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was the last Mario game made and released on the Super Famicom/Super NES as well as the last major Squaresoft (now Square Enix) produced game for a Nintendo video game console until Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles in 2003. It was also the first role-playing game (RPG) in the Mario series. It contains token similarities to Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series with a story based in the Mario universe. Since it was an easy-to-play RPG starring Mario, it introduced many long-time Mario fans to RPGs and as such is sometimes seen as an introductory RPG. This was also the first game in which Mario and Bowser are allied. A PAL version was not released.
Gameplay The enemies are visible in the field; Mario must touch them to begin combat. This allows the player to avoid unwanted battles by jumping over or walking around the foe. Battle system The battles themselves are a blend of platforming elements and traditional RPG battles. As well as selecting attacks, the player is usually required to perform action commands to increase the damage done. These consist of timed button presses and other movements (such as rotating the D-pad or pressing Y repeatedly) to increase, or in a few cases, determine, the power of the characters' moves. The need to perform action commands in between navigating menus keeps the player engaged in the battle the whole time. Unlike many RPGs before and after its release, much of the gameplay was outside of monster battles. In the field, the game plays much like an isometric platformer, with many traditional Mario features (such as jumping) as well as many new ones (such as magic spells) playing a key role. Plot Characters Super Mario RPG features five permanent playable characters. Mario is the silent protagonist of the game, and often uses pantomime to act out scenes for characters. Mallow is a humanoid cloud from Nimbus Land, however, he is convinced during the early stages of the game that he is a tadpole, having been raised by Frogfucius, the elder of Tadpole Pond, for as long as he can remember. He is notable for being a crybaby. Geno is a wooden puppet brought to life by a star. Because his real name (♥♪!?) is unpronounceable in Mario's language, he decides to go by the doll's name, "Geno". Early in the game he explains to Mario about Smithy and what has been going on. Mario's archnemesis Bowser has been exiled from his castle, and joins forces with Mario in order to reclaim it. Princess Toadstool joins Mario after he rescues her from Booster, a wealthy and eccentric entrepreneur who lives in a tower with his Snifit henchmen. Booster tries to marry her, but Mario saves her. The main villain of the game, Smithy, hides within a factory that is connected to Mario's world via the sword/portal Exor. Smithy has expressed an interest in the Star Pieces, and sends out his minions to collect them, causing trouble for Mario and the gang along the way as they conquer the world. His most notable minions include Mack, Bowyer, Yardovich, and the Axem Rangers. Other villains include Croco the thief, who steals treasure from Mallow; Belome, a hungry monster who guards various passages; and Valentina, who takes over Nimbus Land with her pet Dodo, and eventually falls in love with Booster. Other major characters include the Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom, who desperately urges Mario and his friends to find the Princess, and seems to be constantly worried about her; Toad, who follows Mario and his friends around the world giving him pointers; Yoshi, who lives on an island called Yo'Ster Isle and needs Mario's help to remove Boshi from power; and Jonathan "Johnny" Jones, a shark pirate that inhabited a sunken ship with his fellow sharks. Mario must fight him to earn his trust. Story Princess Toadstool is once again kidnapped by King Bowser, and once again, Mario goes to save her. He battles and defeats Bowser in his keep, but before he can untie the princess, a giant sword (named Exor) smashes through the roof of the castle, sending all three inside flying. Exor is the first of many enemies sent by the evil Smithy to take over the mushroom world. Mario lands in his own house and quickly learns that Bowser's Keep wasn't the only thing that was smashed by Exor. The Star Road, a magical place where wishes are granted (based on the common child's tale about shooting stars), has been split into seven pieces, and the task has fallen on Mario to find both the star pieces and the Princess. Along the way, he meets up with four other characters who will help him in this quest. Subplots include helping Mallow find his parents, Geno fixing the Star Road, finding Princess Toadstool, and helping Bowser get his castle back. Debug Room By using the third party hacking utility Game Genie, many players have found a debug room, very similar to the one of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII. The layout is strikingly similar, in that talking to a character will give the player options relating to that character's part in a game. Music The musical score for Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was composed by Yoko Shimomura (who also composed for Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana and the Kingdom Hearts series, and later the semi-sequel to Super Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga). She also arranged music by Koji Kondo (composer for the Super Mario and Legend of Zelda series) and Nobuo Uematsu (lead composer for the Final Fantasy series) as part of the score. The latter two returning again to create the theme for "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", as well as working on other tracks. Three tracks from Final Fantasy appeared in the game, including the Boss Battle theme from Final Fantasy IV, the well-known Battle Victory music (Victory fanfare), featured in many Final Fantasy, and the Prelude. Sequels Officially, Super Mario RPG does not have a direct sequel, especially in terms of a sequel based on the original game's plot. However, several successive RPG-themed Mario games including Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Game Boy Advance), (Nintendo GameCube) and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Nintendo DS) are considered to be its "spiritual" and thematic successors. In fact, Paper Mario was originally titled Super Mario RPG 2. However, because of Square's involvement in the original game, direct sequels were not legally possible without Square's permission and/or involvement, so the title was changed, although the development of the game mechanic itself went for the most part unaltered. Some of the original team members (including some from Square) that worked on Super Mario RPG worked on the Mario & Luigi series as well, including director(s) Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka, and music composer Yoko Shimomura, albeit providing very different or similar styles and mechanics in those games then the original Super Mario RPG (as explained below). Certain conventions established in the original Super Mario RPG have been carried over to the ''de facto'' sequels and expanded upon. For example, the use of "Flower Points" instead of magic points, timed action commands during battles, the platforming elements of the game, and the basing of the collecting of the seven stars in this game. These games also took the non-RPG concept from Super Mario RPG and expanded upon it, allowing Mario to jump, hammer, ground pound, and use a variety of other techniques. Geno was featured in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, albeit in doll form. This is the only instance of a character originating from Super Mario RPG in another game. Square was credited at the end for owning the rights to Geno. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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