As far as I'm concerned, the SNES era was the golden age of RPGs, and SMRPG was in the top 5 with Earthbound, FF4, FF6, and Chrono Trigger. As much as I love Earthbound, Mario RPG is the one that I've returned to the most. RPGs, especially those at that time, are overwhelmingly dependent on "grinding" type of gameplay, but SMRPG tried to alleviate the related woes in several key ways. First, the battles are not random encounters, you can see your enemies on screen and try to avoid them if you like. Not that you'll have an easy go if you do, but when you're just dead sick of fighting yet ANOTHER enemy it's better than the uncertainty of battles in the old Final Fantasies. Also, the fighting is interactive. Precise button pressing was needed to get the most out of attacks and defenses, making fighting a bit more engaging. More on this a bit later.

Another plus is the surprisingly funny game script. Before Mario became a catchphrasing charicature that's been the standard since Mario 64, we were treated with a subtle, chuckle-funny Mario who actually seemed to have a personality that hasn't been captured since. Mario seemed to realize the absurdity of the world he lives in and the situations he encounters. Goombas? Flying turtles? Ridable dinosaurs? These games are a constant joke and rarely appreciated as such. Unfortunately I missed the original paper mario because I was turned off by the visual design when it was released (I've since gotten it via VC), but I did play the GC version, and the handheld RPG-ish Mario/Luigi titles, and they've all felt like pale imitations of the original in terms of characterization. The jokes fell flat and the design felt like a betrayal on par with the jump from Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask to Windwaker in the Zelda series.

Also, Mario RPG was actually sort of difficult. Not overwhelming, but 1000 Year Door and especially the GBA/DS titles were nerfed to the point of being unfun. This could partly be due to weaker narrative that I didn't feel compelled to hear the end of, but also they continued, and in some cases made more complex, the fun battle design of Mario RPG, but at the same time took the other strategic RPG elements out of play. Weapons, Armor, Magic and Character Party-- all things that are not brainbusting gameplay mechanics, but still important elements that required deliberate choices, were all nerfed to the point of being nearly inconsequential. It's like we went from having to work to beat the game, to having the game accommodate us so we could beat harder things as we played through it. There was almost literally no challenge, and as a result, despite playing Mario RPG through nearly half a dozen times, I've not been able to maintain interest enough to play a single one of its spiritual successors to the end. Maybe it's cause I wanted another full RPG, and the Paper Marios are only half RPG. Super Paper Mario is on my GameFly queue, and I'm going to try that one with a more open mind.

Perhaps I'm just a sucker for rounded edges and vibrant color palettes, but I still think Mario RPG looks better than just about anything on the N64 and PS1 that wasn't a cutscene. It's charming and makes the most of a limited technology in the same way that Donkey Kong Country did aroun the same time and first-party Wii games like Mario Galaxy are doing now. Everything was smooth and polished, unlike the awkward polygonal phase that's only now starting to get truly worked out of games with our powerful new PS3s and 360s. It may be simple, but it's certainly not ugly.

At the end of the day though, different gamers like different things. If you're looking for an engaging, witty, playful RPG experience, Mario RPG is one of the best that's been done. It's a great genre piece. But it is, despite its nuances, a classic style RPG that requires time and dedication to really play through and is not everyone's idea of a good time. But it's what, 10 bucks now on VC? That beats the $60 I paid for a new cartridge back in the day, and should be manageable for most anyone with even a passing interest in trying one of the more noteworthy games in RPG history.