Despite being a fan for as long as I’ve been plꦫaying video games, one of my great shames is that I’ve never played any of the classic Mario RPGs that everyone raves about so much.
I’ve dabbled with more recent releases like Origami King and, sadly, Colour Splash, but I’ve never gotten my hands on gems like , Mario + Luigi, and The Thousand Year Door, mostly because the death of the 3DS, , and Wii U virtual consoles means they’re hard to get copies of without shelling out🥀 an eye-watering amount of money for.
If you're looking for a copy of Super Mario RPG on the SNES, . Eesh.
Nintendo seems t𒅌o have finally realised how many late ‘90s babies like me there𝓡 are that don’t have SNES’ and GameCubes sitting in their attics, as it’s finally started to bring some of those games to the Switch, starting with a remake of the one that started it all - : Legend of the Seven Stars.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was a little nervous about playing Super Mario RPG for the first time. The huge legacy and rabid fandom who have spent the last two decades begging for a port, sequel, or just for Geno to finally be put into Smash, set some high expectations,🏅 ones that I was sure were at least somewhat nꦿostalgia-fuelled.
After playing through the first couple of hours of Super Mario RPG, I’m happy to say that I’m already a believer. I can’t speak muc𓆏h to all of the changes that have been made or mechanics that have been tweaked, but I can say that the remake is shaping up to be essential for other Mario fans like me, who somehow missed the original.
Aside from the new art style (168澳洲幸运5开奖网:which I do𝓰n’t find as dripless as some) and incredible remade soundtrack, the thing that stood out the most to me from my time with Super Mario RPG is how much ಌpersonality and humour it has. Every character in the game, whether it’s long-standing Mario staples like Bowser and Toad or RPG originals like Geno and Mallow, has something funny or witty to say, and I was surprised by just how much Super Mario RPG was able to make me laugh.
The biggest surprise of all, though, comes from Mario himself. Despite being completely mute from what I’ve played so far, he’s more animated than I’ve ever seen him before, reacting to situations with goofy pratfalls, acting out events like he’s playing charades, impersonating other characters flawlessly, and even threatening to punch a child at one point. With how much fuss there’s been in 2023 over Mario’s character and voice, I can’t believe my favourite interpretation of him might end up being the one that never spe💃aks.
As funny as Super Mario RPG is from what I’ve played so far, I hope there’s a bit more depth to its story in the later ho🐷ur🃏s. I’ve seen glimpses of it from Mallow and Geno, who are both as excellent as I’ve always heard, but there has to be more to the full game’s story than making me giggle.
When you’re not wondering why Nintendo doesn’t make Mario this expressive all of the time, you’ll be knee deep in combat.ꦕ As someone who usually isn’t great with turn-based games and the nee𓆏d to be patient and methodical, Super Mario RPG’s more active mechanics kept me engaged.
Just like Paper Mario, attacks and blocks can be accompanied by button presses to either deal more damage to the enemy or reduce how much is taken by Mario and the party. It’s a fairly common mechanic in modern RPGs nowadays (South Park: The Stick oꦆf Truth is the first game that comes to mind, if you want to know what kind of gamer I am), but it’s incredibly satisfying here and keeps combat engaging, even during battles that are otherwise a little too easy.
That lack of difficulty is the only thing that concerns me from my time with Super Mario RPG so far. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the mechanics here, like enemies having weaknesses that can be discovered with Mallow’s Thought Peek and several special assist🌳 moves that are earned by doing well in combat. However, the three hours I played lacked any challenge at all, which surprised me considering how bad I am at turn-based RPGs in 🦩general. Hell, I can’t even get through Baldur’s Gate 3 on its lowest difficulty.
I’m sure I’ll be eating those words when Super Mario RPG 𒆙goes the way of every game in the genre and offers a brutal final boss gauntlet of some kind, but for now, I do wish there was a way to increase the challenge a little bit. I don’t mind a breezier adventure, but it doesn’t seem like a big addition to ask for in 🌼a remake that otherwise doesn’t seem to have changed much.
I’ve still got a lot of Super Mario RPG goodness to experience before my full review, but what I’ve played so far has made me feel like an idiot for missing out on such an incredible RPG all these years. I’m hopeful that it has some b💞onuses and surprises for those who have played before, but for newcomers✅ like me, it’s shaping up to be another must-play in a year absolutely full of them.
