Super Mario RPG (Switch)

Super Mario RPG
Developer	ArtePiazza
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo Switch
Release Date	November 17, 2023
Rating	ESRB: E

Super Mario RPG is a remake of the 1996 Super NES game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars that was released for the Nintendo Switch in November 2023. The remake was handled by ArtePiazza, a studio that worked on remakes of other past Square-Enix games, mostly from the Dragon Quest series.

Information

Super Mario RPG acts as a faithful recreation of the original game with a different graphic style that is closer to that of a modern 3D game while retaining most of the proportions of the original character models. The game features a fully remixed soundtrack with the option to toggle between this new soundtrack and the original versions of the songs. Some cutscenes are also featured for storyline moments and character introductions. The gameplay has been expanded upon in this release, as successful action commands (known as 'timed hits' in the original game) will cause splash damage to multiple enemies, making it easier to hit multiple enemies at once. Action commands will also build up a gauge at the corner of the screen, and once it hits 100%, the characters can perform a Triple Move. The Triple Move is a special move carried out by all three party members working together in a cutscene. Most Triple Moves are attacks, but there is also one for healing and one that provides a protective shield. Before the player unlocks three characters, and at points in the game where one party member is downed or experiencing a status effect, the 100% gauge can instead be used for an action called a Toad Assist, where the player will hit a treasure chest as it cycles through several potential effects to pick which one will come into play, including attacks that hit all enemies and HP restoration.

This version also added several quality-of-life features such as an easier difficulty, an autosave (while retaining the original Save Blocks), the option to switch characters during battle and experience points being shared evenly among all characters, including ones not in the party. This version also has a bestiary known as a Monster List which keeps track of all enemies that had been encountered and defeated, as well as which ones Mallow has scanned with the Thought Peek ability. There is also an NPC at Land's End who will fill in missing entries for Frog Coins, which are more plentiful in this version. Some enemy battles will randomly contain a stronger version of one enemy, which will surrender a Frog Coin when defeated. Additionally, there are some changes in terms of presentation, to characters' animations and appearances. Notably, most of the Red Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom now wear red vests (which was introduced in Super Mario Sunshine), which makes it easier to tell them apart from Toad the character, who still wears a blue vest. Some voice clips have also been added, but only in two instances: for Bowser's growls and laughter, as well as for the Yoshis all calling out their name when spoken to (as first seen in Yoshi's Story).

There is also notably post-game content added to the game. Completing the game will add more sections to the menu, such as a list keeping track of records and a sound test. There is also a new sidequest which involves rematches against some of the game's bosses. The bosses are much more powerful, and some of the battles have additional challenges to add more of a challenge. Completing these battles will unlock some new ultimate weapons and equipment.

The English localization notably has more changes to the script, as some of the liberties taken by the original localization have been changed or undone. Some pop cultural references have been removed (such as removing Mallow's mention of Bruce Lee and changing Mack's name to Claymorton), and many names have been changed to be closer to the original Japanese version (such as Frogfucius now being known as the Frog Sage) or to match names used in other games (such as Beezo and Micro Goomba, which were previously called Shy Away and Goombette). There were also some instances where the Japanese names were unchanged in the original translation, and those names have now been properly localized, such as the Mukumuku now being known as a Thropher, Yaridovich now being called Speardovich and Hinopio is now Cinder Toad. The script also reflects some overall localization changes that have made since the release of the original game, such as the princess now being known as Peach instead of Toadstool and Toads being the species name instead of just one character's name (which is mostly reflected in Cinder Toad's new name).