A perfect remaster of an already hilarious, charming, and engaging JRPG.
Early Squaresoft had an eye for whimsy in their fantasies and they took the unparalleled bizarre world of Mario and made it both more coherent and full of life. Classic characters break from their more traditional roles and have far more personality, often with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. Combat is simple, but straightforward and keeps the pace quick and fun. It's relatively easy (perhaps a bit too easy at times), but there are legitimate challenges that will demand you to practice strategy. The music is a true delight, made by legendary JRPG composer Yoko Shimomura. You'll be switching between the classic and modern OSTs throughout the game, with the former making you wonder how the hell the SNES was capable of making such beautiful music and the latter somehow being an ever remarkable orchestral improvement. Lastly, the humor will keep you laughing from start to finish. Between the plots own comedic beats, NPC interactions, and the "Thought Peeks" from enemies, the writers never seem to run out of jokes.
And while the game isn't safe from it's own end-game fatigue (as JRPGs of old tended to run out of new designs and settled on recolors and grindy gauntlets), it does still finish with a delightful flourish.
This was the game that brought Mario into a once unfamiliar genre, and would in turn pave the path forward for stellar sequels and even more memorable stories and characters of the Mario world.
Early Squaresoft had an eye for whimsy in their fantasies and they took the unparalleled bizarre world of Mario and made it both more coherent and full of life. Classic characters break from their more traditional roles and have far more personality, often with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. Combat is simple, but straightforward and keeps the pace quick and fun. It's relatively easy (perhaps a bit too easy at times), but there are legitimate challenges that will demand you to practice strategy. The music is a true delight, made by legendary JRPG composer Yoko Shimomura. You'll be switching between the classic and modern OSTs throughout the game, with the former making you wonder how the hell the SNES was capable of making such beautiful music and the latter somehow being an ever remarkable orchestral improvement. Lastly, the humor will keep you laughing from start to finish. Between the plots own comedic beats, NPC interactions, and the "Thought Peeks" from enemies, the writers never seem to run out of jokes.
And while the game isn't safe from it's own end-game fatigue (as JRPGs of old tended to run out of new designs and settled on recolors and grindy gauntlets), it does still finish with a delightful flourish.
This was the game that brought Mario into a once unfamiliar genre, and would in turn pave the path forward for stellar sequels and even more memorable stories and characters of the Mario world.