With the baby brothers in tow, the pair begins their epic (and rather goofy) quest to save Princess Peach and the Kingdom. During your journey, you'll move back and forth between time periods via a series of "time holes." Luckily, Professor E. Gadd is on hand to lend a bit of scientific support. Along the way, you'll also encounter baby versions of Peach and Bowser, which can only complicate matters.
Most of the time, the action takes place on the DS's bottom screen, with the top screen reserved for a map of the land. However, when you need a little extra help getting though a dungeon or past an obstacle, you can send the babies off on their own. At this point, the old brothers remain on the bottom screen, and you follow the babies' moves on the top screen.
The older and younger brothers both have unique sets of specials moves which you'll need to take advantage of to advance. The older pair, for example, have a spinning move which allows them to fly over pits (this was also in Superstar Saga). They can also grab each other's ankles and roll around the screen, knocking over whatever's in their way. The babies can swing hammers and burrow underground.
The sense of teamwork (and self abuse) is more evident when the two pairs work together. The older bros can roll over their younger selves, squashing them flat as pancakes. Now, the kids are flat enough to slip into tight passageways.
Putting the Action in Action RPG
As in Superstar, the battles are a lot more action oriented than the typical RPG. Sure, you select what attack you want to do in a turn-based fashion, but when you actually attack, you can press buttons to cause more damage, giving you a greater feeling of interaction during fights. Likewise, if you have good timing, you can block enemy attacks by tapping the right buttons. Partners ups the ante a bit here by allowing you to sic the babies on the bad guys with properly timed button taps. Although they're normally riding piggyback on their respective older selves, baby Mario and Luigi can cause quite a bit of damage if properly utilized.
Additionally, a new feature called "Bros. Items" comes in very handy during battles. These special items activate a sequence where you execute a combined attack of all four brothers at the enemy. For instance, the crew will be launched out of a cannon at the baddies, or they'll gather all their power to send a giant fireball at their foes. As you might expect, the better your timing with the button presses determines how much damage you cause.
Considering how great Superstar Saga was, anticipation for Partners in Time is pretty high. It'll be great to see what twisted plotlines Nintendo has cooked up for the brothers this time around, and it's always nice to see another portable RPG.
