Bowser’s Inside Story

*Disclaimer: I have not played the two Mario RPGs before this one. That is why there is no comparison to those, just a general overview*

Hey guys, sorry I’ve taken so long to update. I’m actually working on another website that’s going to launch in January (not game related) so they’ve got deadlines and the like. Kept me on my toes . . . Anyway, I’m going to give myself a schedule and try to update this weekly. I think Brad is going to have some new stuff too, soon. He’s been working hard!!

Anyway, Bowser’s Inside Story, DS game, meant to kind of give you an insight to Bowser.

Thank GOD it wasn’t what I was afraid it was going to be.
I was afraid it was going to be some mushy, let’s turn Bowser into a bleeding heart that’s just misunderstood and blah blah blah. I HATE it when people do that with back stories or when they are trying to show “insight” into a character. I was so happy when I left this game with my ORIGINAL perception of Bowser intact.

What I loved about this game:

The playing style. The game has a nice balance of RPG style mixed with platformer. I love that it still stayed somewhat faithful to the original 2d Mario games.

The character interaction = genius. Granted, I ALWAYS wanted to kick Luigi . . . is it just me or do you hate how they just make him into a huge pansy? I mean come on, he’s like twice the size of Mario and he’s the color GREEN which usually means GO, so why is he always STOPPING?? It’s like having that whiny kid on your dodgeball team, you just know somehow he’s going to wind up with a bloody nose and someone is going to get detention because he just won’t stop CRYING!!! I mean Mario is short! Shouldn’t he have some kind of a complex too?? (kidding)

I really enjoyed the boss fights. I love how they make the fighting based on timing and being able to deflect attacks, even sometimes inflicting harm on the attacker. RPGs that are completely turn based where you just have to sit and watch your character get their butt kicked . . . it’s just painful. Not to mention the bosses were actually difficult, there is a science to it. When you figure out what you are supposed to do you almost want to *facepalm* because you finish them off in less then ten minutes!

The art, it was simple, it was perfect. I’m always afraid that they will just go overboard, but this definitely was perfection in terms of a cartoon RPG. The atmosphere screamed Mario, that made me happy.

Each character had their own individual roles. Mario could do things Luigi couldn’t do, vice versa. Bowser doesn’t do the same things Mario and Luigi do. Each character had their own realistic role. I appreciated that. If Bowser could hop up and down like a bunny rabbit I probably would have been a bit annoyed.

Tons of mini games worked into it. When you are inside Bowser’s body there is plenty to do and it’s fun to see how Bowser will react to whatever happens in there. There are also tons of side quests (loved them).

The storyline was magnificent and I truly truly appreciated the ending. It was absolutely perfect in my opinion.
When you level up this game it gives you the option of increasing certain parts of your character, whether it be Life, Strength, Defense. I figured out a little later in the game that each character levels up differently, where one character might increase in Power, the other will increase in Defense so you REALLY have to watch how each character levels up to decide what to increase.

Word to the wise, ALWAYS Save. I don’t care if you just saved five minutes ago, SAVE. Save after you level up, save after you buy items, save after you’ve equipped new gear because you can really NEVER tell when you are going to run into a boss fight.

This game gives personality to a lot of the static characters that you see in the Mario games. I loved that. It was so nice being able to actually get a feel for the different adversaries. Every adversary has a pattern and every one has some kind of personality behind them. It was so absolutely refreshing.

I didn’t really like the way some of the controls worked because they could be a bit confusing. Switching between moves can be a bit of a pain. Also, it’s handy that the map will show you where you haven’t been, if you have been there with Bowser it will tell you that you’ve been there. Meaning that when you go over the same part with Mario and Luigi, you don’t really have an idea of what hasn’t been explored. That was a bit obnoxious.

Then there was the fact that when Mario and Luigi were inside Bowser there is no map at all. I adjusted though, haha.

SO, while I will not tell you to run out and BUY this game RIGHT NOWZ!!!!!! I WILL tell you that this would be a good game to pass the time with and a good game to keep your mind busy. It’s not a game you can pick up and then go back to a week later because you will forget what you were supposed to do and where you just came from. Quite easy to get lost.

I do think they did a wonderful job with this game. I was extremely happy that instead of completely altering the relationships they merely extended them and made you more aware of the characters that you’ve grown up with.

=)

Oh and I have a question for all of you, if you don’t mind. I’m supposed to do an article on gamer girls for the site I was telling y’all about. Are there any views that all of you have on girl gamers or questions about the whole gamer girl thing? Pet peeves about them? Just so I have something to start on 😉