If Geno has a million fans, then I am one of them. If Geno has ten fans, then I am one of them. If Geno has only one fan then that is me. If Geno has no fans, then that means I am no longer on earth. If the world is against Geno, then I am against the world.

Hey look I finally managed to finish an RPG from the Mario series, that only took way too long! This remake is very interesting to me because of how faithful it is to the original, for better and for worse. I never played the original, but this was even obvious for someone like me. There are just little things here and there. Platforming with no depth perception because of the asymmetric angle can be a little frustrating. The Bowser's Keep segment of the game goes on for a bit too long with too many battles that aren't even difficult in the slightest. Scenes that play out exactly the same as the original feel weird here, because the SNES game had the sprites animate in a way that let the player connect the dots on what was going on. With 3D models in HD animated exactly the same way, it just looks stilted and awkward, the first encounter with Bowser being a great example. To get one more negative out of the way, the game's performance isn't the best. There are a handful of specific areas where the game stutters and I did encounter slowdown here and there. One of these moments was when the final boss started which took me out of it a little bit.

Now onto the positives. I want to bring up the writing first off. This game is so creative and feels nothing like any other Mario game. Besides the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Keep, every area in this game is something new and whacky you will never find anywhere else in this series, with so many fun characters as well. Speaking of characters, we've got two completely original ones as party members that never return after this game. As I said from the top, I absolutely love Geno. He's probably my favorite companion from any Mario game. He stands out so much, intentionally so because if his origin, but he still fits this world so well and I love his interactions with everybody, not to mention in battle he can just straight up shoot enemies. I unfortunately didn't use Mallow in my party all that much, but I still think he's a great character. It's nothing you or I haven't seen before in plenty of other stories, but he plays off everyone else in the party pretty well. I really enjoyed Nimbus Land because of Mallow's connection to its little storyline.
This is probably my favorite interpretation of Bowser ever. Future games really lean into the comedic aspect of his character, and that's still here for sure, but he also feels like a real person with emotions and goals. I love when you run into old minions of his who are afraid of angering him, but he tells them not to worry, it's nice. Peach is...not great honestly. I used her in my party a lot because her healing abilities are insane, but as a character she's not her Paper Mario self that's for sure. She's pretty one dimensional and I didn't really care for it.

I guess that just leaves the combat! My favorite aspect of this is that everyone has different attack animations with different timing for better damage, depending on what weapon you have equipped to them. Bowser has my favorites, from spinning and throwing a Chain Chomp at enemies to just straight up throwing Mario at them, great stuff. Every character has plenty of special moves they can use and it really feels like you need to be careful about which ones you use at what time. Not only do they have different timing or inputs to get the best results, but the strongest ones use a lot of mana and you definitely don't want to run out. The remake added a meter in battles that fills up when you successfully block attacks or land the input for better damage on your own attacks. When it's full, you can use a super move, and each party formation has their own unique one! Mario, Bowser, and Geno is my favorite one personally. You can also now swap out a party member if they become immobilized or if their HP runs out, which is a godsend. Mario has to remain in the party at all times though for some reason. Battles are pretty fun in this game! Boss battles especially kept me engaged and really thinking about what I was doing. It's nothing too complicated, it is a Mario game after all, but it's still a lot of fun.

And that sums up my thoughts on this game as a whole. It's not anything groundbreaking or super in-depth or anything like that. It's a simple, sweet, fun adventure that I could revisit anytime. I love this take on the Mario universe and there's nothing quite like it, and that makes it feel pretty special.

One of the most faithful remakes ever made that should really set a standard for how all future remakes should be handled. The game was a lot shorter than I thought it would be but I still really enjoyed the experience.

Its overflowing with charm and funny gags throughout despite the new characters introduced being kinda skin-deep, I kinda wish they would've explored them more but I understand that this is supposed to be more of a fun adventure than a standard RPG story.

Combat is really fun and engaging but the timing for some attacks is a bit weird and the overworld platforming feels a tad clunky in some parts.

Overall I think this is an amazing game that I can see myself going back to in the future.