Genre: RPG
Year: 2004
Developed by: Intelligent Systems
Published by: Nintendo
Platforms: GameCube
#83
Feeling Like: Running out of paper puns
Why can’t all games be this charming? I enjoyed Paper Mario quite a bit, but nothing touches Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. All the handheld Mario & Luigi RPG games, or Bowser’s Inside Story had some neat ideas and were fun in their own right, but come on. They’re not even close.
We’ll get to Super Mario RPG eventually, (and with the remake on the horizon, maybe a spot on the Top 10 for 2023 is a possibility) but the only other game in the Mario Role Playing Game universe that can touch the SNES classic, for me, is Thousand Year Door.
It took what made Paper Mario successful and double downed on it. The graphics are in a different league, and we’re not even in high definition territory yet. The crisp outlines of the paper-ish cel shaded graphics look incredible. The detail is higher, the framerate is better and characters are sparkling with personality as a result. I’m not saying graphics are everything, but honestly they matter a lot here.
Mario also has way better buddies in this one. They fight alongside you, but this time they have their own HP so it feels like a true RPG combat system and not a concession. I’ve always preferred RPGs that allow you to fight alongside colorful characters with strange personalities and awesome abilities, so I’m not sure why some developers seem bashful to include them. Nintendo learned their lesson.
God, what a game. It’s so delightful. Each Chapter is a self contained story involving scenarios like a fighting tournament or a mystery onboard a train. No area feels like the previous one, and with the hub town of Rogueport being home to dozens of secrets, I relished finishing a Chapter and returning “home” as much as starting a new one.
I laughed quite often too, I’m not sure if the writing is “good” or not, but I sure didn’t hesitate to talk to every monster, koopa and goomba I could. They’d often have affectations, or funny little hats. What can I say, I love this type of stuff. Why does a bomb have a moustache?
The idea of combat being played in front of a crowd is a unique one, though some Mario games have always felt like they’re being staged in some way or another. You get crowd approval based on a few tricks you can do, and perfecting timed hits. The constant cheering (or jeering!) or even stage lights hitting you in the head adds a different dynamic to the standard turn based fare. Another brownie point for Thousand Year Door!
Everything works in tandem, as a Nintendo game should. The music fits the scene, the characters look like they belong, the adventures are adventurous, Bowser and Peach get their own little side stories which are just as entertaining as the main story and you feel a true sense of accomplishment upon finding each star at the end of a Chapter. There aren’t any bad feelings here, it’s all gentle, good-natured entertainment. Every power leads to a new way to traverse the world and the camera trickery ensures that a simple slit in the wall can lead to a back alley to explore that could lead to an entirely new part of the game. I don’t think I was bored for a single second.
Bomb dude was my favorite companion, but it was genuinely difficult to decide who would come with me and who would ride the pine. That’s always a sign of a good RPG for me, if I hate to leave my buddies behind.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door deserves a more in-depth analysis from me, but I can’t give you much more. I loved the game (naturally) and its placement on the 500 is deserved and solidified. But there’s only so many ways I can say that this is one of the best Mario RPG games, filled with amazing personalities, goofy scenarios and tight gameplay. It’s a massive improvement over Paper Mario, and is miles above the handheld ones. Comparing it to Super Paper Mario would be outright embarrassing. Who knew rolling up into a tube of paper, or a paper airplane could be so worthwhile?
The 500 