A Thread about Super Mario RPG

[The Chef]

Super Mario RPG.....one of the weirdest yet most lauded titles in Mario lore.

Remember back when everybody was clamoring for a GBA release? Remember how big of a deal it was when they finally put it on the VC in Europe?

I still see people everywhere who love this game. I myself loved it in my youth, but I can't help but feel nowadays that it's somewhat out of place amongst the rest of Mario's library. Square certainly came up with a...."unique" crop of characters to put in it. Ever wonder why they looked or acted the way they did? I certainly have. Some of them don't even look like Mario characters!

Heck, I sometimes wonder if Miyamoto himself was displeased with the game. Based on the story behind Yoshi's Island's development, apparently Hiroshi Yamauchi pressured him into making a Mario game with pre-rendered graphics. As if that weren't enough, Paper Mario, what with it's working title of "Super Mario RPG 2" feels an awful like an attempt to remake the first game except with much more "Mario-fied" content given all the similarities it has (wishing stars as the major plot point, seven star-shaped objects, a wizard that tells you where to go next, a party member that gives info on enemies, etc. etc.).

So what do you folks think of Super Mario RPG? Discuss whatever you want surrounding the game. Favorite memories, oddities, grievances, personal beefs, likes/dislikes, you name it. The floor is open.

[ShadowBrain]

Though I'm not sure it's one of my favorite games ever, SMRPG still holds high regard in my nostalgia bank. It was one of the first games I owned/played seriously, and I still think it has a unique enough style (traditional JRPG trappings plus Mario, not the other way around) to merit a true-blue sequel. I love the soundtrack (if you haven't downloaded Heavy Troopa is Ready To Launch! yet... well, okay, quite a few of the remixes suck, but there's an equal amount of good ones), I love weird stuff like a cloud-person who thinks he's a tadpole, fighting a living cake (and carrots and artichokes), and anthropomorphized weapons for bosses. I love riding a minecart in quasi-3D and blasting out into a town full of moles. I love the "nostalgia curtain", and I love Mario's ridiculous pantomiming and sound effects in the cutscenes. I love that the first major fight takes place on giant chandeliers, and I think I still get goosebumps whenever I see Mario do his pre-battle "bring it on" animation. Oh, and I love the comparatively badass magic attacks, even if I don't know why everyone gets a card suit symbol.

Also, as an RPG, the game was heavier on plot than any Mario (dare I say Nintendo?) title before, and so there's also a part of me that likes those weird references that raise so many questions about the scope of Mario's world. Mario is apparently famous (people have dolls of him, Peach, and Bowser, or ask him to show off his jumping), Toad references Bruce Lee at one point, and who even knows what the story is behind Geno--the doll or the spirit that inhabits him (I could mention the Link and Samus appearances, but I'm willing to not worry about those for the silly cameo they are). Although I love the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, too, it's for different reasons. Like I said, it unquestionably influenced RPGS from both Nintendo and others (and for having Bowser and Peach playable, Mario games in general), but SMRPG stands alone.

As far as "oddities, grievances, [and] personal beefs" go, I suppose I can think of a few. For one, the prerendering looked great in the game, but doing the art in the same style was... interesting. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but everyone looks like they're made out of painted craft balls, or something (makes sense for Mallow, though). Meanwhile, I don't know if this has anything to do with the art, but it took me a long time to realize what was up with that guy riding Mack, and I'm still not sure what's going on with Belome. Also, I had no idea how music scales worked when I was a kid, so I was hopeless in getting anything out of Tadpole Pond. Also, as a (Square) RPG, it had the requisite weird rare enemy (that cloud thing), bizzare event triggers (talking to that kid over and over until he lets you play the Beetle game, which is apparently for the Game Boy but has a SMW backdrop. Not that that matters.), palette-swaps for stronger enemies, one or two crazy-difficult challenges for an item (guessing what Grate Guy has in his hands, doing some massive amount of Super Jumps), and multiple fake-out bosses and boss phases. Not that any of those things were bad--of course, they returned in future Mario RPGS to great effect.

I'm sure I'll somehow think of more to say. This thread was long overdue!

