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Classic Game of the Week  Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars
- By Eric Tajchman
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is in its declining times. The Sony Playstation has already been launched, Sega’s Saturn followed close behind, and Nintendo is preparing to launch its own next-generation console, the Nintendo 64. But, despite the approaching end of the console, the SNES is still a popular system, and it’s lived a long and fruitful existence. Many of the greatest games ever have been on the 16-bit console and it has outsold the Sega Genesis because of its high amount of quality titles.
One of the developers that made the SNES (and the NES the generation before) is Square Soft; the famed publisher of some of the finest RPGs ever created. Before their switch to develop solely for the Sony Playstation, Square had been a loyal Nintendo-exclusive third-party. Before Hironobu Sakaguchi had worked for Square Soft, the company was making most of its money from non-RPG computer games and Famicom titles. When Sakaguchi arrived, he too also made non-RPG titles, though these games held no interest for him. Feeling no desire to create these types of games, he planned to quit, but not after he asked his boss for the approval of making an RPG. His superior, not knowing much about an RPG, approved the project, and Sakaguchi began immediately. Because of his plans to quit after the project, Sakauchi dubbed the game Final Fantasy.
However, as time has told, Final Fantasy wasn’t the final game it was intended. The title sold extremely well on the Famicom in Japan and Nintendo and Square forged a strong, [almost] unshakable relationship. Square realized the popularity of the RPG and switched focus to develop more of the genre. And when, developers switched to develop for the Sega Genesis during the fierce 16-bit competition, Square remained loyal to Nintendo, producing such titles as Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, and many others. The bond between them was so close that Nintendo gave Square the use of the Mario license in order to attract more people to the RPG genre. The result was Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars.
Unlike the other Mario titles, Super Mario RPG was developed almost completely independent from Nintendo. The story line, character models, and most of the music and sound were created by Square for this particular Mario game. But, the style Square used gave the game a Mario-esque feel and it hides the fact that this Mario game is a turn-based RPG, not an action platformer.
In Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars, The Princess Toadstool has been kidnapped by Bowser yet again, and Mario rushes off to Bowser’s Keep to retrieve her. Upon reaching the castle, he does battle with the Koopa King. However, after Mario thoroughly trounces the spiked-shelled brute, a large sword falls from the clouds and lands right through Bowser’s Keep, sending all of its occupants flying across the land in different directions. Later, Mario learns that the the sword had come from the Star Road, which had been attacked by the evil Smithy and the seven Star Pieces scattered across the world. Now it’s up to Mario to find the Princess Toadstool, help out his new friends on his journey, and find the seven Star Pieces of Star Road so that people’s dreams and wishes may come true.
The game itself is a simple, linear RPG, which was perfect for RPG newbies as it gave them the familiarity of Mario in a new, turn-based world. The game featured five playable characters, but only three could fight at a time. The Mario-based characters were Mario, Princess Toadstool, and Bowser (Mario and Bowser allies?), and the new characters were Mallow, the puffy, unfroggish grandson of wise Frogfucius, and Geno, the guardian of Star Road with a name too hard to pronounce who inhabits the body of a doll. The turn-based battle system sported a simple 4-button menu, Items, Attack, Special, and Other. Each character had a certain number of Hit Points (HP) and a certain number of Flower Points (FP) which gave you the power to pull off Special attacks and spells.
The game was filled with little secrets, such as hidden items and bonus areas, but Square also left one secret gem in the game. Somewhere in Super Mario RPG (no hints here) there is cameo appearance of Culex, a character from Final Fantasy III. You can battle him and test your strength against one of the mightiest Final Fantasy characters (though don’t expect for a plumber with a hammer to beat down a demigod with the powers of the elements in crystal form so easily).
The game was a hit in Japan, and when it arrived in the U.S., the title had a successful and respectable response, but at this time the RPG audience was not as strongly supported as in Japan. It did, however, surpass the conservative estimates that Nintendo placed on the title. But Super Mario RPG turned out to be the last Square-developed game on a Nintendo system. When Nintendo announced that the Nintendo 64 would use a cartridge-based media instead of a CD-ROM, Square jumped ship and started to develop exclusively for Sony’s Playstation. The bond that was once thought unbreakable had broken, and the effects of that terrible split caused the companies to never discuss reuniting until over seven years later.
I have to say that this was the first RPG I ever played, and when I bought the game, I didn’t know it was an RPG. But I consider this the best RPG, simply because it was my first. It opened the door to other great titles like Final Fantasy III, the Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger, and to the whole RPG market. If you’ve never played an RPG, this is the game to start out on. If you’re a “hardcore” role-playing gamer, you need to pick up this game. It’s simple enough for beginners but fun enough to satisfy even the most seasoned gamer.
- 8.17.2001 |
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