Nintendo is doing me a solid and remaking one of my childhood favorite games. Super Mario RPG is coming to Switch on November 17, sporting updated (yet faithful) graphics and some new features.
I recently got an off-hands look at the remake via Nintendo. And while they already had me “Super Mario RPG remake,” this small tour of the title has me even more excited.
A booster for an RPG classic
At first glance, this looks like an almost one-to-one remake of the original. Sure, the graphics are new, but they still have that toy-like quality. And everything is still in that classic isometric view.
But this version of Super Mario RPG does have some differences, especially during battles. The original stood out thanks to its action commands system, which lets players deal extra damage or block enemy attacks if they can time button presses correctly.
In the remake, hitting those action commands has additional bonuses. Some attacks will not hit every enemy if you hit a perfect action command. You can also block all damage from an enemy attack instead of just reducing it.
And if you nail multiple action commands in a row, you’ll get a chain bonus. The effect depends on your party makeup. For example, if the definitely-a-frog character Mallow is in your group, you’ll get a bonus to magic damage.
Hitting action commands also fills up a new super meter. When it fills, you have access to a Triple Move. What this actually is depends on your exact party. There’s a different move every three-character combination. If Mario, Geno and Mallow are in your party, you get Star Riders, an attack that does a good amount of damage to a single target.
A little help
If you’ve struggled with hitting those action commands before, the remake will give you a little help. When you first have a new ability, exclamation marks will appear to help you learn the timing for its action command. Those exclamation marks will disappear on their own once you nail the action command five times in a row.
Some moves also have new visual elements to help you with timing. Geno Beam, for example, now shows a row of stars that give you a good idea of how long you need to charge the attack for.
You’ll also find some new conveniences outside of battle. You can use shortcut commands tied to the X and Y buttons to access your items and abilities immediately, so you don’t have to go into the main menu to heal your party between fights. There’s also a new storage box in Mario’s house where items will automatically go if your inventory is full.
Even more is new for you
And that’s still not all of the new stuff. You’ll find a new Scrapbook feature in the menu that recaps the story with journal pages written by Mallow and Geno. Additionally, the new Monster List shows enemy weaknesses and item drops. You can even use this to practice against enemies.
Shopping is also a lot easier, since you can instantly see if a piece of equipment is an upgrade for your characters. You can also equip items right after buying them.
Other changes are more about adding a little extra pizzaz. When you level up, you get a similar celebratory screen as in the original, but now your other party members do a cute little dance while you’re pondering your stat boosts. It’s perfect.
Victory pose
None of these additions look like they will fundamentally change the Super Mario RPG experience, but I’m happy to see that Nintendo is looking for ways to improve the classic.
I can’t wait to revisit Super Mario RPG later this month, and I’m almost just as happy to see a new generation of players learn to love Mallow and Geno as much as I do.