Every year we like to recognize the best in gaming on Nintendo consoles.
VC - Nintendo Console Game of the Year
Towards the end of its early relationship with Nintendo, Squaresoft delivered one of its great masterpieces: Super Mario RPG. As the story goes, Bowser’s been kicked out of his castle by an otherworldly presence intent on accomplishing what he never could: ruling the Mushroom Kingdom. While descending towards his castle, the beasts shatter the Star Road, and wishes can’t come true without it. So Mario and his band of rogues set out to restore the Star Road and stop newcomer Smithy and his gang!
A perfect blending of the epic scope of Final Fantasy and the aesthetic of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario RPG’s faux-3D isometric view was a sight to behold on the SNES, and holds up well even today. The turn-based battle system utilizes user input for adding damage to an attack and blocking enemy offensives. While plenty of traditional Mushroom Kingdom residents show up, many more characters are entirely new, like Mallow, Geno, and Boshi. Mario and company travel to a wide variety of locales, including a crazy lumberjack’s tower, a city in the clouds, and a town populated by rehabilitated monsters.
A perfectly-executed and timeless role-playing game, Super Mario RPG is worthy of its accolades. If you haven’t experienced it yet, you need to download it right now. It was an easy choice as the Virtual Console's Nintendo Console Game of the Year.
Runner-up:
