The People's Choice Thread

[Sarge]

I've... kinda beaten all but Paper Jam. And I'm working on that.

I do feel that they're hit and miss at times, but none of them are bad. In fact, I'd say they bottom out at "good". Heck, I don't care what the Internet says about Sticker Star, I liked it a bunch. More than Dream Team. The humor really fell flat for me in that game.

They've all got a different flavor, but yeah, if you're looking for one to feel like SMRPG, or very nearly like it, none of them are going to scratch that itch. I did love the Paper Mario games, and I think all of those are excellent. The M&L series is up and down, my faves are Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story, and Paper Jam is shaping up to be a nice rebound.

Super Paper Mario has some of the best writing in the series. The problem I think most people had with the game is that the platforming isn't Mario caliber, and the RPG aspects aren't Paper Mario caliber. I thought as an amalgam it was just fine, though.

[darsparx]

So in the world of Mario RPGs...

1996 Super Mario RPG (SNES)
2000 Paper Mario (N64)
2003 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
2004 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
2005 Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (NDS)
2007 Super Paper Mario (Wii)
2009 Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS)
2012 Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)
2013 Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
2015 Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS)
2016 Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U)

That's what's been released, release dates reflect Japanese release year.
I own copies of all of those except the last two.

What's sad is I own a good bit of these yet haven't bothered to beat them. I think the only ones I've managed to beat(and I could be wrong on one of them) is bowser's inside story and superstar saga. Both of which I enjoyed immensely especially Bowser's use of the touch screen even if it was a little tough to get right sometimes. I still need to track down the gc, n64, and snes titles...(and maybe dream team? don't think I've picked that one up yet...)

[alienjesus]

I thought Super Mario RPG was frankly pretty mediocre. I played it first as an adult and I 100% think people's love for that game is based entirely on Nostalgia. It's an overly simple, repetitive game with very little diversity in battle and atrocious isometric platforming.

I like all the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games, but the quality of both of those series seems to be on a downward turn to me - Paper Mario games since the Gamecube version have been decent but not as good as the first 2, and frankly none of the Mario & Luigi games have measured up to Superstar Saga for me.

I like all of the Mario RPGs besides Mario RPG, but I'd consider most of them 'good' rather than 'great'

I've been finding some more time during my breaks at work and also recently found my GBA Micro charger... so with that in mind I'd like some help choosing which GBA RPG to play. I am not a hardcore RPG player by any stretch of the imagination and I'd prefer games that move along, maybe a little more action oriented and don't require crazy amounts of grinding. Here are some of my options.

Golden Sun
Tales of Phantasia
Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga
Lufia
Sword of Mana
Advance Wars 1 and 2

Back to this list - wow, this is a tough one for me. I adore Golden Sun, Superstar Saga and Advance Wars.

If I had to pick one, I'd go for Golden Sun, but considering the way votes so far are leaning, I'd recommend Superstar Saga. It's great stuff.

[Ack]

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone: 3 votes
Unepic: 2 votes
Drakkhen: 1 vote
Super Ninja Boy: 2 votes
Lichdom: Battlemage: 0 votes

It's Demon Stone for me, folks. I've already gotten started.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1996 Super Mario RPG (SNES)
2000 Paper Mario (N64)
2003 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
2004 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
2005 Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (NDS)
2007 Super Paper Mario (Wii)
2009 Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS)
2012 Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)
2013 Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
2015 Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS)
2016 Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U)

I have beaten six of those, and I should probably make a point of beating the rest. It is a really great series.

[Exhuminator]

Out of the six you beat, how would you rank them, from greatest to least?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Out of the six you beat, how would you rank them, from greatest to least?

Paper Mario (N64)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
Super Mario RPG (SNES)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
Super Paper Mario (Wii)

I really like all of them; so, let the fact that I ranked Super Paper Mario last lead you to believe it is anything other than a really fun game. I also would have ranked Paper Mario: TTYD at the top of the list if it didn't include an absolutely infuriating series of late-game fetch quests.

[Sarge]

Man, it's tough to rank 'em, though. They all bring unique things to the table. If I had to take a stab at it (because of course I do!):

Bowser's Inside Story > Paper Mario = SMRPG > Superstar Saga > Super Paper Mario = TTYD = Sticker Star > Dream Team > Partners in Time

Not sure about Paper Jam yet.

[Ack]

I suppose I should admit that I've only beaten Super Mario RPG on the SNES...and it's the only one I've played. I thought it was ok.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I like the series because the battles are never tedious and because victory is more dependent on skill and strategy than statistics. Moreover, the games have truly interesting puzzles and charming, genuinely funny scripts. (It is hard to pull off any sort of humor in a video game, but the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series do it wonderfully.)

Also, Fawful is a great villain, who really knows how to talk smack:

I am here, laughing at you! If you are giving us the chase, just to get your silly princess's voice, then you are idiots of foolishness! Princess Peach's sweet voice will soon be the bread that makes the sandwich of Cackletta's desires! And this battle shall be the delicious mustard on that bread! The mustard of your doom!

Hah! Now taste the finale, when carelessness opens the door to a comeback not expected by you! Your lives that I spit on are now but a caricature of a cartoon drawn by a kid who is stupid!