If you haven't heard of this game, then you've been living under a rock for the past year. This Review, unlike most I do, will be rated on a scale of 7 for the Crystal Stars.

Graphics: 5

The graphics are very nice, but some enemies hardly look updated at all. The numerous Goombas are an excellent example. Kammy looks even worse than before (though I think that was the point). On a positive note, Mario's a bit taller now and doesn't look like a midget anymore, and Dry Bones looks a bit more dusty and a bit darker. There are other updates too.

Sound: 4 1/2

There are some impressive songs, but some are just plain aggravating. You gotta hate the Shadow Queen theme, and the Attack FX badges are aggravating to have, especially R, which you practically need to wear for one boss battle so it's easier. On the other side of the spectrum, there's Doopliss' theme, the Shadow Sirens' theme, and the remix of the Ghost House theme. It is too bad all three rarely show during the game...

Difficulty: 6 1/2

The game is plenty hard for basic players, and has a few challeges for the more advanced of gamers as well. The game is definitely harder than Paper Mario, but in a good way, not a bad.

Characters: 6 1/2

No, the Koopalings aren't in it. But, there are some trully excellent characters in this. There's Goombella, who's easily a lot cooler than Goombario was. Bowser's finally not being treated like an idiot, and Kammy has a much more distinct personality. Characters like Doopliss, the three Shadow Sirens, the Punis, and others have got to appeal to you. Too bad that only two party members from the first are in this though: Parakarry and Bow.

Controls: 6

Somehow I feel as though the L button should have been used to do the Ultra Jump, but otherwise very nice. It'll take you forever to figure out some controls, but with A and B, the two primary buttons in the game, doing the same as in Paper Mario (A to jump, B to hammer), you should have few problems.

Areas:
The areas will each be accounted for separately.

Rogueport: 6 1/2

Rogueport is a nice place, and the area is full of interesting characters. There're five screens to it all together, but as the screens are bigger and more three-diminsional, this new town is roughly the size of Toad Town.

Rogueport Underground: 4

This place is confusing! The fact that there are two different entrances, and that all towns except one can be gotten to through the sewers at some point makes the place good if you're in a hurry. Unfortunatly, two of the towns require you to take the much more painfully annoying route, unlike all of the others. Simply put, the Underground's too big, but luckily nowhere near as big as Toad Town Sewers.

Petal Meadows: 2

Can you say BORING? Every enemy in Petal Meadows is a cinch. The way to open the way to Hooktail's Castle is way too easy as well.

Petalburg: 7

I'm not sure why, but Petalburg is one of the coolest places in the game. Probably becaue all of the items are cheap and there are a bunch of cool characters. Notice the two Bub-ulbs in town.

Hooktail's Castle: 5

Hooktail's Castle is awesome, but it is just WAY too big. Hooktail's a bit of a joke unless you don't have Attack FX R. It does seem a bit odd that the fool actually kept her weakness right in her castle when she knew it made her sick just to think about it...

Boggly Woods: 4

To be short, this place is just WAY too big. There's too much distance between the Great Tree and Flurrie's House, considering that there are only three or four enemies between them. At least you get to hear the theme to the Shadow Sirens while here, even if it is only for one fight for now.

Great Tree: 3

The Great Tree has a very misleading name. In this place, you're expected to keep track of 101 tiny bug things called Punis (who, by the way, are so stupid that they won't jump down a hole to freedom by themselves, or go through bars they can easily get through). The boss fight here is easier than Hooktail, and the fights with the Jabbies are just plain stupid.

Glitzville: 6

The only problem with Glitzville is that it is just WAY too small. Seriously, Poshley Heights has more buildings than this place. I guess all of the people in Glitzville sleep in the Glitz Pit, 'cause there isn't a single house in the whole town.

Glitz Pit: 7

This place is awesome. There are lots of fights, some excellent lines, some of the best characters, and a huge place in this building. The only flaw is that you can't get into the locker rooms that are lower ranked than yours, so you can only talk to some characters (like King K and Bandy Andy) again if you keep losing until you are back in the minor leagues.

Twilight Town: 6

Twilight Town's great, but the people there are unfortunately all kind of sickly looking and kind of disturbing. Still, it's a great place to get cheap Life Shrooms.

Creepy Steeple: 7

Creepy Steeple is easily the smallest dungeon, but it's also one of the coolest. The place has hardly any enemies, and those that are there are pretty easy. The lower levels are cool, and so is Doopliss' room (though you have to wonder where the chair went). Note that three boss fights occur here, one of which is optional.

Keelhaul Key: 4

I'm sorry, but Keelhaul Key is too much like Lavalava Island for my tastes. For someodd reason, Whakka's apparently moved here. Well, either way, the place isn't bad, it's just not very good.

Pirate's Grotto: 2 1/2

This is probably my least favorite dungeon in the game. Why? It's simple: the basic enemies are all way to easy, and the boat's too boring to use for long periods of time.

Excess Express: 6 1/2

The Excess Express easily outdoes the train from the last game. The backgrounds are all nice, and this is the only place you can see some characters such as Yoshi.

