What's Next for the Mario & Luigi series?

JBX9001

JBX9001

IT'S-A GO TIME, MO' FO'S!
So as some of you may have noticed, the 3DS is getting less and less games for it, with some franchises already making the move from that console to the Nintendo Switch (Pokemon for instance). The Mario & Luigi games have always been on handhelds, but I have the feeling pretty soon we'll be getting a new entry on the beloved new gaming platform pretty soon (or eventually, whichever). So I have a few questions to present here:


Will they remake Partners in Time at all? If yes, will it be put on the Switch, or be considered one of the last few AAA games on the 3DS?


Graphical upgrades will be a given, but will it look like the standard 3D Mario titles or still retain the visual style seen in official artwork?


Ever since PiT, the dual screen feature has been used quite extensively; since the Switch doesn't operate on two screens, how will this affect gameplay (probably not by much, but it'd still be something worth discussing)?


Feel free to bring up anything you'd LIKE to see in a new game for the Mario & Luigi series as well!
 
I don't want a Partners in Time remake if all they're going to do with it is simply regurgitate the game back at us, flaws intact like they did with Bowser's Minions and Bowser Jr.'s Journey. Even more so that the game has very fundamental flaws that Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story don't really have. For example, Partners in Time really needs to ditch its linear level structure and construct a better, seamless world like they do in Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story. Bros. Items are very spammable to the point of the Ulti-Free Badge outright breaking the game.

I'm glad Partners in Time doesn't use any hardware gimmicks for anything serious unlike Bowser's Inside Story or Dream Team though. More often than not, they're an inferior method of playing the game than simply using buttons to perform attacks. If those battles are less fun, less convenient, and less intuitive than simply pushing a button, don't use them.

I'd rather see the next M&L game (or remake) on the Switch than on the soon-to-be-dead system. Bowser Jr.'s Journey's abysmal Japanese sales is the writing on the wall for that system.
 
I see your point. Granted, I would expect a remake to fix the mistakes of the original version, but hey, even if this never happens, I can always just pull out the ol' DS cartridge and replay that.


I mean, on the field for navigation, stuff like gyroscopic or touch controls can be kinda neat (when done right). But yes, for battles, I much prefer all action commands be designated to the buttons and control pad (or control stick as may be the case in the future).
 
What I would like to see are the following:
- Have a central villain that is completely different. I don't necessarily mean use an original villain, but we could use a familiar face like Donkey Kong or even something obscure like Wart. Most important, Bowser should take a backseat as a final boss this time around. Seriously, every game in this series already has Bowser as a final boss in some form, even Bowser's Inside Story.
- Involve the other major characters in the Mario series, outside the usual Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser. Also including Toad and Yoshi since they appear with regularity. For example a Mario & Luigi game where Daisy plays a major part would be a superb thing in my book.

Thank you for reading.
 
I want to see Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. I don't care if they end up blowing up and then window cleaning in the end, I just want to see them for once.

Waluigi and Wario should really have a role in the series, and one of my ideas is that their shenanigans become teaching moments for Mario and Luigi, such as Waluigi screaming at Wario and kicking him like a football, Mario gets the idea to mold Luigi into a stone a football and then throw it into switches to get them free.
 
winstein said:
- Have a central villain that is completely different. I don't necessarily mean use an original villain, but we could use a familiar face like Donkey Kong or even something obscure like Wart. Most important, Bowser should take a backseat as a final boss this time around. Seriously, every game in this series already has Bowser as a final boss in some form, even Bowser's Inside Story.
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I barely count Shrowser as a final boss, since that battle doesn't even occur in the climax of the game, it's past that point. In fact, Shrowser's boss fight is pretty much pointless, they might as well just skip it altogether and nothing about the plot would change in the slightest.

The boss battle isn't even fun either.
 
I want more Fawful

I think a PIT remake is more likely to do that than a new game because of complications involving how one can walk back unscathed from one's head exploding into globs of purple goo. But in a game where he's both alive and not occupied being a central antagonist? Partners in Time + Fawful's Furious Future anyone (credit to Silver-64 who helped come up with the title)?

I also want more Antasma

of which a new game would be ideal for that. Sure he exploded too, but it could pass off way easier as the standard "i am defeated therefore peace out dudes" explosion, especially since the Koopalings and Kamek(s) used it in PJ. Same for Best Fitness Friends, they are good candidates for recurring villains as well.

Let's get Wario and Waluigi playable or at least rival-style bosses in the next game too. Bonus if Waluigi meets Dieter. I'd say I want another Paper Mario crossover that actually utilizes characters not found anywhere else but something tells me Miyamoto would rather retire the franchise than dare allow that so sadly it looks like I have to live with just the existing one that was such a tease

I had a dream (heh) that they did a remake on the Switch, but it was of Dream Team for some reason and it was incredibly cinematic with super high-quality expressive models and lots of flashy magical effects. While I definitely think PIT needs a remake above any other, I would LOVE if a Switch game used this type of direction for style and quality. Well as long as it doesn't ditch everything not from the main series in the process.
 
