Mushroom Kingdom Superstars

Mushroom Kingdom Superstars
TBA Logo coming soon
Developer(s)	TheFoxyRiolu (t∣b∣c)
Publisher(s)	TheFoxyRiolu (t∣b∣c)
Platform(s)	Wii U, Nintendo NX
Genre(s)	RPG, Puzzle
Series	Super Mario
Release Date(s)	: October 27, 2016 : October 27, 2016 : December 18, 2016
Age Rating(s)

Mushroom Kingdom Superstars (also known as スーパーマリオ: 星の探求 Super Mario Star Quest) is an upcoming RPG game in the Super Mario series, being released as a Nintendo NX launch title (as well as the Wii U) in 2016. The game takes a similar approach to past titles like Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars as a RPG with Mario characters, straying away from the formula of the M&L game.

Being released for the 35th Anniversary of Mario's Debut (in Donkey Kong), it follows Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and many more characters of the series (both good and bad) as the kingdom's source of light—the Light Crystal—is broken and it causes villains of the past to return to the kingdom to destroy it. This leads to Mario banding the heroes together to find the pieces of the shattered source and defeat the one who destroyed it in the first place, Cryssalis.

Plot

Prologue (The Fallen Kingdom)

The game starts simply with Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach taking a walk somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach explains she is going to show the Mario Bros. a hidden room that she found under the castle as they approach the castle area. After a small area where you take control of Mario in a tutorial-like overworld area, Mario catches up to Luigi and Peach, where Peach reveals a hidden pipe behind a painting she found built into the castle walls. After Mario & Luigi enter the pipe, they find what looks like a small room built into the earth, with a shining, glassy stone at the end, surrounded by a forcefield.

Peach explains that the stone is called the Light Crystal. Long ago, King Pierre Toadstool, Peach's ancestor and the first king of the Mushroom Kingdom, built the crystal out of magic energy to banish villains into the bright essence of the crystal. Every time a villain would be defeated or slain by the king, the crystal would absorb the villain's power and soul, keeping it trapped so they can never return to their old bodies. Peach says she only now discovered why most villains the Mario Bros. fought never came back, and that she never knew it was the crystal, which she thought to be a myth about her ancestors.

Peach then tells the Mario Bros. to never tell anyone about the Crystal, as, if one were to break it, all of the trapped souls in the Crystal would be released, free to roam the land once more. The Bros. promise, as Peach calls down two Red Toads and a Purple Toad to guard the crystal. They then return to the main castle area.

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The next day, the Mario Bros. decide to pay a visit to Princess Peach to have some breakfast; however, upon arrival, they find that all of the Toads are crowded outside the castle. Meanwhile, Toadsworth is trying to calm down the crowd. When Mario goes up to Toadsworth, he explains that someone snuck into the castle and forced all of the Toads to leave, and trapped Peach in the castle with a curse. Mario and Luigi try to break through the doors, but to no avail. Suddenly, the doors burst open, sending the Bros. flying backwards, as a young sorceress holding the Light Crystal with magic walks out of the country.

She introduces herself as Cryssalis, the ruler of the Icy Kingdom. She explains the purpose of the Crystal, and that it's destruction could lead to the downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom. She then proceeds to shatter the crystal, as it breaks into eleven pieces. The souls trapped in the crystal fly out to different places in the kingdom, with Cryssalis simply watching. She then bids farewell to the kingdom, but notices Mario and Luigi. Realizing the heroes of the kingdom witnessed this dastardly action, she blasts them away to different areas of the kingdom, before disappearing.

Gameplay

Overworld

In the Overworld, you control your chosen party member in a large world where the player is often tasked with traveling to a certain area to complete missions and collect the Light Crystal pieces. There is several things you can do in the overworld in general.

In the overworld, one can walk using the D-Stick in any direction. You can also jump by pushing A, and activate an overworld skill using Y or L/R. If you stand next to an NPC or a sign, one can push A to talk/read. Players can also jump to hit switches or blocks for coins.

Upon pushing B or X, the Mario Menu appears. In this menu, there are seven functions; Party, Map, Items, Tipbook, Crystal, Options, and Suspend. Party allows the player to view party members, their skills, and select a Party Leader and up to two other fighters. Map is self-explanatory, as it displays a map of the Mushroom Kingdom and shows where the player is now. Items shows what items are in the player's inventory, and allows the player to use items on Party Members and even equip them with one. Tipbook displays helpful advice for confused or stuck players, and even tells lost players where their next location should be (though this doesn't always show in some cases). Crystal shows what pieces of the Light Crystal have been collected. Options displays in-game settings for players, like changing the control scheme, textbox designs, and allowing Miiverse/Amiibo support to function. And finally, Suspend allows the player to save when in a tight spot, which closes the game afterwards and, upon reopening the game and continuing, deletes the save point.

