What did other critics think, though? Well, let's find out. Below, we've assembled a few reviews for Super Mario RPG to hopefully give a flavour of the general consensus.
To kick things off, the lovely folks over at VGC gave the game a score of 4/5 stars, calling it a "lovingly crafted re-release":
"Switch’s Mario RPG feels like a love letter to the original game. Fans of the 1996 version will be delighted by the care that’s gone into recreating the SNES title scene-for-scene. For everyone else, this remains a charming RPG adventure well worth discovering."
Over on IGN, Super Mario RPG gained a score of 8/10, with the review praising it for being "unabashedly odd":
"Super Mario RPG is considered a classic for a reason, and this wonderfully faithful remake makes it easy for anyone who missed it in the SNES era to see why. It’s unabashedly odd, reveling in the unexpected with writing that constantly had me bursting out laughing at jokes I’d heard a dozen times before. Its turn-based combat is fairly simple outside of its very clever boss fights, but it’s also ultra satisfying to keep your timing string going even when you’re plowing through pushovers. And while the updated graphics are equal parts pretty and sort of unambitious when it comes to interpreting the original’s style (with some unfortunate menu lag), the new takes on its excellent music are truly exceptional."
Destructoid gave the game a score of 9/10, noting that it "brilliantly preserves" the spirit of the original game:
"Super Mario RPG is an all-time classic game that both RPG lovers and Mario fans alike owe it to themselves to play. This Switch remake brilliantly preserves the spirit of the original SNES game, with some great quality-of-life enhancements and a phenomenally redone soundtrack. Longtime fans looking for a more transformative remake may feel disappointed, but when the core game itself has aged this well, it doesn’t suffer in the ways a lesser title would."
Game Informer, meanwhile, awarded the game a very specific score of 8.75/10, noting that it's proven to be a great option for both veterans and newcomers:
"Much of what has changed about Super Mario RPG for the remake beyond the visuals is behind the scenes. The pace is brisker, and my hour count (even after beating the big optional boss) came in lower than the average playtime of the original. The game has been tweaked only slightly to add some new mechanics and make the adventure even more welcoming than it already was. The result is an experience that only shows its age slightly and rewards longtime fans and newcomers alike."
And finally, God is a Geek gave Super Mario RPG a score of 9/10, stating that the game was "carefully crafted" with nothing taken away from the original:
"You’ve got to handle a beloved game remake with kid gloves, and that’s exactly what Nintendo has done with Super Mario RPG. This is a careful remake, adding goodies like a monster list, or the option to play with the original music, rather than taking anything away. If nothing else, it’s a remarkable testimony to the ability of designers from 1996 to make a game this good that still feels as brilliant today, and it bodes incredibly well for the 2024 re-release of Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door."
Will you be picking up Super Mario RPG later this week? What do you make of the reviews? Let us know with a comment below.
