Super Mario RPG was released for the Super Famicom in Japan on 9 March 1996 and in North America on 13 May 1996. Square developed it and Nintendo published it, with Shigeru Miyamoto as producer. Chihiro Fujioka and Yoshihiko Maekawa directed, and Yoko Shimomura composed the music.
It is the first RPG in the Mario franchise and the last Mario game on the SNES. Instead of random encounters it uses isometric 3D environments with visible enemies, and Flower Points are shared by the whole party rather than tracked per character. New characters include Geno, a doll brought to life by a star spirit, and Mallow, a cloud boy who believes he is a tadpole.
The SNES cartridge never came out in PAL regions. The game later returned on the Virtual Console for Wii and Wii U, as one of 21 built-in games on the Super NES Classic Edition, and in 2023 as a full remake for Switch.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven StarsNot released in PAL regions on SNES | SNES | May 13, 1996 | Nintendo | 1 |
| NA | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven StarsVirtual Console | Wii | Sep 1, 2008 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スーパーマリオRPGSūpā Mario Āru Pī JīSuper Famicom; date also in Japanese Wikipedia | SNES | Mar 9, 1996 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スーパーマリオRPGVirtual Console | Wii | Jun 24, 2008 | Nintendo | 1 |
| EU | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven StarsVirtual Console; first release in Europe and Australia | Wii | Aug 22, 2008 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | スーパーマリオRPGVirtual Console; EU/AU 24 Dec 2015, NA 30 Jun 2016 | Wii U | Aug 5, 2015 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Super NES Classic EditionOne of 21 built-in games | SNES | September 2017 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | Super Mario RPGFull remake by ArtePiazza, not the original game | Switch | Nov 17, 2023 | Nintendo | 1 |
Also known as: Super Mario RPG WW1Sūpā Mario Āru Pī Jī JP2
Box art by region
NA Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 
JP スーパーマリオRPG
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
-
CensorshipSNES (NA)
Bowser's arms-crossed victory pose was thought to resemble an obscene gesture, so outside Japan he clenches his fists at his sides instead.2
-
GameplaySwitch remake (2023)
The 2023 remake adds auto-save, a choice of difficulty, boss rematches and special attacks that use all three characters.2
-
TextSwitch remake (2023)
The remake tones down some lines; in Japanese, for example, Bowser now addresses Mario with a milder pronoun.2
Translations
-
English Official
Nintendo1996SNES · Japanese versionReleased · complete
The English version came out in North America in May 1996; PAL players first got it on the Wii Virtual Console in 2008.1
Reception
About 1.47 million copies were sold in Japan, the third best-selling game there in 1996, and it was the sixth best-selling game of 1996 in the US. The 2023 remake sold 3.31 million by March 2024.1
In lists
Sources
- 1en.wikipedia.org
- 2ja.wikipedia.org
- 3ja.wikipedia.org
- 4ja.wikipedia.org
- 5ja.wikipedia.org
- 6ja.wikipedia.org
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.