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Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
North American box art
Developer(s)	Square
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Chihiro Fujioka
Producer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Composer(s)	Yoko Shimomura
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Virtual Console
Release	SNES Virtual Console
Genre(s)	Adventure, console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, often shortened and officially known in Japan as Super Mario RPG (スーパーマリオRPG, Sūpā Mario RPG), is a hybrid adventure/console role-playing game developed by Square and published by Nintendo. Nintendo first released the game on March 9, 1996 in Japan and on May 13, 1996 in North America. Europe and Australia did not officially receive the game until over twelve years later, when it was released for the Wii's Virtual Console on August 22, 2008; this is the longest time-span between an American and European release in Nintendo history. It was re-released for the North American Virtual Console on September 1, 2008.

Super Mario RPG is the final Mario game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, as well as being one of the last games Square produced for Nintendo hardware until Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice in 2002. Square did much of the development of Super Mario RPG under direct guidance from producer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Gameplay

In Super Mario RPG, Mario, Bowser, Princess Toadstool, Mallow, and Geno fight as allies in the first console role-playing game (RPG) in the Mario series. It contains token similarities to many other Square role-playing games such as Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series with a story and action-based gameplay based on the Super Mario Bros. series.

Much of Super Mario RPG's gameplay is outside of monster battles, where the game plays much like an isometric platformer in which both traditional Mario features and new ones play a key role. Mario's enemies are visible in the field; a battle ensues only if he comes in contact with one. This allows the player to evade unnecessary battles.

The player starts the journey controlling only Mario. Ultimately, the player will gain a party of five characters, though only three characters can be utilized at once during a fight. Each of the five characters has a unique set of attacks and techniques. For example, Toadstool's moves are primarily healing abilities, whereas Geno and Bowser have offensive attacks dealing high damages. Mario is always in the player's party, but the other two characters can be switched before battles.

The combat is based on a traditional turn based battle system with the infused addition of action commands amplify a move's effects. The action command consists of timed button presses during an attack, special move, defense, or item usage. This is one of the more innovative features of gameplay, which became a mainstay of later Mario role playing games and was carried over to some later role-playing games such as Final Fantasy VIII.

Plot

Characters and setting

The game world is set in a geographically diverse land, including various mountains, bodies of water, and other terrains. Each region has distinct characteristics held by its inhabitants; Mushroom Kingdom is inhabited by Toads, Moleville is inhabited by moles, Monstro Town is populated by reformed monsters, Yo'ster Isle is where Yoshi and his eponymous species reside, and Nimbus Land is an area inhabited by cloud people. Bowser's Castle is another prominent location in the game, as it holds the portal to the main antagonist's home world.

The main protagonist is Mario, whose ultimate goal is to rescue Princess Toadstool from Bowser. Soon after the start of his journey, the Smithy Gang invades the world and starts causing widespread havoc. While attempting to stop the group, he is joined by Mallow, a cloud boy who thinks he is a tadpole; Geno, a doll possessed by a celestial spirit from the Star Road; Bowser, whose armies have deserted him out of fear of the Smithy Gang; and Princess Toadstool, who was lost in the tumult that occurred when the Smithy Gang arrived. The Smithy Gang is led by Smithy, a robotic blacksmith from an alternate dimension with aspirations of world domination.

Story

The game begins with Mario entering Bowser's Castle to rescue Princess Toadstool. During the battle, a giant sword breaks through the Star Road and crashes into Bowser’s castle, sending Mario, Princess Toadstool, and Bowser flying in different directions, as well as scattering the seven star fragments. Mario makes his way to the Mushroom Kingdom, where the mushroom chancellor insists that Mario recover the princess and then discover the purpose of the giant sword.

Upon leaving Toadstool's castle, Mario bumps into Mallow, a strange-looking tadpole who has lost a frog coin to Croco, a local thief. In order to end his rain of tears (and the actual rain that accompanies them), Mario agrees to help him, but when they return to the castle, he finds that the kingdom is overrun by creatures claiming to be part of the Smithy Gang. He and Mallow enter the castle and are met by the first boss in the game, a giant knife/spring-like creature named Mack. When Mack is defeated, they find a mysterious Star Piece, which Mario takes in hopes of finding out more about it later.

