Mario & Luigi: Brothership hands-on: Immaculate vibes meet brilliant nonsense

No hero should have to work alone. Batman trained Robin, Bill and Ted changed history, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, well, let's just say they went on their own terms. In video games, the most iconic duo is easily Mario and Luigi. Since 2003, Nintendo's flagship brothers have headlined Mario & Luigi, a spin-off of the iconic Super Mario franchise that places equal emphasis on Mario and Luigi as a team; the cornerstone of this philosophy is how all critical button inputs boil down to the A and B buttons which correspond to Mario and Luigi respectively. 

The siblings have been enjoying a well-earned vacation for the last decade (since Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam on 3DS), but we caught up with the pair to go hands-on with their latest, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, on the increasingly aging Nintendo Switch. After an hour in their company, it's clear that there's little in the way of mechanical innovation in this successor. Yet, the little things, the dressings and accoutrements to this mushroom dish, have left me thinking about it for days. They're enough to justify this brotherly reunion entirely.

Setting sail

Mario & Luigi find themselves on Concordia, a colorful ocean planet made up of disconnected islands. It's up to the pair to reconnect them, through the power of Brothership – or, well, the Shipshape Island. A moving buccaneer ship that's a giant island itself, it floats all around Concordia in a big loop; a mighty helpful navigational map occupies the top left corner of the screen that allows players see where on its route the Shipshape is passing in real-time.

Interacting with the onboard telescope allows Mario and Luigi to target a nearby island, stuff themselves into the Shipshape's cannon, and blast themselves off to explore. There you partake in the usual series fare – battling enemies and solving puzzles – before finally reconnecting the island back to the Shipshape. My designated Nintendo rep informed me it's possible to revisit islands after connecting, where Mario and Luigi can and will discover new things that weren't present on their first visit.

Brothership is classic Mario in terms of narrative structure and design in this way, only now with a high seas twist. It's like someone binge-watched Indiana Jones' most thrilling scenes while blasting the relaxed tunes of Jimmy Buffett and thought: "What if we made this a Mario & Luigi game?"

Plugging back in

The Nintendo Switch is over seven years old – old age for gaming hardware – but Brothership proves that even this old dog can do new tricks. The turn-based scraps of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam remains intact in Brothership, down to its strikingly familiar user interface and the real-time inputs that allow a boost to damage based on timing accuracy.

Even Paper Jam's Battle Cards are back, now dubbed 'Battle Plugs', which give Mario and Luigi all sorts of combat perks. A personal favorite: Getting 'perfect' timing during combat drops a spike ball on my chosen enemy. I'm a sucker for stacking damage in RPGs, and with this Battle Plug, it never ceased being delicious forcing an enemy to lose more HP after giving them a proper wallop. 

To be clear: The combat is still tremendous fun. The game's cartoonish animation, in concert with its specific sound mixing – a cacophony of bubbles, metallic hammers, and airy pops! – makes it so that you as the player want perfect timing in combat, because it just feels so good. Anyone who has spent time in Paper Jam will find themselves right at home in Brothership.  It's a culmination of all that's come before, its simple concepts refined into a wonderfully moreish loop that make it stand out among Nintendo's library. 

Brothers in paradise

The reliably consistent and wholesome 'vibe' of Mario is nothing short of impressive. The delightfully innocent nonsense has stuck with me since my demo – Brothership is a perfect example of what makes bros so iconic. Mario is the closest thing gaming has to a Disney, Miyazaki, or Muppets equivalent; we really should not be surprised at the billions The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed at the box office last year.

With over 20 years and now six games accounting for this fan favorite sub-series, Nintendo has more than proved that Super Mario isn't and shouldn't be a solo act. It's hard for Mario to cast a shadow over his brother when Luigi stands a solid six or seven inches taller than him.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership doesn't reinvent Mario. It doesn't need to. My short time with Brothership was underscored by some proper laughs and grins at the unapologetic fun packed into almost every scene.

On the first island I visited, the primary mission was to retrieve hair gel for a self-centered music deejay. There's a traversal mechanic where Mario and Luigi can link up and spin into a floating tornado; the still animation has them in a tango. And when Mario and Luigi reconnect the islands to Shipshape, they take out oversized electrical plugs (which emanate a magnificent golden glow) which they 'insert' into Shipshape's sockets. The cutscene ends with Mario and Luigi joyously jumping in a circle, their gloved hands held.

Whether it's cute moments like this, the constant sense of discovery across Concordia, or the thrill of whacking enemies in perfect timing with your brother, Brothership is able to become something more. In other words, the vibes are simply immaculate.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is set to release on November 7, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch. More Mario? We've got our ranking of the best Mario games, so take a look!