Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Turn-Based RPG featuring Mario & the gang, new Squaresoft characters, and Yoko Shimomura’s beginnings

Back in 1996, Squaresoft (now Square Enix) teamed up with Nintendo at one point to make a brand-new role-playing game with turn-based combat starring characters from the Mario universe. Not only that, Squaresoft also added in their own original characters and enlisted the talents of composer Yoko Shimomura (fresh out of Capcom at the time) to make her amazing musical debut with the game: Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars. The RPG was not only charming but also introduced the input-based action commands system (amplify damage with attacks if you input prompts correctly) that many, MANY indie games have been cribbing off from until now. This game was also the last Mario game for the SNES, and the last big game Squaresoft made for the console before Final Fantasy VII happened, but that’s another story for another time.

Fast forward to 2023, and Nintendo decides to go back to the well and bring back this classic in a nice spit-and-shine graphical form. Truth be told, it’s a long time coming.

Highway Star

Super Mario RPG puts you in the shoes of title character Mario as he was going through his routine of rescuing Princess Peach from giant turtle king Bowser from his castle. Suddenly, a new bunch of Squaresoft-slash-Nintendo-made interlopers named the Smithy Gang blows everyone away, and plan to rob the world of its precious wish-making stars. So off Mario goes, recruiting new party members like the cloud-like Mallow and star-being-in-a-doll’s-body Geno, alongside Bowser and Peach, as they set things right in arguably one of this year’s few saccharine and charming titles.

The biggest takeaway you can get from the get-go is that Super Mario RPG is lush and adorable to look at. Everything from the 1996 original is made anew and moves with such charm and grace; not too elaborate but not too cheap. Yet at the same time, the isometric perspective is left intact as to keep its intentionally-designed levels, dungeons, and secrets the way it’s intended for new players who missed out on the past title.

The meat of Super Mario RPG, the turn-based combat, is a mix of old and new. When initiating an overworld encounter in a dungeon, Mario and team goes into combat with enemies, taking turns hitting each other with regular attacks, using special attacks and magic for offense and defense, and so forth. What sets this game apart is its input-based action commands: you can amplify attacks or mitigate oncoming damage by pressing the correct button (or mashing the button, or turning the analog stick repeatedly in a direction) in sync with the exclamation prompt. While the first few hours ease you in to the system, you do need to master it later and in the post-game. It’s the only way to not only get max damage out of your attacks, but also to get through battle taking zero damage via perfect blocks.

Super Mario RPG is also the first game to introduce the Super Jump, an attack that you can prolong as long as you keep hitting the input correctly. Games like Sea of Stars owe their existence to the one true Nintendo-published RPG king.

If we’re touching on new, we should bring up the circular gauge on the bottom left: the more action command inputs you successfully land with attacks and blocks, the more meter you gain. Getting it to 100% means you gain access to a super move, be it a single-target mega attack if you have Mario, Mallow, and Geno, to a protective barrier if you have Mario, Geno, and Princess Peach. Speaking of consecutive inputs, getting them right means you initiate a chain combo system that gives you passive buffs. So if you have successfully landed 10 inputs perfectly, your attack and defense would not only buff you up for the current battle, but also subsequent ones until you eff up.

Perhaps the only downfall to this remaster, if you can even call it that, is that all these new additions break the game to make it easier to plough through. Many enemies have adjusted attack animations to make them easier to block. Add to the lenient timing window, and suddenly the game will become a breeze for JRPG veterans who have played the genre’s offerings for the past 5 years (especially the retro-styled ones on Steam). While there are a few challenges, seasoned JRPG players can breeze through the default difficulty. The post-game content is where the challenges and fun times are at. After 20 hours of the main quest, you can test your mettle against remixed boss challenges and a few surprises for retro fans, since that’s what the new system is tailored for.

Road To Stardom

Still, to call the Super Mario RPG for Nintendo Switch a remake is pushing it, considering that the entire game, premise, and combat are basically the same as the 1995 Super Nintendo original, just with way, WAY better graphics and remastered music. It does pale in comparison to other worthy RPG remakes like Live A Live and this year’s Star Ocean: The Second Story.

Still, give Nintendo credit where it’s due: Super Mario RPG is just as charming and fun, now tailor-made and revamped for this generation. The revamped combat system, as OP as it can make players become, is still a welcome change that pays dividends in the post-credits portion. New quality-of-life changes like fast travel, autosaving, and a reworked inventory system just flat-out update what could have been an archaic experience. Super Mario RPG is a well-put-together remaster that balances the old and new, though focusing more on the old. That isn’t exactly a bad thing given how influential and charming the 1996 original was, and still is. New players who want to get their feet wet in the Japanese role-playing game genre and have a Nintendo Switch handy must make this title a must-buy.

Pros

• Authentic to the 1996 original, but with way better graphics and music.
• Charming and funny writing and narrative that fits with the Mario brand.
• Fast-paced battles with fun command action mechanics.
• Great post-game content for old-school players.

Cons

• New additions to the battle system trivializes challenges halfway.

Final Score: 80/100