During Mario’s search for the princess, on which Mallow accompanies him, he meets a star spirit who has taken control over a doll named Geno. After another boss fight against a bow-like creature named Bowyer, Geno joins Mario as well, telling him that the Star Piece is a part of the shattered Star Road, where he normally resides. Geno (who chooses to go by the doll's name, which is easier for the others to say) is tasked with finding all seven of the shattered pieces of Star Road, which are held by members of the Smithy gang, in order to repair it. Mario and Mallow agree to help Geno in his search.

Mario eventually finds Bowser, who is trying to reassemble his forces. They join together to save the princess, as she is about to be forcibly married to Booster (a childish, bearded character with few social skills). When Toadstool has been rescued, Bowser joins Mario's party and the player is able to switch characters for the first time. Princess Toadstool initially goes back to Mushroom Kingdom, but soon joins the party as well.

When Mario and his group have recovered most of the Star Pieces, they learn that the last one is held in Bowser's castle. Upon battling their way through the assembled enemies and making their way back to the giant sword, they discover that it is actually the gateway to Smithy's factory, where Smithy mass produces his army. In the end, Smithy is defeated, and the collected Star Pieces are used to repair the Star Road.

Development

The game was officially unveiled by both Mario creator and producer Shigeru Miyamoto and co-director Chihiro Fujioka at the 1995 V-Jump Festival event in Japan. Miyamoto led talented teams at Nintendo and Square who spent more than a year developing the graphics. The story takes place in a newly rendered Mushroom Kingdom based on the Super Mario Bros. series. Square reported the game was about 70% complete in October 1995. They created all the interior elements such as columns and stairways and exterior elements using Advanced Computer Modeling (ACM) techniques. Special lighting effects create the shadows and reflections that were meant to improve the 3D elements.

With guidance from Miyamoto, Square developed the game in Japan combining parts of its traditional RPGs, Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, with Nintendo's platform games. Square's Final Fantasy series was the model for the battle sequences while the tradition of Super Mario Bros. games demanded a lot of action. Mario's ability to jog in eight directions and jump up or down in three–quarter perspective gives him a large range of motion. Mario's radically new screen perspective is reminiscent of action games such as Equinox, but at the current stage of completion, the mix of adventure and action game play elements placed it in a category closer to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

When Nintendo of America (NOA) received a 60% complete version in November, the biggest surprise was that there was an RPG battle system, contrary to what NOA heard earlier. The battle screens, using pre-rendered sprites just like the rest of the game, include attack animations of equipped weapons.

In December, further development delayed the game for the translation as well as improvements to the game play. For example, the Chancellor, who was named the Mushroom Retainer in Japan, was called the "Minister" in North America. Plans continued through February for the North American version, changing the release date forecast from Winter to Spring.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is one of only seven SNES games released outside Japan to utilize the Nintendo SA-1 chip. Compared with standard SNES games, this additional microprocessor allows higher clock speed, faster RAM, greater memory mapping capabilities, data storage and compression, new DMA modes (such as bitmap to bitplane transfer), and built-in CIC lockout (for piracy protection and regional marketing control).

The game's sound effects were produced by SNES own internal sound processor chip, the SPC700. The sound chip's built-in function was not something unique to this game, with a primitive simulation of a reverb effect through a short delay (or echo). The game features 210 sound effects.

Audio

Yoko Shimomura (Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, and the Kingdom Hearts series) composed the music for this game. She incorporated arrangements of music by Koji Kondo (Super Mario and the Legend of Zelda series) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy series) as part of the score. Three tracks from Final Fantasy IV, better known as the Crystal Theme, also appear in the soundtrack but are named "Fight with Culex", "Victory Over Culex", and "Conversation with Culex".

Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version

Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version (code PSCN-5047 / PSCN-5048) is the official soundtrack for Super Mario RPG. NTT Publishing released it in Japan on March 25, 1996. This 2-CD set contains 61 songs, although the game features 73 tracks.

