AlphaDream, the creators of the Mario & Luigi games which saw the Mario Bros. team up to embark on lighthearted adventures, has filed for bankruptcy. Some of the games the developer is best known for include Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team with the Mario & Luigi RPGs released on platforms like the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo 3DS. The studio has reportedly amassed a large amount of debt due to high development costs.

News of the developer’s filing for bankruptcy came from Yahoo! Japan (via IGN) which discussed the situation the company is currently in. The company was said to be 400 million yen in debt as of March 2018, a figure which equates to roughly $3.7 million.

Though the Mario Bros. have been portrayed in many different ways throughout the years, AlphaDream’s take on the duo stood out for a unique style and gameplay mechanics that made use of both of the brothers instead of just having Luigi as a sidekick. The series played up on that joke at times with people throughout the Mushroom Kingdom recognizing Mario first and not even knowing who his brother was.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is probably the game where Nintendo fans were first introduced to AlphaDream back when it was released in 2003 just a few years after the company changed its name. It was released for the Game Boy Advance as well as the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U later on and allowed players to control the two characters simultaneously while customizing their loadouts with stat-altering outfits and badges.

“The Mario Bros. team up in this hilarious action-packed role-playing game. When an evil witch steals Princess Peach’s voice, Mario and Luigi must venture beyond the Mushroom Kingdom to a mysterious new world packed with surprises!” a summary of the game reads. “Take control of both brothers as you explore the vast lands of the Beanbean Kingdom, encountering wacky characters and bizarre new enemies. Enjoy the deep story and brain-teasing puzzles of an RPG, and test your reflexes in battles by combining the Bros.’ skills to pull off powerful new moves.”

Other well-known games from them include Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, a game which combined the unique style with that of the Paper Mario games. AlphaDream’s games have consistently carved out a spot as beloved installations in the vast collection of Mario games, though it remains to be seen what the future of the company looks like amid these bankruptcy filings.



Posted: Oct 04, 2019 11:23 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/10/02/mario-luigi-developer-files-for-bankruptcy/