Collection essentials #526: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

A Mario JRPG had first been conceived, made and released in 1996 by Square. The second such game was Paper Mario a few years later, also a JRPG but developed by different people and largely doing its own thing rather than copying the template of the previous game. Now, perhaps surprisingly, there would be a third Mario JRPG that would also have its own style rather than being a follow-up to one of the other two games. It would be developed by AlphaDream, a company founded in part by former Square employees, so some who worked on the original Mario RPG would also work on this one. Thus, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was born. As the title implies, this game prominently features both of the brothers sharing the spotlight as main characters, with no other party members joining in. Like the previous games, it features an emphasis on timed button presses during the turn-based battles, as well as platforming elements outside of battle. And like the first Mario RPG, it features some compl...