Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

More than a decade ago, Nintendo brought Mario to the Nintendo 64 in a whole new way. Sure, he's been in a role-playing game before, but not like this. Having his dimensions stripped away, Mario became as thin as paper, thus the title Paper Mario. Paper Mario instantly became a beloved classic thanks to its pop-up style visuals and its immense cast of characters. Even a decade later, its gameplay still proves quite enjoyable.

Mario games all start out the same way: peace and tranquility until Bowser screws everything up by kidnapping Princess Peach. They also end the same way with Mario delivering Bowser a humiliating defeat, that is, until Bowser gets a one-up on him. The King of All Koopas has ascended to the Heavens and stolen the magical Star Rod from the seven Star Spirits. If that wasn't enough, he's also had each spirit held captive by one of his generals. Of course, Mario was quick on the scene to stop Bowser but to his dismay, found out Bowser became invincible thanks to the Star Rod. Uprooting Peach's castle with Bowser's own, he flew high into the sky and kicked Mario out. After coming to from the crash landing, he's off to a long journey to return to the castle and beat Bowser once and for all. Well, maybe not for all.

Paper Mario is a role-playing game with some platforming and puzzle elements. The game lets you see your enemies before you engage them, rather than the traditional style of random encounters. This allows you to get preemptive attacks by jumping on them or hitting them with your hammer. The enemy roster is rather verbose, spanning all the previous Mario games including everything from goombas to Shy Guys from Super Mario Bros. 2 to moles from Super Mario World. Also, some of the boss characters are larger, more personified versions of baddies you know so well.

When you engage one of these enemies, you are treated with an excellent battle system. Most turn-based RPGs tend to bore the gamer as they just sit and watch the battle unfold. Paper Mario actually involves you in every step. Early on in the game, you are given the ability to execute an Action Command. This lets you deal further damage by performing an action at the right moment, such as hitting the A button right before you land a jump, or holding back the analog stick to fill up a meter for a more powerful swing of the hammer. As a result, if you simply watch the battle unfold instead of paying attention to the action commands, you'll find yourself having a much harder time in battle.

As Mario proceeds through the game, he'll meet and acquire allies, all based on enemies he used to fight back in his 2D glory days. Goombario is of course a goomba; Kooper is a Koopa; Bombette is a female bomb; Parakarry is a winged Koopa; Bow is a female boo; Sushie is a fish; Lakilester is a lakitu. All of them also have their own unique powers and action commands, as well as having their own abilities to help Mario overcome obstacles on the way to and in dungeons. Bombette can blow holes in cracked walls, while Bow can turn Mario invisible to hide from enemies and pass through objects. Parakarry carries Mario over gaps, Lakilester lets Mario travel over spikes and lava, and so on.

Mario will also be granted Star Power every time he rescues a Star Spirit. There are seven spirits, so that means there are seven powers. These can restore HP and FP (Flower Points for using abilities), attack all enemies or put them to sleep, freeze time or even turn them to stars and blow them away if you don't feel like fighting. Mario will regain a very small amount of Star Energy after each turn, or he can chose to use Focus and restore a bit more. The game develops a graceful balancing act as you fight your enemies and use your Star Power wisely while regenerating your energy.

Paper Mario gave birth to the Badge system, where it was adopted by the Mario and Luigi titles. All your abilities and other bonuses are governed by this system. In order to use badges, you need Badge Points, which can be increased as you level up (although you can only increase HP, FP, or BP once during each level). You can buy badges or you can find them lying around the Mushroom Kingdom. Some will let you use abilities such as Power Jump, or Earthquake Smash, while others grant you passive abilities such as dodging attacks when you're in danger or restoring HP every other turn. The Badge system adds a lot of customization to an already great battle system.

The lands that Mario explores are, just as with everything else, patterned after locals that he's been through in previous games. Flower fields, snow capped mountains, giant fortresses, haunted houses, jungles and volcanoes, and there's even a sewer of interconnected pipes that run underneath Toad Town. Speaking of towns, they are also inhabited by denizens of the Mario universe including everything from toads to yoshis to penguins. You can also use these hubs just as you would in any RPG to rest and replenish and buy items, but the one thing you won't find is any weapon or armor stores. Paper Mario is unique in that regard, so better equipment is left discovered in the game.

It's hard to really appreciate Paper Mario's graphics on a technical level since the game is obviously so dated, but if you can mentally travel back in time to 2001, you'll really enjoy what Nintendo has done. The art direction takes front stage with a pop-up book style presentation as buildings fold down some of their walls when Mario enters and then close back up when he leaves. Seeing Mario paper-thin and floating gently to the ground is a unique experience. All the detailing and special effects of the game have a very charming and carefree appeal to them.

The game also sounds wonderful with excellent sound design throughout. You have instantly recognizable sound effects from the bashing of blocks to the stomping on turtle shells. Bombette's explosions are so loud that they shake the screen, and hearing the poofs of enemies as they're vanquished is akin to a gentle pat on the back for a job well done. The soundtrack is perhaps the game's strongest facet, because it is expertly composed. There's a lot of original music in the game, of course, but there are also many arranges of memorable Mario tracks, and they all come in perfectly.

Whether you never played Paper Mario before or are gearing up for the upcoming Paper Mario: Sticker Star on the 3DS, you can be rest assured that Paper Mario is still very much enjoyable today. The visuals are obviously dated which can't be helped but again, its art direction is still some of the most inventive ever seen in the genre. The gameplay is what really is most important, and the battle system is a terrifically crafted mechanic. Nintendo's localization is also as tight as it has ever been, and the game's packed with so much funny and witty dialogue, you'll be hard-pressed not to laugh at least once. Paper Mario really is an exemplary game that still shines to this day.