Super Mario RPG broke away from the traditional platforming gameplay of the Mario series when it first came out on the Super Nintendo back in 1996. This unique game focused on turn-based combat with a 3D isometric style of graphics. Rather than just being a Final Fantasy game with Mario characters, Super Mario RPG forged its own unique identity.
Aside from having a higher defense stat to mitigate damage, there is typically no way to completely reduce incoming damage to zero in turn based RPGs. In Super Mario RPG, it is possible for players to reduce or completely nullify any damage that a character would receive. This is accomplished by blocking, and here is how it works.
How to Block
One of the unique things about combat in Super Mario RPG is that players can influence how much damage they do and how much damage they receive, and this carried over into the remake as well. This is all done by pressing the "A" button at the right time. Right when an enemy attack is about to hit, an exclamation point will appear. There is a very narrow window where if players press the "A" button, they will see a blue shield appear in front of the character and they will take zero damage.
There are two kinds of blocking. The only way to block all damage is by performing a perfect block as depicted above. The second is a normal block which has a much more forgiving window for activating. Of course, the trade off is that only blocks the majority of damage instead of all of it. For example, an attack from a Goomba that would have done two or three points of damage is reduced to one instead. So while normal blocking can help, players will ideally want to pull off a perfect block every time.
Unfortunately, there are limitations to what blocking can do. If an attack hits multiple characters, it cannot be blocked. By blocking single target attacks, players can reduce how much damage they take so that they are more prepared for situations where multiple party members get hit at once.
Does Increasing Defense Make Blocking Easier?
Just like in an RPG, increasing stats is crucial for players to succeed in future battles. While increasing the Defense stat will reduce damage from attacks that aren't blocked, it will not make it any easier to pull off a perfect block. The only thing that can make pulling off a block easier is simply by practicing it every time a member of the party gets attacked.
