they should

be hyped for it, but after the perceived mishandling of Paper Mario: Sticker Star, they're worried

that

Nintendo again messed with the formula to one of Mario's RPGs. Well for those of you

that are worried,

you can rest easy. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team sticks closely to what came before and turns

out to be a

great RPG in the process.

Dream Team begins Princess Peach and her entourage being invited to take a vacation on Pi'illo

Island. While it's now a tourist trap, it used to be the home of the ancient Pi'illo

race that mysteriously

disappeared ages ago. It's during this vacation that Mario and Luigi stumble across a petrified

pillow that

grants them access to the Dream World when Luigi sleeps on it. And when Peach is kidnapped

by a new

villain by the name of Antasma, it's up to Mario and Luigi to rescue her and the rest

of the Pi'illo people.

They are helped along the way by Starlow, returning from Bowser's Inside Story, and

the resurrected

Pi'illo prince, Dreambert.

The story, while nothing mind-blowing, is perfectly entertaining. It's an easy to follow

plot with a few

twists and turns along the way and filled with the series' trademark humor. While not

quite as funny as

previous games, it will earn more than a few chuckles along the way. My only real problem

with it is that

you don't get to encounter the villains much. You hear about Antasma and all the evil he

did in the past,

but you rarely get to see it. Unfortunately, he's just not that interesting of a villain.

If you've ever played a Mario & Luigi game, then you'll know exactly what to expect from

the gameplay.

The brothers explore Pi'illo Island solving one problem after another while battling enemies

along the

way. Dream Team takes more than a few pages from Bowser's Inside Story by having both

3D sections in

the real world and 2D sections in the Dream World.

But while the 2D sections of Bowser's Inside Story got a little stale due to the lack of

variety, Dream

Team's take on them attempts to make up for this. Every Dream World is inspired by the

real world,

changing up the look though the basic level design tends to remain the same. Where things

feel truly

different is in the use of Luiginary abilities.

Whenever Mario dives into the Dream Portal while Luigi sleeps, he's joined by Dreamy

Luigi who is able

to affect the Dream World and Mario in a variety of ways. Whenever he begins to glow in conjunction

with an object in the background, he'll be able to access these abilities. They can range

from blowing

objects in the background to the foreground to stacking dozens of Luigis on top of one

another to reach

higher areas to even affecting time and how quickly or slowly Mario can move. All of these

are activated

by having Starlow mess with Luigi's body in some way.

But by far the coolest Luiginary ability is when all of the Dreamy Luigi's combine into

a single gigantic

Super Luigi to take on other gigantic bosses. It plays much like the giant Bowser fights

in Bowser's Inside

Story but expanded slightly to allow for Mario & Luigi's abilities.

Battles work much like how they did in previous games. Mario is controlled with one button

while Luigi

is controlled with the other. They can jump on enemies, hammer them, or use special Bros.

Attacks to

do massive damage. Each enemy takes different strategies depending on how their designed

which

keeps battles fresh and interesting. Mario and Luigi can also time their attacks to do

even more damage

and even dodge or counterattack enemy moves provided you've learned their patterns.

Badges also return which can give an instantaneous boost in battle. Depending on which badges

you

have selected for each brother, you can have a range of effects from healing you, damaging

enemies, or

even negating damage for a certain number of attacks. It all ties into a battle system

that is designed to

keep you constantly on your toes and rewards you for learning enemy patterns.

This also applies to normal Dream Battles where Dreamy Luigi powers up Mario's health,

attacks, and

even grants his own set of Luiginary Attacks. But for all that the game does that is fresh

and new, it

still has a lot of traditional elements. Players still have to hunt down 10 Attack Blocks to

unlock new

Bros. Attacks. Players can still equip Mario and Luigi with different gear to increase

their stats. And the

tutorials are still as rampant as ever. It's unfortunate too as their introduction tends

to kill the pace of

Dream Team. It's really bad in the beginning of the game and does taper off as the story

progresses, but

anytime some new gameplay element is introduced, a tutorial is not far behind.

And then there's the presentation. Dream Team is just plain gorgeous. It has a style reminiscent

of the

previous games but enhanced to take advantage of the 3DS's capabilities. I'm still not sure

whether the

game is 3D with excellent cel shading done to the models or just really good 2D modeling.

Either way,

the look works and displays just as much personality as previous Mario & Luigi RPGs. Even the 3D

effect

is used well, saving it for moments that really enhance its implementation.

But by far the best thing about the game is its soundtrack. Every track is a winner and

just full of

personality. Just by listening to a song, you get a sense of what the place you're in

is all about. It can be

light and fun, dark and ominous, or even airy and mysterious. It just plain works. The same

can be said

for the rest of the design. Mario and Luigi still have their gibberish way of talking

and the writing is as

sharp, if a bit wordy, as ever.

In all, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team does exactly what it sets out to do. It improves in some

areas while

providing a fun cast of new and returning characters. It's not a perfect landing though

as the game can

drag in parts, specifically a late game fetch quest and its numerous tutorials, but they

hardly ruin the

experience. For fans of Mario, RPGs, or those just looking for a solid game with a good

length, it's easy

to recommend Dream Team.

It's for those reasons that we're awarding Mario & Luigi: Dream Team 4 and half stars

out of 5. Thanks

for watching and be sure to keep an eye on GameXplain for more things gaming.