Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) [SNES]

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

-Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Peanut butter and jelly. Milk and chocolate. Cream and sugar. Eggs and bacon. Square and Nintendo? The one-time collaboration between the two game-developing giants in the mid-90s was the best example of a match made in heaven. Before Square abandoned Nintendo and their N64 for Sony and their PlayStation, there was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. While a new remake has been made available to the world for Nintendo Switch, developed by ArtePiazza, we’re revisiting the original 1996 role-playing juggernaut on the Super NES.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

The result of this glorious alliance, Square and Nintendo’s holy matrimony, was no ordinary RPG and no ordinary Mario platformer, but a game of a new quality. This title took the best of both worlds and wed them to produce one of the definitive titles on the Super Nintendo, frequently mentioned among its other many RPG greats. As delightful and magical as the Mario franchise but as epic and full of character as the Final Fantasy series, Super Mario RPG was a huge leap forward for the world’s most iconic plumber. He leapt and stuck the landing in the transition from 2D platformer to a fully-fledged, pseudo-3D, turn-based battling, role-playing protagonist. Fans of Square and/or Nintendo had a lot to smile at here.

But why even create such a game? What could possibly be in it for Nintendo? Surely, Mario was already doing quite well for himself. The landmark Super Mario Bros. for the NES remains one of the best-selling games of all time, approaching 60 million copies across multiple systems. Yes, his platforming games risked formulaism but that didn’t appear to slow him down, either in Japan or in America. Nintendo wasn’t suffering for a lack of sales, by all accounts.

Contrariwise, Square (now Square Enix) wasn’t suffering for a lack of storytelling. By ’96 they had already created six numerical Final Fantasys in addition to Legends, SaGa, and Mana games (and don’t forget The 3-D Battles of WorldRunner). They also helped Capcom with the first Breath of Fire, created King’s Knight, and blessed the world with the greatest Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger. Several of these titles were at the forefront of the RPG genre and would come to define its direction for decades to come. Many of them are rightfully hailed as classics. Innovations like the Active Time Battle system are still in employ in various forms today.

Consider then what each developer had to gain. Nintendo could benefit from Square’s genius and their experience with gameplay and storytelling to enrich and deepen their most popular IP, whereas Square could benefit from using Nintendo’s star character to increase their own company’s presence worldwide instead of just Japan where their RPGs sold best. This was Nintendo’s shot at diversity and Square’s foot in the door.

Both developers saw success for their combined efforts. This game served as the launching pad for the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series. Super Mario RPG is beloved and fondly remembered. By all? Well, I haven’t met anyone who hates its guts. Yet. The internet is full of surprises.

The game a cameo(ish) and some music ripped straight Final Fantasy IV, though Shimomura knocked it out of the park with her original score. At the same time, Shigeru Miyamoto oversaw the project and ensured the game possessed its own identity. It contained plenty of lighthearted and genuine humor; things don’t get quite as dark as they do in the FF games. Mario RPG pokes some self-aware fun at the genre. For example, Mario is unable to speak through the whole game. He performs charades to explain things, a playful jab at the typically silent protagonist.

Nintendo populated this new and detailed world with Mario franchise characters that we’re all so familiar with: Yoshi, Toad, the inhabitants of Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser, Peach. However, new peoples and persons were invented: Booster the grizzly man-child, Mallow the sobby tadpole, Geno the magical doll brought to life, Croco the fleet-footed thief, and of course all of the fresh antagonists pouring into Mario’s world.

Even Luigi is here, though you can’t see him!

Super Mario RPG expands upon the mythos of the Mario universe, which up to this point had been rather vaguely defined. Sure we knew about the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser’s Castle and maybe mistily that there were eight different worlds, but we didn’t know how they might be connected geographically, culturally, ethnically. We didn’t know what kind of government the Mushroom Kingdom had. We didn’t know the proximity of Yoshi’s isle. Opening up this whole new exploration of Mario’s universe took everything we were familiar with and made some sense of it, as well as providing a backdrop for a much longer and more involved narrative than we had seen thus far in Mario games.

The story begins like it always does. Princess Peach is sitting, idly daydreaming among the flowers, when the sky darkens and she’s captured by that hateful kidnapper, King Koopa. The villain! Mario dashes out of his house to find his princess is missing and without a moment’s thought, he runs off to rescue her. Battling through Koopa’s troopas, the mustachio’d hero and Bowser have an epic duel among the chandeliers of the castle. Hardcore!

But their battle is brought to a standstill when a terrific tremor resounds through the keep. There is war in heaven. A gigantic sword descends from the rent skies, clouds tearing as sundered shards of scattered star-stuff are strewn across the land. The sword plummets into Bowser’s castle and its impact throws Mario clear into the air, where he comes sailing down through his own chimney, landing safely in bed. Convenient!

What is this? What could possibly come between Mario and Bowser’s ancient vendetta, the recurring collision of equally immutable object and force? Turns out the giant sword is a celestial entity called Exor, an agent of Smithy who himself is a dark overlord. Smithy has ruined Star Road in order to prevent anyone from having their wishes come true. Punk.

