In a world where two brothers can peacefully co-exist as our favorite plumber-duo, things cannot go wrong. At least that is what we kept telling ourselves until we played Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, one of my favorite games of 2003, and simply put, one of the best games you can find on any platform. With a hilarious storyline full of colorful characters, plenty of nostalgia-inducing details, and innovative gameplay that took the Mario RPG formula to new heights, we really could not ask for more. So what would happen if the Mario brothers took a trip down memory lane? A worthy follow-up to a superstar production.

Facts and Features:

• In this sequel to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the Mario brothers team up with their young selves on a quest of lunatic proportions.
  
• Control both sets of brothers to explore the very fabric of time and take on an evil alien entity known as the Shroobs.
  
• Duke it out with crazy foes using the celebrated fast-action battle system unique to Mario & Luigi games.
  
• Dodge enemy attacks individually, then use items like the Trampoline and Cannonballer to team up all four brothers for super moves.
  
• The second screen will quickly become the players' best friend as they use it to study the land, keep track of the pair of brothers not under their control and even maximize combo moves in battle.
  

Baby, One More Time
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is yet another game in the Mario RPG universe; a universe that -- as most hardcore Nintendo fans probably know -- has been passed through the hands of several capable developers. The first game, Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, was developed by the RPG powerhouse Squaresoft; the Paper Mario series was created by the geniuses at Intelligent Systems. In 2003, Alphadream -- a practically unknown development house -- was chosen to create the handheld iteration of the Mario RPG formula. Even though this developing team were practically newbies, playing their final product made us realize that not only were they very capable game creators, but it also that we could not wait for them to develop the sequel. And here we are, after two long years, finally ready to return to the Mushroom Kingdom for another wacky adventure.

After defeating the evil Cackletta in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the Mario brothers are preparing to take a long vacation, where they will finally be able to enjoy peace and silence. But who are we kidding? This is Nintendo, and Nintendo does not like messing with tradition, so naturally, they will take us to a place where the brothers are ready to once again face an upcoming trouble: the past.

When Professor E. Gadd of Luigi's Mansion fame creates a time machine that will allow anyone who enters it to travel back in time, Princess Peach decides to try it out. This time machine sends the damsel in distress back in time, and of course, this means that the Mario Brothers will have to return back in time to save the princess. Are you experiencing deja vú yet? I am. Yet, we gotta hand it to Alphadream for surprising us with a fantastic and incredibly funny plot twist near the beggining of the game, where all goes incredibly wrong (duh!) and upon returning back to regular time, the Mario Brothers realize that not only will they have to watch out for their own lives, but they must also babysit a couple of familiar babies: infant versions of their own selves.


The puzzles are clever and plenty

Cute enough? Yeah, it is. But keep in mind that a world with baby Mario Brothers (And a cute baby Peach, aww!) is probably also home to a little mischievous Bowser as well. So who is the bad guy? Well, besides the annoyingly funny Bowser Jr., there is also an alien force of weird mushrooms called the "Shroobs" whom are led by the lovely Princess Shroob. This Princess desires to take over the Mushroom Kingdom because aparently, it is a great place to live in. I will not spoil the rest of the story for you, but just be informed that once again, the talent of Nintendo's localization and writing teams is visible.