Current Events > Rate this retro game #38: Super Mario RPG

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1.Age of Empires II 4.79 (24 votes, 5 had not played)
2.Castlevania Symphony Of The Night 4.72 (37 votes, 4 had not played)
3.Paper Mario 4.65 (32 votes)
4.Chrono Trigger 4.57 (70 votes, 4 had not played)
5.Rollercoaster Tycoon 4.57 (35 votes, 2 had not played)
6.Silent Hill 2 4.53 (26 votes, 3 had not played)
7.Sonic 3 & Knuckles 4.5 (32 votes, 1 had not played)
8.The Legend Of Zelda A Link To The Past 4.48 (31 votes)
9.Super Mario 64 4.48 (29 votes)
10.Final Fantasy VI 4.44 (38 votes. 6 had not played)
11.Super Castlevania IV 4.42 (21 votes, 2 had not played)
12.Banjo-Kazooie 4.4 (27 votes)
13.NBA Jam 4.4 (50 votes, 1 had not played)
14.Jet Set Radio 4.39 (23 votes, 7 had not played)
15.Final Fantasy V 4.23 (30 votes, 5 had not played)
16.Earthbound 4.18 (33 votes, 4 had not played)
17.Pokemon Red/Blue 4.17 (35 votes, 1 had not played)
18.Duke Nukem 3D 4.16 (12 votes, 2 had not played)
19.Golden Sun 4.12 (25 votes)
20.Sid Meier's Pirates! 4.06 (15 votes, 7 had not played)
21.Crazy Taxi 4.05 (19 votes, 2 had not played)
22.Sonic the Hedgehog 2 4.04 (48 votes, 2 had not played)
23.Shining Force 4.00 (15 votes, 4 had not played)
24.Street Fighter Alpha 3 4.00 (12 votes, 4 had not played)
25.Klonoa: Door to Phantomile 4.00 (9 votes, 9 had not played)
26.Sypro The Dragon 3.89 (19 votes, 2 had not played)
27.Earthworm Jim 3.88 (25 votes)
28.Beyond Good & Evil 3.87 (8 votes, 4 had not played)
29.Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 3.85 (7 votes, 8 had not played)
30.Viewtiful Joe 3.81 (16 votes, 5 had not played)
31.Panzer Dragoon 3.8 (5 votes, 4 had not played)
32.Shenmue 3.7 (30 votes, 13 had not played)
33.Ghosts N Goblins 3.65 (20 votes, 3 had not played)
34.Sonic CD 3.5 (12 votes, 3 had not played)
35.Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 3.35 (48 votes, 3 had not played)
36.Black 2.92 (50 votes)
37.Sewer Shark 2.55 (17 votes)
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Does this hold up in 2018?
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No, it is a really boring game.
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I thought people liked this
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It's a great RPG imo.
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First-time playthrough is one of the best gaming experiences out there, especially if its one of your first RPGs.

Its not a super replayable game, but I still love it. Voted 5/5 despite its flaws.
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Gafemage posted...

First-time playthrough is one of the best gaming experiences out there, especially if its one of your first RPGs.

Its not a super replayable game, but I still love it. Voted 5/5 despite its flaws.

I think bold is the key part. I don't even mind RPGs that are shallow and silly like SMRPG but man it is just so boring to me.

Part of the problem, too, is playing Paper Mario before Super Mario RPG, I bet.
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Yea I already played Paper Mario 1/2
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Easy 5. It's one of the only RPGs from that era I can still play.

That one-shot secret at the beginning is total BS though.
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Unpopular opinion, but I think that Paper Mario 1 and 2, Superstar Saga, and Bowsers Inside Story are all vastly better
Tho, it's still a great game
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SpiralDrift posted...

That one-shot secret at the beginning is total BS though.

Which is...
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YourDrunkFather posted...

SpiralDrift posted...

That one-shot secret at the beginning is total BS though.

Which is...

The player has only one attempt to collect the Frog Coin inside a Surprise Box when Mario and Toad enter the castle's foyer in the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time, by jumping on Toad's head and climbing up to the Surprise Box at the end of the room.
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2

One of the most nostalgia goggles games of all time

If it ever got good, I didn't stick around long enough to find out

The game was surpassed by every subsequent Mario RPG up until Sticker Star and Paper Jam dropped the soap

I would rate it barely average for SNES RPGs. The fact I personally dislike it drops it to a 2
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Its an RPG marketed for kids. As such the low difficulty and simplistic nature of the game makes it extremely boring for me by the time I get halfway through it.

Bump
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TimeForAction posted...

Its an RPG marketed for kids. As such the low difficulty and simplistic nature of the game makes it extremely boring for me by the time I get halfway through it.

This.

3
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Sajo posted...

YourDrunkFather posted...

SpiralDrift posted...

That one-shot secret at the beginning is total BS though.

Which is...

The player has only one attempt to collect the Frog Coin inside a Surprise Box when Mario and Toad enter the castle's foyer in the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time, by jumping on Toad's head and climbing up to the Surprise Box at the end of the room.

