Recap / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

The game begins with Princess Peach receiving a goodwill ambassador from the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom. Peaceful diplomacy is not on the agenda however; Lady Lima, the Beanbean Kingdom’s ambassador, presents Peach with a box that shoots an incapacitating gas at her, before revealing herself to be the villainous witch Cackletta. Her Dragon Fawful then uses a hi-tech headgear to suck up the gas, before he and Cackletta flee Peach’s castle.

A Toad rushes to the home of the Mario Bros. to inform Mario of the situation. Mario promptly races to the castle - inadvertently dragging his brother Luigi along for the ride - where they find none other than Bowser confronting Peach within the throne room. Mario gets into a brief scuffle with him that serves as the game’s first combat tutorial; much like Paper Mario 64, this game makes heavy use of Action Commands in battles, with the exception that defensive ones are used to outright avoid damage rather than just reduce it. Following the fight, Mario and Luigi learn that Cackletta and Fawful stole Peach’s voice during the earlier attack, and replaced it with a literally explosive vocabulary. With little other option, Mario agrees to head to the Beanbean Kingdom to get Peach’s voice back, with Bowser offering his help so that he can kidnap Peach and not have her blow up his castle afterwards.

After a brief time in Toadtown that serves as an opportunity to learn the game’s overworld mechanics - and also has Toadsworth provide Mario with money and a suitcase that serves as the game’s Bag of Holding - Mario and Bowser set off from the Mushroom Kingdom on Bowser’s Koopa Cruiser airship, with Luigi joining them after a miscommunication causes him to be recruited into Bowser’s forces. The time aboard the Koopa Cruiser serves as a chance to learn more overworld mechanics: Party in My Pocket is very much averted, since Luigi is Mario’s sole companion in this game, with the non-active bro following the other and using overworld commands with the B button, as opposed to the lead bro using the A button. Finally, the player has the ability to swap the bros around, though this only proves relevant later. The Koopa Crusier also provides another combat tutorial that elaborates on fighting as a duo; Mario's inputs are done with the A button, while Luigi's are done with the B button. And as in Paper Mario, the player can attack enemies in the overworld in order to get an early advantage in the fight, while enemies can do the same, except they only get a bonus if they hit the bro standing at the back.

Following the tutorials, the bros meet up with Bowser upon the top deck, whereupon the trio are set upon by Cackletta and Fawful, with the latter taking out Bowser and then attacking Mario and Luigi. This encounter allows for another combat tutorial, in which Bowser teaches the bros - and the player by extension - to look for tells that determine which character the enemy will attack when it’s otherwise not clear. After the bros prove more of a match than Fawful expected, Fawful attacks the Koopa Cruiser with a bombardment of energy blasts from his headgear, destroying it.

Mario and Luigi land within Stardust Fields, a region where the Mushroom and Beanbean Kingdoms border one another. After a run-in with the Border Bros. that has the Mario Bros. get challenged to a jump-rope minigame, they enter the Beanbean half of the region, where they find Bowser stuck within a cannon. They meet the cannon’s owner Tolstar, a large and fat Spike claiming to be the king of the region, who offers to get Bowser unstuck in exchange for all the bros’ money. Mario offers the money he got from Toadsworth, but learns that it only amounts to chump change in the Beanbean Kingdom, and Tolstar demands a hundred Beanbean coins, leaving Mario and Luigi no other choice than to gather the required money within Stardust Fields.

Exploring the region, Mario and Luigi run into the Stardust Bros. They’re General Red and Sergeant Green, two Toads with a military bent. After learning of the situation, the Stardust Bros. agree to help out Mario and Luigi - who are celebrities in the Beanbean Kingdom - by teaching them about the game’s main gimmicks: Bros. Moves and Bros Attacks. The former are techniques that allow Mario and Luigi to work together to access parts of the overworld they could never reach on their own, and the latter are powerful Combination Attacks to be used against their enemies. The Stardust Bros. teach the High Jump and Spin Jump, enabling the Mario Bros. to reach new heights and cross great distances, respectively. Mario and Luigi use their new moves to grab the required hundred coins, only for Tolstar to renege on their deal and attack them. He’s defeated, but then Sergeant Green emerges; out of annoyance at the noise of the conflict, he fires Bowser out of the cannon, separating him from the Mario Bros.

