Super Mario RPG - Review
The classic Super Mario RPG has finally received its modern-day revitalisation. Yet with being what is essentially a like for like remake of the original with enhanced graphics and controls, does the 1996 classic hold up in the modern day?
The Square (now Square Enix) classic RPG is one of very few universally acclaimed RPG titles. Offering a completely different take on the Super Mario style, Super Mario RPG was a child-friendly and easily accessible RPG title. Filled with whimsical bosses, fantastic visual gags and well-rounded approachable comedy. The remake keeps all the qualities of the original, whilst giving them a shine of star paint to really enhance their magnitude.
Super Mario RPG flips the idea of an RPG needing extensive world and story-building on its head. Taking what is typically a genre that is filled with hundreds of hours of grinding, world-building, deep dialogue and storytelling, and essentially kicking that idea in the bin. Super Mario RPG is a tight under twenty-hour experience of enjoyable combat, whimsical comedy and straight to the point storytelling. Super Mario RPG maintains this to this day, and with a brand-new post-game experience in the remake both new and returning players will find a tight experience, with a whole lot to enjoy.
The updated visuals of the remake lend themselves to the best part of the Super Mario RPG experience. The visual comedy and slapstick humour. It cannot be understated how wildly enjoyable it is to just look at the game. There is a plethora of charades style storytelling. The game takes advantage of the idea of a mute protagonist (this really seemed to be a thing in the 90’s) and plays around that idea for most of the comedic effect. Mario has this strange ability to perfectly change into and mimic any other character in existence for the sake of visual storytelling. These are without a doubt some of the funniest moments throughout the entire game, with normally Mallow explaining the events that are happening. None of the other characters ever even seem to care that Mario is seemingly unable to say a single thing, or that he can change into any other person at whim. Which seems like a mighty oversight for a world full of giant spiky turtles and sentient cloud people.
The audio design in Super Mario RPG rivals the original. You have the option of being able to change the soundtrack at whim between the original and the remake. Every single has been masterfully recreated, and it can be hard to really pick which is better. Original fans will be delighted in being able to experience the game with the original soundtrack, but I personally would go so far as to say the newly mastered tracks are even better in some instances than the originals. The newly mastered tracks are easy to listen to, beautifully put together and truly encapsulate the intended vibe of the game. Every track is unique, and truly fitting to the area. The Nimbus Land and the Weapons Factory themes are incredible standouts from the new soundtrack.
The combat in Super Mario RPG is simple enough, with little bits of accent to make it a more well-rounded system. There are two difficulty options offered when starting the game, Breezy or Normal, with the ability to switch between the two at whim. For anyone who has ever played an RPG before, Normal is the go here. The game states that this challenge is for players who enjoy a challenge, but beyond the late game boss battles, the game isn’t all that difficult. If you kill every enemy, you come across as you progress the game, you’ll easily be over-levelled for 90 per cent of the base game content. Becoming familiar with the action inputs will also ensure you’re constantly hitting AoE attacks and doing critical damage. The game displays an exclamation mark for when these inputs should be made, but typically you’ll miss the input if you wait until the mark is displayed. The timing on the action inputs feels a little floaty at times, particular with Mario’s super jump attack. It may have just been a slow reaction timing thing, but it did have moments of feeling incredibly unresponsive to what appeared to be on time inputs.
For returning players, there is a few additions to the post-game to give them all something new. The game offers a brand-new experience exclusive to the remake. Boss refights with highly more difficult mechanics, more health and specialised encounter mechanics to really test players. The increase in difficulty, alongside the somewhat floaty action inputs does make for a relatively hard overall time. It does mean you’ll need to make full use of the new Chain System, which gives you boosts and allows for special triple moves. Having the action inputs be a little less obtuse in the way they work would do wonders for ensuring this post-game content didn’t feel as overtly obnoxious as it does. The new mechanics are enjoyable, and the fights feel more threatening. Yet the timing on blocks always seeming incorrect does mean inevitable deaths over things that mostly beyond your control.
On the note of the introduced triple moves, each combination of characters will have a different triple move assigned. Mario, Mallow and Bowser climb into a clown car and bombard enemies with a storm of elemental bombs. Whereas Mario, Peach and Bowser will turn Bowser into a spinning whirlpool of stary violence to blow the enemies away. Each of these is accompanied by a cutscene, which are a joy to watch. There is the option to skip them, but they only take ten to fifteens seconds, and with how sporadically they will come up; it is much more enjoyable just to watch. This further extends to all the new fully rendered cutscenes throughout the game. The style of Super Mario RPG Remake is gorgeous to look at, and whilst some may feel they could have pushed the graphics further. The decision to keep the cuteness of the original with a more polished feel is overall the better choice. For some reason there are points of the game where the framerate seems to drop off, and the game performs poorly. These are few and far between, but they are somewhat off-putting when they occur. It is bizarre for a game that realistically shouldn’t be pushing the Switch hardware all that much.
Super Mario RPG remake is a wonderful way of bringing a classic to the modern day. Retouched visuals, new mechanics to bring more life to the combat and gameplay loop, and a beautiful tribute to the original soundtrack. There are minor things that could be tweaked, such as the action input windows, and the occasional framerate drop. The game is a much more approachable and focused RPG experience, and both returning and new players are likely to have a great time with the game.
The Score
8.5
Review code provided by Nintendo
The Pros
Whimsical and incredibly funny
Soundtrack is masterfully done.
Combat does a good job of not being overtly punishing.
The Cons
Post-game is somewhat obtuse to start
Occasional frame drops that are quite noticeable.
Action Input feels floaty.