Baby Luigi said:
winstein said:
- Have a central villain that is completely different. I don't necessarily mean use an original villain, but we could use a familiar face like Donkey Kong or even something obscure like Wart. Most important, Bowser should take a backseat as a final boss this time around. Seriously, every game in this series already has Bowser as a final boss in some form, even Bowser's Inside Story.
Click to expand...

I barely count Shrowser as a final boss, since that battle doesn't even occur in the climax of the game, it's past that point. In fact, Shrowser's boss fight is pretty much pointless, they might as well just skip it altogether and nothing about the plot would change in the slightest.

The boss battle isn't even fun either.
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Yes, this is what annoys me the most about Partners in Time: they just had to put Bowser as a final "boss" in some form, as though it's mandated.

Thank you for reading.
 
winstein said:
What I would like to see are the following:
- Have a central villain that is completely different. I don't necessarily mean use an original villain, but we could use a familiar face like Donkey Kong or even something obscure like Wart. Most important, Bowser should take a backseat as a final boss this time around. Seriously, every game in this series already has Bowser as a final boss in some form, even Bowser's Inside Story.
- Involve the other major characters in the Mario series, outside the usual Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser. Also including Toad and Yoshi since they appear with regularity. For example a Mario & Luigi game where Daisy plays a major part would be a superb thing in my book.

Thank you for reading.
Click to expand...
Guess you're entitled to that opinion but I think Bowser works fine as a central villain. And if you're going to use an original character, just don't use Bowser. Often times, that villain just fills the role Bowser otherwise would've had, and more often than not, Bowser gets chewed up and spat out, kinda like what happens to recurring villains in self-insert fanfics. No thanks. But if you're going to do Donkey Kong as a central villain, I'd sooooo be behind that idea. Make it a Mario & Luigi vs. Donkey Kong game! Use Mini Mario armies to thrash the banana horde! I don't know, but that kind of Mario game sounds so much more fun than things like Super Mario Maker 2.

Can we finally kill Starlow by the way? She sucks. She's the one who needs to be chewed up and discarded, not Bowser.

As for art direction, I'd like to see either sprites or models, I don't have much of a preference, but sprites sound nice at this point since we already have hundreds of models of Marios now and HOW ELSE CAN WE MAKE SPRITE COMICS? PRE RENDERS?

winstein said:
Yes, this is what annoys me the most about Partners in Time: they just had to put Bowser as a final "boss" in some form, as though it's mandated.

Thank you for reading.
Click to expand...
Shrowser is contrived but I still think he felt more of some unexpected minigame.... also I hope we never have to suffer through that spaceship minigame from Partners in Time ever again.
 
winstein said:
What I would like to see are the following:
- Have a central villain that is completely different. I don't necessarily mean use an original villain, but we could use a familiar face like Donkey Kong or even something obscure like Wart. Most important, Bowser should take a backseat as a final boss this time around. Seriously, every game in this series already has Bowser as a final boss in some form, even Bowser's Inside Story.
- Involve the other major characters in the Mario series, outside the usual Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser. Also including Toad and Yoshi since they appear with regularity. For example a Mario & Luigi game where Daisy plays a major part would be a superb thing in my book.

Thank you for reading.
Click to expand...


Not sure about Donkey Kong being an antagonist in this series. I mean, it's the whole focus with the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong series, but the plot of those games never really reaches that same level of urgency as in this one (and he's more like a friendly rival to Mario these days). But you're right about them defaulting to Bowser a bit much. I enjoy fighting the dude and all, but yeah, I'd like to see some new villains every now and then.


LeftyGreenMario said:
I want to see Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. I don't care if they end up blowing up and then window cleaning in the end, I just want to see them for once.

Waluigi and Wario should really have a role in the series, and one of my ideas is that their shenanigans become teaching moments for Mario and Luigi, such as Waluigi screaming at Wario and kicking him like a football, Mario gets the idea to mold Luigi into a stone a football and then throw it into switches to get them free.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be against it, just as long as they give us a good reason for it; but it would indeed be cool to have Wario & Waluigi play a major role in a new game!


Fawfulthegreat64 said:
I want more Fawful

I think a PIT remake is more likely to do that than a new game because of complications involving how one can walk back unscathed from one's head exploding into globs of purple goo. But in a game where he's both alive and not occupied being a central antagonist? Partners in Time + Fawful's Furious Future anyone (credit to Silver-64 who helped come up with the title)?

I also want more Antasma

of which a new game would be ideal for that. Sure he exploded too, but it could pass off way easier as the standard "i am defeated therefore peace out dudes" explosion, especially since the Koopalings and Kamek(s) used it in PJ. Same for Best Fitness Friends, they are good candidates for recurring villains as well.

