whats the best ''mario & luigi...'' game?

[spittint_goblin17]

i wanna play one of the mario and luigi games but dont know where to start.
is there like a linear story and does it matter what part i start with?

 

[Dell Conagher]

You can start with any of them. The games are connected somewhat (Past events are sometimes referenced, certain characters will return, etc), but it's not really important. Each game can be enjoyed on its own.

Personally, I would recommend starting with either Bowser's Inside Story or Superstar Saga. BIS is my favorite game in the series, and it's the one I played first. There's a lot of annoying tutorials at the beginning, but other then that it's a great game. Superstar Saga is also really good but I recommend playing the 3DS remake over the original. The remake has a few downsides but overall it has some great QoL improvements that make it hard to go back to the original.

 

[Ray Trace]

The one that has Baby Luigi playable.

 

[Vivian]

What sounds the most appealing?
a) the first of the series
b) playable Baby Mario and Baby Luigi
c) playable Bowser
d) mega size battles

 

[I'm the lil bro.]

While Bowser's Inside Story is the fan favorite and most likely the one you'll enjoy the most, I recommend starting with Superstar Saga if you don't plan on playing the 3DS remake, because those QoL improvements that were mentioned already? Yeah, that also applies to future titles after Superstar Saga. I also think that Superstar Saga is a good "baseline" for what to expect from the franchise (unlike Bowser's Inside Story, which is an outstanding title for the series), so it's a good entry to determine if you'll like any of the others after it. I also recommend that if you plan on playing Partners in Time, you do that before Bowser's Inside Story, as BIS makes a direct reference to through some side content (like, as an actual optional segment of the game) that you won't be able to appreciate if you don't play that first.

I recommend against playing Paper Jam first. That game in particular has features no other game before it has, and you will be sorely missing them. While Dream Team is my personal favorite, I also think its story hits harder if you play at least BIS beforehand.

Honestly, you can't go wrong going with the order that they were produced in. While you will completely understand the story if you play them out of order (none of them hinge on you playing the others first to get it as the stories are self contained), certain events won't hit quite the same way if you don't play the game that comes before first. In addition to that, the changes that are made to the gameplay can make the older titles harder to go back to.

 

[Cayde]

Paper Jam is the best, no contest. Play this one.

 

[Fawfulthegreat64]

My advice is to start with Superstar Saga and play in order up to Dream Team, as each game has continuity nods and references that are appreciated if you've played the previous. Except Paper Jam, which exists in its own bubble with just mainline Mario stuff and as a result felt incredibly insulting as a longtime fan of M&L's flavor of characters, scenarios, and stories. And since it was the one game to also involve Paper Mario, another series that had a very distinct flavor and tone in its better years, that essentially doubled the disappointment that combining them avoided fanservice like the plague. So uh, I don't think you're missing much if you skip that one entirely.