Beloved Super Nintendo hit Super Mario RPG turns 20 years old today

Happy birthday, Super Mario RPG!

The Super Nintendo classic (which had the subtitle Legend of the Seven Stars in the U.S.) came out in Japan on March 9, 1996, which makes it 20 years old today. Made with Square (now known as Square Enix), the developer behind the successful Final Fantasy role-playing series, Super Mario RPG brought Mario into the world of turn-based battles. Its success spawned two other Mario RPG series: Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. The Mario franchise is the best-selling in gaming history, with sales exceeding 500 million, and the Mario RPGs have been a big part of that success.