I usually write longer reviews but there's really only one thing I want to hone in on when it comes to Super Mario Role Playing Game: the addition of a combo counter that persists through encounters is a stroke of genius. This one element single-handedly takes an otherwise bare bones and somewhat dull combat engine bereft of challenge and makes it engaging for the player throughout the entirety of the experience.

Sometimes it's good to succumb to monkey brain and bask in the glory of "number go up". It's an entirely optional incentive the player has no tangible reason to care about, but I'm not exaggerating when I say it made the experience for me. Having never played the original, I would not be surprised if I found that game boring. Not the remake, however.

There are other wins here, of course; the reframed cutscenes, the rerecorded music, and the graphical facelift all work to enhance the decidedly dated aesthetics of the original. Other elements that work as well now as they did in the SNES era, such as the chunky sound effects, are still present.

Most definitely the definitive edition of the game. I would know; it's the only one I've played.