Mario embarks upon a quest not merely to rescue the princess (that’s now old hat) but to save the world from the eternal disappointment of not being able to wish upon a star anymore. He must collect the scattered Star Pieces and repair Star road. He will find that Smithy’s underlings are everywhere, corrupting government, impeding justice, harassing citizens. But he will also find new allies, some in the least likely of places, to combat this new threat.

Inserting Nintendo’s candy-colored, happy-go-lucky Mario into a world of good vs. evil and fantasy-esque metaphysics ended up being a perfect mixture. Mario became a character with much more to do and RPGs became a genre that could chill out and have a chuckle or two. Dream collabs like this need to happen more often!

The 8-bit Review

Visuals: 10/10

Bear in mind, modern gamer, that as we’re critiquing the original SNES version of Mario RPG, we’re considering it within its historical and technological context. That said, I’m happy to tell you “now you’re playing with SUPER power.” The Super Nintendo was capable of 3D. Do you have any idea how mindblowing that was to an eleven-year-old version of myself? Super Mario RPG’s graphics have indeed aged, and maybe not as gracefully as cleaner, 2D graphics in other games from the era, but its sheer ambition is palpable. These graphics took full advantage of the SNES and its enhancements, including the Super Accelerator 1 (SA-1) chip.

This is what the 16-bit era was capable of. Not only did the isometric backgrounds look great with their sense of depth and scale, but also there’s a definite attention to lighting in SMRPG. Atmosphere helped craft the illusion of three dimensions.

Many characters were seen here for the first time in 3D.  Chomp chains, goombas, koopas, Bowser, Peach, Toad… we’d rarely seen them like this before. In many ways, they look better defined with greater personality than their polygon counterparts in Super Mario 64. The character animations, particularly in battle sequences, are fluid and well animated. This is even true during simple conversations where Mario demonstrates a wide range of pantomime. He was more expressive than ever, despite being unable to speak.

 Audio: 10/10

The soundtrack is as good as you’d think it would be if Koji Kondo and Nobuo Uematsu got together for a jam sesh, but in some ways, Yoko Shimomura trounces them. There are so many joy-inducing tracks, I wish I could mention them all. The Mario vibe is familiar here, though given a wider range. Many of the overworld themes are adaptations and iterations upon classic Mario tunes, yet there are also some dungeon and battle songs which sound like they could’ve been ripped right out of Square’s famed RPGs.

Musically, Mario RPG had to convey a far broader range than the typical sunshine ragtime or Carribean steel drums of previous Mario games. While remaining true to the joy of its characters, this soundtrack did that. It had a wealth of songs depicting foreboding, sadness, terror, and of course happiness. Many of these tracks are catchy enough to become earworms. The arrangements are excellent, sure, but a lot of the original material is first-class. You’re probably thinking of the track that plays through the forest maze as you follow Geno’s footsteps.

Shimomura, who brought her talents to bear in Street Fighter II, Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, and more recently Final Fantasy XV, expressed that this project was very dear to her. She found the balance between the carefree sensibilities of Mario and the more dramatic and often morose audio aesthetics of Final Fantasy. In a recent post, Shimomura said the production team was “filled with love” revisiting this game.

Gameplay: 9/10

Super Mario RPG is navigated via an overworld map with designated paths similar to those on Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. In villages and dungeons, it employs an isometric environment wherein Mario has a huge range of motion. He can move in any direction and of course jump. There are even hidden question-mark blocks to found in the air, so it’s not like they just threw jumping in there for no reason. In many ways, exploring the dungeons is a lot like characteristic Mario platforming, only without the bottomless pits of his 2D outings.

Enemies can be seen in the environment and contacting them will trigger a battle, so there are no random encounters and you can avoid enemies if you choose. In battle, things play out very much like a traditional turn-based RPG. Player characters select their actions and then they trade blows with the enemy before the next turn comes up again. Square handily mapped out the character actions to the A, B, Y, and X buttons of the SNES controller, so each button accesses a different action such as Attack, Items, Defend, or Special. Special allows you to select from the equivalent of a spells list for each character.

When attacking, players can tap a button a second time to trigger an extra add on attack, increasing damage. Tapping the button when Mario punches an enemy will trigger a one-two punch combo to aid you in plowing through enemies. This is a little different with special moves, which require different button inputs, such as Mario’s fireball attack that demands you tap the button repeatedly as fast as you can to deal the most damage. The game refers to such things as “Timed Hits” and if you know about them, foes should watch out! It’s an interesting inclusion into the turn-based format that helps keeps battles engaging, requiring additional player focus and interactivity. It prevents the battles from becoming monotonous.

In the very old, very traditional RPGs, grinding out levels or just plodding through lower level enemies in a dungeon could easily get boring. Sitting back and tapping the same button over and over again to select the same attacks can be tedious, but with Mario RPG’s innovation, these battles demand something more. Or not. The player can still complete the game without timing attacks. However, paying attention to the varying demands of timing from different weapons and spells helps wrestle with rising challenges as the game progresses. You’ll have to adjust your timing if Mario has punch gloves equipped, or a koopa shell or a hammer, for that matter.

