Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Beginner’s Tips

Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi: Dream Team finally hits store shelves this Sunday, August 11th. In it, the brothers set off to rescue Princess Peach and the Pi’illo People from the Bat King Antasma, among other baddies. Being the Year of Luigi, the green-clad hero plays an important role in this charming RPG whenever he falls asleep, which lets Mario and his sibling enter a Dream World filled with surprises.

Of course, we’re here to make the game easier with the Official Prima Guide, and to get you started, here are some beginner’s tips no Dream Teamer should be without.

-Save whenever possible, via the touch screen or at one of the specially placed save boxes in the game world. 

-The A and B buttons control Mario and Luigi, respectively.  In the field, you alternate button presses that make the brothers hit blocks with M or L.  In addition, you’ll need to press the buttons together to make them jump at the same time.  

-Combat works similarly, in the sense that you press A to select Mario’s attacks, and B for Luigi.

-Enter the Dream World by maneuvering Luigi near a stone pillow, whereupon which he falls asleep and a portal to the Dream World opens.

-Always hit floating boxes. It’s the best way to pick up free coins and special items. You’ll need coins to buy things in the shops.

-While browsing items in a shop, select the desired object and tap Y to view the effects.

-Don’t run away from weak enemies. Successfully defeating these creatures allows you to level up faster.

-Jump on enemies to inflict pre-battle damage.

-During combat, monsters always look towards the character they wish to attack. 

-When it comes to battles, it’s all in the timing. Initiate the attack with the character’s respective button, then press it again at the peak of their jump/weapon strike.

-Badges cause special effects during battle, like restoring 30 percent of each brother’s HP.  To use Badges, you must fill a meter on the touch screen, the red part for Mario, the green part for Luigi; the meter fills each time you successfully land an attack. You only have two spots on the touchscreen to store these Badge Effects, and you’ll assign them to the right and left shoulder buttons.

-Winning battles earns Experience Points (EXP) that you’ll need to upgrade each character’s stats.  When either Mario or Luigi level up (they do so individually), you stand to gain extra points for a stat of your choosing via the bonus slot spin.

-Stats include the following:

HP: Raising this will make you harder to KO even if you take damage.

BP: Raising this will allow you to perform more Bros./Luiginary Attacks.

POW: Raising this will increase the damage you deal when attacking.

DEF: Raising this will reduce the damage you take from enemies.

SPEED: Raising this will allow you to move earlier than other combatants.

STACHE: Raising this ups the chance for Lucky Hits (won’t go up when you level up).

-While in the Dream World, you can mess with a sleeping Luigi on the touchscreen to solve puzzles.  Case in point, sending Mario to hard-to-reach places and pushing blocks from the background into the foreground, among other challenges.  Whenever you get stuck, tap the right shoulder button to transform Luigi’s icon to a curly arrow.  From there, watch as a translucent image of Luigi’s head appears in the background.

We’ll walk you through both aforementioned scenarios.

Reaching higher platforms: Use the stylus to grab hold of Luigi’s mustache on the bottom screen.  Pull back towards Mario and he’ll latch on automatically. Adjust the trajectory and let go.  Think of it as a slingshot.

Pushing blocks: Simply tickle sleeping Luigi’s nose to make him sneeze.  The sudden gust of wind will propel blocks into the foreground.

-You need to break Nightmare Chunks in the Dream World to free Pi’illo people. The current number of pieces remaining appears on the top screen.

-If you get lost, check the on-screen map to view previously explored areas and the general layout.

More Mario & Luigi Tips

Mario & Luigi Dream Team – 5 Must-Have Badges

Mario & Luigi Dream Team – 5 Must-Have Attacks

Mario & Luigi Dream Team – Bros. Moves