We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

Mario & Luigi? I loved that game. Bro Attacks definitely get much better, if you can figure out the danged timing. There's definitely a skill mastery thing there. But it's highly satisfying when you've (finally) got it down.
Dodging the enemy attacks is more about learning the patterns over time, not so much about immediately getting it. The timing also gets more complex later in the game. Me, I thought they did a pretty good job with that overall.
I'm with you on the platforming and the mode switching, that was kind of obnoxious.