Hands-on: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Ever wonder what the digestive system of Mario’s spiky arch-nemesis looks like — or, for that matter, his endocrine, skeletal, muscular and nervous systems as well? We’re guessing the answer is “no,” but as it turns out, Bowser’s guts provide an excellent backdrop for one of the most interesting games we saw at E3 — Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story.

The game handles exactly like the handheld Mario RPGs that came before it — the A and B buttons control the actions of Mario and Luigi, respectively. You walk them around a 2D platform world filled with monsters who engage the plumbers in turn-based combat. Combat cues are timing-centric — pressing the right button mid-jump gives you a boost of power, and rhythmic button presses let you bounce Koopa shells off enemies for massive damage.

However, Inside Story flips the script on the franchise, introducing an gameplay and story convention that is nothing less than brilliant in an Innerspace-esque kind of way.

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Hands-on: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:30:00 EST.

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source : www.joystiq.com