In-Battle

In the overworld area, upon running into an enemy (in Mario & Luigi style), a battle begins with them. When the battle starts you and your other Party Members will engage in battle.

In-battle, there are multiple stats that configure how the player fights; Power, Defenses, Utility, Health, and Speed. Power affects the Party Member's attack power, Defense affects how much damage a hit Party Member takes, Utility affects how effective items can be, Health affects a player's HP amount, and Speed affects who goes first in a battle. When a player gains enough Flower Points by defeating enemies, they level up, and their stats increase, with an additional option to possibly increase a chosen stay by more by a random number.

Party Members have different Level-Up rates and attacks. Attacks can be learned by leveling up to Level 10, Level 20, and finally Level 30, or they can be taught by Professor E. Gadd for a small fee. Each attack can be either offensive or defensive; offensive attacks attack or affect enemies, while defensive attacks affect the player and team members.

When it is a certain Party Member's turn, the player has a choice of four commands; Attack, Item, Check, and Retreat. Attack allows the chosen player to use an attack for that turn; Item allows the Party Member to choose and use an item, which takes a turn. Check allows the player to use up a turn to check the stats and information on a single, chosen enemy. And finally, Retreat allows the cowardly players to run away from the battle, but makes the player drop coins and, if they take too long to run, items eventually.

Upon defeating an enemy, EXP is evenly distributed among Party Members, and coins (and sometimes even items) are earned.

Characters

Heroes

These are the characters that you use in battle as your Party Members. Members are listed in order of recruitment.

Picture	Description
Mario	Mario is, as always, the main hero of this grand adventure, so it's no shocker that he's the character you start with. After being blown away form the castle by Cryssalis, he wakes up in Dimble Wood and is left to gather both friends and foes to help him regain the Crystal pieces. Mario utilizes techniques like jumping on enemies, using fireballs, and even F.L.U.D.D. to battle.
Bowser	Bowser, most of the time, is the big baddie of the franchise that is getting his shell kicked by Mario one game and kart-racing with him in another. Somehow, though, he's completely on Mario's side. Shortly after Cryssalis destroys Bowser's Castle and takes over his army, he stumbles upon Mario in Dimble Wood and, after a brief fight, teams up with him. Bowser is like any other bulky RPG character, with lots of strength and defense but pitiful HP and speed. He utilizes his shell, fireballs, and brute strength to fight.
Luigi	Luigi is often seen as the second player, or the shadow of his more-famous twin brother; but, of course, that's far from true. After being blown from the castle and landing in Layer-Cake Desert, he meets up with his brother and continues the adventure with him. Luigi is much faster then his brother, but less powerful, and uses similar moved to him, but also some new ones, like Luiginary Ball and the Polterguster 5000.
Peach	Peach is the usual damsel-in-distress when it comes to these games, but has been reverted to a hero role here. Following the take over of her kingdom, she is sent to Tutankoopa Ruins and captured by King Ka-Thunk and Boss Brolder (who are under Tutankoopa's guidance), but is soon discovered by Mario, Luigi, and Bowser, the latter of which rescuing her from the eventually exploding ruins. Peach is a light character with extremely high HP, who focuses on using supportive moves, like healing and defensive attacks, but also can attack with hearts.
Yoshi	Yoshi is...well, not exactly Mario's pet, but more of a buddy to help him out on his adventures. Mario rescues Yoshi from his yolky cage after a fight with Salvo the Slime, and he joins Mario on his journey. Yoshi is a fast character with fantastic utility but less than decent power and defenses. Yoshi utilizes his long tongue and endless barrage of eggs to fight.
Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong, sometimes a foe but mostly a furry friend, is the self-proclaimed King of the Jungle, who usually is mixed up with his own business but joins Mario on his journey this time around. After Donkey Kong's friends are cornered by the members of the Subcon Army, Donkey Kong decides to team up with Mario and co. to save them. Donkey Kong is a different kind of bulk compared to Bowser, with the obvious good power but surprisingly high health over defenses. He utilizes barrels and other monkey-related techniques for attacking.
Daisy	Daisy is the spunky princess of Sarasaland, a neighbor kingdom of the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon Tatanga's return, he attempts to capture Daisy, but fails when Peach and Mario come to her aid. Daisy is, like Peach, a support unit, but is much higher in utility, at the cost of even less defenses. Daisy uses flowers and nature-related attacks in battle, as well as supportive group attacks.
Wario
Rosalina
Geno