Games such as Super Paper Mario are all you need to justify buying a Wii. This is a true system seller, reassuring players that while Nintendo will milk Mario with disasters like Mario Hoops on the DS, there’s always a way to bring him back. This is a game just shy of perfection.
After an overly lengthy text-based introduction, you’ll soon forget that time waster as you run through a 2-D Mario creation, stomping on Goombas and hitting blocks for coins. With a sharp, clean graphical presentation, this superb throwback level immediately involves the player from the first time they begin moving the classic plumber.
There’s depth here though, and that’s to be taken literally. Mario can switch at anytime into a 3-D view of the level, radically altering the mechanics and leading to some of the most ingenious puzzles Nintendo has ever dreamt up. Since the switch always occurs directly behind Mario, there are no camera problems and the enhanced shadow keeps players on the right plane when trying to knock out an enemy.
The Wii Remote is held sideways, as it would be when playing some Virtual Console games. Actual uses of the motion sensing controls are relatively weak, such as pointing at the screen to reveal hidden object or to complete a series of motions to use a power-up. Still, while by no means revolutionary (they could have been handled by any controller), required uses of these moves opens up another avenue of exploration when trying to solve Paper Mario’s levels.
During the quest, additional characters become available. Some are directly controlled (such as Princess Peach), and others are Pixls, creatures that grant the lead character a special skill. Swapping between these is the game’s most significant hindrance. There’s no option to swap between characters without digging into the menu system, stopping the game entirely while you make changes. Worse, the flipping into 3-D view is a Mario exclusive making the swaps more apparent.
Article comments
1 - Ken Edwards
A GameCube port is a Wii system seller? That is a sad commentary in and of itself.
2 - steve thompson
SPM is not a game cube port, I have yet to see a gamecube version of SPM. SPM is a gamecube game redesigned for the wii.
3 - Will
It can be a Gamecube port and be good, just poor graphics, but to be honest, who cares?
4 - Deez
Overly lengthy is a pretty conservative way to describe the 20 minutes of text and backstory (who cares) you have to wade through to start playing. Yeah there's some cool 2D levels that bring to mind Mario of old, but there's never more than a level or two before you're interrupted by more text that you must scroll through with no option of bypassing.
Its like they tried to make a Sidescroller Mario RPG with all the little mini missions you have to do. Like they Made Zelda suck and replaced all the characters with Mario guys.
I was expecting something more along the lines of Mario 1-3/ Mario World. Something you can sit down and just play without having to immerse yourself in the (weak) storyline. This did not deliver.
5 - Matt Paprocki
"I was expecting something more along the lines of Mario 1-3/ Mario World"
If that's what you're expecting, that's your own fault. This has the most platforming of any games in the Paper Mario series. They're all like this, though this one adds the cool 3-D flip mode.
Check out New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. That's what you're looking for.
6 - marty
Free Official Nintendo Players Guide for Super Paper Mario