At long last, the original 1996 debut to the grand subseries of RPGs to the Mario franchise has gotten its chance to shine once more. After its existence going practically completely ignored (save for a few instances and ports) by Nintendo, we are gifted perhaps one of the most phenomenal, expertly crafted remakes to ever be delivered to us in recent memory.

I will get it out of the way right now, THIS feels like a true celebration of the game that started it all, with beautiful visual touchups, super fun additions to the combat that add more layers than it had before, fun new postgame challenges and just a lot of small things that make for an experience that is perfect for veterans and newcomers alike. I cannot stress enough, this game is phenomenal.

So my history with this game. I have never played it before this remake, and this remake is largely my first exposure to this game at all. I always knew of it and had seen a bit. It kind of sat as an interesting entity to me, but never one I quite got the hype around.

Why did people love this game? Its characters, Mallow and Geno, what was so special about them? Even after so many RPGs to follow, why did this game still stand out?

Finally got to play, and I at long last understand all of that.
Super Mario RPG provides the groundwork for what a lot of the following RPGs would become. A vibrant and fleshed out world to explore with great level design and secrets, simple combat but with enough depth to keep it engaging, charming, witty characters and dialogue, and a general idea for the flow of it all. And this all began on the SNES! I could not believe it! I underestimate this system a lot honestly.

The size of the world really surprised me. There is a lot of depth and optional stuff to find. Every level is a treat to run through and mash up some enemies. The adventure you take through a linear, but well-flowing path with a variety of vistas and towns to behold kept me engaged and in wonder of it all.

The combat is truly something unique to the well-known Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series, but at the same time shares a lot of DNA with them both. This game introduced the entire concept of action commands! Which is what defines the combat in these RPGs! And this first shot at it? Well especially thanks to the newly added prompts, this is a sometimes tight, but fair use of the idea. With all the fun moves at your fingertips, there is so much fun to be had in mastery of the commands. And this doubles for blocks!
Some smart new additions the remake made include the prompt to help actually teach the player the timing initially, but after a while, it actually lets the player go and I really respect that! It is not often where games try and guide you through something but actually stop that after a while of you being proven capable.
There is also the inclusion of splash damage, which yeah, does for sure make the combat a bit easier than the original, it also adds a good deal more of strategy to the fights, as well as making the overall flow more snappy and smooth. Like say you just attacked one enemy but it did not go down, and there are two enemies. You could just attack that enemy again, but chances are now, with a perfectly timed attack, you can actually attack the other enemy and take out the other with the splash! So it makes you think a bit more of where your next move is best spent, and adds an extra incentive to master the commands. So you better be sure to learn your moves, because this game rewards proper play even more than the original.
The last noteworthy inclusion would be the addition of attack chains and a running in-battle gauge. Chains are a great way of adding more depth to the system, as it is a simple and fun way to encourage the player to keep trying to perform well. Keeping a chain going will provide the party with additional buffs the so long as it goes on, meaning if you want your attacks to be at peak performance, get your chain going! And keep it up! And with that, you have a gauge that fills up as you keep up consistent chains. At the maximum, you get access to the newly added Triple Moves, which are real interesting honestly! They are basically super moves that unlock at the 100% on the gauge, and depending on your party arrangement, this will have a different effect. So it adds a layer of strategizing around the Triple Move, and which one would best benefit you in the situation. Some just deal out a decent chunk of damage, others will provide your entire party with a single-use safety shield, which can be very handy if your enemy is dishing out attacks faster than you can react.
All these elements combined with the pre-established system of attacks, items and character-curated special moves, and you get a system that not only stands out from those of the rest of the Mario RPGs, but actively feels like an evolution upon an over 20 year old system that just has such a satisfying flow to it, with simple options that depth-seekers like myself will want to get the most out of, has active reward for battling well, and just has a strong sense of mastery and strategy being your greatest allies in combat. As a system should be!
Again I must stress, this is no Octopath Traveller II, but the system just works and melds together in a really lovely way. And it keeps the enemy encounters and boss encounters engaging and something I always look forward to. Being effective just feels so good! And it is not always easy either! There is a good challenge to being good sometimes!

