A new trademark filed in Argentina suggests that the Mario & Luigi series is set for a comeback. The last game in the series, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey was released in 2019 for the Nintendo 3DS with generally favorable reviews. It was a remake of the DS game and despite the great critical reviews, the game suffered from poor sales and became one of the worst-selling Mario games of all time.
The series developer Alphadream was behind all the titles in the Mario & Luigi series starting with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga first released for the Gameboy Advance in 2003. After many years of developing the series, the company declared bankruptcy in October 2019 due to slow revenue, high development costs, and rising debt. There's no doubt the poor sales figures of their last game also had a lot to do with it.
According to Nintendolife, Nintendo of America has filed a trademark in Argentina for Mario & Luigi. The trademark covers a long list of items including computer game software, interactive entertainment software to play video games, computer game cartridges, video game memory cards, and covers for mobile phones.
The Mario & Luigi series was known for its crazy storyline, well-written characters, and offbeat humor. It allowed players to play as the heroes Mario and Luigi simultaneously, and also play as Bowser for a change. The main gameplay style was turn-based RPG, but also featured puzzles and battles to keep players entertained.
While it is disappointing that Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey was the nail in the coffin for Alphadream, it wasn't unexpected as the market for remade games is limited, especially when the remake hasn't got much to offer over the original game. Unfortunately critical acclaim and a loyal fanbase weren't enough to stop the game from flopping.
Mario and Luigi have been around for decades and are part of Nintendo's identity. With the new trademark, they'll likely be making a return at some point, either as a remake or a completely new title. The trademark could've also been filed to protect the existing IP, so fans will just have to wait and see what happens.
Source: Nintendolife. letsgodigital