January 2018 Game of the Month: Super Mario RPG

lilbud

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Developer: Squaresoft
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (simply known as Super Mario RPG) is an RPG created by Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) and released in 1996 for the SNES. Super Mario RPG follows Mario who has to save the world again, but this time he brought friends (who were mostly forgotten after this game) These include a possessed Marshmallow (or just Mallow for short), Pinocchio's less successful cousin Geno. Mario's love interest Peach and frenemy Bowser. Follow them as they take on the Smithy Gang, evil organization who want to destroy wishes by getting rid of Rainbow Road. Watch as they fail to defeat a plumber and his bar buddies.

Super Mario RPG was released to moderate success in Japan and the United States, Europe didn't get the game because Nintendo was too cheap to shell out for a new translation. Today it is seen as a classic, one of the best on the SNES. Who would've thought that Final Fantasy and Mario went well together?

Some links:

Wiki Page

A Link to the Manual

Now here is a link to the G.O.T.M Art Pack™. This includes custom box art for ES/Kodi or whatever you use. A launching image for the runcommand menu, and an Overlay for in game.

Game of the Month Challenge

The challenge this month is to get the Minecart Top Dog achievement. This involves finishing a minecart ride in under 2 minutes, 16 seconds.

PokeEngineer

@lilbud

I might participate in this, seeing as my wonderful aunt and cousin went through a lot of trouble getting me a SNES Classic Edition for Christmas. Plus, it'll give me more time to spend with it.

lilbud

@pokeengineer I also got one for Christmas and hacked it not even an hour later. Just threw some more SNES games onto it.

PokeEngineer

@lilbud said in January Game of the Month: Super Mario RPG:

@pokeengineer I also got one for Christmas and hacked it not even an hour later. Just threw some more SNES games onto it.

I didn't hack mine because, well I use my Raspberry Pi for that sort of thing. Also, I'm kinda a collector, of sorts and that is probably the only one I will ever have.

A Former User

Resetting my cheevos for this game to participate. Made it part way through a couple months ago and got busy. This will be a good time to start over and finish it.

hooperre

Love this game. Top 10 for me. Beat it last month for the first time in my life. As a kid, I only got to Monstro town and could never finish it.

Maybe this is the push I need to go back and defeat Culex. Did that as a kid somehow... Isn't he tougher than the Smithy battle?

obsidianspider

I've never actually beaten this, but have always enjoyed it. Sadly, this is one of the few games that do not work on my SD2SNES, so I'll be using a Pi unless I come across a great deal on an English cart.

lilbud

I'm going to need a few days to take a break to deal with some family stuff. My granddad just passed away.

PokeEngineer

@lilbud said in January Game of the Month: Super Mario RPG:

I'm going to need a few days to take a break to deal with some family stuff. My granddad just passed away.

Oh man, I'm sorry that happened... That truly sucks...

hooperre

@lilbud Sorry for your loss, retro brother.

lilbud

After toning down the humor, I updated the OP with the description and challenge for the month.

herb_fargus

Just for kicks and giggles I compiled a Wikia of sorts a ways back with a bit of an interactive map (best used on desktop)

http://smrpg.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

lilbud

I changed the achievement to a slightly more difficult one.

A Former User

Got to the Forest Maze last night. Attempting to get as many cheevos as possible to limit my playthroughs.

obsidianspider

I’ve never more than casually played this in the past, but it seems like timed hits are a big part of the battle system. For attacks you can hear the little chime to let you know you’re doing it right, but for timing defense is there any way to know when it’s the right time to press A? I’m doing a bit of grinding to try to figure it out, but it seems to be totally random.

A Former User

@obsidianspider it’s generally right before the attack happens but it varies based on the enemy. Each one has a moment in their attack animation that is the moment to time the block.

There are some enemies I cannot block consistently for the life of me.

A Former User

Just beat Boshi in the race on Yo’ster Isle.

I THINK I’ve gotten all the hidden treasure boxes up until this point too. 🙏

Edit: Just did my first mine cart in 2:56. 40 seconds slower than the cheevo...that’ll take some practice. 😰

hooperre

Is Culex more difficult than the final Smithy battle?

lilbud

@hooperre I believe so

A Former User

@hooperre Absolutely is.