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Tuesday 19 February, 2008
Gameplay
As the game progresses, it never stops accelerating until the final credits roll. From the addictive tunes playing in the background to the witty banter of the cast to the innovation of “Timed Hits”, and what that does to combat, this game remains one of the greatest RPGs of all time. The quirky characters, from the marshmallow-esque “Mallow” to the foreigner “Geno” to a few surprise guests along the way, Super Mario RPG both utilizes established characters that players can recognize as well as introducing some new faces to the world. The story is surprisingly complex for such an early title, this truly is a game for the ages. This game is, simply put, fun to play. Something about it just works, and its success led to the development of more RPG-style games in the vein of Mario RPG (Paper Mario (N64) and Super Paper Mario (Wii)), but neither of these hit quite the same buttons that this title did. Some of the magic lies in the nostalgia of the SNES system and its quirky midi files and graphics, while some of the magic remains in the originality and innovation at play. Many factors combine to make Super Mario RPG simply spectacular, and it remains a game that I will continue to come back to as long as I remain a gamer.
Design
Why is this such a fun game to play? How does a side-scroller translate into a turn-based RPG system? Simply put, because there is something about the Mario universe that lends itself to the RPG format. The multitude of enemies, the various moves Mario can perform, the never-ending supply of wacky allies he always seems to run into. All this adds up to a huge amount of resources available to the dev team, all that was left was to tweak some of the basic actions from keystrokes to strategy and you’ve got yourself a Mario RPG. But they didn’t stop there, they took it a step further than they needed to and created the “Timed Hits” functionality that makes this game stand out from other RPGs. Whenever a player attacks or defends, they can hit a given button at the right time to increase the strength of the attack or increase their own defense, which can hugely shift the tide of battle. This mechanic can get a little unfair for veteran players, at a certain point combat becomes much more about skill than luck, a factor in many RPGs. And yet, this contributes so much to the thrill of the game. Combat never gets frustrating, as with many RPGs where luck is a huge element. A skilled player will probably never lose a fight, and yet this makes the game so much more enjoyable. The ease of play and the low stakes allow the player to put less at stake while playing, and game sessions become about fun, which should be at the core of all gaming after all. The humorous dialogue and enchanting storyline continue to drive the player forward, and the whole package just comes together nicely to make for a thoroughly enjoyable play experience. This game is, to be blunt, a success story. When it comes down to it, this is a great game. Great games are incredibly rare, and having so few it is hard to come up with the vocabulary to describe them, but I can testify to this game’s greatness whole-heartedly. Something about this game just works, and it never disappoints. I have probably completed upwards of 10 run-throughs of this game, and I am certainly planning on revisiting it again as soon as I get the chance.
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