While it's now a tourist trap, it used to be the home of the ancient Pi'illorace 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 Natasha, it's up to Mario and Luigi to rescue her and the rest of the Papilla people. They are helped along the way by Star low, returning from Bowser's Inside Story, and the resurrectedPi'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 Natasha 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 Papilla 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 both3D 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.
All of these are activated by having Star low mess with Luigi's body in some way. But by far the coolest Legionary ability is when all of the Dreamy Luigi's combine into 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 Laities 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 Legionary Attacks. But for all that the game does that is freehand new; it still has a lot of traditional elements. Players still have to hunt down 10 Attack Blocks to unlock newborns. 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 game play 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 cell 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 3Deffectis 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 adjust full of personality. Just by listening to a song, you get a sense of what the place you're inks all about. It can blight 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 Game plain for more things gaming.
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