Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)

Super Mario RPG
	; For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developers	ArtePiazza; Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Nintendo Switch
Engine	Unity
Release dates	November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023; November 17, 2023;
Languages	English; Japanese; Chinese (Simplified); Chinese (Traditional); Dutch; French (Canada); French (Europe); German; Italian; Korean; Spanish (Latin America); Spanish (Europe);
Genres	Platformer, RPG
ESRB:	- Everyone
CERO:	- All ages[?]
PEGI:	- Seven years and older[?]
USK:	- Six years and older[?]
ClassInd:	- General audience[?]
SMECCV:	- All ages[?]
Gmedia:	- Seven years and older[?]
GRAC:	- All ages[?]
GSRR:	- Six years and older[?]
UAEMC:	- Seven years and older[?]
ACB:	- Parental guidance[?]
FPB:	- Thirteen years and older[?]
Mode	Single player
Format	Nintendo Switch: Game Card Digital download
Input	Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Serial code	TRA-HAC-A8LUA-JPN;

Super Mario RPG is a Nintendo Switch remake of the 1996 Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars released worldwide on November 17, 2023. First announced during the June 2023 Nintendo Direct, this remake reimagines the original game in full 3D graphics, mostly maintaining the original characters' designs and proportions.^[4] The game's soundtrack has also been rearranged with new orchestration by the original game's composer, Yoko Shimomura.^[13] It was developed by ArtePiazza, a studio associated with Square Enix and known for its work on remaking entries in the Dragon Quest series.

List of changes

Gameplay changes

Many of the cutscenes are now pre-rendered videos instead of in-game scenes and have been given increasingly more dynamic camera angles. Additionally, bosses have short scenes before battles begin.
The game features post-game content, including the ability to rematch bosses.
Save files display the player's current level for the party characters, amount of regular coins and Frog Coins in their possession, Flower Points, play time, the date, and time of the file saved. In the original game, the save files simply show the player's chosen name, location, and amount of Star Pieces collected.
There are only three save slots instead of four in the original game. This is mainly due to the introduction of autosaves.
Save files can be deleted by pressing .
The game no longer pauses when picking up items on the field, or slows down when beginning a special attack in battle. This also applies for spells executed by enemies.
The game autosaves in addition to the existence of Save Blocks.
By default, moving the left Control Stick makes Mario run on the field without the need to hold a button to do so. This can be changed in the System sub-menu.
By default, the player presses to confirm selections within the battle sub-menus rather than pressing the same buttons again after opening them. For this reason, special moves are interacted with instead of . This can changed to the battle controls from the original game in the System sub-menu.
An Easy Mode, called "Breezy Mode", has been added. In this mode, the player can hold more items; enemies are weaker, having 10% less HP; the player's party is rewarded 20% more experience points, and Attack Action Commands are more lenient. The player can switch between Breezy and Normal modes at any time from the menu.
The player can fast-travel to places they've visited at least once, from the Map sub-menu.
The player can move sideways when climbing the vines in Bean Valley.
The map to select where to go is one big map, whereas in the original, it was a map for each region.
The player can give up on any of the Six Door trials in Bowser's Keep at any time with .
Grate Guy's Casino games are free and no longer casino games.
- Slot Machine was changed to Item Match.
- Blackjack was changed to a memory game.

Battles

A Help selection has been added to the Other sub-menu.
Specials and enemy attacks play out much faster.
Enemy attacks indicate if they cannot be blocked.
Some enemy magic attacks can be blocked, particularly those that target one character.
A "!" graphic indicates when to press the button to perform an Action Command, disappearing after enough well-timed presses. It returns if they miss enough perfect Action Commands, however.
Perfectly pulling off an action command results in all enemies in battle being hit.
In battles, a percentage and chain number have been added. The percentage increases by successfully performing consecutive action commands and guards. When the Action Gauge is filled up all the way to 100%, the player can use a special ability called a Gauge Move. For three party members, Mario and his partners can unleash a combination attack based on who is in the party, called a Triple Move, in a similar vein to the Triple Techs from Chrono Trigger. One such attack, the Clown Car Barrage, involves Mario, Mallow and Bowser riding in the Koopa Clown Car to bombard foes from above with balls of fire, electricity, and ice. Another, Star Riders, involves Mario, Mallow and Geno riding rainbow pathways and creating a starry explosion that hits a single enemy.
- When activated during battle, Gauge Moves and Triple Moves can be used by pressing .
  - The Bowyer fight has been reworked to accommodate an introduction to Triple Moves, given it is the first time three party members will be available; once his health is nearly depleted, he will shut off access to all three buttons. Geno then proposes using a Triple Move to get around this.
- A Gauge Move called Toad Assist, in which Toad summons a treasure box that produces a random item for the player. Its description reads, "Toad comes running to support you. Who knows what you might get?"
It is now possible to swap party members mid-battle. Any party members that are downed or turned into Mushrooms can be swapped out, or skipped when their turn comes up.
- If all three current party members are downed, any other active members automatically switch in.
When executing Thought Peek, the enemy's elemental and status weaknesses are displayed in addition to their current HP and thought.
The party's remaining experience points for a level up for each character are now shown after winning a battle.
There is an option in the settings menu to skip targeting for attacking and recovering when there is only one possible target.
Support enemies for some bosses are automatically defeated if the player defeats the boss itself first, rather than requiring the player to defeat them for the battle to finish in the original game.

