Okay, I will not be doing a full game review. Yes, I have beaten it, and there is plenty I could say about Mario RPG. But I've not only talked about it before, but this is a game that enough people have talked about I couldn't add anything to the core discussion of the original, and the game's core remains entirely intact. So I'll be judging this the same way I did the Chrono Cross remaster, and simply looking at it in terms of its quality as a remake.
Visuals:
By far this is the best thing this game did. While Mario RPG always looked good, there was no getting around it looks more dated than other SNES RPGs due to being a 3D RPG of the time. And it's more than just a graphical upgrade, there is a lot of cinematography that adds so much to the presentation. The better detail, the cleaner-looking models, and the fantastic use of angles that you probably couldn't have done on the SNES make this an absolute treat.
Translation:
There were bits of censorship and changes in the original release, much of which seems to have been reverted to a more faithful translation. I won't go over every instance I know of, but a big one is Culex. The Text now reads as a reference to him being a 2D sprite, the only one in Mario RPG, as was the original intent. Overall, we have a much more faithful translation this time around, and that is greatly appreciated.
New elements of combat:
Timed hits now build a meter that gives you additional options in combat, and honestly, it's entirely ignorable without taking into account the additional bosses. If you don't ignore it, you just start every boss fight with a huge super move that can trivialize the entire thing. I would normally be harder on inclusions like this, I feel if you just hand the players more power there should be an increase in the enemy's ability to compensate, but this was never that hard of a game anyway. Even playing as a kid there were only a couple of fights that threw me, and not for long. It's not a bad addition, but overall not very interesting.
Additional Content:
It's fine. It's not content I feel adds much, it's a handful of additional fights after beating the game, each one with a different gimmick you have to figure out to win the fight. Not much to say, I would have been fine without it but it's at least kind of neat.
Some QoL improvements:
There are things added into the game that are kind of nice. You can jump out of any dungeon to the world map, the first few times you use a new attack or ability it'll show you what the timing is supposed to be, auto-saves, and a bestiary. I like these additions.
But then there is just expanding your inventory and a storage area for extra items, which just feels like making the game easier without any additional challenge. I'm a bit of a fan of certain games and their limited inventory space, so I may be a little biased here, but I wasn't entirely okay with this.
***Overall: ***
And that is the Super Mario RPG Remake. It's a really solid and great-looking remake for a game that benefits from it. Even the elements that I didn't care much for aren't even bad inclusions. Whether you were a fan of the original, or even just interested in a Mario RPG, it's a great time.