Back in the '90s, Nintendo played faster and looser with its library of characters. Sometimes Yoshi showed up in The Legend of Zelda, and Kirby was whatever color he felt like at the moment, be it gray or pink. In 1996, that laissez-faire attitude was in full effect for the release of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo. Link, Samus, and even Donkey Kong (sort of) all had inexplicable cameos in the game, and one of my big questions about the remake was whether or not those would move forward. If you're ready to learn the answer read on!
Impressively, the answer is yes! You can still fins Link sleeping in a neighboring bed and when you get close to him a "talk" option appears, and when you click it, a Zelda musical sting plays.
Donkey Kong's cameo has always been questionable as to whether or not it is him, as he is just labeled "Guerilla", but he sure looks a lot like Donkey Kong, just with a crown. Later in the game the enemy model also throws barrels at Mario, so I am not sure how you could misinterpret that.
Final Fantasy VI's mech still makes an appearance on the ground floor of Booster's Tower.
And on the top floor of Booster's Tower you will find a box containing a Samus figure, a car from the Super Nintendo game Stunt Race FX, and Diskun. For the unfamiliar, Diskun was the mascot for the Famicom Disk System in Japan appeared in the pages of the hardware's instruction booklet. If you come back to the tower later, the Peach figure will have been removed revealing a Famicom ROB the robot had been hiding there all along.
Samus in non-figure form also makes an appearance much in the same way as Link. She is sleeping in a bed apparently preparing for her fight with Mother Brain.
Another Final Fantasy cameo happens in the form of Bahamut in the Super Mario RPG style. He appears near the end of the game and is part of a fight against a villainous treasure chest.
At one point in the game you will come across a shopkeeper with an impressive collection of F-Zero vehicles including one that looks like a StarFox Arwing.
And finally, there is a very, very subtle reference to Luigi. He may not make a proper appearance, but he does at least exist in the world of Super Mario RPG in the form of Mario rudely reading his secret wish on Star Hill.
Follow the link for Game Informer's Super Mario RPG remake review. You can read more about the secrets of Super Mario RPG to see how to access one of its most secret bosses.