The Plumber Bros. are back and it’s up to them to reconnect the islands of Concordia in Mario & Luigi: Brothership! Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review Overview

What is Mario & Luigi: Brothership?

Mario & Luigi Brothership is a spiritual sequel of the Mario & Luigi series that focuses on RPG gameplay centered around the titular brothers. The game features turn-based combat that the series was originally known for. Attacks and Dodges are Quick-Time-Events (QTEs) where you need to time and hit certain button commands to complete attack sequences and avoid certain attacks.

The game also features the ability to travel to different islands in the land of Concordia, where you’ll be solving puzzles and local problems to get around. Lastly, it features a narrative centered around the broken islands of Concordia, where the brothers are tasked to reconnect the islands’ lighthouses using their island ship.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership features:
　⚫︎　 Spritual Sequel of the Beloved Mario Bros. RPG Series
　⚫︎　 Turn-Based RPG With QTE-Centric Gameplay
　⚫︎　 Multiple Puzzles and Secrets
　⚫︎　 Classic and Original Characters
　⚫︎　 Long Narrative to Reconnect the Broken Islands of Concordia

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s gameplay and story.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership
Switch

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Engaging Turn-Based Combat Amazing Audiovisual Presentation	Extended Runtime Repetitive Dialogue Luigi is More of a Support Character

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Overall - 74/100

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a well-presented RPG with engaging combat and gameplay. However, it suffers from poorly paced tutorials and repetitive dialogue that greatly overstays its welcome. In terms of presentation, the game is clearly a cut above with its animations and cinematics, but with the game needing to hold your hand after every segment, it makes for a cruise that you want to get out of than enjoying the ride.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Story - 6/10

The narrative of Mario & Luigi: Brothership is very simple, and quite predictable. It’s not the most entertaining or compelling storyline since it mostly just revolves around the brothers helping the inhabitants of Concordia reconnect the broken islands. A big problem that the story has is the amount of repetitive dialogue there is, as they tend to keep repeating the same topic over and over again. Even with the fast-forward option for dialogue, the amount of times that the game stops for you to talk to another NPC is way too much and hinders the overall game.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Gameplay - 8/10

In terms of combat, the game has a very engaging flow where it involves classic turn-based fights combined with Quick-Time-Events (QTEs) to make the gameplay more entertaining. Though the amount of random battles did prove problematic in the long run, it was still entertaining enough to not be the biggest issue that the game had.

Along with the game’s tutorials and dialogue hurting the game’s overall pacing, they also managed to diminish Luigi’s role as a character that you use to solve puzzles. He’s a character that you command to do certain things for you, which doesn’t really help that the prior games had you controlling him as well.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Visuals - 9/10

In terms of overall presentation and design, I would say that the game does a great job of showing off the different islands, characters, and the game’s overall aesthetic. It’s a far cry from the older games that used spritework, but I think that the game’s new art direction is pretty well done.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Audio - 7/10

The game’s audio design wasn’t particularly noteworthy. It continues with the series not having voice acting, which is ok for the most part, but it does become a detriment especially with dialogue that takes a while to resolve. As for the game’s music, it wasn’t very memorable but it was pretty good after hearing it more than enough times.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Value for Money - 7/10

For a $60 game, the game does offer a pretty lengthy experience that goes for more than 20 hours. However, the length is padded with cinematics and long winded dialogue that makes the game longer than it should be. It does have a significant amount of side content to enjoy, which are the other islands for you to explore, but I don’t think it’s enough to justify it as a pretty forgettable experience with a heavy price tag.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review: Anchored By Pacing and Hand-Holding

Throughout the years of Mario spinoffs, the Mario & Luigi spinoffs were some of the more unique ones since it’s not everyday where you get to see both brothers in action. They’re normally known to have original characters with different storylines that will need the help of the Plumber Bros. to solve their problems. Which is exactly what happens in this iteration.

While the presentation and combat are ok, the game is mired by a number of problems: a large number of tutorials and long-winded dialogue that really slow the pace and lastly, they fumbled how Luigi functions as a second protagonist.

