A terrible sequel but great game [Long review]

User Rating: 8 | Super Paper Mario WII
Note: I wrote this review a while ago so all the games in the first paragraph have been released despite me saying they haven't xD

Back when the Wii was released almost a year ago Nintendo canceled all of it's games in development for the Gamecube and ported them to the Wii instead, with mixed reactions from gamers. Zelda TP came out on both systems with both games being almost identical and it was met with generally favourable reviews, the other ports have yet to be released and include Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, a new Kirby platformer running on the Melee engine (maybe switching to the Brawl engine?) and Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (or something else, it looks terrible so I forgot it's name. How professional of me ^_^'). Also, Super Paper Mario which was recently released for the Wii (over here anyway >_>) started off as a Gamecube title. And it shows.

For those of you new to the Paper Mario series here is a short explanation of the games; You are Mario. You are made of Paper.
The end. Well, not really. The first two were a couple of the deepest RPGs ever to grace a Nintendo system and after the second it's hard to think how Nintendo could improve upon the series. I'm pretty sure Super Paper Mario proves that they couldn't as it's worse in almost every way.
Not to say it's a bad game, far from it, in fact it's one of the best games on the Wii as of typing this review however if you have played the original Paper Mario games and loved them you probably wont like this game as much as you could.

Well lets start actually reviewing shall we? The gameplay first. Super Paper Mario isn't a turn based RPG like the previous two games it's now a 2D/3D platformer but it still retains some of the elements that made the first two so great, such as the crazy items and timing a button push (or rather Wiimote Waggle) right after an attack to gain more points. In Paper Mario 2 - The Thousand Year Door - these button presses created either combos or stylish moves depending on when they were pressed, combos did what the name says allowing you to dish out another attack at times and stylish moves which boosted your star power which allowed you to use special moves, in this game it gives you combos and stylish moves at the same time. However now the points generated by stylish moves no longer fuel special moves but add onto your Experience Points which in turn levels you up. Leveling up is now almost entirely useless however, it may boost your attack power and your health but you'll never really be at a point where you think "Gosh, I need to make Mario stronger" although I'll admit there are times where you will attempt to level up just to gain the free full health boost that it comes packed with. Next up are the items, gawd the items. Almost every item has a gimmicky minigame which is used to determine how powerful it's effect is. This would have been a good addition if it werent for the fact that all the minigames are so goddamn easy. If you played TtYd you will know that some of the minigames required skill and split second timing to get the strongest possible use of your item/special attack in this you'll be launching devistating attacks from an item easier than actually attacking the enemy. One of the main draws of Super Paper Mario is its "unique" - The PSP game Crush did it first - ability to switch from 2D to 3D at the push of a button and it does indeed work well. When a bottomless pit which is too big to jump across blocks you path you simply need to switch to 3D and find out that you can walk across the scenery behind it or that there were some blocks that could only be seen from a 3D angle that allow you to cross over safely. It's a very nice addition to the game that adds a nice twist to what would have been just another run-of-the-mill 2D platformer.

As a Gamecube game turned Wii game SPM was never going to impress in the graphics department. It looks like TtYd only with smoother characters and areas but with the switch to full 2D that was expected. The varied enviroments are beautiful though, especially the intro to each one which shows you it being drawn in. From the colourful fields of the opening level to the artisticly beautiful but annoying castle of the new villain "Count Bleck" the game never fails to amaze, it even has a world made entirely of small squares as a throw back to the 8 bit platformers it owes it's roots to. And then you push the A button. And it all goes wrong....kinda. Pushing A activates the 3D mode and while some levels retain their beauty in 3D others just end up looking like barren wastelands. Also, the 3D camera has only one angle and so it's hard to tell what's coming up behind you when you run towards it, similar to SaTSR only less frustrating. All in all it's a very pretty game though.

As I referenced above the main villain of this game is the vile Count Bleck who has a dastardly plot to...force Peach and Bowser into marriage? That's not too bad right? I mean, Bowser clearly loves Peach and I'm sure Peach could get used to him. But no, Peach and Bowser's union into holy matremony is so terribley illogical and just plain wrong it creates the "Chaos Heart" an item so powerful that it opens a rift that threatens to destroy every world in existence. Mario sets off to destroy the Chaos Heart and stop Count Bleck with the aid of his new side-kick "Tippi" and some familiar faces. Then there's Dimentio who seems to work for Count Bleck although he(?) aids Mario and co. once or twice along their journey for his own reasons. There aren't many plot twists and overall the story is a lot simpler than the previous games but personally I think the characters are developed quite a bit better. Also, It has some of the funniest content of any game ever if you are willing to sit and read it all. There's no voice acting just lots and lots of text O.o
Oh, and where's Yoshi?

Next up is Replay Value, this game has quite a lot of it. There are many hidden items such as recipes and bonus cards that you will want to search for. Also, some of the levels are just fun to run around in.

Gameplay: 7/10
Pros: Great 3D puzzles, Solid 2D platforming
Cons: Annoying Minigames for items, The game was better as an RPG, Space levels suck

Graphics: 8/10
Pros: Unique Paper style, Varied enviroments
Cons: 3D sometimes looks ugly.

Story: 8/10
Pros: Great Character development, A few twists in the story, Highly Funny, Dimentio
Cons: No Yoshi, The beginning makes little sense even if it is funny, Walls of text.

Replay value: 9/10
Pros: Lots of collectable cards and recipes.
Cons: No other sidequests? Where's the Job center thing from TtYd?

Overall: 8/10

It's a great game but not the best in the Paper Mario series, must have as a platformer not as a Paper Mario game.