Topic: How Super Mario RPG Made Me the Gamer I Am Today

[NWR_Neal]

Nintendo and Square's late SNES RPG was the linchpin in Neal's gaming fascination.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/32385/how-super-mario-rpg-made-me-the-gamer-i-am-today

I can think of some landmark gaming moments when I grew up in the '90s relating to video games. In the beginning of the decade, I spent a lot of time playing NES with my cousin. I played the hell out of Super Mario Land 2 and DK '94 on the Game Boy, the first system that was wholly mine. I played a lot of my brother's Genesis and sharpened my teeth on Sonic the Hedgehog, Dynamite Headdy, X-Men, Aladdin, and more. My cousin gave my brother and me his NES in the middle of the decade, which led to several years of FuncoLand-fueled chaos and a collection that now is knocking on the door of 200 games.

The one singular game that put me on the path to being so crazy about video games that I dedicate so much of my time to Nintendo World Report is Super Mario RPG, though, by a large margin. My history with the game dates back to around 1997, when I was 9 years old and spending time with my friend Joe. Joe's family had a shore house (that was recently hit by Sandy, sadly, but managed to avoid destruction) and his Super Nintendo resided there. He owned Super Mario RPG, as well as a strategy guide for the game. The few times I stayed down there mostly consisted of two nerdy, glasses-wearing elementary schoolers playing through Super Mario RPG constantly.

When we'd go back home, we'd pore over the strategy guide, looking forward to the next time we could play. I can't really remember how many times we played the game. Honestly, it probably wasn't as often as I remember; I may just think I played the game more than I did because of how vivid my memories of the strategy guide are.

Thinking back, I don't remember much about 1997 otherwise. I mean, it was a pretty fantastic year. The Packers did win the Super Bowl, after all. I do remember so much about Super Mario RPG. Oddly, my memories of it pale in comparison to how vividly Joe remembers it. We talked about it recently, and he's at a point where playing the game isn't that rewarding. He can basically replay it in is his head. We got to the point in the game where we would do low-level runs. I've never done that with another RPG.

That insanity and zeitgeist led me to getting obsessive over Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye, and Ocarina of Time. That Mario RPG-fueled passion got me mega-hyped for Paper Mario, Metroid Prime, and much more. If it weren't for that complete craziness over the beloved 1996 Super Nintendo game, I might not have stumbled upon Planet GameCube a few months before the GameCube came out. Maybe I don't keep the site as a permanent bookmark for seven years before I apply to a job for the hell of it. Maybe I don't apply that Mario RPG-esque craziness to writing and editing for Nintendo World Report.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you want to see a really weird butterfly effect, go back in time and make sure I don't play Super Mario RPG. I think this site and my life would be really different.

[red14]

Because of how young I was when I started gaming, I never got the privilege of ever playing an NES. Still haven't. I only got as early as the SNES, and after that I was still a very sheltered kid. I was kinda blocked off from the whole of mainstream video games throughout my life, and hell, my favorite game is Paper Mario, and I didn't even KNOW that Super Mario RPG existed until a few years ago. I feel ashamed to be deprived of such common knowledge for so long. It's only recently that I've been looking at games as a whole, and I'm conflicted with various franchises and crazes so much that I'm surprised to find myself so concerned with something that shouldn't affect my life in such ways. However, if it wasn't for my preferences to gaming, like meaningful games such as Kingdom Hearts or simple ones like Mario or Rayman.. I'd really be afraid to see what kind of person I'd be like now, especially if I hadn't gotten into gaming in the first place. I guess... I'd have to contribute who I am today to mostly Video Games. Damn, Neal. You really made me think about this.


Thanks for that.

[PogueSquadron]

I was obsessed with this game when it came out. It was the first game to really bring any 'lore' into the Mario franchise, and I found that fascinating (and also disappointing when subsequent games disregard this lore entirely). The graphics were awesome at the time. They don't hold up well now I guess...but I think they're still incredibly charming. Mario's pantomime animations are still hilarious. Bowser has never been better than he was in this game. Mallow's "revelation" is one of the best scenes in the game. Getting through difficult areas is very satisfying - I remember being so happy when I finally got through Moleville. And the music? The music? Forget about it. One of the best soundtracks on the Super Nintendo without a doubt. I wasn't surprised to see Yoko Shimomura on the credits to Radiant Historia. She's one of the best in the business. I'd love to revisit this game some day. I think it trounces the Paper Mario games to be honest (while Superstar Saga is SO close to being as good as the original Mario RPG in my eyes).

[Louieturkey]

I loved the game back in the day.  Of course, it was the last game I got before I learned that the gaming world no longer revolved around Nintendo.  In 1997, I got a PS1 as a graduation present and subsequently picked up FF7 (before 1997, I didn't even know that 2 in the US was 4 and 3 was 6). 

I played SMRPG a lot.  I loved that game and have been saddened ever since that Nintendo has never tried to work with Square on a sequel.

[Ian Sane]

This is the first RPG I ever played.  I'd like to say this started my fandom of RPGs but really all it did was spark an interest that never really caught on.  I immediately became interested in Square and RPGs and tried a whole bunch but never really connected with any like I did to Super Mario RPG.  I wanted to get into RPGs but the genre never quite gelled for me except this one game.  The closest to this is Chrono Trigger.  Paper Mario always felt too dumbed down.  Final Fantasy felt too hardcore.  Super Mario RPG just hit some magic platformer-RPG combo sweetspot for me.  It's realistically everything I've ever wanted from an RPG and it's a bummer that it's my first one.  It would have been nice to work up to it.  Instead the rest of the genre is a moderate disapointment.

I like how it has all the stats and complexity of a typical RPG.  It looks and plays like one while Paper Mario seems almost ashamed of its RPG-ness, a logical byproduct of Nintendo's anti-RPG campaign during the N64 years.  It's the perfect RPG for the "RPGs must suck because Nintendo said so" N64 fanboy.  But Super Mario RPG wants to be an RPG and plays to the Square fanboys of the SNES era.  Nintendo's influence however makes it more user friendly than the typical RPG of the time.  So we get no random battles.  What I really like though is the realtime interaction one gets.  The timed hits and ability to jump around the areas just adds more "game" to it.  Clearly that's the Mario influence - Nintendo knew that Mario fans would expect this.  But unlike Paper Mario it does not overshadow the RPG elements.

This is also my favourite interpretation of the Mario universe.  Mario remains funny and kid-friendly but the storyline has some complexity to it beyond "save the Princess" and the world carries with it some of the "seriousness" that one expects from an epic fantasy.  It's more like Zelda than Mario.  Mario is too often too bright and colourful with little kid names like "Dry Dry Desert".  And most important of all Mario NEVER TALKS.  This is, I believe, the last appearance of silent Mario before Mario 64 turned him into Big Bird.  It is the furthest evolution of the Mario I grew up with.  The world of Mario in Super Mario RPG is what I always dreamed it would be like when I was a kid.  In the 2D days videogames were very abstract and you had to use your imagination to associate these obstacle course levels with real areas.  Super Mario RPG NAILED it.  Everything felt right and there was nothing that made me think "eh... I don't think so."  This was what the Mushroom Kingdom with actual towns and citizens logically looked like in my head.

This is also probably the last SNES game Nintendo released before the N64 came out so it's really a send-off to the old Nintendo that could seemingly do nothing wrong (I'll just ignore the Virtual Boy here).  They then shoved their heads up their asses with the N64 cartidge thing and have never pulled them out.  How fitting that they teamed up with Square as the Nintendo/Square divorce has become the defining event of Nintendo's fall.  This is like the last great vacation the couple had together before their marriage fell apart.  The golden age of Nintendo ends with a BANG!

[Kytim89]

This was the first Virtual Console title that I bought and I must say that this game is truelly one of the best RPGs of all time. It really does diserve a sequel for the Wii U. The characters and story are one of the maina ppeals to this whole game. I particuarly like the Smithy gang, but most of all the Axem Rangers.

[TJ Spyke]

I liked the game when I rented it back in 1996, but when I bought it on VC I felt like it had aged poorly and that it is the worst of the Mario RPG's I have played.

[Sarail]

I remember, very vividly, the NP issue with Mario RPG as its feature. I think this one hit around March or April of '96 that year, and I recall it having info on the N64 as we headed into the summer. My hype for Nintendo products was unreal that year. It was probably the most excited I have ever been as a Nintendo fan for their games and a new system.

But yeah, I was 14 years of age at the time, and I read that feature article top to bottom, left to right, and beginning to end SO many times that I could've probably quoted the thing to you with my eyes closed. I was in love with the game the instant I discovered it in NP. And what made it better was that NP sent me a $5 voucher to help pay for the game (I believe this came separately in the mail in a regular business envelope).



So yeah. I love Super Mario RPG. I just wish we could get a true sequel someday...

[NWR_insanolord]

I played this game for the first time on the Virtual Console and I just couldn't get into it. It really has aged poorly, especially in the graphical presentation, but it also lacks the wit and charm of later Mario RPGs. It just felt generic to me.

[Ian Sane]

I notice a lot of the opinions of the Mario RPGs are based on expectations.  Those that were first introduced to Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi don't seem to get Super Mario RPG because it's different.  While at the same time those that were played Super Mario RPG when it was current tend to favour it because the rest of the games are different.

[StrawHousePig]

Oh I remember this one. One of my favorite games for sure. Even that mother humper Culex because the hours it took to beat his ass really made me enjoy it when I finally did. The humor, the settings, the characters, the easter eggs, the music, the management system, everything was done really well.

Even now I keep Fight Against Monsters (the battle music) in my roster of ring tones.

[NWR_Neal]

I can see why people would be lukewarm on it now, but I still think the game has an ever-present charm with its graphical presentation. I guess, though, it's kind of like why people like DKC's presentation today even though I think it doesn't hold up well.

Partially due to rose-colored glasses, I find the characters and writing in this to be top notch. Really silly and fun characters, outlandish character designs, etc. And that bass-thumping battle music. It just gets me right in the soul every time.

[Adrock]

I haven't played Super Mario RPG in like 13 years. I feel like I should just preserve those memories and never play it again because I have really, really fond memories of it, but I can imagine wondering what the hell happened if I ever attempt to at it again. The last semi-old game I liked that shattered those memories was Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. I tried playing that again a few years ago. Yikes... It had only been like 4 or 5 years since it first came out and it was so hard to play.

[Eyothrie]

This game came out my junior year of high school.   I enjoyed it, and it was a good game, but I just couldn't get into it after playing the other big Square RPGs.  I thought it was cute and funny, but it definitely didn't make as big of an impression on me as it did with some of you guys. 

[mustbeburt]

I just want to add to the discussion that this game truly blew my mind.  I actually picked up a copy sometime around 1999-2000.  It was in a SNES bargain bin at Toys-R-Us for $8 (this is also where I picked up Mario World and Mario All-Stars for $8, as well as MarioKart and all 3 Star Wars games for $5).  Pretty much my best haul ever.  To finish the story I went right from Toys-R-Us to a friend's house and got stuck there because of a huge snow storm.  All I wanted to do was brave the weather and drive to my house so I could try out SMRPG, but his parents wouldn't let me.  I can still remember reading the instruction booklet cover-to-cover on their couch where I crashed for the night.

Anyways, I bought SMRPG because it was a Mario game that I actually never heard of.  At the time, I also didn't know what an "RPG" was!  This was my first RPG. I totally fell in love with it.  My brother and I were totally blown away by it because we never played anything in the genre before.  We still just call it "RPG" to this day.

[Mop it up]

I think you would have still found some other game to obsess over and get you deeply into gaming, but even so, Super Mario PRG is a good game to have as a monumental occasion.