4Gamers – Hands-on Preview | Super Mario RPG is a breath of fresh air

These are busy times for the world’s most famous plumber. Super Mario Bros Adventure. The wonder is barely over and the next story is just around the corner. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released in 1996 and was very well received by fans. The turn-based RPG genre is exploited here for the first time, and with titles like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, it’s a genre the series will never abandon. We’ve been able to get started with the new version of Super Mario RPG.

The story begins when Mario once again rescues the beautiful Princess Peach from Bowser’s Castle. The battle is almost over when a giant living sword lands in Bowser’s castle, knocking Peach, Mario, and Bowser away from the sheer force. The bridge leading to the castle has been destroyed so Mario must search for help in the Mushroom Kingdom. What follows is a fantasy story in which Mario and a whole group of friends fight evil invaders.

Super Mario RPG stays true to the original game. Battles are therefore turn-based, where your team and your opponents take turns executing an action. As usual, you can boost your attacks by pressing a button at the moment of impact. You can also do this when you are attacked to reduce damage. Each type of attack has a different timing. For more powerful attacks you can use flower points. Mario can then shoot fireballs or his friend Mallow can perform a sneak attack. You’ll see old familiar enemies like Goombas, Shy Guys, and Sky Troopas appear. You’ll also encounter lesser-known enemies like Frogogs. Almost every person has certain strengths and weaknesses that you can put to good use.

Furthermore, you have other common options like healing spells or spells that affect your attack power. By using items such as mushrooms, you can replenish your health bar. The options are somewhat limited, but given the high speed of the battles, this never becomes annoying. You can perform any attack with just a few button taps and each action lasts a maximum of three seconds. For this reason, a standard battle rarely lasts more than a few minutes. What started to bother you after a while were the repetitive melodies that returned with each battle. Fortunately, the music outside of battles has great variety. You also have the option to listen to the original music from 1996 or the remastered version.

When you’re not fighting, wander the Mushroom Kingdom and watch enemies roaming around the map. So you can ignore it or grind it as much as you want. Although grinding was not necessary during the limited play session. Most areas consist of several maps, after which you will face the final boss. Each boss has a unique theme and attack pattern, requiring you to carefully consider your actions. It gives you the most challenging fights and leaves you feeling good when you overcome them.

There are also many puzzles and secret treasure chests to find. More than once we have encountered puzzles that require platforming. Jumping is Mario’s specialty so this is no surprise. What is surprising is how difficult this process is. Super Mario RPG often requires very precise jumps and this is not always easy due to the isometric camera angle. Additionally, the direction Mario is going doesn’t always exactly match the direction you’re going. This may have something to do with the fact that older games often had a hidden grid where your character could only walk in pre-determined spaces. We often felt that some animations were too fast, such as enemies jumping or frogs running. A look at the original game from 1996 shows us that this was indeed the case at the time. So Nintendo has already gone over the details for a faithful remake.