Topic: RetroActive #11 Discussion: Super Mario RPG

[broodwars]

Question for all of you saying it's one of your favorite games: was this your first RPG? Nintendo and Square were definitely going for a fresh audience here, and I wonder if the Final Fantasy 7 effect (also the first RPG for many people) extends to SMRPG.

Actually, I'd say my first RPG was probably Chrono Trigger, followed by Earthbound and then FF4.  Super Mario RPG came as one of my final SNES games, and it's still an old favorite.

And yes, Chrono Trigger is still my favorite RPG of all time.  : :

[dococtorok]

I had played through Dragon Warrior 1-4, Final Fantasy 1-3 (US), Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger, and maybe a few others.  I think I might have had RPG burnout and SMRPG was a refreshing change.  It was funny, shorter and tighter.  I remember at the time thinking it was perhaps too short, but that was back when I wanted the most hours out of my money. Nowadays I appreciate brevity and tightness. 
 
I hadn't noticed if the game keeps track of your playing time. Anyone know roughly what their time to completion is?

[Sundoulos]

It wasn't my first RPG, either.   I had played Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy I and IV (Japanese numbering), and other JRPG roleplaying hybrids...as well as a few PC RPG-light games... the Quest For Glory series, Lord of the Rings, etc.

I think I enjoyed Super Mario RPG because it was the first time that any game really fleshed out any of the characters in the Mario-verse.  Up until that point, Nintendo fans hadn't really experienced anything like that in a Mario game.  I was the nerdy kid who watched the Mario cartoons and had some of the comics in the late 80s/early 90s; being able to play an RPG with Mario and Bowser was just sort of a nostalgia trip for me.

Also, I was at an age where I could buy my own games, but I didn't make enough money to do it frequently.  RPGs always seemed like a good value to me due to the amount of playing time involved...assuming I liked the game.  Super Mario RPG was a good fit. 

I will say that playing Mario RPG made me a little prejudiced towards the Paper Mario series;  I didn't give the original Paper Mario a try until it came out for the VC.

[noname2200]

I tried to do the 100 Super Jump challenge and failed miserably. I like the idea of rewarding true dedication with fairly useless items, but man they made that one hard.

Anyhow, I just completed the three invisible flags minigame. It's emblematic of the game: in order to the best secrets the game cheerfully gives you cryptic hints that do little to help you, but once you figure them out you realize that yes, they were shooting straight with you.

I'll give you a "between an o and an a"...

[Halbred]

My first RPG was, maybe not surprisingly, Dragon Warrior.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Before SMRPG I had experience with Final Fantasy for NES and one of my all time favorite games, Final Fantasy IV. SMRPG blew me away at how unique the battle system was and how it pushed the genre forward.

[dococtorok]

It's really a crime that this wasn't released as a GBA/DS game before becoming a VC title.  These models that are so ugly on my LCD TV would have looked fine on the small screen. 

[Sundoulos]

Agreed. I think they probably would have made a killing off of the game if they had put it on the DS...maybe there was some sort of rights issue about who could modify the existing code to make the port possible, even though Nintendo has the rights to the existing game.    Before it was released on the VC, I had wondered if we would ever see the game again since it was the last collaboration between Squaresoft and Nintendo for many years...and their relationship was nonexisting for many years afterwards.

I'm kind of glad that it didn't come out on the DS, because I probably would have bought it upon release...and been out of another $35.

[Jonnyboy117]

I guess it varies a lot according to your TV; on my 37" LCD, the graphics look exactly how I remember them.

I'm already back to Moleville in what seems like just a couple of hours. The game really does move very quickly and avoids the common RPG ailment of having a long, slow beginning. Looking forward to Booster's Tower and beyond, which I haven't played in over ten years.

The Flower Point system has some interesting aspects when compared to traditional magic systems. Most obvious is that FP are shared among the party members. A consequence is that you don't increase max FP from leveling up; instead, the limit is raised by treasure chests and using special items. Those items also have a nice strategic element, since they refill your FP while raising the max, yet cannot be used during battle. This forces you to think about whether it's best to use a Syrup during combat or wait until after. And I just realized that when it is time to use an FP-raising item, it's smartest to use the best one (a Flower Box or Jar) before a lesser one (Flower Tab). That's opposite of how I always did it before.

[Sundoulos]

I find myself trying to damage the enemies before the battles by jumping on them, probably because I played Mario & Luigi 3 so recently.  I had forgotten that you can't do that in this game.

[Halbred]

LOL I tried that too.

[noname2200]

LOL I tried that too.

n00bs.

Me too. >_>   <_<    >_>

[Stratos]

Wait, I thought it did make a difference? Like jumping on them let's you go first and them getting the jump on you makes them go first. Or am I really twisted by Mario & Luigi/Paper Mario games that much?

