Author Archive for Fawkes

This is a crossover that needs to happen. Source unknown.

Super Mario RPG was a game that defined my childhood. It was my first RPG, and I remember playing through it when I was in elementary school. Many, many years later, during the Super Mario RPG fanfest this past summer, I got a chance to revisit the game.

To this day, Super Mario RPG stands the test of time as a solid, traditional-style RPG. Everything from its humor, to its action-based battle system, to its lively cast of characters, to its diverse, upbeat, selection of music continues to make this a classic game that I’ll be revisiting years from now. Mario RPG followed in the footsteps of EarthBound by not taking itself too seriously, an atmosphere which was aided by its cartoony graphics that still hold up to this day. It’s not a particularly difficult game. When I was a kid, I dumped all my points into health points instead of raising my attack or magic powers and struggled with it, but I noticed that knowing what I was doing, the game was much less challenging these many years later. But it’s still enjoyable, especially the battle system. The timed-hits system remains one of the finest game mechanics introduced into RPGs that many games have since emulated. It provides the player an additional level of interaction that helped make the battles more exciting. Playing through it again and discussing with our friends was one of the highlights of my summer.

Oh yeah. The Mario RPG fanfest also spawned @DatValentina.