Items

A new counterpart to the Shiny Stone, the Extra-Shiny Stone, has been added. It is obtained after beating Duel-Ready Johnny and is required to fight Culex 3D.
The Signal Ring displays a text notification on the top-right corner of the screen to indicate the presence of Hidden Treasures. It is also obtained by the NPC in the Mushroom Kingdom shop basement; in its place in Nimbus Land is a new upgraded version called the Echo Signal Ring that makes a noise the closer the player is to a Hidden Treasure.
Inventory items are now stackable, however there is a maximum quantity for items for which the player is allowed to carry, and the quantity amounts differ with certain items (i.e. the player can carry a maximum of 6 Pick Me Ups, and 3 Croaka Colas). If the player goes over the limit for a certain item, any more that are collected are sent to a storage box in Mario's Pad. In the original game, the player can carry up to 29 items, regardless of item type and quantity, and the player must discard at least one item in the Waste Basket if this limit is exceeded.
A Hidden Treasure containing a Red Essence in the Forest Maze has been relocated to an expanded version of the room where the party fights Bowyer, with a bush placed where it once existed in the original game.
The coin limit has increased from 999 coins to 9,999 coins.
The player can no longer sell rare items, weapons, or accessories.
- The Fireworks, Shiny Stone, Carbo Cookie, Bright Card, Seed, and Fertilizer are now treated as key items instead of normal items and cannot be sold. The Wallet is also treated as a key item, although it can still be sold.
The elapsed times for obtaining prizes from Sergeant Flutter at the Tall Cliff have been reduced by one second, making collecting them more difficult.
The Drill Claw and Star Gun weapons in the Trial Course have switched places.
The Booster's Charm item is no longer gone forever if the player loses the curtain minigame, as it now becomes a guaranteed drop after winning the Engine 023 Booster post-game rematch battle.

Text changes and localization

The localization of the remake is not handled by Square Enix like that of the original, but rather by Nintendo's international divisions. Many text changes are made as a result of this.

