Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Encyclopedia
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, often shortened and officially known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game
developed by Square
(now Square Enix
) and published by Nintendo
for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(SNES). It was originally released on March 9, 1996 in Japan and on May 13, 1996 in North America. Nintendo ported the game, with minor differences, to the Wii
's Virtual Console
service in 2008 to regions around the world. It is the first role-playing game (RPG) in the Mario series
. The game contains token similarities to other Square role-playing games, such as Chrono Trigger
and the Final Fantasy
series, with a story and action-based gameplay derived from the Super Mario Bros.
series.
The game's story focuses on Mario
and the teammates he meets as they seek to eliminate Smithy, the game's main antagonist
, who has stolen the seven star pieces of Star Road, a road where all the world's inhabitants' wishes become Wish Stars, allowing them to be granted. The game features five permanent playable characters. Super Mario RPG was directed by Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka
and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
. Yoko Shimomura
composed the game's score, which was released on a soundtrack album
in Japan shortly after the game's debut.
Super Mario RPG was the final Mario game released for the SNES as well as one of the last games Square produced for Nintendo hardware until Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice in 2002. Square did much of the development of Super Mario RPG under direct guidance from producer Shigeru Miyamoto
. The game was well-received upon release, and it was praised particularly for its 3D rendered graphics and humor. The game started the Mario RPG series, and two successive RPG-themed spiritual sequel
s followed: the Paper Mario series and the Mario & Luigi series, both of which use certain conventions established in the original.
, Bowser, Princess Toadstool
, Mallow, and Geno fight as allies in the first RPG in the Mario series
. It contains token similarities to other Square RPGs, such as Chrono Trigger
and the Final Fantasy
series, along with a story and gameplay based on the Super Mario Bros. series of platform game
s. Like most RPGs, there are two main sections to the game: adventuring and turn-based monster battles. Much of Super Mario RPGs gameplay is outside monster battles and plays like an isometric platformer, in which traditional Mario element such as punching floating question blocks from below are prominent. Enemies are visible in the field; a battle ensues only if Mario comes in contact with one. This allows the player to evade unnecessary battles.
The player controls only Mario at the journey's beginning. Ultimately, the player will gain a party of five characters, though only three characters can be used during a battle. Each of the five characters has a unique set of attacks and techniques. For example, Toadstool's abilities are primarily healing techniques, whereas Geno and Bowser have offensive attacks that deal high amounts of damage. Mario is always in the player's party, but the other two characters can be selected before battles. The combat is based on a traditional turn based battle system with the addition of action commands that amplify a move's effects. The action command consists of timed button presses during an attack, special move, defense, or item usage. This is one of the more innovative features of gameplay, becoming a mainstay of later Mario RPGs and carrying over to later RPGs such as Final Fantasy VIII.
s, Moleville is inhabited by moles, Monstro Town is populated by reformed monsters, Yo'ster Isle is where Yoshi
and his eponymous species reside, and Nimbus Land is an area inhabited by cloud people. Bowser's Castle is another prominent location in the game, as it holds the portal to the main antagonist's home world.
The main protagonist is Mario, whose ultimate goal is to rescue Princess Toadstool from Bowser. Soon after the start of his journey, the Smithy Gang invades the world. While attempting to stop the group, Mario is joined by Mallow, a cloud boy who thinks he is a tadpole; Geno, a doll possessed by a celestial spirit from the Star Road; Bowser, whose armies have deserted him out of fear of the Smithy Gang; and Princess Toadstool, who was lost in the turmoil that occurred when the Smithy Gang arrived. The Smithy Gang is led by Smithy, a robotic blacksmith from an alternate dimension with aspirations of world domination.
insists that Mario recover the Princess and discover the purpose of the giant sword. Upon leaving Toadstool's castle, Mario encounters Mallow, a tadpole who has lost a frog coin to Croco, a local thief. Mario agrees to help him, but when they return to the castle, he finds that the kingdom is overrun by creatures from the Smithy Gang. He and Mallow enter the castle and are met by the first boss in the game, a giant knife and spring-like creature named Mack. When Mack is defeated, they find a mysterious Star Piece, which Mario takes in hopes of finding out more about it later.
