Best Role-Playing Game
Paper Mario 2 (GC)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Read our preview from E3 2004 >>
Hot on the heels of last year's rousing GBA success Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga comes Nintendo and Intelligent Systems with even more role-playing Mario madness. The original Paper Mario was one of the best--and most overlooked--games on the Nintendo 64, but hopefully this new sequel will bring the series the attention and respect it deserves. Honestly, how can you argue with a game that lets you turn Mario into a paper airplane so he can glide over long distances? But that's just the start of the imaginative and endearing gameplay we saw in the E3 demo of the game.
The combat in Paper Mario 2 is one of the game's most inventive components. You'll fight out each battle on an actual stage, and the size and reactions of your audience will help you gauge how well you're doing. Audience participation is even a big part of the battle, as you'll be pelted by various objects (and take real damage) if you screw up. Conversely, you can appeal to the audience and use their adoration to build up a meter that will let you perform special attacks. This weird sort of metamechanic is exactly what a Mario game like this needs to stay fresh.
;)
Paper Mario 2 has some serious chops in the character department, too--Mario will be accompanied by an assortment of zany sidekicks throughout the game. Check out Goombella, the blonde goomba valley girl who inexplicably wears a miner's helmet, or Koops, the spineless koopa troopa who's searching for his long-lost father. This was a strong year for RPGs at E3, and Paper Mario 2 rose above the rest with its crazy, endearing art style and truly interesting play mechanics.
The other Best Role-Playing Game finalists:
Dungeon Lords (PC)
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Jade Empire (Xbox)
Tales of Symphonia (GC)
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