Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Oh, this is a legendary game alright!
Protagonist(s): Mario Mallow Geno Bowser Princess Peach Genre(s): Role-playing Platform(s): Super Nintendo Nintendo Switch Release Date: Super Nintendo: JP: March 9, 1996 NA: May 13, 1996 Nintendo Switch: WW: November 17, 2023 Developer(s): Squaresoft (original) ArtePiazza (remake) Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Mario

Super Mario RPG, originally subtitled Legend of the Seven Stars in North America, is the first role-playing game in the Mario franchise Unlike most Mario games, which were developed in-house by Nintendo, this game was developed by Squaresoft (before they became Square Enix) and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo in 1996. It was also the last Mario game created for the system.

A remake, developed by ArtePiazza in the Unity engine, was released for the Nintendo Switch on November 17, 2023.

Why It Can Find the Seven Star Pieces

Original

1. This is the very first Mario role-playing game created, and gave birth to two whole new subseries of Mario games, those being the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games.
2. The graphics are quite impressive for late Super Nintendo standards, utilizing 3D environments and model-like sprites for characters.
   • This is also one of seven SNES titles released outside of Japan to utilize the Nintendo SA-1 chip.
3. Unlike most RPG's of the time, such as Final Fantasy VI, Trials of Mana and Terranigma, which all had a serious tone, this game's tone is mostly lighthearted and comical with several funny moments peppered throughout.
4. Amazing soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimamura, who will later compose most of the Mario & Luigi games (except for Brothership). Some of the best tracks include "The Road is Full of Dangers", both monster battle themes, "Beware the Forest's Mushrooms", and "Fight Against Smithy".
5. The Mushroom Kingdom is a vast world with several fun locations, such as Mushroom Road, the Forest Maze, Moleville, Star Hill, Yo'ster Isle, Barrel Volcano, Bowser's Castle and of course, Weapon World.
6. The new characters are nice additions to the cast:
   • Mallow is a friendly Nimbus who is on a quest to find his real family after Mario saves his Frog Coin from Croco.
   • Geno, a Star Spirit who possesses a wooden doll, is a very popular character and uses his right arm as a gun in combat.
   • Croco is a crocodile bandit who is often fought as a minor boss and steals your stuff, and later sells items to you instead.
   • The Frog Sage is Mario's wisest ally, often telling the group where to find a Star Piece next.
   • Johnny Jones is a shark pirate who, despite his initial hostility and unwillingness to give up the Star Piece he has, ultimately is well-meaning and honorable once you defeat him.
   • Boshi, a greaser Yoshi, challenges you to a rhythm-based race if you have any Cookies to bet.
   • The Smithy Gang, the main antagonistic force, make for good new villains to fight besides Bowser and his minions.
7. For once, Bowser is not the main antagonist of the game (that role going to Smithy); instead, he is a playable character.
8. Fun boss fights such as Johnny Jones, the Axom Rangers, Exor, Claymorton, and of course, Smithy himself (the final boss).
   • Culex, an optional boss, will certainly impress Final Fantasy fans.
9. Link and Samus make cameo appearances sleeping in beds at inns.

Switch Remake

1. The Nintendo Switch remake has several improvements and new features over the original version while still maintaining the same features as the original, unlike another remake targeted to be "faithful".
2. The graphics are massively improved and utilize models for the characters rather than sprites. Cutscenes are also rendered as actual scenes rather than just using in-game graphics.
3. A Breezy Mode is included for those who can't get used to the controls, as a prompt will appear if you have too many incorrect timings.
4. Your characters can now unleash Triple Moves once your Action Gauge fills up to 100%. Each one also has a different effect, such as Healing Rainbow (Mario, Peach and Mallow) greatly healing and/or reviving any character or Shooting Star Shot (Mario, Bowser and Geno) attacks foes while boosting the party's stats.
5. A Journal is included in the Pause Menu so you can look back on your journey with the Scrapbook and track your progress with a Play Report.
6. A new orchestrated soundtrack is included in this game along with the original one. Even better, just like the Trials of Mana remake, you don't need a special item to change the soundtrack and can do so from the Pause Menu!
   • Also, once you beat the game, you can access a Sound Player from the Journal so you can listen to the music from both the SNES and Switch versions.
7. A fast-travel system has been added to the map menu so you can revisit areas without having to hike all the way back through them.
8. Once you complete the game, you can refight specific bosses who are now stronger (those being Scratchy-Throat Belome, Leveled-Up Punchinello, Engine 023 Booster, Extra-Fancy Bunch & Raspberry, the optional Mario-Style Jinx, Duel-Ready Johnny Jones, and Culex 3D). Once you defeat Culex again, the Frog Sage will now call you Mario Sage.

Bad Qualities

1. Unlike most Mario games, Luigi does not join Mario in this game at all. Though he does appear at Star Hill and the credits scene.
   • Similarly, despite Princess Peach being the final character you recruit, her profile and stats are left out of the North American manual. This was likely done to keep her recruitment a surprise.
2. It can take some time to get used to the controls, as well as getting the timing of attacks done.
3. The later parts of the game (after defeating Speardovich) are criticized for being too long and repetitive.
4. Disappointingly, almost none of the characters are voiced in the remake, save for Yoshi and Bowser. It can also be considered to be a waste of animation and make it look awkward that the characters are speaking but there is no voice acting. Sound familiar?

Reception and Legacy

Super Mario RPG, despite releasing the same year as the Nintendo 64 (something that Donkey Kong Country 3 suffered as well), is often considered one of the best games made for any console, be it the SNES original or Switch remake. Both versions received positive reviews (Nintendo Life gave it 10/10 for the Super Nintendo and 9/10 on Switch), praising its world-building, graphics and humor, while criticizing the battle system.

As mentioned above, the game is so good that it spearheaded the trend of Mario spin-off RPGs, with Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi.

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