Paper Mario

Voices of: N/A
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Directed by: Ryota Kawade
Rating: E
Genre: Role-playing
System: Nintendo 64
2001

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: To save Princess Peach from Bowser, Mario must free the seven "Star Spirits".

Review:
Tim: Paper Mario takes our intrepid plumber into an innovative new direction. Now, to be fair, Mario had already gone the RPG route, with the famous Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, an iconic game that I absolutely loved playing. This game follows a similar path, but with some big differences. The bit twist here is that this is a 2D Mario game, and everything in the game is paper. This is a cute innovation that gives the whole game a different look and flavor.

The game itself is a mix of overworld puzzles, plus quite a few turn-based battles. This is all done through a very Nintendo-lens. Along the way, Mario assembles a large variety of teammates, each with their own special powers. These include a Goomba, a Koopa Troopa, a Bom-omb, a Boo, a Paratroopa, a sparky, a Cheep Cheep, and a Lakitu. It's fun to collect new colleagues and to see how their different skills can unlock puzzles and advance the game. That's all expertly plotted and it keeps the game interesting. These characters also partner with Mario in the turn-based battles, which will feel intimately familiar to any RPG fans. Mario has HP hearts, FP Flower Points, and Badge Points. The strategy of the game is how you level up. Each level Mario reaches allows him to increase one of these different categories. I finished the game with 55 HP, 40 FP, and 30 BP. It does feel tricky at times, trying to assess which category's improvements will benefit Mario the most at that point in time.

The game itself is fun, but I have to admit it did feel tedious to me at times. The exploration, the constant battles (sometimes having to fight the same bad guys over and over)- it was fun, but I wouldn't say I thoroughly loved the experience. There are 69 different badges, but several appear twice, so it's a total of 80. I was never that interested in the badges- some of them change sounds and very little else. That felt like an unnecessary chore, so I admit I only collected 46 of them. I felt so little desire to grab more. One of the ways to get more Badges is to collect Star Pieces- there's 160 of them in the game. I only nabbed 42. I know this is pretty unlike me- I'm not always going to 100% games, but I usually get close. I just felt so little desire to do this. I mostly enjoyed the game, but I wanted to advance the story, I wanted to reach the end. That's pretty telling of how I felt about this game. It's cool, it's innovative, it's a lot of fun. But, I didn't love it enough to have any desire to seek out all the hidden items and collectibles. I only collected 2/50 recipes, and did 4/7 quizzes. It just felt pointless to collect more- the in-game rewards weren't nearly compelling enough. I was more than fine with just playing the game- and even without all that, I felt plenty powerful enough to finish it. I did collect 3,011 coins and engage in 700 Battles throughout the course of the game. That's a TON of battles for a lighter game like this. I played it a lot, I just didn't hunt down everything. I'd say my playthrough was a mix of enjoyment and frustration. The game has limitations- Nintendo is incredible at designing games, but they don't have as much experience with RPGs. Intelligent Systems did well, but this feels like a lightweight RPG. The colors, the characters, the graphics are all cool and memorable, but the game itself does become a bit tiresome.

So, yes, I had fun playing Paper Mario and I enjoyed the unique experience. I do feel like it's not even close to as good as Super Mario RPG, a game I truly loved. Still, this was the beginning of yet another Mario franchise and it's a game that is well worth playing. It's a worthy entry for the Nintendo 64 and I'm glad I played it. It's not as polished and enjoyable as many Mario titles, but it's still a solid entry.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door