Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

 MARIO & LUIGI: BOWSER'S INSIDE STORY

Today, it's time to cover the third game in the Mario & Luigi series and the grand finale of the "Fawful trilogy" as it were. Bowser's Inside Story follows Mario and Luigi as they end up inside of Bowser's stomach after Fawful spreads a virus throughout the Mushroom Kingdom to inflate Toad's to balloon proportions and feeds Bowser a mushroom that causes him to suck the brothers inside. The brothers then have to work within Bowser's body to lead him to take on Fawful and save both his kingdom and their own.

Our main playable characters this time around are Mario and Luigi working together as a tag team once again, and Bowser on his own separate missions. Mario and Luigi perform a lot of their basics, like jumping, swinging around hammers, kicking shells, and throwing fireballs. The spin jump returns, allowing them to spin on top of each other once again to cover short distances through the air, as well as Mario filling up on water to spit it out and the two drilling into the ground. They also have a few combo moves to use in battle this time around, including a helmet that allows them to spring off of each other, a barrel cannon that fires them as a ball at enemies, a giant bouncy ball, a meteor they smack with their hammers, a pipe that spins to shoot them, filling Luigi up with snacks to throw him, a magic window they teleport through, and a falling star.

Bowser has a number of abilities of his own throughout the game. In normal gameplay, he can punch, breath fire, suck things in, pull and push heavy items, body slam, and roll around as a spike ball. In battle, he has a few special moves mostly based on his minions. These include lighting a bunch of Goombas on fire to drop them on enemies, having a bunch of Shy Guys fling him at the enemy using a slingshot, spinning into other Koopas to send them at enemies, slide a string of Bob-Ombs into an enemy to explode, and call in a team of Magikoopas to cast spells at enemies. He can also grow giant to take part in gigantic monster battles. Most of his attacks there are giant punches and breathing fire and stuff.

We have a handful of supporting characters to talk about, like Starlow, a little star spirit character who acts as your exposition character a la Kersti and Huey. She doesn't really do much besides give you advice and lend you star power, but she does lift the brothers to safety at one point. She's mostly fine. She hasn't become needlessly antagonistic toward Luigi for some reason yet. More on that later. Princess Peach also appears throughout the game, as well as Toadsworth, Kamek, and a number of Toads. There's also Broque Monsieur and Broque Madame, a pair of yellow-block-beings who speak with annoyingly hard-to-read French accents. Broque Madame mostly just lets Bowser massage her (long story), while Broque Monsieur builds and sells you blocks that give Bowser new abilities. He also has a giant block dog named Broggy who can also help Bowser in battle. I suppose I should also mention the cowardly backstabbers Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk of Bowser's army.

Fawful is our main villain for most of the game, alongside his new minion Midbus, although both get a bit overshadowed at the end by the sentient Dark Star, who becomes the game's main boss. For Fawful, obviously we start the game with his blorb and vacuum mushrooms to antagonize the Mushroom Kingdom with. He flies around on a flying machine most of the time, using technology like an energy beam laser, a giant hand he uses to grab Peach, and rockets. He also makes use of the Dark Star to summon walls to block your way, float, throw shooting stars and energy balls, create wormholes, and summon fog. He also self-destructs in the end.

Midbus is a big beefy bruiser of a pig who mostly acts as a physical matchup to Bowser. He will punch like Bowser, roll up into a ball, belly flop, swing around a heavy ball, puff out his stomach, and that's before his Blizzard form. Once he upgrades, he gains ice powers like throwing snowballs, creating snowmen to fight for him, climb up walls and divebomb you, and roll into a giant snowball. As for the Dark Star itself, once it gains some self-awareness, he starts by copying much of Bowser's abilities, like his punch, fire breath, and spiky shell, eventually growing into a full Dark Bowser form (because we always have to end on a Bowser fight). As Dark Bowser, he can suck in, create fog, throw lightning, create minions to fight for him, fire lasers, bounce around the stage, summon a dark hurricane, create a cage of darkness, and throw a giant rock.

