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[Crub]

The combat is really poorly balanced. In the latter half of the game the default attacks do more damage than special attacks, so you just keep doing the same attack over and over, healing whenever necessary. Gets dull.

Tons of charm though!

 

[Fou-Lu]

I played it again a couple months ago and found it not as great as I remembered it. I still enjoyed it a lot and Geno is still one of my favourite 'Mario' characters, but I think TTYD is better in almost every way. I would like a Super Mario RPG 2 still because the unique atmosphere is not something that has been replicated since.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

It is super easy, even the hidden boss that I remember being hard as fuck as a kid.

 

[BocoDragon]

I like that it's a Mario-skinned Square game. A true 90s-ass jRPG.

The Paper Mario and M&L games were more their own thing.

 

[poppedcollar69]

good game, legendary soundtrack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1NY26POOcg <- personal fave

 

[JBourne]

I played it for the first time about 3 years ago. Thought it was fantastic. I missed out on the SNES so I was coming at it without the nostalgia factor, and I still enjoyed it enough to complete it.

 

[Red Devil]

Eh, in my opinion it still holds up pretty well, it's a bit simpler than other JRPGs of the time but still a very good one, and still one of my favourites on the SNES.

good game, legendary soundtrack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1NY26POOcg <- personal fave

How about this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf5yHuWyuj8

I still love the credit's parade song after all these years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfVk-3HG3s

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

It's been the better part of a decade since I last revisited this on the Wii VC, but I distinctly remember thinking that the light platform-jumping in the overworld, a fixture of all Mario RPG series, has not aged well at all due to the clash between the D-pad and SMRPG's isometric perspective.

It's otherwise a fine game and certainly the fourth SNES JRPG I'd push on anyone after the essential trinity of Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, and FFVI. As far as Mario RPGs in the classic JRPG battle format are concerned, Superstar Saga and the first two Paper Marios have upstaged this game in most respects, and I'd recommend them over SMRPG as the more essential titles for someone who just wants to dip their toes into this category and see what the fuss is about. But SMRPG's fundamentals are still quite sound (it laid down a lot of conventions for how a Mario RPG might work, after all, and got a lot of them right on the first try), and it distinguishes itself with the recognizable flavour of a Square title.

Shame about the occasional isometric platforming, that's all. It sticks out like a sore thumb whenever you run into it. Later games deliver on the promise of Mario-reminiscent overworld interactivity far better.

 

[Secret Owl]

Not as well as Paper Mario or Superstar Saga do.

This game deserves a remake with HD clay-mation visuals, faster pacing, improved controls, and better menu systems.

It's still great though.

 

[Harrison Bergeron]

Played it again recently and loved it. There's just something so unique about the direction Square took the project in. Their vision of world and its lore is just not what I expect from the IP.

Anyway, I was eleven years old when the game came out and can remember coming off FF6 and Chrono Trigger, and just having my mind blown when I opened up a Game Pro or something and saw that there was going to be a Mario RPG (from Squaresoft no less). I do wonder if I lacked that context and nostalgia if I'd feel the same way about the game. Some of the comments from recent players made me stop and think, and I could see how the game might come off a little underwhelming, and certainly dated.

I also always found it funny that they had conspicuously absent Luigi curate the manual.