Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a game developed by Squaresoft, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the next-to-the-last game developed for a Nintendo console. It is Nintendo flagship character Mario's first RPG, featuring light cameos between many Nintendo series and the Final Fantasy series.
It was released in Japan on Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console in 2008. Both Nintendo that Square have never developed a PAL version, but the game was released in Europe on Wii Virtual Console on August 22, 2008 during the third Hanabi Festival, which was used for games that were not released in a given region for the original console.
A remake for the Nintendo Switch was released on November 17, 2023.
Gameplay[]
A typical battle in the game. In this shot, Toadstool targets the Greaper for an attack with her Frying Pan.
The gameplay of Super Mario RPG is a hybrid of platforming and RPG elements. In the field players can jump across platforms, move to avoid enemies, descend pipes to hidden areas, and hit floating treasure chests to receive items. Enemies move around in the field and touching one initiates a battle. The battle system is turn-based, with each party member and each enemy receiving their turn to perform an action in a set sequence. Party members can attack, defend, flee, use items, or perform special magic-like attacks using Flower Points.
The game is viewed from an isometric perspective. On the map the player is given a variety of set locations to move to unlike the free-roaming style of Final Fantasy - players move to a location marker and enter that area as they wish.
Story[]
The story starts out like any other Mario game; Princess Toadstool gets kidnapped by Bowser while she is picking flowers in Mario's garden. Mario goes to Bowser's Keep, defeats Bowser in a battle atop the chandeliers and succeeds in rescuing the Princess. However, before Mario can untie Toadstool from her bonds, the castle shakes and a large sword is seen crashing through the sky, shattering a large glowing star into seven pieces that proceed to plummet to earth. Upon explaining to the retainer Toad what happened, Mario returns to Bowser's Keep, where the giant sword, called Exor, is now emerging from the turrets. Exor announces the castle now belongs to the "Smithy Gang" and destroys the bridge to the keep, leaving Mario forced to travel to the Mushroom Kingdom and consult the Chancellor for advice. While taking a break to assist the "tadpole" Mallow in catching the thief Croco who stole his Frog Coin, the kingdom is overrun with pogo-stick hopping villains called Shysters. After defeating their leader Mack in the throne room, Mario retrieves a glowing star from behind the throne, and with the Chancellor unsure of what to do next, Mallow suggests they consult his grandfather.
After traveling to Tadpole Pond, the sage Frogfucius explains that Toadstool and Bowser were also thrown from Bowser's Keep, and the villain Mack was merely a minion of Smithy sent to cause trouble, and more will follow. Frogfucius also explains that Mallow is not his grandson, but an orphan he found in a basket from the clouds. Mallow thus agrees to go with Mario, both to help him and to find his true parents. Frogfucius directs them to Rose Town, where the citizens have recently been afflicted with paralysis from arrows shooting out of the forest. On their way to Rose Town, the duo spots Bowser commanding what few troops he has left to take back his castle from Smithy. After staying the night in Rose Town's inn, the doll of the innkeeper's son grows to life size and vanishes into the forest. Following him, Mario and Mallow find Bowyer, another minion of Smithy who is firing the arrows at the town. Before they can confront him however, the doll steps in and battles Bowyer single-handedly. Assisting him and dispatching Bowyer, the doll explains he isn't really a doll but an emissary from Star Road that has taken on the doll's form. When Exor crashed into Bowser's Keep, he shattered the Star Road into seven pieces. Since the Star Road is the place where wishes are granted, unless the seven Star Pieces are recovered and the Star Road repaired, wishes can never come true. The doll joins Mario and Mallow under the name Geno, unaware that a flunky of Bowyer overhead and runs off to tell Smithy.
