Way back in the distant year of 1996, in a time where Mario wasnt so heavily brand protected, Nintendo teamed up with Square to give the Super Nintendo one last late goodbye. What came out of that team up is still beeing described as one of the best rpgs of all time. A timless classic many europeans like me never got to experience due to it never beeing released outside Japan and North America. But now as the christmas time and the remake just came out, I thought I finaly look into what so many describe as their favorite game. Does it hold up or is it just childhood nostalgia ?
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars follows the most basic JRPG story you can get. Mario is fighting Bowser as usuall but suddenly a giant sword falls from the sky, releasing an army of weapon themed badguys that reck havoc upon the World. Thats your evil empire, que the quest to collect the 7 Stars to save the world. Its a formula many old school rpgs used and one Mario RPGs specially would reuse in every game to come. And its a good formula for stringing a lot of fun vignietts together, not so great for a compelling story, but thats not the focus for Mario. The Journey really is the destination and youll be amazed how creative Square got with all the places you get to visit. The great writting and wacky situations keep the game running at an enjoyable jog as you visit Molle people, go up the clouds or fight shark pirates in a sunken ship. All with a party of companiens who arent at all deep, but lovable enough that your gona remember your time with them. Everyone has their little story arc with wich you come to appreciate them.
In terms of pressantation Square chose a isometric 3D Render style. It admitly looks kinda cheap in pictures, but I was seriously amazed of how it looks in motion. Their are so many little animations and different sprites they managed to crame into a tiny Cartridge. Although much like the enviroments, not everything is a hit. Theirs realy neat locations like Boosters Towers and Nimbus Land, while places like the Lands End and Kero Sewers drove me kinda nuts in their saminess. That and the enemie color swaps at the end make the visualls 50/50 for me.
Luckily all the enviroments have very disticnt Musicals tracks. Square really treated this like a reall rpg in all aspects, so you get everything form the big orchestral tracks, upbeat cartoon vibes and the occasional 90s techno midi during boss fights. Its all fantastic except the main battle theme for me. Great at first, but long battle gauntlets had it seriously get on my nerves. And the battle them is sadly the main music track you will hear.
The battles are as one would guess turn based. Each of the face buttons correlate to a specific action. Attack, Magic, Items, Run/Defend. This set up is kinda genius. You really dont have to scroll through any menus and actions are right at your finger tips. The battles managd to hold such a fast past, so they almost never get stale. Mana is also shared between all party members so thats also a lair of complexity you dont have to worrie about. I wouldnt say its a bad system at all, but its very simple. Perfect for beginners tbh.
In addition you get a lot of Luck based bonuses and the now famous action button commands. I personally could never figure out the timing for perfect hits and blocks, mostly because of the perspective. The perspective also snaps the games kneecaps in half whenever theirs a sudden platform segment. For me climbing the beanstocks or platforming across lava is akin to water toture, by far the worst aged part.
In the end I still pushed through and Im glad I did. As the credit music plays and the stars you collected show you little epilogues of the places you traveld to, it all seems so worth it. Beyond its age, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars still delivers a one of a kind adventure. And if Im looking for anything in a JRPG, its that feeling of warmt, that I just completed a journey. I now get why this is so beloved by many and Im excited to someday play the remake.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars follows the most basic JRPG story you can get. Mario is fighting Bowser as usuall but suddenly a giant sword falls from the sky, releasing an army of weapon themed badguys that reck havoc upon the World. Thats your evil empire, que the quest to collect the 7 Stars to save the world. Its a formula many old school rpgs used and one Mario RPGs specially would reuse in every game to come. And its a good formula for stringing a lot of fun vignietts together, not so great for a compelling story, but thats not the focus for Mario. The Journey really is the destination and youll be amazed how creative Square got with all the places you get to visit. The great writting and wacky situations keep the game running at an enjoyable jog as you visit Molle people, go up the clouds or fight shark pirates in a sunken ship. All with a party of companiens who arent at all deep, but lovable enough that your gona remember your time with them. Everyone has their little story arc with wich you come to appreciate them.
In terms of pressantation Square chose a isometric 3D Render style. It admitly looks kinda cheap in pictures, but I was seriously amazed of how it looks in motion. Their are so many little animations and different sprites they managed to crame into a tiny Cartridge. Although much like the enviroments, not everything is a hit. Theirs realy neat locations like Boosters Towers and Nimbus Land, while places like the Lands End and Kero Sewers drove me kinda nuts in their saminess. That and the enemie color swaps at the end make the visualls 50/50 for me.
Luckily all the enviroments have very disticnt Musicals tracks. Square really treated this like a reall rpg in all aspects, so you get everything form the big orchestral tracks, upbeat cartoon vibes and the occasional 90s techno midi during boss fights. Its all fantastic except the main battle theme for me. Great at first, but long battle gauntlets had it seriously get on my nerves. And the battle them is sadly the main music track you will hear.
The battles are as one would guess turn based. Each of the face buttons correlate to a specific action. Attack, Magic, Items, Run/Defend. This set up is kinda genius. You really dont have to scroll through any menus and actions are right at your finger tips. The battles managd to hold such a fast past, so they almost never get stale. Mana is also shared between all party members so thats also a lair of complexity you dont have to worrie about. I wouldnt say its a bad system at all, but its very simple. Perfect for beginners tbh.
In addition you get a lot of Luck based bonuses and the now famous action button commands. I personally could never figure out the timing for perfect hits and blocks, mostly because of the perspective. The perspective also snaps the games kneecaps in half whenever theirs a sudden platform segment. For me climbing the beanstocks or platforming across lava is akin to water toture, by far the worst aged part.
In the end I still pushed through and Im glad I did. As the credit music plays and the stars you collected show you little epilogues of the places you traveld to, it all seems so worth it. Beyond its age, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars still delivers a one of a kind adventure. And if Im looking for anything in a JRPG, its that feeling of warmt, that I just completed a journey. I now get why this is so beloved by many and Im excited to someday play the remake.