Boo Army

Ghostly enemies that appear as individual foes in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, not as an organized army.

The Boo Army is a fan-coined term for the collective of ghostly Boo enemies that appear across the Super Mario series, though no named 'Boo Army' faction exists in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. In that game, Boos appear as individual enemies rather than an organized army, and the overworld is populated by various roaming foes that initiate battles on contact.

Lore & Background

While Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga features Boos as enemies, they are not part of a named army or organized faction. The game's overworld is filled with various roaming enemies, including Boos, that trigger turn-based battles when touched. The brothers can gain pre-emptive strikes by hitting enemies on the overworld. Boos themselves are shy ghosts that cover their faces when looked at, a trait that would later be used in other games, but in Superstar Saga they function as standard enemies without a unified command structure.

Reader's Guide

The game's gameplay focuses on controlling Mario and Luigi simultaneously, with the directional pad controlling one of the brothers' movement and the other one following closely. The leading brother can be switched between Mario and Luigi with the Start button. The brothers' other actions are controlled individually with the A (front character) and B (rear character) buttons respectively. The game begins with them being able to jump independently, and they gain access to hammers and a variety of other techniques as the game progresses. For example, Luigi's hammer can be used to squash Mario into a smaller size, allowing the latter to access small gaps, while placing Mario on Luigi's shoulders allows them to act like a propeller and hover across large gaps.

Did You Know?

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is the first game in the Mario & Luigi series, released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance.
The game was developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo.
The story involves Cackletta and Fawful stealing Princess Peach's voice to harness the power of the Beanstar.
The battle system emphasizes timing and elaborate attacks called Action Commands.
The game features an enhanced remake of the Mario Bros. arcade game, similar to other Game Boy Advance Mario titles.