Remakes are a prominent staple for almost every prominent gaming franchise. When franchises likePokemonandSuper Marioare as large as they are with plenty of titles under their belt, there’s at least a few remakes to their name as well. ForPokemon, 2021 brought therelease ofPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearl. As forMario, it has a rather important remake coming in November of the SNES classicSuper Mario RPG.
However, there’s a rather surprising difference betweenBDSPandSuper Mario RPGthat may confuse more than a few gamers. Both titles are near perfect 1-to-1 remakes, yet how the fans reacted to both games couldn’t be more different.Super Mario RPGfans are ecstatic that the Switch version is staying true to everything they loved about it, whilePokemonfans were utterly disappointed withBDSP. If players look closely, it’s easy to see why the reactions differ.
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Pokemon’s History of Remakes
Ever since thePokemon Fire RedandLeaf Greenremakes in 2004, it’s become a bit of a tradition that the series would revisit previous titles and regions in order to update the experiences they offered for newer generations.AfterPokemon Heart GoldandSoul Silver, the hype for these new games reached incredible heights. Fans dreamed and desired remakes of Generation 3 and 4 games that made Hoenn and Sinnoh feel like brand-new experiences entirely.
For Generation 3 loyalists,Pokemon Omega RubyandAlpha Sapphirewere a dream come true. While some of the changes were questionable, being able to experience Hoenn as an updated 3DPokemongame with cinematic cutscenes and updated battle mechanics was exactly what many had desired. AfterORASblew Hoenn out of the water for Generation 3 fans, many Sinnoh loyalists wanted the same thing from their remakes. After years of waiting,Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlcompletely broke previous remake trends, leading to disappointment for those hoping for more.
The Pipe Dream of a Super Mario RPG Remake
Super Mario RPGoriginally came out on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1996. As the first everMarioRPG in a long line of titles that would come after it, it endeared players and earned a place in their hearts, being considered one of thebest SNES classics. Despite its importance to players, Nintendo hardly paid it any mind, even though loyalists continued to wish that the game was recognized in the otherMarioRPGs and evenSmash Bros. for over a decade.
While many fans of forgotten franchises tend to preemptively joke about being disappointed before directs and showcases,SMRPGfans may have joked about hoping for nothing, but they had accepted that to get a remake of the classic title, they’d likely have to take numerous changes to what made the original game great. Some had accepted that it would likely be in amore modernSuper Marioart style, while others lamented that a modernizedSMRPGwould likely be a completely different title. Instead, after years of hoping, they got exactly what they wished for.
The wayPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining PearlandSuper Mario RPGstay true to their original releases may be the same, but what players desired from these remakes was entirely different.Fans ofPokemon’sSinnoh regionwere hoping for a complete makeover of their favorite games just as other Generations had before them, yet they were handed a title that more or less kept the experience the same as it was on the Nintendo DS.
Super Mario RPGfans, however, were willing to take whatever they could get as long as it meant other players would get to experience the classic adventure that had faded into obscurity. After speculating what would need to change, it turned out that hardly anything had to change at all. Both games make it clear that just how well a shot-for-shot remake is received truly depends on the audience.
