Paper Mario Review
Preconceived notions of kiddie aesthetics aside, Paper Mario is one of the best games of its generation. With its pleasant appearance, endearing characters, various references to and areas from its predecessor (Legend of the Seven Stars), and solid gameplay, it's one of those games that people will remember for years to come.
Not being one of those who've played Legend of the Seven Stars, I'll sum up the references to the best of my ability, Mt. Lavalava and Gusty Gulch are both areas in SMRPG, and the notorious and bumbling Koopa Bros. have made their home in what was once Booster's Castle. With that aside, let's get down to business.
Our story begins with an amusing opening sequence in which a disembodied voice (or text box) tells the tale of the Seven Star Spirits, who reside in Star Haven and grant the wishes of the denizens of Mushroom Kingdom. Our narration is interrupted by the appearance of the nefarious Kammy Koopa, whom Bowser has taped into the opening sequence. Bowser swoops in and nabs the fabled Star Rod, sealing away the Star Spirits and claiming all but limitless power. Things look grave indeed for our hero...
Cut to the Mario Bros. house. The duo receive a letter from Princess Peach inviting them to a party at the castle in Toad Town. The brothers head to the castle, and not a moment too soon, as Bowser arrives to trash a private moment between Peach and Mario. The king of koopas challenges Mario to a battle, whereupon he reveals that he's claimed the Star Rod and is now invincible. After he wishes Peach's castle into the sky and engages Mario in a brief fight, Mario is defeated and sent plummeting back to the earth. So begins Mario's storybook adventure.
Storybook sums up Paper Mario perfectly in its graphical presentation. The game looks and plays out like a pop-up book, and the developers make no effort to hide this through funny little cues like a fort folding down rather than collapsing, or Mario falling like a sheet of paper. There's even a funny little instance of breaking the fourth wall, in which one of the bosses declares: "The sequel should be called Paper Bowser!"
Two-dimensional illusions aside, Paper Mario is a very nice-looking game. Environments are all lush and expansive, with vibrant colors and simple textures that really bring the overall storybook feel home. The character models are all flat sprites that flip one way or the other and don't move all that much when they're doing something, but it works. It's a sort of interesting throwback to old-school platformers and RPGs that many will smile inwardly at. The special attacks and items features in battles all look nice, with the occasional 3D animation. Mostly, though, Intelligent Systems stuck with stylized 2D sprites and effects, due to their being more fitting to the unique appearance.
Paper Mario's turn-based battle system is fairly simple: you have two basic means of attacking, which are jumping and hammer attacks; Heart Points are your life bar, and Flower Points are your points to use skills with. You're given a party member to assist you in battles, and each one has their own unique set of moves, from making you temporarily resistant or even impervious to damage, to blowing up enemies or removing them from the battle entirely. Also, as you advance through the storyline, you'll gain what are essentially the game's summoning magics, the Star Spirits. These abilities gradually increase in effectiveness, and you'll be able to use them more and more as you gain Star Power.
A feature used in Legend of the Seven Stars returns in Paper Mario; the idea of timed hits has been revived and renamed the Action Command. Using the Action Command can range from simple to moderately difficult and has been altered to fit the various techniques in the game. Pressing A at his the right time during a jump will cause you to perform a second jump, and sometimes more if you have a certain attack; holding and releasing buttons at the right moment will cause you to deal more damage with some attacks, and certain other attacks will require you to input a sequence of button presses within a given amount of time for greater potency. Most of the unique skills you and your party members gain will require you to spend Flower Points, though all but the most powerful abilities are relatively low-cost.
Mario will also gain the ability to use more Badges as he gains levels, and these are an incredibly useful tool. Badges are accessories that do anything from giving you new abilities and enhancing the ones you already have to making you more difficult to hit or allowing your party members to use additional skills or swap out more quickly. You can gain badges in a variety of ways. They can be bought or traded for, found in chests and hidden areas, gained from defeating enemies, and obtained through performing various side quests for NPCs.
There are a great deal of optional quests in Paper Mario, like finding hidden Star Pieces, of which there are a great many; these are used to gain a multitude of Badges that may either help you or prove utterly pointless-the latter ones are mainly there for those set on completion. There's also a hidden gambling shop in the main city of the game, in which you can spend coins in the hopes of earning even more. Sixteen super blocks that upgrade your party members' damage and grant them new abilities are also hidden throughout Mushroom Kingdom, though many of these can be found simply by progressing through the game normally. And one other particularly useful feature is a friendly Toad named Tayce T., who'll cook for Mario and eventually learn to combine items for greater effectiveness. Tayce T. has some 100 recipes to complete, many of which are incredibly useful.
Last but not least, the sound. Paper Mario has a pleasant mix of old and new, featuring music and sound effects from across the series' run. Many songs are redone to fit the silly, upbeat mood of the soundtrack, but the original Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 music also makes an appearance through a hidden easter egg in Boo's Mansion. One thing of worthy mention is that the final boss theme sports a remixed version of a track from Super Mario Bros. 3.
The sound effects themselves are clear, fitting, and often quite silly. Very few of the sound effects seem to have been reused, apart from the noise made by Yoshi in Mario Kart 64 and the traditional sound of jumping on an enemy's head (which was admittedly revamped for the title)-but what would a Mario title be without the tried-and-true sound? Probably well enough, but it was nice to see the added little glints of nostalgia Nintendo and Intelligent Systems put in for long-time Mario fans like myself.
If you missed Paper Mario on Nintendo 64 and don't have one, pick it up on the Virtual Console. The $10 more than justifies the purchase of such a great title, and you'll no doubt enjoy it for years to come. For those who missed it and still have the Nintendo 64, Paper Mario can probably be found used for less than the already great price of $10 at local game trade shops. Either way, Paper Mario is just a fantastic title, and anyone who misses it is truly missing out.
