The RetroBeat: Why I want the genius of Super Mario RPG in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Nintendo will host another live tomorrow, and we'll probably have another character ad for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, released December 7 for the Switch. And I know who I hope to see finally make the cut. No, not Waluigi. OK, that would be great too. But I would like to see Geno's Super Mario RPG added to the Nintendo fighter.

Super Mario RPG was an important game for me. He came out for the Super Nintendo in 1996, when I was only 9 years old. I've had some role-playing exposure before. I rented games like Final Fantasy III (which is actually Final Fantasy VI) and I admired them, but they were beyond me. Super Mario RPG keeps the main RPG concepts in a simpler game that my young mind could understand. There are turn-based fights, and you still gain experience points that you use to progress and become stronger, but you have less equipment to manage and fewer opportunities to You lose.

He also has familiar Mario traps that seemed comfortable and recognizable. I knew Mario, Peach and Bowser. I knew the kingdom of mushrooms. Putting an RPG in a familiar world has helped to adapt.

But Super Mario RPG is not content to reuse Mario's old characters and places. In 1996, we never had such a Mario game in history. And the new focus on history required new characters. Geno is the best of them.

Geno is a celestial warrior from a place called Star Road (this is a fun reference from Super Mario World). He goes to the Kingdom of Fungi to help restore the Star Road and comes in the form of a wooden doll that owns a child. First of all, Geno looks cool. He's like a mix between Pinocchio and a magician. His wooden body and blue clothes give him a distinct appearance from all of Mario's other characters, yet he manages to integrate with the whimsical aesthetics of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Geno also gives the Mario universe a kind of character that he often misses. He is noble and heroic in a sincere way that few other Mario characters are. This Star Warrior is not the target of jokes.

Unfortunately, as great as it is in Super Mario RPG, it was his only major appearance in a game. He made an appearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and the Mii Fighters of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS could wear a Geno costume. That's all we saw of the wooden hero.

And it's a pity. Other Mario characters have modest beginnings and become stars. Wario started as a villain in a portable game. Yoshi was just a bonus in Super Mario World, and Captain Toad was just the star of the bonus levels in Super Mario 3D World. And of course, there is Waluigi, whose origin is a double tennis partner for Wario.

Why has Geno never had the chance to grow? This is partly due to the fact that Nintendo created Super Mario RPG in association with Square, the superpower of the RPG responsible for the Final Fantasy series. They both have a claim to the character that could complicate his addition to other games. This was especially true shortly after the release of Super Mario RPG, when Square decided to release its games on the PlayStation from its rival Sony instead of the new Nintendo 64.

But Nintendo is on good terms with Square Enix now, and they have an ongoing collaboration with Super Smash Bros. The Cloud of Final Fantasy VII is a character of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, and he's back in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The moment seems propitious for Geno to return at last. It's something I wanted to see for years. I remember being among the fans of Smash Bros. who were asking for Geno's inclusion while we were waiting for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, released for the Wii in 2008.

It's 10 years later, but I'm sure. Tonight, I'm going to find a star, imagine that Geno is guarding Star Road and wants Nintendo to announce it as Smash Bros.

The RetroBeat is a weekly column that examines the past of the game, delves into the classics, discovers new retro titles or examines the seniority of the favorites and their design techniques in today's market and experiments. If you have retro-themed projects or scoops that you would like to send, please contact me.