Super Mario RPG Review | Lives Up to the Legend
I’ll just be upfront and say that this remake had MASSIVE shoes to fill. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was a titan among titans during the SNES era of gaming and for good reason. It was the first RPG game in the Mario franchise and was universally adored by fans for its memorable story and fun gameplay. A lot of nostalgia was riding on this remake from the get-go; a setup that usually spelled danger for any remake of a well-loved classic. Fortunately for those who remember the game’s glory days, Super Mario RPG’s 2023 remake is every bit as charming and memorable as the original, with a fresh coat of paint and some small but smart changes to its combat mechanics. These changes may not be enough to cover up 27 years of wear and tear, but they provide a great way for fans to relive the classic of the original while giving newcomers a glimpse into the ur of Mario’s RPG escapades.
Super Mario RPG Gameplay Screenshots
From the outset, it's clear this isn't your typical Super Mario adventure. Instead of beginning with Mario embarking on his journey, we start at what would usually be the finale. Mario is already at Bowser’s keep, poised to rescue the princess from the flame-breathing Koopa king and ride off into the sunset. But before they can make their escape, a massive sword with a face crashes from the sky, scattering everyone and shattering the Star Road in the process.
The story picks up from there as Mario is faced with hordes of weapon-themed underlings in his quest to find the Star Pieces and rebuild the Star Road. It’s a sufficiently wacky story befitting a JRPG, although it isn’t anywhere near as substantial as a game like Final Fantasy, topping out at around 10-12 hours. Nevertheless, the humor remains timeless, and the mostly unchanged script still delivers consistent laughs, even nearly three decades later.
A Combat System That Withstood The Test of Time
Super Mario RPG’s combat is delightfully straightforward, pitting your team of five against an increasingly wacky lineup of enemies. You'll encounter familiar faces like Goombas, Koopas, and Hammer Bros, as well as a literal JRPG secret boss designed to resemble Sephiroth’s final form. The combat system combines timing-based button prompts with classic RPG mechanics such as weapon attacks and resource-limited spells. This timing element adds a refreshing layer of skill to the usual fare, creating a dynamic that not only stood the test of time but also inspired the design of many future titles.
These button prompts, known as Action Commands,
typically involve precise A-button presses whenever someone attacks. Different skills might require you to mash the button repeatedly or release it at the right moment. Perfect timing enhances all skills and attacks, with effectiveness decreasing the further you are from a perfect input. Effects of perfect button presses include increased damage, additional attacks, more targets, or extra HP healed. This was one of the original game’s most iconic mechanics, and it's great to see it return in the remake. It wouldn't feel right otherwise. They've even improved it by making perfect attack inputs deal splash damage instead of just hitting harder.
This system has aged impeccably well, not that it ever really faded away. Nintendo later used it in other RPGs like Paper Mario and its sequels, and many contemporary RPGs like Sea of Stars and the South Park RPG games followed suit. The constant reuse and revival of this mechanic is a testament to its brilliant design. Even decades later, it continues to shine, now refurbished in the hands of a classic.
Now, a remake wouldn’t be a remake without innovations. While the original Super Mario RPG was fun, it wouldn't attract much of a modern audience if left completely unchanged. Fortunately, the introduction of the new Triple Moves
mechanic brings forth a whole new level of excitement. This feature lets your party unleash a massive attack whenever a gauge is filled. It ties in with the Action Command mechanic quite well too, as perfect inputs are the best way to fill this gauge. Depending on your team composition, these Triple Moves can range from devastating team-wide attacks to fully restoring your team. The best part is that each Triple Move comes with a Final Fantasy-esque animation, adding some major style points in my eyes.
Another part of the game’s combat system that’s still tons of fun is its equipment; this is an RPG after all. It’s not like in most games where anyone can wear anything either, as every character has a dedicated weapon and their respective upgrades. The progression goes beyond just stat upgrades, as the weapons themselves can vary wildly between tiers. For example, Mario has a hammer he can use to smash Goombas, but a later upgrade sees him chucking around a Koopa shell for more damage. The same goes for Mallow—one of the title’s unique characters—who starts off with a stick and moves on to crashing cymbals afterward. This keeps things interesting as new weapons come with new Action Command prompt timings, forcing you to adapt to the new weapon so you can use it properly.
All in all, this game’s combat is fun and simple, and rewards skill-based gameplay on top of providing a fun strategic layer to an otherwise overdone gameplay loop. There was really no doubt that this was going to be the case. I mean, all Nintendo had to do was stick to the script and make it slightly better in areas that mattered. That said, if you’re looking for a meatier RPG experience, this might not be what you’re looking for. A sufficiently skilled player can make short work of almost any encounter if their Action Command game is on point. And with the introduction of Triple Moves, it gets even shorter.
On the other end of the spectrum, the early game can be a bit of a slog if you don’t catch on quickly. Overworld enemies are abundant and repetitive, so if you don’t realize that you can avoid almost every fight early on, you’re stuck fighting five Goomba encounters in every room until you get an upgrade. This isn’t too bad a critique as the original was exactly the same and still garnered plenty of accolades, although something could be said for this game’s enemy variety.
