• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Rate the Mario role-playing games

G

GaussTek

Member
So, I was thinking in replaying a turn-based Mario role-playing game while waiting for M&L 3 ^^ And was debating with my brother which one was the best in series.

I'm not counting Super Paper Mario (Wii), because it was more like an Platform/Action/RPG for me, and I would like to evaluate only the turn-based ones. This is my opinion:

256px-SuperMarioRPGSNESCoverArtUS.jpg

1. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES). The most traditional one, and for me, the best in the RPG series. You know, it wasn't only because Square made it, but has great music, nice story and a bunch of great characters. It was some kind of hard, so it has a good challenge and it's lengthy. Hope we see a remake for DS with extras (like CT) someday.

256px-Ttydbox.jpg

2. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN). This one was a great improvement over Paper Mario 1. Nice music, graphics, characters and a better story than the first one. It was also very lengthy and somewhat easy and linear, but for me that wasn't a bad thing.

250px-MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSagaGBACoverArtUS.jpg

3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA). This and the 4th place were a bit hard to rate, but I think Mario & Luigi 1 was better than Paper Mario 1 because IMO: has a bit better story, somekind sticky music and a final Boss that it's not Bowser. You know, Paper Mario 1 wasn't bad, but didn't like a lot the story and the lengthy/somekind boring places to explore. That didn't happen with Paper Mario 2 for me.

250px-Papermario.jpg

4. Paper Mario (N64). OK, like I said, it wasn't bad. It has lovely graphics (for the N64), more characters and it was lengthy, but didn't like the story a lot. Anyway, like I said, this was hard to rate.

250px-Mario_%26_Luigi_-_Parnters_In_Time_%28box_art%29.jpg

5. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (DS). A disappointment. You know, It WASN'T THAT BAD, but definitely has forgettable story and music. The baby mario/luigi were more a gimmick for me. I think about it more like an expansion to the first Mario & Luigi. I have high hopes on third though.

So, what do you think??

BTW, I searched over the forums, and only found an old topic about Mario & Luigi GBA.
 
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

..

..

..

5. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
6. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
7. Paper Mario
8. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
 
Princess Skittles said:
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

..

..

..

7. Paper Mario
8. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Click to expand...

Pretty much. (Haven't played the M&L ones)
 
Princess Skittles said:
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

..

..

..

5. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
6. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
7. Paper Mario
8. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Click to expand...
.
 
1. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
2. Paper Mario
.
.
.
12. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
13. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
.
.
.
37. Super Mario RPG

Super Mario RPG has aged about as well as cottage cheese. What an eyesore that game is now.
 
Pizza Luigi said:
1. Mario Golf: Advance Tour

Fuck yeah.
Click to expand...

Ahh yeah, I forgot about the Sports/RPG from Camelot, they were great too :D


Oh, and BTW, why no one of you like the first Super Mario RPG? =((( It's the only one i would like to see a remake someday.
 
1. Paper Mario 2
2. Paper Mario
3. Mario & Luigi
4. Mario & Luigi 2
492892678769783647634786497836483648948. Mario RPG
 
Love - Mario and Luigi - The best one, in my opinion.
Love - Super Mario RPG - Kinda ugly, and it's annoying that you can't get the first hit on enemies like you can in the later ones(they spoiled me), but it's still very fun, and a classic.
Like a lot - Mario and Luigi 2. But the babies turn me off.

Do not want - Paper Mario, Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door - I really cannot tolerate the slow pace of these games.
 
1. Mario RPG
2. Paper Mario TTYD
3. Mario and Luigi
4. Paper Mario

I own but haven't yet played the DS game

EDIT: I see my list is the same as the OP :P
 
GaussTek said:
Oh, and BTW, why no one of you like the first Super Mario RPG?
Click to expand...
Because the charm of all the other games is that they are distinctly MARIO games.

Super Mario RPG is just a Final Fantasy game with Mario poorly shoehorned into it.
 
1- Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
2- Mario Golf GBA
3- Mario Tennis GBC
4- Mario Tennis GBA
5- Mario Golf GBC
6- Mario & Luigi Partners in Time
7- Paper Mario
.
.
.
10- Super Mario RPG

Haven't played the GCN one yet.

GaussTek said:
Oh, and BTW, why no one of you like the first Super Mario RPG? =((( It's the only one i would like to see a remake someday.
Click to expand...

Disappointing, boring, short.
 
GaussTek said:
Ahh yeah, I forgot about the Sports/RPG from Camelot, they were great too :D


Oh, and BTW, why no one of you like the first Super Mario RPG? =((( It's the only one i would like to see a remake someday.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this thread will become a giant Super Mario RPG hate-fest before long.
 
