The remake of Super Mario RPG, as strange as it seems, represents a real event: here’s what you need to know about it
Here we are: Super Mario RPG is finally available for Nintendo Switch, and we have gathered here and there curiosities and everything else about it what you need to know regarding the remake. For historians of the Big N and for fans of the mustache in general there may be very little we could add, but we wanted to round up a few gems here and there that might be of interest to you. To begin with, what do we owe the high-sounding subtitle for this article? It was the first RPG for the plumber, true, but that’s all there is to it, right? Well… we could surprise you on the fly.
It was the trailblazer for Final Fantasy in the West | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
Believe it or not, the remake indirectly celebrates the historical importance of Super Mario RPG for a reason you might not have known: Final Fantasy it was more popular than anything else… in Japan. In 1996 RPGs in the West were niche, which is why Square-Enix contacted the Big N to collaborate. The result was the introduction of many players to the genre of Japanese role-playing games, with the undoubted complicity of the translation by the legendary localizer Ted Woolsey (Final Fantasy VI). Square-Enix’s Tetsuya Nomura would later be fascinated by Super Mario 64 for a 3D action game, but how he entered the Disney world to compete is another story…
The many compromises between Nintendo and Square-Enix | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
It’s Square-Enix: does it surprise anyone that in 1996 their first idea was to give Mario a sword? Of course, Shigeru Miyamoto objected, at least initially. Mario should use a hammer, not a blade. And even the dominion over magic is to be discarded a priori, however enthusiastic Square was about it. Chihiro Fujiokadirector of the game, “challenged” Miyamoto presenting the game at a convention: sword vs. hammer, magic vs. Mario’s abilities. It was the applause meter that declared the winner. It was created for Final Fantasy magic Mallowwhose trousers are inspired by the wizards of the saga.
(Legally) Unique Characters | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
Have you ever wondered why the Mii costume of Geno, himself a highly requested character for Smash, had only arrived with the Sephiroth update? Because Square-Enix’s creations (or should we say Squaresoftspeaking of the nineties) for the game they are, all things considered, their property. The various characters such as Punchinello, Blacksmith Magno and his gang, Croco and even some enemies in particular have never returned before today, and this exclusion also extends to the Square-Enix games themselves as they are creations linked to a Nintendo project. The only exception is Geno’s cameo in the GBA version of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, which includes a thank you to Square in the credits for this very reason (causing this writer a lot of confusion at the time).
Modern benefits | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
We’ll talk more about it (barring unforeseen events) during the review, but compared to the original this new coat of paint includes four new features. The first is the presence of one easy mode, to accommodate novice players (and those who take them from Croco in the first battle, ed.). Then there are newborns three-way attacks, which act as a middle ground between the invocations and Limit Breaks of Final Fantasy and vary based on the formation of the team present in battle. In the post-game, i boss they can be challenged again for one revenge. Finally, for us of the Old Continent, we have one Italian translation completely new… in short, some names like Mack are now in the past!
The three schools of thought (or rather, two) | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
Leaving aside the fact that we have mended a historic creative partnership for this occasion, the release of the game is also a historic event for another reason. You see, the first Paper Mario on N64 was born as “Super Mario RPG 2” during development, but as much as it fills us with joy to see the sequel return to Switch next year we must recognize that the remake fills a considerable void. The true sequel to Mario’s first role-playing game was the third, namely that Superstar Saga from 2003: developed by the now defunct Alphadream, made up of former Square members including much of the creative team of the 1996 classic. The action controls that made the fortune of the two brothers (A for Mario, B for Luigi!) were born here, as was the humor. And the style. And the class!
Are we men or corporals? | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
The plot was written by cabaret enthusiasts, and Ted Woolsey did not fail to adapt its humor for Western audiences. Part of the historic translation didn’t make it (goodbye to the joke about Bruce Lee), while part of the script remained intact (“Because I left my bazooka at home!”). In any case, the plot takes itself seriously only when and where it needs to (with the contrast between the colorful world of Mario and the dimension of Blacksmith Magno, who wants to replace desires with weapons), but for the rest even the usual narrative pretext is ridiculed with the kidnapping of Peach and the related resolution that ends consume in the first thirty minutes of the game.
Enemy Design | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
The remake remains very faithful to creative freedoms taken by the development team with the Mariesque conventions of the time. This translates into the presence of enemies classics such as Goombas, Piranha Plants and staggering company, accompanied however by all new (ugly) faces. From the bipedal frogs of the first game areas to bosses with four-eyed canine features, the sensation of dealing with a Mario game crossed with a Final Fantasy often catches the eye. Not to mention a certain optional boss, whose sketch brings to mind the humanoid horrors of the Square series…
Strategy becomes poetry | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
Of course: the remake fills the “power vacuum” generated by Alphadream’s bankruptcy. Nobody doubts it. However, don’t expect to be able to get away without planning your moves. An example above all is theequipment. While in a random Mario & Luigi you can just buy cards, trousers and shoes, here it is possible to give the mustachioed guy and his friends weapons and armor for many different parameters. And the battle animations reflect the differences: Mario can hit with a hammer if he has one equipped, but otherwise he can solve the problem with a couple of punches or kicking a shell. Ditto for Peach, who goes from slaps to pans, or… well, we get the idea.
Marvelous! | What to know about the Super Mario RPG remake
Since we’re filling this handbook with tangential gems on what to know about the game (remake or not), leave us a little pearl now that we’re approaching the end. In our review of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, we mentioned with great pleasure the presence of musical levels, taking the second one in the game as an example. But what if we told you that this isn’t the first Piranha Plant Musical put on by Nintendo? This honor goes to Japanese commercial of the 1996 original, in which the stop-motion animated plants extolled (singing) the merits of this at the time unpredictable collaboration. We’re really suspecting that the proximity between the two releases on Nintendo Switch contributed to the singing plants…
The most important consideration
Okay, we’ve had fun listing every possible thing to keep in mind about Super Mario RPG, but we can’t know for sure if the remake will get the sales we’ve been hoping for since it was announced. Certainly in the previous paragraphs you will have understood why it is a more unique than rare game, but both Nintendo and Square-Enix have two different reasons for observing the progress of the game on the shelves with extreme attention. Nintendo will use this game and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for measure interest in Mario role-playing games, with which you can see how to behave with Mario & Luigi. Square-Enix on the other hand could consider the idea of a full-fledged sequel!
Now it’s up to you to tell us your opinion. Would you have ever thought that such an “obscure” and (in our country) little-known game was so important? Let us know below, and as always don’t forget to stay on techgameworld.com for all the most important news for gamers and beyond. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Instant Gaming.