Very few characters are as instantly recognizable as Super Mario and Nintendo knows this rather well. The Italian plumber has starred in a variety of different games that wouldn’t have been as well known without his presence. Among the many different games Mario has starred in are sports games, party games and even role playing games. The Mario RPGs are among the more popular titles starring Mario outside the main entries of the series, thanks to their hilarous writing and unique gameplay features. Now the first role playing game starring the Nintendo mascot, released years ago on Super NES, is going to become available once again for modern hardware.

Earlier today Nintendo has confirmed that Super Mario RPG is going to be released on the Japanese Wii U eShop next week, on August 5th. The game will be available for purchase for 926 yen. There are currently no news on a possible Western release at the time but chances are high, considering the game has also been made available on the Wii Virtual Console a while back.

Super Mario RPG has been developed by Square Enix and released back in 1996 in North America and Japan on Nintendo Super NES. The game’s story focuses on Mario and his friends as they try to recover the seven star pieces of Star Road, which have been stoled by the evil Smithy.

Gameplay wise, Super Mario RPG doesn’t play all that differently from other role playing games of the era, with players having to explore a variety of locations and fight enemies. The game’s battle system is rather unique as it’s a turn based battle system featuring action commands that make all battle actions such as attacks, special moves and defense more effective.

Super Mario RPG will be released next week on the Japanese Wii U eShop. No news are currently available on the Western release but we will let you know more about the matter as soon as possible so stay tuned for all the latest updates.