An acquaintance - one who never plays video games - asked me the other day how the Mario franchise can still be around nowadays; Super Mario Bros., after all, came out when he was a kid and now, years later, he still hears gamers talk about the moustachioed plumber. ‘So how is he still around?’ he asked.

‘Simple,’ I replied ‘it’s because you will rarely find a weak game based on the Super Mario Bros. franchise.’

It’s true, too. Whether you’re looking at the Mario Kart series, Mario Golf, or new additions like Super Mario Strikers, all these games are, quite simply, a ton of fun. The characters may be re-hashed over and over again, but the gameplay elements sure aren’t. Paper Mario and Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix are completely different games and hold something specific for completely different types of gamers.

Anyhow, this brings us to the Nintendo DS system – it wouldn’t be a Nintendo system without a Mario game. We already have a few and the latest and definitely one of the best is Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. This is a sequel to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (for the GBA) and borrows gameplay elements found in Paper Mario for the GameCube.

In Partners in Time, you control Mario and his faithful sidekick Luigi, as well as child versions of each as they try to save the Mushroom Kingdom and the Princess from evil aliens known as the Shroobs. Think of the plot as part ‘Alien,’ part ‘Independence Day’ and part ‘Back to the Future.’ You walk around different environments and - similar to The Adventure of Link and Dragon Warrior for the NES – when you touch an enemy, a new screen appears and the action becomes turn-based. I’m not a big fan of turn-based RPGs, but Partners in Time adds a whole different element to the gameplay. As you choose your attack method, you also have to hit certain buttons in a specific order depending on how you choose to attack.

For instance, you may want to shoot a green shell at an enemy. Hitting the A-button will have Mario begin the whole process by launching the shell, but the baby version of Mario will jump on top of the shell and as it hits the enemy, if you tap the X-button, more damage will be taken off. The shell then bounces to Luigi, and to keep the process successfully going, you have to hit the B-button. Finally, as the shell bounces back at the enemy, hitting the Y-Button will take off additional hit points thanks to the baby Luigi. The shell will continually bounce back and forth moving faster and faster. The quicker your reflexes, the more damage you’ll be able to take off the enemy. All four protagonists are controlled by the same buttons throughout the course of the game.

This may all sound confusing but the characters in the game do a great job of thoroughly explaining each new move as it becomes available. This in fact leads us to one of the few downsides of the game – it’s very text-heavy, especially in the initial stages, and this may turn off some gamers before they get a chance to really see how fun the game can be.

Other role-playing game aspects come into play here. As you defeat enemies, you earn experience points and coins, and level up, earning more hit points, defensive and offensive power, etc. You can also pick up and buy clothes and badges to help protect you as you get deeper in the game and enemies inevitably become more powerful. This is all stuff we’ve seen before but nonetheless adds more fun to the mix.

Mario returns in 'Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time'

The game also isn’t terribly innovative in any way. The DS’s touch screen isn’t used at all, though the developers took full advantage of having two screens available. Action switches often between the two and several enemies even stretch to both screens.

Again, though, what the game does is a lot of fun, not to mention the dialogue is extremely funny. The script pokes fun at the Mario Bros. series in general but also seems to take some digs at all the ‘noobs’ and ‘l33ts’ on a certain other online-enabled console. It’s actually laugh-out-loud funny at some points.

Partners in Time is a single-player game exclusively but it is quite long so you’ll likely get your money’s worth, especially if you’re like me and enjoy finding every last hidden treasure and coin.

If you’re looking for something familiar yet fun, we have no qualms about recommending Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. As light-hearted as it is, it has a seriously addictive flavour to it and it looks and sounds great to boot. Mario ain’t going away anytime soon folks – may as well embrace him while he’s here!