Super Mario RPG : Legend of the Seven Stars Super Mario RPG : Legend of the Seven Stars is an RPG released on the SNES . It is a spin - off to the Mario series of 2D platform games , with various Mario characters and concepts adapted to the RPG genre . " Super Mario RPG " was developed by Squaresoft , and features similar gameplay and story elements to the " Final Fantasy " series . Gameplay . " Super Mario RPG " uses turn - based RPG gameplay . All characters are able to use normal attacks , special attacks , items , and defend commands , each tied to one of the four main SNES controller buttons . Characters can each equip a weapon , a piece of armor , and an accessory . As the player defeats enemies , characters level up , gain stats , and learn new special attacks . Special attacks consume Flower Points ( FP ) to use , similar to MP . Three party members enter battle at a time , the player swapping out characters between fights , but Mario must always be in the party . The characters each have abilities and stat distributions based on " Final Fantasy " jobs ; Mallow for example is similar to a Black Mage , with low physical stats and HP but powerful elemental magic . Outside of combat the game is a 2 . 5 isometric format with platforming elements . Many jumping puzzles exist , including navigating moving platforms and leaping around stage elements to access new areas . Enemies are visible in the area and engage Mario when they touch him . Numerous minigames and puzzles are also present . Story . Mario ' s day starts out entirely routine : Princess Toadstool is visiting him and playing in the garden , when Bowser swoops by and kidnaps her . Mario wastes no time in rushing to Bowser ' s Keep to defeat Bowser and save Toadstool , when suddenly an earthquake strikes the keep and a gigantic sword smashes into it , scattering the three . Mario returns to the keep where the sword informs him the castle is now under the control of the " Smithy Gang " , and the sword collapses the bridge to the keep to deny Mario access . Mario goes to the Mushroom Kingdom to inform the Chancellor what has happened , and shortly after helps a young tadpole named Mallow chase down a thief named Croco that had mugged him . When Mario returns to the Mushroom Kingdom , the town has been overrun with creatures on pogo sticks called " Shysters " , and a sentient dagger named Mack has taken over the castle . Mario defeats Mack and finds a mysterious floating star in the throne room . Unsure of what this all means , Mario accepts Mallow ' s suggestion to go to Tadpole Pond and ask for advice from Mallow ' s grandfather , Frogfucious . Frogfucious reveals that Toadstool and Bowser are no longer at the keep , and that the Smithy Gang that have taken control of Bowser ' s Keep are sending minions out to wreak havoc on the world ; Mack was just the first of their number . Frogfucious also reveals Mallow is not really a tadpole , but a creature he found in a basket drifting down from the falls that he adopted as his grandson . Frogfucious directs Mario to nearby Rose Town , where the residents are being plagued by paralyzing arrows shooting out of the nearby forest . When Mario stays the night at the ill , he has a dream of the innkeeper ' s doll , Geno , growing to life size and leaving . In the morning , the innkeeper ' s son claims he saw Geno walking into the forest , and the doll is gone . In the forest Mario finds a giant bow named Bowyer is the one attacking the town , and one of Bowyer ' s minions arrives with another star . The life - size Geno doll arrives to engage Bowyer , and Mario and Mallow intervene to help . When Bowyer is defeated , Geno explains he is an emissary of the " Star Road " , a location in the sky . Every time someone in the world makes a wish , it falls from the Star Road as a shooting star when it is granted . Smithy ' s entrance into Mario ' s world shattered the Star Road , and the stars Mario is finding are fragments needed to repair it , seven in all . Geno has taken residence in the doll ' s body to search for the stars , and says that until the Star Road is fixed , wishes cannot come true in this world . A surviving minion of Bowyer hears this and rushes to tell Smithy . After a stop - over in Moleville to retrieve the fourth Star Piece , Mario finds Booster ' s Tower , where Toadstool fell and is being held hostage by Booster , who intends to marry her . Mario also finds Bowser here , along with all of his troops having