History YMMV / SuperMarioRPG

** Though very few would likely be confused as to why, many were upset that Exor's mouth's name was changed from "Neosquid" to an understandably more accurate "mouth". Though "Neosquid" never made sense, it certainly stood out. The first of Smithy's gang being changed from "Mack" to "Claymorton" was similarly disliked.

** You can carry up to 20 Yoshi Cookies, twice as many as most items, giving you more incentive than ever to use them. Yoshi Cookies let you farm rare items easily, including Energizers, Bracers, Max Mushrooms, Royal Syrups, Fire Bombs, Ice Bombs, and more. Further, the game's auto-save makes it easy to cheese the Mushroom Derby; bet 10 cookies and if you lose, just close the game and re-open and try again. You can carry a full stock of Yoshi Cookies throughout the game and pick up a lot of good items with them.

* LowTierLetdown: Mario, Geno, and Peach's [[LimitBreak Party Attack]], "Spare-Us-All", ''does'' have the potential to come in clutch in certain situations, as it allows each active party member to tank one attack without taking any damage. However, this requires a lot more forethought on the player's part for them to be able to guess when an enemy is about to use their strongest attack, which is a ''[[LuckBasedMission lot]]'' harder than it sounds, as most enemies and bosses work on an AIRoulette instead of having set attack patterns you can follow. Compared to either hitting a field or a single enemy hard with an attack, buffing the entire party, or healing everyone, it often ends up being a lot more situational in comparison. [[ObviousRulePatch This may have been done]] to encourage use of the other two party members in tandem with the new battle mechanics such as passive buffs and free switching, as the original game was infamous for the ComplacentGamingSyndrome of a Mario/Geno/Toadstool party [[CharacterSelectForcing outclassing all other party setups by a longshot]]. The one place where [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman this move does shine]] is [[spoiler: the Culex rematch, where the fact that his HPToOne attack is on a countdown makes it easy to predict when to use Spare-Us-All.]]

* LowTierLetdown: Mario, Geno, and Peach's [[LimitBreak Party Attack]], "Spare-Us-All", ''does'' have the potential to come in clutch in certain situations, as it allows each active party member to tank one attack without taking any damage. However, this requires a lot more forethought on the player's part for them to be able to guess when an enemy is about to use their strongest attack, which is a ''[[LuckBasedMission lot]]'' harder than it sounds, as most enemies and bosses work on an AIRoulette instead of having set attack patterns you can follow. Compared to either hitting a field or a single enemy hard with an attack, buffing the entire party, or healing everyone, it often ends up being a lot more situational in comparison. [[ObviousRulePatch This may have been done]] to encourage use of the other two party members in tandem with the new battle mechanics such as passive buffs and free switching, as the original game was infamous for the ComplacentGamingSyndrome of a Mario/Geno/Toadstool party [[CharacterSelectForcing outclassing all other party setups by a longshot]].

** In Land's End, you can play the cliff-climbing minigame with Sergeant Flutter endlessly, and if you can complete it in under 12 seconds, he gives you 5 Frog Coins. With only a few minutes of work, you can get enough coins to buy out all the great items from the frog in Seaside Town (including an item to instantly flee from battle, an accessory to double obtained experience, and an accessory that cuts FP costs in half) and can also stock up on items from Tadpole Pond that boost the party's stats.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This game was groundbreaking in ways that are easily taken for granted years later. It introduced ActionCommands, which became a staple of all future Mario [=RPGs=], had Peach as a fully developed playable character instead of a pure DamselInDistress, and greatly fleshed-out Bowser's personality while having him PromotedToPlayable. Beyond the Mario series, the game was an RPG with a heavy focus on comedy at a time when most took themselves very seriously. However, these features and concepts became far less revolutionary over time, with [=RPGs=] that don't take themselves all too seriously becoming much more common in later decades. Peach and Bowser's characterization would also become the standard for most future Mario [=RPGs=], with Action Commands also becoming very popular in both Mario and non-Mario [=RPGs=]. This has caused many to deem the game outdated in comparison to later Mario [=RPGs=], many citing the [[ScrappyMechanic shared FP mechanic]] and lack of first strikes.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While more of a [[BaseBreakingCharacter Base-Breaker]] than an outright [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] (see the "Original" folder above), Mallow in the original was hated by many for being a crybaby and having little to no reason to be kept around once Peach joins the party. The remake, however, gives him more expressive animations, repainting him as a joyful little guy who, in spite of how easily he cries, is always ready to do his best. And on the gameplay side, the ability to swap allies on the fly has given Mallow a unique niche to fill as a scout, in addition to being a low-cost crowd control character who can serve as a backup healer in a pinch.

