Current Events > Paper Mario >>> Super Mario RPG

(+) Yeah! (+)

The gameplay in Super Mario RPG is boring, the worlds are uninteresting, and the writing is garbage

Paper Mario and TTYD fix all of these issues, and more
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It is the better game, yes.
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I love SMRPG but I'd have to agree.

Paper Mario had a better battle system and team members.
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Agreed, SMRPG is weak for many reasons.
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I think they're both about equal, but I think the world of Paper Mario is much more interesting. I do like SMRPG's world, but it feels more like a hybrid of Final Fantasy/JRPGs in general and Mario. Paper Mario utilizes and expands on just Mario's assets.
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Agreed, and it's not even close.
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Ehhhh, idk. I love both for different reasons.

SMRPG had a lot of parts that straight up sucked, but it at least has a more fleshed out party system (as opposed to having one partner at a time), more memorable party members, and a traditional inventory/equipment system. The amount of secrets and side quest content was pretty mind blowing for a mid-90s SNES game.

chrono625 posted...

Paper Mario had better team members.

wut

Geno, Mallo, Peach, and fuckin Bowser compared to, what, a Goomba, a Koopa, and a Boo?

Vertania posted...

chrono625 posted...

Paper Mario had better team members.

wut

Geno, Mallo, Peach, and fuckin Bowser compared to, what, a Goomba, a Koopa, and a Boo?

I agree with that point a lot actually. All the SMRPG characters are great of course, but with Paper Mario they really did something special. They took Mario enemies and turned many of them into unique characters. It's not even just the partners, the NPCs got that treatment too.
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Conflict posted...

Damn_Underscore posted...

the worlds are uninteresting

Lmao

Yeah TC was on some bullshit with that one. I can accept any other criticism of the game (excluding its OST), but I loved the world of SMRPG. Its version of Star Road is one of my favorite areas in an RPG, even if theres not a whole lot going on.
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GeneralKenobi85 posted...

I think they're both about equal, but I think the world of Paper Mario is much more interesting. I do like SMRPG's world, but it feels more like a hybrid of Final Fantasy/JRPGs in general and Mario. Paper Mario utilizes and expands on just Mario's assets.

Agreed.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

The gameplay in Super Mario RPG is boring, the worlds are uninteresting, and the writing is garbage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0I3Ihd351w" data-time="

I think SMRPG tries too hard to be both an accessible, casual RPG as well as a more "serious" one for seasoned RPG players. As a result, it's decent overall, but not really great at being either. The whole thing is kind of goofy to me and as someone said, it's like this weird hybrid FF-type world.

Paper Mario instead just really runs with the casual RPG angle and I think it's a lot better because of it. Even the arguably more "boring" combat is novel in its simplicity. The world is way more appropriate and truly feels like Mario.

Correct
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Mario RPG was great when I played it as a kid but yeah it's not aged well at all. Paper Mario craps all over it. Nostalgia is a powerful thing and even with that when I went back to Mario RPG I got bored.
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Man, I was thinking of gameplay just in terms of combat, but I forgot about all the horrid isometric platforming in SMRPG. I think the platforming/exploration is one area where Paper Mario definitely shits on SMRPG, but for most other stuff... eh, I can see why people might go either way.

I hold them both in equal regard. They're both classics that still hold up today. They're so different it's really hard to compare them.

SMRPG to Paper Mario (64) is SMRPG by far. Both are incredibly easy, but there are far more challenging moments in SMRPG. SMRPG has far more to explore, to collect, or to draw your imagination. SMRPG also has much better challenge runs.
Other Paper Mario games really push the boundaries. But, the first game wasn't too special, whereas SMRPG had an incredible amount of secrets.
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Paper Mario is a big step down from SMRPG and TTYD
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I feel like Paper Mario had more secrets purely quantitatively with the badges and star pieces, but I don't know. Of course there isn't stuff on the level of Culex, but is that really a big part of what makes one game better than the other?