During Mario’s search for the princess, on which Mallow accompanies him, he meets a star spirit who has taken control over a doll named Geno. After another boss battle against a bow-like creature named Bowyer, Geno then joins Mario and tells him that the Star Piece is a part of the shattered Star Road, where he resides. Geno is tasked with finding the seven pieces of Star Road, which are held by members of the Smithy gang, in order to repair it. Mario and Mallow agree to help Geno. Mario eventually finds Bowser, who is trying to reassemble his forces. They join together to save the princess, as she is about to be forcibly married to Booster. After Toadstool has been rescued, Bowser joins Mario's party, and the player is able to switch characters for the first time. Princess Toadstool initially goes back to Mushroom Kingdom but soon joins the party as well. After Mario and his group recovered most of the Star Pieces, they learn that the last one is held in Bowser's castle. Upon battling their way through the assembled enemies and returning to the giant sword, they discover that it is actually a gateway to Smithy's factory, where Smithy mass produces his army. In the end, Smithy is defeated, and the collected Star Pieces are used to repair the Star Road.
and co-director Chihiro Fujioka
at the 1995 V-Jump Festival event in Japan. Miyamoto led teams at Nintendo and Square, who spent over a year developing the graphics. The story takes place in a newly rendered Mushroom Kingdom based on the Super Mario Bros. series. Square reported that the game was about 70% complete in October 1995. The developers created the interior elements such as columns, stairways, exterior elements with advanced computer modeling techniques. Special lighting effects were used to create shadows and reflections that were meant to improve the 3D elements. With guidance from Miyamoto, Square developed the game, combining parts of its traditional RPGs, like Final Fantasy VI
and Chrono Trigger, with Nintendo's platform games. Square's Final Fantasy series was the model for the battle sequences, while the tradition of Super Mario Bros. games demanded a lot of action. Mario's ability to jog in eight directions and jump up or down in three–quarter perspective gave him a large range of motion. At 70% complete, the mix of adventure and action game play elements placed it in a category closer to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
.
When Nintendo of America received a 60% complete version in November, the staff were surprised at the inclusion of an RPG battle system. The battle screens, using pre-rendered sprites as in the rest of the game, included attack animations of equipped weapons. In December, further development and improvements to the gameplay delayed the translation of the game. For example, the Chancellor, who was named the Mushroom Retainer in Japan, was called the "Minister" in North America. Plans continued through February for the North American version, changing the release date forecast from winter to spring.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is one of only three SNES games released outside Japan to use the Nintendo SA-1 chip. Compared with standard SNES games, the additional microprocessor
allows higher clock speeds
; faster access to the random-access memory
(RAM); greater memory mapping capabilities, data storage, and compression; new direct memory access
(DMA) modes, such as bitmap
to bit plane
transfer; and built-in CIC lockout for piracy protection and regional marketing control.
, who later composed the music for Parasite Eve
, Legend of Mana
, and the Kingdom Hearts
series, composed the game's music. As part of the score she incorporated arrangements of music by Koji Kondo
from Super Mario Bros.
and three tracks by Nobuo Uematsu
from the Final Fantasy series. Although the soundtrack contains both lighter and darker themes, it has been described as containing "a touch of bounciness" throughout. Shimomura regards the Super Mario RPG soundtrack as one of the turning points in her career as a video game composer. The music from the game was released as a soundtrack album, titled Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version. NTT Publishing released it in Japan on March 25, 1996. The two disc set contains 61 of the game's 73 songs.
and 30th at IGN
. Japanese audiences received Super Mario RPG well with 1.47 million copies sold, making it the third highest-selling game in Japan in 1996.
