Super Mario RPG‘s Geno has been a hot topic of discussion in recent days, following the revelation that the character will once again receive a Mii Fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Nintendo Switch. We had assumed that Geno might be dropped as a result of Sephiroth’s arrival, but the reveal of the Mii Fighter costume confirmed that fans shouldn’t expect Geno to appear as a full-fledged fighter. With the character on everyone’s mind, character designer Kazuyuki Kurashima took to Twitter to reveal some concept art of the character for his performance in Super Mario RPG.
Images of the concept art can be found in the Tweet embedded below.
Seems to be getting excited
See some suggestions.# Gino participation #Mario RPG pic.twitter.com/iFhwp7yExX– Kazuyuki Kurashima (This year is almost over) (@kurashimakaz) December 18, 2020
It’s certainly interesting to get a glimpse of what could have been! There were clearly some interesting ideas about what the character might look like. The third image in particular is almost reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog, which would make sense given the character’s popularity around the same time.
Although art books have become more common in recent years, the video game industry has a poor track record of preserving its own history. As such, it is quite nice to see that these original designs have been preserved in the years since Super Mario RPG‘s release, back in 1996. With Geno’s early artwork now unveiled, it will be interesting to see if any concept art from Mallow survived as well!
Owned by Square Enix, Geno’s video games have been rare for the past 24 years. While the character quickly became a fan favorite, he has since been relegated to minor cameos Super Mario RPG, including 2003’s Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and the Mii Fighter costume that appeared in previous Super Smash Bros. games.
What do you think of the concept art for Geno? Are you glad Nintendo and Square have gone in a different direction for the character? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter @Marcdachamp to talk about gaming!