The story is truly a strong opener to what a grander Mario story can be. Before Super Mario RPG, before any of the RPGs, Mario was always just a quest to save the Princess from the fearsome leader of the Koopa Troop, Bowser. This was the first time they could really explore what an expanded tale with actual dialogue, plot, and memorable characters could really look like. And among the stories this subseries has spawned, this is for sure one of the best. It is still nothing over the top, but it is filled to the brim with memorable moments, fun dialogue, charming characters that deserve to be remembered, and a threat and stakes that drive you forward in a way that no other Mario game had done before. It is very clear to me why this game had stuck with so many. At every turn you will just find this new and whacky character, and sometimes you will get very fun ones like Booster, Johnny "Jonathan" Jones, and the Smithy Gang as a whole. Sure, this game does not necessarily give a lot of its plot beats and characters screentime to develop beyond their initial inception, which can definitely be a detriment to the Smithy Gang. But the time you do have with them is for sure to be remembered, they are just very charming in that time they have, even if they end up adding nothing to the overall plot.
But that is just side-characters. Mallow and Geno are a very different story, as they are with you the entire time and have the proper time they need to be developed completely as the story progresses, and that is never dropped as a result of their constant presence.
Mallow starts off as this incompetent, identity-confused fluffy guy, and he has sad, yet almost comical backstory to follow back to his ultimate resolution. He is a joy to have around, and I loved talking with him. Seeing his arc progress just always felt so good, and actually getting him to where he needed to be? It was honestly a very touching end. And this guy is just so lovable, between his animations and dialogue, he is a joyous companion I was happy to follow the story to!
Geno however, well. To truly state the impact his character left with me would be to get into spoilers. Let me just say though, his arc, and everything he stood for. It truly reminded me of the magic that "Super Mario Once-Upon-A-Time" really was capable of. Geno is a star spirit who takes on the body of a doll to restore the Star Road, shattered by Smithy. He stands for the wishes of everyone in the land, and understanding the significance of a wish and as its protector, he just has to fix this. His whole arc I can only describe as, magical. His motivation is clear and nothing alters anything. He is a consistently cool character that stands for an admirable cause, and in the end you just want to help him out. Geno really made the ultimate goal of restoring the Star Road feel that much more something I wanted to accomplish. When I got to Star Hill and read everyone's wishes that would not come true without the Star Road, it just motivated me further to bring back wishes to the land, it really made me invested in my end goal, and Geno's. And so after it all, every laugh and cry we share with Geno, and just having an adventure with this spirit from above who needs our help, we claim the final Star Piece, and something... beautiful happens. It is a perfect conclusion to this character's arc, and by the end, I can absolutely see why Geno stuck with so many people. Geno is one of the best characters in any Mario RPG, and I could not be happier he got a chance to return like this.
Briefly I will also touch on the main 3, Mario, Bowser and Princess Peach!
Mario is Mario! He is a funny plumber man that is emblematic of the idea of a hero, but also the ways he responds to situations and communes things is always a blast. He is so charmingly animated and a pleasure to control. He never talks, but you can always feel him for the charm he exudes.
Bowser is such a card, but also very sweet as well. Likewise this was the first time we got to see Bowser beyond just being the bad guy, and here we get to see he is lovingly and comedically self-centered. A charming and charismatic guy that feels like a strong leader that, though evil, you can still feel a bit of vulnerability and humanity from him in more spread out moments. It is very clear that the RPGs from here would make this characterization a staple for him, and I could not be happier. His motivation is getting his keep back from the Smithy Gang, who shattered the road, so he has a good reason to join us on our quest, especially given his own minions cannot seem to stay together. Or rather I should say we had good reason to join him...??
Anyways Princess Peach. Not going to lie, this was still the era where she was not much beyond what she had been made out to be, and you can tell that they are still trying to break out of that shell a bit. Her characterization the RPGs would definitely grow overtime, but here we get to see a Peach that is not afraid to act on her own to help out in dire stakes if her she must. She cannot stand to have it so there are no wishes in her kingdom, and so even though she is advised against it, she joins the party to do her part, and it is so nice to be able to see that. She is great to have along, and she for sure has her funny moments. A good start to a Princess Peach that is not just a damsel! She actually has a significant stake in it all.
And let me tell you, this is just a great cast overall. I simply adore this group, and every time they dance on the level up screen it just reminds me of what a strong set of characters I have here and just how much I love them all. They all work very well together!

Now, the endgame is something real cool to me honestly. Throughout the game you race against this evil group who appeared one day along with the giant sword that split the Star Road to find said Road's split pieces; the Smithy Gang. Each character has a threatening yet kind of goofy screen presence, they tend to actively cause mischief and it is real interesting to see the impact that the main antagonist's army has on this world. Like one sword pierces the most fearsome castle in the land, and bam! This world is not safe. By the end you go to finally confront the gang at their stolen base, where the game all started too and I love that thematic cohesion. Their leader has the last Star Piece, so you have no other options. The final stretch of the game is this tight and imposing gauntlet of wrecking through Smithy's forces, completing trials and finally having that climactic duel with the sword to start it all. After you have won, you are revealed a much grander final dungeon, a world of the antagonist's own, where a seemingly endless supply of sentient weapons are mass produced, and prepared to take the Mushroom world by storm. You even see mass-produced versions of all the main members you met before, which not going to lie was kind of creepy. The music is absolutely phenomenal too, it really set the tone as this is the end. After tearing through, you make it to the king, meeting eye-to-eye for the first time, only ever seeing the effect he has on the world and hearing of him constantly. The final battle is a hard fought one, but certainly not the hardest of a Mario RPG I have faced. I really enjoyed this idea for an antagonist though, and even though we ended up knowing quite little, his screentime was absolutely well spent, and he ended up a kind of scary guy in the end.
But yeah, this was such a cool final leg of the game for me, and as I alluded to, the ending... man. This was not an inherently very deep story, but the way it just hit for me by the end, all the emotions and yes, even tears. I could not help but just happily listen to the end jingle at the end screen, and I still constantly think back on how it all ended. This was a magical and whimsical tale, a funny and charming adventure. Just one hell of a blast. This truly landed with me, and I am so happy that it did.