* TaintedByThePreview: While reception to the remake's announcement overall has been positive, some people are worried about how perfectly timed hits from normal attacks now hit all enemies in battle, making some worry it might make the game too easy, especially when it comes to WolfpackBoss fights such as the Axem Rangers. Though it was later revealed that new harder "Special Enemies", randomly encountered during battle have been added to compensate, many fans are still worrying if it's enough. Not helping was that later promotional material would reveal that an Easy Mode (called Breezy Mode) would be added to the game that makes it even easier, with no Hard Mode seemingly existing. That being said though, the boss rematches that were added into the remake are ''brutal'' in comparison to the rest of the game's difficulty, to the point where [[spoiler:the Culex rematch]], despite being optional, is essentially a '''nightmare''' of a superboss that will decimate any novice player in a matter of turns.

** Sledge [[labelnote:Explanation]]Smithy's most iconic attack, where he summons a giant wooden sledgehammer from the ceiling to squash Mario and his party. It's always the first move he does when you fight him and is one of the most visual impactful special attacks in the game.[[/labelnote]]

* JerkassWoobie: The new lore in the Monster List turned Dodo into this for many. Sure, he's still a FatBastard assisting Valentina in her plot to take the Nimbus Land throne. But now the remake tells us Dodo [[{{Imprinting}} imprinted on Valentina]] when he hatched and saw her as his mother, which makes a lot of the abuse he suffers from her harder to stomach. Even worse is how despite her horrible treatment of him, he can't leave her because he feels indebeted to her for raising him, and it could be argued that Dodo's nastier traits are a direct result of Valentina's [[AbusiveParents Abusive Parenting]]. You just wanna give the poor guy a hug and get him away from her!

* LowTierLetdown: Mario, Geno, and Peach's [[LimitBreak Party Attack]], "Save Us All", ''does'' have the potential to come in clutch in certain situations, as it allows each active party member to tank one attack without taking any damage. However, this requires a lot more forethought on the player's part for them to be able to guess when an enemy is about to use their strongest attack, which is a ''[[LuckBasedMission lot]]'' harder than it sounds, as most enemies and bosses work on an AIRoulette instead of having set attack patterns you can follow. Compared to either hitting a field or a single enemy hard with an attack, buffing the entire party, or healing everyone, it often ends up being a lot more situational in comparison. [[ObviousRulePatch This may have been done]] to encourage use of the other two party members in tandem with the new battle mechanics such as passive buffs and free switching, as the original game was infamous for the ComplacentGamingSyndrome of a Mario/Geno/Toadstool party [[CharacterSelectForcing outclassing all other party setups by a longshot]].

* DemographicallyInappropriateHumour: In the Japanese version, the thought of the Goombette (''Mamekuribō'') enemy that can be read with Mallow's Psychopath ability is [[https://legendsoflocalization.com/the-pop-culture-obsessed-monsters-in-japanese-super-mario-rpg/ "omame kurikuri... kuri! jowa~"]] which roughly translates to "Rub the bean, rub the bean, rub, rub… rub! Splosh~", mimicking female masturbation.

** Booster is widely considered to be one of the funniest characters in the game thanks to his status as a {{Manchild}} looking to have fun with his Snifits and bride-to-be, along with his weirdly endearing sense of NoSocialSkills. That he's an {{Expy}} of VideoGame/{{Wario}} makes him stick out all the move to fans.

** In Japan, the Guerrilla enemy is named "[[https://dic.pixiv.net/a/ドソキーユング Dosoki Yung]]", which is "Donkey Kong" with two of the katakana changed to lookalikes. His Psychopath/Thought Peek quote is a ThisIsAWorkOfFiction disclaimer (which was retained in the English Switch remake), which leads to mentions of that trope being jokingly replied with pictures of Guerrilla by Japanese fans.

** The ChestMonster enemy line had Japanese names that were puns on the phrase ''nan darō'' (roughly "I wonder what it is", i.e. something someone would say before opening a treasure chest), which the original English localization replaced with box-related ThemeNaming (Pandorite, Hidon, Box Boy, and Chester). The English version of the remake preserves the spirit of the pun with the new names Huhwhat, Whuhoh, Pleaseno, and Comeon, phrases that express surprise and exasperation at being repeatedly pranked by fake treasure boxes.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Mallow in the original was hated by many for being a crybaby and having little to no reason to be kept around once Peach joins the party. The remake, however, gives him more expressive animations, repainting him as a joyful little guy who, in spite of how easily he cries, is always ready to do his best. And on the gameplay side, the ability to swap allies on the fly has given Mallow a unique niche to fill as a scout, in addition to being a low-cost crowd control character who can serve as a backup healer in a pinch.

