geno is lame and overrated and cringe
that being said, mario rpg is a pretty solid game, if a bit too easy and simplistic compared to most other JRPGs. the settings and writing, along with some quirky little moments keep it from feeling monotonous, but the actual combat is a bit too simple for its own good. they give you all these spells, and aside from a handful of them, i never found myself using them much and getting through the game just fine spamming attack without much thought. i guess that may be intentional. this is baby's first JRPG, after all. and that's fine, it's not like there's anything inherently wrong with a game made to be easier or simpler than others of its kind. if you don't mind a severe lack of depth, then sure this games good. that probably sounds more condescending than intended... but this game is good overall.
that being said, it's far from perfect. the visuals have not aged... great. which feels weird to say for a snes game, but the sort of early 3d crunched into sprites mixed with the isometric view... it's rough, it's real rough. like, rough enough to screw with gameplay at times rough. there are a few times where the background you're walking on is such a mess of similar colors that you can't tell what the game counts as a small cliff you cant go up, it looks like the game has invisible walls at times.
the isometric view in general i feel is only detrimental to the game honestly. the d-pad doesn't do anything to compensate for it. up is still up, so you're constantly holding 2 directions at once and then the game expects you to platform like that, and it's not difficult or anything, but it is very annoying.
the game is full of minigames, and they are... a mixed bag of annoyance. but the yoshi one where you have to alternate a and b buttons in a non existent rhythm was....painful. the others aren't much better. the waterfall, the log rolling, the mine carts, all distractions so the game doesnt feel as repetitive as it really is
another complaint i do have with mario rpg is that it really wants you to buy the strategy guide. it's not a MAJOR problem and its only at its worst when you want to do some optional stuff, but if you beat a boss, at times the game will hint at where to go next very briefly in the middle of some other bullshit and the game expects you to go like 4 towns behind to talk to one guy, so you technically do have the hint... but say you skimmed or accidentally skipped the dialogue, or, more likely, you haven't played in a few days and saved as soon as you beat the boss, you might be left wandering around a bit
it gets annoying. in the age of the internet i guess its only a minor inconvenience, but it does break the immersion
all in all, it's a good first entry into the mario rpg series's, but later games like the first couple paper mario games, or the first few mario and luigi games do it better
that being said, mario rpg is a pretty solid game, if a bit too easy and simplistic compared to most other JRPGs. the settings and writing, along with some quirky little moments keep it from feeling monotonous, but the actual combat is a bit too simple for its own good. they give you all these spells, and aside from a handful of them, i never found myself using them much and getting through the game just fine spamming attack without much thought. i guess that may be intentional. this is baby's first JRPG, after all. and that's fine, it's not like there's anything inherently wrong with a game made to be easier or simpler than others of its kind. if you don't mind a severe lack of depth, then sure this games good. that probably sounds more condescending than intended... but this game is good overall.
that being said, it's far from perfect. the visuals have not aged... great. which feels weird to say for a snes game, but the sort of early 3d crunched into sprites mixed with the isometric view... it's rough, it's real rough. like, rough enough to screw with gameplay at times rough. there are a few times where the background you're walking on is such a mess of similar colors that you can't tell what the game counts as a small cliff you cant go up, it looks like the game has invisible walls at times.
the isometric view in general i feel is only detrimental to the game honestly. the d-pad doesn't do anything to compensate for it. up is still up, so you're constantly holding 2 directions at once and then the game expects you to platform like that, and it's not difficult or anything, but it is very annoying.
the game is full of minigames, and they are... a mixed bag of annoyance. but the yoshi one where you have to alternate a and b buttons in a non existent rhythm was....painful. the others aren't much better. the waterfall, the log rolling, the mine carts, all distractions so the game doesnt feel as repetitive as it really is
another complaint i do have with mario rpg is that it really wants you to buy the strategy guide. it's not a MAJOR problem and its only at its worst when you want to do some optional stuff, but if you beat a boss, at times the game will hint at where to go next very briefly in the middle of some other bullshit and the game expects you to go like 4 towns behind to talk to one guy, so you technically do have the hint... but say you skimmed or accidentally skipped the dialogue, or, more likely, you haven't played in a few days and saved as soon as you beat the boss, you might be left wandering around a bit
it gets annoying. in the age of the internet i guess its only a minor inconvenience, but it does break the immersion
all in all, it's a good first entry into the mario rpg series's, but later games like the first couple paper mario games, or the first few mario and luigi games do it better
Reviewed on Sep 03, 2022