Super Mario RPG

[Zephyr]

Easy way to beat this game;

Mario (with Lazy Shell)

Peach (with Lazy shell armor... and of course the frying pan)

Bowser

^This team can beat anything.

I often swap out bowser for Geno though, just because Geno is amazing.

Geno for Brawl!

Also, I don't know if I've ever used a single Kerokerocola... I compulsively save them in case I need them at some point, I don't even use them on smithy for some reason...

[Drack]

Lazy Shell armor = dead Culex.

[Weirdboyscott]

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.

Who cares about the isolation factor of Metroid Prime 2? I thought a lot of the fun in Metroid Prime 3 came from how you got to interact with the Galactic Federation and your hunter buddies, and it was a nice change of pace. There were only 2 songs in the entire game that were listenable beacuse of the whole idea that dark dimension songs were more ambient... but you ambient up an already extremely ambient song and you just get a held note with some blips. And saying that Prime 2 has more area to explore because of the 2nd dimension is pretty cheap, it wasn't interesting exploring Dark Aether it was just a chore making long travel between the two to solve something a total bore.

Good boss fights? Right... half of them had very obvious and lame strategies like the big bug you had to use multi-missiles on and the one you had to spider ball bomb, not to mention with such inspired names like "Jump Guardian" and "Bomb Guardian."

But anyway... back to SMRPG, am I the only one here that feels guilty for using the Lazy Shells? I only really can feel good about using both of those shells on Culex, otherwise it just feels too cheap. Although I do really like the whole bit with the gardner in Rose Town when he babbles so quickly... one of the most memorable little optional encounters along with tickling the village elder in Seaside Town.

Ohh... and everytime I get to Marrymore I always have to save my game and totally screw around with the suite, I just can't help myself every time I play through this game. I'll order the suite and keep the bellhop waiting by jumping on the bed of the sleeping guy in the regular rooms, of course I'll never tip. It's always great to take at least two showers and bounce on the beds before you go back and tell the bellhop to get lost. Several showers and like an extra week later of staying in the suite it is pretty fun trying to sneak out and then have to work for the hotel for a while.

[Imagist]

Who cares about the isolation factor of Metroid Prime 2? I thought a lot of the fun in Metroid Prime 3 came from how you got to interact with the Galactic Federation and your hunter buddies, and it was a nice change of pace.

The "isolation factor" is what makes Metroid Metroid. "A nice change of pace" made it, while still a good game, an entirely different game than Metroid ever was. Granted, this trend started as far back as when the series returned, with Metroid Fusion, so the fact that both Hunters and Prime 3 continued that development could have been expected, but part of why Prime 2 (and especially Prime) worked is that it adhered to the traditional, isolated atmosphere of the series.

[Zup]

I'm just waiting for Super Metroid RPG. I hear Mother Brain joins your party!

[Nekofrog]

The "isolation factor" is what makes Metroid Metroid. "A nice change of pace" made it, while still a good game, an entirely different game than Metroid ever was. Granted, this trend started as far back as when the series returned, with Metroid Fusion, so the fact that both Hunters and Prime 3 continued that development could have been expected, but part of why Prime 2 (and especially Prime) worked is that it adhered to the traditional, isolated atmosphere of the series.

Exploration is what makes a Metroid a Metroid game, not isolation.

Seriously, Samus exists in an almost endless universe with an endless number of races and people. She has to run into them SOMETIMES, and the whole "stick Samus on a planet all by her lonesome" schtick is REALLY old.

She needs to start interacting with the rest of the galaxy, that is infinitely more interesting. That is the ultimate Metroid game; exploring its own galaxy and mythos.

[Schwaltzvald]

She needs to start interacting with the rest of the galaxy, that is infinitely more interesting. That is the ultimate Metroid game; exploring its own galaxy and mythos.

So... a super mario galaxy rendition of Metroid..?

