If there was ever an SNES game that captured my interest, when I didn't even own one, it was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. This has to be the most in depth and captivating Mario game. It was also one of the earliest examples of 3D gameplay. While it was not full 3D like Mario 64, it was done in a very tasteful way, more in the vain of Donkey Kong Country. This game is very unique in several ways, one of the bigger ones was it was one of the earliest examples of Princess Peach in a combat role. Super Mario 2 and Super Mario RPG were pioneers in that. It is also one of the first times you can play as Bowser.
The game does start with kidnapping Princess Toadstool, yes, but she becomes your teammate, along with Bowser and a few other familiar faces. It is kind of a bummer that we didn't get to see Luigi in this game, but there are still a plethora of characters. Geno is added to the roster, as is Mallow, who both round out the cast very well. Mallow is a decent healer but is otherwise rather uninteresting. Geno, however, is awesome and severely under utilized, as he has hardly ever even been seen since this very game. Geno is a damage powerhouse, as is Bowser, but his final weapon does more damage than Rock Candy, which does 200 damage. He is essential when it comes to the bigger bosses.
Mario RPG takes its story very, very seriously. You go through a lot of worlds and a lot of settings throughout the entire game. Every single time, you have a clear goal to reach. Some of these bosses are ridiculously hard, while others are serious pushovers. Thankfully, the grinding in this game is not especially bad. If you stick around a few zones to take on a few enemies here and there, you should have enough experience and money to get yourself upgraded. Gear and levels are absolutely needed. Make sure you at least go through the motions to some degree.
The timed hits keeps you engaged with the gameplay. You need to make sure you keep hitting the A button at the right points for each attack. Sometimes, this also means you see Bowser pick up Mario and throw him at the enemy twice. There is plenty of good humor in this game and that gave me a good chuckle. Weapons are not too hard to save up for, thankfully. If you keep up with the main quests and grind to a small extent, you'll have what you need if you keep progressing through these ridiculous worlds.
Smithy, the final boss, is rather difficult if you don't have a good amount of Rock Candies, good rolls for damage and a plethora of healing items. The final level takes a lot of strategizing and concerving your best items for the boss battles coming your way. By then, you'll have your proper team lined up and you'll have a good system set up.
Going through the story, you start to find out more and more about the characters around you and they do a great job making you want to help. Wherever you go, you're doing good deeds and helping the citizens of the world as you progress. The game does its job very well in giving you the drive to keep going deeper and saving as much of it as you can. A good example of this is when you get Mallow to join you on your journey and he is able to help you get to the clouds where he is actually from. It's kind of funny because he lived with his family of frogs. As a walking cloud marshmallow, he was just shocked to learn that he was adopted. This is the peak of his character development, but honestly, after that, he isn't very necessary to the plot in a very noticeable way.
The graphics in this game were rather groundbreaking for its time. It's gotten a port on the Nintendo Switch and it is a real shame that there was never a complete sequel to this game. Paper Mario was charming and fun, but it never reached this level of greatness. Mario RPG became one of those strange experiments that Nintendo just doesn't do anymore. Taking Mario and giving the reigns of his game over to the Final Fantasy devs turned out great results. It's a real shame that we don't see this sort of mish mashing anymore. It is a dying breed, sadly. Still, we got something of a masterpiece out of it. It's a long game, and the story takes some strange turns, but it's among some of the greatest RPG's of its age. Just remember to get to some of the gray clouds to get some water.