We have a handful of bosses to throw your way, such as the Sea Pipe Statue that shoots Bloopers at you, the parasite Scutlet who blocks a part of Bowser's body and attacks by sticking out its tongue, a group of cells called Kretin that combine and shoot electricity at you, a sage named Chakron who stands perfectly still, and a trash machine called Junker who sucks you in and throws garbage at you. Giant Bowser faces off against a few himself including his own flying castle, a derpy-looking Tower of Yikk that also pretty much just flies, a train and mountain controlled by Fawful that fires missiles at you, and Super Peach's Castle of Fury, an upgraded form of Peach's castle that shoots you will lasers, fires cannons at you, uses spikes and shields, and creates black holes. Last but not least, I want to talk about Durmite, or Whisdurm, a fairy creature that was turned into a worm that Bowser ate, I guess. She appears a lot, and I was a bit on the fence about her. Let's see. She will charge at you, suck things up through a stray, eat enemies, spit webs, swing around on the web, grow bigger, create a heart-shaped crystal with a magic wand to slam onto you, shoot stars at you, and shrink you. I mean, I guess I included characters like Francis and Jonathan Jones, and she's in their camp mostly, so . . . I don't know. I'll come back to her.

Returning enemies in the game include Monty Moles, Wigglers, Shy Guys with leaves and pirate ships and stuff, Spinies, Bob-Ombs, Piranha Plants, Cheep Cheeps, Bloopers, Chain Chomps and other enemies Fawful-ized to have his weird eyes and smile. Other enemies outside the body include fat, candy-carrying Goombas called Chuboombas, Pokeys made out of teeth called Toothies, Drillbit Crabs, penguins called Pendrils, haunted trees called Treevils, treasure chests called Trashures, living socks called Sockops, seed-spitting flowers called Flifits, steam-powered Goombas called Choombas, flying Mario noses called Noozes, Fawfulized ants, living beehives called Beehosses, Fawfulized creatures called Crawfuls that slide on banana peels, imprisoned Goombas called Jailgoons, and big Fawful mechs.

Inside of Bowser's body are a whole host of new enemies. These include: Goombules, basically Goombas; Spike Blops, basically Spinies; Bubble Bloopers, basically Bloopers; Protobatters who smack balls of plasm at you with clubs; Tenderlings, walking chunks of meat; Calorites, cells with flaming heads; Napses who multiply; Piranha Plorps, basically poisonous Piranha Plants; Stonks, cloud things that spit puffs of gas; and memory versions of Mario and Luigi with basic oversimplified versions of some of their most stereotypical features like breaking blocks, throwing hammers, and Luigi being scared of ghosts.

Areas in the game are pretty much split between different sections of Bowser's body and locations outside. The outside world includes Toad Town and Peach's Castle, the Dimble Wood forest, Cavi Cape and Plack Beach (a beach area with a weird tooth theme), Bowser's Castle, Bumpsy Plain (a grassland), and Blubble Lake and the Tower of Yikk. The inside areas of Bowser's body are more or less just the various parts of his body, maybe with some funny names here and there. Some are full on levels. Others are just locations you go back to occasionally to accomplish something specific (like going to his groin in order to make him giant? (I guess that's literal big dick energy for you, I don't know)). Among these are his stomach, funny bone, arm, place where his fire breath comes from, his gut, nerve cluster, his rump, his flab, his leg, nose, joints, memory banks, lumbar, chest, and airway. Other than making me really question Bowser's biology, if a stage were to be made out of any of these, I would probably make a general Bowser's Insides level based on the whole of it (honestly, the most likely stage if a stage were ever based on this game)

Items are pretty much as you expect, with beans and mushrooms and stuff, and Star Cures to heal the Blorb virus, and blocks supplied by Broque Monsieur.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Paper Mario: run, jump, hammer, flowers, confetti bag, 1000-fold arms, pull, punch, boot car

Mario & Luigi: jump, hammer, fire and lightning, spin jump, high jump, mini Mario, Luigi dunk, dash, tickle, Swing Bros, Cyclone Bros, Bros. Ball, throw babies, spring helmet, yoo who cannon, super bouncer, mighty meteor, spin pipe, snack basket, magic window, falling star, kick shell, fill up with water

Luigi: Mario Kart

Baby Mario & Baby Luigi: drill into ground, fill up with water, flatten, float, hammers, jump, ride shell

Starlow: fly, star power

Princess Peach: explosive vocabulary, Baby Peach

Bowser: folded, breathe fire, grow giant, stomp, throw hammers, spit poison, spin in shell, shockwaves, punch, suck things in, pull and push, body slam, roll around as a spike ball, Goomba, Shy Guy, Koopa, Bob-Omb, and Magikoopa squad attacks

Baby Bowser: fire, hammer, Koopa Klown Kar

Bowser Jr.: Koopa Klown Kar

Kamek: spell, broomstick, multiples, summon enemies

Birdo: blow kiss

Olivia: all origami based moves, Vellumental transformation

King Olly: fold, Vellumental, grow giant, paper airplanes, hammer fists, sword arms

Prince Peasley: floating pillow, rose, hair, slash with rapier, turn into dragon (other bean-related stuff, easily best gimmick rep)

Popple: steal, dash, failed Bros. Attacks, throw items from bag, run away

Cackletta: lightning, transform, flying chair, lasers, curses, bat duplicates, possess, fireballs, shooting stars, suck you in, essence.

