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Super Mario Adventure

Last Updated: June 1st, 1999

Name: Super Mario Adventure
System: Nintendo 64
Genre: Role Playing
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date: 2000?
Age rating: E?
Players: ?
Memory size: ?

(Screen shots on bottom of page)

Super Mario Adventure, originally titled Super Mario RPG 2, is still a game we're in the dark about. It's apparently been in development for quite awhile now, and up until a few months ago, we didn't even know if it's existance. The depressing part of the story is that it looks like a beginner's RPG. It's basically a kiddie game. Sad, but true. It promises to clear up a lot of Storyline elements, though, which I'm thankful for. It also promises a lot of innovovation.

It is probably one of Nintendo's most underhyped N64 games -- but also one of the most controversial sequels to come out of Japan's development studios. Sure, the game is still very early in development, but there is no way denying that the latest Mario adventure just looks a little odd. It's 2D. Well, sort of.

Originally planned as a 64DD launch title in both the US and Japan, Super Mario Adventure has recently moved to cartridge -- possibly another nail in the coffin of the long-delayed add-on.

From what little we have seen of the game, Mario is a rough-looking 2D sprite, who flips over like a piece of paper when he runs from side to side, as a weird, consciously made homage to old 2D characters, or even Sony's PaRappa the Rapper. As many gamers know Parappa is a 2D rapping dog whose 2D sides can be shown in an artsy display of hip-hop coolness, his flimsy, plasticy flatness all too apparent. But whereas PaRappa had that whole "cool" thing going (hey, he's a rapping dog with a beanie), Super Mario Adventure is decidedly "kiddie" in its approach.

Like Yoshi's Story, Mario navigates through flat, pseudo-3D worlds that offer multiple paths of exploration. Whereas the Super NES original surprised with excellent isometric graphics, Super Mario Adventure deliberately goes for a picture-book look.

Last year, Nintendo's game master Shigeru Miyamoto spoke with us to discuss his plans for Super Mario Adventure. During the conversation, he said: "I think [Super Mario Adventure] will be the game that's friendly for game beginners and amateur players to start out with. As you can see in Yoshi's Story, the idea of the three-dimensional picture book will appear in Mario RPG."

Although nothing is known about the quest and goal of the artsy RPG (rescue Peach, perhaps?), you can tell from the screen-shots that many Mario regulars are set to appear in the game. Mario will encounter goombas, ghosts and Koopas and face them in traditional RPG battle scenes, similar to the ones in the predecessor. Unfortunately, this aspect of roleplaying is also being simplified, making Mario RPG 2 more akin to its strategy-RPG brethren. While you still have control over the main character, other members of the party will do their own fighting without the need of input from the player.

Unlike the original, Super Mario RPG 2 is being developed by HAL in Japan, without any input from Square. Hopefully, this game doesn't go the ways of HAL's other major project, Kirby's Air Ride, which is being reworked into another Kirby title right now.

It's nice to see Nintendo pushing for a more artistic approach to videogames, but what good is that if most gamers don't like it? When Nintendo first showed footage of Mario RPG 2 at its Spaceworld expo, the 2D retro-look (which is nowhere near the splendor of Yoshi's Story's 2D graphics) met with consternation, even from Japanese onlookers. But considering the fact that Nintendo's userbase in Japan consists mostly of younger kids, the choice to go for a younger approach might ultimately pay off in the N64's home turf. However, Nintendo should know by now that Japan's not where the money is for the N64 -- and it remains to be seen how US N64 owners will react to the overly young skew.

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