The original game's subtitle of Legend of the Seven Stars, exclusive to its English localization, is removed.
The game has been localized in more languages than the original, adding full translations for French (Canada and France), German, Spanish (Latin America and Spain), Italian, Dutch, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean. The original game was never released in PAL regions, and would only have been localized in European French and German in addition to English.
The North American box art now resembles the Japanese box art of the original game, aside from positioning changes and the lack of Yoshi.
Areas that were not named in the original game outside of supplementary material are given names, most of which are found in the Map screen.
Some text has been reformatted due to the greater screen resolution allowing for more text per line. In the Japanese text, furigana has been added to kanji terms.
Dialogue boxes have separate name tags to indicate who is speaking.
The English script has been retranslated in various areas, either for consistency with later titles or to be more faithful to the Japanese script. However, these changes are relatively minor.
- Several lines of dialogue no longer have as many words in all caps.
- Instances of excessive punctuation marks have been reduced.
- Several instances of commas and ellipses in dialogue have been replaced with em dashes (—).
- Many characters and enemies have been renamed:
  - Princess Peach is referred to as such in English rather than as "Princess Toadstool", matching her Japanese name as has been standard for the franchise since Super Mario 64, the following Super Mario franchise game released in 1996. This change also affects Toadstool's ???, which becomes "Peach's ???", as well as Belome's clone "Toadstool 2", renamed the "Peach Clone".
  - Unlike the original, the intro cutscene does not refer to Mario as "Super Mario", Bowser as "King Bowser", or Peach as "Princess Peach".
  - A number of enemies that are standard to the Super Mario franchise have been renamed to keep consistent with names established prior, and in two cases, since:
    - Bloober has been renamed to Blooper, its standard name since Paper Mario. Unlike the other cases, its original name was its standard name at the time.
    - Chomp has been renamed to Chain Chomp.
    - Goby has been renamed to Cheep Cheep.
    - The Big Boo has now been correctly localized to simply Boo.
    - Goombette has been renamed to Mini Goomba.
    - Shy Away has been renamed to Beezo, making it consistent with the name used in Super Mario Bros. 2.
    - Sky Troopa has been renamed to Paratroopa.
    - Sparky has been renamed to Lava Bubble, making it consistent with the name used since Super Mario Galaxy 2.
    - Spookum has been renamed to Snifit.
  - Remo Con has been renamed to Dollox, making it consistent with Puppox.
  - Mukumuku has been renamed to Thropher, a portmanteau of "throw" and "gopher".
  - Yaridovich has been renamed to Speardovich, as the "Yari" part of his name is derived from the Japanese word for spear. This change also applies to his Machine Made copy.
  - Mack has been renamed to Claymorton, a pun on "claymore" (a type of sword), which is also a portmanteau of the names "Clayton" and "Morton". This change also applies to his Machine Made copy.
  - Frogfucius has been renamed to the Frog Sage, which is closer to his Japanese name.
  - Shyster has been renamed to Shymore, a portmanteau of "Shy Guy" and "claymore", likely due to the original name being identical to a real-world slang term with alleged antisemitic origins.
  - The character Goomba has been renamed to Goomhilde, which matches her having a unique name in the Japanese script.
  - Magikoopa has been renamed to Wizakoopa, which matches him having a unique name in the Japanese script.
  - Peach now addresses her grandmother as Granny instead of Grandma.
  - Hinopio has been renamed to Cinder Toad, as the original name was a derivative of the Japanese name for Toads, Kinopio.
  - Pandorite has been renamed to Huhwhat, which is closer to its Japanese name.
  - Hidon has been renamed to Whuhoh.
  - Box Boy has been renamed to Pleaseno.
  - Chester has been renamed to Comeon.
  - Kinklink has been renamed to Chaindelier, a portmanteau of "Chain Chomp" and "chandelier".
  - As a consequence for Spookums regaining their "Snifit" names, the original Snifit enemy has been renamed to Snifster, a portmanteau of "Snifit" and "Booster."
  - Fireball has been renamed to Lava Blubble, a combination of "Lava Bubble" and "blue".
  - Pyrosphere has been renamed to Lava Babble.
  - Heavy Troopa has been renamed to Big Troopa.
  - Gorgon has been renamed to Enigmax, making it consistent with Enigma.
  - Fautso has been renamed to Jinnie.
  - Mokura has been renamed to Gassox.
  - Oerlikon has been renamed to Urspike, a combination of "urchin" and "spike", which is closer to its Japanese name.
  - Corkpedite has been renamed to Stompillar.
  - Gu Goomba has been renamed to Pro Goomba.
  - Tub-O-Troopa has been renamed to Grand Troopa.
  - Li'l Boo has been renamed to High Boo; the same as its Japanese name.
  - Earth Link has been renamed to Bad Adder, making it consistent with Mad Adder.
  - Exor's mouth, erroneously named Neosquid in the original game, has been renamed to Mouth, the same as its Japanese name.
  - Big Bertha has been renamed to Big Blaster, making it consistent with Blaster and potentially to avoid confusion with a former localized name for Big Cheep Cheep.
  - Forkies has been singularized to Forkie.
  - The Machine Made copy of Shymore (Shyster in the original game) is now referred to as a Bodyguard instead.
  - The Machine Made copy of the previously unused Drill Bit enemy now instead uses the name of Jabit.
  - The Koopa Troop has been renamed to Bowser's Minions.
- Some moves have also been renamed:
  - Fire Orb has been renamed to Fireball.
  - Super Flame has been renamed to Super Fireball.
  - Ultra Flame has been renamed to Ultra Fireball.
  - Psychopath has been renamed to Thought Peek, which is closer to its Japanese name, なにかんがえてるの (Whatcha Thinking?).
  - Bowser Crush has been renamed to Mechakoopa Stomp.
  - Drain has been renamed to Hot Shot, more overtly reflecting its nature as a fire attack.
  - Mega Drain has been renamed to Fire Saber, more overtly reflecting its intended Japanese name and visuals.
  - Drain Beam has been renamed to Painspout.
  - Chomp has been renamed to Monster Toss, better describing what it does and being more similar to its Japanese name.
  - Light Beam has been renamed to Light Bubble.
  - Corona has been renamed to Flare. This rename also extends to the Japanese version.
