Collection essentials #267: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)

Squaresoft had an impressive pedigree on the Super Nintendo, with a few Final Fantasy games, Chrono Trigger, and even more games that only got released in Japan. And so, late in the console’s lifespan, Nintendo decided to join forces with them to produce an RPG starring their man, Mario. 

The game starts out with what seems like a basic Mario plot. Princess Toadstool (later known as Peach) gets kidnapped by Bowser first thing, and Mario goes to try and save her. But when he confronts Bowser, an absolutely enormous sword with a face falls from the sky and plants itself in Bowser’s castle, sending everybody flying non-lethally. When Mario quickly returns to the castle, it turns out the giant sword is sentient. He tells Mario that the “Smithy Gang” has taken over the castle and aims to conquer the whole world, and then he destroys the bridge to the castle so Mario can’t return. And so, a journey begins as Mario seeks to thwart this new evil, find the princess, and before long he sets the goal of gathering the seven stars.

In terms of gameplay, Super Mario 3D takes place from an isometric (i.e., overhead diagonal) point of view and boasts really nice-looking graphics for a SNES game. The game is a turn-based RPG, but outside of battles, Mario moves around and jumps almost like you might expect him to in a 3D Mario game, though perhaps simplified a bit. Battles are not random; instead, enemies roam the areas of the game, and touching them brings you to a separate screen where a turn-based skirmish ensues. The actual fights involve each character getting their own turn (as opposed to putting in all your commands and watching them play out). The main thing that sets these battles apart from RPGs is the way it uses timed button presses. When you attack, you want to press the attack button as soon as your attack hits the foe for an extra damage boost. A “special attack” may involve this as well but also may require something a little different. And you can also press the button when receiving most attacks from enemies that will reduce the damage taken. The game is simpler than most JRPGs, probably to make it more accessible for players new to the genre.

Super Mario RPG is short for a game of its type, and its gameplay is not as deep or complex as is the norm. But that’s okay, because for one, it’s not meant to be a typical RPG. It’s also very well-made and makes sure that every bit of its run time is enjoyable. This game is a whimsical, silly, delightful little adventure. The soundtrack is excellent, often bouncy and fun, though also setting a proper mood when going into a more dangerous area. As you’d expect, characters and enemies from the Mario universe appear in this game, but there are also plenty of new faces, many of which never returned for any future Mario adventure. The characters and dialogue are excellent and memorable, often very humorous, and you might find yourself laughing out loud playing this game on occasion. Mario himself is a silent protagonist, which is a fairly common trope in RPGs. But they have fun with the trope, making Mario communicate by pantomiming everything, and characters seem to understand exactly what he’s saying as if he used words. 

Super Mario RPG wasn’t close to being one of Mario’s biggest hits on the platform, but it certainly was a success. The reason why it didn’t sell as much as Mario’s other big SNES hits has a lot to do with the fact that console RPGs were still very much a niche genre outside Japan (though a certain game would come along not too long later which would finally change that), not to mention it was released near the end of the SNES’s life cycle when many games were more hungry for the next generation. The game also wasn’t released in Europe, so there was a whole market of potential sales that wasn’t tapped into. This was likely because translating RPGs into various European languages was often seen as too much of a hassle to be worth it back then, due to the large amount of text. After this game, Squaresoft stopped making games for Nintendo for several years, instead shifting to a competitor’s system for the next generation.

Now for my personal history. My family got this game at some point when it was either brand new or still fairly new. I don’t think it was for a special occasion, I think my dad and I saw that there was a new Mario game and wanted it. My dad didn’t really know anything about RPGs, and thus was disappointed when he saw what the game actually was. It turns out that he’s not interested in turn-based battles. My younger self, on the other hand, was captivated by this game. It was the first turn-based RPG I had ever played, immediately endearing me to the genre. Super Mario RPG quickly became one of my favorites, and I wanted to discover and conquer every little thing in the game if I could. I think my parents got me an unofficial strategy guide (by Brady Games) for it the next Christmas, and I was able to point out enemies missing from it since it was unofficial and not quite comprehensive. One time for fun I made paper cut-outs of enemies from the game, a bit of which my mom captured on a home video. I maxed out my characters’ levels from defeating so many enemies (30 is the highest you can go), and I didn’t get everything in the game but I did defeat the big super powerful optional boss. Sadly my original save file got erased, but I then made another file and beat the game a second time. That file still exists to this day on my original cartridge, which is shown in the above photo (though the box and manual are from a later acquisition).

The game got a remake recently on the Nintendo Switch, which was pretty well-done, but for a few reasons I don’t think it quite replaces the original, which in my opinion will always be well worth playing. It’s one of my all-time favorite video games, and a real quintessential essential!