Headlining the latest Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced a surprise new entry in the Mario & Luigi series. Mario & Luigi: Brothership will release on November 7 on Nintendo Switch.
In Brothership, the Mario brothers explore the archipelago of Concordia on their half-ship, half-island known as ShipShape Island. By combining their moves they can overcome challenges and defeat foes.
Similar to the Paper Mario series, the Mario & Luigi series was inspired by the original Super Mario RPG (which recently received a remake). The series blends Mario platforming action with turn-based RPG combat and puzzles. The Mario & Luigi series is very light-hearted and kid-friendly, even compared to other Mario games.
The first game in the series, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Several stand-alone games were produced over the years, including Paper Jam in 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS.
Two remakes were released since that last new entry: Superstar Saga and Bowser’s Inside Story, in 2017 and 2018. Both games released for the Nintendo 3DS, even though the Switch came out in 2017.
The Bowser’s Inside Story remake has the dubious honor of being the lowest selling Mario game since the ill-advised Virtual Boy nearly 30 years ago. As a result, AlphaDream declared bankruptcy in 2019. Mario & Luigi: Brothership is the first game in the series not to be developed by AlphaDream, and it’s coming out later this year.