Sadly I'm having a difficult time what else the bounty hunter will go or do. Unless there's a new race of metroid like creatures out needing to be eradicated..?

Or ya know... a remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus from the GB done right without being in developement hell..?

[Nohbody]

The "isolation factor" is what makes Metroid Metroid. "A nice change of pace" made it, while still a good game, an entirely different game than Metroid ever was. Granted, this trend started as far back as when the series returned, with Metroid Fusion, so the fact that both Hunters and Prime 3 continued that development could have been expected, but part of why Prime 2 (and especially Prime) worked is that it adhered to the traditional, isolated atmosphere of the series.

True. In MP3 I was like who the hell is this pink woman I want to be alone.

They should make a Metroid RPG, without other people. That would break the mold.

[Antipode]

Exploration is what makes a Metroid a Metroid game, not isolation.

There's no single thing that totally defines any series. Up until Prime 3, isolation is just as much a factor of the atmosphere as the exploration and backtracking. WBS, I agree that a lot of the fun of Prime 3 is finally being able to interact with other characters. I still hold, though, that this sort of interaction felt out of place in the Metroid series. Thankfully Prime 3 seemed to integrate it pretty well and still provide at least some of the vibe of the previous games (which to me, is the very most important thing). One thing Prime 3 did excellently on that I agree with Nekofrog on is the expansion of the storyline. The Metroid universe is extremely rich and wide-open and it seems a shame not to regularly go a bit more indepth on some things. I would DEFINITELY not complain if they kept up this level of storytelling in future games.

About the bosses - WBS, I meant that the bosses of Prime 2 were the best of the series in that they were simply the best designed. Each relied at least in part on the item you recently got while still requiring some ingenuity to figure out the puzzle. Plus, each one was usually lengthy with multiple forms and had a good amount of challenge to it! I LOVE bosses that require you to switch into morph ball and back, or ones that make you switch visors back and forth to keep up, and Prime 2 had this in spades (though I'll grant you their names weren't very interesting). Still, I liked the idea very much of each boss having one of your stolen abilities that you had to fight to "earn back". I won't defend most of the Dark World music you ragged on because it wasn't really music...but the main game's music I still feel was much more Metroidy than Prime 3's music (which, no matter how you slice it, is very important to continuity of the trilogy). In a nutshell, I like Prime 2 more than Prime 3 because it fits in better and I'm crazy about continuity and I found the scheme of deep exploration of the dual-world to be way more engaging than light exploration of multiple worlds.

But yeah.

Mario RPG.

[jmr]

Or ya know... a remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus from the GB done right without being in developement hell..?

http://metroid2remake.blogspot.com/

I dunno if that fits your definition of 'done right', but if Nintendo were to release a remake like that, I know I'd buy it.

[Bleck]

Sadly I'm having a difficult time what else the bounty hunter will go or do.

Samus is a bounty hunter. Obviously, she'd be flying around capturing/killing people for cash.

[SwordBreaker]

LOL @ zircon for the PEARLS puzzle. I was stuck there too back in the day! My mom helped me with that one. That just brings back some good memories.

Super Mario RPG was my first RPG ever so I have very fond memories of it. It's the first time that I got familiar with Square as a developer. You can say this game is the reason I'm a Square-Enix and RPG fanatic. Really changed my gaming tastes back then. I still own my copy yet I bought the VC one for the hell of it! Talk about nostalgia.

And recently Square-Enix and Nintendo start developing together to make...Mario Hoops?! Seriously, that's bullshit. Give me Mario RPG 2 for crying out loud!

Gotta agree with Nekofrog on how AWESOME Paper Mario 2 is. It's the best in the series because of how solid the gameplay is and how hilarious the dialogue can get. Hawk Rawk is awesome and Bowser's sequences were just made of WIN. The series lost a lot of its charm with Super Paper Mario, but that game is as hilarious as PM2. Let's not forget Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Loved that game because it reminded me of Mario RPG the most for some reason.

