First, could you briefly introduce yourselves?
Otani: Hi, I’m Akira Otani from Nintendo. I’ve been part of the Mario & Luigi series since its second game, “Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time,” and I stepped into the producer role with the third entry, “Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story.” This latest game marks the seventh installment I’ve been involved in. My main task was supervising the entire project. Alongside that, I collaborated with the team on many tasks, including brainstorming and assembling game content.
Fukushima: Prior to this project, I handled coordination with external developers for titles like “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” on the Nintendo Switch. For this Mario & Luigi game, I came on board as the Associate Producer. My role spanned a variety of responsibilities, from initial prototyping to finalizing the product. This involved scheduling and integrating overall game content while working closely with the development team at Acquire.
Ohashi: I’m Haruyuki Ohashi from Acquire. Serving as the director, I managed the on-site planning and development. This project was my first collaboration with Nintendo, so I’m genuinely relieved and proud that we managed to wrap it up successfully.
Furuta: I’m Hitomi Furuta from Acquire as well, and I handled the role of Art Director for the game. My main responsibility was shaping the overall art direction and designing some of the key characters. Having played Mario games since childhood, I must say, working on this project was my first deep dive into the Mario & Luigi series.
Next, could I ask Otani-san to explain a little about the Mario & Luigi series and about this game?
Otani: The Mario & Luigi series kicked off in 2003 on the Game Boy Advance. These games fall under the Action RPG category, focusing on the dynamic duo Mario and Luigi working together as a team—a style we like to call “Brother Action RPG.” The series strikes a great balance, blending action and puzzles with a playful story and characters that showcase the unique charm we’ve come to expect from the Mario world. This is our first new title in the series in nine years, following “Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam” that came out in 2015.
Thank you. You mentioned that this was the first new game in nine years, but what kind of setting does the story take place in?
Otani: The story unfolds in Concordia, a world distinct from the familiar Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi embark on an adventure across islands adrift in an ocean. Their base is Shipshape Island, a drifting haven from which they set sail to discover new islands filled with puzzles and battles. As the villainous Zokket poses a growing threat, Mario and Luigi encounter various allies who lend their support to counter this menace.
This game was first announced during the Nintendo Direct that aired in June 2024. Since it’s the first new game in the series in nine years, I imagine a lot of people were surprised.
Otani: Absolutely, the reaction was quite overwhelming, both in Japan and internationally. The biggest surprise seemed to stem from the fact that many had assumed this series was finished, and yet, here we are bringing it back again.
Well, it has been a while since the last installment of the Mario & Luigi series was released, after all.
Otani: Indeed. Over the years, we’ve had extensive internal discussions about the future of the series post-“Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.” We aimed to innovate, keeping pace with the latest hardware, while preserving the classic charm of Mario & Luigi. This combination proved challenging. At one point, it seemed almost impossible to continue, and we considered laying the series to rest.
Yet, through countless conversations, we reached out to Acquire. After several discussions with Ohashi-san, it became clear that Acquire could realize our vision of bringing Mario & Luigi into the 3D space, so we kicked off a joint development effort.
Keeping that quintessential “Mario & Luigi feel” was crucial, so we also brought in some former AlphaDream staff who had contributed to the previous titles in the series to join the project.