  - Full House has been renamed to Card Toss. This rename also extends to the Japanese version.
  - Wild Card has been renamed to Card Rain. This rename also extends to the Japanese version.
- Some items have also been renamed:
  - Able Juice has been renamed to Cleansing Juice.
  - The NokNok Shell has been renamed to Koopa Shell; "NokNok" was a corrupted translation of Nokonoko, the Japanese name for Koopa Troopas.
  - The Troopa Shell has been renamed to Paratroopa Shell.
  - The Chomp Shell has been renamed to Fake Chomp.
  - Spiked Link has been renamed to Spiked Chomp.
  - Kerokero Cola has been renamed to Croaka Cola, a play on Coca-Cola.
  - Elixir has been renamed to Frogleg Cola.
  - Megalixir has been renamed to Finless Cola.
  - Crystalline has been renamed to Party Bracer.
  - Freshen Up has been renamed to Party Cleanse.
  - Power Blast has been renamed to Party Energizer.
  - Amulet has been renamed to Booster's Charm.
  - B'tub Ring has been renamed to Nurture Ring.
  - Polka Dress has been renamed to Lovely Dress.
  - Nautica Dress has been renamed to Sailor Dress.
  - Muku Cookie has been renamed to Thropher Cookie.
  - The hammer sold at Seaside Town has been renamed to Lucky Hammer. This rename also extends to the Japanese version.
  - Troopa Pin has been renamed to Troopa Medal.
  - Rare Scarf has been renamed to Defense Scarf.
  - Scrooge Ring has been renamed to Flower Ring.
  - Sonic Cymbal has been pluralized to Sonic Cymbals.
- Several thought quotes have been retranslated to be more accurate to the Japanese version, and some of them take advantage of the increased text capacity. For example, Wiggler's thought quote has been retranslated from "I'm just a helpless wiggler..." to "I'm just a friendly, harmless caterpillar", while Guerrilla's has been retranslated from "Don't confuse me with someone else!" to "I am a work of fiction. Any resemblance to preexisting apes is purely coincidental."
- A Plumber's Lament has been renamed to In Search of Lost Brother, which is closer to its original Japanese name. The description that Garro gives to the disguise has also been retranslated to better match the new name as a result.
- Some locations have also been renamed:
  - The worlds are now referred to as regions on the Map sub-menu.
  - Pond to Pipes has been renamed to Tadpole Pond Region.
  - Moleville Mountains has been renamed to Moleville Region.
  - Seaside has been renamed to Star Hill Region.
  - Smithy Factory has been renamed to Bowser's Keep Region.
  - The Coal Mines have been renamed to the Mole Mines. This name also extends to the Japanese version, although the equivalent first appeared in the Shogakukan guide.
Enemies hit with elemental attacks they are weak or resistant to now have the words "Weakness" and "Resistance" next to the damage amount shown.
Areas now have their names shown on the screen.
In the English localization, when using a healing item on another character, their line "THANK YOU!" has been shortened to "Thanks!".
When a targeted enemy has low HP, the words "Almost Down" are displayed beneath its name.
Pop culture references that were introduced in the English release of the original game are omitted.
- Mallow no longer mentions Bruce Lee before he and Mario go to fight Bowyer.
- Punchinello and Domino no longer reference the Thing, and the former also no longer references James Bond.
- Mini Goomba's Thought Peek quote no longer references Theodore Roosevelt's aphorism "Speak softly and carry a big stick. You will go far." Its Japanese Thought Peek quote is also different: in the original, it reads 「おマメ　クリクリ…　クリッ！じょわ〜。」, and in the remake, it reads 「おマメ　クリクリ…　クリッ！」 (omitting the final 「じょわ〜。」). The original quote was speculated by Japanese players to be a masturbation joke, and the removal of the offending section—which can be interpreted as a "gushing" sound effect—makes the quote a more innocuous pun.^[14]
- Stinger's Thought Peek quote no longer references the 1990 Madonna song "Vogue".
- The password clues onboard the Sunken Ship are no longer written by famous explorers.
In the English localization, several lines of dialogue that could be perceived as offensive or otherwise inappropriate were rewritten:
- Instances of terms referring to mental state like "crazy" and "nuts" are replaced with non-mental alternatives.
- A young female mushroom person in Mushroom Kingdom expresses her desire to become Mario's sidekick in a few years rather than marry him.
- Croco's use of the word "bugger" was changed to "pest", like the PAL Virtual Console release of the original game.
- One line of dialogue from Pa Mole to Ma Mole is changed from "Settle down, woman!" to "Hold your horses, Ma."
- Booster is referred to as "a man with a scraggly beard and weird helmet" and a "kook" by Marrymore NPCs instead of "a man with the face of a totem pole" and a "nut case". This also reflects the descriptors used for him in the Japanese script more closely.
- Valentina and several Nimbus' comments on Dodo's body weight have been removed or rewritten to more general remarks regarding his size.
- Wizakoopa's incantation has changed from "Ho'okalakupua" (Hawaiian for "magic") in the original game to "Uget watchoo peifore" (a phonetic variation on the phrase, you get what you pay for). The latter is also closer in meaning to the incantation he uses in the Japanese script.
- In the Weapon World, Bowser refers to Mario's party under his breath as "nincompoops" instead of "cretins" as he does in the original game. This is likely due to "cretin" being used to describe those with congenital iodine deficiency syndrome.
During the battle against Bowyer, Geno is labeled as "???" instead of his name, due to the battle taking place before the star uses the name Geno.
If the player is prompted to give up the 3D Maze, the text now first states: "You're on level x." ("x" represents how many boxes Mario is standing on to give an idea of current progress, from 0 at the lowest to 7 at the highest.) This line is in the Japanese version, and is mistakenly cut out of the original English version, despite the number still being recalled in memory.
Culex's introduction was largely rewritten to better reflect his Japanese characterization in Western languages, in particular making it more overt that he is a 2D character in a 3D world, although some parts introduced in the original English localization (such as his ties to the Dark Mage) were still retained.
Due to the introduction of the Sound Player, every song in the game now has an officially localized title in every available language, whereas they were previously only available on the Japanese album Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version.

