![]() (Seaside Town is a great one-stop shop, for instance, while Marrymore provides a luxury resort experience–try the Deluxe Suite in the Hotel to see what I mean!) The various towns and zones in SMRPG are well-crafted and provide rest and refueling opportunities, as well as furthering the main story and some side quests. For instance, Link and Samus appear at various points in the game, as this video demonstrates. (Plus, you can compete with Yoshi in the island races to get Yoshi Cookies, which are great to use when you’re in combat and need an emergency boost!)ĭon’t miss the fun cameos and references to other Nintendo games hidden within SMRPG. You can also visit Yoshi’s Island and hang out with Yoshi and all his pals. You can compose and play a melody using a still pond and tadpoles for the notes! (Also, if you gather certain melodies from around the game and play them here, the composer Toadofsky will gift you with various access cards to Tadpole Pond’s “Juice Bar,” which provides several team-boosting items.) The music nerd in me still delights in the musical side available in Tadpole Pond (just beyond Midas River). ’90s TV allusion, ahoy! This boss battle is fraught with snicker-worthy dialogue and posturing, even as it challenges you to think strategically. One of the boss battles you’ll face is with a group called the Axem Rangers, who are thinly-veiled references to the Power Rangers. (You can come back and play the Midas River course over and over again if you want, as well!) Precise control over Mario (and good reflexes/timing) are key, but you don’t have to do the course perfectly to get through the area. Your forays into the second major area of the game, “Pond to Pipes,” take you down the Kero Sewers and out into a river course called the Midas River, so named because it can make you rich if you know how to play it right. This clip, showing part of the “wedding” ceremony, has some of the funniest dialogue and actions in the whole game. For example:Īs part of the story, you have to rescue Toadstool from being forcibly married to Booster, who is pretty much a more playful, inept, and silly version of Bowser. This game is both challenging and entertaining, rich with both non-essential content and story events that are downright funny. I love that she is the primary “healer” in this game, with her “Group Hug” group-healing power, and her resurrect power, “Come Back.” (I also love the fact that she can whack baddies with a Frying Pan if you know where to find it! :P) This was the first non-racing game I recall that had Toadstool as a playable character, which is one big reason this is a favorite game of mine. The spirit, ♥ ♪ !?, chooses to occupy the form of a little clown doll named “Geno,” and takes on the doll’s name since his real name is “hard to pronounce.” LOL!Īlong with Bowser and Geno, you get Mallow, a little guy with weather powers who looks like a little puff of cloud (for good reason–you’ll find out why later in the game), and Princess Toadstool. ![]() The new challenge: defeat Smithy, the bad guy who just threw Bowser out of his own castle with a larger-than-life sword.īesides Mario and Princess Toadstool, there are some old familiar faces and completely new characters in SMRPG…but the story takes a few surprising turns concerning its characters.įor instance, Bowser actually becomes an ally in the fight against Smithy (a move that was revolutionary for its day).Īnother ally comes all the way from the Star Road (as basically an angel) to help Mario and his friends. It stabs down into Bowser’s castle, and the resulting explosion scatters Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser to various places in the world. But, just as you’re about to rescue Toadstool, why, a giant sword comes crashing through the heavens (screwing up the Star Road in the process). The first few minutes of gameplay seem more like the end of a traditional Mario game–you fight Bowser to rescue Princess Toadstool. And the game bears the marks of both its parent game companies the rich lore and characters of Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom combine with Final Fantasy-style turn-based, RPG combat and mechanics to make a new type of challenge for Mario fans. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (its full title) is the result of the only collaboration between Nintendo and Squaresoft (now known as SquareEnix, makers of the Final Fantasy series). Back in 1996, this little gem was released for the SNES, and quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |