I really need to finish these games. I really like them but have only finished super paper Mario.
Is Mario and Luigi: superstar saga on the WiiU yet?
I wouldn't mind seeing a big-budget 3D Mario RPG that visually was comparable to EADTokyo's games, like how Super Mario RPG felt back during the SNES era. At the same time I want them to give Mario & Luigi a rest (I like the games but it feels like they're running low on ideas) and give at least one more 'proper' console Paper Mario a try. Always annoys me they opted to make Paper Mario the series they experiment with rather than newer M&L.Having looked at each game, I have to ask:
-Where do you want to see the Mario RPGs, heading forward? Would you like to see a continuation of the series we have now (Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario?) Or would you rather see something entirely new?
The Mario & Luigi games tend to integrate everything from the franchise best into one cohesive game, if that's what is meant by 'best representation'. Vastly prefer the Paper Mario games as actual games though.-What do you feel was the best representation of the Mario franchise as an RPG? Your answer could be a singular game, or a sub-series as a whole.
A proper Thousand-Year Door sequel. After that I'm fine with them experimenting the hell out of how they approach Mario's RPG spinoffs, but it strikes me as a bit crap it's been over a decade since a proper Paper Mario 3 yet in the same length of time we've had four untainted Mario & Luigi games that get increasingly duller. I'd be less bitter about this if I didn't know Sticker Star was essentially PM3 before having all of the life drained from it (though SPM has a fun plot despite being similarly a chore to play, so maybe SS was screwed either way).-What do you want to see in the next Mario RPG? Yoko Shimomura as its composer? Square's return to the franchise? Handheld or console?
The entire For Pigs the Bell Tolls chapter in TTYD is amazing just for the plot and gameplay twist alone. I always dug Booster's Tower in Super Mario RPG (what kickstarted the 8-bit easter eggs in most of these games) or the 'mystery' chapters in both original Paper Mario games as well.Bonus question:
-What was your favorite segment of any Mario RPG that you played?
Despite being a huge fan of Super Mario RPG, I haven't played anything of the Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi games. I really need to fix that, but I don't know where to start.
The Mario & Luigi games tend to integrate everything from the franchise best into one cohesive game, if that's what is meant by 'best representation'. Vastly prefer the Paper Mario games as actual games though.
First reply gets it.The Paper Mario aesthetic was a huge turn off for me after the excellence of SMRPG. Square's lack of involvement also showed. I gave the first PM a shot and was so disappointed. I hear they got better and that I should have given them more of a shot, but eh.
I played the first Mario & Luigi (Superstar Saga on the GBA) and was very pleasantly surprised. I can't remember why I didn't press on and finish it. Great game.
I tried Dream Team out last year, hoping it would recapture the first M&L's Magic, but it was just such a bore. Way too much exposition and dialogue for really terrible, uninspired new characters. I fell asleep while playing it. Sold it.
I'd love another game in the vein of the original SMRPG.
True, though M&L has Geno, the viruses from Dr. Mario, I (think?) a few references to characters from Paper Mario 1, the Koopalings after being absent from any Mario game for nearly a decade, a few other nods here and there to obscurer Mario enemies... Presentation/story wise they tend to be alien to how Mario normally is, but they go all out when it comes to the references.I sort of disagree with this, I always felt the Mario & Luigi series felt "off"...I guess that was the idea with the original, as they were traveling to a new world, but the later ones set in the Mushroom Kingdom also seem really un-Mario at points. Maybe it's because a lot of the new characters introduced are really unfitting.
I do like how each game introduces a new take on classic Mario foes---SS had the Bean Variants, PiT had the Shroob Variants, and BiS had both the Body Part Variants and the Fawful Variants.
Oh yeah, ranking wise...
Mario RPG is a solid game, but I sort of consider it "Baby's First RPG". As a kid it was decently challenging, but playing it now, I realize how easy it is. There's not a lot of options available in terms of equipment and such, basically just buy the newest stuff when you reach a shop, and you'll be set. The game doesn't give you a lot of choices like other RPGs, so you're pretty much always more or less good to go, and for better or worse it's really easy bar a few tough spots here and there. Culex, as an adult, is now painfully easy.
Despite being a huge fan of Super Mario RPG, I haven't played anything of the Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi games. I really need to fix that, but I don't know where to start.
That would be a great idea actually. Fits perfectly with the original SMRPG's aesthetic at least.I've mentioned numerous times how I'd love for them to reuse the Captain Toad/Mario 3D World engine for a new, isometric Super Mario RPG.
I've mentioned numerous times how I'd love for them to reuse the Captain Toad/Mario 3D World engine for a new, isometric Super Mario RPG.
I'd like another entry in the same vein as SMRPG, but not by Square, and not necessarily a sequel. As long as it had the workings of a full blown console RPG, with a little less reliance on humor without sacrificing any of the trademark Mario charm, I'd be happy. Of course, the battle system should still have an action component to it - I think the Mario and Luigi series handled this best with its rhythm game style jumping, so maybe something like that? I don't want to see another PM, M&L, or SMRPG, but rather a fusion of the best concepts from each series made into a brand new, console RPG for Wii U.-Where do you want to see the Mario RPGs, heading forward? Would you like to see a continuation of the series we have now (Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario?) Or would you rather see something entirely new?
Paper Mario did it best. Mario and Luigi was missing non-bros (or Bowser) party members and SMRPG did kind of feel like a traditional Square game with a Mario skin. Where PM really shone was in its quirky dialogue and extremely creative chapter system. No chapter felt like the one before it, and instances like the Tubba Blubba escape, the Dooplis scenario, or the Glitz Pit all felt like creative genius on par with what Nintendo EAD puts out for the mainline Mario games.-What do you feel was the best representation of the Mario franchise as an RPG? Your answer could be a singular game, or a sub-series as a whole.
Answered this already, but on console for sure. And Shimomura for sure, too! Her soundtracks define the Mario RPGs, and are one of the biggest things missing from the Paper Mario series (which had lackluster sound outside of, ironically, the only lackluster entry, Sticker Star).-What do you want to see in the next Mario RPG? Yoko Shimomura as its composer? Square's return to the franchise? Handheld or console?
At the time, probably the Nimbus Land segment of SMRPG. The entire game was building up to Mallow's story, and it finally got a chance to be told towards the end of the game. The dungeons for this segment also had great villains - Birdo, Dodo, Valentina, and the absolute best group of villains in a Mario RPG: The Axem Rangers and Blade. Hinopio is also a great NPC. Why is a biker dude looking toad living in a volcano? And running a shop, no less. Well, why not.Bonus question:
-What was your favorite segment of any Mario RPG that you played?