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[SkyOdin]

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.

 

[ffdgh]

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?

Yep. It's been up since april.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

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?

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.

-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.

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 want to see in the next Mario RPG? Yoko Shimomura as its composer? Square's return to the franchise? Handheld or console?

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).

Bonus question:

-What was your favorite segment of any Mario RPG that you played?

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.

 

[ffdgh]

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.

Super star saga, Bowser inside story, Paper mario 64 and TTYD.

 

[RoyaleDuke]

I would love a true return to the SMRPG Squaretendo game with stats, a larger party, gear, and a more interesting world and characters than the boring ones from Mario and Luigi.

An actual RPG you know, with really pretty graphics and great gameplay/characters.

I really would love to see it have a visual style reminiscient of the Claymation esque look of the original SNES SMRPG game, so maybe they could use that clay tech from Kirby: Rainbow Curse.

ALSO GENO PLEASE! I NEED HIM BACK IN MY LIFE.

 

[Hatchtag]

I want something fresh. More RPGish. Maybe more open. Not hugely open, but like, Pokemon-level open. Let me do worlds/dungeons/however they separate the game in different orders. Let me pick and choose from a solid pool of party members. Don't force me to really have to use a certain member during a certain chapter, at least not in battles anyways.

I also wouldn't mind a big swap in the presentation of the game. Like maybe do a Yarn Mario rpg. Or maybe swap Mario for Kirby or Zelda or something.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

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.

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.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

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.

First reply gets it.

SMRPG was the game that got me into RPGs in the first place and I absolutely adore that game to bits. Paper Mario couldn't be more without everything that made me fall in love with SMRPG. The graphics, music, story, characters, utter simplicity to a fault (not that SMRPG was ever that complex, mind you) I hated it.

The fact that the hyped Super Mario RPG2 ended up being called Paper Mario instead and released months after the PS2 was available (in 2001) didnt help at all. I was coming from playing giant epic jRPGs on the PS1 like FF7,8,9, Lunar, Thousand Arms, Xenogears, Parasite Eve and Chrono Cross. Paper Mario definitely came out at a wrong time in my life, too late on the N64's cycle and was way too simple for me to care.

I'm still waiting for a true successor to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

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.

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 think TTYD may have included Chuckola Cola as an item and some beanbean NPC's which was cool tho.

 

[vocab]

Can't say I enjoy the series at all. SMRPG is one of the greatest snes rpgs of all time, but I dislike paper mario humor and art style. It's not even in the same class of game as far as I'm concerned.

Bowsers inside story was so boring, and the touch screen boss battles were just really bad.
Super star saga had some nice music but I could never finish the game.
I have dream team but will probably never play it.
I've watched a friend play paper mario 64, and my animoisty and bias towards it just doesn't impress me to this day. When It was coming out and was at a toysrus kiosk I was super unimpressed as a kid. I just can't accept this series for being so dry and uninteresting.

 

[TheBaldEmperor]

The OG is my favorite. Love most of the others. SMRPG is one of my all time favorite games. In the future I'd like to see those characters revisited but I'd settle for Paper Mario returning to what made it great in the first place. Mario and Luigi games are excellent too.

 

[goldenpp72]

They really should do a traditional third entry to the Paper Mario games. I did enjoy the wii and 3ds game, but still.

 

[Mory Dunz]

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.

I agree with some stuff here.

A lot people say that Paper Mario is simpler than Square's SMRPG. I really don't see how.

The Badge system and status effects alone in PM64 and TTYD make it more comlpex than SMRPG. You're basically building your own character.

in SMRPG, you're mainly just doing more damage. Not that that's bad, but it's not necessarily complex. And plus, there's no other "bar" that gets filled. Like Star Power, and all that entails.

I kind of feel like, people see low damage and no "stats" and assume it's simpler...

 

[Buttonbasher]

I love the Paper Mario series (the first two mainly), but just can't get into the Mario & Luigi games. The dual character platforming is just too clunky for me. Also coming to Super Mario RPG late in the game has been rough. On paper I should be liking it more than I am, but I just can't get into it.

Sign me up for a Paper Mario RPG sequel to Thousand Year Door though, for sure.

 

[Megatron]

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.

