Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, released for the Super Nintendo in 1996, on the heels of the Nintendo 64, is widely considered an absolute 16-bit classic. Fruit of the partnership between Nintendo and, at the time, Squaresoft – today, Square Enix – for many, including me, this game starring Mario and his friends served as a gateway to the genre that is now one of the most popular among video games.

And, without a shadow of a doubt, your remake will do the same, now with a completely new audience, in addition to, of course, delighting those who have already played its original version. This is all thanks to excellent updating work, which at the same time as updating its audiovisual presentation, also included improvements and new gameplay features.

Super Mario RPG is a classic reborn

Bluntly, we can say that Super Mario RPG is an RPG focused on beginners, as it features easy and fun mechanics, many of which became part of future Nintendo releases, such as the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series, which arrived in the company's next generation of consoles and portables. 

The combat system has the same turn-based gameplay as traditional Japanese RPGs, but greatly simplifies the process, treating each of the four control buttons with a different functionality, with two types of attack, the option to use items, and actions such as defending. and flee from battle. 

The big innovation comes when attacking and defending: by pressing one of the buttons at the right time, the strength of the action is amplified, or in the case of defense, the damage is minimized. There are also other movements, such as turning the control lever and quickly pressing buttons, so it doesn't get repetitive and keeps you aware of what's going on.

In this remake, when performing these actions, a bar on the right side of the combat screen fills up. Once you reach 100%, you can use a different skill depending on which characters you are playing at that time. Some are sweeping attacks, while others bring benefits to the group, such as healing or even improving the defense and attack of Mario and friends. 

Oh, and depending on your team composition, there are now special advantages that each person brings to battles, so it's always worth varying who you're playing with to discover these advantages!

A story full of emotion and lots of laughs

In terms of history, Super Mario RPG It's simple, but it works. It all starts with yet another kidnapping of Princess Peach by Bowser, Mario's great rival. Upon arriving at the villain's castle, the mustachioed man is able to save the girl, but when everything seems to be resolved, a giant sword from the sky sticks itself right in the middle of the fortress, throwing the hero, the princess and the evil guy away.

Shortly afterwards, in the search for Peach, Mario finds a star after meeting Malow, a clumsy little boy who claims to be a frog, but who obviously isn't, and the two are informed of what happened: the Star Road, the place in the heavens where all desires go, was destroyed, and its pieces scattered throughout the world. 

Those responsible for this calamity are Smithy and his henchmen, people from outside the area who, with the fallen stars, want to dominate the world. It's up to Mario and an unusual team of friends, including Bowser, seeking revenge for taking his home, to gather these fragments and defeat Smithy before it's too late. 

Between the comings and goings, as expected, there is a lot of confusion and hilarious scenes, even more fun with the new graphics, which greatly expand the expressiveness of the cast, with Mario in particular. The little guy is even cuter than usual in this adventure, and without making a peep he manages to be very charismatic and funny, especially when it comes to his mimes and dances.

Remake faithful to the original, but with improvements

The game is not long and can be completed in about ten hours, playing without any rush. However, there is a nice amount of side content that can lengthen this time, in the form of bonus missions and minigames. 

When completing the adventure for the first time, Super Mario RPG has different new activities, such as more difficult boss fights, a list of collectibles so you know if you are close to 100% in the game and a music player, where you can listen to both the old and new versions, composed by veteran Yoko Shimomura.

In this regard, the game must be highly praised. The songs, which were already incredible in 1996, received special treatment from Shimomura, and are even better than their original versions, bringing the audio quality to today's standards, not to mention the number of instruments, which now they even include a cavaquinho.

I already touched on the subject during the review, but it's worth highlighting the enormous graphical improvement of Super Mario RPG with respect to the 1996 version. Developer Art Piazza, responsible for remake, hit the nail on the head when it came to transitioning from the pre-rendered style of the original to the new game. Everything, but absolutely EVERYTHING is now colorful and full of personality, keeping intact the charm already present in the game from almost 30 years ago.

And they didn't stop there: there are also all-new CG cutscenes in this version of the game, and they are simply incredible. They not only appear when telling the story, but also during the special group attacks, exclusive to the remake, which I talked about just now. Everything was done with extra care that helps make the game even more beautiful. 

Difficulty leaves a little to be desired

Having said everything that could be said about Super Mario RPG, I can't deny that I found this version a little too easy, even more so than the first. Even as an entry-level RPG, it is very easy to complete, and apart from one or two special fights here and there, even those who have never played something like this in their lives won't have many complications with it; veterans of the genre, even less so. 

Even the bonus fights that are unlocked in the post-game are not very complicated to deal with, especially with the experience and knowledge that comes after completing Super Mario RPG. This is an RPG that is at the opposite extreme even from Final Fantasy, being a game that is easy to master by any type of player. 

Our verdict

However, it is not with the challenge that the game guarantees itself, but with all the personality and endless charm that it brings, as one of the best Super Mario titles that exist. This new version is one of the best-made remakes that have been released to date and, if it depends on this review, it reaches a new level of quality to be beaten by future re-releases of this type.  

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Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (22 / 11 / 23)