Super Mario RPG

[Bleck]

MP3 was 90% as good as MP1. Seriously, terrible is an awfully strong word.

no no no this is wrong wrong wrong

The only well designed environments were SkyTown and Phaaze, the latter of which is tainted by the awful gameplay twitch forced upon the player.

The music is okay, but that's it. Not good like MP or great like MP2.

The enemies mostly look ridiculous. I'm not sure why the Space Pirates and Metroids needed to have their appearance changed to something ultimately more silly looking than the previous titles.

The three other hunters were welcome additions - indeed, one of the things I was looking forward to was interaction with other characters (as opposed to just blowing them up and reading their logs), and the three of them had pretty interesting designs (especially Rundas, who looked very similar to Noxus from MPH, so I had assumed they would tie into that. Of course they didn't.). And they were all implied to have a previous relationship with Samus, which had the potential to give not just them but Samus herself a bit of actual development.

But boy, was I disappointed when not even 20% into the game, they suddenly become bad guys for stupid, stupid reasons. The least they could have done was either have them corrupted near the end of the game, or had them not just die and be 'absorbed' by Dark Samus whenever you beat them. That was a lazy, lazy move of them.

No multiplayer - ridiculous. As shallow as it was, the multiplayer in MP2 was one of it's best assets.

And finally, the bosses were just so so so bad. Especially compared to MP2s bosses. Mogenar was slow and unimaginative, Helios was pathetically simple, and Omega Ridley is almost a copy of Meta Ridley from MP.

Don't get me wrong, it's still top of the line when it comes to Wii titles in general. But for it's series - it was a disappointing low.

[Scufo]

I bought Mario RPG on VC a few days ago, this being the first time I've played it since renting it at some point in the distant past. It may have actually been the first RPG I ever played...either that or Pokemon. Regardless I sucked and recall losing horribly to Croco after being shocked at his ability to heal himself.

I gotta say, it's good, but I don't think it holds up to today's RPGs. The lack of random encounters and action commands (to use the Paper Mario term) must have been a breath of fresh air when it came out, but they're implemented better in both Paper Mario's. Combat could stand to be a little deeper too. I also find myself wanting some kind of hub area to return to after getting a star piece, but that's just me being biased towards Paper Mario.

Also, I agree heartily with everything that's been said about the Paper Mario series.

EDIT: As long as we're talking about MP now I will say that MP1 is far superior to the others. The game's environments were just incredible. They were beautiful, but at the same time alien and, more than anything, lonely. Talon Overworld, Phendrana Drifts, Chozo Ruins, and the crashed frigate in particular come to mind. MP was a game that managed to be extremely immersive, without making it painfully obvious that that was the devs' intent *cough*Oblivion*cough.* You could really step into Samus's shoes and feel her plight. This was aided by the game's excellent scan system.

[Weirdboyscott]

This is my favorite SNES game and even though I played it about a year ago I'm going to play it again at the same time as a friend of mine who is going to play the game for the first time since it came out on the VC.

[HideousBeing]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00002SVG3/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1221373786&sr=1-1

Wow, my copy just got pretty valuable to me.

Also, bigger digits are funner, for which I like SMRPG more. It's annoyingly repetitive to deal damage in absolute digits. And starting at one? You gotta be kidding me. It was funner when hoping for a bonus role that would take out a baddie that would normally take two hits.

Debate: Who's cooler? Grubba, or Johnny?

[Bleck]

FUNNER IS NOT A WORD.caps

[Weirdboyscott]

There is no part of Metroid Prime 2 that was even remotely better than anything in Metroid Prime 3.

[Antipode]

I know this isn't a Metroid thread, but I beg to differ - Prime 2 still nailed (not as much as the first Prime, but better than 3) the isolated atmosphere Metroid relies on. Plus, Torvus Bog and particularly the Sanctuary Fortress were just plain awesome (and Prime 2 had a lot more area to explore what with the dual worlds). What's more, I think Prime 2 had the best boss fights of the series. Prime 3s were still very well done, in my opinion, but not as good. Prime 3 sacrifices atmosphere and traditional Metroid play for awesome control and a coherent and more important storyline. Depending on how important each of those is to you, I can easily see people liking either over the other.

