Video Game Review: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Release Year: 1996
Reading Year: WI2023
Developer/Publisher: Square/Nintendo
Time to Beat: 7 Hours

Thoughts: I am not a fan of Mario games, but this one won me over. Somehow Square Enix was able to take the dull and intentionally flat character of Mario and make him funny. I can’t get over how funny this game is. The way the characters use physical humor or impersonation to make their jokes with no dialogue. It feels reminiscent of Scooby-Doo. I was always so surprised each time I would have a long/important dialogue interaction because I would always be cracking up. I can’t overstate how strange, odd, and fun the characters and story are.

The gameplay is fun, but I found the method of finding out enemy weaknesses and team-building to be opaque. To be fair, I didn’t try that hard either. I was good enough to win all of my battles with a few slips here and there, but not interested enough to push the game’s systems. That is one thing I will say: if you are willing to explore and push the game’s systems, you will be rewarded. I wasn’t and I think I missed out on really memorable moments, but I am okay with that.

Two things. First, I played the 1996 version of this game rather than the 2023, so navigating the perspective was rough. I think most of my issues with this game would be solved with the remake. Second, I got stuck in a battle loop with the five-color boss fight (Peach was the only one alive with Lazy Shell armor and we would trade 1-damage attacks for eternity). That’s where I gave up and watched the last hour of the game on YouTube.

Totally worth my time, even the 1996 version, and I recommend. It’s not too long and it is so surprising and fun enough to warrant the time commitment!