During a new “Ask the Developer” interview with Nintendo, multiple Mario & Luigi: Brothership developers all how they came up with Brothership as a name and what “textbook Acquire” entails:
Mario & Luigi | Brothership Devs on “Textbook Acquire”:
Tomoki Fukushima: There was one more thing regarding the story that Ohashi-san was particular about. When you connect lots of other islands to Shipshape Island, which Mario and friends use as a base, the people from those islands gather there, too. So, you feel the island gradually changing and getting more lively.
Haruyuki Ohashi: That’s right. Thanks to Mario and Luigi, or better put, thanks to the player, Shipshape Island grows livelier, and its residents become happier. We wanted players to feel that outcome of their actions. I thought it would be nice to give players the experience of overcoming challenges thanks to a push from the people with whom they formed bonds on the connected islands. I wanted players to feel the joy of being supported by someone and the bonds that are created when everyone helps each other.
Tomoki Fukushima: The subtitle for this game is “Brothership”. We decided on this after brainstorming over 100 options with Acquire. I think it fits the game’s theme perfectly. It refers to their bond of brotherhood, but incorporates the word “ship” from Shipshape Island, which connects the various islands.
Akira Otani: Until now, the Japanese and English game titles in the Mario & Luigi series have had different names, but for this game, we decided to go with “Brothership” for both.
Tomoki Fukushima: It was also well received by our North American and European colleagues because, in English, it also sounds like a play on the word “mothership”. It’s fair to say that your base, Shipshape Island, is a mothership.
For the full interview, why not click here to check out Ask the Developer Vol. 15, Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Chapter 3:
Ask the Developer | Mario & Luigi Brothership (Participating Developers)
- Akira Otani | Entertainment Planning & Development Division, Co-Production Group (Producer)
- Tomoki Fukushima | Entertainment Planning & Development Division, Co-Production Group (Associate Producer)
- Haruyuki Ohashi | Director, Acquire Corp.
- Hitomi Furuta | Designer, Acquire Corp. (Art Director)
