Mario & Luigi Energize an Island-Hopping Quest

Mario, Nintendo’s famously high-voiced plumber, is known to most fans for his action platformers. Less celebrated are the Mario & Luigi role-playing games, which inspire imagination but require a precise sense of rhythm, at least for your right thumb.

Mario & Luigi: The Brothership, the pun-filled sixth edition, is set on islands in the high seas. The brothers, piloting a ship that is itself a small island, maneuver through mazelike puzzles and fight monsters using hammers, shock waves and boot stomps. Luigi, the kelly-green-capped brother, comes up with clever, resourceful ideas throughout. A thought bubble featuring an exclamation point appears above Luigi’s head when he’s thinking hard.

The adventure unfolds somewhat abruptly as a pink, tornado-like vortex sucks up the peppy twosome. But when Mario washes up on the shores of Shipshape Island, only a ghost of Luigi is present. Mournful yowls of “Mario!” and “Luigi!” are heard before the gameplay begins. When the two are reunited, the effect is as touching as it is humorous.

Their form of travel is being shot from a cannon, always accompanied by shocked expressions and much wailing as they plop down on another island (there are over a dozen). While the tale revolves around the usual save-the-world conceit, the twist here is about restoring electricity. The brothers have to reconnect the chain of islands by placing giant plugs into outlets.

Part of what makes Brothership compelling is the momentary rush of joining each island to create a power grid. Linking to a major power source like the Great Lighthouse is dazzlingly colorful to witness. The bright lights, including ropes of flashing lightning, stretch elegantly across the sea.

The personalities of the inhabitants are equally electric, including the beret-wearing sculptors on Rumbla Island. Think of the varied characters in the Animal Crossing series and you’ll get the idea. The plug-faced Connie is the ingenious combination of botanist and electrical engineer. Her watering can with a flower tip pours forth a flash of magical energy that begins the process of connecting power. She is as heroic as the ardent brothers, and I wish she were playable.