Dreamteam is my second favorite M&L game. (Behind bowser's inside story, which remains as my favorite game of all time. Mostly because of nostalgia) I always heard people complain about how the artstyle wasn't as good with the previous game's, which I disagree with, I absolutely love the blend of traditional 2d and 3d graphics, it's so charming!

16:47 Bro casually prediciting the future. In the M&L Brothership trailer, you can see that the X and Y bottoms on the switch are used for hammers!

1:00:40 that surprises me. There are several normal enemies you're encouraged to taunt ball. There's an impromptu tutorial on them for the first background enemy you come across in Mt. Pajamaja

Paper Jam may have a lot of issues, but when it comes to tutorials, they were MASSIVELY improved, in that they are very minimal and are almost entirely optional.

This one quickly became my favorite in the series because there's just so much game. It only started to feel drawn out 36 hours into my first playthrough

"As one final gift, he creates NSMB2." That was perfect! 😂😂😂

I completely forgot the taunt ball existed when playing through the game; so when I got to Dreamy Bowser, I simply brute forced my way through the mooks with Bomb Derby and Zee Egg. I think at most, Bowser added like 4 more turns to my fight from the healing; so it wasn't too bad. I also surprisingly had no issues with the motion controls so I thoroughly enjoyed the Zee Keeper and Giant Bowser fights. Because of this, as well as being older and smarter thus knowing how to video game, I enjoyed Dream Team even more than BIS; I never realized how much slower jumps are in DT though.

Absolutely underrated youtuber. Been watching like 90% of your recent stuff and its been up there with the other nintendo reviewers. Dunno why you aren't getting traction, but best of luck!

Ironically enough I used a taunt ball just about every time an enemy was in the background, but didn’t even think of trying one on Dreamy Bowser

Someone oughta give this game the Paper Mario 64 treatment and make a mod for it where it’s designed with veteran players in mind; completely forgoing tutorials, making boss fights longer by increasing the numbers, making some puzzles harder, and possibly adding a “cutscene fast-forward” button like Paper Jam & the other RPG remakes did, along with some other changes.

I definitely fall into the camp of absolutely adoring this game. It's my favorite in the series. I never really found the battle pace slow oddly enough. The giant battles are some of the most fun I've had in a Mario game...aside from the forced motion controls. Also goodness, the music in Dream Team is fantastic. Almost every song on the soundtrack is a certified banger.

For me Dream team is the one Mario & Luigi game where I was able to get to final rank by the end of the main game just by battling every enemy without having to grind at all.

Oof, I felt that bit about the final boss. I never knew about the taunt balls being the intended strategy. Every time I've fought this boss, I used this strategy: go in with a few time stop charges, destroy the arms, stop time, spam the strongest bros. moves in the game. It always felt a bit cheap defeating him that way, but I was technically still using the tools the game provided me with. I feel like this would be my second-favorite game in the series if not for the tutorials. I truly feel like I could never find the time to replay it thanks to those.

First time i saw the taunt ball used in the final fight. Back in my playthrough years ago i didn't had problems with that attack, so i'm really surprised to see that phase of attack. Also, thanks, i wanted to replay this game again, but all that time you know will be spent in tutorials and long battle phases, this video was a blessing.

Man, Luigi and Kamek really love dressing up as Peach!

It's crazy how X and Y are now going to be default hammers in Mario and Luigi Brotherhood, good call in your suggestion!

This was my first Mario & Luigi game and the first ever proper RPG game I had ever played. So this game means a lot to me. It was so cool to go on such a grand and lengthy adventure across reality and dreams. Therefore I have INCREDIBLY STRONG bias towards this game and will NEVER stop singing its praises. Yes, it has flaws, but my bias decrees that I ignore them. Since it was my first game, I had no idea how to play, so the tutorials didn't bother me in the slightest. Even on replays, I'm not really phased by them. (Then again replays are pretty spread out, so it's a nice refresher.) And honestly, with how long this game is, I kinda felt... underwhelmed by the other games in the series by comparison. I remember finally getting to play Bowser's Inside Story, the one everyone raved about, and making it to the final boss and thinking, "Wait, that's it? We're already here? It felt so short!" And I don't know, maybe it's the aforementioned bias talking, but I didn't find BIS *more* fun than Dream Team. Pretty equal, actually. But nostalgia broke the tie in Dream Team's favor.

I'm pretty sure Luigi got inspiration for the Luiginary cone from learning the spin jump move on Mount Pajamaja

I always loved dream team, it was my first Mario and Luigi game, and ngl Even though the giant bosses were a pain everything else was enjoyable and fun to play, and i can't wait to see how you feel about this game, also it has a really stellar ost.

I'm so glad someone else finally put it into words. Back when I first played this, I was going through the worse period of my life where my depression became crippling to the point where it became hard to enjoy recreational hobbies. I thought it was just me and my depression that made this game feel "off". Now, I finally got closure. Thank you.

