As the original Super Mario RPG was never released in Europe, I was one of those unhappy few who only learned about this game in the pages of the German Club Nintendo magazine. Now, almost 30 years later, my story with this game has finally come full circle.
Pros:
+ the graphic presentation has been faithfully and beautifully updated
+ characters are animated with lots of lovingly detail
+ newly added cutscenes are creative and charming
+ the writing is funny and irreverant throughout
+ the premise does not follow the usual chlichés of Mario games
+ the action combat system is timeless
+ every weapon type and special attack has its own action window
+ RPG elements are straight to the point and newcomer-friendly
+ party members can be swapped on the fly during battles
+ available party roster is singular in Mario games
+ enemies are visible on the map and can be avoided
+ items are actually useful and can greatly affect battles
+ fast travel is extensive and available from the menu
+ a lot of secret areas, items and gameplay features to uncover
+ post-game bosses are tough and require unique strategies
+ the music tracks have been caringly remastered...
Cons:
- ... but there are not specific boss or enemy themes
- the general difficulty is far too low
- not all party members meaningfully take part in the story
- how to progress is not always apparent, even with a hint character available
- characters will have learned all their special moves by the mid-way point
- not all characters have a full range of special attacks
- flaws in the combat logic: sleeping characters can defend...
- ...and splash damage seems to be randomized
- the combo counter is reset even while using the defend move
- items cannot be used from the options menu
- mini games are a bit too frequent and differ widely in quality
- dialogue scenes tend to drag on a bit
- even with the appropriate accessoir, finding hidden treasure is tedious
- the antagonist is mostly absent from the story...
- ...and the final fight is a real disappointment
- the technical performance takes a toll in more populated areas
Playtime: 20 hours with 99% completion, all optional bosses beaten and items acquired. That one percent is missing because I have zero interest in collecting the entire bestiary for a meaningless statistic.
Magic Moments: The "make Mario jump" running gag. Finding the Yoshi island and various easter eggs. The musical references to that one Square franchise in one specific boss fight.
Blagic Moment: Having to redo one of the complex, optional boss fights because of a few missed action commands towards the end.
Verdict:
Super Mario RPG is a strange yet fascinating RPG that, while having been updated in various ways for its current release, still feels idiosynchratic in lots of different ways. The non-existent storyline puts together an unlikely character roster that has Bowser and Mario fighting on the same side. The action combat system, while intuitive and engaging, renders most of the early, more difficult fights hectic and the uneven difficulty curve turns the later halve into a cake walk. The mini-games oscilate between tedious and simply unfun, and the pacing suffers as a consequence.
But despite these criticisms, the series' usual charm is all here, with a script that is frequently self-effacing and a beatifully presented world that holds many secrets to explore, and finally experiencing the roots of this particular genre of Mario games is a worthwhile endeavor that I would recommend.
Pros:
+ the graphic presentation has been faithfully and beautifully updated
+ characters are animated with lots of lovingly detail
+ newly added cutscenes are creative and charming
+ the writing is funny and irreverant throughout
+ the premise does not follow the usual chlichés of Mario games
+ the action combat system is timeless
+ every weapon type and special attack has its own action window
+ RPG elements are straight to the point and newcomer-friendly
+ party members can be swapped on the fly during battles
+ available party roster is singular in Mario games
+ enemies are visible on the map and can be avoided
+ items are actually useful and can greatly affect battles
+ fast travel is extensive and available from the menu
+ a lot of secret areas, items and gameplay features to uncover
+ post-game bosses are tough and require unique strategies
+ the music tracks have been caringly remastered...
Cons:
- ... but there are not specific boss or enemy themes
- the general difficulty is far too low
- not all party members meaningfully take part in the story
- how to progress is not always apparent, even with a hint character available
- characters will have learned all their special moves by the mid-way point
- not all characters have a full range of special attacks
- flaws in the combat logic: sleeping characters can defend...
- ...and splash damage seems to be randomized
- the combo counter is reset even while using the defend move
- items cannot be used from the options menu
- mini games are a bit too frequent and differ widely in quality
- dialogue scenes tend to drag on a bit
- even with the appropriate accessoir, finding hidden treasure is tedious
- the antagonist is mostly absent from the story...
- ...and the final fight is a real disappointment
- the technical performance takes a toll in more populated areas
Playtime: 20 hours with 99% completion, all optional bosses beaten and items acquired. That one percent is missing because I have zero interest in collecting the entire bestiary for a meaningless statistic.
Magic Moments: The "make Mario jump" running gag. Finding the Yoshi island and various easter eggs. The musical references to that one Square franchise in one specific boss fight.
Blagic Moment: Having to redo one of the complex, optional boss fights because of a few missed action commands towards the end.
Verdict:
Super Mario RPG is a strange yet fascinating RPG that, while having been updated in various ways for its current release, still feels idiosynchratic in lots of different ways. The non-existent storyline puts together an unlikely character roster that has Bowser and Mario fighting on the same side. The action combat system, while intuitive and engaging, renders most of the early, more difficult fights hectic and the uneven difficulty curve turns the later halve into a cake walk. The mini-games oscilate between tedious and simply unfun, and the pacing suffers as a consequence.
But despite these criticisms, the series' usual charm is all here, with a script that is frequently self-effacing and a beatifully presented world that holds many secrets to explore, and finally experiencing the roots of this particular genre of Mario games is a worthwhile endeavor that I would recommend.