Track listing

Reception

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars received very good reviews, including an 8.75/10 from Electronic Gaming Monthly, and audience-made "best game of all-time" lists consistently feature the game, such as 26th on GameFAQs and 30th at IGN. Japanese audiences also received Super Mario RPG well with 1.47 million copies sold, making it the third best selling game in Japan in 1996.

Though various aspects of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars have received somewhat mixed opinions, the settings of the game have been well received overall and have garnered praise for the quality of the graphics and visual style in particular. Nintendo Power's review claimed the excellent 3D graphics helped the game appeal to a much wider audience than most traditional RPGs. In March 1997, Nintendo Power nominated the game for several awards, including "Best Graphics", in a player's choice contest, though Super Mario 64 won "Best Graphics". 1UP.com praised the graphics, stating that they "are the best seen on the Super NES." Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that "the graphic element is strong enough to resemble a Mario title but still retains the role-playing theme at the same time", and commented that the "graphics of Mario RPG is typical of Nintendo, using clean and colorful graphics along with nice animation." RPGamer called the backgrounds "beautiful" and stated that they "perfectly bring the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas into 3D. IGN gave it a 9.5 out of 10."

Legacy

Officially, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars does not have a direct sequel. Considered to be its thematic and, according to Adam Sessler of X-Play, a “spiritual sequel”, two successive RPG-themed Mario series, the Paper Mario series and the Mario & Luigi series, followed certain conventions established in the original (for example, the use of "Flower Points" instead of Magic Points, timed action commands during battles, and the collection of the seven stars). Nintendo originally titled Paper Mario as Super Mario RPG 2. Square's involvement in the original game made direct sequels legally impossible without Square's permission or involvement, so Nintendo changed the title to Paper Mario. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga did feature the Geno doll, with "Regardless of the above-mentioned, the copyright of Character "Geno", reserved by Square Enix Co., Ltd." in the end credits after the "All Rights Reserved by..." portion.

Some of the game's team members, including some from Square, went on to work on the Mario & Luigi series. These developers include the two directors Yoshihiko Maekawa and Chihiro Fujioka, as well as music composer Yoko Shimomura. However, they provided different styles and mechanics than those of Super Mario RPG.

Various locations and characters from the game appear in the children's book Mario and the Incredible Rescue released by Scholastic in 2006.

On May 30, 2008, Nintendo released information that Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars will be released on the Virtual Console in Japan in June 2008 for a price of 800 Wii Points. On June 13, 2008, the OFLC rated Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for release in Australia. On June 24, 2008, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was re-released on the Virtual Console in Japan.

On August 22, 2008, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released for the first time in Europe, as part of the 3rd Hanabi Festival alongside a re-release of Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels on the European Virtual Console after being available for a limited period during the first Hanabi Festival. Certain animations, namely those for the "Flame Wall" and "Static E!" attacks, were dimmed to avoid possible seizures, and some of the colors were adjusted.

On September 1, 2008, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on the Virtual Console in North America, under the distinction of being the 250th Virtual Console game released in that region.