Riverside Station: 5

The Riverside Station is awesome, but if there was ever a level that needs some new enemies it's this one. All of the enemies in the station should be replaced with some Boos or something. Since it's a deserted train station, Boos would seem more fitting here. Plus, what kind of defense are Goombas anyway?

Poshley Heights: 5 1/2

This place is awesome, but unfortunately everything is way too expensive. It even costs 30 coins to stay in the inn! Well, either way, Poshley Heights still looks nice and has Bow in it later, and Goombella's Tattle on her is just priceless.

Poshley Sanctum: 3

The Poshley Sanctum is way too BORING. More than half of the place is enemy free, and the rest is filled with Dark Boos. There are only two rooms in the whole thing even... and that's kind of defeating the point.

Fhar Outpost: 6

Fhar Outpost has some of the most... unique... Bob-ombs we've ever seen. The big cannon is awesome, by the way.

The Moon: 4 1/2

Never before have I seen a place that you can go completely to the end of and end up at the beginning in an RPG. Well, either way, the moon is boring but the enemies on the moon are pretty powerful. Moon Cleft is practically invincible.

X-Naut Base: 6 1/2

The X-Naut Base rules. Period. It has some of the coolest rooms in the game, including the room leading to Magnus 2.0 and the locker room (with the awesome 8-bit Mario cameo). However, the trivia thing is lame and the last floor puzzle is so painfully aggravating when you're running low on HP that it's not even funny. For you, anyway.

Palace of Shadow: 6 1/2

This place is just plain weird. You'll be fighting the might of Gloomtail in one fight, then a Dull Bones, and a few fights later the Shadow Sirens and Doopliss. Yeah, all of those really happen. The only complaint I have is that the cutscenes during the fight with the final boss are just WAY too long.

Replayability: 6

The game continues after you beat it, unlike the other three Mario RPGs.(though SMRPG made it clear that there was plenty more you could do, such as collect fireworks). Unfortunately, there is no option to refight any bosses except Rawk Hawk. The only bosses you can fight after the game at all are Rawk Hawk, Atomic Boo, and Bonetail, the last two of which are optional bosses that may or may not have already been defeated.

Badges: 6 1/2

The badges are numerous, and there are some that are just plain odd. In addition to a ton of badges from the first (including Charge and Power Bounce), there are new Sound FX badges, the awesome L Emblem and W Emblem, the odd Double Pain, and the surprisingly useful Jumpman, among others.

Partners:
Partners will be judged on their usefulness, not their coolness.

Goombella: 7

You've probably fainted at this point. I can just hear you shouting, "How can a Goomba get a perfect score?! This guy's nuts!" Just bear with me. Goombella can do 6 damage a turn without FP on Ultra level, an unlimited amount with 3 FP, use the now more useful than ever before move Tattle, and the awesome new move Rally Wink, giving Mario an extra attack. She's probably the most powerful partner overall.

Koops: 5 1/2

Koops has the lowest HP of the partners, with only 25 when at Ultra Rank. This may sound pretty weak, but he's got +1 to defense and several powerful attacks. Though he may not look it, Koops can be devastating to enemy lines. Unfortunatly, the fact that he has no moves capable of hitting airial opponents hurts his score a bit, as does the impossibly hard Shell Shield move.

Flurrie: 4 1/2

Flurrie is pretty useless for about the first four chapters after the one you get her in. However, when you start encountering enemies that you really don't want to fight (Moon Cleft comes to mind), she's a miracle worker with her wind powers. Unfortunately, she spends so much of the game nearly useless that her score can't possibly be high.

Gonzalez Jr: 6

The Yoshi partner, who is being referred to as Gonzalez Jr. around Lemmy's Land, is great, and is also the only partner that can harm Iron Cleft, a storyline boss you have to beat. Unfortunately, all of his moves besides Gulp can't harm enemies with a defense of 1. At least Gulp is defense-defying.

Vivian: 7

If any partner is greater than Goombella, it's definitely Vivian. Vivian's two basic moves are both useful, and Veil is much more FP-friendly than the similar move Bow had in the original. Of course, it requires a button combo, but it is an easy one. Fiery Jinx is possibly the greatest move in the game.

Bobbery: 4 1/2

Bobbey is not quite as useful as Bombette was; he is only used to destroy a few walls and is mostly used for hitting switches. Bobbery can use Bomb without FP, and has two moves that don't cause problems. Ultimately, Hold Fast is useless and Megabomb, though powerful, takes WAY too much FP.

Ms. Mowz: 2

Ms. Mowz is probably one of the coolest characters in the game, but she's a lousy party member. Her moves do very little, and her Love Slap is way too complicated for an attack that does a maximum of 2 damage at base level.

Fun Factor!: 6 1/2

This game is a blast, and along with Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario Bros. DX, and Super Mario RPG, is one of the best Mario games. Unfortunately, the trivia and some things you have to do are boring. On the other hand, battling is fun and not as predictable as in Paper Mario.

Overall: 6 1/2

This game is great, but it is not quite to excellence. The game has its flaws, but for the most part there's enough good material to make up for most of the smaller ones.

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