Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

"Mario takes a step into the RPG world and is victorious."

Super Mario RPG is a joint project with Nintendo and Squaresoft (Now called Square-Enix). As you may guess from the title, it is a RPG featuring Mario characters and some new ones altogether. It sports both elements from Final Fantasy and Mario games. This game is not very well known, but that is because it was released only months before the N64 was to be released, so people were moving on. If it was released earlier, it would probably be well known and be considered by many to be one of the best games of all time. After this game, several more Mario RPG's have come out. There are three games called "Paper Mario", "Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door" and "Super Paper Mario" which are also excellent games I highly recommend. There is also "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga" and "Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time" which are also Mario RPG's.

Story: 10/10

The story starts like the typical Mario game. Princess Toadstool gets captured by Bowser, Mario goes to save her, etc. However, once Mario defeats Bowser and is about to rescue Toadstool, a giant Sword falls from the sky and embeds itself into Bowser's castle. The crash from the sword sends Mario, Bowser, and Peach flying in all different directions. Eventually, you team up with a Star Spirit in a form of the doll named Geno to find The Star Pieces and repair the Star Road. When the sword fell from the sky, it fell through The Star Road spreading the pieces of it flying everywhere. The Star Road is what grants everyone's wishes, and Mario and co have to fix it. You also team up with Bowser later in the game because the sword stole the castle from him and he needs Mario's help to get it back! Princess Toadstool also sides with you because she feels she needs to help repair Star Road, too. For once it's not a Story about Mario rescuing Peach, and it's great that way. This game also has a lot of humor in it with quotes like "What? I forgot my Bazooka at home, sheesh" when a Toad is asked why he didn't stop a thief. It's also funny because since Mario never talks, he acts everything out. It's quite funny to see the characters fall down on the floor when someone doesn't understand something as well. Overall, it's a really enjoyable storyline.

Graphics: 10/10

The Graphics in this game are very unique. It uses a isometric view point to make it look almost fully 3D. This is certainly a plus, as it sets it apart from other Super Nintendo games and has something to brag about. They are also very colorful and bright. Due to the isometric Camera angle, Mario can move in all eight directions. But for more on this, look in the gameplay section of this review. But what else is there to say about the graphics other than they are the best on the SNES?

Gameplay/Controls: 10/10

The gameplay is pretty much the same as all other RPG's. However, in battle you can use actions called "Timed Hits". For example, say you have Mario punch, if you press A at the right time while attacking, Mario will punch twice instead of once and do extra damage. This also works defensively. You have 4 different types of actions in battle. You can use your normal attack, which takes no FP and is usually whatever weapon you have equipped, you may use a item, you may use your special attacks which take FP, or you may decide to run away or put your character in a defensive position. All of these actions are mapped to the A, B, Y, and X buttons. A brings up your normal attack menu, Y brings up your special attack menu, X brings up your item menu, and B brings up the Run away and defensive commands.

If you've played any RPG before, you should have a idea on what FP (Flower Power) is. FP is your magic power (Called MP in Final Fantasy). Your special attacks take up FP. When FP goes to zero, then you can't use them anymore unless you use a item to replenish it. Like most RPG's, this has a equipment menu. You can buy or find new Weapons and Armor to equip on your characters. There is one Weapon, Armor, and accessory slot per person. During battle, you may have out 3 people fighting at a time, although you can't take Mario out. The game allows you to choose the partners you have out, of course.

The RPG battles aren't all this game is. You can also walk around outside of battle. There is also a world map where you pick your area similar to Super Mario World. Due to this game's unique design, you can walk in all eight directions in a almost full 3D world. This is basically a good portion of the game. There are some obstacles to overcome and stuff to find like in every Mario game. Unlike in most Final Fantasies, you can actually see the enemies in the area you walk around in. If you touch one, you go into a fight. You can avoid them if you want which is certainly a plus since in most RPG's you can't. Sometimes, when you jump, you might just make a hidden treasure chest appear with a special item in it. This game also has few mini-games, but they're aren't really worth it. The controls in the over world are pretty much average. You walk around using the D-Pad (obviously) and hold Y to run and B to jump. X is actually the pause button in this game. You won't have any problem with them. Overall, the gameplay is excellent.

Music: 8/10

The game's music is good. It has some really great tunes but it also has a few bad ones. Some of the music is really high-pitched and weird and sounds like something you'd hear in a cartoon. But the number of awesome music in this game out-weighs the bad ones. The Boss themes are awesome and really add to the excitement. They have lots of beats and different phases so that you know you're facing someone big just through the music. The Final Boss music is probably in my top 5 favorite Video Game music list.

Sound: 9/10

This game's sound is basically the same as the music. It has some cool sounding stuff and some bad ones. Some of the stuff just sounds plain silly while others match the attack perfectly. For example, the attack 'Bombs Away" is like a little Plasma Ball and the sound lets you know that by giving you a sound you would expect from it. There are some other cool sounds like Bowser laughing. And of course, this wouldn't be a Mario game without the classic "Boing" sound when Mario jumps and the 1-Up sound. Overall, the sounds are quite cool.

Length: 8/10

This game is quite big, but not as big as most games. I'd say it's about 8-12 hours. 13-15 if you want to find all the secrets. It features a nice big over world to explore, many places are hidden and you have to find. All of which adds to the length.

Difficulty: 6/10

This game is relatively easy. Most of the bosses won't be anything at all while some may give you a a decent bit of trouble. However, the Final Boss is pretty challenging. He can really give you a run for your money unless you have two certain secret items... The same goes with the optional boss in this game; Culex. Culex is a new character that has a Final Fantasy Essence to him. He can be insanely hard if you don't know what you're doing. But overall, the difficulty is just above easy. If you're looking for a hard game I don't suggest you get this one.

Replay Value: 9/10

This game has good Replay Value. This game is so fun that I still play through it at least once or twice a year. There are TONS of secrets in this game that will really keep you busy months after you play it. As with any RPG, there are also challenges you might want to try like a Low-Level game (One where you gain as less experience as possible so you're really weak throughout the whole game). Overall, like I said, The Replay Value is great. If you liked this game I'm sure you'll love trying to find all the secrets.

Rent or Buy?

Buy this game. This is one of the best games ever made and if you like any RPG's or Mario at all, you'll love this. These days, there are very few places that still allow you to rent Super Nintendo games anyway. You can find this in most used game stores and on the Internet pretty cheap. You can also get a Nintendo Wii and download it on the Virtual Console feature when this game comes (as of June 2008, it wil probably come very soon).

Overall: 10/10

Overall, this game is one of the best ever made and is definitely the best RPG even to this day. Anyone with a SNES NEEDS this game in their collection.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06, Updated 06/24/08

Game Release: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (US, 05/13/96)