Super Mario RPG is getting a proper remake, and some of the changes are so subtle I can't believe fans are already managing to catalog them.
The Super Mario RPG remake appears to largely be faithful to the Super NES original, just with modern 3D graphics replacing the pre-rendered visuals of the original game. A two-second-long clip of the trailer shows a boss battle against the characters Dodo and Valentina. The latter has had her not-so-subtle breast jiggle effect removed, but that's not the only change for her.
As obscure Mario trivia-meister Supper Mario Broth notes on Twitter, Valentina's original Japanese name transliterates to 'Margarita,' which is probably why her original sprite was holding a cocktail. However, that cocktail is not a margarita - it's some other drink with a cherry in it. In the remake, she's holding a glass with a lime slice, properly suggesting that it's a margarita.
In Super Mario RPG, Valentina's Japanese name is "マルガリータ" (Margarita), referring to a cocktail often served with a lime slice. However, in her original artwork, she was holding a drink with a cherry in it. In the remake, her model was updated to correctly hold a margarita. pic.twitter.com/6MSsLmZCoiJune 21, 2023
I'm not sure what I'm more surprised by - the fact that the devs fixed this or the fact that somebody actually noticed it. Supper Mario Broth also notes that the color of the roof on Princess Peach's castle has been changed from red to blue, which now matches its appearance on the game's map screen and in the credits. Now that's attention to detail.
Here's another one: there's an extremely low-detail toy chest in the original which contains, among other things, a Samus Aran action figure. Not only is that figure still in the remake, it's been updated to match Samus's modern character model.
They updated Samus to her post-Metroid Prime suits. https://t.co/jOGyT5cWMcJune 21, 2023
Perhaps more relevantly, some fans have taken note of updates to the combat system. There appears to be a new gauge in the bottom left corner of the screen that increases as you do damage to enemies, as well as a chain system that can confer modifiers on your attacks. It's unclear exactly how these changes will work, but it looks like we're getting a bit more than a straightforward visual upgrade here.
The Nintendo Direct had plenty of other notable announcements, including the reveal of Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
