Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars: Part 4

It’s been a couple of weeks since I made a video game journal. I honestly forgot what I was even doing in Super Mario RPG. The first area I went to was this strange, one section plain. The only thing in this area was a single warp pipe. Upon entering the pipe, I found an area that had lava everywhere. I tried to jump across the area, but it was too far. So, I left the area, and moved on to the next one.

The next place I went to was a town called Moleville (I hope I spelled that right), and the inhabitants were (that’s right, you guessed it) Moles. Not long after I entered the town, I was told that a star had fallen into the mine, trapping a father and his children inside. After talking to everyone I could, I headed to the mine, which was conveniently at the edge of town.

On the way, I heard an extremely strange noise. To be honest, it nearly made me jump out of my seat, I thought it was a monster coming to get me and drag me away to its lair, where it would eat me. But it was just Bowser. He and what few minions he had left were regrouping. As Bowser is trying to reassure his troops, he mentions that if Mario found out he was kicked out of his own castle, his reputation would be shot. Well, it’s a little too late to worry about that, Bowser.

After Bowser and his troops left, I continued on to the mine. Once inside, I found out that the Moles couldn’t dig their way into the mine, and that Mario would have to jump off of their shoulders to reach the other entrance into the mine that was above the rubble (convenient entrance is convenient). After jumping off their shoulders, I was in the mine. And there was moving rocks, and living fireballs, and it. Was. Scary.

After I went through a few areas in the mine (and ran in fear for my life from the living fireballs), I came to a three-way crossroad. One of the ways that could be taken was a spring, and being the type of person I am, I tried it first. Which turned out to be what I was supposed to do. Upon trying the spring, Mario hits his head on the ceiling and passes out, leaving him vulnerable to the thieves that come along and steal all of his coins. But at least, in their haste to escape, they cleared the blocked paths in the mine with the bombs they brought along. That’s good, right? While I was chasing them, Geno leveled up, and I realized that he is two levels lower than Mario and Mallow.

 

Eventually, I caught the thieves and fought them until they gave me back my money. After that, I went deeper into the mine and found the father who had gotten trapped down here. He then tells Mario that his kids are deeper in the mine (of course), and asks if Mario can save them for him. Mario agrees to help (like all heroes do), and deeper into the mines they go. While I was trying to find the kids, everyone leveled up. I also had to cross a bridge with four Bob-ombs marching across it, which I found pretty intimidating.

Next came the boss fight. In my opinion, this was the easiest boss fight so far. I mean, yeah, the HUGE Bob-ombs that he had were definitely startling, but he still wasn’t hard to defeat. In an attempt to keep himself from losing, Punchinello brings out the biggest Bob-omb in history. Which, despite Mario and co’s best efforts, exploded. But, at least, the explosion knocked the Star Piece loose, allowing us to claim our third Star Piece. Four more to go!

After defeating the boss, I went even deeper into the mine and found the kids I was looking for. The next step was getting them out of the mine in one piece, and the only way to do that was to ride a mine cart out of the mine. My game glitched while I was riding it and the camera angle was fixed like it is in Donkey Kong Country. The track went up and down like a wave. But, as I was riding here, the track straightened itself out, but Mario and the cart kept going up and down like they were still on the hills! Anyway, after reaching the end of the track (and crashing through the Mole family I was helping’s roof) I stepped outside to find three Snifits trying to catch a beetle. They said they were catching it for Boomer. I’m pretty sure I’ve run into Boomer before (or at least heard of him), but I don’t remember for sure. That’s what happens when I stop playing a game for a while.

Well, that’s all I played today. Hopefully, I’ll have a new chapter of Trainer Strawberry up this week. Then I should stay on track for a while.

Later.

A New Game! Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars: Part 1

This post is one day early, but I don’t think anyone will mind. Anyway, I asked if anyone had any requests for games they wanted me to play, and Stina of JaNanamation requested that I play either The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker or Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars. I decided to play Super Mario RPG, so here is the first installment of my video game journal of Super Mario RPG.

So, this game starts off like any other Mario game, everything is peaceful and happy. Suddenly, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach (or Toadstool, as she’s called in this game)! My, what a big surprise! Never would’ve seen that coming.

Anyway, Mario chases after Bowser, and ends up right outside his castle. When Mario arrives the doors are closed, but as he gets closer, they open automatically for him. Wait, what? Okay, I’m going to call it. It’s a trap!

For the entire first three rooms (and a while after that) the battle system in this game was totally confusing to me. I’m not sure why, I mean it’s almost exactly like the one in Paper Mario. But during these first three rooms, I was constantly thinking “Okay, what am I supposed to do?”. I think I have it figured out know, so hopefully my confusion won’t be repeated.

Once you get to the third room, you will find Peach hanging from the ceiling. The camera will slide upwards, and you will see Bowser hanging out on one of the chandeliers. Mario will then do an impossible feat, and jump right onto the other chandelier. Once he’s up there, the fight against Bowser begins! I honestly thought that this battle would go exactly like it did in Paper Mario, with Bowser showing that he’s way too tough for you right now. But that wasn’t the case. After hitting Bowser a few times, Peach will tell you to attack the chain. After hitting the chain, it will let go of the chandelier Bowser is on. But before he falls, he attacks the chain holding the chandelier Mario is standing on. This was kinda weird, though, because from how fast the chandeliers were falling, and how much of a drop it appeared to be, you would think Mario and Bowser were fighting at the same height as a skyscraper.

