Introduction:

At last year's E3 2006, Nintendo revealed the next game in the Paper Mario series, Super Paper Mario. Slated for a Gamecube release, it was delayed in October and bumped up to the Wii. One thing was very different though, this was a platformer and not an RPG. However, it is actually both. With HP and items and tons of RPG elements put into a platformer, Super Paper Mario feels more like a Real Time RPG and not a platformer. It's main focus is the ability to "Flip between dimensions", which lets you go from a 2D level to a fully 3D flip from the side of it.

Story:

Super Paper Mario by FAR has the best story of any Mario RPG. Instead of the whole world being destroyed or taken over as in the past RPG's, this one has every world being destroyed.

The game starts off at a wedding between Peach and Bowser. Yes, you are just as confused as they are. Above them floats Count Bleck, the game's villain. He forcibly marries the two to further his dark scheme, which will be explained later. By uniting someone of pure heart and someone of evil heart, Bleck releases an item known as the Chaos Heart, which allows him to do what the "Dark Prognosticus" tells him. The Dark Prognosticus is an evil book that foretells the end of all worlds. Count Bleck is doing what the book says because he wants to destroy all worlds and build a new, perfect one, where people wouldn't suffer. This sounds pretty good, but you can't just kill everybody in existence to make one world. Somebody needs to stop him. As written in the Light Prognosticus, a hero appears to gather the 8 Pure Hearts to stop the Chaos Heart. This person, as you may guess, is Mario. He embarks on a journey between dimensions to collect the Pure Hearts and save all worlds. The story widens and gets better as the game goes on, but I can't spoil everything.
 

Gameplay:

The gameplay in Super Paper Mario is really what makes it fun. Story's good, graphics are good, but its the completely flawless gameplay that really makes it good. You play by holding the Wii-mote sideways, with no Nunchuck. You use the D-pad to move, and 2 buttons to jump. You can pause with the + button and look at controls with the - button. The 1 button lets you use your "Pixl", which is like your partner. There are many different Pixls, and whichever one you have out lets you do a certain thing. One lets you bomb an area, one lets you go paper thin, one lets you throw things, and those are only a few of them. The A button is the button that lets you flip between 2D and 3D. You can only stay in 3D for a certain amount of time though, and once you go past that time you take damage. If you point the Wiimote at the screen, you can learn more about things on it by clicking on them with the A button. Also, this lets you see things you couldn't see before, and make them visible.

You're usually going across the screen, jumping on enemies and hitting blocks. You have to use all your abilities to solve (sometimes challenging) puzzles and defeat big boss enemies. You have the ability to switch from Mario to Peach, Bowser, and even Luigi. Each character has a distinct ability. Mario can flip, Peach can ride her parasol over large gaps, Bowser can breathe fire, and Luigi can jump to unreachable high places. You need to switch often and use all your characters, but you'll usually be Mario.

When you defeat an enemy, or get an item, you'll receive points. Points build up at the top of the screen for the whole game. When you reach a certain amount, you'll level up. When you level up, you'll either gain 5 HP or 1 attack power. They alternate, meaning it'll always go HP, Atk, HP, Atk etc.

Items in this game are awesome. The only way to describe the amount of them is "tons". Some restore HP, others cause coins to rain down on you, other send lightning, ice, fire, and stars on enemies. Some of the big items include the Star. This Star lets you grow to enormous size and crush everything as you walk along, kind of like the Super Mushroom in New Super Mario Bros. You'll transform into the original 2-D 8 bit sprite of whatever character you're using when this happens. Another item is the Pal Pills. This causes miniature 8 bit sprites of your current character to circle him and follow him and jump on enemies when you jump. The last important item is "Cards". "Cards" are like the Tattle Log of TTYD, a record of a certain enemy, a picture, and its stats. There's also some for NPC's, but they don't really have an effect. The effect of the enemy ones is that you do double damage to them. Collecting them is long work, and a very nice and large sidequest. You can find cards in levels, shops, or you can by a "Catch Card" and find the enemy and turn it into a card.

With so many things to do, giving gameplay a less than perfect score isn't possible.

I give the gameplay: 10/10

Graphics:

The Graphics in Super Paper Mario are good, and the paper style is nice, but you can really say this is a Gamecube game. People have said it, and I agree, the Wii for the next generation is not a big graphical advancement over the Gamecube. For that reason, the graphics can't be compared to something like Gears of War. Generation aside though, the art itself is wonderful. The worlds are very colorful, vibrant, drawn extremely well, and the art style of Paper Mario is so unique and great.

I give the graphics: 8.5/10

Sound:

The Sound in Super Paper Mario is great. While it doesn't take any effect on the Wiimote's speaker, it still does good on the TV. Most of the music is very catchy and fun to listen to. Plus, some of it is remix from old Mario games. The first world sounds like Super Mario Bros at first, and then to Super Mario World in the same song. When you grow big from the star, the Invincible theme from SMB plays. These things produce a lot of nostalgia. The sound effects are also really cool. The only thing I don't like is when your health gets low, the beeping noises. They're in Zelda, they're in the past Paper Marios, I hate them. I know my HP is low, so stop beeping for 5 minutes. Some people like it though, so its not a big deal

I give the sound: 9/10

Replayability:

Super Paper Mario, like other Mario RPG's, has insane replay ability. Aside from the hours and hours of sidequests that are probably as long as the main story, playing through the main story again will probably happen not too long after you beat the game

I give the replayability: 9/10

Challenge:

The one thing Super Paper Mario lacks is challenge. Its very easy all around, but once in awhile the occasional hard puzzle will have you, well, puzzled

I give the challenge: 4/10

Frustration:

Super Paper Mario is not frustrating in any way, shape, or from.  Perfection in that area.

I give the challenge: 0/10

Value:

$50 for Super Paper Mario seems pretty good. Its not the longest game ever, but its insanely fun!

I give the value: 9/10

Humor:

An extra category I had to put in. A game has not made me laugh this much since Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. This game is just constantly funny in many and many different areas.

I give the humor: 91010

Overall:

Super Paper Mario is a worthwhile experience and a must have for Mario RPG owners. While it isn't as good as the original or TTYD, its one of the only good games that have come out lately. You'll enjoy this game, as I know I did.

I give Super Paper Mario: 9/10

Conclusion:

Not as good as Twilight Princess, but after that the best Wii game on the market. This is Prince P, and thanks for reading my review!

Written By: Prince Peasley
E-Mail: captaincattus@hotmail.com
Date Submitted: April 26th, 2007

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