Superstar Saga on the Game Boy Advance, bringing the famous plumber and his brother, Luigi, into the role-playing realm for the first time since Super Mario RPG. Since then, the franchise has remained a bright spot in Nintendo’s RPG lineup, with new ...

With tight battle mechanics, engaging puzzles, and new characters that become more endearing as the story goes on, Mario & Luigi: Brothership has all the hallmarks of a great RPG. It’s still no Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but it’s not far off.

This structure allows for two fundamental truths that keep the combat in Brothership engaging for most of its runtime. Watching Mario and Luigi do stuff together is really charming, and putting quick-time events in turn-based battles makes the proceedings feel just a bit more exciting. Stats don’t dictate whether an attack lands, you do.