Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was one of the most surprising releases I can remember from the 90s. Not only did I never expect Mario to star in an RPG, but I didn’t even know the term for the genre until it released. This was a joint venture between Nintendo and Squaresoft combining both Mario characters with the RPG mechanics the house of Final Fantasy was so well known for. The game was a hit, and spawned numerous spiritual successors (and even a remake on the Nintendo Switch). I decided to give it another go recently, and I have a lot to say. Keep reading to find out why you need Mario RPG in your life.
The story begins with typical plumber fare. No I’m not talking about fixing drains or connecting pipes. This is Mario after all. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool again, and our portly red capped protagonist sets out to save her. You begin in Bowser’s castle and following a fateful encounter with the beast a giant sword crashes down from the sky. Mario, Bowser and the Princess are separated and seven stars shoot down from the sky.
This sword is pretty important. His name is Smithy, and he has a host of mechanical baddies. As Mario soon learns this gang has overtaken Bowser’s keep, and destroys the bridge to it. Our hero eventually learns that she’s no longer in the castle and sets out to find her, teams up with a host of quirky new characters (and even Bowser himself) and eventually sets out to strike down Smithy.
The first question you may have is where does Luigi come in to play? Well, he doesn’t. Not really any way. You’ll find Luigi in the instruction manual, as well as in a cameo during the ending. Honestly this was and still is my major problem with Super Mario RPG. How can you have a grand sweeping adventure like this and leave Luigi behind? Why are there so many new characters but Mario’s brother was left on the sidelines? I suppose it’s forgivable because the new faces like Mallow and Geno are actually pretty cool, and can be downright entertaining at times.
With that out of the way Super Mario RPG is quite different from traditional RPGs of this era. For starters exploration is done entirely from an isometric perspective. There’s also a ton of platforming elements. Treasure chests don’t simply sit on the floor. Instead items are stored in hovering blocks ala traditional Mario titles and you have to jump into them from below to open them. There are also some areas where you need to jump from platform to platform, and some of these even move. I really like this concept because despite being an RPG it still feels very “Mario.”
The battle system is also very different from your typical role playing game. While it is still turn based the mechanics have been altered to make the action more interactive. You have the basic attack, spell, item and run commands, but they’re all designated to a different face button on the SNES. When your turn comes up you press the button corresponding to the command you want, and you’re off to the races. When using an attack you’re given the option to increase the damage dealt by pressing the button again at just the right moment. This differs based on the character and weapon equipped.
Special moves are a little different. I know, I called these ‘spells’ earlier but functionally they’re the same. Every character has separate abilities and these consume flower points. You determine the potency of such moves using a variety of different input types. Some of these skills require you to mash the attack button, while others are timed like the attacks, and others ask that you charge a meter to just the right point. This dynamic is super interesting and makes each character truly feel different from one another.
Where most RPGs have distinct character classes this one mixes things up a bit. While there are some who are better with attacking or casting spells for the most part they’re all well balanced. What I mean is that Mallow and the Princess are better with their magic (and both are the only ones who can heal your party). Meanwhile Mario and Bowser are more attack centric with abilities focusing entirely around attacking foes. Because there are so few characters and they’re all balanced you can’t really make a wrong choice for your party composition. Unless of course you choose Geno and Bowser because in that case no one can heal.
It’s also very cool that you can see enemies outside of battle, and even jump over them. These encounters aren’t forced and you can fairly easily avoid the vast majority of them should you so choose to do. Honestly though the most interesting feature in this game is the super star. It’s treated like a power-up. You gain invincibility from enemies and actually kill them on the field just by touching them. What’s absolutely amazing is that you still gain experience points like you had defeated the foe. Bear in mind this power-up lasts only a short time so you’ve gotta make a mad dash to defeat all of the foes.
Speaking of levels up and experience points Super Mario RPG handles this aspect somewhat differently than most other games of this kind. It’s not that different actually, but just offers more customization options. Basically each character gains experience points after you defeat each party of enemies. When your party member gets enough they advance a level. In typical fashion this increases all of their stats. Here’s where the game gets unique. After you’re shown the change in stats you’re given the option to take things further. You can choose to upgrade attack/defense, hit points, or magic/magic defense. It’s a neat customization touch.
Now for a gripe. It’s super disappointing that you can only have three characters in your party. This later became the norm for the genre, but I still wanted more here. It’s also a little disappointing that there are only five characters to choose from. While Mario is always in your party you also get Bowser, Princess Toadstool as well as newcomers Mallow and Geno. The latter two are entirely original to the franchise and as far as I know have never been in another game (besides Smash Bros). Again, where’s Luigi? Why don’t we get Toad? How about Yoshi? There are so many underutilized characters. Even with just a three character party Nintendo still could have given us more options.
With that said the game isn’t particularly challenging. You will need to rely on timed attacks to succeed, but once you’ve got those there are very few moments where you’ll be in danger. There’s no moments where you’ll need to grind experience points to proceed, but at the same time, you can’t really run from every battle. For those who are good at the game there are a few optional boss fights. In Monstro Town you can challenge the master for special items. He gets progressively more difficult with each encounter. Additionally there’s a Final Fantasy based encounter with a dark knight named Culex. This is tough as nails, but at least you have classic Nobuo Uematsu compositions to listen to while you fight it out.
What truly sets Super Mario RPG apart from its contemporaries is the sheer amount of things to do in this world. On top of the many side quests there are frog coins and fire flowers hidden absolutely everywhere. In addition you have things like the Yoshi races mini-game, barrels over the river mini-game, and even a random as heck shmup to compete in. I loved every minute I spent in this game world even if I was just jumping at random points to try and find item boxes. The world is mysterious and fun, but has a ton of secrets to discovery as well as events to participate in. It feels more ‘alive’ than most other Japanese style RPGs of the time.
Nintendo really stepped things up in the graphics department as well. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars has that typical 90s pre-rendered style that was all the rage. This also helps with the faux 3D effects this title strives for. Generally I’ve hated these graphical techniques. In Super Mario RPG it all works however. The game looks absolutely amazing. It’s by far the best looking 16-bit role playing game of all time. This is like something you’d expect to see in an early PS1 or Saturn title. The soundtrack is also really well done. It’s recognizable as Mario, but with a Final Fantasy twist. The music also goes far beyond what you would expect from the typical midi tunes on the SNES hardware.
