Super Mario RPG: From the First Mario RPG in 1996 to the Remake

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Nintendo and Square, together, on a Super Nintendo: the alliance everyone thought impossible. Released on March 9, 1996 in Japan, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars blends Square's craft with Miyamoto's universe. This guide covers its story around Exor, Smithy and the seven stars, the creation of Geno and Mallow, and the foundational timed-hit gameplay.

In 1996, two giants of Japanese gaming joined forces for a project that seemed unthinkable: Nintendo, master of the platformer, and Square, creator of Final Fantasy, gave birth to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on Super Nintendo. The first role-playing game in the saga's history, it dares everything: an original story, brand-new characters like Geno and Mallow, and even Bowser as a playable ally.

Long out of reach in Europe, this cult classic enjoyed a spectacular second life thanks to its November 2023 Nintendo Switch remake, which sold more than 3 million copies in a matter of weeks. Here is the story of a foundational game, without which neither Paper Mario nor Mario & Luigi would exist.

Contents

• When Square met Nintendo: a historic alliance
• Exor, Smithy and the seven stars: a brand-new story
• Geno and Mallow: two heroes created by Square
• Foundational gameplay: timed hits
• An immense legacy: Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi
• The 2023 remake: the rebirth of a cult game
• Quick facts
• FAQ

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When Square met Nintendo: a historic alliance

In the mid-1990s, Square ruled the Japanese RPG with Final Fantasy, while Nintendo dominated the platformer with Mario. From that meeting came a hybrid project: handing the mustachioed plumber over to the role-playing specialists. Square handled development and Nintendo publishing, with Shigeru Miyamoto himself as producer. Directing duties went to Chihiro Fujioka and Yoshihiko Maekawa, and the soundtrack to a certain Yoko Shimomura, who along the way rearranged themes by Koji Kondo (Mario) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy).

Unveiled by Miyamoto at the 1995 V-Jump Festival in Japan, the game impressed with its pre-rendered isometric 3D graphics, the fruit of more than a year of work. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on March 9, 1996 (Japan), then on May 13, 1996 in North America. It is both the first RPG in the Mario franchise and the last Mario game to appear on Super Nintendo. Success followed: 1.47 million copies in Japan, where it ranked as the third best seller of 1996, and sixth place in the annual sales charts in the United States.

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Exor, Smithy and the seven stars: a brand-new story

The game opens on a classic: Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario sets off to rescue her. But everything changes when a giant sword named Exor crashes into Bowser's castle, driving everyone out of the place. The impact shatters Star Road, the celestial path where the inhabitants' wishes turn into stars before being granted. Its debris, seven star pieces, is scattered across the world: until they are gathered back together, no wish can come true.

Behind this invasion stands Smithy (Forgeroi in French, a name that fuses the words for blacksmith and king), a mechanical tyrant from another world, where his factory manufactures living weapons. His gang of animated swords, bows and spears occupies Bowser's castle, with Exor acting as the portal between the two worlds. For the first time, Mario has to team up with yesterday's enemies: Bowser joins the party as a playable character, a first for the saga, alongside Peach, still called “Princess Toadstool” in the 1996 American version.

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Geno and Mallow: two heroes created by Square

The game's boldest stroke is its two brand-new heroes. Mallow is a little cloud creature taken in as a baby by a wise frog near Tadpole Pond: he believes he is a tadpole himself, until he discovers that he is the prince of Nimbus Land, the country in the clouds. Mario's first companion, he is the party's magician, with weather attacks (lightning, healing rain) that make up for his weak physical strength.

Geno, for his part, is a wooden doll animated by a celestial spirit sent by the authority of Star Road to repair the path of wishes. His real name, unpronounceable, is written ♥♪!? — so he takes the name of the doll he inhabits. A warrior with the swagger of an armed puppet, he became an instant cult figure. But these two characters belong to Square (today Square Enix), not to Nintendo: that is why Geno has only come back in rare nods, such as a cameo in a minigame in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on Game Boy Advance (credited to Square Enix in the closing credits, and removed from the 3DS remake) or a Mii costume in Super Smash Bros.

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Foundational gameplay: timed hits

How do you make platforming fans fall in love with turn-based battles? Square's answer comes down to one brilliant idea: timed hits (action commands). Press a button at the right moment during an attack and you increase the damage dealt; when a blow lands on you, a well-placed press reduces the damage taken. The platform player's reflexes thus invite themselves into turn-based combat, a mechanic later reused by every Mario RPG.

