This game would be ok if you REALLY liked mini-games. It's somewhere between Final Fantasy, Mario Party and Adventure of Link.

You walk around searching for seven stars. You don't get much info on where you need to go next. I had to find someone's daughter in the town. I looked all over, every screen. Turns out, she was hidden. If I went to the bottom of one screen, then held right, I found her in a secret area. I don't see how this kind of thing is plausible without a guide or gamefaq. If you notice, Mario is staring at a map on the cover. If you like playing with a walkthrough guide, get this game.

The game looks very good, especially for Gamecube days, because of the construction paper artstyle.

Everything is a mini-game. You want to attack an enemy? Hold the stick left and release when the gauge is full. This is fine, really. The problem is, every move has a different mini game. Healing is a mini-game. If you don't shoot enough hearts, too bad! You die next turn. There are some that aren't explained well, and some you just never get good at, so you never use those attacks. Some enemies will only be hurt by one item or one attack. Often you will only get that attack AFTER you first meet them.

Items are a mess. You can hold like 8. The badges are cool, though. Each one gives you a special power, but you can only equip so many, so be creative or manage them.

Travelling is tedious. There's no easy way to get to places you've visited already. It's like the Chicago train system. Everything involves you coming back to the main city (Rogueport), and there are no shortcuts. If you are in Town A, you need to go back to Rogueport to get to Town B, even if it looks close on the map. Sometimes you will get messages saying "check out this thing in Town B" and you won't because you are in Town A and you don't remember the way back. Thankfully this is not an important part of the game.

The quests are kind of bad. Rather than someone having a problem and telling you about it, they post on a message board and you pick one at a time. If you can't figure it out and want to try another, too bad. They go by NPC name, so if you don't remember who Dave is, too bad. Ask everyone you see until you find him.

I guess overall, the game is just too realistic for a quirky, kiddy RPG. It could be easier and use some more handholding features like a journal that says "where do I go next," skip travel, a bigger inventory and fewer attack minigames.
This game would be ok if you REALLY liked mini-games. It's somewhere between Final Fantasy, Mario Party and Adventure of Link. You walk around searching for seven stars. You don't get much info on where you need to go next. I had to find someone's daughter in the town. I looked all over, every screen. Turns out, she was hidden. If I went to the bottom of one screen, then held right, I found her in a secret area. I don't see how this kind of thing is plausible without a guide or gamefaq. If you notice, Mario is staring at a map on the cover. If you like playing with a walkthrough guide, get this game. The game looks very good, especially for Gamecube days, because of the construction paper artstyle. Everything is a mini-game. You want to attack an enemy? Hold the stick left and release when the gauge is full. This is fine, really. The problem is, every move has a different mini game. Healing is a mini-game. If you don't shoot enough hearts, too bad! You die next turn. There are some that aren't explained well, and some you just never get good at, so you never use those attacks. Some enemies will only be hurt by one item or one attack. Often you will only get that attack AFTER you first meet them. Items are a mess. You can hold like 8. The badges are cool, though. Each one gives you a special power, but you can only equip so many, so be creative or manage them. Travelling is tedious. There's no easy way to get to places you've visited already. It's like the Chicago train system. Everything involves you coming back to the main city (Rogueport), and there are no shortcuts. If you are in Town A, you need to go back to Rogueport to get to Town B, even if it looks close on the map. Sometimes you will get messages saying "check out this thing in Town B" and you won't because you are in Town A and you don't remember the way back. Thankfully this is not an important part of the game. The quests are kind of bad. Rather than someone having a problem and telling you about it, they post on a message board and you pick one at a time. If you can't figure it out and want to try another, too bad. They go by NPC name, so if you don't remember who Dave is, too bad. Ask everyone you see until you find him. I guess overall, the game is just too realistic for a quirky, kiddy RPG. It could be easier and use some more handholding features like a journal that says "where do I go next," skip travel, a bigger inventory and fewer attack minigames.