During the Nintendo Direct presentation this morning Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata, announced that the company will release a new installment in the popular Mario & Luigi role-playing-game franchise later this year, titled Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
Borrowing a plot point from the North American version of Super Mario Bros. 2, Dream Team takes place entirely inside the mind of Luigi as he catches a few Z’s. For untold reasons, Mario has decided to jump into his brother’s dreams, where (unlike his real-world persona) Luigi is a “powerful and brave hero”. During the game Mario can call upon a huge number of Luigi clones to defeat enemies, and at times will have to solve certain puzzles by pulling on Luigi’s sleeping face using the 3DS’s touch screen (similar to Super Mario 64‘s title screen).
Iwata did not announced a specific launch date for Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, but did promise that it will be released for the 3DS sometime during Summer 2013.
We will keep you updated on Mario & Luigi: Dream Team as more details are announced. In the meantime, check out the embedded video below to see the gameplay footage shown during the Nintendo Direct presentation and let us know your thoughts in the comment section.