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Had everything the 64 original had, but better, and funnier. Also 10 hours more playtime. It also has buckets and cardboard decoration dropping on your head during battles.
2. Paper Mario
Favourite N64 game (yes, I like it better than Mario 64).
3. Super Paper Mario
Although more of a platformer than an RPG. Shity game, shitty story, funniest dialogues ever. Playing as Bowser all the time is a neccesarity to enjoy this game in its fullest.
4. Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
Wasn't super great, was actually kinda boring. But the story was fun, and Fawful is one of the best Mario characters ever.

UNRATED:
Mario and Luigi Partners in Time
Haven't played, probably never will.
Super Mario RPG.
I hate this game. :)
 
1. Paper Mario
2. Paper Mario 2
3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
4. Super Mario RPG
5. Throwing up blood
6. Mario & Luigi 2: Partners in Time
 
Fun fact, I can't find the picture off-hand, but Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time was tested before they had proper DS hardware. There's a picture of it running on two GBAs hacked together. Must have been a hell of a limitation on them.

I've beat them all but Partners in Time, which is languishing in the final dungeon of sorts. (Which is a hell of a place to stop playing, obviously.) I'd have to say...

1. Super Mario RPG. Going to show its age a bit now, but so good, and holy shit was it impressive at the time.

2. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. People always cry for a "real" sequel to Super Mario RPG, but wasn't this by the same exact team? Are people that creepy about Geno (Piccolo Puppet)? I'm not even sure why I'm rating this below Super Mario RPG, probably because I had a dose of nostalgia of SMRPG recently, while it's been a while since I touched this. That and there was a slight annoyance at having to toggle moves so much, and getting confused here or there at which I was doing. But overall it was a fantastic, funny game. And I loved how much platformer skill played into it. If you were good enough at reading moves and reacting, 95% of the time you didn't have to take damage from attacks.

3. Paper Mario : The Thousand Year Door. TEC is watching you shower.

4. Paper Mario. I thought I'd hate this game when it was first shown. The trailer was so cornball and screamed "BABY'S FIRST MARIO GAME" to me. Ended up being very entertaining, but I can't say entirely memorable at this point.

5. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Still very good, but they clearly pushed hard to get it out the door for early DS release. And rather than using the extra buttons to uncomplicate the controls, they made them even more complicated with the addition of the babies.
 
This is how I would rank them:
1) Paper Mario 1
2) Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga
3) Paper Mario 2
4) Mario RPG
5) Mario and Luigi: Partners in time.
 
SilverLunar said:
that game was an RPG? never have thought. (never played the Mario sports titles)

*goes to youtube*
Click to expand...

They were somekind of Sports/RPG hybrids. But you don't play as Mario on them (you challenge him at the end, I think) .

I'm surprised a few people enjoyed them more than a traditional one. But yeah, have to admit they were also fun (only played GBA Golf/Tennis).
 
Princess Skittles said:
Because the charm of all the other games is that they are distinctly MARIO games.

Super Mario RPG is just a Final Fantasy game with Mario poorly shoehorned into it.
Click to expand...

fuck, I totally missed the NES/SNES Final Fantasy with visible enemies. Or field actions. Or timed hits. Or what the fuck?
 
Out of what I have played
1) Paper Mario
2) Paper Mario: TTYD
3) Mario & Luigi SS
4) Super Mario RPG
5) Super Paper Mario (although it doesn't deserve to be listed with the others)
 
Infamypack said:
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Had everything the 64 original had, but better, and funnier. Also 10 hours more playtime. It also has buckets and cardboard decoration dropping on your head during battles.
Click to expand...
I rate TTYD below both the original and M&LSS because that "10 hours more playtime" consisted entirely of endless backtracking through the levels.

1. Paper Mario
2. M&L: SS
3. PM: TTYD
4. M&L: PIT
5. Super Paper Mario (sorta)

Note the chronological downward trend. My hopes for M&L3 are low.
 
I've only completed Super Mario RPG and both the Mario and Luigi games. I'd rate them as:

1) Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga
2) Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
3) Super Mario RPG

I beat Super Mario RPG for the first time just recently and I can say that while it's a solid starter RPG, a good effort by Square, and I have nostalgic feelings for it (because I played it, but just didn't beat it, multiple times as a kid), it just doesn't hold up to the various improvements in gameplay that the Mario and Luigi games brought to the table.

Paper Mario I'm probably about 1/4 to 1/3 through, but I'm not going back to it until I beat Super Paper Mario. From what I can tell, it still won't rate as high as the Mario and Luigi games, but it may or may not climb above Super Mario RPG; I haven't played enough of it to be sure.

Oh, and I'm not giving actual number values for scores because I hate scoring that way.
 
Zachack said:
I rate TTYD below both the original and M&LSS because that "10 hours more playtime" consisted entirely of endless backtracking through the levels.
Click to expand...
Doopliss chapter, yeah. There wasn't that much backtracking in the rest of the game, atleast, not more than the original had.
 