Yeah. That part was horrible. Like, I straight up stopped the game and didn't play it again for 7 years after finding out that the first frog coin was skippable. You have to break from the story to get it too because Mario hasn't learned yet what they are when you grab it.

Anyway, that part aside, the overall game is awesome.

It has a good use of characters, the world building is exactly how it would be if I controlled the Mario franchise, the music is stellar, the gameplay mechanics are fun, the bosses are enjoyable. It's just a thoroughly fun game.

I think there should be more RPGs that aren't locked into the sword and cape fantasy motif.

Skye Reynolds posted...

the world building is exactly how it would be if I controlled the Mario franchise

one of my biggest complaints with it vs the paper mario series is that most of the OC don't seem to fit into the mario universe to me at all

interesting difference of perspectives
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I'm currently in the middle of a replay after over a decade away, and I have to say that what still sells the game even to this day is the fact that it's just plain fun. Every character brims with personality and enjoyable quirks, and the dialogue scenes have some of the best pantomiming the 16-bit era had to offer. Assuming that this is a Woosley translation, it's one of his best; God help us all if this game goes the way of Chrono Trigger and gets remastered with a hyper-literal retranslation. And the fun it pokes at certain RPG tropes of the time still get a giggle out of me (most notably Mallow and Geno knocking heads with Mario when they try to 'merge' into him after a cutscene but Gaz interrupts them).

Beyond that, the graphics hold up fairly well imo, Timed Hits were a great way to maintain interest in turn-based combat, and the exceptionally creative array of weaponry (personal fave is still a tie between the Hurly Gloves and the Frying Pan) still help this game stand out.
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4/5

I don't really understand why many people consider this one of the best games ever, but I did very much enjoy it. The battle system is fun (especially super jump) and the environments are nice. Though the great thing to me was the great sense of humor this game has. The puzzles/challenges in this game tend to have comical solutions and this includes some of the bosses.
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Balrog0 posted...

Skye Reynolds posted...

the world building is exactly how it would be if I controlled the Mario franchise

one of my biggest complaints with it vs the paper mario series is that most of the OC don't seem to fit into the mario universe to me at all

interesting difference of perspectives

I actually really like the directions both games took, even if they ended up being pretty different. You're right that a lot of things seem out of place in SMRPG's portrayal of the Mario universe. But I like that different perspective. I will say though that I think the Paper Mario games do the best job of presenting what I think the Mario universe should be.

I was a bit surprised that I enjoyed SMRPG as much as I did. I played the Paper Mario games ages ago, but only played SMRPG for the first time a few years ago. It's easily just as good as Paper Mario is.
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Also where the hell is Luigi

He doesn't even have a cameo
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DevsBro posted...

Also where the hell is Luigi

He doesn't even have a cameo

Yes he does. He leads the parade at the end.
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Yeah I first played SMRPG last year or maybe the year before and I documented it on here for a bit actually. I just wasn't into it.
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GeneralKenobi85 posted...

DevsBro posted...

Also where the hell is Luigi

He doesn't even have a cameo

Yes he does. He leads the parade at the end.

Ok

But minimum acceptable Luigi treatment would be, like, an interactive NPC. Ideally, he should be a party member. In those days they could have even gotten away with palette swapping Mario and maybe giving him different weapons and equipment.
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3/5, played it when it was new. I have tried to get into it again, but just can't, so I'll bring my score down to 2.5
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Skye Reynolds posted...

Sajo posted...

YourDrunkFather posted...

SpiralDrift posted...

That one-shot secret at the beginning is total BS though.

Which is...

The player has only one attempt to collect the Frog Coin inside a Surprise Box when Mario and Toad enter the castle's foyer in the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time, by jumping on Toad's head and climbing up to the Surprise Box at the end of the room.

Yeah. That part was horrible. Like, I straight up stopped the game and didn't play it again for 7 years after finding out that the first frog coin was skippable. You have to break from the story to get it too because Mario hasn't learned yet what they are when you grab it.

Frog coins can be farmed anyway. Doesn't really matter if that one is missed.

GeneralKenobi85 posted...

DevsBro posted...

Also where the hell is Luigi

He doesn't even have a cameo

Yes he does. He leads the parade at the end.

I was under the impression that he was the narrator for awhile, but I guess he only narrated the physical instruction booklet.

But there is still that wish on Star Hill that's clearly his.
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i think in terms of charm, characters, locations, etc this is not only peak mario but peak nintendo as well. i really dont believe that there is a nintendo game with more personality than this, it's such a fun world.

besides that though, when you strip away the charm and look at the gamplay it's nothing special. typical turn-based combat, not a lot of interesting mechanics, and it's pretty unbalanced (although this was harder to do back in the SNES days so i'll give it a pass).

but definitely a fun game and one that everyone needs to experience. i give mario rpg a 4/5
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bump
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Frog coins can be farmed anyway. Doesn't really matter if that one is missed.

It does if you want to get all of the hidden chests.

DevsBro posted...

Also where the hell is Luigi

He doesn't even have a cameo

The instruction manual had Luigi as the guide for this very reason. lol.