Age makes no difference, SMRPG rocks!
Positive: + great graphics + decent story and dialogue to back it up + great battle system + extra party members add a lot to the game + music is memorable + pretty lengthy +
Negative: - some things are hard to see outside of battle –
Wii owners have been waiting a long time for Nintendo to release Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Virtual Console. It seems like an ideal game to make available: everyone wants it and it's a true Nintendo classic. So, finally, at the beginning of September 2008, Nintendo released their 250th Virtual Console title, and you can only guess what that was. Is Super Mario RPG still worth buying nowadays or is it caught in the past?
As usual, the story starts off with Bowser capturing Princess Peach, and naturally Mario heads over to Bowser's castle to rescue her. Oddly enough, a giant sword falls from the sky during the battle of the long-time enemies. This just so happens to be the work of Smithy, a new enemy to the Mario series. He had destroyed the Star Road and the seven star pieces have been spread all across the land, and now Mario must collect them all to save the world from this new foe. The story progresses well and is certainly a tale worth telling. The dialogue is also spot-on as the Mario RPG's are generally praised for with some light humor and good lines throughout.
Super Mario RPG's battle system is great. You have three characters fighting with you at a time (once you have that many), they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and they add a lot to the game overall. You have your basic attacks, which can be upgraded with different weapons, and special attacks that use up flower points (FP). The traditional turn-based combat is present, as is the occasional lack of actual physical contact, which is pretty funny sometimes. The different special moves of each character are heavily varied, with Geno's more diverse power attacks and Peach's more defensively based healing moves, and so on.
Outside of battle, things are sometimes hard to see. Especially when you're doing a series of jumps, it's easy to miss your mark because you can't see exactly where you're going. There are a few puzzles thrown in here and there, and they're not too bad but nothing special either. It's also sometimes hard to see if you can advance to the next area from where you stand because the paths often are simply extensions of the ground rather than clearly defined pathways. The outside-of-battle part of the game could have used some help, but it shouldn't hurt your fun too much.
SMRPG was probably a technical wonder on the SNES. The graphics are really nice and it surprises me that they actually were on a game from the SNES. There are a lot of expressions used by the characters as well, which adds a lot to the visuals. The sound is also great, with lots of traditional Mario sound effects and a lot of new ones that sound nice and fit the game perfectly. The music is really memorable as well: the battle tunes are catchy and the rest are very nice, and like the sound effects they fit their areas perfectly.
Despite the annoyances outside of battle, the game's controls work really well. I don't know how good they were back on the SNES, but with a Classic controller they're excellent. The battle menus are navigated with different buttons depending on which menu you're in, which is really cool. You can also make your attacks do more damage and reduce the damage your character takes from physical attacks with correctly timed button presses. The Classic controller is perfectly suited for the game because outside of battle you hold Y to run, X to open the menu, and B to jump. However, the GameCube controller doesn't fare as well as the Classic with buttons too far away from each other to make the controls convenient. So overall I recommend you use the Classic controller for this game, but it wouldn't be unbearable if you don't have one.
Overall, Super Mario RPG is a really great game. It has high quality graphics and sound, solid gameplay, and a great story, and there isn't much to complain about in the long run. Despite the fact that it has more of a decade behind it, Legend of the Seven Stars is easily one of the best options available on the Virtual Console yet and I highly recommend that any fan of the RPG genre or the Mario universe spend the 800 points and get it, it's definitely worth playing.
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Value: 9
FINAL SCORE: 9.2/10
Negative: - some things are hard to see outside of battle –
Wii owners have been waiting a long time for Nintendo to release Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Virtual Console. It seems like an ideal game to make available: everyone wants it and it's a true Nintendo classic. So, finally, at the beginning of September 2008, Nintendo released their 250th Virtual Console title, and you can only guess what that was. Is Super Mario RPG still worth buying nowadays or is it caught in the past?
As usual, the story starts off with Bowser capturing Princess Peach, and naturally Mario heads over to Bowser's castle to rescue her. Oddly enough, a giant sword falls from the sky during the battle of the long-time enemies. This just so happens to be the work of Smithy, a new enemy to the Mario series. He had destroyed the Star Road and the seven star pieces have been spread all across the land, and now Mario must collect them all to save the world from this new foe. The story progresses well and is certainly a tale worth telling. The dialogue is also spot-on as the Mario RPG's are generally praised for with some light humor and good lines throughout.
Super Mario RPG's battle system is great. You have three characters fighting with you at a time (once you have that many), they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and they add a lot to the game overall. You have your basic attacks, which can be upgraded with different weapons, and special attacks that use up flower points (FP). The traditional turn-based combat is present, as is the occasional lack of actual physical contact, which is pretty funny sometimes. The different special moves of each character are heavily varied, with Geno's more diverse power attacks and Peach's more defensively based healing moves, and so on.
Outside of battle, things are sometimes hard to see. Especially when you're doing a series of jumps, it's easy to miss your mark because you can't see exactly where you're going. There are a few puzzles thrown in here and there, and they're not too bad but nothing special either. It's also sometimes hard to see if you can advance to the next area from where you stand because the paths often are simply extensions of the ground rather than clearly defined pathways. The outside-of-battle part of the game could have used some help, but it shouldn't hurt your fun too much.
SMRPG was probably a technical wonder on the SNES. The graphics are really nice and it surprises me that they actually were on a game from the SNES. There are a lot of expressions used by the characters as well, which adds a lot to the visuals. The sound is also great, with lots of traditional Mario sound effects and a lot of new ones that sound nice and fit the game perfectly. The music is really memorable as well: the battle tunes are catchy and the rest are very nice, and like the sound effects they fit their areas perfectly.
Despite the annoyances outside of battle, the game's controls work really well. I don't know how good they were back on the SNES, but with a Classic controller they're excellent. The battle menus are navigated with different buttons depending on which menu you're in, which is really cool. You can also make your attacks do more damage and reduce the damage your character takes from physical attacks with correctly timed button presses. The Classic controller is perfectly suited for the game because outside of battle you hold Y to run, X to open the menu, and B to jump. However, the GameCube controller doesn't fare as well as the Classic with buttons too far away from each other to make the controls convenient. So overall I recommend you use the Classic controller for this game, but it wouldn't be unbearable if you don't have one.
Overall, Super Mario RPG is a really great game. It has high quality graphics and sound, solid gameplay, and a great story, and there isn't much to complain about in the long run. Despite the fact that it has more of a decade behind it, Legend of the Seven Stars is easily one of the best options available on the Virtual Console yet and I highly recommend that any fan of the RPG genre or the Mario universe spend the 800 points and get it, it's definitely worth playing.
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Value: 9
FINAL SCORE: 9.2/10