The party counts five playable characters — Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser and Peach — three of them active in battle. The world also brims with secrets, including the most famous hidden boss in Mario history: Culex (Cristax in French), the “dark knight of Vanda”, lurking behind a sealed door in Monstro Town. This optional fight is an openly acknowledged tribute to Final Fantasy: a 16-bit pixel art sprite, elemental crystals and music lifted from Final Fantasy IV. Stronger than Smithy himself, he rewards those who beat him with a rare accessory, the crystal charm.

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An immense legacy: Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi

After this masterstroke, the paths diverged: Square left to develop Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation, and the collaboration stopped there. Nintendo nevertheless announced a Super Mario RPG 2 planned for the 64DD... which would finally be renamed Paper Mario when it came out on Nintendo 64. The lineage does not stop there:

• Directors Chihiro Fujioka and Yoshihiko Maekawa joined the AlphaDream studio, where they worked on the series Mario & Luigi, the direct heir to the timed-hit battle system;
• Yoko Shimomura composed the music for almost every Mario & Luigi (with the exception of Brothership), before becoming world-famous with Kingdom Hearts;
• The codes laid down in 1996 — absurd humour, unlikely allies, action inside the battles — still run through every Mario RPG today.

With no direct sequel, Super Mario RPG thus became the ancestor of two entire series, which makes it one of the most influential games in Nintendo's catalogue.

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The 2023 remake: the rebirth of a cult game

The surprise of the June 2023 Nintendo Direct: Super Mario RPG returns in a full remake on Nintendo Switch, developed by the ArtePiazza studio and released on November 17, 2023. Faithful to the original right down to its animations, it modernises the graphics and offers a reorchestrated soundtrack with the involvement of Yoko Shimomura — with the option to switch back to the original Super Nintendo music at any time.

The new features look after newcomers and veterans alike: a lighter difficulty mode, brand-new trio attacks , and a post-game with tough boss rematches, including a showdown against Culex in 3D. A historic event for French players: since the original game never came out in Europe on Super Nintendo (it only arrived there in 2008, in English, via the Wii Virtual Console), this remake is the first official French translation of the title. The public answered en masse: 3.31 million copies sold as of March 31, 2024, including 860,000 in Japan, and an average of 84/100 on Metacritic. The foundational game of 1996 has finally found the worldwide audience it deserved.

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Super Mario RPG in brief: the verified key facts

Original title	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Nintendo release	March 9, 1996 (Japan), May 13, 1996 (North America)
Developer / publisher	Square / Nintendo
Key team	Shigeru Miyamoto (producer), Yoko Shimomura (music)
Playable characters	Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser, Peach (3 in battle)
Remake	Super Mario RPG, Nintendo Switch, November 17, 2023 (ArtePiazza)
Remake sales	3.31 million copies as of March 31, 2024

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FAQ

• Did Super Mario RPG come out in Europe in 1996?
  No. The game never came out in Europe on Super Nintendo: released on March 9, 1996 (Japan) and then on May 13, 1996 in North America, it only reached Europe on August 22, 2008, in English, via the Wii Virtual Console. The 2023 Switch remake is the first version officially translated into French.
• Who is the villain of Super Mario RPG?
  Smithy (Forgeroi in French), a blacksmith tyrant from another world where he manufactures living weapons. His giant sword Exor crashes into Bowser's castle and shatters Star Road into seven pieces, keeping wishes from coming true.
• What are timed hits?
  A mechanic invented by this game: pressing a button at the right moment increases an attack's damage or reduces the damage you take. The system was then reused by the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series.
• Who is Culex, the game's secret boss?
  Culex (Cristax in French), the “dark knight of Vanda”, is an optional boss hidden behind a sealed door in Monstro Town. He is a tribute to Final Fantasy: 16-bit pixel art design, crystals and music taken from Final Fantasy IV. The 2023 remake adds a post-game rematch against a 3D version.
• Is the 2023 Switch remake worth it?
  Yes: rated 84/100 on Metacritic and sold in 3.31 million copies as of March 31, 2024, it stays very faithful to the original while adding an easy mode, trio attacks, boss rematches and a reorchestrated soundtrack that you can switch back to the original music.

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