It can be hard work being a videogame character; you often have to take on almost insurmountable challenges to save the day, the world, or even a princess. Just imagine the pressure then if you were not only a character but also the mascot of an entire company. Such is the heavy weight on the world’s most famous plumber’s shoulders – Mario.

It’s lucky however that he has a brother he can sort of rely on in certain situations, to give him a helping hand.

That brotherly bond is brought well and truly to the fore however, in Mario’s latest adventure, where the pair very rarely leave one another’s sides.

This, on the surface at least, is a fairly simple and playful role-playing game, which sees the brothers embark on a lengthy adventure. They are transported from their home of the Mushroom Kingdom to a strange world of Concordia, made of many different islands.

They are tasked on taking out evil, whereby they have to visit these various islands and reconnect them to their floating island vessel – Shipshape. Each island needs the bros to connect it to their ship, breaking down the power of the evil Zokket and his Extension Corps.

The gameplay is one that has appeared in previous titles in this franchise, with this being the sixth entry, and the follow-up to 2015’s Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, whereby the brothers walk around until they cross the path of a foe and battle commences. Then it’s a turn-based battle until the enemy have, hopefully, been defeated. Both characters gain experience points which allows them to level up, improving their personal stats.

And at first it all feels very chilled and relaxed, with the battles not terribly difficult, and its cartoony look would certainly appeal to a younger audience. But don’t be fooled, as this game eventually ramps up the difficulty the deeper you get into it. And it’s pretty deep. If you ignore all the side quests, which are simple enough, then it can be completed in around 40 hours. But if you’re a completionist, you can easily double that, and then some.

It’s the type of game that you throw a lot of hours into, thinking you’re getting somewhere, then it throws in a new game mechanic to get used to. For instance, plugs, that appear about 20 hours or so in; you initially get two plug sockets to fill, which aid your attacks for a set period of time, such as a surprise iron ball, anti-spike specialist, kaboom attack etc. They certainly help as the game’s difficulty gets that little bit steeper as you go on.

And then there are the brothers’ special attacks too, with each brother having his own, which can be used against one enemy or the group.

It’s nice to see the brothers so close on their adventure, looking out for each other as bros should.

The islands they visit have their own personality, and as there are a number of them, returning to them as you often do isn’t that much of a chore.

There are puzzle elements included in the game too, which are probably the weakest aspect of it all. Many clues offered are on the woolly side, and aren’t obvious on how to complete. But hey, that’s what the internet is for, right?

It’s also fun having your home base as a means of getting about too. Using a telescope to discover islands on your travels, and then a cannon on the ship to transport you there.

And as you expect, there are a myriad of quirky characters that you come across on your adventures, many with their own storyline worth exploring.

From a technical point of view you feel that although it runs perfectly well on the Switch, it’s certainly a title that could have benefitted from new hardware, which is tantalisingly close on the horizon now.

Some of the characters, in terms of their appearance, look a little on the weak side – which again may be a sign of working with the current system’s aging specs – but the dialogue is entertaining, and there are a number of cameos from familiar characters from the Mario universe.

You would think too that although the idea of playing as both brothers is fun – albeit a bit fiddly during battles, with fingers hovering over various buttons to respond as either character in a flash – that a co-op mechanic would have been perfect, but no, not here.

But even if RPG’s aren’t really your bag – and we aren’t particularly enamoured with them - the fact that it’s set in the Mario universe, with so many familiar characters and enjoyable dialogue, may just grab you, as it admittedly did us, as we continue to sink a scary amount of hours into it.

Mario and Luigi: Brothership is, thankfully, more than just an RPG; it has platform elements, puzzle aspects, side quests to tackle, making it a hugely enjoyable adventure, featuring one of the most iconic videogame characters of all time. And his bros. The colourful world and variety of gameplay, making it a game brimming with brotherly love.