Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What The Game's About
When the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom come down with an inflation illness known as the blorbs, Princess Peach (in her first governmental act in, well, ever) calls for a special summit to discuss how to address the crisis. When Bowser shows up at the meeting to speak his mind on behalf of the Koopas, he's rebuffed by Peach and her council. Kicked out of the castle by Mario, Bowser is tricked into eating a special mushroom that causes him to inhale and swallow Mario, Luigi, Peach, special adviser Starlow, and a collection of Toads, among other things. It is then that the villainous sidekick from the original Mario & Luigi game, Fawful, makes a reappearance in a bid to become top villain by conquering the Mushroom Kingdom and claiming Bowser's castle. With everyone's favorite plumbers trapped in the belly of the beast, it's up to Bowser to save the day.

What's Hot
Correcting the misstep that was the previous Mario & Luigi adventure, Partners In Time, Bowser's Inside Story divides the action across the DS' two screens. The top screen features Bowser in a traditional isometric overworld controlled with the X and Y buttons, while the bottom screen spotlights Mario and Luigi in a 2D side-scrolling environment inside Bowser's body as controlled with the A and B buttons. Switching back and forth between the two factions is a major aspect of the gameplay, as, for instance, Bowser can drink water to flood his stomach, thereby allowing the plumbers to swim to new heights. The plumbers eventually escape from Bowser's body back out to the isometric overworld, but most of their exploits take place inside Bowser's anatomy (and don't be afraid when the game directs you to visit the king's ass). Each character set learns new moves and attacks as the game progresses, allowing Bowser to breathe fire or roll up into a spiked ball, while Mario and Luigi regain several skills seen in the previous two portable RPG titles. Combat and item usage plays out similarly to the previous titles as well.

Visually, Bowser's Inside Story is a rare treat. Featuring exquisitely detailed 2D sprites animated across many frames, the characters look better here than in most comparative games. Just about every character seems alive as they express fear, joy, anger, and other cartoony emotions. I found myself holding my Nintendo DS closer to my eyes several times in order to see every last pixelated detail.

Bowser's Inside Story has a lot going for it, and while the engaging gameplay and animated characters are highlights of the experience, ultimately it is the dialog that makes this latest installment in the Mario & Luigi series so much fun. Mario and Luigi remain silent protagonists aside from the occasional "Let's-a go!", but Bowser becomes a more sympathetic character throughout the course of the game. His massive ego pushes him towards heroism, as he's not about to let anyone else kidnap Peach and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Fawful still speaks in bizarre Engrish, shouting about how he has fury and chortles. The back-and-forth verbal sparring between characters are a bright spot, and ultimately Bowser's antics overshadow the other protagonists.

Finally, the previous two Mario & Luigi games had a nasty habit of coming apart at the end, as the final boss battles would drag on for over an hour without the opportunity to save progress or restock items. This time around, however, the mistake has thankfully been averted.

What's Not
I clocked over twenty-five hours with Bowser's Inside Story, and while the majority of the experience was as good as most portable RPGs get, there were a few trouble spots. Often times the game will insist that I complete a basic mini-game before proceeding such as a Space Invaders-type shooter or a reflex button pressing exercise set to a musical rhythm. The goal may have been to mix up the assumed repetitiveness of the traditional combat, but I found these exercises completely killed my gaming momentum, especially when they would recur time and again.

Some of the aforementioned mini-games lead into battles where Bowser becomes a supersized giant, allowing him to tussle with castles and mechanical towers. It's an interesting idea, but these fights switch the familiar combat interface into one that is mostly controlled by the touchscreen, requiring quick swipes and pokes with the stylus, and ultimately I found that the game misread my gestures more often than it successfully interpreted them. It's frustrating to line up for a power punch and end up with an underpowered slap instead. Then there's the need to blow a big breath of air into the DS microphone to activate Bowser's fire-breathing abilities, an activity that grew stale long before Fawful invaded the Mushroom Kingdom.

Final Word
While it doesn't quite hit the combat-related heights of the original Superstar Saga, Bowser's Inside Story is a massive improvement over Partners In Time and easily outdoes the two previous titles with stellar animation, quirky dialog, and plenty of side-quests and optional material to explore. Aside from being dragged down in places with the usual forced touchscreen gimmicks, it's hard to go wrong with such a fantastic adventure. Consider it highly recommended.