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Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

polygon.com

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Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#71

Post by low_tech_love »

noirscape wrote: post #19

SMRPG is great. It's absolutely "baby's first JRPG" (but with actual stats, not the low stats of Paper Mario) and it wears that badge with pride. I don't think there's a JRPG more accessible than this one if you're not familiar with the genre - the UI of the original is very much geared around "make it understandable to people who've only ever played the Mario platformers" and it just... works. From what I've seen, t…

Maybe it’s just nostalgia but neither paper Mario nor Mario & Luigi come a light year away from SMRPG for me. They feel just like bland superficial attempts at a formula when the formula is actually the least important part of SMRPG. The apparent weirdness that the reviewer mentioned is for me exactly why I love it: the characters just are what they are; you don’t have to understand, their unexplainable weirdness makes them (and the game) so unique.

Game design from the 80s and 90s has an aspect that will never come back again: players could be expected to spend actual time with a game, play it without rushing, explore and find things out on their own. The world has changed and I will not say what is right or wrong, but this expectation and design will never come back.

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#72

Post by echelon »

low_tech_love wrote: post #66
cdelsolar wrote: post #4

Mario RPG might possibly be my favorite video game of all time. I grew up pretty poor and really wanted an N64 for Christmas. We couldn’t afford it at the time so I found an alternative - I remember being sad about it, but I found a used copy of Mario RPG for something like $30, this was at the end of 1996. When I sat down with it it’s like something clicked. I didn’t get the N64 for another year but it didn’t matter…

Finding the three Boo flags and getting into crate guy’s casino are some of my most treasured memories of childhood…

Being angry you missed that hidden chest in Toadstool's castle...

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#73

Post by chrisco255 »

ar-nelson wrote: post #18
prophesi wrote: post #12

I was both excited and forlorn about this release. AlphaDream, the team behind the Mario & Luigi series, went bankrupt a few years ago. And Paper Mario has jettisoned itself further from the JRPG genre with each release. So this could very well be the last official Mario RPG, a remake of the very first.

There is at least going to be a Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake coming out sometime in 2024. I'm hoping it's a sign of more traditional Mario RPGs to come, but who knows. The TTYD remake is something that most of the fanbase thought would never happen, so I guess anything is possible.

I've never been a big fan of Paper Mario, I personally loved the isometric approach Mario RPG took, it really fit the Mario motif better and felt more like a platformer RPG.

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#75

Post by mcronce »

tobiasSoftware wrote: post #45
noirscape wrote: post #19

SMRPG is great. It's absolutely "baby's first JRPG" (but with actual stats, not the low stats of Paper Mario) and it wears that badge with pride. I don't think there's a JRPG more accessible than this one if you're not familiar with the genre - the UI of the original is very much geared around "make it understandable to people who've only ever played the Mario platformers" and it just... works. From what I've seen, t…

" I don't think there's a JRPG more accessible than this one" I'd argue there's one more, though I may be biased as it's what got me into RPGs - Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It's a relatively unknown title as it was an attempt by the Final Fantasy franchise to get beginners into RPGs. It's like Super Mario RPG in a lot of ways, including seeing monsters on the overworld. However, it's much more like table-top RPGs, wi…

Mystic Quest was my first JRPG...then FF4, Chrono Trigger, and SMRPG - I think in that order?

It really kicked off a lifelong love of the genre

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#76

Post by aidenn0 »

tobiasSoftware wrote: post #45
noirscape wrote: post #19

SMRPG is great. It's absolutely "baby's first JRPG" (but with actual stats, not the low stats of Paper Mario) and it wears that badge with pride. I don't think there's a JRPG more accessible than this one if you're not familiar with the genre - the UI of the original is very much geared around "make it understandable to people who've only ever played the Mario platformers" and it just... works. From what I've seen, t…

" I don't think there's a JRPG more accessible than this one" I'd argue there's one more, though I may be biased as it's what got me into RPGs - Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It's a relatively unknown title as it was an attempt by the Final Fantasy franchise to get beginners into RPGs. It's like Super Mario RPG in a lot of ways, including seeing monsters on the overworld. However, it's much more like table-top RPGs, wi…

Yeah, my friend and I got MQ when it first came out and beat it in a single day. IIRC, the resurrection item was cheaply available, instant-death to undead enemies, and healed living characters up to full health.

There were some fun box-moving/jumping puzzles though.

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#77

Post by djtango »

PaulHoule wrote: post #60
chrisco255 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I wonder if Square could have taken the series in a more Kingdom Hearts-like direction if it had had the runway to do so.

I dunno. I was a big fan of Secret of Mana which has a really disappointing multiplayer. Three people really can control three characters at once but if you want to cast a spell or change weapons you open up a menu that stops the action for everyone else. Sometimes I think about hacking the game so the menus appear out-of-line so the multiplayer really is fun.

how does SoM compare to FF:CC?

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#78

Post by fredoralive »

tigerlily wrote: post #57

Off topic, perhaps, but is this the same Polygon that made South Park Mario (1 and 2) in the early 2000s?

Erm, no, it’s the video game website that’s part of the same group (Vox Media) as The Verge.

Polygon started in 2012, it’s not a new site, but it’s not that old.

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#79

Post by astrange »

swozey wrote: post #23

This is one of my favorite JRPGs. I played it as a kid and it was right up there with the greats for me. If you liked Chrono Trigger, etc, play this. With that said, I am so sick of remakes. When I first heard a 2023 Super Mario RPG was coming out I was so excited that we'd get an actual 2023 SMRPG. Not a remake. Everything is a remake nowadays. I have zero, absolutely zero desire to replay a game I beat when I was 1…

FF7R isn't a remake, it's a game called "FF7 Remake". The next one is called FF7 Rebirth.

Re: Super Mario RPG is an endearing, perplexing relic

#80

Post by djtango »

goostavos wrote: post #47
vecter wrote: post #27

What was so fun about Super Mario RPG for me was the sheer amount of Easter eggs. From Geno's Whirl's 9999 damage (only to normal enemies, not bosses, EXCEPT for Exor), to fighting Culex, to all the steps you need to do to unlock the lazy shell, and hundreds of others I forgot or never knew about, it felt like a truly endless adventure.

Yes! The whole world feels special and lovingly crafted. I spent so much time tracking down the frog coins as a kid (my horror when I discovered one can only be gotten at the beginning of the game). The journey to get the belt in monstro-town? God, it was so engaging as a kid. My favorite little bit of hidden functionality was that you can become an indentured inn-keeper in Marrymore. It had this weird mechanic that…

it's funny people are talking about secrets. Yoshi P of FFXIV and FFXVI has lamented the poor ROI on secret content. Eg Yuffie and Vincent will not be optional hidden party members in the VII remake.

I understand the thought process because there is some serious work doing CGI and VA (x2+ for EN/JP+) and all but there really was some magic in discovering all the hidden stuff and games as recent as Elden Ring and BotW show that there is still a big appetite for exploration and discovery.

Wonder what that would look like for modern Square games...

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