Back in the era of 16-bit gaming, SquareSoft (before they merged with Enix) was the undisputed king of the RPG genre. While this may not have changed all that much, Square used to make their titles exclusively for Nintendo, and as a parting gift of sorts before they jumped ship for the PlayStation, SquareSoft joined forces with Nintendo to make what is considered one of the SNES's gems: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Melding Nintendo's iconic mascot with SquareSoft's RPG know-how, the two companies produced a title that, at the time, turned heads and ushered in what has become one of Nintendo's biggest sub-series. The thought of converting Mario's universe into an Final Fantasy-style game was unthinkable at the time: and it turned out to not be the case. Mario RPG blended classic platforming with turn-based combat, creating a title unlike any other for its day. Is it worth your eight dollars to revisit this unique piece of SNES history? It certainly is.
No...not quite like that...
Mario RPG starts off with a comical prologue which involves Mario heading off to Bowser's Castle to save Princess Toadstool (possibly the last game in which she carried this title in America) from the clutches of King Bowser. It serves as a brief introduction to the main mechanics of the game: isometric world navigation and platforming and turn-based battles. However, in this title, battles are not random: enemies appear in the world and can be avoided. While this has become a staple of the series, at the time it was a big departure from RPGs, as was the emphasis on platforming world navigation. After thumping some heads and bashing in Bowser's skull once again, Mario gets ready to take the Princess home when...a giant talking sword smashes into Bowser's Keep, hurtling the three Mushroom Kingdom celebrities in different directions.
This sets up two main plot devices: the first being that Toadstool is missing and Mario has to save her. The other being that the sword has taken over Bowser's Keep and a new source of evil has erupted from within, spewing mechanized beasties across the world to take it over in the name of "Smithy." Smithy is trying to obtain the broken Star Pieces of Star Road (presumably the same one from Super Mario World and, presumably, the same one where "Star Way" is located in Paper Mario). I'll spare you the rest of the details, but suffice it to say that this title was the first time where the Mushroom Kingdom was fully realized as a fictional world. There are towns, citizens, and semblances of unique culture.
And an odd world it is, at that. The localization is some of the best you'll see on the SNES, and the humor, while not as spot-on as more recent Mario RPGs, definitively set forth the standard that Mario RPGs were to have a comical taste. There's some main plot that doesn't have too many surprises (though there are definitely a couple which will throw you off guard the first time through) but the writing is generally humorous with some tongue-in-cheek for good measure -- Mario, being the protagonist of an RPG, never says a word, but is entirely expressive in unexpected ways.
The Mushroom Kingdom seems to have changed its structure in about every Mario RPG series it is featured in, and while this version was the first, it is the least definitive. Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi both refined the gameplay, writing, and atmosphere found here, and carried the ideas presented here into worlds that feel much more wholesome and "Mario-esque." Mario RPG feels very much like what it really is: Final Fantasy blended with Mario. This is not bad, of course -- the land has a distinct art style that is truly top-notch for SNES work, and the 3D-like platforming segments are nice for a 16-bit title, but later Mario RPGs created a world that felt more "Mario," so if you've played the more recent Mario RPG titles, be prepared to be weirded out.
The character/world design aside, Mario RPG's gameplay is solid. Platforming segments sometimes offer up puzzles and reward exploration while requiring some fine-tuned jumping now and again. This is to the game's benefit and its fault. Sometimes the platforming segments feel great, but other times, the fake 3D-space element can teeter a bit on indistinguishable. More than once, you will likely miss a jump because you couldn't tell quite where an object was located because of the isometric style. There is one (thankfully) brief segment of the game that features invisible walls up the wazoo and is quite cumbersome to navigate. The inclusion of some classic Mario elements, such as treasure box-themed [?] blocks, a nod to the original Donkey Kong, and other subtle cues to Mario's platforming titles are all fine details to help round out the world-nagivating aspect of the game, there are just some areas which needed some more tweaking.
The battle system is the least dynamic of all the Mario RPGs -- this makes sense, since it was the first -- and when it came out, the notion of timing button presses to aid in battle made these turn-based affairs more exciting. It's still satisfying to time whomps and stomps and thrashings, and in some cases, battles require more strategic decisions, as well. Certain types of special attacks may be null and void against one enemy but demolish another, for example. And blocking enemy attacks with button presses was featured here, too -- just like its following iterations, enemies exhibit varied attack patterns to try and throw you off. All around, it's got lots of standard RPG fair -- basic Stats, turn-based battles, classic equipment system -- with some unique features added on top -- choosing Level Up bonuses, timed attacks and defense, a shared magic pool -- to create something that was very unique for its time. Every Mario RPG since this one owes many of its basic gameplay concepts to this original.
Being a SquareSoft game, there are of course, numerous side-quests and minigames, from an arcade-style shooter to a 3D mine-cart track to Yoshi racing to an uphill race to collect beetles to a river-rapids coin-a-thon. A number of extra items lie in wait for dedicated players, not to mention the bonus boss fight against Culex, the Final Fantasy-inspired secret boss who lives up to "secret boss" status.
The soundtrack on display here was probably the most well-rounded and well-composed Mario title soundtrack for its time, featuring music by Youko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts, Legend of Mana, the Mario & Luigi games). She did a great job with this soundtrack, giving us a classic assortment of SNES tunes. The sound effects are comical and hit the right spot. If you haven't caught on by now, Mario RPG features stellar 16-bit production values from top to bottom, including one of the most satisfying ending sequences to a SNES title, complete with a wonderfully-arranged medley to top it all off.
