Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, known in Japan as Mario & Luigi RPG 1 DX (マリオ&ルイージRPG1 DXデラックス, Mario ando Ruīji Aru Pī Jī Wan Derakkusu, pronounced as "Deluxe"), is an enhanced remake of the 2003 game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance. Along with the remake, it also comes along with the new story called Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser, where Bowser's minions are battling enemies from the Beanbean Kingdom in order to rescue Bowser.
There have been a lot of changes in the remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga:
Many character sprites are derived from the sprites of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, causing their appearance to be different with respect to the one of the original game.
The NPC Koopa Troopas from the Koopa Cruiser no longer wear flight uniforms, plus resemble more of regular Koopas.
The Toads in Peach's Castle and Little Fungitown are now regular Toads with differently colored spots and vests rather than differing in height and clothing.
The cannon that Bowser gets stuck in during Stardust Fields now flies away upon firing him out, rather than blinking away after the camera pans back to Mario and Luigi.
Most bosses have more complex patterns to their attacks, also getting enraged once their HP falls under a certain threshold, making their attacks faster and more damaging.
Ludwig's boss fight now consists of a single attack sequence, which if successfully countered ends the battle instantly, but causes an instant game over if not.
Boo Biscuits are added to the usable items, allowing the Bros to practice dodging enemy attacks.
The original game featured a cutscene upon entering Bowser's Castle, where Fawful informs Bowletta about the arrival of Mario and Luigi, and she summons the Koopalings. The original cutscene was cut altogether from this game, since in Minion Quest, Bowletta (disguised as Bowser) orders Captain Goomba and the other minions of the Koopa Troop to attack Mario and Luigi instead.
Cheep Cheeps, along with their transformation Puffer-Cheeps have been replaced by Spiny Cheep-Cheeps who will appear unspiked and act just like a normal Cheep Cheep when first encountered.
Mario and Luigi will now jump twice on an enemy if a solo jump's action command is entered correctly, just like in previous installments since Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
Heart Blocks are present in every version of the game unlike in the original, where only the Japanese version featured them.
Cutscenes can be sped up with, or with the R icon on the touchscreen.
Mario and Luigi's positions can no longer be switched manually. Instead, they will switch automatically when selecting a move.
The Bros. can now jump simultaneously by pressing the button and now switch whenever split up when pressing the button.
"Toadtown Square" was renamed to "Peach's Castle."
Boomerang Bros fought in-game are now called Beanerang Bros, as Boomerang Bros (with their modern appearance) appear in Minion Quest.
In the original English version, Popple's battle theme plays in the second battle with Fawful. However, in the remake, it is changed to Cackletta's battle theme like in the original Japanese version.
Trivia[]
In the Yoshi Theater, the movie posters have been changed to reference past titles.
A poster of Prince Dreambert appears, referencing Dream Team.
A poster of Broque Monsieur and Broque Madame appears, referencing Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team.
A poster of the Shroobs appears, referencing Partners in Time.
Reception[]
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic holding a metascore of 81/100 based on 51 critic reviews.
• ⋆-Enemy, boss, or stat exclusive to the main game. • ⋆⋆-Enemy, boss, or stat exclusive to Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. • ⋆⋆⋆-Enemy variants differ in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions.