Current Events > About to start Super Mario RPG

(+) Yeah! (+)

Just beat the axem rangers. I was about to say, the star kinda just sitting there after the dragon fight felt lame, before the rangers came in. The couple of empty rooms for the chase sequence was VERY necessary. If the fight just happened right then and there it wouldnt have felt as fun/funny. Seeing them running just ahead of you was a great touch.

also: I cant seem to time Peachs healing spells well, but they heal so much anyway that it doesnt even matter, lol. The fact that she can basically heal the whole party to full for only 4FP is kinda op

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The timing is hitting Y right before the stars disappear.

Yes, she is very OP >_> Did you get the Lazy Shells and Frying Pan?

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Pick Me Ups being only 5 coins and being immediately available in the first town is the silliest thing ever.

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discodancer77 posted...

The fact that she can basically heal the whole party to full for only 4FP is kinda op

Also cures all ailments in case you're still getting those for whatever reason.

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the axem rangers is my favorite boss fight

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NeonOctopus posted...

The timing is hitting Y right before the stars disappear.

Yes, she is very OP >_> Did you get the Lazy Shells and Frying Pan?

lazy shells yes, frying pan no, but I am aware of where to get it, Ill do that now. Also, when can I / should I fight the secret boss in Monstro town? And what about Jinx? I lost to him the second time around when I had first visited Monstro Town

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the secret boss is the hardest boss in the game so fight it towards end game
or equip the lazy shell armor on peach and beat him easily at any level

you need the shiny stone to unlock the door

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cause the secret boss is in the locked door in monstro town
pretty sure if you have the shiny stone you can fight it as soon as you get to monstro town

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All of Jinxs attacks can be blocked, just gotta learn the timing.

IIRC, his defense is high, but I used the fixed damage of bombs to get around that. If you know where Grate Guys Casino is, you can use the bomb he has against Jinx for a fairly easy win.

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Culex is harder than the final boss, so you should be at the end of the game. The accessory you get from him is ehhhhh imo, but you should fight him at least once to see the amazing reference from it lol.

To open the door, you need to buy fireworks from a mole in Moleville, the trade it for a Shiny Stone with a mole child outside, then examine the locked door in Monstro Town and it'll open up.

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As for Jinx, try to beat his final fight before you go to Bowser's Keep to get his accessory, because it is definitely one of the best ones. It raises all your stats by 27 points.

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Bump

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Ok so I had left off after beating the Axem Rangers last night. I wont have much time to play today but my plan is to find the casino and whatnot, then try my hand at Jinx and Culex before continuing the plot

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this topic wasnt at risk of dying
it didnt need to be bumped
hell the post before your bump happened just 12 minutes earlier

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bump

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when i first played i thought that the giant sword in bowsers keep was smithy


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yusiko posted...

when i first played i thought that the giant sword in bowsers keep was smithy

same

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yusiko posted...

this topic wasnt at risk of dying
it didnt need to be bumped
hell the post before your bump happened just 12 minutes earlier

Lmao okay kid

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im 32 not a kid
there is literally a topic made about my age

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78863810

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No bickering. This is a serious topic about Mario. Happy birthday btw

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thanks
also sleeping at the inn in numbus land will sometimes give you dreams
in like 2 of the dreams you get an item called red essence which makes you invincible for a few turns

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yusiko posted...

im 32 not a kid
there is literally a topic made about my age

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78863810

You still act like a little kid bro lololol

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yeah thats because like most people on CE i never matured past 13
im still old a shit

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phineas and ferb is a fun cartoon

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Went back to Booster Tower to get the casino card thing. Saw the scene with Booster and Valentina

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Booster shoves his hairy cock between Valentina's massive jugs while the Snifits and Dodo watch

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yeah they found love in a hopeless place

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Almost done the game.

just beat Exor but I think Ill have to put it down for now. Dont think Ill have time to finish it until tomorrow

also. This whole time I thought the giant sword at the castle (Exor) WAS Smithy

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yeah we went over that already so did me and neon the first time we played
you are at the final dungeon now which honestly is just a boss rush

also fun fact, geno whirl if the timed hit is activated at just the right time will do 9999 damage to an enemy
this doesnt work on bosses of course
except for exor
geno can do 9999 damage to exor and instantly win the fight

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I'm not a big RPG guy. What are the character types?

Mario -- well-rounded one
Bowser -- powerhouse
Peach -- healer
Mallow -- ???
Geno -- ???


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FortuneCookie posted...

I'm not a big RPG guy. What are the character types?

Mario is well rounded
Mallow is the black mage
Geno is just fucking amazing at everything >_> idk
Bowser is the powerhouse
Peach is the healer

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FortuneCookie posted...

I'm not a big RPG guy. What are the character types?

Mario -- well-rounded one
Bowser -- powerhouse
Peach -- healer
Mallow -- ???
Geno -- ???

mario is well rounded
bowser is you physical attacker
mallow is your mage
geno is a physical attacker with some support moves
peach is a healer but so much more. she can do as much physical damage as mario, as much magical damage as mallow, and heal the entire party to full health while curing all status ailments
peach is just plain good at everything with no clear weakness

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Mallows more of a red mage than a black mage, tbh. Overall hes not as bad as people say its just that the other 3 overshadow him a lot.

Mario is the standard damage dealer, on both ends of the spectrum. Someone really early on in this topic said to focus on Pow, and that special was redundant. As the game progressed I ending up agreeing more and more, but thats most RPGs. I know plenty of games where Physical outclasses magic but very few where its the opposite

Peach is an outstanding white mage who also has respectable damage output

Bowser is the bulky damage dealer, but doesnt bring much utility outside of that. Anything he can do, Mario and Geno can do just as well or even better.

Geno is also an offensive character, but I love the utility he has with Geno Boost (increases a characters attack) and his 2 Hit-All attacks. The fact that his magic attacks arent made redundant by his physical potential puts him way above Bowser and Mario

in terms of characterization/likability, it goes Bowser>Mallow>the rest

ill make a write up on my thoughts on the game once I finish, but thats definitely something I want to address

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Late to this topic but damn I love this game

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final fantasy 6 is a game where the magical damage outdoes the physical
terra celes and relm will outdamage everyone for the entire game thanks to their high magic stats

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discodancer77 posted...

Geno is also an offensive character, but I love the utility he has with Geno Boost (increases a characters attack)

Also boosts defense by 50% if you time it. Just watch out for the Shredder enemy attack.

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Countdown just used an attack called Corona

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Really liked Smithys character design and the design of the fight itself. The ending sequence was really good too. Booster running from Valentina, Croco racing at Yoshis island and Bowser helping the troops repair the castle were cute. Ill post my thoughts of the game as a whole soon

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Music was decent, but there were some standout tracks that were really really good. Those felt like only a handful that were truly GREAT, but every song was pretty consistently good

World building was very well-done, really felt like we were seeing the mushroom kingdom in a brand new way. Interconnectedness of the world, on the other hand, couldve used some work. Everything progressed more or less in a straight line, and one area didnt really feel very heavily connected to the ones before or after it. Near endgame this is fixed a little bit by having side quests and whatnot in older towns to have a reason to revisit them, but other than that, once youre done with the story segment of an area you can just forget about it and never look back. I think a few branching paths, possibly optional areas and more backtracking (the way the world map is designed wouldnt make this tedious at all). For example, tweak the story here and there, and possibly follow Booster back to his tower, or maybe at a certain point you need to talk to Frogfucious and he tells you about a macguffin you need to find in a new section of Kero section that opens up. Just some examples of how this couldve been implemented.

some small things like having a battle system that allows for all 5 members in a battle wouldve been nice, but its obvious why they didnt do that

The humour in the game is just as good as the other Mario rpgs Ive played (M&L 1-3). I mentioned before, but those games have much more dynamic cutscenes in regards to animations, character actions, and music especially. Im sure system limitations is part of that, and although I think the game wouldve been enhanced with more music and animations, the game is definitely self-aware when it comes to that, and plays it up for laughs. A lot of people mentioned Mario and co miming what happens, and thats a funny bit that can only really be done in SMRPG, specifically because of its limitations and its awareness of them. I especially love each characters pose where they look up to the sky and raise their hands with open mouths. So cute!

One thing that really bothered me was how little our party felt like an actual party. Outside of interacting with Mario, the other 4 party members barely interact with each other at all, and thats something I think everyone playing wouldve looked forward to. A lot of RPGs fix this by dedicating a segment of the game to a certain character for an episode of sorts. Mallows was obviously in the beginning until getting to Tadpole Pond, and then later in the Clouds. SMRPG does a good job establishing who Mallow is quickly and also giving him an episode later on, but Id say no other character gets that. Im guessing the developers expected kids playing at the time to not be interested in reading text, so they tried to make everything as brief as possible. Even when theres potential for some interesting dialogue or interactions, the game would rather just zip its mouth and move on.

Mallow was the party member that was easily given the most love, Im not counting but Id say he has the most lines of dialogue in the team, and shows up most often. Right from the start its shown what kind of character he his, and I think by the Cloud portion everyone was expecting him to have a (however small) character moment of him becoming more assertive, less of a crybaby, etc. doesnt really happen all that much and he stays pretty much the same throughout. Now Im not crazy, Im not expecting some crazy earth-shattering character development from a Mario rpg made for kids new to the genre, but they shouldve introduced the concept of characters growing up, and Mallow was the perfect choice, it seemed set up that way. Besides that though, Mallow definitely feels like a part of the crew and has a good friendship-bond with Mario. I think Mario interacts with Mallow the most out of all the other party members.

Geno.... I have no idea why anyone would want him in smash brothers. He has like, absolutely no character. The biggest example of something unique that struck me about him is how he says Yo like once or twice through the whole game. His intro episode is the coolest, and had an air of mystery to it, but nothing was done with it. And after that little intro episode in the forest and Rose town, he never does anything of note ever again. If he wasnt an active party member for being such a good unit, I wouldve forgotten he was even in the team. And thats all he is, a unit. Not a character. Hes set up as this stoic badass dutiful type, but no not really. Hes also set up as the one character who actually knows the backstory about whats going on with the plot, and can be used to explain certain key story elements to Mario/The Player, but he doesnt do that either. Hes... such a nothing character. Even him leaving at the end of the game felt hollow. Star Road definitely shouldve had some sort of conflict that was personal to Geno. Or at the very least, get him to make some comments about the area, seeing as its literally the area hes trying to save! I dont even think he comes out to make a single comment about Star Road at all. A lot of people have already said it felt empty, so it wouldve been a perfect spot to give Geno an episode.

Bowser was the other standout in regards to character. They did a really good job especially since before this in games like SMB3 and SMW he was just a generic baddie. The route they took with his character was really fun to see and every other Mario rpg follows it, clearly. I love seeing him as this sort of dumb self-centered jock with a heart of gold (for his troops etc) who totally lacks self-awareness. SMRPG and BiS nail that feel. They definitely should have had more moments with him. Especially when he first got recruited, I was fully expecting him to have a scene arguing with Booster, and he has surprisingly few interactions with the princess. No one bats an eye when hes in the mushroom kingdom, etc. more of this Bowser wouldve been welcomed.

Not really much to say about Toadstool/Peach, she was fine, pretty much what I wouldve expected. No issues or complaints, other than the same thing for all characters, in that they dont have enough character moments/highlights, and not enough interactions in the party.

If we couldve had just one more fight with Croco, one more instance of him being an asshat, I think he wouldve been better than Popple. Maybe on the sunken ship searching for treasure and screwing with you? Idk. Him just absolutely insulting the player was great. Couldve been truly great but again, we just didnt get enough exposure to him. Johnny was another cool dude, same thing. I wouldve liked some more material with him. Maybe a sequence after his fight but before the Yardiovich fight, where you have to... idk help his sister or find some lost item of his, which earns you his respect and him saying he owes you a favour. Booster was absolute gold. Insane troll logic.

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I just want to list off some ideas I had to add some dialogue, etc

-Have Bowser call Mallow a creampuff throughout the game, and call him out for being a crybaby. Later on, either give Mallow a moment where he stands up to Valentina and saves his dad, OR simply just throw in a scene where Mallow is done with bowsers namecalling and stands up to him, earning bowsers respect. Demonstrates character growth and relationship building

-once Mallow figures out hes a prince, have like a 2 or 3-line conversation with Peach. Mallow has self-doubt about being a good prince, and wonders if he deserves it. Peach can offer some advice as royalty and say something like just be yourself! Something really minor, but wouldve gone a long way in making the party feel like a team. Maybe Bowser can muse to himself about kidnapping Prince Mallow instead of Princess Peach.

-After peach gets recruited and the gang goes back to mushroom castle, make Bowser being there more of a big deal...

-give Geno more screen time. Star Road is obviously the best example of where this can be done, but maybe in Monstro Town people can mistake his being a possessed doll as some sort of monster.

-like I wrote earlier, make Geno the unofficial leader/compass of the team, doing stuff like recapping the next objective and leading the way. Makes sense considering hes a guardian of the stars, or whatever

I think the biggest weakness of this game was it having to limit itself by making sure it was accessible to new players. I can respect that and in a historical context, Im sure there was no other way this game couldve been expected to succeed. Even so, they couldve added some more meat to this game and still have had it be a simple clean experience, but it wouldve been enhanced a lot. I can appreciate a game that respects a players patience, but I think this game did that too much. The game shouldve given itself a bit more room to relax and not just rush point to point as quick as it did, wouldve done wonders for the characters and the world building in particular. Sometime you just got to slow down and stop and smell the roses. This game does it in some places, but needs to do it more, and it doesnt do it in the places that would benefit from that the most, imo. I give this game an 8.5/10. For reference, Id give Superstar Saga a 9.5, Partners in Time a 7.5, and Bowsers Inside Story a 9.

Basically other than lack of characterization and flavour text, theres nothing I would really consider bad about this game at all. Its great! Its just that, out of what it did great, there just wasnt enough of. Some slight tweaks here and there, and some added content would raise the score easily

thanks for following along in this playthrough. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and the discussion we all shared

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SMRPG is definitely babby's first RPG (along with Pokemon, though they obviously have vastly different approaches and narratives), but I think it did well being a pioneer in that regard. Being one of the first games to come up with the concept of Timed Hits, otherwise known as Action Commands in other games, really does a lot to make turn-based combat more engaging in this and the RPGs to come, Mario or otherwise.

For that reason alone, I place it in high regard, as I'm sure many others do. It's just way more satisfying to watch attacks get better through button commands, even if it's something as simple as "Mario jumps twice/hits twice with the hammer" or "Bowser catches Mario off the rebound and throws him at the enemy again".

The issues with the narrative are justified, though I've never really thought it that way when playing through the game myself. It makes sense when viewed from the lens of playing future Mario RPGs, but when you look at this as the predecessor to all that, you give it a lot more leeway. Stuff like Star Hill lacking a boss fight is noticeable, sure, but Geno being a blank slate isn't all that different from, say, some partners getting the shaft in Paper Mario.

On that note, personally, my Mario RPG history has been SMRPG --> M&LSS --> TTYD --> PM64, and I haven't ever gotten around to the rest. SS and TTYD were both unique enough to distinguish themselves from SMRPG, while the similarities were still apparent. Moreso for TTYD, since SS quickly goes off the rails after assembling the Beanstar pieces and really starts to feel like a completely new RPG following the plot twists.

PM64, on the other hand, feels like a downgrade to me, since the mechanics don't feel as tight to me as TTYD, and the narrative feels blander than either game. I don't get the same feeling of nostalgia or leniency that I do with SMRPG. But I know some people prefer PM64 over TTYD, so it's probably due to the order I played them that has affected my judgment.

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I played this game to death. One of my top 5 games of all time

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yusiko posted...

peach is a healer but so much more. she can do as much physical damage as mario, as much magical damage as mallow, and heal the entire party to full health while curing all status ailments
peach is just plain good at everything with no clear weakness

Peach's weakness is that critics still won't respect her because she wears a pink dress and uses a frying pan for a weapon.

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I still like it the most out of all the Mario RPGs. It just has a lot of charm, and it pretty short so there's almost no filler shit. I honestly replay it at least once a year >_> It's my favorite #1 game of all time.

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FortuneCookie posted...

Peach's weakness is that critics still won't respect her because she wears a pink dress and uses a frying pan for a weapon.

If only she wore a blue dress and had ice powers.

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had a great time with the game, dont get me wrong

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NightRender posted...

If only she wore a blue dress and had ice powers.

Oh, wow. I never thought of that before.

And now I'm not gonna be able to let it go.

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Just curious, when they first played Mario RPG, who else initially thought that Exor was Smithy? Because for one thing, you never learn his actual name until fighting him. What also didn't help were commercials referring to him as "Smithy the Sword".

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KCJ5062 posted...

Just curious, when they first played Mario RPG, who else initially thought that Exor was Smithy? Because for one thing, you never learn his actual name until fighting him. What also didn't help were commercials referring to him as "Smithy the Sword".

this came up a couple times in this topic
me, neon, and TC all thought the sword was smithy the first time we played

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KCJ5062 posted...

Just curious, when they first played Mario RPG, who else initially thought that Exor was Smithy? Because for one thing, you never learn his actual name until fighting him. What also didn't help were commercials referring to him as "Smithy the Sword".

"All was peaceful in the Mushroom Kingdom... until Smithy the Sword shattered the Star Road!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k48m-LOvkUo

It wasn't until I confronted Smithy himself that I realized the sword was named Exor. They called his eye "Neosquid."

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