Linear Progression Leads to Amazing Boss Fights and A Varied Overworld
I appreciate that getting new equipment always entailed a strict upgrade because it kept things simple from a strategic standpoint, although this does limit the RPG aspect somewhat. Super Mario RPG has always been a very linear game, with equipment upgrades offering strict stat improvements over alternative gameplay. There’s never a reason to keep an old piece of equipment when the new one is just better in every way apart from having a different prompt timing. This is a far cry from contemporary RPG juggernauts like Elden Ring, which offers a far more diverse armory of equipment to mess around with. The only part of your loadout that bears any strategizing is a single accessory slot per party member that boosts status resistances and improves certain actions.
Progression through the game itself is also quite linear, with completed areas becoming largely pointless to return to unless there was a puzzle or door that you missed along the way. Once you reach the level cap of 30, I can only think of one reason to return to past areas, and it’s a pretty darn good one. One of the new features added to the Switch remake of Super Mario RPG is its repeatable boss battles. Back then, boss battles were a one-and-done affair. This time, players can opt to fight iconic bosses again with new modifiers and mechanics in place to keep things interesting. If you’re a challenge-hungry gamer like myself, this is a godsend of a feature that extends the game’s playtime by at least a few hours.
And who wouldn’t want to fight these bosses again? With such creative boss fight designs, I consider it an absolute boon that I can experience them more than once and with more challenges to boot. A lot of these bosses transcended their original function and became as famous as the game itself across the decades, especially among speedrunners. It’s not exactly Dark Souls level boss fight design, but considering the game’s thematic limitations, Nintendo really hit it out of the park in terms of creative combat encounters. My favorite so far is the game’s secret boss, Culex, who exudes pure Final Fantasy vibes from its design and boss fight.
Boss fights still represent a linear progression, however, and predictable combat encounters bookended by creative boss fights can still become tiresome given enough time. Fortunately, the lifeblood of Super Mario RPG’s variety isn’t strictly tied to its combat system. The overworld has plenty of minigames, platforming puzzles, and secrets to discover between each fight, and they’re about as diverse as you can get. There’s a minigame where you just barrel down a waterfall for coins, and there’s one where you steer a minecart through a maze of rails. Some puzzles require musical knowledge while others require split-second overworld movement through platforming. This doesn’t even account for the various overworld interactions you can have with enemies like Wigglers, which you can bounce on to get to other areas.
It’s a disparate mix of ideas that could have easily become a tangled mess, but surprisingly enough, Nintendo managed to pull through with a varied, yet coherent whole.
The Music and Visuals Come Together to Create An Unparalleled Nostalgia Hit
While every aspect of the game mentioned so far has been a mix of good and bad features, the one area that has been perfectly modernized is the game’s soundtrack. Considering Nintendo’s extensive list of bangers from its modern and classic collections, Super Mario RPG’s soundtrack has gone comparably unnoticed except by its dedicated fanbase. Those who haven’t heard the original really missed out on something great, but fret not, this game has both the classic and modernized versions of the Super Mario RPG soundtrack available on demand.
This collection of catchy RPG tunes pairs well with the game’s updated visuals, which I’ve purposefully avoided talking about in detail until now. It’s not out of avoidance, as you’ll soon see, I just wanted to paint the best picture possible with the game’s audio and visual aspects together. In a word, Super Mario RPG’s updated look is reverent. We’re all too familiar with Nintendo’s modern character design, particularly for the Mario franchise. There’s never been much of a visual deviation between recent games and that’s pretty much by design because it works. Super Mario RPG could’ve ended up looking like that—with full-bodied 3D versions of the cast walking around beautifully rendered, but ultimately plain world—but it didn’t. Instead, we got a chibi-style, isometric-angled copy of the original SNES version that I can barely differentiate from the original.
The reverence is off the charts and, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, the same goes for the game’s music that I harped on about earlier. Together, they tied a neat bow on the nostalgia package and held it together despite the many gameplay changes.
So, What’s The Verdict?
It’s Everything The Legend Said It Would Be
Super Mario RPG is a hit of concentrated nostalgia delivered directly to your veins in glorious 3D. This game is a true remake among remakes, as it was able to capture the charm that the original game had while implementing small but smart combat updates that streamlined an already amazing gameplay loop. This remake certainly had big shoes to fill, following up on a game of mythic proportions that was carried by its dedicated fanbase through nearly three decades. This, by all accounts and expectations, with the threat of nostalgia and contemporary gaming practices looming overhead, should have been an uphill battle, but no. Super Mario RPG’s remake is everything the legend said it would be, and I would not ask for a better game to keep the legend alive for another handful of decades to come.
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Super Mario RPG Remake Product Information
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| Title | Super Mario RPG Remake |
|---|---|
| Release Date | November 17, 2023 |
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Roleplaying Game |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | E (Everyone) |
| Official Website | N/A |