Really enjoyed the in-depth review and how things were covered that I don't often see adressed elsewhere. I also see you're doing the other Mario RPGs too, subbed. I felt the part on Dream Bowser's healing so bad, with this series I like to do challenge runs where I'm intentionally underleveled or use weak equipment and I ran into the issue where Bowser would outheal my damage because he does it so often. I even had him re-start the heal process IN THE SAME TURN where he left the backgroujd after I got rid of his minions.

I'm amazed y'all didn't even try once to READ what Taunt Balls do.

Always great to open KZfaq to find a new retrospective from you, and one on the Mario and Luigi series to boot. I definitely have a middling opinion of the game. It's super fun and well made but has serious pacing issues and severely bloated. But the core combat and exploration is solid. The tutorials though...oh God, the tutorials. Why? Seriously though, your channel deserves so much more exposure. These videos are so well made. I freaking love watching these, several times each.

Dream Team is my 2nd favorite Mario and Luigi game, and i never really minded its length, pacing, and tutorials, cuz everything else is done so well to me, the battles are so fun and improves from BIS, the ost is amazing, the graphics works best for DT than the remakes and paper jam, and i love its hard mode, i homestly think people blows its flaws way out if proportion

Just found this video, looks great! I know what I’ll be watching for the next hour. Your channel is very underrated, keep it up, you deserve so much more support.

Honestly one of if not the best game I've ever played

As a kid I had an absolute BLAST with Bowsers Inside Story and when I saw Dream Team was launching and that I has gotten a 3DS a year prior I immediately asked for it and luckily it was Mario and now GTA so my grandma got it for me DAY ONE and I remember having an absolute blast with it too, however I’ve replayed Bowsers Inside Story several times, I never replayed this one. I’ve been watching these videos on the playlist and haven’t thought to comment now but thank you for these comprehensive videos these are genuinely awesome!

Can't relate to the whole taunt ball thing, I'd say they explain it perfectly fine

Starting from Dream Team the ost become more Kingdom Hearts than Mario Luigi

Whenever I entered the Dream World, I’d equip Mario with Bros Boots as soon as I got them and spam Luiginary Ball on every enemy encounter I came across (I’m the type of player who goes for every encounter). The boots let me recover 1 BP for each enemy defeated, so once I learned that little exploit it was pretty trivial to keep Mario’s BP topped at no expense of Syrups and the regular battles done in a relatively quick fashion in the Dream World

I will die on the hill of this being the most charming Mario and Luigi game. People who say the sprites are less expressive than the GBA/DS ones must be blind because have you *seen* the Luigi thinking animation? And the cute animations they do after they perform successful attacks… I love it! If you watch the Luiginoids you can see many of them have unique animations too! The game may have pacing issues, but I simply see that as an opportunity to enjoy the charming visuals more. Also seeing how much Luigi adores his brother… it warms my heart. And hot take, I think the final boss music is better than BiS’s. The background for the fight really makes the music seem right at home.

First game in the series I ever played, and I loved it Never understood why people hated it so much, especially when paper jam fucking blows. Anyways great video(s)!

I had no idea you could use taunt balls on the final boss untill now either... Dream Team WOULD be my favorite Mario and Luigi game if it wasn't for how slow it feels. Even walking in the overworld feels slower then the older games. Not to mention the tutorials...

I'm left handed too so I understand your pain especially with the timed challenges with the luiginary clock or whatever it's called.

you didn't mentionned the Expert Challenges at all i guess you weren't interested in it imo, having an objective for almost every battle makes them more interesting

The boss fights in this game are amazing IMO. I had a blast with this game when I was a young lad.

The craziest thing for me about this game is just how passionate of a fan base it has. In every video about it, the comments are always riddled with people singing its praises and I rarely see anyone say negative things about it, even if the video covering it sees it a bad light. Also, every single comment saying that dream team is underrated just make me angry. This game is perhaps the most loved after bowser’s inside story, how can it be underrated?

Wow, the only complaints I actually agree with are the overturorializarion and... um... no, that's about it. The battle system is great, the many different dream works gives the game an identity, I just don't get your side on some of this stuff

You've probably already gotten the game, but in case you haven't, New Super Luigi U is actually very challenging, creative, and fun. Especially when compared to New Super Mario Bros U.

Another thing you can do with the final boss’s heal move is to use the see egg bros move on the enemies, if you do it well enough it will take them all out at once

I remember in my first playthrough, I reached the part where you flip gravity and was confused where the tutorial was, not realizing how many tutorials were in the game

tbh id rank dreamteam as 3rd place as the lack of content outside of the main story of partners in time keeps me from being interested in coming back like dream team does, though on a side note, you know its sad when dream team is legitemalty one of the only good mario rpgs that came out in the 2010s

I played this game 9 times before beating the final boss

If you don't mind me asking, what were the music tracks you didn't find as good with this one? (Also great video! Just found your channel and watched the whole M&L series up to this point - not enough people do videos on the series I feel, good stuff!!)

