Number Two - Paper Mario
For me, Paper Mario was a revelation. Not because it was the first RPG I played (Pokemon got there first), but because it was such a perfect mash-up of genres. It contains elements of RPGs, adventure games, and even platformers. It wouldn’t be a Mario game without platforming, would it? To this day, Paper Mario is a prime example of how to create a world full of humor, and have great gameplay and story at the same time.So, when I was playing a game this good at such a young age, you can imagine my standards for this series were set pretty high. After all, like Banjo-Tooie, I had filled up every save slot. I was quite young at the time, and still needed someone to watch me when my parents left the house, so I would just play Paper Mario. I’m pretty sure I even asked the sitter if he wanted to play. Multiple times.
Having said all that, I think it’s safe to say the Paper Mario series never disappointed me. It’s interesting, then, that I missed Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Now, I still went back and played it, but only because a close friend of mine reminded me of its existence. He even let me borrow it. Then came Super Paper Mario on the Wii, which was great as well.
One of the things that makes the Paper Mario series hold up so well is the Action Command system. Now, if you’ve never played Paper Mario (Or Mario & Luigi), the Action Command system works like this: Basically, you get bonuses for timing button presses with actions on-screen. For example, hit the A button right before you stomp on an enemy and do extra damage. Or, right before an enemy hits you, press the B button to reduce the damage taken. This syste
m was utilized further in the special moves you could pull off. I have yet to see another game include this with the ease these games did.Most of my memories lie with Paper Mario on the N64, though. Once again, kudos to Nintendo for bringing so many titles to the Virtual Console. As soon as I heard Paper Mario was one of them, I went back to play it again. Still good. The quirky characters, the awesome sidekicks with their cool powers, the attention to detail...
Ah, I’m getting off track here. My point is - I love Paper Mario, and that’s why it’s number two on the list.
I almost picked Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for this, but I decided that Paper Mario was a better choice for me. Don’t get me wrong, though, Fawful is hilarious.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Previously in this series:
Number Three
Number Four
Intro, Number Five
Do you have any series you love? A series you've been faithful to from the start, and loved every game in?
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