![]() ![]() Probably because ghosts are spooky and it’s time to get spooked. The main enemy theme is ghosts for some reason. The enemies are mostly reused yet again, to an even more extreme as I’ll mention later. Just another thing to add to my stockpile of unused things. It is, sadly, not more powerful than the Lazy Shell though, so there’s no point in using it. I also eventually acquire the Ultra Hammer, Mario’s final weapon. As Mario or RPG fans might expect, there is one area a bit later on that I need to purposely fall down to find some secrets, though I assure you it’s nothing special. Nothing too harsh, just a minor inconvenience, which I appreciate as all of these bolt jumps are done at the same weird diagonal angle as every other platforming challenge in this game. A misstep on these bolts sends you falling down onto a trampoline that launches you right back up to try again. The early section of the Factory involves a lot of small platforms connected via bolts on screws, requiring you to hop on the bolt to thread it and get you closer to the other side, a little stage element first seen in Super Mario Bros. Combined with the visuals getting extremely trippy and a little unsettling, the final area is a great finale and a great setting for the series of boss fights I’ll soon encounter. It really feels like a proper final area music choice, sounding strange but familiar at the same time. With fireworks in hand, I’m back to the Gate that leads to the Factory. However, my goal for this playthrough is to buy five total across the game for reasons I’ll explain later, which means before really getting into the weird void of Smithy’s realm I’ll first make a quick stop in Moleville. Selling them returns 250 coins and the chance to buy yet another one, but again, nothing indicates that you’re doing anything of value. You can only ever have one firework at a time, which suggests they’re important, but again, you can’t use them like an attack or anything at all. It seems strange to drop 500 coins for one, trade it away, and then have the option to buy a second one without any indication that it’ll have any benefit. You can only purchase one at a time, and they have no actual purpose within the game other than to be an item you need to trade for the Shiny Stone that opens the door to Culex. In Moleville, one of the moles sells fireworks for 500 coins each. We will have to wait and see once I get deeper into the Factory.īut first, there is one little diversion I want to take. My biggest question is whether I should actually grind each character to level 30, which isn’t overly time-consuming as there are some enemies in the Factory that dish out a ton of experience points, but it’s another unnecessary step in this playthrough since fighting enemies like normal will already push me up to at least level 26 before reaching Smithy for the final showdown. I could push myself to do 100 consecutive Super Jumps to get the most powerful armor in the game, but getting the Super Suit really isn’t worth it when I’m already so overpowered as-is. Yes, there are still some hidden chests around the game, but without a real reward for finding every last one there’s not much drive to look. Everything is so streamlined that I can either handle optional bosses when they’re presented to me (Jinx and Culex, specifically), or there’s very little need to force myself through the trouble (like grinding to level 30). In Super Mario RPG, I sort of don’t have a real endgame to continue through. In Fire Emblem Awakening I could partner everyone up and improve their support ranks. In Final Fantasy 6 for example I could search for every last Esper and raise each character to level 99. Usually in an RPG you’ll have a few endgame options to keep you busy. And I want Mario to have an edge, not just the simple happy-go-lucky blank slate in the Paper Mario series onward. I want to see more of this Toadstool, more of this Bowser. ![]() I really like this version of Mario’s World. For me, Super Mario RPG is a very enjoyable experience, one that I gladly revisit every few years, and once more I’m struck with that pang of sadness. The ending section of a game is always the hardest, not necessarily because it’s actually difficult (not always), but rather because the realization that this thing you enjoy will shortly be coming to an end.
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