Editing Super Mario RPG (section)

== Development ==
According to Yoshio Hongo of Nintendo, ''Super Mario RPG'' came out of [[Shigeru Miyamoto]]'s desire to make an RPG game using Mario, plus Square's desire to develop an RPG that could do better outside of Japan than their previous games.<ref name="Max2">{{cite journal|title=Nintendo Ultra 64: The Launch of the Decade?|journal=Maximum: The Video Game Magazine|issue=2 |publisher=[[Emap International Limited]]|date=November 1995|pages=107–8}}</ref> Development began in early 1994 after a business meeting between Nintendo and Square. The first phase was spent on deciding a basic system, while the isometric view was chosen to help bring the world to life. The game was originally conceived with weapons in mind, but as meetings with Miyamoto progressed, the development team realized that they didn't fit with the Mario franchise, and left them out. An exception was the hammer, which Miyamoto insisted on keeping. One of the main concerns of the development team was they did not want to make a "normal RPG that simply substituted in Mario characters." To help the game fit with the ''Mario'' series, it was made to be more action- and movement-focused compared to Square's other RPGs, using concepts such as jumping and dashing. Development began in earnest during the second quarter of 1995, when the programming, story events, and graphics data were being implemented.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shmuplations.com/supermariorpg/|title=Super Mario RPG – 1995 Developer Interviews|website=Shmuplations|access-date=April 30, 2021|archive-date=January 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114212005/https://shmuplations.com/supermariorpg/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Future Fantasies|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=87|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=December 1995|pages=136–9}}</ref>

The game was officially unveiled by both Mario creator and producer Shigeru Miyamoto and co-director [[Chihiro Fujioka]] at the 1995 V-Jump Festival event in Japan. Miyamoto led teams at Nintendo and Square, who spent over a year developing the graphics.<ref>{{cite magazine|first1=Scott|last1=Pelland|first2=Kent|last2=Miller|first3=Terry|last3=Munson|first4=Paul|last4=Shinoda|date=April 1996|title=Epic Center|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]] |publisher=Nintendo|issue=83|page=56}}</ref> The story takes place in a newly rendered Mushroom Kingdom based on the ''Super Mario Bros.'' series. Square reported that the game was about 70% complete in October 1995. The developers created the interior elements such as columns, stairways, and exterior elements with advanced computer modeling techniques. Special lighting effects were used to create shadows and reflections that were meant to improve the 3D elements.<ref>{{cite magazine |first1=Scott|last1=Pelland|first2=Kent |last2=Miller |first3=Terry |last3=Munson |first4=Paul |last4=Shinoda |date=October 1995|title=Special Features|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|publisher=Nintendo|issue=77|page=29}}</ref><ref name="New Ground"/> Shinya Takahashi, who would later become head of [[Nintendo SPD]] and [[Nintendo EPD]], designed the game's CG models.<ref>'''End credits''': "C.G. Model Designer: Shinya Takahashi" {{cite video game|title=Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars|developer=Square|publisher=Nintendo|date=March 9, 1996}}</ref> With guidance from Miyamoto, Square developed the game, combining role-playing aspects of previous Square games like ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' with the platforming elements of Nintendo's games. Square's ''Final Fantasy'' series was the model for the battle sequences, while the tradition of ''Super Mario Bros.'' games demanded a lot of action. Mario's ability to jog in eight directions and jump up or down in a three–quarter perspective gave him a (comparatively) large range of motion. At 70% completion, the mix of adventure and action gameplay elements placed it in a category closer to ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]''.<ref name="New Ground"/>

When Nintendo of America received a 60% complete version in November, the staff were surprised at the inclusion of an RPG battle system. The battle screens, using pre-rendered sprites as in the rest of the game, included attack animations of equipped weapons.<ref name="Chrono">{{cite magazine|first=Scott|last=Pelland|date=November 1995|title=Epic News|page=51|magazine=Nintendo Power|issue=77}}</ref> In December, further development and improvements to the gameplay delayed the translation of the game.<ref name="Delay">{{cite magazine|first=Scott|last=Pelland|date=December 1995|title=Epic News|page=51|magazine=Nintendo Power|issue=77}}</ref> For example, the Chancellor, who was named the Mushroom Retainer in Japan,<ref name="New Ground"/> was called the "Minister" in North America.<ref name="Delay"/> Plans continued through February for the North American version,<ref name="Delay"/> changing the release date forecast from winter to spring.<ref name="New Ground">{{cite magazine|first1=Scott|last1=Pelland|first2=Kent|last2=Miller|first3=Terry|last3=Munson|first4=Paul|last4=Shinoda|title=Mario plays a new role|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|publisher=M. Arakawa, Nintendo of America, Inc.|issue=77|date=October 1995|pages=26–29}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Scott|last=Pelland|date=November 1995|title=Release Forecast|page=113|magazine=Nintendo Power|issue=77}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Scott|last=Pelland|date=December 1995|title=Release Forecast|page=113|magazine=Nintendo Power|issue=77}}</ref>

The game's soundtrack was composed by [[Yoko Shimomura]], who incorporated arrangements of music by [[Koji Kondo]] from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', and three tracks by [[Nobuo Uematsu]] from ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]''. She regards the ''Super Mario RPG'' score as one of the turning points in her career.<ref name="SEMOint">{{cite web|url=http://squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/yokoshimomura.shtml|title=Interview with Yoko Shimomura (September 2009)|last=Shimomura|first=Yoko|date=October 1, 2009|publisher=Square Enix Music Online, GameMusic.pl|access-date=August 9, 2011|archive-date=January 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120022715/https://squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/yokoshimomura.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> On March 25, 1996, [[NTT Publishing]] released a two-disc soundtrack album, ''Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version''.<ref name="music">{{cite web |url=http://rpgfan.com/soundtracks/smbrpg/index.html |title=Super Mario RPG OSV |access-date=August 9, 2011 |last=Thomas |first=Damian |date=March 23, 2001 |publisher=RPGFan |archive-date=December 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213225610/http://rpgfan.com/soundtracks/smbrpg/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' is one of only seven SNES games released outside Japan to use the [[Nintendo SA-1]] chip. Compared with standard SNES games, the additional [[microprocessor]] allows these features: higher [[Clock rate|clock speeds]]; faster access to the [[random-access memory]] (RAM); greater memory mapping capabilities, data storage, and compression; new [[direct memory access]] (DMA) modes, such as [[raster graphics|bitmap]] to [[bit plane]] transfer; and built-in CIC lockout for piracy protection and regional marketing control.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zsnes-docs.sourceforge.net/html/games.htm|title=Games - ZSNES Documentation|publisher=ZSNES|access-date=March 24, 2013|archive-date=November 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114113725/http://zsnes-docs.sourceforge.net/html/games.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://uk.top100.ign.com/2008/ign_top_game_23.html|title=IGN Top 100 Games 2008|website=IGN|archive-date=November 10, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081110203412/http://uk.top100.ign.com/2008/ign_top_game_23.html|access-date=September 8, 2011}}</ref> It was originally not released in the [[PAL region]]; Nintendo representatives cited the need to optimize the game for PAL televisions and translate it into multiple languages.<ref name="Max2"/>