Mario in his first, and last RPG
Written: Jul 17 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: it's a simple and easy RPG
Cons: it's a simple and easy RPG.
The Bottom Line: not counting Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi, and Paper Mario 2 of course.
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| tommy_lop's Full Review: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for Sup... |
I got Super Mario RPG several years ago, back when the SNES was still around. It’s what got me turned on to RPG’s and what led me into getting into serious RPG’s like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. I remember Nintendo billing it has Mario’s first and last RPG, which of course isn’t the truth. It’s been a while since I played this so about a week ago I dusted off my SNES collection and pop this game into it. It’s a fun game and it’s definitely a great place to start if your wanting to get into RPG’s, expert RPG players might want to check it out has well but it is a bit on the simple and easy side.
Story.
Bowser has kidnapped the Princess…again. And Mario is out to rescue her…again. But after beating Bowser and untying her something unexpected happens, a giant sword crashes into Bowsers castle and the 3 of them get thrown. Mario lands in his house and after a little investigating discovers a new threat. A strange monster named Smithy has now taken over Bowsers keep and is planning to take over the world. In the process of entering the world Smithy has smashed the star road into pieces and without the star road around nobody’s wishes will come true so to fix this problem Mario must collect all the pieces of Star Road. Along the way Mario will meet new friends Geno the possessed puppet and Mellow the frog that doesn’t quite look like a frog.
The story is a bit cheesy and the game knows it so it doesn’t miss an opportunity to make fun of itself, or Mario’s story lines in general. In other words the story is pretty funny and there are a lot of good, not mention whacky humor. This is also the last major Mario game to call the Princess Toadstool, obviously a few jokes in here that couldn’t be translated very well with her American name so I wouldn’t be surprised if this game was one of the reason why they decided to start calling her by her Japanese name Peach.
Graphics.
The graphics in the game pushed the SNES to it’s limits in a lot of way. The camera hangs over in a 2/3 overhead view giving it a 3d look. The characters are high detailed and well animated. The areas are also well design giving players the first chance to explore Mario’s world in depth. This was released about a year before Super Mario 64 would rock the video game world so to go around and exploring in a Mario game that wasn’t a complete 2d platforming was pretty compelling.
In battle the graphics keep the same type of flair and the character design remains consistent. It’s done by a top down view has well with your characters at the bottom and the enemies at the top. The animations for some of the spells and weapons characters can use are pretty funny, which brings out the whacky humor in this game even more.
Sound.
While a few Mario tunes make cameo appearance (the original SMB along with the SMW theme appear in the game) most of the music is all new. And it’s pretty catchy; the Midus River tune can get stuck in your head. You have the usual peaceful/happy go lucky tunes in towns that have been rescued. Towns that are still be held by Smithy have Snidely Whiplash type music.
Gameplay.
Ok first off you choose areas that are on the map. Has you complete more areas and scenarios more areas become open. In each area where there are enemies you will be able to see them on the screen and avoid them just like a Super Mario Bros game. However if one hits you then you will go into the battle screen.
The game is turned base but it’s far from being slow or dull. To keep things going in battle they introduced Timed Hits. Instead of the usual roll of the dice for a critical hit, in SMRPG you do timed hit in which you control. By pressing A at the right time during an attack you will boost it. There will be extra animations for when you get a timed hits (usually the character will hit them 2 or 3 times extra). This also works on defense, whenever an enemy attacks with a physical blow by pressing A at the right time will cause your character to defend themselves and thus get less damage. While it does make the game a bit easier it keeps the pace of battle from being tedious, while avoiding the extra challenge and frustration of real time battle systems.
Has for equipping things and leveling up these are done rather simply. Each town has new armor and new weapon for each character. And each new weapon will boost your attack. Later in the game there are a few short, if easily over looked side quests that can get your characters there ultimate weapons and armor.
Only two of these items are hard to come by and that would be the two optional boss battles in the game. One is against Jinx the leader of the dojo in monstro town. He can tough to beat when you first meet him, but if you wait in till after you complete Bowsers Castle 2nd run through he’s a cake walk. The next one is Culex a Final Fantasy Character that is tougher then the last boss and will give you a worthless item for completing him (it’s a typical Square RPG thing to have an optional super hard boss that gives out nothing for beating him.)
Has for magic, it’s done differently to, every body has the same magic meter, or fire flower points. These will be increased every time you get a fire flower, or whenever you get a flower tab. They can be replenish by staying at inns or by using syrups that can be bought. Each character has the set of moves that makes them unique. Toadstool can heal, Mario has his jumps and fire balls, Mallow controls the weather, Geno has his beams and gadgets, and Bowser uses ghosts and giant mechakoopa’s to terrorize his foes.
Final Recommendation.
If you’re a series RPG lover you might want to give this game a chance even if it’s on the easy side, it’s got a whacky Mario story and a solid battle engine. If you’re new to RPG’s this is also a good place to start it’s easy to get into and it’s easy to understand.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tommy_lop
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Member: tommy
Reviews written: 963
Trusted by: 119 members
About Me:
Ran over a grandma, punched a kid, and still diden't get a PS3. (just kidding.)
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