So I've never played this game before, though I really enjoy the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi serieseses. (They're pretty much the only RPGs that I can stand to play.) Started it up yesterday night, and fell asleep within about half an hour. It isn't too bad, though. I was just tired (and RPGs are boring).
My impression so far is that it almost seems like Square was already working on a game, and Nintendo paid them to insert Mario and the gang a ala Dinosaur Planet
/StarFox Adventures. I wonder why Square felt the need to create characters like Mallow and Geno when the Mushroom Kingdom already had a pretty rich cast (albeit not as rich as it is now). The whole "Smithy Gang" thing is kind of bizarre. Also, the environment feels kind of like a funhouse Mushroom Kingdom, like a Korean knockoff. Everyone looks slightly off. Like how Mario's eyes are all googly and close together (did Rare assist with the design?).
It seems that Nintendo wasn't too bowled over with Square's original contributions, either, since they seem to have disappeared into the annals of time, unlike externally-created characters like Waluigi or even Krystal. The Mario Universe particularly is such a melange of unique parts of strange origin (Doki Doki Panic, sports games, etc.). It seems odd that Nintendo hasn't done much with these characters since, even in fanservicey kind of games like the Mario & Luigi. Come to think of it, I recall seeing that the characters belonged to both Nintendo and Square, so maybe Square owns the original characters it created in the game. It's a testament to their bargaining power that Nintendo let them keep the rights. I guess they will be in limbo until Mushroom Kingdom Hearts, when a badass realistic Geno (and a badass realistic Mallow?) comes charging in all of a sudden and fanboys across the world swoon.
Anyway, because of how the areas are segmented and rather small, the adventure feels a bit less epic than it could. And unlike the PM/M&L series, Super Mario RPG seems to take itself fairly seriously. In true Square fashion, there are also a lot of moments in which control is taken away from the player. Mario is typically all about direct control. Learning through exploration (and tiny signboards), rather than narration. Well, perhaps that's untrue. The overarching 'plot' is often shown in a brief cutscene. SMRPG is definitely more cutscene-heavy, though. They even have one every time you enter an area like Bowser's Castle (or whatever that Castle is supposed to be).
Which brings us to the graphics. I remember being blown away by screenshots of this game (when it came out), but I don't know how well they've held up. The pre-rendered look is kind of dated now, and this game seems far more dithered and artifacted than something like Donkey Kong Country (perhaps because of the brighter color palette?). You can also tell it isn't a Nintendo game because of the isometric viewpoint. I don't know if that's ever been a good idea, especially in a game with platforming (even Q-Bert had difficult controls). But this game doesn't seem to require much precision when navigating the world, so it isn't too bad. And it does give the game a unique feel. The navigation doesn't really feel Mario, but the controls are decent and it's enjoyable enough to bound around. I liked the little touches, like the springy bed. It would be nice if those kinds of things lead to hidden areas and treasures, and such. We'll see.
The music has been very nice so far. No complaints. I think whoever composed that main theme is going places.
The combat is a tad underwhelming, coming from Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, because those games take the ideas so much farther, and feel so much more tactile and satisfying. However, I can recognize that this was a pretty groundbreaking system for the time (the genesis of the best, most involving battle system in any turn-based RPG, in my opinion), and it is still an effective upgrade from the traditional RPG for me. Love the involvement, love the lack of random battles. And the lack of obvious visual/aural feedback on the timing does add a bit of challenge, even if the overall difficulty balance of the game seems to be fairly gentle (especially coming off of Shiren the Wanderer DS). I did die once, but that was more due to the lack of feedback on my low health. Still, the timing/damage model seems a bit more analog than that of PM/M&L. The leveling system seems pretty streamlined, and I haven't come across anything like a badge system. I'm not sure how deep the strategy of the game will get, but I'm guessing not very. I certainly don't mind the lack of stat-crunching, though.
So, yeah. Those are my impressions from a half-hour in. It may seem like I was just bitching, but I actually did enjoy my time with the game, and I don't regret buying it (yet). I shall continue the archaeological dig.
Oh, and I liked the little slot machine bit after some battles, but probably would've preferred a mini-game that was a bit less luck-based.
Does anyone know the development history surrounding Super Mario RPG? I've heard that Square and Nintendo weren't on the best of terms at that point in time. That might give some interesting historical perspective on the game. Plus, it would be pretty fascinating to hear about the ins and outs (and philosophical differences) of a Square/Nintendo team project. How much input did Nintendo really have?
They have recently teamed up again with Mario Hoops (what a bizarre project for Squintendo to tackle), and I guess Brownie Brown is kind of an interdimensional link between the two publishers.
Topic: RetroActive #11 Discussion: Super Mario RPG (Read 39966 times)
