Nintendo and Square Combine to Create a Fantastic Mario RPG
Written: Jan 26 '04 (Updated Feb 19 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent graphics and sound, fun characters, interesting story, lots of mini-games
Cons: None - a little short, but not if you do all the optional stuff
The Bottom Line: The amazing result of Nintendo and Square's collaboration, Super Mario RPG is the best the SNES has to offer. Very amusing and fun with great graphics and sound.
|
|
|
| brendan2's Full Review: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for Sup... |
When I first heard that two of the greatest gaming companies, Nintendo and Squaresoft, were working on an RPG starring Mario, I was excited but a little skeptical. After reading about the game in one of my Nintendo Power magazines, I decided to try it because I like Mario games and RPGs. I was surprised to find that Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars exceeded my expectations in almost every aspect.
The Story
The game begins like almost every other Mario game: Princess Toadstool is kidnapped once again by the fiendish King of the Koopas, Bowser, and Mario runs off to save her. But after Mario beats Bowser and goes to untie the princess, a giant sword crashes into Bowser's Keep and sends Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser flying to different parts of the world. Seven twinkling stars also fall to earth. What started out as a princess-rescuing mission turns into a search for the seven star pieces to rebuild the Star Road. Mario meets up with two new characters, a 'tadpole' named Mallow and Geno from the Star Road who takes the form of a doll. Princess Toadstool and even Bowser join Mario on his adventure. A very involving story with lots of sidequests and mini-games. Story: 10/10
Graphics & Sound
The graphics for this game are the best on the SNES. The 3-D worlds look spectacular from a land high in the clouds to the depths of a sunken ship. The character design is perfect and the animations are very detailed. The special attacks like Mario's Super and Ultra Flame and Mallow's Snowy look fantastic. The enemies look great too, especially the hidden boss Culex. The music is some of the best I've heard in any video game. Each town has its own theme and you can even hear music from the original Mario game (in Booster Tower). The sound effects are basic but pretty good, with Mario's jump, special attack sounds, even screeching sounds when Mario stops suddenly. Graphics: 10/10; Sound: 10/10
Gameplay
The gameplay for Super Mario RPG is fun and unique. In battles, you can do Timed Hits by pressing the A button just before you hit the enemy and defend by pressing the B button before the enemy hits you. Some special attacks require you to hit the Y button multiple times or hold it down. The whole party shares FP (Flower Points, which are used to perform spells), so be careful. A cool thing about leveling up is that when your levels go up, you can pick to boost your character's offense, defense, or hit points. You can also play a "Where's Yoshi?" game and double your experience or coins. One of the best things about the game is the mini-games. You can swim down a raging river, collecting coins along the way, help your old friend Yoshi win a race against a mean dinosaur called Boshi, scale a cliff using the shells of Koopa Paratroopas to earn frog coins, collect beetles while bouncing off Snifits' heads, or gamble your coins away at the Grate Guy Casino. You can even buy a game from a kid in the Mushroom Kingdom and play it whenever you wish. Gameplay: 10/10
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a great game for RPG newbies or seasoned pros. The game can be completed fairly quickly, but finding all the hidden items and places can take months. Great graphics, beautiful music, some great humor, and fun mini-games combine to make this one of the best games of all time.
© LH 2004
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
brendan2
|
 in Movies |
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Liz
Location: sitting on a cornflake
Reviews written: 247
Trusted by: 239 members
About Me:
slowly returning from vacation
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.