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Mario RPG remake developer revealed, as spoilers circulate
Copies of the game have seemingly made their way into players’ hands a week early
The developer behind Nintendo and Square Enix’s Super Mario RPG remake for Nintendo Switch has been revealed, as spoilers from early copies of the game began circulating on social media.
As spotted by social media users, a copyright notice attached to eShop pre-orders reveals that Japanese studio ArtePiazza developed the new Mario RPG.
ArtePiazza is known for its involvement in Square’s Dragon Quest series, as far back as Dragon Quest 3 in 1996. It was mostly responsible for CG design in early titles, and later, it produced remakes for PS2 and Nintendo DS.
Further details on the team behind Mario RPG’s remake were shared by Twitter user Mondo_Mega. Nintendo EPD’s Ayako Moriwaki reportedly directed the Switch version.
Moriwaki most recently acted as assistant director for Pikmin 4. Before that, she worked on Yoshi’s Crafted World (2019) and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013).
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According to Mondo_Mega, other Nintendo EPD staff were involved in Mario RPG’s art direction, graphics and UI. Nintendo Pictures, the animation studio formed last year, reportedly provided character art and animation.
Several of Mario RPG’s original development team are also reportedly credited as having worked on the new version, including event designer Taro Kudo, co-director Yoshihiko Maekawa, and composer Yoko Shimomura.
It’s claimed that Square Enix’s involvement in Mario RPG for Switch was limited mainly to supervision.
Chihiro Fujioka, who co-directed 1996’s SNES original, isn’t working on the remake in any capacity, but earlier this year, he said he was looking forward to playing it.
In a recent Mario RPG hands-on preview, we wrote: “It’s authentic to the point that you could almost imagine switching the visuals back to the original pre-rendered sprites by toggling a menu option, as – brilliantly – you can with the game’s soundtrack.
“To a lot of people, that’s going to sound incredibly appealing, as Mario RPG remains one of the most beloved Nintendo games of the 90s era. For those with fewer memories of the original, Square’s adventure undoubtedly holds up in 2023.”
