Super Mario RPG has a ridiculous battle format.

Mario attacks, -20 HP
Enemy 1 attacks, -30 HP
Enemy 2 attacks, -30 HP
Enemy 3 attacks, -30 HP
Bowser attacks, -80 HP
Enemy 1 attacks, -30 HP

Same here man. I got the original N64 cartridge from a friend. I had asked her a million times "can i borrow that one?". Finally, after a long wait, she finally remembered to give it to me while i was at church. I popped it into my 64, and played through the game. At first, it really didn't grow on me, and after i beat it, i was devastated when i found out there was no "official" ending to the game. But after some time after beating it for the first time, it grew on me, and it got to the point where i couldn't stand it anymore, i HAD to play it. So, bought 1,000 wii points of the good ol' shop channel, and bought it. I have played through it once, and have another save file where i am on the final chapter, and i just started up a new file a few days ago. It really hit me that this game is a timeless classic, and it will always stay in my heart and be in my top 5 fave games forever and ever

-BF98

Well Paper Mario is excellent, and SMRPG sucks. The answer is clear.

SMRPG: Never played it, but it doesn't look appealing to me.

Paper Mario: Great humor, gameplay that you actually have to pay attention to, and awesome sidekicks + locations make Paper Mario the one I would buy.

Lets set this straight! They are both good and well worth your money. I own both on N64 & VC. Play both of them!!!

Can't....choose.....both....too....good.

Both are brilliant, can't really split them. But both are completely outshadowed by the majesty of Paper Mario: TTYD.

I got both.

Paper Mario (for casuals, or people new to rpgs, but offers a relatively good experience.)
Super Mario RPG(...GET IT. More difficult but rewarding, and has the greatest RPG experience I've ever...experienced)

So, in my opinion(don't fault me for that), I say SMRPG is better.

Super Mario RPG all the way.

The Mario that is paper.

They are both really good, but I thought Paper Mario had more charm.

Super Mario RPG. I found Paper Mario somewhat boring in comparison (probably has to do with only having two characters at a time and having to switch between sidekicks frequently), though really it's great game as well.

Paper Mario pales in comparison to its predecessor, but I haven't played SMRPG yet. I have it on VC, and have had it for a few months, but I have a lot of other games yet to finish.

hey. i'm new here, and i have you guys to thank for getting me to join. why? because! after all this paper mario worship, i HAD to defend the legendary SMRPG.

i'll admit, paper mario is good. it's a truly great game. but it's, EASY. sure, the badge system is great and all, but it's just not your standard RPG. i'm not saying it's NOT an RPG, it is. but it doesn't follow the true vein of it. your party members have NO HP. just mario does, and it's max, is a REALLY low number. as for party member level ups, you have to FIND things to level them up. yes, more party members, but all that happens when they get attacked, is they get knocked out for a round or two.

but SMRPG, it's legendary! it was the first! if not for it, Paper mario may never have come to be! PM was originaly SMRPG 2 you know, before they had to change the name. SMRPG is what brought me into the RPG genre. the battle system is very much like most other RPG's i've seen, with your party members being able to do more than just stand there and hit the enemy. memorable boss fights, such as, and the SMRPG vets know who i mean, the boss that can clone ANYONE on your party, to mention one. to mention another, the optional boss that fights with the crystals. there's just so many memories for me with that game. it's just so good. paper mario may be one heck of a game, but for me, SMRPG will always be number 1.

man, do yourself a favor. don't chose which one to get, chose which one to get FIRST. and as always, watch videos of both games first. youtube is your friend.

Well, to each his own. Welcome to NL, bowsersenemy.
EDIT: And yeah, Super Mario RPG is awesome. I know the details you're referring to. And you're right in bringing up those roots; without SMRPG, there would be no Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi.

I always roll my eyes when people put this. Mario does it all, he'd get an RPG at some point regardless of whether or not he had the weak foundation Square set.

For Mario purists, Paper Mario offers the most nostalgic experience.

When you consider the fact that Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi have absolutely nothing in common with Super Mario RPG other than being an RPG starring Mario, I find it hard to even consider SMRPG as the "root" of the series. Sure, without it, Nintendo might not have even considered making the other Mario RPGs, and for that I respect it, but that's pretty much as far as my respect will ever go.

Okay, so because it has some genuinely unique systems that diverge from the heavily overused RPG conventions, and it doesn't have numbers that go up into the millions, it's somehow flawed? Whatever you say...

It is too easy, though, I'll give you that. Of course, if a game's too easy, the best solution is to make the game more challenging for yourself. Try never doubling back to the Heart Container(which is what I did when I first played it. I actually accumulated a fairly high death count by the end), or even never using a heart container at all. Or try only leveling up your badge points or flower points - however you want to play it to make it more fun for yourself.

Personally, it very rare that I'll complain about a game being too easy - sometimes it's nice to play a game that doesn't frustrate the hell out of you every once in a while.

Is there an actual meaning in this statement? What exactly is a "Mario purist"? I'm guessing it's not me, since I played Super Mario RPG years before Paper Mario, which I should mention barely qualifies as nostalgic seeing as it's from this millennium. I liked Paper Mario. Hell, I got it the day it showed up on store shelves. But, I've always considered it, and all the Mario RPG's since, to be in a completely different league from SMRPG.