abandoned him due to failed attempts to retake his castle . Bowser joins Mario and the group scales the tower , pursuing Booster to Marrymore to rescue Toadstool . Though she initially returns to the Mushroom Kingdom , she shortly sneaks out , insistent on helping Mario now that she knows what ' s at stake . The group continues to Star Hill , where stars dropped from the Star Road fall , and find the fourth Star Piece . In Seaside Town , the elder of the town tells Mario a star fell into the ocean near a sunken ship . The ship is occupied by the shark - man pirate Johnny Jones and his crew . Mario and company explore the ship and defeat Johnny , who hands over the star as spoils of victory . However , when they return to Seaside Town they find the elder and the town ' s inhabitants are fakes , and collectively are a member of the Smithy Gang , Yaridovich . Mario hands over the star in exchange for the safety of the real townsfolk , but Johnny Jones arrives to prevent Yaridovich ' s escape . The fragments of Yaridovich merge together to reveal their true form , a spear - wielding monster , and are defeated . With five stars , Mario and the group journey to Monstro Town , a town of reformed monsters at the edge of the known world that is said to have a star there . However , it is only a " pop star " starfish that they find . The leader of the town surmises that if the star isn ' t here , then only place left to search is in the sky . At Bean Valley a giant beanstalk allows passage to Nimbus Land , a city in the clouds . Here Mallow finds he is actually the prince of the kingdom , and his parents are being held captive by Queen Valentina to take over the kingdom . The group defeats Valentina and sends her fleeing , and Mallow ' s parents say they saw a star crash into the nearby Barrel Volcano . Mario ' s group enters the volcano and finds the sixth Star Piece , but it is swiftly stolen by the Axem Rangers , members of Smithy ' s gang . They flee to their airship , the Blade , but Mario leaps on - board and engages them , destroying the airship and retrieving the star . Returning to Mallow ' s parents , they all agree that the only place left they haven ' t searched for the seventh star is Bowser ' s Keep . Mallow ' s parents provide transportation to the keep , and Mario and his allies fight their way to the keep ' s towers to engage the giant sword , named Exor . When defeated , Exor ' s mouth opens and draws Mario and his allies into another world . Geno surmises that Exor was merely the portal for Smithy ' s minions to cross over from their home world , a gloomy and dark factory . The five fight their way through the factory and find Smithy at the end of an assembly line , manufacturing a new series of minions to make another invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom ; Smithy is also wearing the last Star Piece around his neck . Mario and his friends destroy Smithy , and Geno returns to the Star Road with the Star Pieces , leaving the doll ' s body behind . Exor and the portal to Smithy ' s world crumble , and the world celebrates and begins to rebuild from Smithy ' s invasion . Connections to the " Final Fantasy " series . The game takes many cues from the " Final Fantasy " series ; the equipment system , special attacks , turn - based battle system , and general story theme of gathering Star Pieces to save the world are all reminiscent of " Final Fantasy " gameplay and story conventions . Mario and his allies are roughly based on traditional " Final Fantasy " jobs , while Smithy and his minions individually have a theme of different weapon types commonly found in the series . The strongest connection to the " Final Fantasy " series is the optional boss Culex . In Monstro Town , a sealed door opens to reveal a strange vortex . Culex introduces himself as a resident of another world that was interested in invading Mario ' s world , but Mario ' s world is uninhabitable for Culex and his kind . Before he departs and closes the portal , Culex asks for a duel with the party . Culex attacks with four elemental Crystals that use elemental attacks , and instead of the game ' s usual 2 . 5D isometric sprites , they use static sprites that hover in place , more similar to " Final Fantasy ' s " sprite - based art style in the Super NES era . The battle used for the fight is a remix of the " Final Fantasy IV " boss theme , the victory theme is Final Fantasy ' s Victory Fanfare , and after the battle Prelude plays .