After 28 years and 3 Nintendo consoles, I can finally say I beat Super Mario RPG. I was 11 when the game originally released on the SNES (look it ups) with little concept of what an RPG was – that would come much latter after playing Final Fantasy VIII on our family's shared PC in 1999.
My first experience with the much praised RPG collaboration between Nintendo and SquareSoft (before Square Enix was a thing and the famed Japanese developer jumped to the PS1) came at EB Games and BlockBuster, retail chains where console demos were the norm and hanging in front of them for hours while your parents did whatever at the mall was common. Following those limited demos, I found myself purchasing the game on Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console. Of course I never got around to it, sold my Wii, and Nintendo's history of not supporting preservation meant that whatever was purchased on the Virtual Console shop has been lost to time. A SNES Classic console that's never been plugged in and we finally land at the Switch 3D remake developed by the skillful hands at ArtePiazza, a team that's had hands in designing many of my favorite Dragon Quest remakes.
Why no Luigi?
From all I've read, Super Mario RPG is a faithful remake with few additions such as cutscenes and cleaned up dialog. It's great to see what made this game great still work almost 30 years later. The characters are full of personality and the combat is tight. It's not a challenging game (11 year old Aziz begs to differ), but there are challenging moments with boss battles that would inspire splinter series Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi series.
I can still remember Geno from when I was a kid looking for him in the forrest. I must've gotten lost so many times trying to find him. There's something special about new characters Geno and Mallow. Both are perfect representations of what it's like to be a kid in Mario's magical world of the Mushroom Kingdom. They're perfect compliments for Peach and Bowser, who both get to flip the script and join the party as worthy companions. It must've been wild to play as them in 1996!
But seriously, how could they not fit Luigi as a new game plus?
It's a great game and thanks to its 90s' roots, a quick one too. 15-17 hours later and I closed the door on Super Mario RPG. A wonderful remake that reminds me of a time gone by. Damn shame they couldn't find any way to get Luigi in the game (i'll even pay for DLC!)
