Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars (SMRPG) is originally an SNES video game that was wildly entertaining for me as a younger child, and now it's available to me via download on my Wii. Of course, wanting to replay something I loved as a child with new controls, I purchased the title immediately, without much thought as to if I should have re-bought the game, as I had the SNES version still in working order...
The plot of SMRPG changes things up a bit for a Mario game (shocking, I know!). Bowser kidnaps the Princess, Mario tries to rescue the Princess. Unfortunately, things aren't that easy this time. A gigantic sword splits into Bowser's Castle, separating the three, throwing them all over the world. Eventually, the group learns of the ?Star Road? that that sword destroyed on its way into Bowser's Castle. The Road has the power to grant the wishes of the inhabitants of Mario's World. Thus, the group goes on an adventure to recover the missing pieces of the Star Road, and stop the evil syndicate that bases itself inside the giant sword from filling Mario's world with weapons of destruction. The plot gets bonus points from me, because it strays away from the typical Mario story. This time, there's no Princess to rescue, no Bowser to beat. Just the amazing story and amazing characters that Nintendo and Square Enix combined together in this amazing world. It was compelling, and I even found myself smiling like an idiot at the ?happy sad? ending. I'd say that if you've never played this game before, the uniqueness of the story (for a Mario game) is enough to warrant a download.
SMRPG has remained unchanged over the years, with roughly the same graphics as it did in the 90's. Attacks, characters, items, weapons, armor have also remained unchanged. Basically, SMRPG hasn't changed ANYTHING in its gameplay. Granted, with the amount of success it had, that's not too surprising. However, this also has a horrible side effect. I basically spent a small amount of cash on the exact same game that I already owned, just to play with it on my Wii and my Gamecube controller. The developers could have at least added a new dungeon, area, or some new weapons/items, and then it would have at least made it feel more... ?rewarding? when I looked at my bank statement the next week.
Speaking of the Gamecube controller, I don't recommend it. The controls are ?roughly? the same as it was on the original SNES controller, but a tad more annoying. For example, to run in the game, you have to hold down the ?X? button, which is not in a good position to hold for long periods of time. Also, because the buttons are not in the same order as they were in the original title, it takes some getting used to to open up the menus around your characters (which are labeled with A,B,X,Y). Because I don't own a classic controller at the moment, I borrowed one from a friend in order to see if the controls were any better. Surprisingly enough, it was. It was much more comfortable using it than the gamecube controller, so if you do end up purchasing this game, go out and get a Classic Controller (it would be a wise investment anyway, especially considering most Wii DLC requires it anyway) to play it.
Getting down to the nitty gritty, the gameplay (as mentioned above) has remained unchanged. Characters will walk around a section of the world (selected from a larger world map before each smaller adventure), and enter battle by running into monsters on the land. Battles are fought as the typical RPG-type battle. Three of your characters against the horde of Mario Monsters, fought in turn based combat. Based on how fast your character is will determine the order in which you go. The battle system (at the time the game was developed originally) was actually pretty compelling to play with. However, after the years, it's just pretty much the standard for most RPGs, making it nothing revolutionary to look at. I'm not complaining about the battle system, however, the actual battles are a force of concern for me. Most battles can be won in the same manner. Mario attacking with his high attack stat, Princess Peach healing the entire party (with a spell she learns whenever she joins you), and whatever third character you want using either another high attack stat or special stat. This makes most in-game attack items utterly useless (such as Fire Bombs or Ice Bombs), because doing this over and over again will almost always guarantee you victory. Thus, this makes the difficulty of the game basically the exact same throughout the entire game. Easy. In fact, that's the basic flaw of the game in today's system. Back then, ?grinding? wasn't as important as it is today in most RPG's, so leveling up isn't absolutely necessary. Fighting the few monsters in between each world once will suffice enough to beat any boss, as long as you have the right strategy in mind when fighting. To prove my point, I played through the game, fighting each enemy along the way once, and even skipping a few enemies when my health/magic got low. As expected, I was able to beat every boss along the way with no difficulty, and even was able to beat the ?super secret? boss of the game. SMRPG fails to prove any sort of a challenge, which makes sense if you really think about it. SMRPG was marketed towards children (with a KtoA rating), and I'm sure the developers didn't want it to be too difficult for people to play, and keep their attention long enough (something that grinding RPG's sometimes fails at).
The soundtrack is fun and upbeat. It makes you smile when you walk into a town and hear it's unique theme. The royal and elegant sound of the Mushroom Kingdom. The rough and tough sound of Moleville. The high and uplifting sound of Nimbusland. Each town is fun to walk in and shop around at. Boss fights also have adrenaline pumping music, with each level of boss (tough, tougher and toughest) having a different and fun tune. While MIDI music should never really be an excuse to buy a game, this is a really fun soundtrack that adds to the game.
Now it comes down to my final thoughts. Like I've already stated, I kind of regretted buying the exact same game for a different console. So if you already own the game for the SNES (and have a working SNES and cartridge), then there isn't really any reason to purchase the title again. However, if this game missed your way the first time through, that's a different story. If you're looking for a fast paced, awesome game that will be worth hours of gameplay and innovation, then I'd pass this one over. If you're looking for something fun to pick up and play with for a day or two, and something that's not really too serious, I'd recommend it.