What system do you have? You can play paper Mario on the wii or the WiiU via virtual console (the WiiU has to use the wii emulation, so no true game pad button support)

The WiiU also has super star saga (I just learned) so if you have a WiiU you can choose either. If you have any club Nintendo points you haven't used, paper Mario's available as a reward for 250 coins.

 

[HiroTSK5]

I consider the first Mario and Luigi game to be one of my favorite games. A large part of that is because of the Bros. Attacks. The attacks are fun to do and the game rewards practice by upgrading the attacks after you use them enough times. I also much prefer the M&L games because of the defensive options presented to you where instead of a block you are able to avoid and repel attacks which always keeps you invested. The writing is enjoyable across the board, but the game-play has wavered with each game: 1st is amazing, 2nd was okay, 3rd was fun but introduced the 2-D levels and Giant battles, the 4th in the end felt like they doubled down on the worse aspect of three and the experience feels bloated.

So in the future I guess I just want the return of Bros. Attacks. The aesthetic of Dream Team is wonderful so I hope they at least kept that going forward.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I'd like to see another Square one that brings back the cast of Super Mario RPG. It was cool having Peach and Bowser as allies. I liked Mallow and Geno a lot too. Super Mario RPG was too easy though so if another gets made I want it to be harder. I'd also be down for another Paper Mario, but I don't want whatever Sticker Star is. I've played The Thousand Year Door and loved that with the exception of the part of the game that forces you to backtrack the whole fucking to talk to one person. That was a dumb game design decision and don't know why someone would approve of it.

I just want quality games.

 

[bomb]

Super Mario RPG, A+
Paper Mario, A
Thousand Year Door, A+
Mario and Luigi, A
Partners in time, C+
Super Paper Mario, B-
Bowsers inside Story, B
Sticker Star, C
Dream Team, B-

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Geno and Mallow had their plots resolved, I think bringing them back would be cheap...

I think any Super Mario RPG sequel should have Mario, Peach, and Bowser, and then brand-new characters.

Alternatively I always liked the idea of a Super Mario RPG focusing on the B-Team...imagine, when things go south, Luigi, Daisy, Diddy Kong, Birdo, and Bowser Jr. have to step up and save the day.

 

[atbigelow]

I really dislike how the M&L series rely on gameplay gimmicks and it gets worse as that series goes on. Superstar Saga is the "purest" of them and my favorite, even if the others are much better looking and sounding.

For example, compare the different types of gameplay 'scenes' there are in the games:

-Superstar Saga: Battles, Field Maps
-Partners in Time: Battles, Field Maps, Field Maps with split views
-Bowser's Inside Story: Battles, Field Maps, Sidescrolling Insides, Giant Bowser Battles
-Dream Team: Battles, Field Maps, Sidescrolling Dreams with Touchscreen Mustache Action

There's just more and more added into the core mechanic of the game, watering it down. And it's slowed the games down way too much. SS was great in how quick-paced and straight to the point it was.


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.

 

[xandaca]

On the one hand, I'm often arguing in favour of sequels trying new things. On the other, that hasn't worked out so well for either the Paper Mario or M&L series. A return to the core Paper Mario gameplay would be good, keeping the refinements to the battle system made in TTYD but losing a lot of the backtracking and toning down the excessive dialogue a little (but not to SS levels). If Bowser/Peach segments persist, and I'm apparently in the minority by not being mad about them, it'd be good for your actions within them to have some effect on the main game, even in minor ways - a more impactful version of Peach sending badges and items to Mario via a magical chest in Paper Mario. The badge system is really cool and should return. It would be cool to have a greater number of sidequests, with a couple of biggies rewarding you with exclusive badges and partners, as per Ms Mowz in TTYD or the sheer volume of amazing secrets in SMRPG.

In short, going off TTYD, I'd like the battle system to remain much the same and perhaps derive its innovations from how attacks use the Gamepad, and everything outside battle (overworld, sidequests, etc) to expand a little, if possible while limiting the amount of essential backtracking. Ditching or strongly remixing the familiar level themes (castle, desert, ghost house, jungle/volcano, ice) would also be great, as the games always shine in their more unusual environments - such as Mario's career as a professional wrestler in TTYD, perhaps the most enjoyable section of any Mario RPG.

Of the games I've played:

Super Mario RPG - 10/10 (for the time)
Paper Mario - 8/10
Paper Mario: TTYD - 8/10
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - 8/10
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - 6/10

 

[DICKS AHOY]

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.

