Super Mario RPG: Best Party Compositions

In Super Mario RPG, you can swap out your party members anytime. Having the perfect composition can be the difference between breezing through battles and struggling to win. In this guide, I’ll be examining the best party compositions in Super Mario RPG. 

How to Build a Party in Super Mario RPG

If you’re hoping for a single team setup that’s the best throughout the entire game, there isn’t exactly one to do it all. Depending on the enemies you’re facing, you’ll want party members that can take advantage of the weaknesses of the enemies you’re fighting.

Here’s a list of all the party members’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as when you’ll unlock them.

• Mario: Start of the game.
  • Strength: Fireball and Jump
• Mallow: In the first town.
  • Strength: Thunder and Ice
• Geno: At the end of Forest Maze.
  • Strength: Support and Geno Blast
• Bowser: At Booster Tower.
  • Strength: Physical Attacks and good Tank
• Peach: After defeating the boss at Marrymore.
  • Strength: Healing and Support

An issue you’ll run into is that you won’t be able to tell an enemy’s weakness immediately. You’ll have to try different moves until the weakness prompt shows up over the enemy. Once you find that out, it will be recorded in the enemy section of the journal for you to check, giving you an edge the next time you face them.

How to Change Party Members in Super Mario RPG

To change your party composition outside of battle, all you have to do is go into the main menu and select “Party.” From there, you can swap out all party members except Mario. During battle, you can also swap characters by pressing “+”. This is helpful if a character dies or there’s a more helpful partner for the situation.

The Power of Triple Moves and Party Comp

Once you have three party members, you’ll unlock the ability to use Triple Moves. Depending on your party, your Triple Move will vary, but they can all be useful when facing specific enemies. For instance, some deal major damage to all enemies, while others will protect your party from all damage. Be sure to experiment with them against various enemies. Read more about these in our more extensive Triple Moves guide.

Best Party Compositions in Super Mario RPG

However, when you’re building a party, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind. I found that when I’m not sure what characters are the best in a given situation, having a balanced party usually works out best. This means you should have a physical attacker, magical attacker, and a support character. 

Having a setup like this will cover all of your bases when you don’t know what you’ll be facing. The best, most well-balanced party composition is Mario, Geno, and Peach. Mario has the strongest attack. Geno is a great support with a strong attack and magical attack. Peach has the best healing in the entire game. 

With this party, you’ll want Geno to boost Mario’s Physical attack with Geno Boost. Geno can also deal a lot of Magic Damage with Geno Blast, which targets all enemies. Although Peach won’t be doing much damage, she’ll be healing the entire party with ease.

Best Weapons and Accessories for Mario, Geno, and Peach

Here’s a list of the best items to equip for each of these characters.

Mario

• Weapon: Lazy Shellk
• Armor: Super Suit
• Accessory: Jinx Belt

Geno

• Weapon: Star Gun
• Armor: Star Cape
• Accessory: Safety Ring

Peach

• Weapon: Frying Pan
• Armor: Royal Dress
• Accessory: Safety Ring

When to Swap in Bowser and Mallow: Best Weapons and Accessories

However, if you’re not in need of healing, you can swap Peach out for Bowser, since he also has a high attack stat and a lot of HP. This will be helpful if you want to get through a lot of battles fast. He’s also a great addition for boss fights like Knife Guy and King Calamari, since you’ll want that extra attack.

Bowser

• Weapon: Wonder Chomp
• Armor: Work Pants
• Accessory: Quartz Charm

Mallow takes a back seat as soon as you get access to all party members, but if enemies have an elemental weakness, you should swap him in. His Thunderbolt attack will target multiple enemies, which is helpful if there are multiple Chain Chomps. He’ll also gain an Ice attack later on. That’s not to mention Mallow also has a healing move.

Mallow

• Weapon: Sage Stick
• Armor: Prince Pants
• Accessory: Troopa Medal

That’s the best party composition in Super Mario RPG. If you’re looking for more tips and tricks, check out our dedicated SMRPG guides hub.