After journeying through Moleville and retrieving the third Star Piece from the villain Punchinello, the trio heads to Booster's Tower. There, Bowser, now alone, is lamenting over the loss of his army and home. Agreeing to ally with Mario in exchange for his allegiance as member of the Koopa Troop, Bowser busts down the tower door and the four climb to the top to find Booster is keeping Princess Toadstool hostage, intent on marrying her. Narrowly breaking up the wedding, Toadstool returns to Mushroom Kingdom, but upon learning of Mario's quests sneaks out and agrees to help him. Bowser also offers his assistance, since defeating Smithy will get him his castle back, although he consistently reminds Mario he has allied with him only for this reason. After finding the fourth Star Piece on Star Hill where the wishes granted by Star Road fall, the gang heads to Seaside Town. Although the residents act strangely, the Elder tells Mario that the fifth Star fell into the sea and he desires it. Traveling inside a sunken ship, the aquatic pirate Johnny Jones battles Mario one-on-one, giving him the star as a symbol of his respect when Mario wins. However, the Elder then reveals his true identity as Yaridovich, another member of Smithy's army. After chasing Yaridovich until Johnny catches him, Mario defeats Yaridovich and frees the true people of Seaside Town with the knowledge Smithy is now actively acting against him. The true Elder tells Mario of a town of reformed monster at the end of the world, where a resident has been bragging about their "star".
Traveling through Land's End and entering Monstro Town, Mario discovers the star there is only a musical pop star. However, the mayor of the town tells Mario that if he's looking for a star, the only place left is in the sky. Finding a path to the sky in Bean Valley, they discover a kingdom of cloud-like people now ruled over by Valentina and Prince "Mallow" while the King is ill. The sculptor for the royal family alerts Mallow of his true origins as the real prince and the gang defeats Valentina and frees Mallow's parents. The two allow Mario access to Barrel Volcano, where Mario finds the sixth Star. However, it is promptly stolen by the Axem Rangers, and Mario chases them to Smithy's airship Blade, destroying it and defeating the rangers to reclaim the Star. Now with all but a single Star Piece, Mallow's parents surmise the only place left it could be is in Bowser's Keep. Flying them there on the royal bus, Mario climbs to the keep's highest tower and battles Exor. Upon being defeated, Exor's mouth opened to reveal the portal to Smithy's world where he has been sending out monsters to battle Mario.
Traveling through Smithy's world, a cold, dark factory, reveals Smithy is rebuilding his army and his main minions are already being mass-produced once again. In the depths of the factory, Smithy is at last confronted, revealing the final Star Piece hanging from his neck, and after transforming into a monstrous "true form" is defeated. Geno takes the seven Star Pieces back to Star Road and abandons the doll body. Mario and Toadstool return home, Mallow takes his place as Prince, and Bowser begins rebuilding his keep.
Characters[]
Playable Cast[]
- Mario is once again the hero of the journey. Initially focused on finding and rescuing Toadstool, after Frogfucius and Geno clue him in on the true threat Smithy poses, his attention turns to defeating him and recovering the Star Pieces. He is very strong physically, but his magical attacks are only mediocre. He attacks with his fists, hammers, and Koopa shells. His magic skills allow him to Jump on top of his opponents and shoot Fireballs. Mario's best weapon is the Lazy Shell. His symbol when casting magic is a spade. Following traditional RPG styles of the silent protagonist, popular in other franchises on the SNES at the time, Mario has no spoken lines throughout the entire story and instead communicates with facial expressions and by acting out various events, sometimes morphing into other characters. He is similar to a freelance as he has balanced stats and limited magic.
- Mallow is a young cloud-like boy from Tadpole Pond who was raised by Frogfucius from a young age. However, he did not know that he was not really a tadpole, and traveled with Mario to find his real parents, the King and Queen of Nimbus Land. He is considered to be a crybaby by many. He is weak physically, but has very powerful magic attacks which allow him to control the weather, and he can create lightning and snow storms at will - a running gag is that whenever he cries, it rains. His weapons include wooden rods, gloves and cymbals, and his best weapon is The Sonic Cymbal. His symbol when casting magic is a club. He is similar to a Red Mage since he has both offensive and healing magic.
- Geno is a guardian of the Star Road who was sent to repair it after Smithy destroyed it, and joined Mario for that purpose. He has all-around good stats and is skilled both physically and magically. Geno's weapons consist of him launching projectiles from his arms and hands, and his magical attacks are beams of energy. His best weapon is the Star Gun. His symbol when casting magic is a star. He is similar to a black mage as he has mainly offensive magic.
- Bowser, King of the Koopas, lost his home and his army when Smithy took over his keep. With his home and position as main villain in jeopardy, Bowser reluctantly allies with Mario to defeat Smithy. However, he constantly reminds Mario he is with him only to reclaim his keep, and to prove himself a superior evil-doer than Smithy. He is a heavy physical fighter, and attacks with his powerful Claws, Gloves and Chain Chomps. His magic stats are overall the worst and he only learns four spells, which allow him to use status attacks like Poison and Fear through summoning minions like Boo and Mecha Koopa. His best weapon is the Drill Claw. His symbol when casting magic is a diamond. He is simlar to a warrior as he has high attack and health but not much magic.
