4.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

Platform: SNES Classic Time Played: 22.3 hours Status: Beaten ⟳ This was my second playthrough of Mario RPG, my first being five years ago around this same time of year, and I was very surprised that it had actually been long enough to the point that a lot of elements and story beats from this game actually felt new, and so this experience still felt very fresh in my mind, which was an overall lovely treat. I am such a huge fan of the overall series of Mario RPGs, with Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi having some of my favorite games of all time; but none of those would even exist if it wasn't for the true classic that is Super Mario RPG. This game still holds up to this day if you ask me. The graphics, the art style, the music, the story, the characters, the writing, the character designs, the originality; all of it makes for what is still such an original and unique Mario and overall gaming experience that I love so dearly. The sprite work seen here is some of the best the Mario franchise has ever been graced with, and it looks so incredibly original and unique to anything else I've ever seen, and nothing else comes quite close to it. The soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura is almost entirely memorized in my head due to the score being comprised of countless upon countless amazing and original tracks that I just adore with my entire heart and soul. All of the original characters like Geno, Mallow, Croco, Frogfucious, Booster, Valentina, Boshi, the Axem Rangers, Johnny, the Smithy Gang as a whole, etc; all bring so much life and originality into the Mario world that I just love, and that is one of my favorite things about the series of Mario RPGs, the fact that they bring in these original and unique characters in order to tell an original, unique, and interesting story unlike anything else you've seen from Mario before. Oh man, I love this game so much. The thing that has probably aged the most is the gameplay. Being an isometric 3D game on the Super Nintendo of course meant that tight platforming gameplay in the overworld wasn't going to be the best thing in the world, and thankfully the game features very little of that, but when it does nudge its ugly head around, it definitely feels like a hassle to play through, but those moments usually don't last too long to begin with. Besides that, the battle gameplay can feel a little dull at the start, especially now that so many successors to this game have released and mastered their own perfect, entertaining, and unique battle formulas, but this is the game that started it all, so you can't bash it too much. One thing I will say is that the whole gameplay loop of running into an enemy, performing timed hits with your party, win the battle, back to the overworld, and into another battle again, is pretty fun, and grows on you over time as well, especially when tougher enemies start showing up and you gotta bring in your mages like Geno or Mallow to wipe out many enemies at once, or some bosses about 4/5 through the game start getting really challenging to Peach becomes an essential player with her insane healing abilities. It's either that the battle system grew on me, or it just genuinely became more fun as more and more elements started getting introduced, and all of the different enemy varieties certainly helped in that department as well. The story present here is also great. The giant sword Exor crashes into Mario's world, through Star Road (a location I wish that you could've visited during the game), breaking it apart into seven Star Pieces, causing the stars to be unable to grant the world's wishes, allowing the Smithy Gang to infiltrate Mario's world and take it over as their own; now it's up to Mario and the gang to collect the seven Stars, and defeat Smithy and his gang to ultimately save the world. MAN, what a great premise for a Mario game, especially back in 1996, this shit is crazy. The first two Paper Mario games AND the first two Mario & Luigi games also had a similar premise of collecting stars or pieces of a star as MacGuffins, like Mario RPG really laid down the groundwork. Mallow's presence in the party not only sets up for the player early on the presence of other unique and original species unseen before (or really after) in the Mario mythos but also allows him to have his own subplot and character arc of growing up and maturing and finding his true parents in the Nimbus Kingdom. Not to mention Geno being a literal star spirit that came down to make sure that the Star Pieces were reclaimed so that Star Road could be restored, acting as a constant reminder of the true threat and stakes that linger over the plot, and you can't forget how awesome his overall designs and powers are; bro truly deserved to be in Smash Bros. I have to mention the wonderful soundtrack yet again. So many people I know who spoke to me while playing this game have been humming and whistling the tracks that they overheard while I played because they're all just so damn incredible and catchy. The theme for the Forest Maze comes to mind first and is truly one of the best video game tracks of all time, but all of the battle music is also incredible to boot, and never ever gets tired for even a second. All of the music heard throughout the overworld, exploring and trudging through each area on the way to the next town that also has its own wonderful theme is made so much better simply due to the wonderful background music accompanying it. Even the File Select theme is a fucking banger; every time I booted up the game I'd just let that theme linger for a while, really letting the soft yet emotional vibe of the tune sink into me, truly an incredible track. And that music box rendition of the classic Level 1-1 theme that plays after the credits once "The End" appears on the screen can truly bring a tear to your eye after the wonderful and impactful journey you've been on throughout this whole ride. Fuck this game is amazing. Super Mario RPG truly holds a special place in my heart. It not only is the originator and predecessor to so many of my favorite games, but it is also one of my favorite games by itself. I replayed it now due to the release of the Switch remake only being a couple months away, but all I can hope for is that this new iteration is able to provide the same immaculate and memorable vibes that this true classic continues to deliver to me for years on end. If you haven't played this original yet, you really should. Even if it's the Switch version; this game needs to be experienced if you are any kind of Mario fan!