Gaming goes to the capitol.

Hopefully this will quell some people’s opinions over whether or not video games are an actual art form or not.

Starting on March 16, 2012 and going through September 30, 2012 The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. will be featuring a new exhibit; The Art of Video Games. The exhibit will showcase various elements of the industry, all the way from its inception to the next-gen systems. There will be video interviews from game designers, concept art, in-game screenshots, and even playable games.

The exciting part is that they are letting us help pick what games we would like to see! From February 14 through April 7, 2011 the Smithsonian will be taking votes to decide what games will be displayed, 80 in total from a group of 240 contenders. So who knows, maybe there will be a Cooking Mama extravaganza at the Smithsonian next year. Go to The Art of Video Games website to cast your votes now.

Via Destructoid and The Smithsonian

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Square / Nintendo
Platform(s): Super NES, Wii
Genre: RPG

Rating: K-A (Kids to Adults)
The Scoop: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a video game developed by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on May 13, 1996, and is known for being the last Mario game released for the SNES.

Different from past Mario games, Super Mario RPG is as the title states, a mix between platforming and a role playing game in the aspect that you can still just on obstacles and whatnot but instead of pouncing on your enemies in the classic fashion, attack is turn-based. The enemies are scattered throughout the screen, and visible making it easy to avoid battle, but like other RPG titles, battle is synonymous as it is in games like in the Final Fantasy series.

The Setup: As the video game begins, you witness a cutscene of Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser and taken to a large castle. Shortly after, you assume the role of Mario and must rescue Princess Peach, as most should be used to by now. The setting for the game is a newly rendered version of The Mushroom Kingdom as well as many other places you can travel, such as Moleville, Forest Maze, Midas River and Land’s End. You’ll meet many characters along the way that will join your party and battle along side you on your journey.

What’s Hot:

• Gameplay: Mario’s short transition from platforming superstar to RPG newcomer left gamers scepticle on whether this title would be worth buying or not. It definitly delivers as the gameplay here is flawless and some of the best I’ve played for the SNES. Controls are super easy to learn, you have a wide range of attacks and Super Mario RPG still delivers the oldschool platformer everybody is used to. In with the old and new apparently.
• Visuals: This game looks great. One of the last games to be released for the SNES, and they deliver with a huge bang visually. The newly rendered environments and character models look really amazing. Everything is crystal clear in this title.
• Audio: The same old Mario tunes that everbody knows and loves have been brought back in Super Mario RPG making for an enjoyable listening experience.
• Lasting Playability: This game will definitly take you a very long time to beat and is so much fun, that you’ll most likely be back for seconds.

What’s Not: Being of the best SNES Mario titles I’ve played, I can’t name a single thing about this game that isn’t close to being perfect. A solid title with very few, if no flaws at all.

Final Verdict: Finally, an RPG title that everybody can relate to. Super Mario RPG was the perfect way to switch from SNES to N64 and remains as a timeless classic. Available for the Virtual Console on the Wii for only eight dollars, it’s a very cheap buy for what you get. Not only is this my second favorite Mario title, but it gets a strong recommendation to any classic gamer as well as a solid 5 star rating.