But yeah. Mario RPG.

[Ray Falling]

Since the game never made it to Europe, I don't have them childhood memories of it that some of you have ;_;

I do remember uhm >_> downloading it one day to play it on my PC and I did love the game a lot. Even though it was in French and I didn't get a single word whahahaha (how I managed to finish it in the first place is beyond me).

Anyway, I wanted to get it for the VC but for some reason my Wii can't connect to the net anymore. So I figured I'd just play the rom version on my old PC.

Overall it is a very entertaining game with a great battle system and well-balanced gameplay.

One problem I had with it was length though. I finished it pretty quickly, and I think they could have made it tons bigger as it comes nowhere near say...Final Fantasy 6.

Then again, I tend to play a game non-stop when I get it so it'd probably last for more days if I'd spend only a few hours a day playing.

Like in Paper Mario 64, your level will actually max out at 30 which I thought was kind of a shame. Then again, you're pretty much at the end of the game by that time so there's no real need for levelling up beyond that. That's why I'd have loved to see more content...like say, more or longer dungeons between getting stars.

I don't exactly get the hype around this game, but overall it is a pretty good game with tons of memorable moments.

[DrumUltimA]

FUNNER IS NOT A WORD.caps

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

[LuketheXjesse]

Ahh...SMRPG...one of my childhood favorites! I remember getting it for my...6th, 7th birthday? I just remember my parents hating it because it wasn't the platfoming goodness they remember. I, however, thought it was the best game ever made (at the time). I mean, there were few RPGs then that had the fun and charm this one had. Seriously, everything was memorable almost. It was a MAGICAL game. And know what else? It had AWESOME music. You know what that means I think it's time OC Remix gets a project on this thing PRONTO!

[Schwaltzvald]

Obligatory post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvB-lIcHHPQ

[Zephyr]

I do remember uhm >_> downloading it one day to play it on my PC and I did love the game a lot. Even though it was in French and I didn't get a single word whahahaha (how I managed to finish it in the first place is beyond me).

How you made it through the puzzles in bowser's castle is beyond me...

Sidenote: Jinx is awesome.

[LuketheXjesse]

Believe me when I say I was VERY good as a kid. And yes Bowser's castle was hard but I managed. I beat the game at least 5 times as a kid.

One of the greatest things about the game, now that I think about it, is that you can't miss anything in it. There are many RPGs where you can miss things and I think that's just bad game design.

[Devyn]

The thing I didn't like about it is that it doesn't allow you level up past level 30 or somewhere around there. That really annoyed me. Dammit, I'm trying to finish another RPG before I download this game, but I'm tempted to do it right now.

[zircon]

I LOOOOVE SMRPG. Back in 5th grade or so that was a favorite rental of mine... I remember getting stuck at the underwater ship, where you have to put in "PEARLS" as a password. GameFAQs wasn't around at this point, or at least, I didn't have access to it. One day, I randomly asked some kid in my class - who I heard had an SNES - if he knew how to get past that level, and he said, "Yeah! Want to come over to my house?" This guy then went on to become one of my best friends

The game is just so well done in almost every respect. The perfect blend of traditional gameplay, action puzzles, minigames, and secrets. The Lazy armor does make things a little easy if you give it to Peach, and doing over 20-25 super jumps is next to impossible (I could never do it) but it's still awesome.

[Cottus and Gyes]

Oh Culex, how annoying you are.

[atmuh]

and doing over 20-25 super jumps is next to impossible (I could never do it)

my record was 40

[entropicdecay]

I never really got into this game, even back in the day. Something just seemed too... square... about it. Not to say it was bad (it wasn't) but I enjoyed Paper Mario far much more. I still have my copy, though.

Now, if only EB made it to VC. I have a copy of that too (game and guide on ebay for $7) but it'd be wonderful to see it.

[MechaFone]

So does anyone remember how to level up far beyond that of your toughest enemies right before you get to them?

When you're chasing Croco, there's an invincibility thing in the third or fourth segment. Get it, use it. Now die. You'll start back where you last saved (preferably two segments back) and you'll keep your exp points. Keep doing it until Croco is gone with one flame attack (I've gotten to level 11 before even getting to Croco this way.)

