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Description
So this was in the works. A piece of tribute art to a stellar game, for me, and for many others. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars saw its Japanese release March 9th, 1996 and would later receive its North American release on May 13th the same year. It's a rather unique gem, in that it was a collaboration between Nintendo and Sqaure. It also holds the honor of being the first Mario RPG, and would lay the foundation for its successors in the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series. By that I mean tropes such as: collecting seven plot relevant items, timed attacks, unique and new characters exclusive to that game, a main antagonist that isn't Bowser, Bowser playing a non-villainous role, having a soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimomura, and more of course.

Quick history lesson aside, I would say the reason this game resonates so much with people, is likely due to its characters. At least, that's what resonates the most, in my opinion. Obviously the setting, music, gameplay, graphics resonate, but characters usually win out. For example, you see that blue guy? next to the green star? there's a chance you probably at least heard of him, Geno. The star spirit possessing a HIGHLY dangerous doll, I mean seriously that thing took out Mario with one shot before being possessed. He's most well known now as a long standing Smash Bros. request, as in over a decade of fan demand by passionate fans of the dude who can literally turn into a cannon. Fun fact: I have wanted him since Brawl myself, and hold on to hope that he makes it for Ultimate. There's videos about why he's so highly requested, PapaGenos did a good one which you can watch by clicking this. I can gush about him myself, but I've given star puppet plenty of attention before, so I'll move on.

When it comes to other characters I personally like? Well obviously Mallow, he's adorable, and has a cute little story going during the game. Sure I didn't have him in my party a lot but I appreciate having him around at all. Croco is honestly a character who I think should stick around in the Mario universe, he makes for such a fun side baddy. Johnathan Jones is also a really cool character, and weirds me the fuck out, because I didn't realize until working on this, that his eye is inside his mouth. Still a cool shark guy though. Booster is basically Wario if he was just somehow more unhinged, which is why he would probably make for a fun rival to Wario in a game. Then there's that dog thing Belome, which is honestly a unique creature in the Mario universe and would be cool to see some more of. Then there's Boshi, who is basically Yoshi's "Wa" counterpart, and really should be included in spin-offs as such. There's also Big Yoshi, who's a meme. Valentina and Dodo were interesting as well, even if Dodo feels up Mario in the game. Then you have Culex, the straight Final Fantasy boss, who isn't even from Final Fantasy, thus making him a Mario original. Which is why, next RPG, he deserves a second go.

I wanna touch on the Smithy Gang a bit, they're all cool in their own right. I just have to mention this though, about Exor, who is likely the most iconic thing about the game; seeing as he's on the boxart and title screen. There's also the view from Vista Hill and this piece of promo art, that honestly used to kinda creep me out back in the day. I really dig everything about Exor on a concept level, I mean a giant sword, that tears through what is essentially Heaven, and stabs straight into the castle of the series big bad. It's a bit of a shame that the boss fight with him is treated without much fanfare. The other Smithy Gang members get some sort of moment right before their fights, but right after fighting Boomer, you're just thrown into a fight with Exor, no dialogue from him or anything. It also doesn't help that you can pull off the Geno Whirl 9999 damage trick with him. I dunno, guess I was just expecting more from the dude who's FEATURED HEAVILY IN THE GAME'S PROMO MATERIAL TO THE POINT WHERE YOU'D THINK HE WAS THE MAIN VILLAIN. Ah well, maybe if a remake happens, he can get some special treatment.

Now, why do I love this game? The characters obviously. Though I do like the art style, the gameplay, the easter eggs, the little cutscenes where Mario imitates stuff, the fact that Bowser is a party member, and just the overall feeling of adventure. Oh and there's also the music, but instead of just saying "I likes it all," I'll just link my personal favs.

The Starlight's Flower: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OgJXZ…
Margarie Margarita: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Ygqb…
Where Am I Going?: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvCLT…
The Sword Descends and the Stars Scatter: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Wnhv…
Hello, Happy Kingdom: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugtis…
Here's Some Weapons!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEm5_Z…
Fight Against an Armed Boss: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3fI6e…
Let's Go Down the Wine River: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6hqp4…
Beware the Forest's Mushrooms: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTObNt…
And My Name's Booster: www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_PftS…
Let's do the Fooka-Fooka!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1QwF7…
Weapons Factory: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7vuoT…
Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming: www.youtube.com/watch?v=foQQl8…

and, here's some remixes, because I'm on a kick, tho these will be surprises.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcyU8L…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9kOcy…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaEs0d…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtyNns…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyI1Q8…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0VBcY…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnHFv…
Can't forget this throwback: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfXng_…
and one more, official thing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ctNlt…

ALRIGHT music aside...

My final bit to contribute here is this. I cherish what this game has to offer, and it has served as an inspiration in certain ways to me. I loved it when I had no idea what it was as a kid, to finally playing it in full during my mid-teen years. I hope you enjoy this tribute art, I had fun making it. I wanted the main characters to preserve some of that classic SMRPG look, which is why they're not quite modernized. I will provide stand-alones of the characters once Geno gets into Smash (even if we have to wait until Smash 6 lol). But yeah...go play Super Mario RPG today if you haven't, or play it again if you have.

And this...will not be the last anniversary tribute drawing. There's another series very near and dear to my heart, that will receive this treatment. Though I'll reserve that for it North American anniversary, seeing how the JP one is too soon. >u>

Hope you enjoyed the novel, toodles.

Happy Anniversary Super Mario RPG!
and be happy to know that Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and it's characters are owned by Nintendo and Square.

Hope you enjoyed the novel, toodles.