[Schwaltzvald]

Samus is a bounty hunter. Obviously, she'd be flying around capturing/killing people for cash.

If I wanted that I'd go watch Walker Texas Ranger reruns along side with dog the bounty hunter shows; and that gets boring real fast, unless I get the actual cut of the prize money. I mean in terms of events that affect more than say ten lives when it comes to Samus...

[Weirdboyscott]

I remember that I rented this game and completed it before I had to take it back before I eventually got it for Christmas. Ohh god... that's PEARLS password! I was so pressed and worried for time when I rented it and I had read the "L" as an "I." I got all the password clues and I was still totally lost. Like SwordBreaker my mother tried to help me out with it, I went with her to Half Priced Books and searched through the dictionaries and scrabble dictionaries and stuff... but it was a total bust.

On the way home she had the idea to go into Blockbuster and just sneak a peek at the strategy guide, and when I figured out that was an "L" and not an "I" I totally flipped out.

[Imagist]

At first I thought the password was "corals." Silly me.

[MechaFone]

Samus = Ellen Ripley. Let's have some Metroid/Alien action.

[Bleck]

Just beat this, watching the credits right now.

[I-n-j-i-n]

I played it to death and frankly, the SNES one will do. Nintendo actually heard a hardcore gaming opinion. zomg

[LuketheXjesse]

I remember that I rented this game and completed it before I had to take it back before I eventually got it for Christmas. Ohh god... that's PEARLS password! I was so pressed and worried for time when I rented it and I had read the "L" as an "I." I got all the password clues and I was still totally lost. Like SwordBreaker my mother tried to help me out with it, I went with her to Half Priced Books and searched through the dictionaries and scrabble dictionaries and stuff... but it was a total bust.

On the way home she had the idea to go into Blockbuster and just sneak a peek at the strategy guide, and when I figured out that was an "L" and not an "I" I totally flipped out.

Guess what? I needed my parents for help on that too. Guess we all sucked at that part as kids.

[Schwaltzvald]

Nintendo actually heard a hardcore gaming opinion. zomg

Then Cho Aniki came in... no pun intended...

>:L

[LuketheXjesse]

Just beat this, watching the credits right now.

I think emulators take away from the magic ;_;

That's why I've refused to play SMRPG on an emulator 'til I get another copy on Ebay.

That's right...in middle school I SOLD SMRPG because I was greedy and wanted money. I deeply, deeply, regret that decision. Then again, didn't we all make bad decisions in Middle School??

[Schwaltzvald]

I think emulators take away from the magic ;_;

That's why I've refused to play SMRPG on an emulator 'til I get another copy on Ebay.

That's right...in middle school I SOLD SMRPG because I was greedy and wanted money. I deeply, deeply, regret that decision. Then again, didn't we all make bad decisions in Middle School??

Not at all, made sure I made good friends and kicked the asses of those that wish to rebel against me.

[SoloGamer]

Guess what? I needed my parents for help on that too. Guess we all sucked at that part as kids.

My parents are Mexican immigrants, so I was shit out of luck when I got to that part in my first playthrough (I was pretty close though. I originally tried OYSTER). Luckily it was a rental, so I just screwed around in another person's save file.

I had better luck on my second rental and made it all the way to the Valentina fight. Finally beat it in 2001 when I bought a used copy from Funcoland.

[Cottus and Gyes]

Oh Funcoland, how you backstabbed me in the face.

[The Mutericator]

Just beat this, watching the credits right now.

Russel Cox's "Farewell Star Guardian" can still make me tear up. Geno was the first real "badass" character I'd ever seen in a video game, and still one of my favorites.

Also, throw me onto the "needed help with PEARLS" pile, though I actually asked my Grandma for help in that one. I wrote down all the clues I could remember and the next day she called me back and told me to try PEARLS, and when I beat the game I called her back and thanked her. xD