When the story of a game centers around manipulating a slumbering plumber that's often found cast in the shadow of his more famous brother, I suppose the advertising campaign would be a little...odd.
Case in point with a new commercial making the rounds on the boob tube for the Freudian Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. In it, a comatose Luigi, looking more like a bad Muppet than a Italian stereotype, seems to be participating in a sleep study, during which doctors poke and prod the plumber to see how their actions will play out in the game, much like players will be able to once the title releases.
Dream Team features gameplay similar to previous Mario & Luigi games, just with Luigi unconscious through most of the adventure. Odd, considering Nintendo dubbed 2013 the "year of Luigi," and the starring character is quite literally asleep at the wheel. Go figure...
Most of the game takes place in the 3D, top-down overworld of Pi'illo Island. Here, players can find Pillow Portals that can send Mario inside the side-scrolling world of Luigi's dreams, where Luigi's naptime counterpart, Dreamy Luigi, joins him. As the quacks in the commercial show, Dreamy Luigi can merge with parts of the environment in certain areas, which can then be manipulated when players touch the sleeping Luigi on the DS's touchscreen. It's like when you used to screw around with Mario's face on the N64, but this game has far more entertaining results. For example, if Dreamy Luigi possesses a drill, you can spin the sleeping Luigi's nose to spin the drill. When you do this sort of thing while playing a game, you can see how it's a fairly creative idea using the tech the handheld has to offer. But watching others do it? Just weird...
As we've seen with both Borderlands and Guild Wars 2, this tends to happen anytime you make a video game commercial featuring live actors. Suffice it to say, if you thought sucking up ghosts with a vacuum in Luigi's Mansion was weird, be prepared, things are about to get a bit more surreal. If you've yet to see the commercial on TV, check it out below.
Already out in Japan and Europe, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team arrives in North America on August 11th.