The multiple characters that join your party also bear some resemblance to Final Fantasy’s classes. You have a dedicated healer, a support member, some offensive characters, and so on. For those unfamiliar with the finer technicalities of RPGs, never fear. Super Mario RPG is a streamlined game in the RPG genre. Items purchased in towns are simple and direct, there isn’t a whole lot of number crunching, there’s no array of customizable character features to fret over. In short, this is a fine introductory RPG for those who have never played one.

A few mini-games and events similar to sidequests are also present in SMRPG. The races on Yo’ster isle, collecting frog coins, playing in the casino, getting in on an in-game Game Boy are just a few examples. Elements like these helped to make the game less linear. Square knew how to make games that were neither entirely linear nor entirely open-world once upon a time. Fancy that.

 Narrative: 9/10

If you’d like to avoid SPOILERS, jump to Accessibility skip this section.

There are so many memorable moments in this game. Two that stick out most in my mind are when Bowser and Peach join your party. Brain melt as a younger me. Having Bowser on my team was the greatest delight. The guy has always been one of my favorite video game villains and to be able to control him like the bruiser that he is, throwing down acid rain, chomp chains, and tearing face with his huge claws was pure candy. Likewise Peach proves to be a capable combatant and a vital healer. I admit to replacing Mallow with her, most of the time.

Another great moment is the Booster subplot. Mario must rescue Peach from someone other than the Koopa King. Booster is rushing off to Marrymore to wed the princess against her will and Mario ends up having to face down a mutant cake in a delicious death battle. This game is so silly but it owns that silliness.

When all is said and done, there’s nothing truly surprising in this game. Maybe Bowser and Peach joining the fight is the biggest shock. Everything else is off the wall, but below the heights of the true dramatic twist. Remember that Power Rangers reference in the Axem Rangers? Ah, the ’90s.

Of course in the end, Mario does prove that he is indeed Super. He invades Bowser’s Keep with his newfound friends, fights Exor and intrudes upon the dimension of Smithy and his hordes, defeats the evil overlord, repairs the Star Road and bids farewell to Geno as the power of wishes is restored. What else could it be but a happy ending? Well, maybe not for Geno. That dude is straight up awesome and Nintendo has done nothing with him. No Smash character, what? Don’t talk to me about some Mii costume. At least he’s in the remake!

Accessibility: 10/10

As previously mentioned, Mario RPG is a streamlined and simplified RPG. It’s perfect for the RPG newcomer, if they don’t mind going retro. Which they shouldn’t unless “pretentiousness”. Yet with all of this, Mario RPG isn’t pandering. Yeah it may deal with numbers that look like petty chump change compared to more vigorous RPG experiences, but it doesn’t hold your hand. My seven-year-old son (at the time) beat it himself, but it wasn’t always a walk in the park.

 Challenge: 5/10

Beyond the secret boss and his FF awesomeness, there’s no tremendous challenge in this game. Some of the later bosses are somewhat tricky but nothing major. Funny, I remember this being a game where I whipped out a calculator as a kid and did my own number crunching to see how close I was to defeating a boss. I even had a strategy guide but it was mostly used for finding all the hidden question-mark boxes. Beyond the locked door, easy game! Hopefully the post-game content added to the remake elaborates upon that.

 Uniqueness: 10/10

Who would have thought that taking two tried-and-true developers and smooshing them together would create such a unique game? Even with the future advent of Paper Mario, Super Mario RPG remained distinct. This is a game which sits on its own pedestal.

Personal: 9/10

Super Mario RPG, in my estimation, demonstrates how vital collaboration is in this industry. As a Mario game, it is as wonderful, humorous, and magical as anything we could expect from Nintendo but with more depth and more characters. As an RPG, Square’s simplified design and streamlined gameplay can appeal to those unaccustomed to role-playing games while its mechanics of timing can hold the attention of longtime RPG fans. Excitement for the remake is indicative of that.

Super Mario RPG represents a lot of what made gaming and RPGs so great in the mid ’90s. It enhanced an aging franchise, it encouraged exploration and curiosity, it built its worlds through interaction with NPCs, it featured sprawling dungeons and challenging boss fights, it appealed to a wide audience, it remained kid-friendly but magical enough to remind adults of the wonder of childhood, it presented highly melodic music, it was innovative yet still faithful to the RPG genre, and it took what we loved from Nintendo and what we loved from Square and fused the two. And it was self-contained. No sequels mans no sequelitis.

As a fan of the Final Fantasy and Super Mario since time immemorial, there have been few games as enjoyable or as memorable as Super Mario RPG, so widely beloved and enduring. There’s no question of whether the game holds up today or if this is nostalgia restrospection. You can go and play it for yourself. You can encourage the next generation to do so and see what they think.

Aggregated Score: 9.0

Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.