If you ask current-generation video gamers if they’ve heard about Super Mario RPG, a lot of them won’t know about its existence. There is a special plays in gamers’ hearts for this game, particularly those who have played it with the Super Nintedo way back in the nineties. It is nothing like the 2D Mario platformer games that we know and love. It is a turn-based RPG, but it is still filled with a ton of Mario elements, plus some new ones as well.
Super Mario RPG Celebrates its 20th Anniversary
Super Mario RPG was sprawling with side quests that completionists would get a kick out of. For instance, there’s a secret room within Monstro Town wherein you can find a purple-skinned warrior named Culex. You can finish the entire game without ever meeting this man, but for those that want to capture every secret within the game, this part is a must. What you have to do is purchase a set of fireworks that would put a huge dent in your in-game wallet. Once you get those, you can trade it to an NPC and that character will then give you a crystal to open the door to the knight’s lair. Once you find the knight, he will challenge you to a fight. Once you accept, you will have to face a boss that is more challenging than the final enemy of the game.
Just reading the previous section and you would know that this is no ordinary turn-based RPG. In fact, turn-based role-playing games are somewhat a rarity within Nintendo’s line of titles. However, fans of the game would still get a nostalgic feel once they know that this year marks the 20th Anniversary for Super Mario RPG.
The game was the culmination of the collaboration between Nintendo and Squaresoft (yes, Squaresoft and not Square Enix). Therefore, there are some Final Fantasy-esque elements placed here-and-there within the game’s world. For instance, it has Square’s intricate gameplay systems while having the lovable characters of Nintendo.
Sadly, the duo are not exactly compatible with each other as Squaresoft ditched the idea of being with the N64 in lure of the then more popular Sony PlayStation. After that, the companies’ relationship with each other were never the same.
There are very few games that have lived up to the same loveliness and replayability that is Super Mario RPG. Even hints or Easter eggs of either Croco, the thieving lizard, or Geno, the magical doll from outer space, have graced some of Nintendo’s current games. Fans who have been requesting to place him in the Super Smash Bros. lineup are now left with disappointment as the chance of these characters re-appearing are just left as just an afterthought.