Good Presentation and Colorful Combat

The game’s overall audiovisual aesthetic and package are pretty good to say the least. The character designs are pretty good, the different islands also fit the game thematically, and the music is actually good enough to keep you entertained. It has a ton of cinematics as opposed to the older games which only really had dialogue boxes. The character designs in the game are also pretty quirky and definitely fit the series’ overall aesthetic.

Additionally, the game’s combat is also pretty engaging. To give you the rundown of the game’s combat: it’s a turn-based RPG with Quick-Time-Events that’s integrated in both offense and defense.

Attacks and dodges will have you properly time button presses to deal more damage or avoid attacks entirely. This was also the case for the game’s different skills as both Mario and Luigi cooperate to deal more damage with their abilities. It’s very simple to understand and straight to the point, which is pretty much a lot of what you’ll be doing in the game.

Holds Your Hand Way Too Often

One of the biggest issues that the game has is the amount of tutorials that it has. Mechanically speaking, the game is very simple. The overworld controls mirror Mario and Luigi’s actions, and other controls where you’ll be solving puzzles and carrying certain things have very simple to understand controls as well.

Even for combat and special puzzle segments, they have the need to talk you through certain things you may have already tried before. I can’t exactly say just how simple the game is, but it really didn’t need to provide this much guidance for newer players to understand the game’s mechanics.

Padded Runtime

With the game already having a large amount of tutorials that stifle the gameplay experience, the game’s pace slows to a crawl in story segments where the dialogue takes way too long simply because they keep talking about the same topic over and over again. This happens quite a lot throughout the game, and definitely hinders you from just being able to enjoy the game instead.

The story isn’t necessarily complicated for anyone to misunderstand, as the brothers are out to reconnect the broken islands of Concordia while looking for a way back home. It’s nothing too crazy, yet the amount of talking about the current situation makes for a poorly paced narrative that hurts the gameplay experience.

Luigi Is Put Off to the Side

Luigi has mostly conceded the spotlight to his brother Mario, for a very long time now. It’s not that I want Luigi to be the star, but it is kind of sad that he’s relegated to an NPC that you command to do certain things for you. Be it to help you collect items, solve problems and puzzles with Luigi Logic, or simply as a weight for you to stand on, Luigi’s role in the game is more akin to a commendable robot than an actual protagonist.

Even the controls have already lost its nuance with Luigi’s character, as previous games would allow you to fully control him and that his whole control scheme is mirrored to his brother Mario. It’s a shame that Luigi takes a backseat yet again, and hopefully he gets a bigger role to play in future releases.

Not Their Best Foot Forward

To put simply, the game is just anchored by pacing issues that prevent the player from being able to enjoy the game itself. If they were to remove a lot of the game’s unnecessary fluff, it might be a more digestible and fun experience as you get to enjoy the game’s good aspects even more. Right now, Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a cruise that you want to get out of, as the good parts are restricted way too much by poor pacing and long narrative sequences that don’t really need to repeat the same thing.

Is Mario & Luigi: Brothership Worth It?

Better Off Playing The Older Games

Sadly, Mario & Luigi: Brothership ends up being pretty disappointing because of the issues that it has. Enough for me to say that you’re better off trying to play the older games instead, as the horrible pacing and padded playtime makes for a forgettable experience. That being said, the game still does have its value, as it’s a well-presented game and has combat that plays pretty well. It may also be important to point out that the target audience of the game may be for the younger crowd, as the game really holds your hand throughout the entire time.

Digital Storefronts
Switch
$59.99

Mario & Luigi: Brothership FAQ

Is Mario & Luigi: Brothership a Co-op Game?

No. The game is single player only, as you have access to both Mario and Luigi’s controls.

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Mario & Luigi: Brothership Product Information

Title	MARIO & LUIGI: BROTHERSHIP
Release Date	November 7, 2024
Developer	Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
Supported Platforms	Switch
Genre	Adventure, RPG, Platforming
Number of Players	1
Rating	ESRB E
Official Website	Nintendo Official Website

Michael Gerra-Clarin

Resident fighting game nerd, avid FFXIV fan, and enjoyer of mostly anything gaming. Currently, he is enjoying Dawntrail as a Viper, while dying to Messmer's flames in Shadow of the Erdtree.