Super Mario RPG Challange!

[Ultima Shadow]

Yes, I've decided to start a RPG challange. I and TT have already played trough SMRPG once without using equippment. This time it will probably be much tougher, though. I'm not sure if it even is possible to get trough the whole game this way yet... but it should be.

I'm going to try to beat SMRPG without ever leveling up. I'll only level up in unavoidable fights. I'll never walk into the normal encounters and whenever I encounter an enemy, I'll have to run. Every avoidable fight must be avoided.

Since SMRPG don't get the attention it deserves, I'm sure no-one else will attempt this... but hopefully someone else who loves this game and likes challanges will.

Edit: Oh, and there's 1 more thing about this challange... you're NOT allowed to use dammaging items like Rock Candy.

[Captain Maxx Power]

I don't know if doing such a challenge with an admittely "childish" RPG such as SMRPG will gainer the same level of respect as, say, doing the same thing with one of the FFs would. But good luck all the same.

[lord shishio]

no rock candy????!!!!!!?????/ Thats an insult!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fine then, I'll just have to stick to my tootsie pops

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I'm wondering if it's possible. Good luck!

[Ultima Shadow]

I don't know if doing such a challenge with an admittely "childish" RPG such as SMRPG will gainer the same level of respect as, say, doing the same thing with one of the FFs would. But good luck all the same.

SMRPG is not childish. It's humoristic.

no rock candy????!!!!!!?????/ Thats an insult!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fine then, I'll just have to stick to my tootsie pops

The reason is simply because stuff like Rock Candy makes some fights too easy. 1 of the really hard things about this challange is that you usually do a very low amount of dammage in battles. Dammaging items would prevent that fact.

I'm wondering if it's possible. Good luck!

Thanks. Thanks to the ability to defend against some attacks and do extra dammage with your own by "timing" in battles, it should be possible. I'm just about to enter the forest and so far, Mario and Mallow are at level 2. Croco and Mack were pretty tough but Belome wasn't too much trouble. Also, the fact that the characters you get later on have a higher start level may make things easier.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I imagine you have to be REALLY good at the timing in order to win that challenge. Especially since you probably won't be getting a lot of special abilities.

[abrojtm]

Are you using savestates?

[Ultima Shadow]

Are you using savestates?

No. I only save on savepoints. I don't play on an emulator with savestates.

Anyways... I've now got to Booster's Tower. I'm advancing incredibly fast since I never fight as long as it's not a forced battle. Bowyer was not too hard since I had Geno in that battle. Without Geno, it would have taken me ages, though. Since Geno started off at level 6, he become very useful. Croco wasn't as tough as the first time but still pretty dangerous... and much tougher than Punchinello who still was pretty much a pushover. I now also have Bowser who starts at level 8, so he's by far the toughest guy in my party at the moment. Geno, who's at level 7 after the battle with Croco and Punchinello is still the second most powerful, though. Mallow is more or less useless at the moment. I've saved just before entering the room where you have to hide from Booster and the Sniffits.

Money isn't too much of a problem since I've found 2 hidden boxes with Kerokero Cola which can be sold for 200 coins each.

The hardest battle so far would probably be Mack and Croco (the first time).

[Kirobaito]

I tried that a few years ago and got to either Johnny or Yaridovich (can't remember) before it got too difficult.

[Ultima Shadow]

I tried that a few years ago and got to either Johnny or Yaridovich (can't remember) before it got too difficult.

Well, I just defeated Yaridovich. I had a little trouble with him and Jhonny though. It was probably Jhonny that you found difficult because there's 2 ways to go against him. The insanely hard way and the easier way. I'll talk more about that later in this post.

After successfully avoiding getting caught by Booster in the end of his tower, I had to fight Knife Guy and Grate Guy. Thanks to the new powerhouse, Bowser, it wasn't too hard but still a pretty tough battle. Mario died in 1-2 hits most of the time. Thanks to Bowsers phsycical strength, I was able to beat Grate Guy pretty fast, though... which made the rest of the battle much easier.

The next unavoidable battle was the boss battle against the living cake. Even though it was tougher than the last battle, it wasn't too much trouble either. Pice of cake!

No battle in Star Hill... just rushing trough without encountering a singel enemy. Now... I finally got to Jhonny's ship. The big Octopuss was much tougher than the last 2 battles but still not too tough... as long as you've got a great load of "Pick me up's".

