Super Mario RPG Review Roundup

27 years after the game's original SNES release, Super Mario RPG has re-entered the spotlight on Nintendo Switch. Reviews are flowing in for the remade classic, and so far critics are enjoying this trip in Nintendo's time machine.

The game originally released in 1996 as a collaboration between Nintendo and Squaresoft--which later merged with Enix to become Square Enix. ArtePiazza is the main developer for Super Mario RPG on Switch, though this isn't its first time restoring classic RPGs; this is also the team behind multiple revivals in another Square Enix franchise: Dragon Quest.

GameSpot's 8/10 Super Mario RPG review said that "[o]utside of a few minor quality-of-life improvements, Super Mario RPG is mostly a remastered product of its time--and an utterly fascinating one, at that. With its heartfelt humor, standout personalities, satisfyingly straightforward combat, and an expeditious mindset devoid of the bloat that regularly plagues modern RPGs, Super Mario RPG is timeless."

You can see a selection of review scores and excerpts from around the internet below. For more Super Mario RPG reactions, you can check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

• Game: Super Mario RPG
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch
• Developer: Nintendo/ArtePiazza
• Release Date: November 17
• Price: $60

Shacknews -- 9/10

"Earlier this year, Nintendo shocked the world again when it announced it was bringing the game back from whatever rights hell it had spent the last 27 years. The result is Super Mario RPG, which keeps most of what made the original so legendary while adding enough new content to further satisfy even older fans of the Super Nintendo classic." -- Ozzie Meija [Full review]

Destructoid -- 9/10

"This unique collaboration between Nintendo and Squaresoft garnered a devoted following almost immediately upon release, and that passion from its fans endures to this day. While this is technically the origin point that led to the Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi series, Super Mario RPG remains one of the wackiest and most surreal games the mustached plumber has ever starred in. Quite frankly, it’s a miracle we’re even seeing this game again at all." -- Timothy Monbleau [Full review]

Game Informer -- 8.75/10

"The Nintendo of 1996 was still figuring out the rules of Mario’s universe, and as a result, developer Square (not yet Square Enix) was able to create characters and put Mario in positions his parent company would likely never agree to today. The remake, thankfully, maintains all of that weirdness." -- Kyle Hilliard [Full review]

VGC -- 8/10

"The new version – Nintendo’s careful not to call it a ‘remake’ – is an incredibly faithful retread of one of the very best role-playing games of the 1990s, down to the smallest of details like its endearingly jittery animations, and plump, off-brand character models. That unprecedented level of authenticity makes Switch’s Mario RPG feel like a love letter to the original game." -- Andy Robinson [Full review]

IGN -- 8/10

"[Super Mario RPG's] 2023 remake is an incredibly faithful recreation of that already awesome RPG, with a fresh coat of paint and some small but smart combat updates. Those changes can’t completely shake off 27 years of dust, but they do provide a fantastic way for fans like me to revisit this classic while also letting new folk better enjoy just how wild it is firsthand." -- Tom Marks [Full review]

GamesRadar -- 8/10

"I didn’t grow up with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the classic Super Nintendo game that brought Mario into a Final Fantasy-inspired world of turn-based battling and monster quests. Yet it’s always remained a fascinating game to me, for its devotion to being outright strange, and including tidbits of Super Mario lore that have seldom been touched by the modern games. With Super Mario RPG for Nintendo Switch, a fully-fledged remake, I’ve finally been able to explore it at length – and even without the rose-coloured lenses of nostalgia, it’s proved to be an adventure that holds up incredibly well." -- Leah J. Williams [Full review]