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Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (JP)(KO) (also called M&LPIT or Mario & Luigi 2Mario & Luigi RPG 2 in Japan, and stylized as Mario & Luigi RPG 2×2) is a role-playing Nintendo DS game released in 2005 as the second installment in the Mario & Luigi series. Developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo. This game puts the player in the role of Mario, Luigi , time-traveling between their present and past times, and teaming up with their infant selves, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, to stop the invasion in the past by the enemy alien species called the Shroobs. The English and Spanish names of this game are puns on the title of the short story compilation Partners in Crime.

Though the game is primarily a turn-based RPG, the game mixes in action RPG and platformer elements, which is the primary gameplay point of the Mario & Luigi series. The game takes many elements from the first game, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and revamps it to take advantage of the Nintendo DS's new features. While it makes almost no attempt to use the touch screen (Mario must rub the dirt off of a drawing at one point), the game uses the addition of the X and Y buttons, the extra screen, and greater system resources. It was succeeded by Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story in February 2009 which was also released for the Nintendo DS.

Like its predecessor, it is one of the few Mario games to have been released in North America before Japan. However, the game was re-released in the Wii U Nintendo eShop on June 10, 2015 in Japan first, and later that month in North America and the following month in Europe and Australia. This is the only Mario & Luigi game in the series to have not been released for the Nintendo 3DS in any form and recreated in the 3D art style introduced in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

Plot[]

"One blissful day in the Mushroom Kingdom, genius inventor Professor E. Gadd constructed a time machine, which was fueled by the awesome power of the Cobalt Star. Princess Peach was overjoyed with his creation, and immediately set off to visit the Mushroom Kingdom's past. Of course, her faithful ward Toadsworth was filled with such worry for his charge that he promptly collapsed".

"Shortly thereafter the time machine returned, but it was a wreck and it brought back not the princess, but a creepy alien of unknown origin. According to the professor, Princess Peach was stranded somewhere in the past! To top it off, mysterious time holes leading back in time began popping throughout the castle! Who better to answer the call to adventure than Mario and Luigi? Nobody, that's who!"

"The mustachioed brothers leaped into action, plunged through a time hole, and set off on a rescue mission through time. Once they arrived in the past, the brothers met up with their childhood selves and formed the greatest team of heroes in history. Can the Mario brothers overcome all obstacles and rescue Princess Peach? Only time will tell!"

Gameplay[]

The gameplay is similar to the previous title in the series, though with some extras included. First off and unarguably the most notable extra is the fact that you control four characters while fighting and while on the main world, compared to just two in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. These two characters happen to be Mario and Luigi's baby counterparts from the past, who team up with the brothers to stop an alien invasion.

Characters[]

Playable[]

Sprite Character Description
Mario (Partners in Time) Mario The most heroic of all the Mario games who can generally be considered the leader.
Luigi (Partners in Time) Luigi Mario's slightly younger brother who, while usually a coward, is an essential fighter. Usually acts as comic relief.
Baby Mario (Partners in Time) Baby Mario Mario's younger counterpart who, like his older self, is a heroic fighter who has to stop his younger brother from crying.
Baby Luigi (Partners in Time) Baby Luigi The baby version of Luigi tends to cry throughout the game, resembling his cowardly counterpart.

Allies[]

Enemies[]

Sprite Name HP EXP Coins Dropped Location
Blazing Shroob Blazing Shroob 100 90 10 Thwomp Caverns
Bob-omb (Sprite - PiT) Bob-omb 35 30 5 Gritzy Desert
Boo (Sprite - PiT) Boo 15 5 4 Baby Bowser's Castle
Boo Guy (Sprite - PiT) Boo Guy 17 8 5 Toadwood Forest
Boom Guy (Sprite - PiT) Boom Guy 18 8 5 Baby Bowser's Castle
Bully Bully 46 17 6 Yoob's Belly
Coconutter Coconutter 43 20 6 Yoshi's Island
Dark Boo (Sprite - PiT) Dark Boo 63 20 6 Gritzy Caves
Dr. Shroob Dr. Shroob 29 18 10 Vim Factory
Dry Bones (Sprite - PiT) Dry Bones 53 32 7 Yoob's Belly
Elasto-Piranha Elasto-Piranha 27 16 6 Toadwood Forest
Elite Boom Guy Elite Boom Guy 80 40 8 Gritzy Caves
Fly Guy (Sprite - PiT) Fly Guy 110 150 10 Star Hill
Ghoul Guy Ghoul Guy 160 100 10 Shroob Castle
Gnarantula Gnarantula 30 15 5 Yoshi's Island
Gold Koopeleon Gold Koopeleon 10 84 100 Thwomp Caverns
Goomba (Sprite - PiT) Goomba 10 3 3 Baby Bowser's Castle
Guardian Shroob Guardian Shroob 81 90 9 Shroob Mother Ship
Handfake (Sprite - PiT) Handfake 130 155 15 Star Hill & Star Shrine
Koopeleon Koopeleon 18 6 4 Toadwood Forest
Lakitufo Lakitufo 26 16 7 Vim Factory
Lethal Bob-omb Lethal Bob-omb 60 70 10 Shroob Castle
Love Bubble Love Bubble 95 130 10 Toad Town
Pidgit (Sprite - PiT) Pidgit 24 18 6 Yoshi's Island
Piranha Planet Piranha Planet 140 170 20 Star Shrine
Pokey (Sprite - PiT) Pokey 55 36 10 Gritzy Desert
RC Shroober RC Shroober 58 26 8 Yoob's Belly
Red Coconutter Red Coconutter 85 70 7 Thwomp Volcano
Shroid Shroid 110 140 15 Toad Town
Shrooba Diver Shrooba Diver 70 32 8 Gritzy Desert
Shrooblet Shrooblet 7 2 2 Hollijolli Village
Shroob Rex (Partners in Time) Shroob Rex 200 185 12 Shroob Castle
Shroobsworth (Partners in Time) Shroobsworth 160 0 0 Shroob Castle
Skellokey Skellokey 84 100 10 Toad Town
Snifaro Snifaro 90 50 10 Gritzy Caves
Snoozorb Snoozorb 150 170 15 Shroob Castle
Soul Bubble Soul Bubble 100 175 15 Shroob Castle
Spiny Shroopa Spiny Shroopa 18 2 2 Vim Factory
Tanoomba (Sprite - PiT) Tanoomba 90 82 9 Thwomp Volcano
Tashrooba Tashrooba 125 150 10 Shroob Castle
Thwack Thwack 54 20 2 Thwomp Volcano
Thwack Totem Thwack Totem 152 60 10 Thwomp Volcano
Wonder Thwack Wonder Thwack 100 30 4 Star Shrine

