So here it is, Super Mario RPG. I'd heard of it before but usually cast it off to one side due to lack of interest. "Sure, the Mario franchise might work as an RPG, but I can't quite see how and I don't have time to find out", kind of thing. And yet it's apparently highly regarded and well worth playing - not just in the sense of padding out a 1001 list, but of reaching for various top 100 and even top 10 spots.
If it's that good, then I must have been very wrong to keep making assumptions about how it couldn't possibly be worth my time and should get round to playing it. To Bowser's castle!
Fun Times
Like the Sun rising in the East, it is certain that Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool/Peach and Mario - seemingly the only character to ever do anything worthwhile in the Mushroom Kingdom - sets off to get her back. Really rather easily, actually.
From our isometric view above the stages, we see that - this time at least - Mario has had an easy time of reaching his goal, with little more than a few optional opponents to stand in his way. Defeat them and Bowser himself with the A-Button and then sit back and watch the plot unfold.
A sword called Exor has fallen through Star Road, scattering the stars and the inhabitants of Bowser's castle to the four corners of the world. Mario will need to retrieve these seven stars in order for people's wishes to continue to be granted, and will presumably have to defeat a giant sword in the process.
All of this takes place in a pre-rendered mess of a game which has Mario team up with a living cloud that thinks he's a frog, a possessed doll, Bowser and the Princess, stomping and hammering their way through turn-based combat and lots of plot.
Frustrations
I did not like Super Mario RPG very much, and I'm going to have to try and tell you why.
At its core, there is very little wrong with the game. It plays like an introduction to RPGs but has enough depth and a high enough skill requirement for fans of the genre to get behind. You manage a small party and their equipment through the world on whatever part of the quest you're on, levelling up, learning new skills and bettering yourselves as you do so.
The first party member you bump into is a chubby little bloke called Mallow, who is a cloud who thinks he's a frog, and a crocodile has stolen something from him and has run off. Can you see why I'm not terribly impressed yet?
After tracking down this guy by way of a few linear stages of exploration, you finally confront him and can put all the skills you've learned to the test. Skills like pressing the attack button at the right moment while making an attack in order to deal extra damage, and doing the same on defence in order to take less damage. Skills like using special moves in order to deal more damage at the expense of using up Flower power. Skills like equipping Mario with a hammer from a fallen Hammer Brother in order to deal more damage.
It's not all about the damage, by the way, but it's handy. It's a numbers game, after all, and you'll want the numbers to be in your favour.
The numbers weren't in my favour, and however many minutes spent chasing this guy down, falling into fights with enemies I couldn't avoid by running around them on the overworld if you will, and umpteen cutscenes with slow text breaking things up... after all that, however long it was, I get a goddamn Game Over because the game depends solely on save points, and they most certainly don't come up often.
 |
| Save points: In the corner. Where they belong. |
On reflection, I was most likely unprepared for the fight, wasn't skilled enough to deal the extra damage on my hits and avoid extra damage from his, and was already fairly annoyed with the overall tone of the game. In the moment, I probably said words to the effect of 'Screw it, I'm done'.
And I still don't think I've explained why I don't like Super Mario RPG.
This level of technology is going to look dated and almost out of place when compared to the 3D titles that were dominating the PlayStation at this time, for example, but Super Mario RPG doesn't look too bad, really.
I've had problems with controlling characters in isometric views in the past, but with the movement options available to Mario here, again, Super Mario RPG doesn't feel too bad. Perhaps a bit heavy, but buttons do what they clearly say they'll do. It took me a while to get the hang of only pressing the one button in order to do something (X to open the Item menu, then X to select an item and character, rather than X to open the menu, A to select things, for example), but they were simple to navigate and you weren't bombarded with features from the start.
It's got some great design decisions in order to keep everything grounded in the Mario world, such as stages on the overworld maps linking together like the stages on overworld maps for the 2D Super Mario Bros. titles, and weapons and items being familiar or obvious to players in name and function, like Mushrooms and Hammers. At the same time, Mario is mute. All the characters are mute, but only Mario is lacking a text box to reveal to the world what he's thinking, and that's off-putting when you first notice it.
Final Word
I still don't think I've clearly explained why I'm just not fond of this game, but I'm at least able to say that the intro video spills the beans on the kind of characters and scenes you'll be witness to over the course of the game. I won't be witness to them - I've no intention of playing this any further - but you will be.
It's important to stress that, from what I've seen, Super Mario RPG isn't a bad game. I've seen very little, it has to be said, but I played it for a far longer stretch than I thought I would. It could be the right kind of title to get players into the RPG genre, especially if they're familiar with Mario, and I suspect that back in the day it did just that.
I don't know how the story unfolds, I don't know the nuances of the characters you can have in your party, I don't know how best to actually play the game, but I don't know if I'll give it a second chance to change that.
The funny thing about my first experience with Super Mario RPG is that I was emulating it, and if save points were my problem, they could be overcome easily enough with save states. If I was desperate to see the story, I could forgo trying to play the game as close as possible to its original state and just get on with pushing my way through. But then I've just met with a cloud who thinks he's a frog and the first bad guy on my travels is a crocodile. Not a crocodile inspired monster, but a purple crocodile.
It's just...
Nah. No thanks.
Fun Facts
Square wanted Mario to wield swords and shields, but Shigeru Miyamoto wasn't convinced it was right. A vote between equipping Mario with swords or hammers was put to the fans in attendance at a reveal event, and the correct choice was made.
Super Mario RPG, developed by Square, first released in 1996.
Version played: SNES, 1996, via emulation.
Version watched: SNES, 1996 (Gaming Historian, Speedrunner Archive)