A quick trip through a nearby cavern takes Mario and Luigi to Hoohoo Mountain, where they are confronted by a trio of Beanbean soldiers who accuse them of kidnapping a figure known as Prince Peasley. The battered Tolstar shows up to vouch for them, and the soldiers admit that Peasley was nabbed by a figure bearing a close resemblance to Fawful, before leaving the Mario Bros. to go on their way. The Mario Bros. travel through a settlement named Hoohoo Village, before having another encounter with Fawful, who drops a large stone in the middle of the bros’ path, trapping them upon the mountain.

To get past the stone, the Mario Bros. pay a visit to the Hammerhead Bros. Sledge and Hammer, a pair of craftsmen who specialize in creating hammers. Unfortunately, the Hammerhead Bros. make their wares from Hoohoo blocks, which can only be found upon the mountain’s summit, and they’ve got no means of getting up there. Mario and Luigi climb the mountain in their stead, and after a battle with Hoohooros, a Golem crafted by the ancient civilization that once resided upon the mountain, they reach the summit and encounter Blablandon, a pterosaur who normally handles transport up and down the mountain. Blabandon explains that he had followed Peasley up the mountain earlier, and has since been nursing a gigantic egg he found upon the summit.

The egg promptly chooses this moment to hatch, revealing a dragon-like creature named Dragohoho that attacks Blablandon and the two plumbers. Mario and Luigi defeat the monster, which turns out to be a transformed Peasley, the Prince explaining that he was transformed and shut inside the egg by Cackletta and Fawful. He advises the Mario Bros. not to worry too much about Peach’s stolen voice, before telling them to head to Beanbean Castle in the center of the kingdom. Blablandon flies them back down to Hoohoo Village, where the Hammerhead Bros. craft a pair of hammers for them using a Hoohoo block that was sent falling down to the village during the scene with Dragohoho. With their new hammers, Mario and Luigi are able to get down the mountain, and a cart ride through old mines takes them into the central region of the Beanbean Kingdom, where the Hammerhead Bros. teach them how to attack and defend in battle with their hammers.

The bros arrive at Beanbean Castle Town to find it half-destroyed, courtesy of Cackletta and Fawful. Unable to do anything for the town, they head up to Beanbean Castle, where they are met by Lady Lima. Apparently unwilling to believe the bros when they tell her of all that’s happened, she has them dropped into the castle’s Absurdly Spacious Sewer and orders them to fix the plumbing there to earn her trust. Mario and Luigi do so, and find another Lady Lima imprisoned in the sewers with a couple of attendants, with this Lady Lima claiming that she and the others have been locked up ever since Cackletta and Fawful attacked the castle. It transpires that the Lady Lima encountered earlier was once again Cackletta in disguise, and that fixing the castle’s plumbing has disabled the security for the Beanstar, a star capable of granting wishes.

Mario and Luigi head off to stop Cackletta and Fawful at Lady Lima’s urging, but they arrive too late to keep them from stealing the Beanstar, and are then attacked by the monstrous form of Queen Bean, the Beanbean Kingdom’s ruler. They manage to defeat her, and Lady Lima explains that Queen Bean is in her current state due to ingesting a Belly Blech worm, but that she may be able to cough it up if she drinks the fabled Chuckola Reserve, a derivative of Chuckola Cola soda said to be hidden within the Chucklehuck Woods in the southwest of the kingdom. Naturally, Mario and Luigi head off to retrieve the Chuckola Reserve.

On the way to Chucklehuck Woods, the bros pass through Chateau de Chucklehuck, a brewery that produces Chuckola Cola. There they encounter a thief named Popple and his sidekick Rookie - in reality an amnesiac Bowser wearing a blue mask - who are also after the reserve, with the two pairs naturally coming to blows. Popple and Rookie are defeated and promptly flee, while Mario and Luigi find the Chateau’s owners, a pair of brothers named Cork and Cask, who were previously attacked and imprisoned by the two thieves. As thanks for rescuing them, Cork and Cask teach the Mario Bros. two new Bros. moves that make use of their hammers: Luigi learns how to hammer Mario into mini-Mario, enabling him to squeeze through small holes, and Mario learns how to hammer Luigi into the ground, allowing him to tunnel beneath certain obstacles.

