Super Mario RPG director wants to make a sequel “where you’re only controlling Mario”

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars director Chihiro Fujioka said that if possible, he wants the final game in his career to be a Super Mario RPG follow-up. The director revealed his final game wish in an interview with host Ben Hanson on YouTube channel MinnMax while discussing the development of Super Mario RPG on the Super Famicom.

“Yeah, I would absolutely love to make one… yeah, so in my career, I’ve been involved in a lot of games and I would really like my final one to be another Mario RPG game,” Fujioka said in an interview, transcribed by Nintendo Life. Fujioka’s past works include EarthBound, the Mario & Luigi series, and the Final Fantasy series. The director didn’t reveal exact the plot of the “what if” sequel, but added he’d like to “create a Mario RPG [different from Mario & Luigi] where you’re only controlling Mario.”

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released in 1996 for SNES in collaboration between Square and Nintendo. The plot of the game follows Mario and the gang who must retrieve the seven pieces of the Star Road after the Smithy Gang invades their world. Since its original release, the original Super Mario RPG was released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2008 and later on the Wii U’s digital store in 2006.

The game was also playable alongside 20 other games on the Super NES Classic Edition. Unfortunately, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars isn’t currently included in Nintendo Switch Online’s SNES library.