- Princess Peach (Toadstool beforehand) is missing for the first half of the game, until Mario rescues her. After she finds out about his quest, she sneaks out of the castle to assist him, unwilling to stand by helpless this time. Toadstool's physical power is very low, and most of spells except her final spell consist of her healing the party or inflicting status ailments on enemies. She attacks with her gloves, parasol or fan. Her best weapon is the Frying Pan. Her symbol when casting magic is a heart. She is similar to a white mage as she has healing and status-inducing magic.
Villains[]
Mario and his allies confront Smithy.
- Smithy, the game's main villain, has destroyed the Star Road and taken over Bowser's Castle, using it as a base while his minions invade the Mushroom World from a portal. Smithy's world is shown as a dark, desolate factory full of ghosts and monsters. It is unknown how Smithy's world got this way, but he apparently loves his world and wants to make Mario's the same way - a world of weapons and war. He uses a variety of strong attacks in battle and with his assistant Smelter, he can create minions to assist him. After his initial defeat, Smithy takes Mario to the deepest bowels of his factory and reveals his true form as a giant skull-headed monster. His weapon is a gigantic hammer, which he uses to morph his head into various forms for combat, including a tank, a wizard and a treasure chest.
- The Smithy Gang are Smithy's henchmen, the gang causes various trouble around the world, apparently for fun or for purposes of conquest. However, after Smithy learns of the Star Pieces their goals turn to capturing them before Mario does. Smithy's gang consists of Mack the Knife, an animated jumping sword, Bowyer, a large bow that has a disjointed way of speaking, Yaridovich, a spear-wielding creature that can create copies of itself, and the Axem Rangers, a parody of the Power Rangers that command Smithy's airship, the Blade. Though Mario dispatches most of the gang's elite members, Smithy has set about mass-producing copies of them by the time Mario finds his factory.
- Belome is a bizarre four-eyed being with a voracious appetite. He appears in Kero Sewers and attempts to devour Mario and Mallow, but is apparently defeated. He is later found alive in a temple dedicated to him, and displays his ability to clone party members by tasting them.
- Booster is an immature man who lives in a tower with his three Sniffits, and the jesters Grate Guy and Knife Guy. Booster's tower is filled with his idea of "toys" - cannons, chain chomps, trains and pitfalls, and progressing through the tower often involves playing minigames of some sort. When Toadstool falls into his tower, he attempts to marry her, until she is rescued by Mario.
- Croco is a crocodile bandit who loves to boast about his speed. He appears repeatedly to steal items from Mario and it is usually required to catch and fight him afterward. Near the end of the game he infiltrates Bowser's castle and sells Mario items instead.
- Punchinello is creature found in the Moleville mines who loves explosives. Not much is known about him, but he wishes to become famous by finally defeating Mario. He attacks by summoning Bob-Ombs from the ceiling to assist him, but is defeated when he summons one a bit over-sized and is crushed.
- Valentina is a vain woman who has taken over Nimbus Land, and has disguised her pet Dodo as Prince Mallow to fool the people. After they are ousted, Valentina and Dodo fall to Booster Tower, and Valentina falls in love with Booster.
Other Characters[]
- Jinx is a martial arts master in Monstro Town who is renown for his skills in battle. He challenges Mario to three bouts to test Mario's power, and relinquishes control of his dojo to him when beaten the third time.
- Johnathan Jones, or "Johnny" for short, is a shark-like pirate who lives in a sunken ship. He captures one of the Star Pieces, but after defeating him in battle Mario earns the Star and Johnny's respect.
- Toad follows Mario around giving him pointers and items whenever necessary. He constantly shows up anywhere when needed to give Mario tutorials, and even infiltrates Smithy's factory to sell him items at the end of the game.
- Yoshi is one of many Yoshis on Yo'ster Isle, home of the Mushroom Derby Yoshi races. However, with Boshi as the undefeated champion, he only races one-on-one and the races have been delayed.
References to the Final Fantasy series[]
As the game was made by Squaresoft, there are multiple references to the Final Fantasy series.