Graphical changes

Due to the increased graphical capacity of Nintendo Switch compared to Super Nintendo Entertainment System, this game is rendered in high definition, rather than the original version's low definition.

Scenes and environments

In the opening cutscene, Peach does not exclaim "HELP!". The final part of the music in the cutscene is also extended slightly. It is also still stormy outside when Mario discovers Peach's abduction, when originally it was changed to clear skies like before.
The sign for Mario's Pad has "Mario House" written on it instead of "Pipe House". The music that plays inside the house is still called "Super Pipe House" in Japanese, but its English name was altered to "Super Mario House" to reflect this change.
The Mushroom Kingdom is surrounded by castle walls, reflecting its Japanese name キノコ城 (Mushroom Castle).
Mushroom Castle in-game has a blue roof and white walls to match its appearance in the original game's world map.
Bowser's Keep takes design elements from the incarnation of Bowser's Castle in Mario Kart 8, namely the banners and the Bowser emblem having a shield shape.
- Upon the player's first visit, the passageways of Bowser's Keep have blue lighting while they have red on the second visit.
Environments now extend outward past the map edges instead of ending in a void, with the exception of interiors.
The Star Road has been redesigned from a simple yellow star to a crystal-like rainbow star. It also animates, unlike the original game.
The color of the Star Piece from the sea has changed from blue to pink.
The Geno doll fires toy star projectiles instead of a small rocket like in the original game.
In the cutscene in which Geno awakens in the Rose Town inn, Geno hits his head on the edge of the table instead of the side of the staircase in the original game.
The Sunken Ship is largely unburied instead of only having one mast stick out above the seafloor.
The sealed door in Monstro Town that leads to Culex's room has been colored black.
Culex (and by extension, his 3D rematch) has a unique defeat animation, where he disintegrates, instead of exploding like a normal enemy.
When getting a Game Over, the screen now fades to black, with the exception of the player.
There is now a clearing in a passageway in Nimbus Castle indicating the presence of the invisible passageway to the Hidden Treasure.
The standard "Mario acquires the Star Piece" cutscene plays after the Axem Rangers were defeated and the Blade crashes. In the original game, because of how the scene played out in a distance, it simply showed the Star Piece descending to Mario before heading straight back up.
The floor in Smithy's room when fought in his second form is no longer comprised solely of other Smithy heads. There are also parts of Claymorton, Bowyer, and Speardovich scattered in the room.
After Smithy is firmly defeated in his second form, the room they were in is completely barren with all the Smithy Heads having vanished (presumably being destroyed in Smithy's explosion). In the original game, the Smithy heads were still present, albeit grayed out even after Smithy blew up.
Before Exor disappears in the ending scene, his expression is different to reflect the Smithy Gang's defeat. He also turns gray before disappearing entirely. The sky afterwards is now set during nighttime instead of daytime.
The ending montage is structured differently:
- The Star Road only appears once in the beginning, where it flashes all seven Star Piece colors at once rather than appearing seven times where it flashes each respective color of the Star Piece. Curiously, the pink star wave pulses before the purple one.
- The order of the scenes in the montage has been rearranged.
- Two scenes have been added, taking place in the Rose Town inn and Monstro Town respectively.
- The final scene of the montage has been changed to an extended group shot of many of the game's characters in the theater stage where leveling up takes place.
The credits scene now starts off with the original 16-bit graphics before shifting to the 3D models when night falls.
The color palettes for the credits' background change for the final part of the daytime portion, to show that the sun is setting.
The scene after the credits now features Mallow, Bowser, and the Geno doll watching the fireworks with Mario and Peach. The star-shaped float now remains still during this scene.

Characters and objects

Some in-game models and 3D renders of characters in this game, such as Speardovich and Bowyer, more closely resemble their sprite appearances rather than their designs from the official artwork of the original game. Some character models, such as Geno or Valentina's, also use colors based on their sprites in that game.
Mario has visible animations while swimming over the water surface.
Toad is the only one of the Mushroom People that wore a blue vest in the original game to still wear one; the others now wear red.
Wizakoopa appears normal sized in battle, rather than being larger than Bowser.
Characters not unique to the game, such as Princess Peach, Cheep Cheeps, and Paratroopas, inherit characteristics from their modern designs.
- Yoshis are more closely designed to their modern proportions and color schemes: Yoshi wears orange shoes, Yellow Yoshis wear green shoes, and Red Yoshis have a redder hue, with spikes and shells colored red instead of blue. Boshi, on the other hand, retains his distinct attire and classic shell design but now lacks fangs. He also no longer wears half shoes.
- While enemy Chain Chomps are more closely designed to resemble their modern design, the weapon Chain Chomp retains her classic design, with more gray look, the eyes proportion, and amount of her teeth, and a black chain.
Valentina's hit animations are changed to have less exaggerated movement on her breasts. The parrot on her head also no longer has a shocked expression when Valentina is hit.
Valentina's drink now has a slice of lime in it instead of a cherry, making it resemble an actual margarita drink and better reflecting her Japanese name.
Card suit symbols are no longer superimposed over the characters when using special moves.
A barrier now appears when perfectly guarding against an attack.
When characters level up, they are seen dancing on a theater stage, while in the original game, the character who leveled up appears in a Warp Pipe.
Party characters now aim at their targets when attacking, especially for airborne enemies like Carroboscis. Enemies likewise also turn to face their targets when attacking.
Some bosses now have special animations when hit with certain special moves in addition to the original text callouts, like Croco spinning around while his tail is on fire, or Claymorton being stunned with electricity.
Enemies now show when they are afflicted with a negative status effect.
Enemies now have defeat animations before disappearing.
The disc of light from Geno Whirl is now shaped like a buzzsaw, fitting in line with its Japanese name ジーノカッター (Geno Cutter).
Johnny's field size now matches his battle size.
All party members receive new victory poses, except Geno.
- Mario takes off then puts on his hat, Mallow jumps then raises his hands, and Peach spins then raises her right arm when they perform their victory poses.
- Bowser poses similar to his artwork from Super Mario Galaxy instead of doing a fist pump when he performs his victory pose.
Several consumable items either resemble how they appeared from their official designs from the original game or have changed colors from their original sprites. Items that target the entire party are depicted having three straws.
- Tadpola Colas have changed from yellow to pink.
- Frogleg Colas have changed from blue to purple.
- Finless Colas have changed from red to deep purple.
- Croaka Colas have changed from green to dark purple.
- Pick Me Ups have changed from red to deep orange.
- Party Bracers have changed from yellow to orange.
- Party Energizers are a darker green.
- The four bomb items resemble their original renders from the original game, rather than being in solid colors with the letter B on them.
  - Ice Bombs have a snowman image rather than a Freezie-like creature in the original render.
- Yoshi Cookies appear in the checker type than the flower type in the original game to differentiate them from Thropher Cookies.
The plasma projectile from Viro Plasm is purple to differentiate it from Psycho Plasm, which remains blue.
The skull patterns on King Calamari's pot have been replaced with gems.
Culex's sprite now flashes when he performs his physical attack, making it easier for the player to guard against it. It is also an indicator of an enemy attacking in 2D Final Fantasy games.
The five Chewies on the Warp Pipes in Bean Valley correctly appear as green.
Mr. Kippers and Crusties now have their correct colors when underwater, instead of appearing identical to Cheep Cheeps and Star Crusters respectively.
The color and shape of Shelly's spots now match with its field appearance.
Birdo wears her diamond ring and makeup as depicted from her modern design, however her torso has been elongated. She also hides back inside Shelly upon defeat rather than disappearing like in the original game.
In the battle with Valentina, Dodo falls to the ground when his HP is depleted instead of panting in the original game, to better indicate his defeat.
The Czar Dragon has actual legs, revealing them when casting spells, as well as a neck, albeit surrounded by Lava Babbles. Before, his original game sprites depicted his neck and legs composed only of Lava Babbles.
Hammers thrown by Poundettes for their "Fear Hammer" attack are enveloped in purple smoke.
The Gunyolk's physical attack show cannonballs fired from its dual cannons when they didn't exist before in the original game. Its internal lights now blink, and its wheels now move only when using its physical attack.
Smithy wears the yellow Star Piece around his neck on a chain necklace, instead of it being attached to his body in the original game.
Toad now leads the group of Mushroom People for the nighttime credits parade. The Mushroom People now have caps and vests of various types and now carry poles with stars on top, some of which are colored after the Star Pieces. The Game Boy Toad now participates, in the second group of Mushroom People.

