It’s been a while since I played through the original, but I think this remake might be objectively better, which is not common in my experience. The art style, combat, humor, and story all felt very good and pleasing to experience throughout the game.

With the art style, I only had 2 minor issues with it. The first is that I could never get used to Peach’s model and it always seemed strange compared to the other characters. The other small thing was that I didn’t like seeing the Toads with hair under their “hats”. Other than those small complaints, the game was great to look at.

The combat felt engaging and fun, which is something that some RPGs struggle with. About halfway into the game, the combat started getting really easy with most enemies being killed within 3 attacks and most bosses being killed within like 5 turns. Idk if I was just overleveled all the time or if the game was just too easy, but I liked it. The only thing that gave me trouble about the combat was the blocking because I sometimes could not get the timing right.

The only times I actually felt challenged were when I was fighting the final boss and the secret post-game boss. The secret boss was funny since it was the same 2D sprite from the original, but the fight was actually challenging.

Very fun game. Would play again.