Though various aspects of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars have received mixed reviews, it garnered praise for the quality of the graphics and for the humor in particular. Nintendo Power
s review commented that the "excellent" 3D graphics helped the game appeal to a much wider audience than most traditional RPGs. In March 1997, Nintendo Power nominated the game for several awards, including "Best Graphics", in a player's choice contest, though Super Mario 64
won "Best Graphics". 1UP.com
praised the graphics, stating that they are "the best seen on the Super NES". Electronic Gaming Monthly
stated that the graphic element is "strong enough to resemble a Mario title but still retains the role-playing theme at the same time", and commented that the graphics is "typical of Nintendo, using clean and colorful graphics along with nice animation". RPGamer
editor Derek Cavin called the backgrounds "beautiful" and stated that they "perfectly bring the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas into 3D". Skyler Miller from Allgame
stated that the graphics are "absolutely outstanding, with colorful, 3D rendered visuals that once seemed impossible on the Super NES. This is definitely the high watermark for 3D graphics on any 16-bit system." The editor also called the music "quite extraordinary" and that the songs "match the mood of the surrounding environment". In the Virtual Console re-release, IGN's Lucas Thomas' review of Super Mario RPG stated that the game's experience "completes itself with a compelling story, a humorous attitude and a variety of interspersed mini-games that break up the adventuring action". The publication also stated that the soundtrack is "spectacular and a joy to listen to" and the graphics "took full advantage of the system's 16-bit technology and looks great".
Despite the praise, Cavin noted that most of the battle system mechanics "aren't very original" and also noting the "lack of a unified storyline" which is "far from great". Miller commented that after engaging in many battles, "the battle music becomes monotonous" and that after the game is beaten, "There aren't any surprises to be discovered the second time around". While 1UP.com stated that "The characters seem too childish for older gamers".
and spiritual sequels, two successive RPG-themed Mario series, the Paper Mario series and the Mario & Luigi series, followed conventions established in the original (for example, the use of "Flower Points" instead of Magic Points, timed action commands during battles, and, in the original Paper Mario, the collection of the seven stars). Nintendo originally titled Paper Mario as Super Mario RPG 2. However, Square's involvement in the original game made direct sequels legally impossible without Square's permission or involvement. As a result, Nintendo changed the title to Paper Mario. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
features the Geno doll, with a mention of Square Enix as the copyright holder of the character in the end credits.
Development team members, including some from Square, went on to work on the Mario & Luigi series. These include the two directors, Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka, as well as music composer Yoko Shimomura
. However, they provided different styles and mechanics than those of Super Mario RPG. Various locations and characters from the game appear in the children's book Mario and the Incredible Rescue released by Scholastic in 2006.
On May 30, 2008, Nintendo announced that Super Mario RPG was to be released on the Virtual Console
in Japan the following month. On June 13, 2008, the OFLC rated the game for release in Australia. On June 24, 2008, it was released on the Virtual Console in Japan. On August 22, 2008, the game was released for the first time in Europe and Australia, as part of the 3rd Hanabi Festival alongside a release of Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels on the European Virtual Console after being available for a limited period during the first Hanabi Festival. Certain animations, namely those for the "Flame Wall" and "Static E!" attacks, were dimmed to avoid possible seizures, and colors were adjusted. On September 1, 2008, it was released on the Virtual Console in North America, under the distinction of being the 250th Virtual Console game released in that region.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
developed by Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
(now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
) and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
(SNES). It was originally released on March 9, 1996 in Japan and on May 13, 1996 in North America. Nintendo ported the game, with minor differences, to the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service in 2008 to regions around the world. It is the first role-playing game (RPG) in the Mario series
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
. The game contains token similarities to other Square role-playing games, such as Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
and the Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series, with a story and action-based gameplay derived from the Super Mario Bros.
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
series.
The game's story focuses on Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and the teammates he meets as they seek to eliminate Smithy, the game's main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, who has stolen the seven star pieces of Star Road, a road where all the world's inhabitants' wishes become Wish Stars, allowing them to be granted. The game features five permanent playable characters. Super Mario RPG was directed by Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka
Chihiro Fujioka
is a video game director at the Nintendo second-party developer AlphaDream. He was previously a composer of several video games, making contributions to the Burai and Final Fantasy Legend series. His directing work includes Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Koto Battle: Tengai no...
and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
. Yoko Shimomura
Yoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
composed the game's score, which was released on a soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
in Japan shortly after the game's debut.
