If you haven’t seen my previous posts about it, Nintendo has been posting a series of interviews with the two dev teams of Mario & Luigi Brothership, Nintendo and Acquire, and has been providing keen insight into the hows and whys of the game’s development. In Part 4 of the interview, they talked about bringing the personality of Mario & Luigi to bear in special ways, including making the brothers more expressive at points and doing clever animations in spots that could’ve easily been repeated many times over. Acquire Director Haruyuki Ohashi noted:
“When I handed over a rough storyboard I’d written to the person in charge of animation, he created countless variations saying, “It’d get boring if all the movements were the same”. In the first scene, when Luigi lands on Rumbla Island, it leaves a mark on the ground where he botches his landing. I think it’s great to incorporate playful moments like these that make people chuckle when they notice them. For example, the exclamation mark in Luigi Logic is in the shape of an “L”.
These moments do help things stand out more, especially when the brothers react to one another in funny ways. As for the game’s difficulty, the team did many tests of the game’s battle mechanics, including the battle plugs and other mechanics, and apparently, there were many battles against one another to ensure that Mario & Luigi Brothership played well and would have a great balance. According to designer Hitomi Furata:
“Although there were times when we faced challenges and felt anxious, with a lot of support from my team members and Nintendo, we were able to bring this game to fruition. Staying true to the Mario & Luigi series, it’s an easy-to-play journey full of laughs. I’ll be happy if the story of Shipshape Island becomes a beloved journey for fans and newcomers alike because, as someone entrusted with the series, I’ll feel that I’ve been able to return the favour to everyone on the team and Nintendo.”
