Review
Release Date: 02.05.2001
Platform:
Nintendo 64Developer:
Intelligent SystemsPublisher:
Nintendo of America, Inc.Reviewed by
Brian J. Balsan on 4.28.2003
| Review Rating: 9/10 | User Rating: 8.62/10 |
When Squaresoft left Nintendo to peruse the CD-ROM media on Sony's Playstation, the idea of seeing Mario in an RPG-type game anytime in the future didn't seem very likely.
Leave it to gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto, then, to try his hand at this "RPG" thing. When the collaboration on the original Mario RPG took place, Miyamoto-san decided to take a step back, leaving the project in the reliable hands of the house that Final Fantasy built.
But without Square to fall back on anymore, it was up to Miyamoto to offer his own followup to the successful SNES RPG. Thus was borne Paper Mario.
The story here returns to its usual roots of Mario-ness: Using a special wand that has the power to grant any and every wish, Bowser captures Princess Peach and sends her castle into the sky, turning it into a floating prison overrun with the Koopa King's baddies. It's up to Mario, who was overpowered by the strange wand, to find the seven star spirits so that he may combat Bowser and save the Mushroom Kingdom once again (and, as always, leaving Luigi to hold down the fort while Mario has all the fun. Sigh and sigh again)
Mr. Miyamoto probably borrowed his idea of a "2 1/2-D game" from Yoshi's Story when designing Paper Mario. As you can probably expect with such a name, Mario is flat. 2-D. Turn him around and you can see him flatten out while he turns. All the characters look like this, offering a unique storybook feel to the game. Because of this, certain hilarious actions could be witnessed that you wouldn't see with a full 3-D Mario, like watching him float like a leaf when he drops to the ground. To make sure the 'paper' aspect doesn't look entirely out of place, the beautifully-constructed 3D worlds look and act like something out of a pop-up book. As you enter houses and buildings, the front part folds down and away to reveal the inside. It's all very pretty-looking. And even the text favors a storybook feel, as it bounces, swirls and ripples depending on the actions of the character that is speaking.
The gameplay is simple enough that anyone can pick it up, yet challenging enough to keep the veteran gamer busy for quite a bit. Paper Mario is actually somewhat tougher than its SNES brother. New to the game is a 'badge' system, similar to the 'ability' system in Kingdom Hearts, where you are given a limited amount of 'points' which can be spread amongst various abilities that you can collect and buy throughout the game. And don't think that Mario will be alone in this adventure; He'll be meeting with new characters, including Goombario the Mario-Fangoomba, Kooper the blue-shelled Koopa, and Bow the Boo, among others. Each character has a unique ability which will help you from reaching items to activating switches. You can only have one character fighting alongside Mario in any given battle, but they can be switched for another character at any time. Unlike Mario, these other characters have to level up by different means.
During the course of the game, you will find various things to see and do, and various actions, like jumping and using the hammer, are not just restricted to the enemy battles. They can also be used while exploring, to break blocks or activate switches and the like. Contols are rock-solid and easy to pick up, and you can even take the advantage when fighting enemies, whether it's by jumping at them first or, if they're spiked, hitting them with your hammer before they can hit you.
Considering the closest Miyamoto has ever gone to RPG himself was the Zelda games, Paper Mario is a very well-made game. A worthy psqeudo-sequel to Mario RPG, it succeeds in being easy enough for beginners and hard enough for the challenge-seekers. Certainly it does a good job in keeping the charm that the original SNES game created for itself.
And that, in itself, is a pleasant surprise, indeed.