References

1. Scott Pelland (1996-10). "Epic Center". Nintendo Power. Vol. 89. M. Arakawa, Nintendo of America, Inc. p. 60. Mario: now that's a name you may never have expected to see in this column, but by all accounts, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is an unqualified hit among long–time Mario fans and RPG enthusiasts alike. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
2. ^ Thomas, Lucas (2008-09-02). "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
3. Smithy: "Hurrumph! Better yet... Why don't YOU give me YOUR stars. Why, then I could easily conquer this world! Then we could get rid of all wishes, and create a world filled with...WEAPONS!!" Squaresoft (1996). Super Mario RPG (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Squaresoft.
4. Squaresoft (1996). Super Mario RPG (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Squaresoft. Geno: I'm "!?", but it's hard to pronounce so... Call me "Geno", after the doll.
5. The unveiling of Super Mario RPG from the V-Jump Festival in 1995.
6. Scott Pelland (1996-04). "Epic Center". Nintendo Power. Vol. 83. Nintendo. p. 56. Led by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, teams at Nintendo Company Ltd. and Square Soft spent more than a year developing the visuals. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
7. ^ Jason Kemp (2006-05-13). "Secrets of the Seven Stars". GameSpy. IGN. Archived from the original on 2009-10-19. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
8. Scott Pelland (October 1995). "Special Features". Nintendo Power. Vol. 77. Nintendo. p. 29. In Japan, the Super Famicom version will be published by Square Soft. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
9. ^ Scott Pelland (1995-10). "Mario plays a new role". Nintendo Power. 77. M. Arakawa, Nintendo of America, Inc.: 26–29. In the Mushroom Kingdom's castle, sunlight slants in through windows and seems to shine on columns. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
10. Scott Pelland (1995-11). "Epic News". p. 51. A sixty percent completed version of Super Mario RPG magically appeared at the Epic Center desk and proceeded to stun everyone who saw it. The biggest surprise was that there was an actual RPG battle system, contrary to what we had heard earlier. Mario does stomp on enemies, but that only launches the battle screen sequence, which turns out to be menu based.... During visits to town, Mario talks to people, buys items and learns secrets just as in a standard RPG, but the 3–D graphics shine and Mario does more than previous RPG characters, even highly animated heroes such as Chrono. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. ^ Scott Pelland (1995-12). "Epic News". p. 51. Good news and bad news on the Super Mario RPG front. The bad news is that the game has been delayed. The good news is that the final product should be even better because the delay time will be used for further development. Current plans are for development to continue through February for the U.S. version, which will include text translation as well as improvements to the game play.... The story begins with Bowser kidnapping Princess Toadstool and Mario heading out to rescue her. When a giant sword falls from the heavens and shatters the star road, Mario, Princess Toadstool and Bowser are blown far apart in the Kingdom. The game follows Mario's quest to put the star road together.
    Mario! We've been expecting you. Please enter, the minister awaits. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Scott Pelland (1995-11). "Release Forecast". p. 113. Super Mario RPG Winter '96 {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Scott Pelland (1995-12). "Release Forecast". p. 113. Super Mario RPG Spring '96 {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. My Roms.com (2007-03-20). "MY ROMs.com: Super Nintendo Roms". MY ROMs.com: GBA Roms NDS. My Roms.com. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-05-06. SA-1 65c816 8/16-bit processor, clocked at 10 MHz. It contains some extra circuits developed by Nintendo, which includes some fast RAM, a memory mapper, DMA, several real-time timers, and the region lockout chip. The SA-1 was a multipurpose chip that could be found in games such as Kirby Superstars, Kirby Dreamland 3, and Super Mario RPG.
15. giangurgolo (2006-04-09). "Bytes—Sound". SMRPG ROM Documents. giangurgolo.home.att.net. Archived from the original (ASCII) on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2006-06-26. D2
16. Damian Thomas. "Super Mario RPG OSV". www.rpgfan.com. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
17. 49 (Hexadecimal)=73
    giangurgolo (2006-04-09). "Bytes—Music". SMRPG ROM Documents. giangurgolo.home.att.net. p. 1. Archived from the original (ASCII) on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2006-06-26. 49
18. "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
19. ^ Derek 'Roku' Cavin (2004-03-13). "Mario Gets HP". RPGamer. Retrieved 2008-02-21 {{cite news}}: External link in |author= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