That would be a great idea actually. Fits perfectly with the original SMRPG's aesthetic at least.

 

[RoyaleDuke]

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.

Oh man that would be great too, ideally gameplay wise I would love a blend of both PM1/TTYD gameplay systems, badges, with SMRPGs systems and equipment.

Visually either a Kirby esque 3Dworld claymation hybrid thing would be awesome or just straight up take that same engine and art style and make us a new true SMRPG man.

I NEEEEEED IT.

and Bring back GENO.

 

[woopWOOP]

To me the first two Paper Mario games do Mario RPGs best. Whimsical, charming and occasionally really funny with a battle system that isn't all about grinding and dishing out damage in huge numbers. Your description of PM64 is spot on and it's why that's still my favourite Mario RPG game.
That said, the actual Mario RPG game is pretty great too. The artstyle and non-Nintendo characters are so weird, but it's all part of it's image. A bunch of octopus faced power rangers and their giant airship? Sure why not. Whatever new Mario game results from another collaboration between Nintendo and SE is something I'll keep my eye on (and I hope it ends up really weird again).
Mario & Luigi games tho? Bought and finished Superstar Saga, but I was kind of shocked how basic and barebones it was at some parts. Almost dropped it midway through, while I couldn't even get through the start of it's sequel. Haven't really bothered with the franchise since then.
Haven't played the 'black sheeps' either. Think I'll give those a shot at some point tho.

But basically a new Mario jRPG with turn based battles and multiple (switchable) partymembers is what I want, be it a new Paper Mario or something else entirely.

Oh, best moment? For some reason I always liked the Tubba Blubba chase sequence from the first Paper Mario. That whole area gives me major Jack and the Beanstalk vibes.

 

[Vitet]

I bought digitally SS day-one, excited for a new Paper Mario.

I just avoided all possible battles until about World 3, when I couldn't continue playing the game anymore.
Just release a new REAL Paper Mario, please.

 

[djtiesto]

I've only played SMRPG, Super Paper Mario, and Bowser's Inside Story but am interested in pursuing the rest of this series...

SMRPG is still my favorite, since it definitely resembled more of a Square 16-bit RPG in terms of pacing, storyline, and game design, while the others went off in their own direction... The Culex fight was my favorite, with the FF4 music and FF aesthetic.

Super Paper Mario tended to be slow-paced with a tendency to drag on, with long text spiels and some frustrating parts that tried to be all wink-wink postmodernist but ended up failing for me (i.e. the whole of 2-2). The game did have its moments, though I would've definitely preferred a straight-up platformer with slight puzzle elements and much less focus on the text than what we got (keep the art style, it looked cool).

Bowser's Inside Story, the fights tended to drag on and the variety of enemies was extremely low... plus I hated the gimmicky minigames (from the days when devs were still trying to shoehorn all of the DS features into their games even if the game didn't call for it) and especially the soundtrack. Kinda reminded me of minimal techno with the occasional accordion... like whoever did the soundtrack was a huge fan of the infamous minimal techno song Samim - Heater.

What I'd like to see for the franchise - a return to consoles, and a return to less gimmicky, more traditional RPG gameplay. Less "treehouse trying to be witty and postmodern and self-referential" and more sincere, poignant stories/translations. Better soundtracks (I liked SMRPGs but not the other ones I've played).

 

[The Lamonster]

What I've always wanted and STILL want is a real sequel to Super Mario RPG.

It's a huge disservice to fans for Nintendo to completely abandon such great characters like Geno Mallow Booster etc.

Imagine how good that claymation style would look in HD...

 

[Teknoman]

My only problem with recent M&L games is that they've become far too wordy. Sort of the same problem Golden Sun series started to have.

 

[Geg]

I''ve only played the non-handhelds, so that's Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Thousand Year Door, and Super Paper Mario.

I know this is an unpopular opinion but my least favorite of those four is Thousand Year Door. I just hated the whole stage/audience mechanic in the battle system. A battle going okay only for me to be screwed over by some stage element seemingly randomly falling on Mario and damaging me followed by an enemy attack leading to a game over was not an infrequent occurrence.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

-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?

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.

-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.

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 want to see in the next Mario RPG? Yoko Shimomura as its composer? Square's return to the franchise? Handheld or console?

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).

Bonus question:

-What was your favorite segment of any Mario RPG that you played?

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.