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The soundtrack, graphics, and the story, and the.... God, it was just too fucking awesome! Great game, great game. God Tier.

2. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time . The final battle blew me away and the game too everything the original offered, and made it 10 times better. Absolutely great in every way imaginable, with great tunes to boot!

3. Paper Mario. Awesome dialogue and characters make for a fun-filled romp!

3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Tied for 3rd, this game has nice features, but drags just a tad.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
As low of a score as I can give it, SM RPG is what I consider shit tier. I cannot call it a bad game, but I loathe it. It is NOT Mario, it is a Square RPG with Mario, and I don't like that...

That is my story and I am sticking to it.
 
JudgeN said:
WoW SMRPG was fantastic game, dunno what everyone here is smoking.
Click to expand...
It's certainly a good game. It's just been bettered, in my opinion.

Believe me, I used to hold SMRPG in the highest regard of all the Mario RPGs myself, until I actually beat it.

I will say that SMRPG does have this "Final Fantasy for Kids" feel to it while the other Mario RPGs feel more distinctly tied to their mother franchise.
 
Mario RPG is not a proper MARIO game. It's just a Final Fantasy game with Mario characters in it.
Click to expand...

Weeaboo mentality.

The game could have Mario in a post-apocalyptic future, doesn't change the fact that the game is still a lot of fun to play.

I guess I'm just not 'into' the aesthetics of whatever MARIO is supposed to be today to care or notice.
 
Partners in time is my favorite, as its the most challenging and advanced as far as gameplay. Super star saga is a very close second, with the others all locked in tight third. I really can't fault any of them though, as each one has been better than the previous. Certified classics, with some of the best mechanics in gaming.

However, as humorous as they are, the actual story in all of them is hyper awful. Maybe the new one will be different.
 
The only one I've completed is Superstar Saga. But from what I played....

1. Superstar Saga
2. Paper Mario
3. Thousand Year Door
4. Super Mario RPG - First RPG I ever played actually. Although I never made it far in the game because I could never find it in stores and had to rent it.

And I hate Partners in Time and Super Paper Mario. So...
 
I thought TTYD was a pretty big disappointment. Fantastic script, but that doesn't make up for the awful Peach sections, annoying backtracking, stunted level design (hey, wait in this locker room for half of this chapter!), pretty forgettable villains that didn't really fit in with the Mario universe, and out-of-nowhere final boss.
 
1. Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door - one of the best Gamecube games
2. M&L: Superstar Saga


7. Paper Mario
8. Super Mario RPG




9999999999999999999999999999999. M&L: Partners in Time - just terrible
 
Lionheart1827 said:
Wow, didn't know so many people disliked SMRPG. I definitely enjoyed that one more than the other ones by far.
Click to expand...
I like the game. It's just that every Mario RPG that came after it fused the two elements SO much better.

Likes, thousands of times better.
 
Shig said:
I thought TTYD was a pretty big disappointment. Fantastic script, but that doesn't make up for the awful Peach sections, annoying backtracking, stunted level design (hey, wait in this locker room for half of this chapter!), pretty forgettable villains that didn't really fit in with the Mario universe, and out-of-nowhere final boss.
Click to expand...

I really enjoyed the zany shit. May be because I'm not particularly wed to the Mario universe in general though. The game was absolutely beautiful too.
 
badcrumble said:
Seriously. I didn't know it was even possible to hate that game. One of my favorite childhood memories.
Click to expand...

Agreed. SMRPG is still easily the best of all of them. I'm starting to expect this level of awful taste on GAF.

1. SMRPG
2. PM

Those were the only two excellent entries.

3. PM: TTYD

Insulting levels of backtracking near the end killed this.

4. M&L

This was just dull. I never played PiT.
 
They're all wonderful, they're the only games in the genre I buy and play consistently. Mario & Luigi: SS, in particular, was very impressive.
 
GaussTek said:
3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA). This and the 4th place were a bit hard to rate, but I think Mario & Luigi 1 was better than Paper Mario 1 because IMO: has a bit better story, somekind sticky music and a final Boss that it's not Bowser. You know, Paper Mario 1 wasn't bad, but didn't like a lot the story and the lengthy/somekind boring places to explore. That didn't happen with Paper Mario 2 for me.
Click to expand...
Thank you for spoiling it seeing as I'm currently playing Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga for my first time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
The Role-Playing Games with the best Side Quests
48
1K
{insert code here} replied
  • Poll
How Would You Rate The Legacy Of Kain Games & Favorite Game
7
270
begotten replied
Imagine Playing A Video Game.... In 'The Sphere'
11
159
ReasonBeing replied
  • Poll
Rate the 2025 Game Awards Show
2 3 4
189
2K
AJUMP23 replied
  • Poll
How would you rate the Feb 12th, 2026 State of Play?
4 5 6 7 8
357
3K
Danjin44 replied
Top Bottom