In 1996, Japanese and North American players discovered Mario and its universe in a new light in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on SNES, a role-playing game developed by the then Square and which was the starting point for two licenses spin-offs for the plumber Nintendo. 27 years have passed and it is now a remake for the Switch simply calling itself Super Mario RPG which is long overdue. We have already been able to put our hands on this one, while comparing it to the original and we must admit that the progress made is a pleasure to see.
This remake of Super Mario RPG is on track to completely seduce us.
The first thing that jumps out at you is obviously its graphics, necessarily flashier than at the time, at least in fashion Portable For now. Everything has been recreated while retaining a certain feeling old school, but the artists fleshed out the settings to make them more attractive. For example, in the area of Mushroom Castlethe village now has stone ramparts and the vegetation has been increased with various textures on the ground. Next comes an element that will finally make the game accessible to as many people as possible: a French translation. Yes, even if fans have long proposed their alternatives, this is the first time that Super Mario RPG is available in our language. It is textually quite faithful and the touches of humor of yesteryear have been preserved. As for the soundtrack, it uses the familiar chants, reorchestrated to delight our ears.
In terms of plot, nothing moves and so we are still faced with the Smithy Gangor should we now say the band of Blacksmithwhich crashes a giant sword into the castle of Bowser while we were saving again peach claws of Bowser, all against the backdrop of collecting seven stars. Progression is always carried out in the same way with different locations accessible from a world map like the levels of the 2D episodes of Mario. On the other hand, the developers had the good idea of allowing you to teleport to places already visited. This has the effect that trampolines have disappeared, since their usefulness has disappeared. The save points are still present, even if automatic recordings are regularly carried out when entering a new area, which is the least you can do these days.
Likewise, we are left with the choice at the start of the game between two levels of difficulty, Easy And Normalwhich affect combat. We obviously selected the second and even then, it seemed a bit easier than in the original game, since we had to use less healing items. The attacks Timées are obviously backasking to press HAS at the right time, the same to defend ourselves (with a clearly visible shield effect as an indicator of success), which seemed simpler than before. An action gauge appears, which increases by successfully completing these coordinated actions, the combo counter of which does not reset between each fight. The rewards for being good are initially a boost then when it is filled, we can trigger theAssistoad. A chest block then appears and triggers a “random” effect; pressing at the right time allows us to hope to obtain what is most useful to us. Healing or a group attack on enemies are among the possibilities, and this can prove decisive.
Enemies have weaknesses, which we can play on, for example by using Techniques. The operation of the latter has been slightly revised, since THE Flower Points (PF) are now common to the group, which is not that penalizing contrary to what we directly thought. Controls during and outside of combat have also undergone a refresh to adapt to current codes. Thus, no more possible errors when selecting an object or a Technicalwhich required using X And Y even to validate our choice, since it’s the key HAS which serves to confirm everything, while B allows you to cancel within each menu. New players won’t notice anything, but it will make a difference to older players. Another detail for you, but which means a lot to us, the level up screen now shows Mario on a stage, surrounded by his adventure companions. And we always have the choice of a stat bonus between PV, Physical And Magicall the appearance RPG being back to the same with equipment to equip. Let us also note the presence of a Bestiary in the menu and a Travel album summarizing the important facts experienced, with modern ergonomics.
Our first impressions: Strongly!
This remake of Super Mario RPG is on track to completely seduce us, since it manages to preserve what made it charming while erasing the imperfections of the past, thus addressing both nostalgic players and those who will discover it for the first time. We obviously still have a lot to see before rendering our verdict, but all the lights are green so that he becomes a legend again.
You can pre-order Super Mario RPG from the following retailers:
| Alexandre SAMSON (Omega Law) Responsible Proofreader – Editor | ||
| Addicted to Assassin’s Creed and Destiny, big fan of RPGs and passionate about video game experiences in general. Reader of comics (DC) and various mangas (One Piece!). Chemist by training and Whovian at heart. | ||
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