"IVE GOT LOVE HANDELS!!!!" i had to stop playing to swach that one up. it took me off gaurd

Maybe it is just Nostalgia, this was my very first rpg. One of my first games ever. I just love the ambience the jokes the music. Good game.

Really enjoyed the MSGV gag lol

Currently also playing through the Mario and Luigi Series, and agreed with nearly everything in the video. It is definitely the most bipolar game of the series up to this point. I wanted to love the game as it shows promise but the glaring issues hold it back. Currently started playing Paper Jam so hopefully that one is better. Ps: The time stop badge combo in this game is BUSTED. I used two in a row to just bully dreamy bowser.

17:00 how do we tell him

You dont HAVE to use the Taunt Ball for the final fight. The Zee Egg bros attack is very good at attacking every enemy at once. You can also use the time freeze badge to make the battle pretty much free, however I wouldn’t recommend that, it makes the fight WAY too easy

It's weird that they have Luiginary forms being BOTH the big luigi swam AND the luigi background element touch screen possession thing because you think it'd be one or the other

1:01:40 the dream stone and the star rod are both extremely busted with bowser

Dream Team was my first Mario & Luigi game, and I generally think it's quite a bit of fun. Sure, some of the minigames are crap, and the Dreamy Luigi battles can be overly-challenging at times, but overall it's more fun than frustrating. I don't think I was aware of the first three games before Dream Team, with me only playing Bowser's Inside Story 3D in the past few years, so...I had no real expectations, outside of loving Super Paper Mario and finding the first two PM games to be generally-mediocre - though that's a different series, so eh. I went into Dream Team blind, and I enjoyed it.

The attacks Dreamy Bowser has are fun to dodge, but that damn healing sequence is the worst thing about it because it just drags the fight on longer than it should. It's also ridiculous how Bowser was able to one-shot Mario and Luigi when Antasma was helping him, while Bowser got defeated when he was using the most powerful artifact in the Mario franchise. I also don't like how they didn't include Antasma in the final fight in some way because I didn't like how he died by becoming fat and then exploding. It's also ridiculous how the dreamy Bowser fight began by having Peach and Starlow shoot a pink laser that they never use or bring up again.

The intro reminds me of an old helmsdeep campaign setting from 3E but I can't remember the name of it.

Penacony looking pretty different in the Nintendo port, eh? HSR joke aside, I remember feeling really fatigued at certain segments of this game. Mainly the long stretches with only a few enemy types that you fight over and over again. Especially the bits in the dream where you fight basic shapes. I remember fighting the sentient drill bits in particular. Compare them to the colorful enemies in superstar saga and they just seem soulless.

Keep it up! Can you do retrospective on Pokémon?

luigi stan luigi stan luigi stan i gonna give you luigi luigi wink wink im luigi you are luigi i am diagnosed luigi

i didnt even notice the tutorials

you sound just like antdude it's crazy

17:00 Using the Xbox button layout instead of the nintendo one is giving me crazy OCD problems

Pretty sure that Pi'illo is pronounced like "Pillow"

Ngl I had a really easy time with the dreamkeeper big boss fight like I might be a little better than most at understanding how motion controls work but even the X fight which is like after end game material only took 2 attempts

hang on i never used the taunt ball on the final boss...

While I agree that the game starts off really slow, once it gets going, it's really good

Ngl I never had any issues with the motion controls for the Zeekeeper

What killed this game for me was all the tutorials even all the way of to the end game

What is the music that plays at the end of your videos?

Question. Is your opening for this series inspired by the King's Quest V opening? I'd really like to know. It sounds and looks so much like it I have to believe that it's intentional. Really brings back the nostalgia. Would love if you could comment and answer this briefly. Thanks.

Zeekeeper fight is a skill issue

Another miss from this game is its lack of King wart. In both SMB2 and Zelda: Link's Awakening, he's always seen in Dream Worlds, so not using him here is such a missed opportunity. And it's not like they never use any SMB2 characters in these games, either. Birdo was an important part of Superstar Saga's plot and Partners in Time features these super obscure flying carpet enemies.

I really wanted to play this game but the merciless onslaught of tutorials even past the 5-hour mark was just too much. These days (well, for a while now) Nintendo swears kids are brain dead or something.

16:36 are you playing on xbox?

It'd be perfect if hard mode got rid of all the tutorials

I’ve got to disagree with your opinion on common battles. Even playing on hard mode I enjoyed the enemy attacks and used normal moves every time on normal encounters. The giant battles sucked, though.

