With all of the charm of a Saturday morning cartoon and a set of RPG-lite mechanics perfect for novice adventurers, Mario & Luigi: Brothership confidently sets sail across smooth waters. Supported by an RPG legacy that is beloved by many if a little undervalued, this title proves to be a worthy successor but one whose pace can drag slowly like an anchor along the seabed.

There’s no denying the endearing glee found in Brothership’s family-friendly and vibrant presentation. The brotherly love shared by our wholesome duo is palpable as the two set off on an adventure to connect a set of floating islands after the world is fractured apart. Taking to the high seas on Shipshape Island, you’ll navigate across ocean currents to discover new lands and link them back to your half-ship-half-island, helping each island’s residents along the way and restoring the world back to its former glory.

Aesthetically the game is vibrant and colourful, combining depictions of island life with nautical themes and a curious electrical element tying everything together. Connie, for instance, is the game’s ‘Wattanist’, donning an electric plug as a hat and taking care of the important ‘Uni-Tree’. This tree in question also functions as Shipshape’s mast and is also an electrical conduit with a big lightbulb sitting at its peak, able to be connected to other island’s lighthouses. It all works, somewhat… though at times it feels like Brothership has one too many ideas in its theming and presentation.

Whilst slightly convoluted in the tying together of ideas, there’s no denying the pure charm of this game’s animations and cutscenes. The visuals and music do a lot of heavy lifting to imbue Brothership with bliss, but it’s those goofy animations that truly give this game life. Like watching a delightful, mid-morning cartoon, the adventures Mario & Luigi embark on are so lovingly captured and spirited. Luigi is of course a little less competent than his brother in red, never truly sticking the landing with the same amount of grace as Mario. Though Mario is always ready to lend that helping hand to pull up his lanky comrade, showcasing the loving bond felt throughout the adventure. This is but one example of the incredibly detailed animations that truly make the game a charmer from start to finish.

The extensive character roster actually points to perhaps a larger narrative problem for Mario & Luigi: Brothership, which is that it all starts to feel a bit too sizable for the rather basic premise that’s presented. The idea of connecting up these islands is a perfectly fine one, and I have no problems with the traditional trope of Mario & Luigi saving the world from comically-presented “bad guys”. But to support that simple idea by way of a huge amount of dialogue and characters seems strange. It’s like building a mansion on the foundation of a shed, making many cutscenes and chatter feel wholly unnecessary.

For all its charm, Brothership unfortunately feels badly paced. Between the rather simple turn-based battles, the huge swathe of unneeded conversation after each adventure, and the backtracking of returning to previous islands—the game just feels slow. It’s a shame because the title feels so well-made. There’s so much good here that’s buried under a lot of filler, making me wonder if an RPG was ever the perfect genre for a basic and family-friendly Mario narrative.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a fantastic introduction to the RPG that works brilliantly for both new players and veterans alike. The systems in place include turn-based battles, gear to equip, levels to amass, resources to accumulate, side quests to pursue, and even choices with lasting consequences. The RPG bones are here, but it’s all presented at a pace and with a simplicity that makes it so easy to engage in. The way this team can present ideas in such an elegant and accessible way is an art form of its own, and the same can be said for the game’s puzzles. At certain times, you’ll need to figure out certain riddles and conundrums that on the surface aren’t super easy for a game that’s supposed to be all-ages friendly. But then the contextual clues and hand-holding become more and more apparent the more digging you do, offering a brilliant solution to appease both puzzle-adept players and younger audiences alike.

The turn-based battles have an active element that will be familiar to Mario & Luigi RPG players. Simply choosing an attack will only do a small amount of damage to the enemy. Instead, players have to use a combination of button presses at the right time to facilitate an attack’s full power. This sees our brother duo engage in a fun and detailed back-and-forth animation for each strike. The same can be said for blocking attacks, which often also allow you to counter, turning an attack against you into an attack against the foe. New attacks unlock as you play, allowing for multi-target blows and higher damage output at the cost of a finite resource.

A set of “Bros. Moves” gives your duo more freedom whilst exploring, including rolling around as a ball or flying around as a UFO. Thematically none of it really makes sense, but it does help to mix up the gameplay at key moments. I don’t love the implementation of these Bros. Moves as they can be a little clunky to perform, stopping the flow of gameplay. They also aren’t designed for general use as you move around the world, more for specific moments that require them. These Bros. Moves are also another way the game facilitates backtracking, as you open up new areas you can explore on previous islands thanks to the acquisition of new moves. As previously mentioned, the pace of Brothership feels slow, so I’m not a big fan of this kind of design. Admittedly, they do provide more for you to do when the game’s story or side-quest asks you to revisit a previously visited island anyway.

Ultimately, there are a lot of good ideas here and many systems that could use further tweaks to perfect. Mario & Luigi: Brothership feels like a big swing that usually hits but sometimes stumbles under the weight of its many surface-level ideas and over-extended runtime.