Fawful: flying hat, bean gas, laser blasts, suck up, antenna lightning, dome, laser ring, blorb mushroom, vacuum mushroom, flying machine, energy beam laser, giant hand, rockets, Dark Star, walls, float, shooting stars, energy balls, wormholes, fog, self-destruct, Fawfulcopters, Fawfulized minions, Fawful Mountain, Peach's Castle.

Princess Shroob/Elder Princess Shroob: hover throne, flying saucers, Shroobs, shield, fire lasers, beam from above, electric orbs, spider legs, teleport, ride flying saucers, stomp, charge, throw meteors, grow bigger, spew poison clouds, swing tentacles, possess Bowser.

Midbus: punch, roll up into a ball, belly flop, swing around a heavy ball, puff out his stomach, Blizzard form, snowballs, creating snowmen, climb up walls and divebomb, roll into snowball.

Dark Star: punch, fire breath, spiky shell, Dark Bowser, suck in, create fog, throw lightning, create minions, fire lasers, bounce around, dark hurricane, cage of darkness, giant rock

Toad: a lot of basics, dig up coins, blorbs

Toadsworth: Bros. Ball, Spin Jump

E. Gadd: Stuffwell, time machine, water pump machine (time paradox)

Broque Monsieur: make blocks, Blitties, Broggy

Koopalings: spin, stomp, multiples, breathe fire, shell spin, time bomb, pipes, rings, ping pong

Petey Piranha: eating, burrowing, stomping, flying, divebombing

Durmite/Wisdurm: charge, suck things up, eat enemies, spit webs, swing around on web, grow bigger,  heart-shaped crystal, magic wand, shoot stars, shrink you, remove blocks.

Shroobs: flying around in their flying saucers, shooting laser guns, firing a massive laser blast, calling in saucers to shoot lasers, swim around in sand, throw spike balls and fish, swing giant hammers, summon flames, throw Shroob-ombs, throw meteors, and send others into battle, throw fireballs and lightning, spin to throw a mace, trap you in crystals, spit up saucers, and throw lollipops

Koopa Troopa

Goombas

Shy Guys: spears, laser Snifits

Hammer Bro, Boomerang, Yo-yo, Chain Chomp, and Limbo versions

Spike

Dry Bones

Buzzy Beetle: laser beam

Monty Mole

Cheep Cheep

Thwomp: move, multiples, volcano, cough up rock

Chain Chomp

Ninji

Pokey

Boo

Piranha Plant

Mechakoopa

Blooper

Chargin' Chuck

Wiggler: stomp

Virus

Lakitu

Magikoopa

Bosses:

Earth Vellumental

Water Vellumental

Fire Vellumental

Ice Vellumental

Colored Pencils

Rubber Band

Hole Punch

Tape

Scissors

Stapler

Gooper Blooper

Handaconda

Tolstar

Hoohooros

Dragohoho

Chuckolator

Trunkle

Hermie III

Jojora

Yoob

Sunnycide

Sea Pipe Statue

Scutlet

Kretin

Chakron

Bowser's Castle

Tower of Yikk

Fawful Express and Fawful Mountain

Super Peach's Castle of Fury

Stages:

Peach's Castle

Overlook Mountain

Shogun Studios

Scorching Sandpaper Desert

The Great Sea

Shangri-Spa

Bowser's Castle

Hotfoot Crater

King Olly's Origami Castle

Beanbean Kingdom

Koopa Cruiser

Hoohoo Mountain

Beanbean Castle

Chucklehuck Woods

Woohoo Hooniversity

Oho Ocean

Teehee Valley

Winkle Realms

Joke's End

Hollijolli Village

Toadwood Forest

Yoshi's Island

Gritzy Desert

Thwomp Volcano

Shroob Mothership

Star Shrine

Dimble Wood

Plack Beach

Bumpsy Plain

Blubble Lake

Bowser's Insides

Items:

Mushrooms

Flowers

Beans

Chuckola Cola

Peppers

Yoshi's Cookies

Star Cures

Various Incidental Items

Thanks for reading! Next up, we cover the first game post-Fawful, Dream Team!