Grandfather of Mario themed role playing games is simple, but functional and addictive.
Story is forgettable, as it usually is in Mario games. Princess Peach gets kidnapped and it's up to Mario to save her. In time he will encounter a star spirit called Geno and learns that Mario also has to collect seven star pieces in order to repair a shattered Star Road. These pieces are held by members of an evil Smithy gang.
Gameplay happens in a pseudo-3D platforms, where Mario can navigate pretty freely, talk to people and move from place to place. Game moves forward in a fairly linear fashion from one mission to another and on your way you'll get more companions, new items and of course gain new levels. It's all very simple, but it works. Battles are turn-based, but they are not random: a fight doesn't start if you don't hit an enemy first. You'll get at least 20 hours of fun out of Super Mario RPG.
Graphics are colorful, but very crude in modern standards. These things are easily forgivable though, since the gameplay and characters are so great with memorable dialog sequences. Music and sound effects are pretty standard stuff, but the music loops way too often and as a result you'll end up singing those tunes long after you've stopped playing the game.
Super Mario RPG is a simple, functional and most of all fun role playing game. Story is not that great, but hey: it's a Mario game so there isn't supposed to be an elaborate story. Go and download it now on Virtual Console.