Also, it's important to note if you have a Wii, a couple of bucks , and the desire to play something that doesn't totally suck, then pick this baby up. Because it's pretty much one of the few titles for the Wii this year that's not a total dissapointment.
The plot of SMRPG changes things up a bit for a Mario game (shocking, I know!). Bowser kidnaps the Princess, Mario tries to rescue the Princess. Unfortunately, things aren't that easy this time. A gigantic sword splits into Bowser's Castle, separating the three, throwing them all over the world. Eventually, the group learns of the ?Star Road? that that sword destroyed on its way into Bowser's Castle. The Road has the power to grant the wishes of the inhabitants of Mario's World. Thus, the group goes on an adventure to recover the missing pieces of the Star Road, and stop the evil syndicate that bases itself inside the giant sword from filling Mario's world with weapons of destruction. The plot gets bonus points from me, because it strays away from the typical Mario story. This time, there's no Princess to rescue, no Bowser to beat. Just the amazing story and amazing characters that Nintendo and Square Enix combined together in this amazing world. It was compelling, and I even found myself smiling like an idiot at the ?happy sad? ending. I'd say that if you've never played this game before, the uniqueness of the story (for a Mario game) is enough to warrant a download.
SMRPG has remained unchanged over the years, with roughly the same graphics as it did in the 90's. Attacks, characters, items, weapons, armor have also remained unchanged. Basically, SMRPG hasn't changed ANYTHING in its gameplay. Granted, with the amount of success it had, that's not too surprising. However, this also has a horrible side effect. I basically spent a small amount of cash on the exact same game that I already owned, just to play with it on my Wii and my Gamecube controller. The developers could have at least added a new dungeon, area, or some new weapons/items, and then it would have at least made it feel more... ?rewarding? when I looked at my bank statement the next week.
Speaking of the Gamecube controller, I don't recommend it. The controls are ?roughly? the same as it was on the original SNES controller, but a tad more annoying. For example, to run in the game, you have to hold down the ?X? button, which is not in a good position to hold for long periods of time. Also, because the buttons are not in the same order as they were in the original title, it takes some getting used to to open up the menus around your characters (which are labeled with A,B,X,Y). Because I don't own a classic controller at the moment, I borrowed one from a friend in order to see if the controls were any better. Surprisingly enough, it was. It was much more comfortable using it than the gamecube controller, so if you do end up purchasing this game, go out and get a Classic Controller (it would be a wise investment anyway, especially considering most Wii DLC requires it anyway) to play it.
Getting down to the nitty gritty, the gameplay (as mentioned above) has remained unchanged. Characters will walk around a section of the world (selected from a larger world map before each smaller adventure), and enter battle by running into monsters on the land. Battles are fought as the typical RPG-type battle. Three of your characters against the horde of Mario Monsters, fought in turn based combat. Based on how fast your character is will determine the order in which you go. The battle system (at the time the game was developed originally) was actually pretty compelling to play with. However, after the years, it's just pretty much the standard for most RPGs, making it nothing revolutionary to look at. I'm not complaining about the battle system, however, the actual battles are a force of concern for me. Most battles can be won in the same manner. Mario attacking with his high attack stat, Princess Peach healing the entire party (with a spell she learns whenever she joins you), and whatever third character you want using either another high attack stat or special stat. This makes most in-game attack items utterly useless (such as Fire Bombs or Ice Bombs), because doing this over and over again will almost always guarantee you victory. Thus, this makes the difficulty of the game basically the exact same throughout the entire game. Easy. In fact, that's the basic flaw of the game in today's system. Back then, ?grinding? wasn't as important as it is today in most RPG's, so leveling up isn't absolutely necessary. Fighting the few monsters in between each world once will suffice enough to beat any boss, as long as you have the right strategy in mind when fighting. To prove my point, I played through the game, fighting each enemy along the way once, and even skipping a few enemies when my health/magic got low. As expected, I was able to beat every boss along the way with no difficulty, and even was able to beat the ?super secret? boss of the game. SMRPG fails to prove any sort of a challenge, which makes sense if you really think about it. SMRPG was marketed towards children (with a KtoA rating), and I'm sure the developers didn't want it to be too difficult for people to play, and keep their attention long enough (something that grinding RPG's sometimes fails at).
The soundtrack is fun and upbeat. It makes you smile when you walk into a town and hear it's unique theme. The royal and elegant sound of the Mushroom Kingdom. The rough and tough sound of Moleville. The high and uplifting sound of Nimbusland. Each town is fun to walk in and shop around at. Boss fights also have adrenaline pumping music, with each level of boss (tough, tougher and toughest) having a different and fun tune. While MIDI music should never really be an excuse to buy a game, this is a really fun soundtrack that adds to the game.
Now it comes down to my final thoughts. Like I've already stated, I kind of regretted buying the exact same game for a different console. So if you already own the game for the SNES (and have a working SNES and cartridge), then there isn't really any reason to purchase the title again. However, if this game missed your way the first time through, that's a different story. If you're looking for a fast paced, awesome game that will be worth hours of gameplay and innovation, then I'd pass this one over. If you're looking for something fun to pick up and play with for a day or two, and something that's not really too serious, I'd recommend it.
Also, it's important to note if you have a Wii, a couple of bucks , and the desire to play something that doesn't totally suck, then pick this baby up. Because it's pretty much one of the few titles for the Wii this year that's not a total dissapointment.
