Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was the first role-playing game in the Mario RPG sub-franchise of the Mario games. Unlike other Mario games, which were developed by the in-house studios at Nintendo, Super Mario RPG was developed by Square (before they became Square Enix) and published by Nintendo. It is also the last Mario game to be released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Plot
After rescuing Princess Peach Toadstool from Bowser (yet again), a giant sword destroys the Star Road, which creates wishing stars from the wishes of people, and crashes into Bowser's castle. With the giant sword comes an evil greater than Bowser ever was, Smithy. Mario must now team up with several character, including Princess Toadstool and a reluctant Bowser, to recover the seven Star Pieces that make up the Star Road and destroy Smithy.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) One of seven games released outside of Japan that used the Nintendo SA-1 chip.
 * 2) Unlike most RPGs, the storyline is more light-hearted and comical than serious.
 * 3) 3D style sprites.
 * 4) Amazing graphics and designs.
 * 5) The optional boss fight of the game, Culex, is a reference to Final Fantasy.
 * 6) Two new characters made just for the game, Geno and Mallow, the former who became extremely popular and the latter being the creator of the epic line "Who you think you are? Bruce Lee?".
 * 7) Started the RPG sub-franchise of the Mario games, with its "sequels" being the Paper Mario series and Mario & Luigi series.
 * 8) Huge world to explore.
 * 9) Link from "The Legend of Zelda" and Samus from Metroid make a cameo in the game.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The manual for the North American version for unknown reasons omits Princess Toadstool's character profile and statistics, despite the fact that she joins the party in the game and is the fourth and last to join the party succeeding Bowser.
 * 2) Luigi doesn't appear in the game as a playable character.
 * 3) It can take quite some time to understand how the controls work.

Reception
Even though it was released the same year as the Nintendo 64 which would have made the Super Nintendo fade out in popularity, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is often considered one of the best games ever made.

Trivia

 * Masahiro Sakurai, the notorious creator of the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series, has demonstrated interest in including Geno in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, stating that he would fit perfectly in.