** King Calamari's tentacles will often take a party member and move them offscreen. When they return, they're inflicted with the "Fear" status...

** It's not the first time the Blue Snifits[[note]]Who represent the "normal" Snifits fought in the game[[/note]] got a modern design upgrade. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' was the first game that finally gave all colored Snifits [[note]]Green and Pink from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', in addition to the aforementioned Blue, which first appeared in ''Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' before making their game debut in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars'' version of ''Super Mario Bros. 2''.[[/note]] their current designs, with new Yellow Snifits being introduced as well.

** The Signal Ring's purpose is to detect hidden treasure chests. It is found very late in the game, with only one such chest remaining anywhere yet unexplored, does not provide any benefits in battle, and if you're using the player's guide or a walkthrough to find them or otherwise already know where they all are, you might as well pawn it off. Downplayed in the remake where it's given to you after the Hidden Treasure tutorial, early in the game.

* ThatOneBoss: All the post-game rematches can fall under this if you assume they all follow the same formula as their first go around, but no, they all TookALevelInBadass by now and are all formidable fights. Plus, you can't solely rely on the Lazy Shell guarding Peach because they can ignore defenses, you have to rely on your skills for these fights.
** Punchinello's rematch will test your patience and your blocking skills. No matter what, any attack you do to him will do a measly 1 or 2 HP of damage, the only way to truly defeat him to turn his own super bombs against him to do 80 damage. Here's the problem, Punchinello has 1,200 HP, so no matter what, it will have to be about 15 bomb attacks to win. In order to use his own bombs against him, you need to either defeat ''or'' perfectly timed hit one of the four summoned bombs to literally turn and aim towards Punchinello. Each bomb is 999 HP, meaning that you must either deal a huge amount of damage on them, or be VERY precise with your timed hits. Luckily, one or two will automatically be turned against him, but that is just by luck. Each bomb you fail to turn and attack you will do massive damage, if not a one hit kill if you do not block, no matter the character they target. Not helping is that Punchinello himself is ALSO attacking throughout the onslaught, with similar results if you don't block perfec-- oh wait, he has a hit-all attack that you can't block that still deals 100+ damage to everybody? [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Well.]]
** The postgame rematch with Booster, particularly his ultimate attack, Loco Express 023. The only real way to win is with the right strategy, patience and good ol' fashioned luck. First off, the fight starts off with Booster immediately beginning his work on his engine, all the while his Snifster crew will fight you instead. Sounds basic, no? Well, the second Booster is finished, he launches his Loco Express 023 towards your party and deals a devastating 9999 hit, regardless of defense, all but ensuring a team wipe, just like that. Sounds bad enough, right? Well, there is no telling when Booster will be done, especially when one of his Snifster motivates him to work faster. He could be done within a couple of turns, or the very next moment he says he's concentrating, there really is no telling when so your RNG will vary. The other Snifster will attack your team, which, if you're unlucky, will be the last two healthy members left,; even worse is that they themselves do massive damage as well, usually unblockable attacks, and each have fairly high HP. The only strategy you have is to repeatedly hope you get the chance to knock Booster off of his concentration and taking out the Snifster one by one before the worse case scenario happens.
** Jonathan Jones' rematch will test your block timing to its very core. To start, it's only between him and Mario with no items allowed, so immediately a challenging beginning. Next, many of his attacks are those that have the smallest of a window to block in time, much less a perfect block, and do a significant amount of damage even with a normal block, and with no options available, the Captain will slowly be surely chipping away at your finite health, and only a perfect counter will save you. As you do more damage to him, the more he buffs himself, to the point where a perfect block is your only means of surviving. The entire fight is a race to make sure you beat Jones before he beats you, and only through giving Mario all the best defense equipment will your odds at victory get better.

** The elder of Seaside Town [[spoiler:(who is actually Yaridovich)]] says [[SleepingTheirWayToTheTop he got his position by "pleasing my superiors, which is something I do well."]]

