The ’00s brought not just Paper Mario and its sequel The Thousand Year Door, the greatest such game to ever be made, but also the excellent first three titles in the Mario & Luigi series on GBA and DS. While the Wii’s Super Paper Mario would be more of a strange platformer-RPG hybrid than another turn-based juggernaut, it still proved excellent with amazing writing and a tearjerking story. But over the course of the ’10s, both franchises deteriorated – Mario & Luigi falling into mild mediocrity before developer Alphadream tragically shuttered a few years ago, and Paper Mario torpedoing its formula with the infamous Sticker Star on 3DS and stubbornly refusing to break away from that new foundation ever since.
Now in the ’20s, with one series gone and another having changed to the point it’s nigh-unrecognizable, an unlikely hero has emerged – the one who started it all. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was the first title to feature turn-based adventuring for Mr. Nintendo, and it laid the foundation for both series of Mario RPGs that came after it – despite never receiving a proper sequel itself (though Paper Mario famously began development as exactly that). And now that it’s getting a brand-new HD remake for Switch, it’s a perfect time to remember what made Mario RPGs so special in the first place.
VGChartz's Stephen LaGioia: "Being a polished remake of an already delightful experience, Super Mario RPG is a can’t-miss offering for veterans and newcomers alike. RPG newbies should appreciate the smoothing of its rougher edges, while returning players will no doubt like the added battle features which add some depth. The remake impresses most in terms of a spruced-up presentation and (relatively) more involved combat dynamics, but still adheres closely to traits that made the original so appealing.
Some refinements and QoL improvements give the game a sensibility more bound to the current decade, but the pacing and linearity can still feel very ‘90s in some ways — for better and worse. While feeling more “evolutionary” instead of “revolutionary” overall, this enriching Mario journey is still as memorable as ever, and makes a terrific swan song for the Switch."
NoobFeed Editor Jay Claassen writes - Super Mario RPG is one of the few remakes that can practically speak for itself; it’ll get hold of you and somehow keep you going for the sake of finding the next part of the story. It’s a well-done remake in just about every sense, from the environments to the different enemies, while maintaining that infamous Mario silliness through it all.
The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console in the US in November 2023 in terms of units sold and dollar sales, according to figures from Circana (formerly The NPD Group). Circana includes the dates for the four week period of October 29 to November 25.
>20% drop in all 3 consoles YoY
Comparing to last year with ~20% drop estimates are:
PS5 ~1 million
XSX/S ~584k
Switch ~584k (less than Xbox)
Definite sign that these systems need a price cut. The discounts ($350 XSX etc) didnt seem to go into effect until after this tracking period. PS5 didnt have any real discount and was just bundling games.
Playstation may have a hard time hitting 25M sold unless December is huge.
This might easily be Xbox's worst November since the original Xbox
Switch can at least say its a 7 year old system and last November they launched Pokemon scarlet/violet
Overall this was a much worse month than anyone expected
The guys at MS must be scratching their heads, they just paid tens of billions for Activision, highly publicized the purchase and yet they still getting their collective asses handed to them. What could they be doing wrong? I mean gamepass, check. Buying up the industry, check. Discounted the Series consoles, check (they have been discounted at various retailers for a long time before the MS discount). Third party publisher here we come. Bookmark this post; I told you so.
Well it is the system with exclusives to draw the gamer in and also being backwards compatible with the PS4 there is also a library of PS4 exclusives as well.
The fact that Spider-man 2 is now selling more units than freakin Madden in NA is not talked about enough.
Another rarity is SM Wonders selling less than Dead Island 2 ytd. Maybe with digital numbers, it's closer to top 10, but for it to barely be in the top 15 is a little shocking to me.
Useless fact that nobody will care about, but this was the game that introduced me to RPGs. Before this all I’d play were platformers and licensed games. Literally, opened up my eyes to so many games and what became my favorite genre. Final Fantasy 3(6) and Breath of Fire 2 were the next JRPGs I’d play after this.
For the price it'll sell for at launch, only a new game in a series would warrant that price. No game on the planet is worth more than £39.99 and that's pushing the boat out.