Super NES classic Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars marked Mario's debut into the role-playing genre, and while we'll never see a direct sequel to the game (any hope of that dissolved with developer Square and publisher Nintendo's bitter breakup a few months later), its legacy lives on in not one but two RPG series: Intelligent Systems' Paper Mario adventures and AlphaDream's Mario & Luigi games. The former tend toward self-referential, genre-bending innovation that plays with fundamental assumptions of game design and technology, while the latter tend to be more staid, as they play up the need for thumb dexterity and the ability to juggle multiple characters simultaneously. Nintendo seems to hold the two franchises on a rotating schedule, and the most recent release was last year's Super Paper Mario. So, naturally, it's Mario & Luigi's turn.
Nintendo presented a brief video demo of the game at today's Media Summit 2008 event to give fans a taste of what's in store for the next chapter in the series (tentatively entitled Mario & Luigi 3). For the most part, the third entry doesn't seem to stray far afield from the past two games -- it retains the rounded, cartoonish style that's been a series mainstay since Superstar Saga on GBA. As usual, both of the Mario Bros. are in action together, although the questionable dual-team splitscreen design of 2005 DS release Partners in Time appears to have been abandoned in favor of a more old-fashioned team-up. As in Super Mario RPG, the Mario Bros. look to be joining forces with their longtime nemesis Bowser.
"Joining forces" might be too generous a description, though. Based on the footage that's been shown of the game so far, Bowser doesn't look to be playing second fiddle but rather embarking on his own adventure (shades of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door .) He hasn't actually been shown in battle with the Bros., but instead is seen stomping about on his own (and he goes toe-to-toe with Mario in combat at least once). Rather than fight in tandem, he appears to command his loyal legions: One sequence showed him summoning a squad of Goombas to attack a foe -- and later, he apparently swallows Mario, Luigi, and the contents of Princess Peach's castle.
Mario & Luigi 3 is slated for 2009; by then, hopefully, it will have acquired an actual title.
