Friday, June 3, 2011

Role-Playing Mario

We're all well aware of the billion games Mario has been featured in. From huge successes like Super Mario Galaxy, to epic failures like Mario is Missing, there's a Mario game for everyone... except FPS Mario. I don't think that would fair too well. Although, Donkey Kong 64's mulitplayer mode had third person shooter, and the buffoonery of apes shooting each other with fruit guns was quite entertaining.

There's one Mario game in particular that stood out to me: Super Mario RPG. I'm not talking about the 2-D, side-scrolling Paper Mario series. Those were fine, but the one for Super Nintendo was special. Nintendo took a bold move, drastically shifting its gameplay and giving it the isometric view. They stayed true to the RPG formula. Mostly because they teamed up with Square (aka Square Enix).

Smithy's Alternate Forms. One of the weirdest boss battles

I really liked how you team up with Bowser to fight a common enemy. There's so much ingenuity and authenticity in this game, it remains as a Super Nintendo classic to me. If they hadn't went the Paper Mario route, and expanded on what they already had, I think there could've been something truly amazing.

Hidden Boss Battle: Culex from Final Fantasy

26 comments:

  1. Well written post and I have heard of this game but never actually played it.

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  2. I really enjoyed the paper mario games >_<

    But I could see the appeal.

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  3. we just can't get enough of mario :)

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  4. Now this is something I'd definitely play! RPG Mario could be fun. Especially when it'd possible to play with friends and form a co-op team.

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  5. So much nostalgia from that game! The Mario franchise has to be one of the biggest in gaming history.

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  6. So much nostalgia from this game - the Mario franchise has to be one of the greatest in gaming history!

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  7. super mario rpg was a great game and is highly under appreciated

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  8. It was one of my favorite games as a child. I still love it in fact and playing it now years later I get all of the difference references. It's really awesome.

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  9. One of my all time favorite games from my childhood!

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  10. Oh wow.

    I've never heard of this Mario game before!
    Awesome read!
    Maybe they will release an updated version one day...

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  11. Never played Super Mario RPG but i did play Mario & Luigi: Bowser's inside story on the DS and thought it was great :) I would definitely give the other Mario RPG games a try :)

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  12. This is on my to-play list.

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  13. whoa that looks so awesome man

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  14. ahahah love mario.
    dont know if i would play this though

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  15. reminds me of the old good times, oldschool ftw!
    nice work, like ur blog, keep it up!

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  16. retro games aren't really my thing, but I like your blog

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  17. I've always just thought of Mario as the basic, mushroom jumping, tunnel sinking game. There is so much more, though :o

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  18. I love Super Mario RPG! Its actually called Legend of the Seven Stars.

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  19. Fun fact: there's a capella version of Culex's Battle Theme. Another fun fact: I can't get it out of my head. "Yoko Shimomura fooor the wiiin~"...

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  20. I have this sitting around in emulator form somewhere, should probably take the time to play it.

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  21. Mario RPG was such a great game! I wish they made games like this again. Nowadays they focus on graphics and usually the gaming experience is lacking, unfortunately.

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  22. Nostalgic!
    +following and supporting

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  23. i've never thouoght of playing an RPG version of mario! haha

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