Paper Mario for the 3DS was announced when the system was revealed at E3 in 2010, but we haven’t heard much about it since. This disappoints me because I have been a fan of Mario’s role playing adventures since Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo. While we’re waiting for as much as a release date on Paper Mario 3DS, I want to talk about Mario’s past ventures into the genre.

Way back in 1996, Japanese RPGs were extremely popular, but they were also becoming clichéd and repetitive in a lot of ways. Nintendo wanted capitalize on its popularity by letting Mario star in his own RPG, with a fresh new perspective on the typical RPG. Square Enix, the creators of games like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, were given reigns to make such a game. The result of Nintendo and Square Enix teaming was a game that simplified and reinvigorated the genre. No longer were you playing an RPG where you are in a fantasy world playing as an amnesiac hero that is trying to save the princess. In Super Mario RPG, Mario isn’t even saving the princess because she is one of the companions during the game, as well as Mario’s arch nemesis Bowser. The game didn’t take itself as seriously as many JRPGs, as it was funny and lighthearted at every moment. There were even solid platforming elements, which plays a hand in separating this RPG from the rest, and also making it feel more like a Mario game.