May 13th 2025 marks the twenty-ninth anniversary of when Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released stateside. Yes, I know a 29th anniversary for a video game seems like a weird one to celebrate. But it’s Super Mario RPG and I’m me, so here we are.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released on the Super Nintendo on May 13th 1996 in North America. Although it was released late in the console’s lifespan (the Nintendo 64 would be released shortly thereafter), it would still become one of the most beloved games on the SNES, and one of the most beloved Mario games and RPGs ever.

The game introduced fans to a new side of the Mario universe, with the titular plumber and Princess Peach (then Princess Toadstool in the west) teaming up with Bowser and new characters Mallow and Geno on a colorful adventure to stop an evil blacksmith and his army of weapon monsters. For the first time, we got to learn more about the characters who inhabit Mario’s world, and were introduced to new aspects of the Mushroom Kingdom that fans are still begging for to make a return.

While Super Mario RPG did lead to eventual creation of the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, it never did get a proper sequel of its own. Fans continue to ask for just that nearly three decades later. But at the very least, Nintendo did meet us halfway by remaking Super Mario RPG for the Nintendo Switch in 2023 which, for my money, is the best Nintendo remake.

Here’s hoping the remake sways Nintendo to give us more Super Mario RPG. But in the meantime, we can all revisit this classic either in its original SNES form or the Switch remake.