Using their new moves, the Mario Bros. travel through Chucklehuck Woods and eventually find Bubbles, the inventor of Chuckola Cola and the original owner of Chateau de Chucklehuck. Bubbles informs the bros that he has spent the last one thousand years maturing the Chuckola Reserve by telling jokes to it. He’s willing to let the Mario Bros. enjoy it…but he’s also a few beans short of a bean plant, and has let the soda turn into a monster known as the Chuckolator. Much to his despair, Mario and Luigi defeat the monster, causing it to revert into normal Chuckola Cola. He responds by destroying the floor of his hideaway, dropping the bros into an underground cavern. Mario lands in the barrel of Chuckola Reserve and drinks it dry, and after finding him still in the barrel, Luigi rides it back to Beanbean Castle via the kingdom’s rivers. There they are able to transfer the Chuckola Reserve into Queen Bean, who coughs up the Belly Blech and returns to her normal, benevolent self.

The Mario Bros. bring Queen Bean up to speed on all that’s happened, and Lady Lima explains Cackletta’s motives; to prevent the misuse of the Beanstar’s power, it was put into a deep sleep, and can only be awoken by a pure voice that no-one besides Peach possesses. Well, until Cackletta stole her voice that is. Lady Lima figures that Cackletta’s goal is to use the Beanstar to become ruler of the world. Despite Cackletta seemingly having had all the major successes, Queen Bean isn’t at all bothered, claiming that she foresaw the witch’s ambitions long ago, and that the heroes are in a better position than her. The discussion is then interrupted by the arrival of Peasley, who thanks the Mario Bros. for their help, saying that thanks to them, a secret mission of his - that Queen Bean knows about - is about to pay off. He then tells the others that he’s tracked Cackletta and Fawful to Woohoo Hooniversity, the Beanbean Kingdom’s research institution, and promptly leaves to go deal with them. Mario and Luigi set off after him, Queen Bean instructing her troops to grant them passage to the institution.

Mario and Luigi arrive at Woohoo Hooniversity to discover it half-wrecked thanks to Cackletta, with all the researchers who didn’t escape turned into monsters. Dealing with them, along with a Light and Mirrors Puzzle that spans the institution, the bros arrive in the main laboratory right as Cackletta and Fawful prepare to awaken the Beanstar with a trio of Peach-Bots; robots bearing Peach’s appearance and voice. When the Peach-Bots speak however, the Beanstar inexplicably goes berserk and demolishes the floor, sending them plummeting into the institution’s basement before dropping down after them. As Cackletta and Fawful wonder what the hell just happened, Mario and Luigi choose this moment to confront them, with Fawful not even getting the dignity of a boss fight before getting taken out. Infuriated, Cackletta vows to knock the Mario Bros. back into the Mushroom Kingdom, but in spite of her power is soundly defeated by them, forcing Fawful to suck up her soul with his headgear.

Fawful attempts to continue the fight, but Peasley chooses this moment to make his entrance, curbstomping the minion and sending both him and Cackletta flying out of the university. He doesn’t seem at all surprised to learn that the Beanstar went mad after hearing Peach’s voice, and agrees to explain things once it’s been retrieved and secured. Mario and Luigi head down into the basement to do so, but find themselves getting into another confrontation with Popple and Rookie, who had been lurking around when the Beanstar fell. Another battle takes place between the two pairs - with Popple and Rookie bringing along Bros. Attacks of their own, albeit ones that involve Popple being used as a weapon - but just like last time, Popple and Rookie are beaten. Following the fight, a Peach-Bot falls into the basement and sets off the Beanstar once again, causing it to swell up and float away. Rookie, Popple and the Mario Bros. cling to it as it levitates up into the sky, but eventually lose their grip one after the other. Before letting go, Rookie snaps out of his amnesia and remembers that he is in fact Bowser, after which, the Beanstar explodes into four pieces.

Mario and Luigi land upon Oho Oasis, an island within the eastern seas of the Beanbean Kingdom. Finding and exploring two temples on the island, the bros respectively learn the Firebrand and Thunderhand Elemental Powers, which they use to gain access to a warp pipe that takes them to the seabed of Ohio Ocean. Traveling along the seabed - they have the same Super Not-Drowning Skills as in the 2D platformers here, so don’t worry about them being unable to breathe - the Mario Bros. reunite with Peasley as they step back onto the mainland, and tell him of how the Beanstar exploded. They offer to help him recover the four pieces, but The Prince directs them to Beanbean International Airport in the south of the kingdom, explaining that Peach is flying there for a diplomatic visit. But hold on; wasn’t her voice swapped for a literally explosive one?

