 Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars is exactly how you'd expect a Mario-themed RPG to be, yet this game is still described as overrated by some, including me once upon a time. Why would that be? Well, maybe people still see a Nintendo character teaming up with Squaresoft as kind of a novelty act. Maybe if you're new to the Super Nintendo, you might not see the point of wasting time on a shorter game when there are more in-depth, traditional RPGs sitting right there. Or maybe the term RPG in the title itself might have set expectations a certain way, especially when you think of stuff like Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, The Breath of Fire series, Ogre Battle, or even stuff like 7th Saga. That's what you think of when you think of RPG, right? So, do the role-playing elements in Mario RPG measure up to those games? Well, it's not really supposed to. Mario RPG is supposed to be a different kind of experience altogether. To me, it's easier to like a game for what it is than dislike it for what it's not. So Mario RPG is not a heavily detailed, story-driven kind of game. It's a departure from that. It's a silly, off-the-wall game that's not afraid to make fun of itself or the RPG genre in general. Therein lies the other part of the hype for this game, the humor. Obviously, everybody laughs at different stuff, and that can be pretty divisive in and of itself. What's funny to one person can be every bit as unfunny to somebody else. Now, having said that, Super Mario RPG has a Saturday morning cartoon kind of humor that's easy to appeal to anyone. The first time I played through this, I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. I really do think the humor in this game is a pretty broad appeal. Okay, if I talk anymore about the humor in this game, the earthbound fanboys will burn my house to the ground in a horrible rage. Anyway, the story starts out exactly as you'd expect. The princess is kidnapped, Mario to the rescue. But then, this sword-faced dude named Smithy crashes into Bowser's castle, so that means, spoiler alert, he gets a team up with Bowser to try and rid the world of the Smithy game. There's original characters here too, like Malo, this big puffy Kirby-like thing who thinks he's a tadpole, and Gino, who's a doll possessed by a star spirit on a quest to repair Star Road, which was destroyed by Smithy. Again, it's not Shakespeare, but who cares? For the battle system, the game does a nice job incorporating Mario's usual battle arsenal into a role-playing environment. He jumps on dudes, he hits dudes with fireball, he, uh, well, I guess that's it really. I do wish they could have added some raccoon stuff from Mario 3, or some cape stuff from Mario World, but whatever. The combat is based on timing to inflict maximum damage. I really like the rhythm-based stuff like that, because it's not like you can just mindlessly press your A button through the battles. Granted, after a while, even the rhythm stuff becomes mindless, just like anything else, but still, the effort is there. The graphics and visual presentation are some of the very best stuff on the Super Nintendo. It's right up there with Earthworm Gym 2 and Mario World 2, as some of the best graphics you'll see on any 16-bit system. The music fits the vibe of the game like a glove as well. As fun as this game is, it's definitely got some flaws. For instance, any time it tries to do the platforming thing, it just does not work very well. The isometric viewpoint makes jumping really tricky, and it's frustrating as hell. It gets old quick. Also, many of the minigames just aren't very good. This minecart one is pointless and just goes on forever. But yeah, Mario RPG should be appreciated for what it is. Don't let the RPG in the title throw you off too much, because it's still more of a Mario game than an RPG. And while I'm on the subject, I wish other Super NES franchises had made RPGs back then. I'd love to see a Street Fighter II RPG. I would play the hell out of that, and I really love the idea of like a Contra RPG, just because a game like Contra is the complete antithesis of a role-playing game. Or if you want to get really crazy, what if someone took a huge chance on a movie adaptation and made it an RPG? Can you imagine like a cliffhanger RPG? A freaking hilarious would that be. Anyway, I'm getting way off track. Mario RPG is a fun detour from the usual over-serious nature of the 16-bit role-playing games. It's short, and it's sweet, and it's definitely worth playing at least once.