10 Biggest Differences Between Super Mario RPG Remake And Original

10 Biggest Differences Between Super Mario RPG and the Remake

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at 10 big changes in “Super Mario RPG”!

Cutscenes

The inclusion of cutscenes is one of the first major changes you'll notice when booting up "Super Mario RPG". Major story beats like your first encounter with Mallow and Geno's arrival are all beautifully animated and rendered at sixty frames per second. For as gorgeous as these cutscenes are, there is no voiceover for any of the characters. Not even sound effects. The music does a lot of the heavy lifting, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on who you ask. Most of the time, you'll be experiencing the story through in-game "cutscenes", just as they were presented in the original.

Soundtrack

One of the best aspects of "Super Mario RPG" is the music composed by Yoko Shimomura, best known today for her music in the "Kingdom Hearts" games. Shimomura returns to score the remake once again, and the difference between the new and old iterations is night and day. The remake boasts a soundtrack made with a full orchestra, breathing new life into the environments. Of course, if you're a die-hard fan of the original score Shimomura made back in 1996, you can switch to that if you so desire.

Combat

For the most part, the core of "Super Mario RPG's" combat is the same as before. Time your inputs just right to land more damage. However, the remake has added two more layers to make landing these inputs feel more rewarding. Nailing a perfectly timed input will not only deliver more damage to your target, it will also create a shockwave to damage the rest of the enemy team. On top of that, you will get a small portion of your gauge increased, eventually allowing you to execute a devastating Triple Move. Each combination of characters has their own Triple Move, so be sure to experiment and know when to switch out party members. Speaking of which…

Party Switching

In the original "Super Mario RPG", players were forced to be more deliberate in their party formation. One miscalculation could spell disaster for you while fighting a boss like Smithy or Valentina. The remake has made it a bit more forgiving by allowing you to swap out party members mid-combat instead of restricting you to the overworld. Not only that, your character's turn will not be skipped upon swapping, which most RPGs usually count against you as a part of your turn.

Name Changes

Various characters have had their names changed in the remake. Some name changes make sense given how certain characters have finally been given official names since 1996. Princess Toadstool is now Princess Peach. The commander Goomba in Bowser's army is now Goomhilde. Sparkies and Fireballs are now Lava Bubbles. However, some characters have had name changes that seem a tad weird. “Yari” is the Japanese term for “spear”, so why change Yaridovich to “Speardovich”? We’ll give them credit on the name changes for certain moves like Psycho being renamed to Thought Peek as many of the new names fit their descriptions.

Breezy Mode

Another major feature Nintendo has mentioned in their marketing is the new “Breezy Mode”. Under this mode, you will get to experience “Super Mario RPG” under a less stressful difficulty setting. This means you will get more XP from fights and enemies and bosses will appear with less HP than normal. On top of that, executing timed inputs will be a lot easier, meaning you will be in and out of fights rather quickly. Of course, you don’t have to play on this setting; it is merely optional.

Storage Box

A nifty addition to “Super Mario RPG” is the inclusion of a storage box. We’ve all been down that road; you come across a super useful item but cannot fit it into your inventory or you’ve already reached the cap. To help you save on coins, any items causing you to exceed your cap can be instantly transferred to your storage box for later use. This might come in handy if you’re trying to scrounge up extra dough for better weapons and armor, too.

Fast Travel

Navigating around the world in the original “Super Mario RPG” was a bit of a pain. On top of having to travel across areas by foot, the overworld map was divided into sections. So, there was quite a bit of loading. The remake, however, loads in one big map and allows you to fast travel between regions! Of course, fast travel won’t be accessible every second, but it does make it easier to fulfill those tricky side quests.

Boss Rush Mode

If there are some boss fights you really love, then the addition of boss replays might be exciting to you. Yes, once you have defeated a boss for the first time, you will have the option of fighting them once again. Some of them come with newer, more powerful abilities, too! There is a caveat to all of these fights, though - you will not be able to fight them until you have cleared the main story. So, enjoy the ride before you go trying to take on Booster or Jinx again.

Post-Game Items

Once you have brought down Smithy and recovered the Seven Stars, there will be a handful of new equipment to nab across the world. If you want to beat all of the new versions of the bosses, this equipment will be vital to your endeavor! We’re talking about equipment that can increase the frequency of your Triple Move and even prevent death. Make sure you grab these before you go charging into those post-game boss fights!

Are you enjoying the new “Super Mario RPG” remake? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!