Super Mario RPG was the final Mario game released for the SNES as well as one of the last games Square produced for Nintendo hardware until Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice in 2002. Square did much of the development of Super Mario RPG under direct guidance from producer Shigeru Miyamoto
Shigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
. The game was well-received upon release, and it was praised particularly for its 3D rendered graphics and humor. The game started the Mario RPG series, and two successive RPG-themed spiritual sequel
Spiritual sequel
A spiritual successor, sometimes called a spiritual sequel or a companion piece, is a successor to a work of fiction which does not directly build upon the storyline established by a previous work as do most traditional prequels or sequels, but nevertheless features many of the same elements,...
s followed: the Paper Mario series and the Mario & Luigi series, both of which use certain conventions established in the original.
Gameplay
In Super Mario RPG, MarioMario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Bowser, Princess Toadstool
Princess Peach
is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
, Mallow, and Geno fight as allies in the first RPG in the Mario series
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
. It contains token similarities to other Square RPGs, such as Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
and the Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series, along with a story and gameplay based on the Super Mario Bros. series of platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
s. Like most RPGs, there are two main sections to the game: adventuring and turn-based monster battles. Much of Super Mario RPGs gameplay is outside monster battles and plays like an isometric platformer, in which traditional Mario element such as punching floating question blocks from below are prominent. Enemies are visible in the field; a battle ensues only if Mario comes in contact with one. This allows the player to evade unnecessary battles.
Characters and setting
The game world is set in a geographically diverse land, including mountains and bodies of water. Each region has distinct characteristics held by its inhabitants; Mushroom Kingdom is inhabited by ToadToad (Mario)
Toad, known in Japan as , is a fictional character belonging to an anthropomorphic mushroom-like species of the same name in the Mario series, created by Shigeru Miyamoto. A citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad is one of Princess Peach's most loyal attendants and is constantly working on her behalf...
s, Moleville is inhabited by moles, Monstro Town is populated by reformed monsters, Yo'ster Isle is where Yoshi
Yoshi
, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
and his eponymous species reside, and Nimbus Land is an area inhabited by cloud people. Bowser's Castle is another prominent location in the game, as it holds the portal to the main antagonist's home world.
The main protagonist is Mario, whose ultimate goal is to rescue Princess Toadstool from Bowser. Soon after the start of his journey, the Smithy Gang invades the world. While attempting to stop the group, Mario is joined by Mallow, a cloud boy who thinks he is a tadpole; Geno, a doll possessed by a celestial spirit from the Star Road; Bowser, whose armies have deserted him out of fear of the Smithy Gang; and Princess Toadstool, who was lost in the turmoil that occurred when the Smithy Gang arrived. The Smithy Gang is led by Smithy, a robotic blacksmith from an alternate dimension with aspirations of world domination.
Story
The game begins when Mario enters Bowser's Castle to rescue Princess Toadstool. During the battle, a giant sword breaks through the Star Road and crashes into Bowser’s castle, sending Mario, Princess Toadstool, and Bowser flying in different directions, as well as scattering seven star fragments. Mario makes his way to the Mushroom Kingdom, where the mushroom chancellorChancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
insists that Mario recover the Princess and discover the purpose of the giant sword. Upon leaving Toadstool's castle, Mario encounters Mallow, a tadpole who has lost a frog coin to Croco, a local thief. Mario agrees to help him, but when they return to the castle, he finds that the kingdom is overrun by creatures from the Smithy Gang. He and Mallow enter the castle and are met by the first boss in the game, a giant knife and spring-like creature named Mack. When Mack is defeated, they find a mysterious Star Piece, which Mario takes in hopes of finding out more about it later.
During Mario’s search for the princess, on which Mallow accompanies him, he meets a star spirit who has taken control over a doll named Geno. After another boss battle against a bow-like creature named Bowyer, Geno then joins Mario and tells him that the Star Piece is a part of the shattered Star Road, where he resides. Geno is tasked with finding the seven pieces of Star Road, which are held by members of the Smithy gang, in order to repair it. Mario and Mallow agree to help Geno. Mario eventually finds Bowser, who is trying to reassemble his forces. They join together to save the princess, as she is about to be forcibly married to Booster. After Toadstool has been rescued, Bowser joins Mario's party, and the player is able to switch characters for the first time. Princess Toadstool initially goes back to Mushroom Kingdom but soon joins the party as well. After Mario and his group recovered most of the Star Pieces, they learn that the last one is held in Bowser's castle. Upon battling their way through the assembled enemies and returning to the giant sword, they discover that it is actually a gateway to Smithy's factory, where Smithy mass produces his army. In the end, Smithy is defeated, and the collected Star Pieces are used to repair the Star Road.