[Mop it up]

Yeah, there are no first strikes in this game. That came first in Paper Mario.

[Armak88]

Yeah, there are no first strikes in this game. That came first in Earthbound.

Fixed

[Olimar77]

I had no interest in SMRPG when it was released. In my mind, Mario was strictly a 2D platformer. The first RPG I played was Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and I've been playing RPGs ever since. It provided an accessible introduction to the genre, and had I played SMRPG when it was released, it would have had the same effect of broadening my interests.

[Mop it up]

Yeah, there are no first strikes in this game. That came first in Earthbound.

Fixed

I was talking about just the Mario RPG series.

[Armak88]

Yeah, there are no first strikes in this game. That came first in Earthbound.

Fixed

I was talking about just the Mario RPG series.

hmmm, maybe your sense of humor is broken? If we're going to play the serious game though, I wonder if Earthbound was actually the first rpg to award the player with a first strike advantage for approaching enemies favorably.

[gojira]

My first RPG was the first Dragon Warrior.  I enjoyed it a lot but never really got into any other RPGs until Super Mario RPG.  It was definitely the inclusion of Mario that peaked my interest and I loved it throughout. 

This was the first Mario game to give the characters any kind of personalities.  The most prominent for me would be Bowser.  I remember it was such a big deal to have Bowser playable, akin to recently with Sonic being playable in Smash Bros.  And Bowser being a hapless bad guy is still prominent today. 

The actions and emotions of the characters were really entertaining back in the day.  And Mario falling on his face and miming is still funny today.  On another note, my friend and I always thought it was weird how your party members literally hang out inside of Mario.  We always said they went into his pocket. 

As far as the technical aspects go, I don't have any problems with the graphics.  I'm playing the game on my SNES hooked up to my plasma.  Still images of the characters are kinda ugly, but the personality Square gave them overcome that aspect.

Like I said before, I really enjoy the battle system.  I love the timing setup and is exactly as I remember.  I like how different weapons actually change the characters attacks in battle.  I'm not a hardcore RPG person, so maybe this is common.  But in the few RPGs I have played, better weapons tend to just up the attack stat. 

I remember the game not being all that difficult other than a few bosses, but I had zero issues this playthrough.  Maybe it's how I leveled my characters?  My final group was Mario, Princess (for healing) and Geno (for attack/defense boost). 

[BeautifulShy]

So yeah I just beat the game with Mario,Mallow and Bowser. You really nead to stock up on healing items and status healing items and reviving items. Mallow you pretty much need to heal the majority of the time. It is a juggling fight in that you have to balance attacking the boss and healing your team.
Next up is Mario, Mallow, and Geno.

[Halbred]

OR you can equip Peach with the Lazy Shell armor and she can heal everybody every time it's her turn.

[BeautifulShy]

OR you can equip Peach with the Lazy Shell armor and she can heal everybody every time it's her turn.

Look Halibred I'm trying to beat the game with every possible combination of characters.
I already beat the game with Mario, Toadstool, Geno.Mario,Mallow,Bowser. Mario Mallow, and Geno. Now I am going to beat it with Mario, Toadstool, and Mallow.
Anyway my most recent fight with Mario,Mallow and Geno was pretty easy. Geno can Boost up everybodies defence with Geno Boost when you time the button press correctly. You have to press Y while you see the arrows on the screen when using Geno Boost. I almost didn't make it out alive because my whole team turned into scarecrows so I couldn't use items but I could use spells. I managed to beat Smithy the turn I changed into a scarecrow.

[Jonnyboy117]

Maxi, I like your experiment. If you can win with every combination, it proves that the game is balanced correctly. Plus, it's a cool follow-up to several earlier comments about certain characters being less useful or possibly even unworkable in the final battle.

[BeautifulShy]

Well thank you Jonny. The hardest will probably be Mario,Geno, Bowser since none of them can use healing arts. It should be noted that my team consists of Mario,Mallow, and Geno at level 28 while Bowser and Princess Toadstool are at level 27. Everybody has at least 200 HP. Mario has that amount while I think my highest is 213 that Bowser has.Everybody else has something in between those two.

As you might have guessed every team can take on challenges differently.

I remember reading one of my old NPs and there was a challenge to beat Final Fantasy with only White Mages. I guess my point is that if you plan your strategy for your team and follow it through than you can pretty much win with any team. You are really your only obsticle.

I am going to beat it with Mario,Toadstool and Mallow now. I think I will try to use Mallow as the healer this time instead of Toadstool.

[yoshi1001]

One tip: When you level up, you get to boost one set of stats. Be sure to check all three-one generally has a bigger boost than the others.