With tight battle mechanics, engaging puzzles, and new characters that become more endearing as the story goes on, Mario & Luigi: Brothership has all the hallmarks of a great RPG. It’s still no Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but it’s not far off.

I used to play Mario & Luigi RPGs on the Nintendo DS a long time ago. I always got a kick out of how they cleverly blended controls for both Mario and Luigi with button-mapping, making it feel like you were taking both on an adventure.

Brothership adds more RPG depth to the series, but its flat writing and overabundance of gimmicks drag it down.