Friday, September 21, 2007

Super Mario... RPG?

If you've never heard of the game, its not a joke. Its a classic game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) which stars everyone's favorite plumber, Mario.

In the story, you party up with classic Mario characters such as Princess Peach, and other newcomers such as Gino and Mallow. And guess what! Bowser is not the bad guy in this one... dun dun dun... Instead its some crazy big sword that has come out of the sky and planted itself firmly in Bowser's castle. When our noble hero Mario tries to confront the fiend directly, it destroys the bridge, thus beginning a ridiculously long journey that accompanies any good RPG.

The game's graphics are actually very good for the SNES. Everything is in a 3D style and I'd say is a good example of the SNES at peak performance. The fighting system is simple, each of the four buttons (B, A, X, and Y) are used to select either defend, attack, special, or item. And to make the turn based fights even more fun, hitting the A button during your attack at just the right time gives you a critical hit (rather than just random percentages). Other special moves such as Mario's jump attacks will do additional damage by jumping again if you can time the button press just right.

The storyline itself is full of old and new characters. Koopas, goombas, rabid plants, bomb-ombs, Yoshis, and Toadstool people will all be easily recognized from the previous games. However the developers threw in crazy new enemies and bosses that all have a certain goofy yet sadistic feel to them. The lands you journey through will take you through towns of frog people, underground with mole people, up in the clouds, through sewers, and even to a town populated by monsters.

Overall the game is imaginative, fun, and a great addition to the Mario franchise. For me it was a very pleasant surprise and makes a great game for both casual and hardcore RPG fans alike.

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