Day 5 Video Game Challenge: Please Make A Sequel? Do You Hear Me Square Enix?

One of my all time favorite video games comes from the Super Nintendo era. I loved my SNES, I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I logged on my various games. There was one game in specific that I spent countless hours on though.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

It was my favorite game for so many years, and it still holds a spot on my all-time top ten video games. Here's why:

The Story

It's the classic Mario story melded with RPG elements. Princess Toadstool is captured by Bowser and Mario sets off to rescue her. As he defeats Bowser a sword crashes through Bowser's castle sending the three characters flying across the Mario world. After Mario learns of the truth of what happened (the sword crashed through the Star Road which is where wishes made on shooting stars are made real) he sets off on an adventure to 1. rescue Toadstool, 2. defeat the giant sword and 3. restore hope and wishes to everyone. The story itself is an incredible venture into something new at the time for Mario.

The Graphics

This is where this game becomes really unique compared to other Super Nintendo games at the time. The games uses an isometric view point which give you the impression of being fully 3D. This view allows Mario to move in 8 different directions rather than the classic side-scroller that he's accustomed to. The colors and detail are quite stunningly beautiful and bright considering it is a Super Nintendo game from 1996.

The RPG Elements

This is where this Mario differs from every other game he's been in. In Super Mario RPG, as you progress through the game you gain new abilities for Mario and all the other playable characters. Yes, that's right the game brings in multiple characters to for a team with. There are healers, tanks, front-line attackers and magicians. Each character has a unique set of abilities to draw from that ups FP (Flower Points) which is the total accumulation of points available to the team to perform their special moves in combat. As the game progresses you're able to increase your FP pool as your team grows. The game employs that classic turn-based system which makes for an overall solid game to play.

I've waited for so many years to see a sequel or a remake of this game show up for the new Nintendo systems. I'd have settled for something on a handheld even, but all in all the game is deserving of a freshen up because of its awesome-ness.