could be yanking our chains and maybe that really isn't the final boss, but just a regular one.
We'll find out July 12th

 

Edited July 3, 2013 by Nintendoga

[Conando]

WHAT A SHOCK! Never would have guessed the final boss is the main villain of the game. Anyway, that's a Dream World Battle, so Luigi IS there, but in Dream World battles Mario & Luigi's HP and stats are combined and Luigi pops out whenever you attack.

[Your Vest Friend]

Oh my God, Popple actually came back! He was my fave character in the Mario and Luigi series and I'd lumped him in with the no returners like Croco (representing SMRPG) and Francis (representing Paper Mario), but now he's back!

Edited July 3, 2013 by VEDJ-F

[Balding Spider]

Best character from Super Saga returns!?

my hype is exploding through the roof!

 

Finally someone great enough to counterbalance Starlow's lameness.

[-Robin-]

I can't say I'm too hyped over Popple presumably making a single cameo there, because it reminds me of the time I got hyped over Jr. Troopa making a cameo in TTYD and for nothing to come out of that.

Could be that Popple just happened to be in that vicinity during that enemy's rush attack and so had to run away as well, then subsequently disappears after the attack is finished.

/DebbieDowner

[Tails spin]

Welp just like I have done for the NSMB 2 and Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon threads I will back away now. I don't want to be spoiled by the game. I might stop by once and a while  especially when I play it when it releases here.

[Doctor MK]

The review score from EDGE is in, they gave it a 7/10.

 

Source

 

Don't be too disheartened though. EDGE are notoriously harsh with their scores, and you only have to take a look at their other Mario RPG verdicts to know they're a bit all over the place...

 

Superstar Saga: 8/10
Partners in Time: 7/10
Bowser's Inside Story: 9/10

Paper Mario: 7/10
Paper Mario TTYD: 8/10
Super Paper Mario: 7/10
Paper Mario Sticker Star: 8/10

[Ducktor Naldush]

I'll just ask this here, before backing away, fearing the spoilers; since there are players who already have the game, do we know if this game followed the Sticker Star route of not having a story to speak of, or it still keeps the charm of Mario RPGs?

[KrazyBean]

The review score from EDGE is in, they gave it a 7/10.

 

Source

 

Don't be too disheartened though. EDGE are notoriously harsh with their scores, and you only have to take a look at their other Mario RPG verdicts to know they're a bit all over the place...

 

Superstar Saga: 8/10

Partners in Time: 7/10

Bowser's Inside Story: 9/10

Paper Mario: 7/10

Paper Mario TTYD: 8/10

Super Paper Mario: 7/10

Paper Mario Sticker Star: 8/10

 

No way man, I will not accept them giving Sticker Star a better score than this game.

Edited July 5, 2013 by KrazyBean

[Doctor MK]

No way man, I will no accept them giving Sticker Star a better score than this game.

 

By their logic, Sticker Star is also better than Paper Mario 64 and on par with TTYD.

 

Excuse me while I go roll on the floor with laughter at how ridiculous that notion is.

[Ducktor Naldush]

By their logic, Sticker Star is also better than Paper Mario 64 and on par with TTYD.

 

Excuse me while I go roll on the floor with laughter at how ridiculous that notion is.

 

No way man, I will no accept them giving Sticker Star a better score than this game.

 

 

This is outrageous. TTYD was  a better game, any way you put it. Giving it just one point above that easily forgettable game is...well, strange to say the least. And, as someone who actually liked Super Paper Mario, and still plays is it to this day...well, you know where I'm getting at.