Super Mario RPG Is Back — And Coming To Nintendo Switch

Way before Mario went flat as paper, he embarked on his very first RPG adventure as a fully rendered 3D sprite (it was “in” at the time). The Mario universe had never been used for an RPG before 1996, but Nintendo had a secret weapon to make sure they didn’t screw up their first try: a partnership with Squaresoft, the kings of the RPG genre. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on the Super NES that May.

Ever since, it’s retained a passionate fanbase that desired a return, whether by a true sequel or a remake. The problem with THAT was that any revival of Super Mario RPG would have to be handled by both Nintendo and Square, and they had a falling out that started around the time the game was released and lasted years. Square wanted to make huge games with lengthy, pre-rendered cutscenes. Nintendo wouldn’t provide the CD format necessary for it. Square signed an exclusivity deal with Sony and brought some of the best titles in their history to the Playstation instead.

Due to this, a true follow-up to SMRPG wasn’t possible, so what was listed as “Super Mario RPG 2” on the Nintendo 64 release schedule was changed to “Paper Mario” and a wholly different series was born. It’s not the 90s anymore, and Nintendo and Square have long since gotten past their feud. But that didn’t make Super Mario RPG any less rare. It was often a late addition to Virtual Console libraries and it has yet to show up on Nintendo Switch Online after years of demand.

Now we know why. A fully HD remake of Super Mario RPG was announced during the Nintendo Direct this morning. After a giant blade named Smithy plows itself into the castle, Mario, Bowser and Peach fall into separate areas and seven stars of power are left in peril. As Mario, your job is to explore the surrounding area and bop a lot of Goomba heads to save the day, alongside original characters like Geno the puppet and Mallow the living cloud who have never been seen anywhere else.

This really is a prettied-up version of the original; details that were lost in the fuzzy downgrade to SNES graphics are now revealed:

HUGE NEWS

thanks, updated resolution!!! (also I love to see a stunt race fx cameo) https://t.co/1X5lOoB57Y pic.twitter.com/JLSnpiPVaY

— Cabel (@cabel) June 21, 2023

Super Mario RPG comes out for Nintendo Switch November 17.