Let's get Wario and Waluigi playable or at least rival-style bosses in the next game too. Bonus if Waluigi meets Dieter. I'd say I want another Paper Mario crossover that actually utilizes characters not found anywhere else but something tells me Miyamoto would rather retire the franchise than dare allow that so sadly it looks like I have to live with just the existing one that was such a tease

I had a dream (heh) that they did a remake on the Switch, but it was of Dream Team for some reason and it was incredibly cinematic with super high-quality expressive models and lots of flashy magical effects. While I definitely think PIT needs a remake above any other, I would LOVE if a Switch game used this type of direction for style and quality. Well as long as it doesn't ditch everything not from the main series in the process.
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I always figured they could do something like a reincarnation of Fawful (or maybe someone related and/or awfully similar to him) who in a case of irony helps Mario & Luigi in their new adventure as a supporting character. That's what I'd do anyways.


Antasma would be neat, but of course we'd still have to make sure the story works around his return. He was primarily a threat to Pi'illo Island, but I guess they could figure out something if they wanted to.


It seems to me with Sticker Star and Color Splash, they've really been putting emphasis on setting it as an alternate world as opposed to the first three; the first three don't even make any paper jokes or references aside from occasional visual gags, but these recent two really hammer it in. I just want to see said unique characters in more Mario games period. Like, why just a regular Koopa Troopa for the spin-offs when you could use Kooper or Koops (and they don't have to be 2D or paper; they brought back the Star Spirits and Goomboss before and they were 3D).


So far the series has maintained consistent quality, so I trust they won't mess up anything. But the side story for the remakes... If that returns, just make that like the main game too if we must have it. I like the idea of a behind-the-scenes narrative, but the gameplay they use can feel a bit like a chore sometimes...

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LeftyGreenMario said:
Guess you're entitled to that opinion but I think Bowser works fine as a central villain. And if you're going to use an original character, just don't use Bowser. Often times, that villain just fills the role Bowser otherwise would've had, and more often than not, Bowser gets chewed up and spat out, kinda like what happens to recurring villains in self-insert fanfics. No thanks. But if you're going to do Donkey Kong as a central villain, I'd sooooo be behind that idea. Make it a Mario & Luigi vs. Donkey Kong game! Use Mini Mario armies to thrash the banana horde! I don't know, but that kind of Mario game sounds so much more fun than things like Super Mario Maker 2.

Can we finally kill Starlow by the way? She sucks. She's the one who needs to be chewed up and discarded, not Bowser.

As for art direction, I'd like to see either sprites or models, I don't have much of a preference, but sprites sound nice at this point since we already have hundreds of models of Marios now and HOW ELSE CAN WE MAKE SPRITE COMICS? PRE RENDERS?

Shrowser is contrived but I still think he felt more of some unexpected minigame.... also I hope we never have to suffer through that spaceship minigame from Partners in Time ever again.
Click to expand...


Bowser doesn't necessarily have to be tossed aside to make the new villain look good (besides, he lives through most fights with Mario; most the alternate villains... Well... Die.)


While she was a bit of a pain in her debut appearance, she got a little better in later titles. But hey, that's just me; I guess I'm a bit too tolerant at times (with some exceptions).


I'd be up for sprites if they're really high quality, but they're likely to do 3D models. Can't help ya there; I prefer drawing stuff in the panels for comics over placing sprites in them. ^^;


Totally agree on the spaceship "minigame" though...!
 
I don't mind seeing a new badguy again and I'm sure we will someday since the BFFs show they are clearly still fine with creating such things.

Just if there is a new one, don't have Bowser in the game. Maybe he's on vacation or something, I dunno.

Also no Antasma please. That guy was incredibly dull and everything about him was derivative. I'd rather see the shroobs come back.

As for the gameplay. I need more than just the same old gameplay with a new gimmick. I want the series to evolve a bit. Improve on concepts rather than constantly swapping things out for a new gimmick.
 
~ Playable Wario and Waluigi as the X and Y buttons respectively.
~ Partners in Time DX at some point.
~ Antasma, Midbus, Popple, and the Shroobs return at some point.
~ New original baddies and characters as well.
~ Giant Mario battles? (Considering we already got Giant Bowser and Giant Luigi.)
 
Maybe if they do Giant Mario well enough, we can have that as a Final Smash and I'll stop having to complain how they made it so bad and nonthreatening.
 
I'd rather they just ditch gimmick fights altogether.
 
Saltman said:
I'd rather have Wario and Waluigi be the bad guys than playable characters or rivals.
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My opinion on that is the same as with the aforementioned Donkey Kong. Unless they pull a Mario Tennis Aces and some dark power makes them commit legitimately evil deeds. But otherwise, I just don't see them causing the same amount of problems as the villains we did get so far.
 
As long as the gameplay and battle system are still on the same bases created by previous games, I'll be eager to see what happens with the series.
Just don't pull a Paper Jam and lose new, interesting enemies/characters created just for the M&L series. Bring back the classics like the beans, hoohoos, and others scattered around the area.
 
Moldo said:
Just don't pull a Paper Jam and lose new, interesting enemies/characters created just for the M&L series. Bring back the classics like the beans, hoohoos, and others scattered around the area.
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I care more about how well the characters involved are written rather then whether they are new or not. New characters can still be boring and dull afterall.

You know like most of the ones from Dream Team, most of which pretty much came down to "we talk in a funny voice"
 
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