Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga Vs. Fire Emblem

12-30-2003, 04:10 PM

Seeing that I had to decide which game to get (and miraculously managed to get both XD), I decided to compare the two by writing two reviews. NOTE: I got up to the last dungeon in Mario and Lugi and am on Chapter 18 of Fire Emblem.

Mario and Luigi
I had liked Paper Mario very much, and picked up this game and was delighted... at first.

Graphics
They're fine, though I don't really care about graphics. Cheery and cartoony, they will please almost anybody. However, some depict ideas that won't go well if you have a brother [img]tongue.gif[/img] (i.e. at the beginning Mario drags Luigi with a rope).

Sound
Disappointing. If you asked me to sing or hum a tune from this game, I couldn't do it for my life. Nothing at all was really catchy. In Paper Mario, the Dry Dry Desert theme song was stuck in my head the instant I heard it. The game might have well had the mario theme song the whole time.

Combat
As said in this other review, the system is an advanced version of Paper Mario. Hurrah. Except for one thing, the collection of badges which allowed you to pull off Super Jumps and so forth are gone. You can now only equip one badge, limiting your attack options. Instead of having flower points, you have brothers points which allow you to pull off combos using both brothers. There are even advanced bros. attacks that you can learn by using brothers attacks many times. Except that the change is barely noticable, I think I did 1 or 2 more damage with the "new" move. Big difference, huh? After awhile, the combat becomes boring and repetetive. However, I have to admit that in the beginning it was great fun.

Plot
It's mario, I didn't expect anything too thrilling or complicated and revieved my expectations. Except that Prince Peasley has to explain them in the most annoying and boring manner (covered in the other review). Still, much better than FFT:A's two-lines of text per mission.

Replay Value
None. The combat gets boring, the game is too short (I got to the final dungeon 19 hours into the game), and you'll have to live through Peasley-induced seizures.

Overall
Decent. Wait until the game gets cheap or buy it second-hand, unless you're a rabid Mario fan. The game had potential, but I feel that the game had some serious flaws (like Peasley).

Fire Emblem
The series that was a hit a Japan, supposed Advance Wars style combat, what more could a RPG/Strategy genre fan look for? *hears somebody yell something about FFX-2*

Graphics
I like 'em, in battle you have nice sprites. All "important" characters have 2 portraits (one small, another big). Everything looks nice enough, my only complaint is that the backgrounds where characters talk are repeated. Especially the outdoors one, you see the characters talking in the same place. Could somebody at least move the tree in the background?

Sound
Awsome. The game happens to have a sound-room, which I love. You unlock songs for the room as you beat chapters, #46 Together We Ride is great (not to mention somewhat familiar).

Combat
Great. Turn-based, very familiar to Advance Wars. However, instead of rolling out units from a factory every unit is a person you have recruited. And since if a character dies, they're dead no matter what, you actually care if they live

. In addition, there are essentially 6 major types of combat-units (staff and bow users don't really fit in).
Melee: Sword, Ax, Spear
Magic: Anima, Light, Dark
The game runs a rock-scissor-shoot type system, swordsman have the advantage over ax-wielding pirates but have to watch out for cavaliers who can run them over with their spears. Magic runs the same way. Units can normally use one or two types of weapons (most can use only 1 at first), upgrading classes will normally add another type. In addition, units can be infantry, mounted, or flying mounted (some units can ride on animals who fly). Mounted and flying mounted naturally have higher movement ratings, and flying mounted ignore obstacles (making them very handy). However, winged warriors will find that they do not get terrain bonuses, making pegasus knights and company not the ultimate class. Unlike many RPG's, weapons in Fire Emblem have limited uses. Also, magic is different in two ways. One, light magic does not heal, there is no magic that heals (except for one spell that steals health). Instead of having mp or sp, spells are cast by using tomes and like weapons, they too have limited uses. Some might have seen that I said that there is no healing magic. Instead, certain classes can use magical staffs that heal. Staff users cannot do any damage whatsoever, there are no attack staffs.

Plot
Complicated, intricate, and dark. Forget about some beanstar folks! The first section of the game, deals with a struggle between two heirs (one rightful, one not) for the title of Marquess Caelin. The second, takes place a year later with many of the same characters and unveils a evil plot to take over an entire continent as the main character searches for his lord father who has gone missing. This stuff is good.

Replay Value
I'm not far enough to truly say, but considering that you can only take a limited amount of troops into battle... infinite. Battle strategy can vary depending on troops.

