The hype for Nintendo’s latest Direct could not have been higher. For most, it was a bit of a letdown though but most pre-Direct hype trains typically are. One cool thing that did appear was a full remake of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. That game was originally released for the SNES in 1996 in collaboration with Square Enix, Squaresoft at the time.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is one of the best RPGs on the SNES and a straight 1:1 remake would be fine for most. However, it would be more prudent for the developers to add and change a few things to make the experience feel fresher.
8 New Content
It’s great that this game is getting a remake, but hopefully, it is more than a direct transfer of the original. It would be great to see some new content here. The original game is pretty short for a SNES RPG, so an extra dungeon or two would be amazing.
They could even add in some sort of endless dungeon that players can keep coming back to for more rewards and maybe even tack on a leaderboard for online support. Nintendo, or whoever is the main lead developing this, doesn’t have to go hog wild, but anything that is substantially new in Super Mario RPG would be a win.
7 Voice Acting
There have been quite a few remakes from the SNES and they all vary in scope. In 2022, Square Enix put out Live A Live for the first time in the West with an HD-2D makeover. They also added voice acting to the game, so if a 16-bit style RPG like that can get voice acting then so can Super Mario RPG.
Nintendo doesn’t have to invest a lot of money into AAA talent like their recent animated blockbuster. Mario can stay silent, as he did in the original version, but everyone else from Bowser to Smithy should be voiced.
6 Fast-Forward Buttons
There are a few shots in the trailer that showcase the battle system. It looks similar except that there now appears to be a boost system. How that works is unknown for now, but assuredly Nintendo will share more the closer this game gets to launch.
What wasn’t shown were other turn-based features that modern remakes get such as a fast-forward button. That would make battles go by quicker for grinding. They should also add an autobattle option to automatically finish the time-based prompts for those that struggle with that sort of mechanic.
5 An Extras Gallery
Remastered collections are typically the sort of releases that get extras added on. Remakes are more about presenting a new but old experience first and foremost. Final Fantasy 7 Remake, for example, didn’t have an extensive art gallery or a way to rewatch old trailers unlike Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection which was a giant celebration of the tubular franchise.
It would be fun to see concept art for Super Mario RPG’s original version and the remake. A way to listen to both the old and new soundtrack would also be good as a feature in the options menu.
4 A Mini-Map
Dungeons in Super Mario RPG were never that complicated. It was a fairly linear RPG with a few branching paths here and there. Even though that is the case a mini-map would certainly be useful for those that want it.
There also weren’t a lot of quests in the game, but if they do get added to the remake, hopefully, they can be easily tracked on the map. Side quests can be part of the new content push like one that involves fighting a certain enemy a set amount of times.
3 Increase The Level Cap
The original version of the game had a level cap as most SNES RPGs did at the time. However, it was significantly lower than most and stopped at level 30. It felt like a weird number back then and it would be a weird place to stop in the remake.
A counterpart to this game like Final Fantasy 6 had a level cap of 99. The increase for Super Mario RPG’s remake doesn’t even have to be that big as a simple cutoff at level 50 would at least make more sense.
2 Updated Cameos
Super Mario RPG had a ton of fun cameos in the game. Link from The Legend of Zelda and Samus from Metroid can be seen sleeping in two different scenarios. They should still be in the game, but their design should be remade to look more modern.
Link, for example, should be wearing his blue tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo shouldn’t stop there as the more cameos there are, the better. Maybe Splatoon’s Inklings could be seen chilling out with some Bloopers somewhere.
1 Fix The Inventory
The original game's inventory was limited because every single thing took up a slot. Typically, multiple items of the same thing will be grouped in most other RPGs. To bring up the Final Fantasy series again, players can hold 99 potions in one inventory slot.
The remake should group items like this to free up inventory. Alternatively, Nintendo could add a chest at save points that players can store things in akin to Resident Evil. Also, more save slots and the ability to save anywhere temporarily should be added.