Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - Gameplay

Gameplay

The game switches between three characters. Mario and Luigi are found together inside Bowser for the majority of the game, exploring 2-D platform-style environments inside various locations of his body. However, battles are still turn based, and are initiated by coming into contact with enemies. Bowser explores the Mushroom Kingdom in a 3/4 overhead-view world, much like previous Mario & Luigi games. After a certain point in the game, Mario & Luigi can go outside of Bowser's body to explore the overworld as well. They can then use pipes found throughout the land to return to the inside of Bowser's body as necessary.

The battle system from the previous two Mario & Luigi games has returned for this installment. In addition to Mario and Luigi, Bowser is now a playable character as well. Bowser's battle system is similar to Mario and Luigi's, but Bowser fights alone and has more advanced stats than the Mario Bros., and Bowser gains the ability to consciously inhale certain of his enemies, enabling Mario and Luigi to fight the enemy inside Bowser.

Bros. Points (BP) have been brought back from the first game in the series, only this time, they are called Special Points (SP) because of Bowser's playability. In this installment of the series, the bros.' special attacks are acquired by collecting 10 "Attack Pieces" from a specific area in the game. Upon collecting all 10 pieces of an attack, the player may use the attack repeatedly, but using it will require a certain amount of Special Points. Bowser can also gain special attacks by freeing his minions or, in one case, by collecting 15 kitten-like block beings called Blitties from enemies in the overworld. Bowser's special attacks all use the stylus, while Mario and Luigi's use buttons, as usual.

There is also a new ranking system feature, where players increase their rank as they level up to certain levels. Earning ranks will allow Mario, Luigi, or Bowser to equip more items, buy more equipment, and possibly earn a new item. There are six ranks for Mario and Luigi, starting from the "Mushroom Rank" and going up to the "Rainbow Rank", and four ranks for Bowser, going from the "Bronze Boss Rank" to the "Silver Boss Rank" to the "Gold Boss Rank" to the "Final Boss Rank".

The badge system has also changed. Instead of badges that grant certain skills, badges are now used to get bonuses whenever the player gets a "good", "great", or "excellent" during an attack on an enemy with Mario or Luigi. The effect changes depending on the type of badge each Mario Brother has equipped. Such incentives include Health or Skill-point recovery, increase in coins earned after battles, or attack power increase.

Various minigames featuring Bowser's body have been added to the main story, unlike the previous game (which featured only three). The minigames' locations include the "Arm Center", where Mario and Luigi hit spark-like items into a muscle to strengthen Bowser's arms; the "Leg Outpost", where Mario and Luigi stomp on leg muscles to strengthen Bowser's legs; and the "Gut Check", where Mario and Luigi help digest food that Bowser eats. One location, the "Rump Command", has the player accumulate adrenaline in order to supersize Bowser if he gets crushed, which then allows the player to enter a new battle system where the DS is held vertically like a book, and attacks utilize the stylus and microphone instead of the A, X, B, or Y buttons (blowing through the microphone makes Bowser breathe fire, for example).