Overall
Great. The game is a bit unbalanced and I have a way of finding all the flaws and complaining too much, at the start of the game cavaliers become extremely powerful when pitted against other units. They can use 2 of the 3 weapons in the melee triangle, they have great movement ratings, and they have good health and defense. In addition, characters that you meet along the story can be overly strong or weak for the moment. Some characters are so weak that most of the time they're not worth using, others are overpowered (Marcus come into mind. Elliwood prances in at level 1, and is accompanied by a level 1 paladin (upgraded unit), essentially a level 21 cavalier who can use all 3 weapons of the melee triangle). For those who get the game, try attack with Matthew. He's not designed for mowing characters down, but his attack looks cool and his speed lets him dodge almost all projectiles and lots of front-on attacks.

My Opinion
Rabid Mario Fan > Strategy/ RPG Fan: Get Mario and Luigi
Strategy/ RPG Fan > Rabid Mario Fan: Get Fire Emblem
Not Sure: Get Both

[ December 30, 2003, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: Lord Umbra ]

12-31-2003, 12:56 AM

I got Superstar Saga first and I beat it. Fire Emblem, however, I got for Christmas and I have reserved next week for it-Provided I don't decide to do Chrono Trigger though.

12-31-2003, 06:48 PM

I liked Fire Emblem more. I've played too many great RPGs to find any real charm in Mario and Luigi, although it is a decent game. After I suffering through Shining Force, I was dying for a good strategy RPG.

The only reason I told that one guy to get Mario and Luigi first was because he wanted the Zelda disc. That's a limited thing, I believe. He can get the prize from Fire Emblem whenever he pleased.

I believe Together We Ride is that song from Smash Brothers. I know the song I'm thinking of is in Smash Brothers, but I don't know if that's its name or not.

Where are these lemmings going? The Super Nintendo Super Shire! Hop in line and follow them there!

12-31-2003, 08:00 PM

IMPORTANT: If you like RPGs, then do NOT waste time with Onimusha Tactics.

12-31-2003, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CodieKitty:
I liked Fire Emblem more. I've played too many great RPGs to find any real charm in Mario and Luigi, although it is a decent game. After I suffering through Shining Force, I was dying for a good strategy RPG.

The only reason I told that one guy to get Mario and Luigi first was because he wanted the Zelda disc. That's a limited thing, I believe. He can get the prize from Fire Emblem whenever he pleased.

I believe Together We Ride is that song from Smash Brothers. I know the song I'm thinking of is in Smash Brothers, but I don't know if that's its name or not.

Where are these lemmings going? The Super Nintendo Super Shire! Hop in line and follow them there!

Two things of the utmost unimportance.

1. That "guy" happened to be me [img]smile.gif[/img] . Thanks to you, I now have the Zelda bonus disk in addition to the games covered in the review. I'm pretty happy, I never bought Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask when I used my N64. Only problem is that I'm kinda stuck in the Deku Tree [img]redface.gif[/img] .

2. Thank you for verifying it was from Super Smash Brothers. It is slightly different, so I just thought my mind was playing tricks on me...

