Messages

1

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #21 Poll: GBA Ambassador Edition

« on: January 08, 2012, 02:45:24 PM »

I'm definitely hoping for Kirby - out of my Ambassador games it's the one I'm most willing to jump in to.  I've never touched the Fire Emblems, and I'm not sure going to start now (with the second one, even if it is more playable than the first), and I've played enough Wario games to know that I'm not a huge fan.  But since I have them all for free, I'll play whichever gets picked!


I don't post much here but I'm always hoping that RetroActive coincides with something I plan to play in the future anyway.  Great idea for a category.

2

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #11 Discussion: Super Mario RPG

« on: March 01, 2010, 04:10:25 PM »

Just finished today (as I type the end credits are playing).  I have to say that I enjoyed the game more than either the M&L or Paper Mario games.  The pacing is just perfect, if a little easy.  I finished it without any grinding (even beat Culex) though the Lazy Shells helped a ton.  In fact right around the sunken ship I started avoiding every enemy I could. 

I love the M&L games, especially Superstar Saga, and generally despise the Paper Mario games because of the pacing problems and extensive dialogue that is not as funny as they think it is (I can pick up Metal Gear for that, thanks).  But neither of those series capture the pure strangeness and fast pace of this game.

There is a Luigi cameo, BTW, but I won't give away where.

Thanks for getting me to play it again, it was completely worth it! 

3

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #11 Discussion: Super Mario RPG

« on: February 11, 2010, 12:53:56 AM »

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. 

4

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #11 Discussion: Super Mario RPG

« on: February 09, 2010, 01:00:10 AM »

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?

5

Podcast Discussion / Re: RetroActive #11 Discussion: Super Mario RPG

« on: February 08, 2010, 02:26:46 AM »

I finished this game as a rental back when it was first released, and loved it.  Replaying it on VC, I'm struck by how little from this game was incorporated into later games in the Mario series.  Mario 2 took place in a completely different world, yet the Mushroom Kingdom these days has plenty of Shyguys and the like in its lineup.  But the only influence that Mario RPG had on later Mario games seems limited to the Paper Mario/Mario and Luigi saga alone.   Likely because of the bad blood that developed between Nintendo and Square.
 
I think the odd juxtaposition of Mario and Square-style RPG is why I prefer it over the later Mario role-playing games. It's similar to Kingdom Hearts in that way (or the novel "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"). The two styles don't necessarily work seamlessly in this game, in fact they're quite dissonant (the Mushroom Kingdom seems nothing like any depiction of it we've seen before or since).  But I enjoy the dichotomy - it is really a strange lovechild, and there is no other Mario game like it.   
 
I'm only a couple of hours in on this playthrough so I'm interested to find out if Geno really is as great of a character as I'm told he's supposed to be.  Mallow is kind of a Jar-Jar-esque tool, don't you think?
 
Doc