Lore of Sleeper Hit, or Snoozefest? | Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Retrospective momentum 100

19:03 hold on. I know for certain the game asks your dominant hand when you start a new game. Is that not actually handled well for lefties?

I have a very big bias towards this game since it was my first ever introduction to the M&L franchise as well as my first ever RPG. Sure the game can be super long, and compared to older M&L games that I have never played, it could be subjectively worse in some areas (TUTORIALS). The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful, the melodies get stuck in my head, there was so much variety and M&L humor. I recall 8 year old me struggling to solve the puzzles or learning how to master the combat system (super flushed out), having to watch zackscottgame's playthrough whenever I got stuck. Oh the memories. This game will always have a place in my heart. I'd also like to mention the dream world rotate your 3ds and use the stylus boss battles. THAT WAS THE SHIT!

Wait people nah, as the best (and only) M&L game I’ve played, my super unbias opinion says it’s the bomb

Make paper jam!

I had that luigi 3ds xl ... but i sold it to buy the switch

Dream team will always be my favorite. The thing that puts it above inside for me is the music and the map. The map for inside story was.. to me so boring and plain. I hated the dry start area, the beach, and the forest. The cave area, beach, and castles were cool, but I see the lesser areas as more impactful compared to the better areas. The music too is just way better in dream team. Victory in the dream world, for example is just.. it encapsulates the dream feel so well as it builds up. Try, try again has an intensity I adore, and the final antasma battle, being my favorite track is like some of the best music from all the games. Another thing I wanted to add was the battle system and how I feel it is the best. The best, highest set of situations that make the normal battles the best is running the game on its “hard mode” while ONLY focusing your level up points in stache. It makes the game so much more intense as you get hit so much harder, and can’t rely on bros moves. Another good thing is if you fight every enemy everytime you go into a new screen that you haven’t discovered before. You will ALWAYS reach rainbow rank before the antasma fight, allowing you to open up the best gear for you. The combination of hard mode, the item limits, and only focusing on your stache points makes the game so much better, and if you go for the “BIG LUCKY” bonus equip when ranking up, it makes those now common lucky hits do sooo much damage, combining that with the triple jump boots or hammer, the normal moves are what I usually go to. It’s amazing

first, been enjoying ur retrospectives

i definately agree the motion controls were horrible in this game. In that zeeke fight i couldnt get Luigi to move out of the corner at all.

Hey its tutorial the game

As the game that introduced me into this series, I have nothing but respect for Dream Team even if it is one of the weakest entries in the series imo. Great video 👍🏻

58:16 hahahaa

This game is underrated and overhated way too many people look at the negatives and see this as a bad game. This is better than pit. Fight me

I still love it Its the STICKER Star Paper Mario game that's PURE CRAP.

Love Dream Team, just the fetch quest was annoying

‏‪19:15‬‏ just used your finger you don't need to use your stylus

who th e fuck is warren spector

Two months later and still no mario and luigi paper jam retrospective 😑

This one was my least favorite Mario and Luigi, it had a lot of potential but it was too bloated and there was so many tutorials. Also I didnt like the art style change

44:12 Yeah, you don’t know much about art and it shows. Merely adding black outlines to the sprites would’ve done nothing. Dream Team’s more detailed and shaded art style is completely different than Bowser’s Inside Story’s, which is clearly inspired by traditional 2D animation. They are two fundamentally different directions (and Bowser’s Inside Story is infinitely better). Also, no, the animation in DT in not better than BIS. Just because it has more frames, it doesn’t mean it’s better.

I feel like this was a nosedive for the series, honestly. I'm only ever annoyed to do the dream sections, and battles never really feel "fun" for me. They always just feel like a chore. In Bowser's Inside Story I LOVED battling, I went out of my way to battle every enemy. But here? It's just a chore.

2,1,4,3 is my top 4 of the Games, for whatever reason xD Paper jam i forget about all the time, so ... This crazy fun, cozy Game in the Style of part1 is so much more than the Blend boring Inside Story was... :D I dont think lenghthy Tutorials should Spoil any Game as Long as the Rest ist fun though ;)

i always felt this was the game wherre alphadreams ran out of ideas. it was just a less intresting retread of bowser's inside story.

16:56 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA XBOX CONTROLER CONFIG AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 🤮

This was the last game i ever bought from alphadream, and after having loved Superstar Saga, Partners, and BiS, this game was so disappointing for me i never returned to the mario and luigi series. The art style was a major turnoff (especially when other 3DS mario games, like 3D Land, Dark Moon, and even Sticker Star were all gorgeous), and i never liked the hyper realistic shading and lack of outline of these cartoony worlds. Its the same reason i didnt buy either 3ds remake, i felt like the art was a major downgrade from both original games, with lower framerates, and with side content that isnt very good. The 3DS killed alphadream, and every game they made for it was shit