Statistical changes

The Terrapins at the start of the game now give coins and experience points, albeit 1 each.
Mallow knows Thought Peek by default when he joins the party, instead of having to level up to level 6 to learn it.
Item morph rates for most enemies with the Yoshi Cookie item have changed^[15], lowered from the original game (significantly for some enemies), making obtaining items through this method more difficult.
Raspberry now has a status weakness to Mute, despite the player not having access to an ability that inflicts it at that point.
The HP values for King Calamari's left and right tentacles (260 and 200, respectively) have been switched from the original game.
Culex has an experience point yield of 732 instead of 600 like in the original game. As a result, the four crystals no longer yield experience points.
Machine Made copies of Speardovich no longer drop Rock Candies upon defeat.

Audio changes

The game's soundtrack is re-recorded with new arrangements, live-recorded by Square Enix's in-house orchestra. These can be changed to the original music from the SNES game.
- Although the original SNES game had various orchestral instruments in its soundfont,^[16] these were sampled from the sound modules and samplers of the era, as live recording of large numbers of instruments or full musical scores was not possible for SNES game soundtracks.
- In a similar manner to some Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster tracks, several of the orchestrated arrangements are slightly longer or add new parts to them compared to the SNES soundtrack. For example, the normal battle theme has an extended part that plays after the loop, the Forest Maze theme has an added segment about a minute in that includes violins, and the theme that plays in the second phase of Smithy's fight has a guitar that plays at the beginning of it.
- There are several scenes where the modern soundtrack is used regardless of setting: Exor crashing into Bowser's Keep, the star inhabiting the Geno Doll, when each Star Piece is collected, and the entire ending sequence. Additionally, the initial battle against Culex always uses the classic soundtrack, and the Culex 3D battle always uses the modern soundtrack.
The track Geno's Awakening is no longer a looped track.
The "puzzle solved" jingle that plays when talking to Link in the Rose Town inn now uses the sample from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past instead of a unique sample.
Bowser and the Yoshis now use voice clips from their current voice actors. However, other characters remain unvoiced.
The boss music track plays for Clerk, Manager, and Director instead of the normal battle theme in the original game.

