Mario and Luigi team up again for their third portable RPG adventure, but this time, archenemy Bowser is along for the ride.

Actually, it's the other way around. After being tricked into eating a magic mushroom by recurring baddie Fawful, Bowser turns into a giant reptilian vacuum and inhales Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool, along with many other inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom and a bunch of random junk.

Fawful, in the meantime, takes over both Bowser's castle and the Princess's, leaving everyone with a common enemy. So, incognito, the Mario Brothers make their way through Bowser's dangerous innards, working to strengthen him for his battles and find items for their own use as the big turtle- lizard stomps his way through the kingdom.

"Bowser's Inside Story's" graphics are 2-D, and everything looks great; the animation in particular is very fluid and full of character. And as in the previous games, the writing is imaginative and humorous, with in-jokes scattered about for those who will recognize them.

The game play is similar to the previous games. Mario and Luigi move as a unit and are controlled with one button each, but now players can switch their control to Bowser at will. The interior sections of the game are arranged like a classic 2-D platformer while the external ones are played from the overhead perspective of previous "Mario & Luigi" games.

What the brothers do affects Bowser and vice versa – Bowser can drink water to create swimming areas inside himself, for instance, or swallow enemies that the boys can beat up on. And Mario and Luigi will have to actually increase their longtime foe's strength (stimulating a muscle to allow him to haul an island in from sea, for example).

The turn-based battle system is based on timing, as usual. Mario and Luigi do their usual hop-and-bop move, where good timing is rewarded with extra damage. They'll quickly gain hammers that are good for dealing with spiky-headed foes and can learn several special attacks by finding puzzle pieces scattered around the various areas of Bowser's body.

They won't spend all their time inside the big guy, either.

Bowser fights alone, using strong punches and fire breath. He's bigger, meaner and tougher than the bros, but he needs their help, even if he doesn't know it. He'll also become huge for certain boss fights. Outside of battle, he can bust through barriers and burn down trees and other obstacles in his way.

PICKS AND PANS

Beaterator

3 stars

"Beaterator" is a music-making program that allows users to share songs online, create their own loops and generally mess around with a hand-held piece of sequencing software. The more technical aspects of the interface are tricky to get the hang of, and there's no goal besides making music, but it's a neat title nonetheless.

The game features a hefty selection of ready-made guitar, drum, bass, high-hat, ambient, synth and other kinds of loops, many of which were crafted by producer Timbaland.

Each of the eight tracks in a song can have up to four loops a player can turn on or off at will. Players can jump right in with Live Play, which chooses a selection of loops for the player. (These can easily be exchanged for others.) Put together a set of loops, press "record" and make a song on the fly – it's pretty simple.

More complex are the Studio Session and Song Crafter, which allow finer control over aspects of a song, including the option to craft unique loops that are not included in the game, add various effects and alter samples, and record sounds and vocals with a microphone for use in the game.

Sony PlayStation Portable; $39.99 • Age rating: Everyone

Mr. Driller

3 stars

The goal in "Mr. Driller W" is to dig to the bottom of a pastel-colored mining pit as fast as possible without getting squished by falling blocks or running out of air.

It's a combination of action game and puzzle game. As one of several miners with slightly differing abilities, the player can dig down or sideways, or drill upward to destroy a block overhead.

It's often possible to dig straight down for a time, but some blocks are extra-hard to destroy and take away a hefty amount of oxygen, and that oxygen can only be replenished by capsules buried in various areas of the playing field.

One way or another, players will eventually have to delve toward the sides of the pit, which will often disrupt clumps of blocks and cause them to fall. This can be both a benefit (a chain reaction of falling blocks can be worth a lot of points), and a danger (falling blocks can crush the player's driller).

Nintendo Wii (WiiWare download); $8 (800 Nintendo Points)• Age rating: Everyone

– Justin Hoeger