** Punchinello's rematch will test your patience and your blocking skills. No matter what, any attack you do to him will do a measly 1 or 2 HP of damage, the only way to truly defeat him to turn his own super bombs against him to do 80 damage. Here's the problem, Punchinello has 1,200 HP, so no matter what, it will have to be about 15 bomb attacks to win. In order to use his own bombs against him, you need to defeat one of the four summoned bombs to literally turn and aim towards Punchinello. Each bomb is 999 HP, meaning that you can only truly shoot one or two of them. Luckily, one or two will automatically be turned against him, but that is just by luck. Each bomb you fail to turn and attack you will do massive damage, if not a one hit kill if you do not block, no matter the character they target. Not helping is that Punchinello himself is ALSO attacking throughout the onslaught, with similar results if you don't block perfec-- oh wait, he has a hit-all attack that you can't block that still deals 100+ damage to everybody? [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Well.]]

** While the game encourages you to experiment with your party, expect experienced players to always use a Mario/Toadstool/Geno party. Toadstool's healing is powerful and cheap, while Geno has some of the best attacks in the game, and Mario [[CantDropTheHero cannot be removed from the party]]. Bowser suffers from terrible magic defense (which will be exploited by many late game bosses), and Mallow's spell list is useful early on but made redundant when Geno and Toadstool join.

* LowTierLetdown: Mario, Geno, and Peach's [[LimitBreak Party Attack]], "Save Us All", ''does'' have the potential to come in clutch in certain situations, as it allows each active party member to tank one attack without taking any damage. However, this requires a lot more forethought on the player's part for them to be able to guess when an enemy is about to use their strongest attack, which is a ''[[LuckBasedMission lot]]'' harder than it sounds, as most enemies and bosses work on an AIRoulette instead of having set attack patterns you can follow. Compared to either hitting a field or a single enemy hard with an attack, buffing the entire party, or healing everyone, it often ends up being a lot more situational in comparison.

** It pretty clear the [[LimitBreak Party Attacks]] were intended for the post-game boss rematches, as using them against most bosses in the main campaign will usually either result in you one shotting the boss in question, or leaving the boss close to being one shotted by a basic attack. The only real notable exceptions to this are [[spoiler:[[SuperBoss Culex]] and [[FinalBoss Smithy]].]] Once you get into the post game, the party attacks, while still useful, are no longer as overpowered as they are in the main story as the post-game rematches are designed with them in mind.

** Bowser is often considered the worst party member, and for good reason: he suffers from CripplingOverspecialization, having awesome physical stats but terrible Magic Defense. Even when given all the level-up bonuses you can muster, he's still not great at taking the magic attacks that many bosses frequently use, especially starting around the mid-game. His weapons and armor don't help his case, as they provide the lowest stat increases by far (his best purchasable weapon is as powerful as Toadstool's worst weapon and all but his last piece of armor is outclassed by the Work Pants). While he's still not on par with the other characters in the remake, he's another beneficiary of the revamped battle system: parties with Bowser receive a passive Defense buff, perfect timed hits let his strong attacks inflict splash damage, he has good Triple Attack options, and he can be switched into battle at at any time against physically-inclined enemies.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3aWAmSpF6E VIP Teacher]][[labelnote:Explanation]]One of the most popular lyric covers of the forest themes after Rawest Forest. Originally known as "Mariotropolis", this one gained its name when one of its lines, "peeps insane" was misheard as "VIP sensei/teacher", and became popular in Japan. [[/labelnote]]

* ToughActToFollow: At first. As the series' first RPG, and one handled by Squaresoft (one of the genre's reigning kings in 1996), it set high expectations for later role-playing ''Mario'' titles. ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'', which was first announced as a direct sequel to ''Super Mario RPG'', was initially met coldly by fans [[CriticalDissonance despite critical praise]] as a result of its radical differences from its predecessor, requiring it to be VindicatedByHistory in the latter half of the 2000s. Nowadays, the different ''Mario'' [=RPG=] subseries occupy their own niches among fans, so stacking up to this game is much less of an issue.

* LowTierLetdown: While Mario, Geno, and Peach's [[LimitBreak Party Attack]], "Save Us All", ''does'' have the potential to come in clutch in certain situations, as it allows each active party member to tank one attack without taking any damage. However, this requires a lot more forethought on the players part for them to be able to guess when an enemy is about to use their strongest attack, which is a ''[[LuckBasedMission lot]]'' harder than it sounds, as most enemies and bosses work on an AIRoulette instead of having set attack patterns you can follow. Compared to either hitting a field or a single enemy hard with an attack, buffing the entire party, or healing everyone, it often ends up being a lot more situational in comparison.