First off I'd like to say that my review would be based on facts about the game.

However the ratings among other things are my personal opinion. Also I only rate games that I have played through and finished.

Story 10/10
Starts off pretty much like every Mario game should: Bowser kidnaps Toadstool and Mario has to save her. But, something is different, a huge sword suddenly comes down from the sky and literally pierces Bowser's castle, sending Mario flying out! This time Mario joins up with 4 companions, some familiar, some not so familiar, and sets out to save Toadstool... or is there more to it? I'll let you find that out on your own.

I actually like the story of the game a whole lot! It was very well made. Character development was great, there were so many surprises to this game. Even appearances to various Nintendo characters, and even some Squaresoft themes were added as well. There was also a lot of clever little scenes to make the story overall more enjoyable.

Sound/Music 9/10
Sure there was some recycled sounds and music for that matter, but as a whole the music is very enjoyable. It's also something I find myself whistling at times. There were many different styles but some of it was remixed from recycled songs a good chunk was pretty techno style, and don't argue with me until you've really listened to it.

Replay Value 3/10
The replay value is actually pretty low. Once you finish the story you are pretty much done. Meaning there is nothing left to do. Even getting to max level isn't much of a task in itself (considering that the max is 30), but then again, there is a hidden boss and a certain casino. So it exists.

Challenge 4/10
Like I said earlier, this game is better for beginners, so it really isn't that hard. It was my first RPG to beat and it took me a couple of months. Course now I could probably do it in a week's time. Actually the bulk of the time was spent on some of the puzzles of the game rather than bosses, and there were no shortages of puzzles. From letter by letter puzzles to manipulating fortunes to even shuffling quicksand pits just to name a few. That ought to keep you on your toes. Overall though it's pretty easy.

Gameplay 9/10
This is where it gets interesting. The view is angled to where you see 3 dimensions and move in 8 directions instead of the usual 4. Nothing is terribly confusing either because everything has a tutorial so once again, great for beginners.

As for the battle system: magic points are shared for everyone (that means that there is only 1 value for everyone's magic points). It also adds the idea of Timed Hits which increases damage of attacks. There are 4 separate ways to do this: timing the press of the button, pressing the button repeatedly, holding the button for a given period of time, and rotating the control pad. This also applies to abilities. The people in the party at once is 3.

Mario is the only character that appears on the map and has the ability to run and jump which is used a whole lot. There are also various items that do various things like moving panels, treasure chests (like the classic Mario question block), save blocks, pipes, cannons, trampolines, etc. It's very cleverly done.

Rent/Own
I'm sure if you are good enough you could finish the game in the allotted renting time, but it's still a good game to own. That's more of a question of personal preference. I'm afraid it would be hard to find either way though, but I'd doubt it's expensive