Description
So this was in the works. A piece of tribute art to a stellar game, for me, and for many others. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars saw its Japanese release March 9th, 1996 and would later receive its North American release on May 13th the same year. It's a rather unique gem, in that it was a collaboration between Nintendo and Sqaure. It also holds the honor of being the first Mario RPG, and would lay the foundation for its successors in the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series. By that I mean tropes such as: collecting seven plot relevant items, timed attacks, unique and new characters exclusive to that game, a main antagonist that isn't Bowser, Bowser playing a non-villainous role, having a soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimomura, and more of course.

Quick history lesson aside, I would say the reason this game resonates so much with people, is likely due to its characters. At least, that's what resonates the most, in my opinion. Obviously the setting, music, gameplay, graphics resonate, but characters usually win out. For example, you see that blue guy? next to the green star? there's a chance you probably at least heard of him, Geno. The star spirit possessing a HIGHLY dangerous doll, I mean seriously that thing took out Mario with one shot before being possessed. He's most well known now as a long standing Smash Bros. request, as in over a decade of fan demand by passionate fans of the dude who can literally turn into a cannon. Fun fact: I have wanted him since Brawl myself, and hold on to hope that he makes it for Ultimate. There's videos about why he's so highly requested, PapaGenos did a good one which you can watch by clicking this. I can gush about him myself, but I've given star puppet plenty of attention before, so I'll move on.

When it comes to other characters I personally like? Well obviously Mallow, he's adorable, and has a cute little story going during the game. Sure I didn't have him in my party a lot but I appreciate having him around at all. Croco is honestly a character who I think should stick around in the Mario universe, he makes for such a fun side baddy. Johnathan Jones is also a really cool character, and weirds me the fuck out, because I didn't realize until working on this, that his eye is inside his mouth. Still a cool shark guy though. Booster is basically Wario if he was just somehow more unhinged, which is why he would probably make for a fun rival to Wario in a game. Then there's that dog thing Belome, which is honestly a unique creature in the Mario universe and would be cool to see some more of. Then there's Boshi, who is basically Yoshi's "Wa" counterpart, and really should be included in spin-offs as such. There's also Big Yoshi, who's a meme. Valentina and Dodo were interesting as well, even if Dodo feels up Mario in the game. Then you have Culex, the straight Final Fantasy boss, who isn't even from Final Fantasy, thus making him a Mario original. Which is why, next RPG, he deserves a second go.

I wanna touch on the Smithy Gang a bit, they're all cool in their own right. I just have to mention this though, about Exor, who is likely the most iconic thing about the game; seeing as he's on the boxart and title screen. There's also the view from Vista Hill and this piece of promo art, that honestly used to kinda creep me out back in the day. I really dig everything about Exor on a concept level, I mean a giant sword, that tears through what is essentially Heaven, and stabs straight into the castle of the series big bad. It's a bit of a shame that the boss fight with him is treated without much fanfare. The other Smithy Gang members get some sort of moment right before their fights, but right after fighting Boomer, you're just thrown into a fight with Exor, no dialogue from him or anything. It also doesn't help that you can pull off the Geno Whirl 9999 damage trick with him. I dunno, guess I was just expecting more from the dude who's FEATURED HEAVILY IN THE GAME'S PROMO MATERIAL TO THE POINT WHERE YOU'D THINK HE WAS THE MAIN VILLAIN. Ah well, maybe if a remake happens, he can get some special treatment.

Now, why do I love this game? The characters obviously. Though I do like the art style, the gameplay, the easter eggs, the little cutscenes where Mario imitates stuff, the fact that Bowser is a party member, and just the overall feeling of adventure. Oh and there's also the music, but instead of just saying "I likes it all," I'll just link my personal favs.

The Starlight's Flower: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OgJXZ…
Margarie Margarita: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Ygqb…
Where Am I Going?: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvCLT…
The Sword Descends and the Stars Scatter: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Wnhv…
Hello, Happy Kingdom: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugtis…
Here's Some Weapons!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEm5_Z…
Fight Against an Armed Boss: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3fI6e…
Let's Go Down the Wine River: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6hqp4…
Beware the Forest's Mushrooms: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTObNt…
And My Name's Booster: www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_PftS…
Let's do the Fooka-Fooka!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1QwF7…
Weapons Factory: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7vuoT…
Fight Against Smithy, Who Likes Transforming: www.youtube.com/watch?v=foQQl8…

and, here's some remixes, because I'm on a kick, tho these will be surprises.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcyU8L…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9kOcy…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaEs0d…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtyNns…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyI1Q8…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0VBcY…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnHFv…
Can't forget this throwback: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfXng_…
and one more, official thing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ctNlt…

ALRIGHT music aside...

My final bit to contribute here is this. I cherish what this game has to offer, and it has served as an inspiration in certain ways to me. I loved it when I had no idea what it was as a kid, to finally playing it in full during my mid-teen years. I hope you enjoy this tribute art, I had fun making it. I wanted the main characters to preserve some of that classic SMRPG look, which is why they're not quite modernized. I will provide stand-alones of the characters once Geno gets into Smash (even if we have to wait until Smash 6 lol). But yeah...go play Super Mario RPG today if you haven't, or play it again if you have.

And this...will not be the last anniversary tribute drawing. There's another series very near and dear to my heart, that will receive this treatment. Though I'll reserve that for it North American anniversary, seeing how the JP one is too soon. >u>

Hope you enjoyed the novel, toodles.

Happy Anniversary Super Mario RPG!
and be happy to know that Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and it's characters are owned by Nintendo and Square.

Hope you enjoyed the novel, toodles.