Super Mario RPG: 15 Tips, Tricks & Things To Know

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its Nintendo Switch remake aren't terribly difficult games, but there are plenty of little things you should bear in mind to make your life that much easier.

Whether Super Mario RPG is your very first RPG, or whether you're playing the remake after being a fan of the SNES version, we've got some helpful tips to guide you on your adventure.

Here is a list of things we think you should know before jumping into Super Mario RPG.

Super Mario RPG: 15 Things To Know

Use items!

This might sound obvious on paper, but there's no need to hoard your items in Super Mario RPG. Items are abundant — you'll get them constantly from enemies and chests, and money is pretty easy to come by, meaning you'll rarely be short of cash.

There are also a few dungeons where you can find mushrooms just lying on the ground — Forest Maze is good for farming mushrooms.

Use your Specials

Another obvious one, but because you should be picking up lots of items (and, as such, Syrups), your Flower Points deserve to be spent on those powerful skills you have.

Not only will skills help enemy mobs go down a lot faster, but there are plenty of creatures that are resistant to normal attacks and need whacking with a good Special. And you'll almost always find a healing Flower or Mushroom in a dungeon anyway, so you'll be topped off before a boss fight.

Don't ignore Triple Attacks

Triple Attacks are pretty overpowered — and they only appear in the remake of Super Mario RPG on Switch. You can build up your Action Gauge pretty quickly, so if you're sitting on 100% for long periods — just use the attack!

Not every Triple Attack is an attack, either. Some will heal, and others will provide some crucial defense. Check out every single combination as you play.

Pay attention to your team

Something else that's new in Super Mario RPG on Switch is that team composition actually affects things in combat. So it's always worth looking at what team members bring to the party, not just in terms of utility.

A party of Mario, Geno, and Mallow means you have access to Star Riders, a powerful single-target Triple Attack. Swap Mallow for Bowser, however, and you have Shooting Star Shot, which attacks all enemies on screen and gives your party Attack and Defense buffs.

Different party members also give different Ally Buffs, too. Mallow boosts the team's Magic Attack, while Bowser provides a Defense boost.

Exclamation marks the spot

A new indicator appears in Super Mario RPG on Switch to help newcomers get used to the Action Command system.

Whenever you see a '!' appear above your character's head, press the action button and you'll do extra damage to the enemy or take less damage from an attack, depending on what is happening. This doesn't stay around forever, but it's really helpful for helping you get to grips with the combat.

Read Special descriptions

Every character has between four and seven Special attacks, and whenever you get one, you should definitely read the description of it.

Not only does it tell you what each move does, but it also tells you what actions and button presses you need to do to maximise that ability. Some, like Geno Whirl and Group Hug, are hard to time without knowing in advance and practising, so get your specs on and start reading.

Check under your enemy's name

In the remake, you can actually see just how close your foes are to being knocked out simply by highlighting them.

When you go to attack, instead of diving right into a hit, take a moment to look under the enemy's name — if it's red and says "Almost down" underneath it, that means it's low on health. With that in mind, you might decide to attack another enemy and, with a perfectly timed Action Command, defeat the other enemy with splash damage, which could result in taking two foes out at once. This also works on bosses. Handy.

Find Yoshi

No, not literally — although you will find him on Y'oster Island. Sometimes, when you win a battle, you'll be greeted with a minigame called "Find Yoshi", where you need to watch and find the hidden Yoshi inside one of three eggs.

There are three outcomes in this game — Win and you double either your Exp or your Coins earned during the battle. Tie and your rewards stay the same. Lose, and you lose the Exp or Coins.

However, to us, this is always worth playing. Yoshi isn't too hard to track, and even if you lose, you'll almost always earn your money back after another fight or two. So just take the risk.

Save those Pick Me Ups

If you're near the end of a fight and one of your party members is down on the ground, don't fret! there's no need to revive them.

A KO'd party member will still get full experience, even if they finish the fight knocked out. And what's more, they'll revive after the battle — albeit with 1HP, so just make sure you heal them up after the battle.

Sell old equipment - but not accessories

This is mostly true in the Super Mario RPG remake, which actually prevents you from selling unique, one-off pieces of equipment, but this is good advice to follow in both versions of the game.

If you get a better piece of equipment for Mario and Co., put it on and dump that old weapon or piece of armor. Accessories are almost always worth holding onto, particularly for status effect resistance.

Jump up, superstar!

Super Mario RPG combines Mario's platforming antics with turn-based combat, and that means while out on the field, Mario can jump everywhere.

And it's worth doing, too. Sometimes you'll find hidden platforms and treasure chests, while other times you might be able to hop over an enemy. Do what Mario does best and jump and you'll get the most out of Mario RPG's world. Sometimes it'll even lead to some funny dialogue, too.

Warp out of dungeons with fast travel

This is another Switch remake-specific tip, but in the early game, we forgot all about this, and we don't want you to.

Go into the main menu and select Map and you'll be able to fast travel to anywhere you've already been, regardless of where you are. You can do this from a town, inside a building, or in the middle of a dungeon. A great tool for helping to get you out of a pinch.

Weapons in all shapes and sizes

One of the best things about Super Mario RPG's combat is the variety of weapons on offer for each character. For example, Mario can equip gloves, hammers, or shells, while Bowser can use claws or throw Chain Chomps at enemies.

And this is where the nuance of the timing-based combat comes into play. Every single weapon in Super Mario RPG has a different time-based Action Command. No two hammers are the same, and a glove definitely requires different timing to a shell. Take time to get used to each one as you progress through the game.

Spend those coins

For the same reason you should use up your items, you can absolutely spend your coins whenever you need to.

Money is easy to come by in Super Mario RPG, even without selling equipment. Enemies drop money, Special Enemies drop more money, and there are chest with lots of coins in them — often hundreds at a time.

But save those Frog Coins

There are lots of ways you can get Frog Coins in Super Mario RPG, but they're not really worth spending until you're taking on the game's tougher challenges — whether that's the final dungeon, the superboss, or (on Switch) the post-game.

If you want tips on where to get Frog Coins, we have a guide on Frog Coins, how to farm them, and what to do with them.

For more help on getting through Super Mario RPG, check out our full Super Mario RPG guide for everything you need.