Smithy has four Elemental Fiends, each with a different style of fighting: Mack is fire-Elemental, Bowyer is lightning-elemental, Yardovich is ice/water-elemental, and Axem Rangers combine various elemental powers amongst themselves. Although these minions are defeated, less-powerful rebuilt versions of them appear in Smithy's factory, again mirroring the Fiends who usually return near the end of the game more powerful than before. The various bosses are each tied to a specific weapon theme - swords, bows, spears and axes, all common Final Fantasy weapons. Smithy desires to take control of the Star Pieces to ensure his domination over Mario's world, and each Star Piece is found in a specific theme dungeon - a castle, a forest, a mine, a mountain, the ocean and a volcano. In this, the Star Pieces take the traditional role of Crystals.
Various Final Fantasy enemies also appear. Bahamut makes an appearance as a boss in Bowser's Keep as "Bahamutt". Enemies from Final Fantasy VI appear as bosses, including CzarDragon, which was dummied out of the game, and Zombone. The Myconid enemy appears later in Final Fantasy IX. Like many final bosses in the Final Fantasy series, once defeated Smithy warps the party to another area and transforms into a far more powerful "true form." Another Final Fantasy tradition that appears are monsters that hide in Treasure Chests. Similar to undead opponents being defeated by using Phoenix Downs and the Holy Water, Mario enemies like Dry Bones, Boo Buddies and Reapers can be killed instantly with "Pure Water". In battle, the concept of "Timed Hits" allows a player to hit the Attack button during the attack animation to cause a critical hit. This concept was repeated for the gunblade weapon in Final Fantasy VIII.
Culex[]
Culex and the Crystals
- "I am matter...I am antimatter...I can see your past...I can see your future...I consume time...and I will consume you!"
- —Culex
The most obvious reference to the Final Fantasy series is the game's optional superboss, Culex. He dwells in Monstro Town behind a sealed door, and the neighbors complain about hearing him mumbling about "crystals". Once the seal is undone using a 'shiny stone' from Moleville, Culex meets Mario in a purple-blue void of space. Culex proceeds to tell Mario he is a Dark Knight from Vanda who came to Mario's world to conquer it in the name of the Dark Mage. However, Mario's world is uninhabitable to Culex and his kind, so he willingly departs. Before Culex goes, he requests a battle with Mario and his allies. The player can choose not to fight Culex at all, however, as he is an entirely optional subquest.
In battle, Culex is accompanied by four elemental Crystals and shifts from his knight-like from to an angelic form with red wings and purple skin. Unlike the other enemies in the game which use 2.5-D isometric sprites and move in place during combat, Culex appears as a flat sprite that is motionless save for floating up and down, in an animation style similar to Final Fantasy enemies. Culex has just over 4000 HP, the highest of any enemy in the game with the exception of the final boss Smithy. However, the four crystals have HP totals of 2500, 3200, 1800 and 800. Combined with Culex, this gives the entire enemy party over 12,000 HP, far more than the final boss. Each Crystal uses magic aligned with their elemental power (fire, water/ice, earth, wind/lightning) and Culex uses non-elemental spells.
The music played during the battle is a remix of the boss music from Final Fantasy IV. Upon winning, the victory fanfare is played and afterwards, Prelude plays. Culex's parting words are to compliment Mario on his strength and gives him the Quartz Charm as a memento. Culex also says that "in another life, another game, [we] may have been mortal enemies". Despite breaking the fourth wall to all but explicitly state he had crossed over from one of the Final Fantasy worlds, Culex himself never appears in any Final Fantasy game and seems to be based on the generic themes of enemies and plotlines the series has become known for.
References to other series[]
- Link from the Legend of Zelda series appears in an inn in Rose Town.
- Also, the Octolot and Octovader enemies are similar in appearance to the Octorok enemies from the Legend of Zelda series.
- Samus Aran from the Metroid series appears in the Mushroom Kingdom.
- One of the minigames in Bowser's Keep has Mario dodging barrels being thrown by a Guerrilla, which is a reference to Donkey Kong.
- The Guerilla and Chained Kong enemies are almost identical in appearance to Donkey Kong.
- The Rock Candy was actually an item from the game EarthBound.
- Models of various F-Zero and Star Fox machines appear as Easter Eggs at Hinopio's shop in the Barrel Volcano.