The way things stand, yours is a world where wishes can't come true anymore.
It goes without saying, but certain combinations just work.
Sometimes, those combinations are obvious while other times, they aren't. It's weird, because Super Mario RPG always kind of fit both categories. On one hand, how could a joint effort from Nintendo and Square (still Squaresoft at the time) go wrong? Both of these companies were riding high, especially in the mid-90's when it felt like neither of these juggernauts could do any wrong. Yet at the same time, the thought of platforming icon Mario starring in a turn-based RPG felt a little...off. How was anyone going to take a plumber who jumps on turtles in linear levels and turn him into a full-fledged RPG hero? Would this experiment work out? Or would it crash and burn? I think we all know the answer to that, but I don't think a lot of people really look at why this game was so successful, why it was so revered and why it received the re-make treatment almost 30 years later. It's not as bad as some examples, but I think a lot of gamers never really understood Super Mario RPG and what it was trying to accomplish and why. And that understanding starts with a trip back in time to 1996.
Nowadays, every genre is filled with dark, edgy, brooding games with nihilistic protagonists trudging through bleak, post-apocalyptic worlds. Open world games are dark and edgy. Platformers are dark and edgy. You name it, it's dark and edgy. That wasn't really the case back in the day. Platformers were reserved for cartoon hedgehogs and other mascots hopping and bopping through bright colored worlds. Action and adventure games tended to offer a little more tension but were still largely kid friendly. Of course, there were some alternatives, but many of the more adult oriented games were PC titles and they were fewer and far between. Even more violent genres, like beat em' ups and fighting games, tended to be more T-rated affairs, Mortal Kombat and it's myriad clones not withstanding. Yet modern games also have their positives as well. It seems like everything in every genre makes at least some effort to have some level of narrative. But again, it wasn't always that way. Turtles kidnapped princesses, evil doctors kidnapped animals, ninjas kidnapped the president, that was the extent of a lot of gaming narratives back then. And that extended to the genres, like at-the-time fledgling first person shooters, that did tend to have a more dark and brooding, more adult atmospheres. There was really only one genre that was combining more intense atmospheres with detailed narratives, at least on a consistent basis: RPGs. This may seem ridiculous to someone who wasn't alive or wasn't gaming back then. But at the time, titles like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire were presenting dense narratives and creating deep lore about topics that most games wouldn't, or couldn't go near. That was going to change soon, things like Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil were on the horizon, but I have always felt that was a large part of why RPGs were as popular as they were at the time.
That being said, the genre was always sort of a background player in the industry. For all the hoopla about how great Final Fantasy VI is, its sales paled in comparison to what you would see in the popular genres at the time. On console, platformers and tournament fighters were 1 and 1A, the biggest piece of the pie that developers were battling for. There were a variety of reasons as to why, but one of the biggest was down to the accessibility of RPGs. They were often hard to find and difficult to get into. You could be the most brilliant person in the world, but if you pop in a game expecting to jump around and walk in a straight line only to be met with complex stat management and puzzle solving, you are going to be thrown off. RPGs were kind of unlike any other genre and lacked a lot of the widespread appeal that some of those genres did. And what's an easy way to attract some of that appeal? By taking the genre and adding the most visible video game character on the planet to it. And how do you make it more accessible? By simplifying the gameplay while also keeping things as fun as possible.
But before we talk about gameplay, we have to talk about the story. It starts out like any Mario game would, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool (she wouldn't be Peach in the west until Super Mario 64 a few months later) and once again dragged her off to his keep. Mario rushes after her, climbing to Bowser's throne room to battle the Koopa King in an epic battle atop a chandelier. As you might expect, Mario defeats Bowser and rescues the princess...and that's where things start to get weird. Because before they can leave together, a giant sword splits the sky and crashes into the keep, sending Mario, Toadstool and Bowser flying. With the bridge to Bowser's keep destroyed, Mario sets out on a quest to find the princess and bring her back to the Mushroom Kingdom. But it's not going to be easy. The giant sword has brought along with it new and dangerous enemies, who call themselves the Smithy Gang. They are searching for mysterious star pieces, and will stop at nothing to get them. And when they take over the Mushroom Kingdom to use as their base of operations, Mario knows they need to be stopped. Throughout his journey, Mario will discover the true nature of the Smithy Gang and why the star pieces are critical to wishes being granted. And he won't be alone. Toadstool will join Mario on his journey, along with unlikely allies in Mallow, who claims he's a tadpole despite not looking like one, and Geno, an intergalactic traveler from the broken star road. But the most unlikely ally? Bowser, who joins up with his nemesis in an effort to reclaim his Keep.
Look, that's a bit of a simplistic story for an RPG but remember, this is supposed to be an entry point into the genre. That's one of the things that makes SMRPG kind of hard to really talk about, because you can't really judge it like other games in its genre. The same is kind of true for the gameplay, although it's a lot more RPG-typical. You explore a variety of field and dungeon locations, where you can get into touch-based encounters. Battle gives you four options, attack, magic, item or other, each mapped to one of the face buttons on the SNES. These are all pretty self explanitory, though it's worth noting that flower points (FP, what would basically be MP in a more traditional RPG) come from a shared pool. The key differentiator here is the timed hit system. Press a button at the right time when attacking or using magic and you will be afforded an extra hit or additional damage. This also works on defense, where a well-timed button press will result in minimizing or outright mitigating damage. It's simple, but it forces you to stay alert and pay attention, making every battle some level of engaging. It's also fairly well balanced, the stronger the attack the harder the timing is to get the hit. The characters have all the RPG archetypes covered, Mario is the OP hero, Bowser is the physical tank, Mallow is the offensive spellcaster while Toadstool is the healer and Geno is the all-rounder. All of the characters are viable and they are fun to play as, and because all characters receive experience whether they fight or not you can switch them in and out without having to worry about them being underleveled. Describing SMRPG makes the game feel almost bare bones, but this is a title you have to experience yourself to truly appreciate. The battles are so engaging that they always feel interesting, even if they aren't particularly complex.
Exploration is also a little bit different here from what you would see in most RPGs. Mario's platforming roots are definitely represented here, with many locations asking you to make tricky jumps or clear various obstacles. This stuff usually frustrates me, but it's well done here and it's almost never mandatory to advance the game. That's the way it should be, you can have it required for secrets or to take easier paths, but not to move forward at all. A lot of RPG fans hate stuff like this, but it works here. Part of that is because of the license, you almost expect it in a game featuring Mario, but a lot of it is just how fun all of the different areas are to explore. There's no true world map, which I don't love, but there's a good variety of dungeons, transitional areas and towns and they are all very clever and well designed. There's not one location in this game that I dread visiting on a playthrough, which is something I don't think I could say for any other RPG I've ever played. Rose Way, Star Hill and Bean Valley are all great transitional areas while Kero Sewers, the Forest Maze and the Sunken Ship are memorable, classic dungeons. The towns might be the strongest point here, there are so many great and memorable locations, from the dusty mining city of Moleville to the shopping resort Seaside Town to the good old fashioned Mushroom Kingdom. This game did a lot to expand on Mario's relatively flat world, it was kind of the first time we really saw how its denizens lived from day to day. There are a lot of little touches that make the world feel organic, small details like the Toads in Mushroom Kingdom and Rose Town having different designs on their heads really help that. My favorite town might be Monstro Town, a small village inhabited by monsters who have grown tired of fighting and want to settle down for a peaceful life. Many of Bowser's former associates end up here after Smithy's attack, and it's kind of cool to see creatures like Goombas and Thwomps just living their best lives.
SMRPG is one of the better-looking games of its era. Its graphics were downright revolutionary for its time and still look solid even today. That's not always the case with titles that had more experimental graphical styles at the time. This game pushed the SNES to its absolute graphical limit, it looks as good or better than the early 5th gen titles it was competing against. Control is tight and responsive; I wouldn't expect anything else from Mario and they actually did a great job making the controls feel familiar to fans of the series. It's genuinely shocking how a 3D RPG can feel so much like a 2D platformer. And the soundtrack? An all-time classic. It's almost 30 years old and I still can't get the Forest Maze song out of my head. There were so many memorable songs here that perfectly conveyed the atmosphere the developers were trying to get at. It's epic, but also whimsical.
That's not to say the game is without flaws, because there are definitely issues to pick on. The thing is, some of those issues are more a function of the game's intended audience than actual problems. The biggest issue here is the difficulty, or lack thereof. This may very well be the easiest RPG I've ever played, if not its at least close. This makes Final Fantasy:Mystic Quest look like 7th Saga, it's that easy. But it's kind of supposed to be, remember, this is supposed to be an entry point for new RPG fans. Even still, it might be a little too easy, especially once Princess Toadstool joins your party. Even a fledgling RPG gamer or young gamer will have little difficulty making her into an almost unkillable tank and her healing magic is so cheap and easy to use that she will be able to keep the party upright with little effort. Most of the difficulty actually comes from exploration and mini games, finding all the hidden treasures, getting the best times on the minigames, stuff like that. But none of this is really necessary to finish the game. I can't fault the dungeons for being easy, because they are so well designed they are fun anyway, but it might be a problem for some people. But getting items replaced for free is a little too much, even for an entry level RPG. This doesn't happen all the time, but it's more frequent than it should be. Even as a kid I thought the game was easy, but again, I was coming from stuff like FF II/IV, III/VI and Breath of Fire 2. Other than that though, there isn't much to complain about. Sometimes the re-use monsters, sometimes the game isn't super clear about what you are supposed to do, Land's End isn't my favorite, but that is all nitpicking stuff. The bottom line here is if difficulty is your be all, end all barometer of whether a game is good or not you probably aren't going to enjoy SMRPG as much as the rest of us. That's something I very much understand, this is one of the games I like a lot that I very much appreciate where its haters are coming from. But you have to once again remember, this was an entry point into the genre.
Honestly, it might be the best entry point into the genre. When I wrote about Quest 64 many, many moons ago, I talked about what games would be best to get someone into RPGs and I kind of landed on one of two options: SMRPG or the original Pokemon games. After playing through both relatively recently (and also trying to introduce my Pokemon-obsessed little guy to the OG games), I think I've come to the conclusion that SMRPG is the better option. It's way less obtuse than its handheld counterpart, but I think its biggest thing is that it gradually immerses the player in the genre without ever overdoing it. The smaller numbers, tight dialogue, occasional platforming sections and simple-yet-engaging combat make it absolutely perfect for someone looking for their first RPG. Yet it's also so well made that it's a great comfort game for longtime fans. Still want to get your RPG fix but don't feel like grinding levels to battle the evil empire or perfecting your setup before you defeat the god of destruction? This is the game for you. In a way, Super Mario RPG is greater than the sum of its parts...and its parts are already pretty great. A lot of things that might be issues in an RPG, simplicity and comparatively short length, just don't feel like problems here. Super Mario RPG is an absolutely classic game that's kind of in a space all its own. It's still a great playthrough all these years later.
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