Bosses[]

Names in Other Languages[]

Names in Other Languages
Language Name Meaning
Spanish Mario & Luigi: Compañeros en el Tiempo Mario & Luigi: Companions in Time
French Mario & Luigi: Les Frères du Temps Mario & Luigi: Brothers of Time
German Mario & Luigi: Zusammen durch die Zeit Mario & Luigi: Together through Time
Italian Mario & Luigi: Fratelli nel Tempo Mario & Luigi: Brothers in Time
Korean 마리오&루이지 RPG 시간의 파트너 Mario & Luigi RPG: Partners in Time

Voices[]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time has received generally positive reviews from critics, with it having an average score of 86 from Metacritic based on 45 reviews[1] and a GameRankings score of 85.23% based on 55 reviews.[2] Critics generally praise the humor, characters, and graphics of the game, as well as its use of the dual screen and its rumble feature. Several criticisms include the long, drawn out boss battles and the difficulty coordinating the game's four characters.

Craig Harris of IGN has lauded the game, giving it a nine out of ten.[3] He praised the gameplay, the difficulty curve, the humor, and the two-screen display, but has commented that the beginning of the game starts off too easy. Thomas Bowskill of Nintendo Life has also given the game a 9/10, also praising the gameplay, the comedy, and the sound, but added that the game is not replayable and how actions in the past do not influence the future.[4] Jonathon Metts of Nintendo World Report gave the game an 8/10, states that while the flawed battle system smears his opinion of the game, he states that it is "the best RPG currently on the Nintendo DS."[5]

Sales[]

The game has sold 132,726 copies on its opening week in Japan, ranked number seven as reported by Gamasutra.[6] The game has a worldwide sales of 1.39m units as reported by IGN.[7]

Wii U eShop description[]

Twice the Bros., twice the insanity!

In this quest of lunatic proportions, the Mario bros. team up with none other than... their younger selves! Control both sets of bros. at once in this intriguing action RPG, where comedy is king and the story leads you beyond the Mushroom Kingdom. Explore Mario's world across space and time as you take down the evil alien invaders, the Shroobs!

In this precursor to the Mario & Luigi™: Bowser's Inside Story game, the brothers travel back in time to retrieve Princess Peach™, only to come face-to-face with baby versions of themselves, the princess, and Bowser™. While controlling both the adult AND baby versions of the Mushroom Kingdom heroes, you'll unleash powerful attacks and cross environments using special techniques to solve puzzles in creative ways. With four brothers to control, this adventure is bound to get out of control!

Credits[]

Gallery[]

  Main article: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time/gallery

Trivia[]

  • The solo artwork for Baby Mario incorrectly depicts him with red shoes, instead of light-blue. Other artwork depicts him with the correct light-blue shoes.
  • When booting up the game, only Mario and Luigi's voices are heard saying, "Nintendo!". Once the game gets to a point when Mario and Luigi meet their infant counterparts, all four will say "Nintendo!". However, if the game reaches a point where Mario and Luigi are seemingly killed by the Shroobs near the Koopa Cruiser, if the player saves and resets, only Baby Mario and Baby Luigi's voices are heard and they are the only ones present on the title screen. This does not occur at any other point in the game where the babies are separated from the adults.
  • There is a spelling error during the tutorial on how to use badges. Stuffwell will say "capitol" in reference to the letters indicating which character has a badge equipped when the proper spelling for this use of the word would be "capital."
  • This is the only Mario & Luigi game that has not been released nor remade on the Nintendo 3DS.

References[]

  1. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Metacritic score. Metacritic. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  2. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time GameRankings score. Gamerankings. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  3. Harris, Craig. November 28, 2005. Review of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time IGN. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  4. Bowskill, Thomas (February 6, 2006) Review of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Nintendo Life. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  5. Metts, Jonathon (December 3, 2005). Review of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Nintendo World Report. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  6. Jenkins, David (January 6, 2006) Japanese Sales Charts, Week Ending January 1 Gamasutra. Retrieved October 28, 2015
  7. Casamassina, Matt (July 25, 2007) Nintendo Sales Update IGN. Retrieved October 28, 2015

External links[]

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