The battle against Jhonathan Jhonny Jones seemed to be just insane until I remembered the old trick to avoid getting into the 1 on 1 fight. If you kill all the Shark dudes, Jhonny will challange Mario to a 1 on 1 duell. Since Mario is extremely weak at the moment and dies in like 1-2 hits as long as you don't successfully block the blows completely, this is just a crazy fight. You'll need to block just about every hit from Jhonny completely and take 0 dammage while YOU have to hit him like... a lot of times since Mario suck at doing any good amount of dammage at the moment. But instead, you can simply kill of all but 1 of the Shark dudes to prevent the 1 on 1 battle. As long as atleast 1 of the Shark dudes are alive, Jhonny won't challange you. I had also brought a Sleep Bomb with me which was extremely usefull since I could put all the Shark dudes to sleep with it and then take them out one by one until there only was 1 left. After Jhonny uses Valor Up, it's very hard to dammage him.

Yaridovich wasn't as hard to dammage as Jhonny and since Geno leveled up and got the "Geno Boost" ability after Jhonny (good timing, since I wouldn't have been able to survive Water Blast without that ability) it was even easier to dammage him. Doing more than 110 in 1 hit was still almost impossible, tough. The problem with Yaridovich is Water Blast. Probably the most dangerous attack that has been used against me so far. If he's using it twice in a row, you can be sure to kiss your ass goodbye as long as you haven't got Peach in your party and use Group Hug in between. However... since you'll need Geno's boost ability, you would have to switch Peach with Bowser, who's your best dammage dealer and meat sheild... so... I really prefere Bowser over Peach in this battle. Well, anyways... overall, Yaridovich was just about as tough as Mack and Croco.

[lord shishio]

I still can't get over that no rock candy deal tho, I mean come on, I'm running out of Reec'es Pieces, and my butterfingers ran out hours ago!!!!!!!!

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Is the Lazy Shell/Lazy Shell Armor permitted in this challenge? It'd make things a whole lot easier.

[Ultima Shadow]

Is the Lazy Shell/Lazy Shell Armor permitted in this challenge? It'd make things a whole lot easier.

Oh, yeah... I forgot to mention that. Nope, I won't use any of the "super equippment". This includes Attack Scarf, Super Suit (too hard to get anyways) and the Lazy Shells. I'll only use them if it would turn out to be impossible without them. But I'm sure it's possible without them so... yeah.

Anyways... I've advanced and I'm now about to enter the Volcano!

First off, I had a few forced encounters in Lands End. I had to fight the ants in order to get trough to monstro town. The ants weren't hard at all, but their Something-Kiss attack were powerfull enough to instantly kill Mario and Geno. But since they almost never used it and died pretty quick, that wasn't too much of a problem.

Belome, while harder than last time, was still not really that tough... as long as he don't swallow and clone Bowser or Geno. Bowser and Geno clones can be pretty tough.

Now, I finally made it to Monstro Town! And guess what? The first thing I do after saving is going back to Molleville, buying Fireworks, trading for Shiny Stone, going back to Monstro Town and fighting Culex... and dying in the very first round. Ouch. I'll seriously try to beat him later on, though.

Anyways... Smilax, the big, bad plant, was supprisingly easy. The only thing to worry about at all was Petal Blast.

Now... that freaky Egg-thing on the other hand... was a much bigger problem. Not too hard, actually... but the Pick me up's were used up like crazy. The egg boss only use 2 moves. Phsycical attack and a super egg attack which kinda worked like an instant-kill attack on 1 party member.

And finally... Valentina and Dodo... another difficult battle that almost can compare to Mack, Croco and Yaridovich. Bowser got into the duell with Dodo, and every attack had to be guarded against in order to get a guaranteed win. Valentina had some very nasty moves as well, but lacked any extreme moves like Yaridovich's Water Blast and was therefore not quite as hard... but still "hard enough."

Now... Czar Dragon and The Axem Rangers may be a BIG problem...

[Ultima Shadow]

Ok, I got to the Czar Dragon... and that was the hardest battle so far. That crazy thing could almost finish off my whole party in 1 turn and I had to use up my whole Item inventory. Then I went back to the shop in the Volcano to stock up on stuff.

...and then... The Axem Rangers... are BY FAR the toughest battle so far. Mostly because Geno and Bowser are the only ones who even can survive the Breaker Beam... while defending. The problem, of course... is that I usually run out off healing Items and stuff before the battle is over...

I'll try again later today. Axem Black and Axem Green are the main treats because of their extremely dangerous attacks.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

The Axem Rangers can be tough even at higher levels, you've got your work cut out for you.