At roughly the same time, the battered Fawful and Cackletta come across the equally beaten Bowser within Stardust Fields. At Cackletta’s command, Fawful has his headgear infuse his master’s soul with the prone form of the Koopa King. As the screen goes black, Cackletta’s eyes open, and a mouth with her sharp teeth breathes fire…

Back in the south of the kingdom, the Mario Bros. are forced to clear an infestation of Piranha Plants - including a huge Mom Piranha - on the airport’s runway to allow Peach’s plane to land. Peach is officially received within the gardens of Beanbean Castle, and she soon approaches Mario and Luigi. The two of them naturally panic when Peach opens her mouth…

…and much to their surprise, Peach is able to speak normally.

The Mario Bros. are understandably confused, and Toadsworth reveals that Peach’s voice was never stolen. As it turns out, Peasley had learned of Cackletta’s plan long ago, and warned Peach about it beforehand. Thus, while Peach and Toadsworth hid behind one of the throne room’s pillars, Cackletta and Fawful stole the voice of a Peach body double - played by none other than Birdo - hence why the Beanstar flipped out at the sound of it. Peach apologizes to Mario and Luigi for not explaining the truth to them; Bowser’s arrival at the castle kept her from doing so, and thus the events of the game were set in motion. Still, the defeat of Cackletta is hardly something to complain about, Toadsworth argues.

With the fallen pieces of the Beanstar still unaccounted for, Peasley sets off to look for them. In the meantime, Peach expresses a desire to visit Little Fungitown, a settlement founded by Toads who migrated to the Beanbean Kingdom. Such a trip would require her to travel through the monster-filled Teehee Valley, but the Mario Bros. agree - reluctantly in Luigi’s case - to serve as her escorts there. First though, they have to actually get to Teehee Valley, which has been blocked off by rocks that Mario and Luigi’s hammers can’t break. Fortunately, the Hammerhead Bros. have relocated to a cave east of Beanbean castle; a quick visit nets the Mario Bros. upgraded Super Hammers that allow them to break harder rocks.

With the Mario Bros. protecting Peach from the monsters of the valley - including a giant rock monster named Trunkle - the trio make it safely to Little Fungitown. While there, Mario and Luigi visit a local arcade and win an “Invincishroom” from one of the games; upon eating it however, Mario contracts Bean fever, a disease common to those unaccustomed to the Beanbean Kingdom’s food that will turn him into a Bean within three days. With no other option, Luigi is instructed to travel to an area of Teehee Valley known as Guffawha Ruins to find some Crabbie Grass, the only known cure for Bean Fever. Though initially willing, Luigi balks when he learns that Guffawha Ruins is supposedly home to vicious monsters; fortunately a Magikoopa known as Psycho Kamek is on hand to hypnotize him into believing he’s his older brother, granting him the necessary courage to leave Little Fungitown.

Traveling to Guffawha Ruins, Luigi meets with a surprisingly friendly stone head monster who’s unhappy about rumors making it out to be far more violent than it actually is. After letting the monster attack him in order to vent its rage, Luigi is able to retrieve a sample of Crabbie Grass, and he sets off back towards Little Fungitown. Soon after he returns though, Bowletta - the fusion of Bowser’s body and Cackletta’s soul - takes advantage of Mario’s illness and kidnaps Peach. She later sends them a message demanding that they retrieve the pieces of the Beanstar in exchange for the princess's return, leaving them little other choice but to do so. Fortunately, Peasley knows the general area where each one landed, and the Mario Bros. return to Teehee Valley to get the first one.

The bros track the piece to a landlocked cargo ship known as the S.S. Chuckola, but it gets taken by the ship’s literal skeleton crew; attempting to retrieve it, Mario and Luigi accidentally launch the ship out to sea, whereupon it promptly hits a rock and sinks. The Mario Bros. pursue the Beanstar piece across the seabed to Gwahar Lagoon, a tropical region in the southeast of the Beanbean Kingdom, where they visit a massage parlor owned by the Jellyfish Sisters. After discovering that Mario and Luigi possess the Firebrand and Thunderhand, the sisters teach them to incorporate those powers into the game’s last two Bros. Moves: an electrified sidestep that allows them to get around certain obstacles, and a flame-induced dash fast enough to knock other obstacles aside. With these two moves, Mario and Luigi travel through the lagoon and encounter a giant hermit crab known as Hermie III, who has decorated his shell with the Beanstar piece. Hermie attacks the bros after they lure away his fangirls, but is defeated, and he agrees to hand over the Beanstar piece.