Also, in the sunken ship, after the stairway with the starfish, there's a Dry Bones tucked away in a corner with a Mushroom in a box. Inside are two Dry Bones, two Reapers and a...some monster. Defeating this group will earn you nearly 30 exp points. The great thing is, Dry Bones keeps getting back up! You can repeat this procedure over and over again. They're pretty tough, but keep it up and you can destroy them all in one hit with Mallow's first thunder spell. I believe I got all my characters up to level 18 before I carried on. Johnny and his crew couldn't deal more than 2 damage at one time. So history.

[Imagist]

I also find myself wanting some kind of hub area to return to after getting a star piece, but that's just me being biased towards Paper Mario.

This is the worst convention of the Paper Mario series and I hate it with a passion. I mean it worked all right once, but using it in every single one of them just made them all feel too similar, plot-wise.

Believe me when I say I was VERY good as a kid. And yes Bowser's castle was hard but I managed. I beat the game at least 5 times as a kid.

One of the greatest things about the game, now that I think about it, is that you can't miss anything in it. There are many RPGs where you can miss things and I think that's just bad game design.

You do realize he wasn't talking to you about Bowser's castle? He was talking to Ray Falling, who was playing the game in another language, which makes the puzzles in Bowser's castle very improbable to beat without ridiculous luck.

Also, if you think you can't miss anything, two words:

Lazy.

Shell.

Actually, two more words:

Star.

Egg.

Both are so incredibly easy to miss I didn't know they existed for almost ten years.

Oh Culex, how annoying you are.

Safety Badge on one of your party members, Lazy Shell armor on another, plenty of Pick Me Ups for the third, and then go at him with the Star Egg. Sure the animation gets bloody KILL-YOUR-FRIENDS-TO-STOP-THE-MADNESS annoying after the fifth or sixth time, and the tactic mind-numbingly repetitive, but when all else fails, use the Star Egg.

[LuketheXjesse]

?????

You can get either of those at any time in the game. I mean, after a certain point I mean. When I say you can miss items, I mean you can never get them after you pass a certain point. There is nothing like that in SMRPG. You can miss the Lazy Shell and Star Egg out of pure ignorance. I never heard of the Star Egg until I heard about it in a magazine. I found the Lazy Shell on my own however. Not my first time through though, that's for sure.

One game you can miss stuff and never get it is Final Fantasy IX. Great game, but it's really aweful in that aspect.

[LuketheXjesse]

I never found Culex too bad after awhile. Though I must say the very first time I found him in SMRPG (9 years old?) I went giddy with excitement because I had a new boss to fight. Got pwned though >_>

[Radiowar]

This is definitely my favourite game ever. I set up my snes a couple months ago to play through it again for the first time since I was like 8 years old and it was weird because I sort of instinctively knew where all the secrets and hidden chests were without actually knowing what I was doing.

Still can't get 100 super jumps though.

[Ray Falling]

You do realize he wasn't talking to you about Bowser's castle? He was talking to Ray Falling, who was playing the game in another language, which makes the puzzles in Bowser's castle very improbable to beat without ridiculous luck.

Whahaha, yeah. I think what I did was take the 2 rooms with the battles, and then the 2 with the maze-like puzzles. You only had to do 4 out of 6 right? or was it 6 out of 8? 0_0;

It really is a miracle I got through the game not even knowing what the heck people were saying. I did the same with Secret of Mana (also in French).

In any case, playing a US version not too long ago, I didn't have much trouble with Culex, but I did try to rush through the Axem Rangers. I ended up with 2 dead guys and 1 lazy shell Mallow, effectively dealing only 1 to 5 damamage each turn u_u; it took ages to get through whahaha. Of course I never got more than 1 damage myself either. So much for that Optimus Prime and his silly ray!

[HideousBeing]

Last summer, just for kicks, I actually leveled Mario all the way to 30 only in Mushroom way. Basically, the first chance I got to cap out, I did it there. Before even following Toad to Mushroom Kingdom.

It got sooooooo monotonous. It would take about an hour to level up near the end IIRC. It was awesome to trash Mac in a couple of hits. It was also funny, because while Mario was capped out, all the other party members would join at their normal levels.

I'm just glad I didn't pursue this goal with FFVII. I'd still be doing it.