Mario manages to jump back up to where Peach is, and I thought I was done. I was wrong. I don’t remember what it was that knocked Mario out of the castle, but something did. And seven stars started shooting all across the sky before a giant sword stabbed the castle. After being sent flying out of the castle, Mario conveniently lands in his house by falling through his chimney (which looks like a warp pipe by the way). A Toad happens to be waiting for Mario when he crashes into his house. When the Toad walks in to see what is happening, he gives one of the best witty remarks I’ve ever read, “Hey, Mario. Lots of people use something called a ‘door’ to go in and out of their houses…”. I’ve heard/read that remark before, but somehow, when the Toad used it, it seemed ten times funnier.

Once you walk outside, you are able to go back to Bowser’s castle. At this point I’m thinking “There’s no way it’s this easy”, and I was right. When you go to Bowser’s castle this time the doors do not open, and instead the giant sword that stabbed the castle earlier starts…talking to you? Yep. A talking sword. I bet he’s the bad guy. The sword informs you that the Smithy Gang (I think that’s their name, I knew I should’ve wrote this down as I went) would already be ruling the world if it wasn’t for nosy people like Mario. After that, he destroys the bridge, making the castle completely inaccessible.

This is what Mario’s house looks like.

Since you can’t get to Bowser’s castle, the only thing you can do is go back to Mario’s house. Mario then tells the Toad that he can’t access Bowser’s castle anymore. The Toad immediately panics and tells Mario that they need to inform the Mushroom Kingdom Chancellor ASAP. You then have the option of viewing a tutorial of how to use items from the start menu, and how to perform timed attacks. Unfortunately, my game kept freezing every time I tried to view the menu tutorial, and I didn’t even try to view the timed attacks one. I’m not sure if it was the tutorial itself, or if it was the menu screen, but something was causing my game to freeze, and I’m assuming it was the tutorial. Needless to say, I’ve skipped every tutorial since then, but I get this feeling that it’s going to cause me trouble later. Anyway, the Toad then takes off to go to Toad Town. Unfortunately, the path is overrun with Goombas, and it doesn’t take long for the Toad to get captured. I should probably mention that I actually died to a Sky Troopa here. Yeah. Not one of my best moments. Anyway, after you save the Toad, he gives you some Honey Syrup, an item that restores ten HP.

 

In the next area, the Toad is once again captured, but this time by a Sky Troopa. Upon saving him, he will reward you with a Flower Tab, and I have no idea what that does. I probably should’ve checked. It might have come in handy. You know, I think this Toad needs a name, don’t you? How’s about…Bob. Yeah, I think that’s a good name. After Bob gives you the Flower Tab, he rushes onward…

 

…Only to get captured once again. This time by a Hammer Bro. After the Hammer Bro tells you not to come any closer because “My hammer and I don’t like you” Bob warns you that this is one tough cookie. And he was right! Or at least, I thought he was tough. I actually died from this guy-twice! I leveled up on my way back to him, though, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

I think I’ve found Bob’s problem.

After finally defeating the Hammer Bro, you get his hammer. Finally! A weapon! Now Mario doesn’t have to punch the enemies! Speaking of which, does anyone know if Mario takes damage from jumping on spiked enemies? I know he does in other games, but from what I’ve seen so far, spikes don’t seem to have too much bearing in a battle in this game.

After you get the hammer, you finally reach Toad Town. Now, I don’t know if any of you awesome readers do this, but when I get to a new town (and sometimes when I revisit a town), I talk to everyone I can. While doing so, I entered the Toad Town Inn, and in the back corner was the gem of a Toad that I put a screenshot of above. All I could see was Mario walking up to the Toad and saying “Hi’a, Buddy! How’s it’a going?”, and the Toad giving his response. I’m not sure what he’s doing, but he definitely isn’t happy about it. I personally think he’s either washing or drying dishes. What do you think he’s doing?

After talking to everyone in Toad Town, I entered the castle. Once I explored all around it, I walked straight back to where the Chancellor is. I’d just like to mention that, ever since Star Wars, I do not trust Chancellors. So, I’m going to be watching my back whenever this guys around. Upon arriving, Bob joins the line of castle guards, which I guess means Bob himself is a castle guard. I believe I have found the root of the Mushroom Kingdoms problem, and the reason Bowser is able to kidnap Peach so often. It is also during this section that I found out that Mario is the best storyteller. Ever. He would also be great at charades. Anyway, after asking where the Princess is, and finding out that she has been kidnapped once again, the Chancellor gives you a map. I’m not sure if this is the overworld map, or if it’s some sort of town map. Do any of you awesome readers know which it is?

Upon leaving the castle, a creature that appears to be a cloud calls for help. He has just been robbed by some sort of Reptile (one of the Toads in town says it’s a Crocodile, but I think it looks like a Raptor). When the cloud is unable to catch the thief, he begins to cry, causing it to begin raining cats and dogs. After Mario agrees to help him, the cloud reveals that he is actually a…frog? I’m not sure what to say to this. Anyway, the frog, whose name is Mallow, then joins your team in order to catch the thief. As you near the edge of the town, you will see a Toad bouncing up and down. He tells you that he just saw the thief run out of town, and points you in the direction that he went. When Mallow asks the Toad why he didn’t stop the thief, the Toad gives the best answer I’ve ever read a Toad give, “Because I left my bazooka at home! Sheesh… Give me a break, here.”

When you find the thief, he will run to the next area, but not before teasing you and saying that there’s no way you’ll ever catch him. And as of right now, I still haven’t caught him. Although both Mario and Mallow have leveled up during the chase, and Mario learned Fire Orb, which is something that I have no idea how to use. Seriously, how do you use it? Anyway, hopefully I’ll catch that thief in the next part of Super Mario RPG.

Later.