The other three Beanstar pieces are retrieved with somewhat less drama. One falls into the possession of Boddle, a Yoshi enthusiast and the brother of Bubbles, who gives it to the Mario Bros. in exchange for them gathering Neon Eggs to decorate the sign for his Yoshi Theatre. Another is claimed by fashion stylist Harhall, who gives it to the Mario Bros. after they help color some shirts for him. Last but not least, a piece falls into a region of Chucklehuck Woods inhabited by snail-like creatures known as Winkles; the Mario Bros. retrieve it after playing a minigame within the Winkle Colosseum and defeating Popple for a third time.

With the Beanstar reassembled, Bowletta sends the heroes another message instructing them to bring it to Joke’s End, an icy mountain island in the northeast of the Beanbean Kingdom that is said to be a resting place for bad jokes. Peasley gives them a fake Beanstar to offer in place of the real one, and Toadsworth gives them a spare dress to take to Peach. With Joke’s End unreachable via the seabed, Mario and Luigi visit the Hammerhead Bros. for one last hammer upgrade; they use their new Ultra Hammers to gain access to a beach where Luigi can be hammered into a surfboard, enabling the bros to reach the island. There they travel to the top of the mountain, dealing with malevolent architecture that briefly forces them to split up, as well as a fairy-like girl named Jojora who trash-talks them along the way. After defeating Jojora and one of her monstrous friends, the Mario Bros. encounter Fawful and attempt to trick him with the fake Beanstar, but Fawful sees through their scheme and obtains the real Beanstar from their suitcase. As Fawful leaves to present the Beanstar to Bowletta, Mario notices the spare dress in the suitcase and comes up with an idea…

Finding Bowletta and Fawful further on in, Mario attempts to get them to return Peach, but they refuse, citing the fake Beanstar stunt from earlier (though it’s dubious whether they would have kept their word in the first place, considering that they’d be giving up their only means of awakening the Beanstar). In response, Mario starts laughing…before another Princess Peach emerges and claims that the princess with Bowletta and Fawful is yet another body double. Furious at being fooled by the same trick once again, the villains grab the Peach standing with Mario while ditching the one they had…but it’s the latter Peach that turns out to be the real one.

Bowletta and Fawful take their Peach and the Beanstar up to the Koopa Cruiser, now repaired and serving as their ride. They soon discover the deception, with the fake Peach revealed to be a disguised Luigi. Luigi evades the villains, retrieves the Beanstar and parachutes out of the Koopa Cruiser, leaving Bowletta and Fawful outplayed and empty-handed once again. Fawful offers to try and grab Luigi and the Beanstar, but Bowletta declares that they will instead head to the Mushroom Kingdom…

As Luigi parachutes down towards Teehee Valley, a bird sabotages his parachute, causing him to crash within the sands and fall into an underground cavern. Mario heads off to retrieve him, whereupon the duo find themself in yet another confrontation with Popple, who’s recruited Birdo as his new “Rookie”. Popple is defeated for a fourth and final time; he pins the blame for the loss on Birdo, who responds by tail-slapping him out of the cavern and storming off, intending to become a superstar in her own right. It seems that everything is finally over…but then the Mario Bros. return to Beanbean Castle Town to find it being bombarded with Bullet Bills from up in the sky. Meeting with Peasley, Queen Bean and Lady Lima, Mario and Luigi learn that Bowletta has taken command of Bowser’s Castle - here a great floating fortress - and is none too happy at being constantly outplayed over the Beanstar. With the Beanbean Kingdom at risk of being destroyed, Mario and Luigi agree to go and stop Bowletta once and for all, both of them being very familiar with Bowser’s Castle. They return to Hoohoo Village to speak with Blablandon, who agrees to fly them up to the castle.

Upon being dropped at the castle, Mario and Luigi travel through it while fighting off Bowser’s minions, the Koopalings, and finally Fawful. Confronting and battling Bowletta within the castle’s throne room, they seemingly manage to defeat her, but then a Time Bob-omb appears behind them and detonates, knocking them both out and allowing Bowletta - who had merely been feigning defeat - to swallow them alive. The Mario Bros. awaken within Bowletta’s body, and find themself face-to-face with the soul of Cackletta. They battle her once again and destroy her for good, causing Bowletta to spit them back out and revert into Bowser. Peasley rigs the castle to explode, and he, Mario, Luigi and Blabandon make their escape.

With Cackletta finally gone from the world, Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toadsworth say their goodbyes to their friends in the Beanbean Kingdom and return home. They bring with them the hapless Bowser - who had survived the destruction of his castle and was rescued by Peasley afterwards - dropping him back within his own lands as the plane flies over them.