[Weegee]

Some of them don't even look like Mario characters!

What does look like a Mario character, aside from something based on an existing species? I've never found SMB3's Angry Sun or PM's Doogans, among others, to be very fitting within the Mario universe.

I think part of the game's bizarreness stemmed from Square's unfamiliarity with the Mario mythos. Aside from the series' core characters and mechanics, they built just about everything from the ground up. Although the gameplay lends a bit heavily from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, it's still one of my favourite SNES games.

For one, the prerendering looked great in the game, but doing the art in the same style was... interesting. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before, but everyone looks like they're made out of painted craft balls, or something (makes sense for Mallow, though). Meanwhile, I don't know if this has anything to do with the art, but it took me a long time to realize what was up with that guy riding Mack, and I'm still not sure what's going on with Belome.

You can blame that on primitive 3D rendering software. The world's first feature-length CGI film had only been released a year prior. SM64's art is only slightly better:

[The Chef]

Heck, the designs they gave the pre-rendered characters make them reeeeally difficult to interpret when trying to draw them. It's like they were ONLY designed as CGI renders and nothing else.

[JazzyLuv]

I have really good feelings about Mario RPG. It's been one of my favourite Mario games ever!! I think the reason is because Bowser joined in, but he wasn't all wussy or anything. VERY useful for the team!! Actually, they all were very useful (and I loved Geno), but Bowser had my heart then!! :D I loved the plot, that fact that there wasn't too much talking in it, and that there was a lot of humour mixed in, as well as sweet moments, creepy ones, etc. Whenever a game makes me cry at the end, I won't soon forget what it meant to me!

Actually, I bought my first Nintendo product--SNES, around the time the game came out! I still have it up in my room. XD So for me, it's a big nostalgic thing.

I also loved some of the attacks. Hard-hitting and you KNEW it was! I could feel the impact as I pressed my fingers into the buttons to land a blow...or try to defend the team somehow. :P Loved the music, definitely! The playable characters seemed to develop into a genuine team, and I liked seeing that as they went through the game.

I didn't like how the angles and controls worked together, though. I mean, there were some times when I wanted to get a hidden block. I swear I jumped in EVERY place I could go and couldn't find them all! Also didn't like trying to get those beetles. The controls justs bothered me sometimes! I also hated that evil "mushroom" spell, turning the team into mushrooms...I know it could've been avoided, but what a sneaky trick!!! ...They did well putting it in. XD

Soooo...yeah, there we go. I won't ever think less of this game. I adore it. Always will!

[The Chef]

Now that you mention the angles, the 3/4 view does sorta make the game look like those isometric platformers like Solstice or Altered Space. Wonder if SMRPG exclusively had 3/4 movement at any point. You also brought another question to mind: Did anybody actually use Beetles R Us as a method of racking up coins?

[Kimimaru]

Head over to Bowser's Keep or the Gate and fight enemies there to rack up plenty of Coins; it's a much better method.

[The Chef]

That was kinda my point: If there are better methods, why is Beetles R Us there in the first place? I don't know of anybody who's ever played it to any extent. :P

[CoconutMikeNIke]

Well I'd figure that they intended beetle to be the main method to rack up coins, but due to oversight of a relatively minor game element, people like Kimimaru and those who don't want to just complete the game but find every way to break it, exploit it, make it theirs.

[Lizard Dude]

That was kinda my point: If there are better methods, why is Beetles R Us there in the first place?

It's there so you can replay Booster Hill, not to provide PHAT LOOT.

(Also it's just spelled "Beetles Are Us")

[Toad]

It's there to provide hypothetical infinite Frog coins for those that are lucky getting.. Golden beetles (I think?..)

[Kimimaru]

A much better way of getting Frog Coins is playing the Sky Bridge game on the hardest difficulty in Land's End. Everytime the Shaman asks you if you want to double your earnings, say yes. He'll stop after you complete the bridge on that difficulty for the third time, which will get you four Frog Coins.

Alternatively, you can make it to the top of the mountain with the Sky Troopas in less than 12 seconds in Land's End and the Captain will give you five Frog Coins.