Super Mario RPG: The Seven Sages

Super Mario RPG: The Seven Sages is a Mario-series fan game created by the team ICU Gigasoft with the RPG Maker 2003 engine. The game tells about Mario, Luigi, and Bowser in a journey to obtain the powers of the legendary Seven Sages to prevent their powers from being absorbed by the mischevious Wario and Waluigi with the stolen Star Rod and use it for their greed.

Gameplay
In the World Map, the player roams on paths that connect areas of towns and dungeons. If the player enters a town, the entire party is fully healed. In towns, the player can roam freely, talk to non-playable characters, shop for items, and buy clothing to increase stats,. Dungeon areas are usually roamed by enemies and items. Players can come into contact with an enemy by simply touching them. If the player presses the Decision Key to the enemy at right timing, the battle will start with a Pre-Emptive Strike, which players will have the time meter full.

The battle system is used by the RPG Maker 2003's timed battle system, which works similar to the battle system mostly used in the Final Fantasy franchise. During battle, characters will have three attributes: Heart Points (HP, Flower Points (FP), and a time meter to perform a command. Should the HP of a character be dropped to zero, the character will be KOed until a reviving item is used on them. If the party is completely KOed however, the game will be over. FP is used to perform special attacks from a character. If there is insufficient FP to use a special attack, the attack will not be used. Upon entering a battle, characters will have the meter, halfway filled, that continuously fills itself as time passes. Once the meter is full, the character can then select the commands Fight, Special, Item, Escape, Row, and Sage Skills (once the party recieves the first Sage's power). Fight is a basic attack to an enemy, Special moves vary from elemental attacks to healing powers, Item allows the character to use an item they have recieved, Escape will have the party attempt to flee, Row will make the characters either stay in the front to attack more, or sent back to get attacked less, and Sage Skills will also range from healing to attacking specials, wich take away a percentage of a character's FP.

Random Battle Bonuses occasionally appear during battles. HP Max and FP Max restores one character's HP and FP respectively. Vigor Up increases the character's Attack and Speed, Valor Up increases Defense and Special. Critical Hit gets the character to perform a second attack should the command Fight be used, and Lucky gives the amount of coins at the start of the battle.

Special equipment called Suits are used to enhance stats as well as give certain Specials. Players can equip and unequip suits at Koopa Kool's store simply by entering the eastern house in the Mushroom Kingdom or by using an item in the World Map. Badges utilizes effects during gameplay, which can range from finding hidden blocks to giving more money after battle.

Outside battles, the player will come across many sidequests and minigames to recieve rare items, suits, or badges, or reveal new paths that were unaccessible earlier. These can help the party to get more stronger.

Synopsis
A long time ago, when the world was still young, the land was separated into seven kingdoms. The Elders of Star Haven foresaw conflict between the kingdoms as the greediness of the people became aparent. These elders requested a meeting with the original rulers of each of the kingdoms. They became Sages, guardians of their respective lands, and were sent back to the world as representatives from Star Haven. Now, the Sages are long gone, but their spirits live on in Seven Monuments. Legend has it that the key to peace with the kingdoms lies in the power of the Sages.

Many have learned of the power that could be obtained by taking control of these objects, and therefore taking control of the Sages. Two unknown villains have been reported sneaking around recently...

Development
The game was created with the RPG Maker 2003 engine, created by Enterbrain. The concept was created around 2005, though it was only being seriously worked on when U Division gave C Division, his brother division, the rights to the game. The game's demo was released around the year 2006, and the full version was released in August 9, 2009. The game's actual production time was about one year.

Reception
The game was highly praised for its polish, creativeness and for the DBS (Default Battle System). However, the game had and still does have a lot of glitches, bugs and can feel very cluttered which is disliked critically.

Indirect Sequel
ICU Gigasoft is also working on an indirect sequel develoved in the RPG Maker XP engine, called "Super Mario RPG: The Starlite Worlds". It is still in its early stages, but it is in enough condition to become a demo.

U Division, a branch off of ICU Gigasoft, has made DLC (DownLoadable Content) for SMRPG:TSS, including a "Sage Boss Rush", new items, new things in the Hero's Room, and more to come. He will also release an episodic "Luigi Chronicles", the first episode planed to be released the summer of 2019.