Danny’s Thoughts: Super Mario RPG

In a time when remakes/remastered games are becoming more commonplace, there’s always going to be ones that stand out the most. And in the case of this post, Super Mario RPG for the Switch is definitely a stand-out.

Originally created as the last time Square-Enix (Square Soft back then) worked with Nintendo on something until the GameCube era, this game for the Super Nintendo was yet another game that wasn’t your typical Mario game, yet it still had enough about that Arcaders weren’t put off. And the remastered version has been the same for me.

So what is the game about? Well, it starts out like a typical Koopa caper – Bowser tries to kidnap Princess Peach Toadstool yet again, but this time things go awry, and not because of some last-minute save, but rather a group called The Smithy Gang, who have crashed onto the Mushroom Kingdom and scattered the seven pieces of Star Road. So now Mario and his friends – new and old – must band together to find the pieces if they are to stop The Smithys from succeeding.

While the gameplay mechanics are enough to where you can still do the usual Mario movements – you can walk, you can jump – things change when it comes to fighting enemies, for it isn’t a straight foward battle where you can just jump on the enemy and that’ll be that. Much like most of Square’s epic Final Fantasy series, the combat system is now that of a turn-based system to where if your opponent’s HP drop to 0 then you win, gaining some experience and money in the process.

At first one would think that that type of gameplay would be a bit off-putting, but now having played it on the remastered version I can see that the learning curve is very short. The real trick though, is learning the timing when an opponent is going to attack you and putting up your shield. Same thing goes for when you’re trying to double your attack power when it’s time to go on the offensive. Fortunately you can level up your characters as you go, and you will need it as you make your way through.

While I’ve only gotten started, I am definitely surprised by the sheer whimsical and adventurous feel this game has. While I only saw that one US commercial for it way back when, it still stood out, and I wondered how the game would work, but I never had a chance to play it until now. Now I can see why many fans hold it in such high regard. Plus I can see where the “Paper Mario” and the “Mario and Luigi” games would eventually take their cues from.

So if you haven’t played this game, give it a shot. Even if you decide not to go all the way through it is still a game that gives a more RPG-feel to the Mario franchise yet it still maintains the very elements that make the franchise special.

Plus on a side-note, thanks to Smash Bros. we can now see Mario and Square-Enix’s Cloud fighting either together or against each other for fun!