Moustache and Overalls
I just finished playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for the Gamecube. It’s an RPG with Mario (surprise, surprise) trying to rescue the Princess (yet another step forward in the plot department). It’s a sequel to the Paper Mario that had come out on the N64 but I should mention that I haven’t played the original. It plays a lot like a standard RPG with battle screens, an overworld, a “magic” system and the like so that it always feels like an RPG but all of these things have been given the Mario twist.
The magic system, for example, does not allow Fire3 or Curaga or whatever. Instead, Mario can use his spin jump (aka the butt-stomp) or use his hammer to Quake the ground. He plays with various allies in his party includng a Koopa, a Yoshi and even a Bob-omb (the amusingly named Admiral Bobbery). Each of these partners has their own distinct fighting style and the makers did a good job keeping them balanced but individual. The “Paper” twist to the game is well-used with Mario, being made of paper, able to gain power-ups that allow him to become a paper airplane to fly or a paper boat to sail.
While the story in the game is fairly simple, the dialogue is quite charming and at times actully funny. All of the enemies are bad guys from old Mario games so it’s also a nice walk down memory lane if you’re familiar with the territory. It’s definitely not a game that takes itself very seriously as evidenced by sub-games of Bowser’s version of the classic NES Super Mario Bros game and being able to turn yourself into an 8-bit version of Mario for a while. There are some downright bizarre elements including:
1) getting pointless emails (yes, Mario gets his emails on a Gameboy) from people you’ve met throughout the game (why?!)
2) Mario putting his hand up to agree with someone and seemingly giving a Nazi salute, and finally,
3) a sentient computer that appears to fall in love with the Princess after watching her take a shower! Nice touch, boys.
All in all, the mechanics were very satisfying for an RPG, including a badge system that was quite cool and forced some interesting choices. The flavour of the game took good advantage of the Mario world and its tropes. All in all, one of the best RPGs I’ve played in a while.
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By Marc, February 27, 2005 @ 3:47 pm
I must say, that I too have purchased this game, and it is stupendously fun.
Kudos!
By b.j.swank, February 27, 2005 @ 4:22 pm
You lost me at “Gamecube”.
By Tom Cruise, February 28, 2005 @ 1:26 am
You had me at hello.
By Renée Zellweger, February 28, 2005 @ 1:55 am
That’s my line.
By Jonathan Lipnicki, February 28, 2005 @ 2:07 am
Time is a cruel, cruel mistress.
By Mario, March 16, 2009 @ 4:01 pm
I love this game.