Development
The game was officially unveiled by both Mario creator and producer Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
and co-director Chihiro Fujioka
Chihiro Fujioka
is a video game director at the Nintendo second-party developer AlphaDream. He was previously a composer of several video games, making contributions to the Burai and Final Fantasy Legend series. His directing work includes Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Koto Battle: Tengai no...
at the 1995 V-Jump Festival event in Japan. Miyamoto led teams at Nintendo and Square, who spent over a year developing the graphics. The story takes place in a newly rendered Mushroom Kingdom based on the Super Mario Bros. series. Square reported that the game was about 70% complete in October 1995. The developers created the interior elements such as columns, stairways, exterior elements with advanced computer modeling techniques. Special lighting effects were used to create shadows and reflections that were meant to improve the 3D elements. With guidance from Miyamoto, Square developed the game, combining parts of its traditional RPGs, like Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square , released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Final Fantasy series. Set in a fantasy world with a technology level equivalent to that of the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story focuses on a...
and Chrono Trigger, with Nintendo's platform games. Square's Final Fantasy series was the model for the battle sequences, while the tradition of Super Mario Bros. games demanded a lot of action. Mario's ability to jog in eight directions and jump up or down in three–quarter perspective gave him a large range of motion. At 70% complete, the mix of adventure and action game play elements placed it in a category closer to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known as in Japan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was...
.
When Nintendo of America received a 60% complete version in November, the staff were surprised at the inclusion of an RPG battle system. The battle screens, using pre-rendered sprites as in the rest of the game, included attack animations of equipped weapons. In December, further development and improvements to the gameplay delayed the translation of the game. For example, the Chancellor, who was named the Mushroom Retainer in Japan, was called the "Minister" in North America. Plans continued through February for the North American version, changing the release date forecast from winter to spring.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is one of only three SNES games released outside Japan to use the Nintendo SA-1 chip. Compared with standard SNES games, the additional microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
allows higher clock speeds
Clock rate
The clock rate typically refers to the frequency that a CPU is running at.For example, a crystal oscillator frequency reference typically is synonymous with a fixed sinusoidal waveform, a clock rate is that frequency reference translated by electronic circuitry into a corresponding square wave...
; faster access to the random-access memory
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
(RAM); greater memory mapping capabilities, data storage, and compression; new direct memory access
Direct memory access
Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
(DMA) modes, such as bitmap
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
to bit plane
BIT plane
This article is about Natalie Jeremijenko and the Bureau of Inverse Technology's project. For the company, see Bitplane. For the digital information term, see bit plane....
transfer; and built-in CIC lockout for piracy protection and regional marketing control.
Audio
Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
, who later composed the music for Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve (video game)
is a horror action role-playing game developed by SquareSoft . The game is a sequel to the novel Parasite Eve, written by Hideaki Sena. It is the first game in the Parasite Eve series.-Gameplay:...
, Legend of Mana
Legend of Mana
Legend of Mana, known in Japan as , is the fourth game in the Mana series. The game was released for the PlayStation in Japan on July 15, 1999 and in North America on June 7, 2000, with a delayed release in Canada...
, and the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
series, composed the game's music. As part of the score she incorporated arrangements of music by Koji Kondo
Koji Kondo
is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who has been employed at Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for scoring numerous titles in the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series.-Early life:...
from Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
and three tracks by Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
from the Final Fantasy series. Although the soundtrack contains both lighter and darker themes, it has been described as containing "a touch of bounciness" throughout. Shimomura regards the Super Mario RPG soundtrack as one of the turning points in her career as a video game composer. The music from the game was released as a soundtrack album, titled Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version. NTT Publishing released it in Japan on March 25, 1996. The two disc set contains 61 of the game's 73 songs.
Track listing
Reception
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars received very positive reviews and has appeared on reader-selected "best game of all-time" lists, such as 26th on GameFAQsGameFAQs
GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
and 30th at IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
. Japanese audiences received Super Mario RPG well with 1.47 million copies sold, making it the third highest-selling game in Japan in 1996.
