| Overall Rating: 10 |
| Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars |
| In my early days I was oblivious to the world of Role-playing. On one trip to blockbuster, though, I saw a new Mario game. On the cover were some of the easily recognized characters of the Mario world, however there were also a few odd looking people. One was a bluejean wearing marshmellow with a pink mohawk and the other was an odd looking guy with a blue cape. Confused, but excited nonetheless, I took the game home, turned the Super Nintendo, and opened the doorway to a new world of gaming. The game starts off just as any other story in the Mario legacy. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool and Mario is rushing off to save her. Just as Mario is about to rescue the princess a giant sword crashes down and lands in the center of the castle, tossing everyone in different directions. Suddenly new baddies working for a man known as Smithy are popping up everywhere and Peach is nowhere to be found. Mario must now team up with friend, foe, and new adventurers to find Princess Peach and to save the world from being overrun by Smithy's weapons. This RPG breaks away from the traditional seriousness of the genre by using the normal, though immature, elements of the Mario world. The game is fairly short (you can only level up to 30) and dosen't allow for much off story stuff. I know it sounds as if it would be without mini-games or side-quest, but it isn't. It has it's share. From collecting different equipment to buying Gameboy games, it's got a good share side-fun. The battle mode is a simple turned based type. Each character has five possible commands: Physical attack, special attack, item, defend, or run away. The battles also incorporate timed hit and defense, which can trigger critical damage, or allwo you to greatly decrease damage or sometimes make you impervious to attacks. The soundtrack and graphics are great. The soundtrack features old favorites of the Mario world and new ones that are just as good. The graphics work in an 8-directional deal, and are trying to be three dimensional, and they arn't too bad. In all the game is a materpiece that wasen't taken on too well by the public at the time (I bought it for about 4 dollars from Blockbuster a year or two after it was released), but will always be cherished by me. I think most people who play it now realize it's authority over other games of it's time and they appreciate it jsut as much as I do. I recommend this game for anyone who likes RPG's, but needs to escape from the seriousness of the genre, or Mario fans who also appreciate the greatness of Role-Playing. |