Only real issue to take with the story is some of the pacing and time it decided to take with some of its characters. It had great focus on the ones it needed too, but to say the least following Mario RPGs would absolutely learn a thing or two from this first attempt.
And that also goes for how they would hand out their key collectables, since a few Star Pieces are just kind of handed out at the end of some small dungeon or a boss without much plot relevance. Later games would for sure take note that the dungeon based Star Pieces were often the most fun to obtain.

Oh yeah and the cutscenes!! They added a bunch of CG cutscenes to this game and they are all phenomenal, all very naturally integrated, and breath a life into this game I can never imagine it had back on the SNES.

And the freaking OST!! Man!! Admittedly the original soundfont did not always work for me, but the new arrangements Yoko Shimomura has cooked up are just, man!! They are catchy, they are beautifully instrumented! It is all so good, breathing new life into the original SNES tunes. Very glad she could get her Mario RPG start with this game. And that she could revisit it for this remake!

So after you finish the game, you are presented with a save that takes place before you beat the final boss, but only this time, there is a side-storyline that involves more robust rematches against a select few of bosses. Completing this will slightly alter the end, but the real reward is honestly the upgraded version of the superboss.
For starters this just feels like such a natural inclusion to the game's plot. It is nice to see more from these characters and you can really tell that the new writers had a solid grasp on what these characters and this world was all about. Heck in some cases I walked away liking some characters even more as result, like Punchinello.
And the actual rematches had some great strategy and ideas to them, they were some worthy challenges and required me to use this fun system to its fullest! Great inclusion.
But yeah, upgraded superboss! First thing to know, this game has a superboss in the base game. It is easily the most challenging of the base game, but after completing all other boss rematches, you unlock the ability to take on a new and improved version of this fight as many times as you please. And THIS is the hardest boss fight in the game, period. Perhaps one of the hardest of the Mario RPGs as a whole?? But yeah for reasons I will also not get too specifically into, this fight is the perfect postgame conclusion. It is a challenge that nearly feels impossible at first, but against the odds, you try and prevail. So many things are being thrown at you, but with the right strategy and understanding, mastery and moves, it is a boss that feels extraordinarily satisfying to topple. I had a blast with this all and it was the perfect final secret boss fight. It went SOO hard, the visuals, the music, and the fight itself. I LOVED it. Seriously do recommend if you are up for a challenge in what is otherwise a pretty all-around accessible game in the difficulty department, and also have a love for other RPGs that Square Enix works on. (;

And so after I beat them, I beat the final boss one last time, watched the curtain close on my adventure one last time, had a good cry watching the credits, and just let one of the best Mario RPGs I have ever played just find its way into a comfortable place in my heart.

So what have we learnt here today? Well. I think we learnt a lesson about love or something but most importantly, I think we just gotta remember that it is never a good idea to leave our bazookas at home. After all, how else are you supposed to stop that nasty dino bandit that is making off with someone's family heirloom? Think of the consequences!!
But nah for real, I get it now. I understand why this game, even after so many other following RPGs in the subseries, has stuck with so many. It is a tribute to a Mario story that feels more grand than it usually does, a very distinct flavour of RPG and combat compared to what followed, and overall, it just may have some of the most memorable and resonating stuff of any of them. When I finished the game, I felt like I finally could feel what I imagined so many felt about this game all this time. A true, unbridled love for the adventure it gave, and a desire to see something like it again.
Sure! I love the following RPG series in Mario, but this game really has the potential to expand further, and I would wholeheartedly be down to see a follow-up now that this remake has had its time to shine, and succeed in the eyes of many.

Super Mario RPG, thank you. You have given me a journey I will not be forgetting anytime soon. And with all that came with the remake? I could not be more happy for this game.
This really was the start to something beautiful, and the start is indeed one to be experienced.
Highly recommend whether you have given this game a play before, or not!