Though various aspects of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars have received mixed reviews, it garnered praise for the quality of the graphics and for the humor in particular. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
s review commented that the "excellent" 3D graphics helped the game appeal to a much wider audience than most traditional RPGs. In March 1997, Nintendo Power nominated the game for several awards, including "Best Graphics", in a player's choice contest, though Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
won "Best Graphics". 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
praised the graphics, stating that they are "the best seen on the Super NES". Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
stated that the graphic element is "strong enough to resemble a Mario title but still retains the role-playing theme at the same time", and commented that the graphics is "typical of Nintendo, using clean and colorful graphics along with nice animation". RPGamer
RPGamer
RPGamer is a media and news website dedicated to covering computer and video game RPGs. Its coverage includes North American game news, European game news, Asian game news, gaming industry news, game reviews, game previews, hands-on game impressions, gaming conventions, game merchandise, release...
editor Derek Cavin called the backgrounds "beautiful" and stated that they "perfectly bring the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas into 3D". Skyler Miller from Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
stated that the graphics are "absolutely outstanding, with colorful, 3D rendered visuals that once seemed impossible on the Super NES. This is definitely the high watermark for 3D graphics on any 16-bit system." The editor also called the music "quite extraordinary" and that the songs "match the mood of the surrounding environment". In the Virtual Console re-release, IGN's Lucas Thomas' review of Super Mario RPG stated that the game's experience "completes itself with a compelling story, a humorous attitude and a variety of interspersed mini-games that break up the adventuring action". The publication also stated that the soundtrack is "spectacular and a joy to listen to" and the graphics "took full advantage of the system's 16-bit technology and looks great".
Despite the praise, Cavin noted that most of the battle system mechanics "aren't very original" and also noting the "lack of a unified storyline" which is "far from great". Miller commented that after engaging in many battles, "the battle music becomes monotonous" and that after the game is beaten, "There aren't any surprises to be discovered the second time around". While 1UP.com stated that "The characters seem too childish for older gamers".
Legacy
Officially, Super Mario RPG does not have a direct sequel. Considered to be its thematicInformal sequel
An informal sequel, also called an unauthorized sequel or unofficial sequel, is a sequel to a novel, film, television show, or video game that is produced without the consent of the creators or rights owners of the original material...
and spiritual sequels, two successive RPG-themed Mario series, the Paper Mario series and the Mario & Luigi series, followed conventions established in the original (for example, the use of "Flower Points" instead of Magic Points, timed action commands during battles, and, in the original Paper Mario, the collection of the seven stars). Nintendo originally titled Paper Mario as Super Mario RPG 2. However, Square's involvement in the original game made direct sequels legally impossible without Square's permission or involvement. As a result, Nintendo changed the title to Paper Mario. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, known in Japan as , is a role-playing game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance in 2003...
features the Geno doll, with a mention of Square Enix as the copyright holder of the character in the end credits.
Development team members, including some from Square, went on to work on the Mario & Luigi series. These include the two directors, Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka, as well as music composer Yoko Shimomura
Yoko Shimomura
is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
. However, they provided different styles and mechanics than those of Super Mario RPG. Various locations and characters from the game appear in the children's book Mario and the Incredible Rescue released by Scholastic in 2006.
On May 30, 2008, Nintendo announced that Super Mario RPG was to be released on the Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in Japan the following month. On June 13, 2008, the OFLC rated the game for release in Australia. On June 24, 2008, it was released on the Virtual Console in Japan. On August 22, 2008, the game was released for the first time in Europe and Australia, as part of the 3rd Hanabi Festival alongside a release of Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels on the European Virtual Console after being available for a limited period during the first Hanabi Festival. Certain animations, namely those for the "Flame Wall" and "Static E!" attacks, were dimmed to avoid possible seizures, and colors were adjusted. On September 1, 2008, it was released on the Virtual Console in North America, under the distinction of being the 250th Virtual Console game released in that region.
External links
- Official Nintendo Japan Super Mario RPG site
- Nintendo home for SMRPG on the Virtual Console
- Games by Year 2000-1996 at Square EnixSquare Enixis a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...