20. GameFAQs (CNET Networks) (2006-03-23). "GameFAQs—Fall 2005: 10-Year Anniversary Contest—The 10 Best Games Ever". Video Game Cheats—Video Game Reviews—Video Game Codes—Video Game Web Site—GameFAQs. CNET Networks, Inc. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-02-20. The Top 10 + 90 Games: The Users' Picks... #26: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars—SNES
21. IGN Entertainment (2006-10-05). "IGN Readers' Choice 2006 - The Top 100 Games Ever". Video Game Cheats—Video Game Reviews—Video Game Codes—Video Game Web Site—GameFAQs. IGN Entertainment, Inc. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-02-20. Readers' Picks Top 100 Games: 21-30 # 030 // Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
22. The Magic Box (The Webmaster) (2006-10-31). "The Magic Box: Platinum Game Chart, Japanese Console Games Sold Over One Million". The Magic Box: International Videogame News. The Magic Box. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
23. Dan Owsen & Scott Pelland (1997-03). "1996 Nintendo Power Award Nominations". pp. 76, 77, 79–82. Best Graphics ... 5. Super Mario RPG ... Most Game Play Variety ... 5. Super Mario RPG ... Coolest Move of 1996 ... 2. The Group Hug (Super Mario RPG) ... Coolest Item of 1996 1. The Frying Pan (Super Mario RPG) ... Best Hero/Heroine 1. Bowser (Super Mario RPG) ... Worst Villain ... 5. Smithy (Super Mario RPG) ... Best Goodie ... 4. Frogfucious (Super Mario RPG) ... '96 Best Overall Game Nominees!!! ... Best Super NES Game ... 5. Super Mario RPG {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
24. Scott Pelland (1997-05). "1996 Nintendo Power Awards Winners". pp. 88, 89, 92, 93. Best Graphics... 1. Super Mario 64... Most Game Play Variety ... 3. Super Mario RPG ... Best Goodie ... 3. Frogfucious (Super Mario RPG) ... Best Super NES Game ... 1. Super Mario RPG {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
25. "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Reviews". 1UP.com. 2004-05-09. The graphics are the best seen on the Super NES with a combination of rendered characters with a complement of drawn sprites.
26. "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Reviews". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 2004-05-09. ... the graphic element is strong enough to resemble a Mario title but still retains the role-playing theme at the same time.
27. "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Reviews". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 2004-05-09. The characters seem to childish for older games ... The graphics of Mario RPG is typical of Nintendo, using clean and colorful graphics along with nice animation.
28. ' Adam Sessler (Host) (2007-11-13). X-Play “Super Mario Special”' (Television production). Los Angeles, California, USA: G4. Ya' know, the last major Mario platformer, Super Paper Mario, returned to its two-dimentional roots, forcing us to understand every situation from two different perspectives. The first paper game was actually a spiritual sequel to Super Mario RPG: Land _(sic) of the Seven Stars, but in the intervening years, the Paper Mario games have gone from role-playing games back to Mario's bread and butter.
29. "First Impressions: Super Mario RPG 2". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
30. "Super Mario RPG 2 Japanese Release Date". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
31. AlphaDream (2003-11-17). Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Game Boy Advance). Nintendo. Level/area: Little Fungitown.
32. "Mario and Luigi: SuperStar Saga on GBA". MyGamer. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
33. AlphaDream (2003-11-17). Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Game Boy Advance). Nintendo. Level/area: Game credits.
34. "Game Credits – Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga". The Mushroom Kingdom. 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-09-04. Regardless of the above-mentioned, the copyright of Character "Geno", reserved by Square Enix Co., Ltd. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
35. West, Tracey (2006). Mario and the Incredible Rescue. Scholastic Corporation. ISBN 0439843669.
36. Nintendo Japan (2008-05-30). "Japanese Virtual Console list - June 2008". Virtual Console Reviews - Nintendo Japan. Retrieved 2008-05-30. There's a certain SNES RPG featuring everybody's favourite plumber on the release list. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
37. OFLC (2008-06-13). "Super Mario RPG - Legend of the Seven Stars Game (Multi Platform)". Retrieved 2010-02-01.
38. SMRPG arrives on the Wii Virtual Console for sale at 800 points.

External links

• Official Nintendo Japan Super Mario RPG site Template:Ja icon
• Nintendo home for SMRPG on the Virtual Console
• Template:Nintendo.com-archive
• Games by Year 2000-1996 at Square Enix
• Template:Dmoz
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars at Super Mario Wiki

• Articles with inconsistent citation formats
• 1996 video games
• Video games with isometric graphics
• Mario role-playing games
• Mario Universe games
• Square Co. games
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
• Virtual Console games