12-30-2003, 04:10 PM	#1
Lord Umbra Guest Posts: n/a	Seeing that I had to decide which game to get (and miraculously managed to get both XD), I decided to compare the two by writing two reviews. NOTE: I got up to the last dungeon in Mario and Lugi and am on Chapter 18 of Fire Emblem. Mario and Luigi I had liked Paper Mario very much, and picked up this game and was delighted... at first. Graphics They're fine, though I don't really care about graphics. Cheery and cartoony, they will please almost anybody. However, some depict ideas that won't go well if you have a brother [img]tongue.gif[/img] (i.e. at the beginning Mario drags Luigi with a rope). Sound Disappointing. If you asked me to sing or hum a tune from this game, I couldn't do it for my life. Nothing at all was really catchy. In Paper Mario, the Dry Dry Desert theme song was stuck in my head the instant I heard it. The game might have well had the mario theme song the whole time. Combat As said in this other review, the system is an advanced version of Paper Mario. Hurrah. Except for one thing, the collection of badges which allowed you to pull off Super Jumps and so forth are gone. You can now only equip one badge, limiting your attack options. Instead of having flower points, you have brothers points which allow you to pull off combos using both brothers. There are even advanced bros. attacks that you can learn by using brothers attacks many times. Except that the change is barely noticable, I think I did 1 or 2 more damage with the "new" move. Big difference, huh? After awhile, the combat becomes boring and repetetive. However, I have to admit that in the beginning it was great fun. Plot It's mario, I didn't expect anything too thrilling or complicated and revieved my expectations. Except that Prince Peasley has to explain them in the most annoying and boring manner (covered in the other review). Still, much better than FFT:A's two-lines of text per mission. Replay Value None. The combat gets boring, the game is too short (I got to the final dungeon 19 hours into the game), and you'll have to live through Peasley-induced seizures. Overall Decent. Wait until the game gets cheap or buy it second-hand, unless you're a rabid Mario fan. The game had potential, but I feel that the game had some serious flaws (like Peasley). Fire Emblem The series that was a hit a Japan, supposed Advance Wars style combat, what more could a RPG/Strategy genre fan look for? hears somebody yell something about FFX-2 Graphics I like 'em, in battle you have nice sprites. All "important" characters have 2 portraits (one small, another big). Everything looks nice enough, my only complaint is that the backgrounds where characters talk are repeated. Especially the outdoors one, you see the characters talking in the same place. Could somebody at least move the tree in the background? Sound Awsome. The game happens to have a sound-room, which I love. You unlock songs for the room as you beat chapters, #46 Together We Ride is great (not to mention somewhat familiar). Combat Great. Turn-based, very familiar to Advance Wars. However, instead of rolling out units from a factory every unit is a person you have recruited. And since if a character dies, they're dead no matter what, you actually care if they live . In addition, there are essentially 6 major types of combat-units (staff and bow users don't really fit in). Melee: Sword, Ax, Spear Magic: Anima, Light, Dark The game runs a rock-scissor-shoot type system, swordsman have the advantage over ax-wielding pirates but have to watch out for cavaliers who can run them over with their spears. Magic runs the same way. Units can normally use one or two types of weapons (most can use only 1 at first), upgrading classes will normally add another type. In addition, units can be infantry, mounted, or flying mounted (some units can ride on animals who fly). Mounted and flying mounted naturally have higher movement ratings, and flying mounted ignore obstacles (making them very handy). However, winged warriors will find that they do not get terrain bonuses, making pegasus knights and company not the ultimate class. Unlike many RPG's, weapons in Fire Emblem have limited uses. Also, magic is different in two ways. One, light magic does not heal, there is no magic that heals (except for one spell that steals health). Instead of having mp or sp, spells are cast by using tomes and like weapons, they too have limited uses. Some might have seen that I said that there is no healing magic. Instead, certain classes can use magical staffs that heal. Staff users cannot do any damage whatsoever, there are no attack staffs. Plot Complicated, intricate, and dark. Forget about some beanstar folks! The first section of the game, deals with a struggle between two heirs (one rightful, one not) for the title of Marquess Caelin. The second, takes place a year later with many of the same characters and unveils a evil plot to take over an entire continent as the main character searches for his lord father who has gone missing. This stuff is good. Replay Value I'm not far enough to truly say, but considering that you can only take a limited amount of troops into battle... infinite. Battle strategy can vary depending on troops. Overall Great. The game is a bit unbalanced and I have a way of finding all the flaws and complaining too much, at the start of the game cavaliers become extremely powerful when pitted against other units. They can use 2 of the 3 weapons in the melee triangle, they have great movement ratings, and they have good health and defense. In addition, characters that you meet along the story can be overly strong or weak for the moment. Some characters are so weak that most of the time they're not worth using, others are overpowered (Marcus come into mind. Elliwood prances in at level 1, and is accompanied by a level 1 paladin (upgraded unit), essentially a level 21 cavalier who can use all 3 weapons of the melee triangle). For those who get the game, try attack with Matthew. He's not designed for mowing characters down, but his attack looks cool and his speed lets him dodge almost all projectiles and lots of front-on attacks. My Opinion Rabid Mario Fan > Strategy/ RPG Fan: Get Mario and Luigi Strategy/ RPG Fan > Rabid Mario Fan: Get Fire Emblem Not Sure: Get Both [ December 30, 2003, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: Lord Umbra ]

12-31-2003, 12:56 AM	#2
Sim Kid Guest Posts: n/a	I got Superstar Saga first and I beat it. Fire Emblem, however, I got for Christmas and I have reserved next week for it-Provided I don't decide to do Chrono Trigger though.

12-31-2003, 06:48 PM	#3
CodieKitty Guest Posts: n/a	I liked Fire Emblem more. I've played too many great RPGs to find any real charm in Mario and Luigi, although it is a decent game. After I suffering through Shining Force, I was dying for a good strategy RPG. The only reason I told that one guy to get Mario and Luigi first was because he wanted the Zelda disc. That's a limited thing, I believe. He can get the prize from Fire Emblem whenever he pleased. I believe Together We Ride is that song from Smash Brothers. I know the song I'm thinking of is in Smash Brothers, but I don't know if that's its name or not. Where are these lemmings going? The Super Nintendo Super Shire! Hop in line and follow them there!

12-31-2003, 08:00 PM	#4
Sim Kid Guest Posts: n/a	IMPORTANT: If you like RPGs, then do NOT waste time with Onimusha Tactics.