Miscellaneous

The opening attract sequence now plays after waiting on the title screen.
There are two less Terrapins on the field in Bowser's Keep than in the original game.
If the player gets a Game Over, Toad will now give gameplay tips. It also now goes to the file select screen instead of the last saved location. As a result, the player can no longer retain any accrued experience points, items, or coins as they could in the original game.
The player can make Yoshi jump when Mario is riding on him by pressing the button.
Save files cannot be named. As a result, the player's current user profile name for their Nintendo Switch console is now the password Booster uses for the door at the top of Booster Tower. In the original game, it is the name the player creates for their file.
There are more group dialogues between party members in the story, including new dialogue on Vista Hill before revisiting Bowser's Keep.
In the Japanese version, and the English translation thereof, Straw Head and Reacher had their Thought Peek quotes switched from the original game, before it was fixed in the game's 1.0.1 version patch.
In the original, the in-game button graphics had different colors, depending on the region. In the remake, the Super Famicom version's button colors are used, regardless of region.
After defeating Croco in Bandit's Way, the trampoline that sends Mario back to the first area no longer appears, though Mallow advises returning to the Mushroom Kingdom via the map menu.
Samus no longer disappears from the Mushroom Kingdom guest room.
The "secret code" originally found exclusively in the Super Famicom version (, , , , , , , , while paused) can now be activated in all regions.

Controls

Field

— Move
— Interact/Talk/Confirm
— Jump/Cancel
Hold /// — Run

Dash Default Movement

— Run
Hold /// — Walk

Battles

— Select
— Attack
— Specials
— Items
— Options
— Gauge Move/Triple Move

Type A Battle Controls

— Confirm/Interact
— Cancel (after selecting main command)

Type B Battle Controls

— Confirm (Attack)
— Confirm (Specials)
— Confirm (Items)
— Confirm (Options)
Any button — Cancel

Monster List

/ — Scroll
— Display Thought Peek quote
— Play animation
— Icon info

New features

Action Gauge

A new gameplay mechanic is the Action Gauge. When the player successfully performs Action Commands, the Action Gauge fills by a percentage. When filled to 100%, the player can use a special ability called a Gauge Move, or a Triple Move with three active party members. Using these moves depletes the Action Gauge, which can then be filled up again.

Chains

Another new battle mechanic is the inclusion of Chains when executing Action Commands for their attacks, Specials or guards. The party earns temporary buffs to their stats when successfully chaining Action Commands, and the buffs increase the higher their Chain count: a Chain of two provides a "Small Boost", three provides a "Regular Boost", and five provides a "Big Boost". Every 10 Chain fills the Action Gauge by a moderate amount.

The type of buffs rewarded to the party is dependent on the party members present in battle, each with their own inherent and exclusive Ally Buff.

Mario: Action Gauge fills faster
Mallow: Magic Attack increases
Geno: Attack and Speed increases
Bowser: Defense increases
Peach: Magic Defense increases

The Chain count and number of Ally Buffs carry over in other battles until the player misses an Action Command, in which case the player loses their buffs and their Chain count is set to zero.

Special Enemies

A special version of an Octolot.

In a similar vein to the "Shiny" enemies in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the player may randomly encounter stronger identical versions of regular enemies in battle, called "Special Enemies". A special enemy has triple the stats of its regular counterpart, and is immune to Critical Hits. Defeating it rewards the player with twice the amount of coins and experience points, and one Frog Coin. The rate of encountering a special enemy is 20%.^[15]

Item quantities

In Normal Mode, each item has a different limit on how many can be collected. If the limit is exceeded for a certain item, any more that are collected are sent to a storage box in Mario's Pad which the player can retrieve at any point if they go under the limit again. In Breezy Mode, the maximum quantity of all items is 30.

Item	Normal Mode maximum quantity
Mushroom	10
Mid Mushroom	10
Max Mushroom	10
Tadpola Cola	10
Frogleg Cola	10
Finless Cola	10
Croaka Cola	3
Honey Syrup	10
Maple Syrup	10
Royal Syrup	10
Pick Me Up	6
Cleansing Juice	10
Party Cleanse	10
Bracer	10
Energizer	10
Party Bracer	10
Party Energizer	10
Yoshi-Ade	10
Red Essence	3
Pure Water	10

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