★★★★★ | Out now on the Nintendo Switch
It always feels incredible to say that a Super Mario game has great writing, yet here we are. For all the countless merits of Shigeru Miyamoto’s iconic plumber — the superlative gameplay, inventive worlds and characters — story has rarely been a huge focal point. Even Super Mario RPG, which I dearly love, is light on plot and heavy on mood. Not so with Paper Mario, a remake of the Gamecube title from 20 years ago, which boasts one of the funniest and most whimsical stories you’ll play all year.
The premise is similar, yet instantly intriguing. Princess Peach is travelling across the Mushroom Kingdom, when she comes across a map promising to lead its bearer to The Thousand-Year Door. Understanding its value and the dangers involved, Peach sends the map to Mario, who sets off on a quest to find Peach and discover the mystery of the ancient legend.
Simple and fun, right? And that’s just the beginning. It’s not long before Paper Mario, ahem, unfolds into a great adventure full of unforgettable characters, witty banter, and some of the wildest flights of fancy this side of Hayao Miyazaki.
Which isn’t to say that Miyamoto and crew have neglected the gameplay in the slightest. Instead, Paper Mario reinvents the classic Mario formula with a dizzying array of fun new mechanics. Each of them building upon both RPG and platformer tropes. On paper, it shouldn’t work. After all, these two genres couldn’t be further from one another. Yet in practice, it’s a joyous marriage of ideas that is easy to pick up and rewarding to master.
This is not a difficult game, and the remaster has numerous little quality of life additions that make it even more accessible. But it is challenging at times, and there’s a constant sense that the game wants you to succeed, even when it amps up the difficulty. It is, in true Nintendo fashion, a player-centric experience, the kind that Japan’s legendary studio has built its empire on.
For example, combat is now turn-based, compared to the fast-paced running and jumping of other familiar Mario titles. Each character has specific skills they can utilize in the melee, and each skill can be boosted with well-timed button presses. Happily, players with motor function impairments don’t need to worry: Paper Mario never punishes anyone for missing a beat.
A fun addition to the melee is an emphasis on the idea that this world is a stage, and all the characters are players in an elaborate theater performance. Combat takes place in a literal theater, complete with an audience cheering and booing based on how the fight goes. A showy display gets you more viewers, and more viewers means you power up faster. It’s whimsical and surprisingly engaging, making every single fight feel like a little showstopper of its own.
Exploring the world is equally rewarding, once again mixing and matching styles and themes from Mario’s vast history. There’s still platforming, though it’s more deliberate and less involved than in other titles. Mario can also turn into other paper-centric items, such as a paper plane, to traverse across inaccessible terrain. It makes perfect sense within the context of the lore, and it’s presented in such a charming, silly way that you don’t really question it. There’s a sense that this world lives on a plane of existence where even the darkest, most dangerous characters are inherently good, deep down. It makes Paper Mario a heart-warming experience, one that’s easy to recommend to even the younger players in the family.
On a technical level, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door runs at a steady 30fps both docked and in handheld mode, and I never found myself wanting for more. This is a gorgeous, smoothly running experience that emphasizes visual fidelity. Due to its nature as an RPG first, it doesn’t require the faster 60fps performance, and I never once found myself wishing for it. Instead, I was happily surprised at the effortless switch between handheld and docked modes, and took my copy of the game on two longer journeys where it kept me entertained for hours on end.
With gorgeous visuals that have aged gracefully, a stellar soundtrack, and a solid, perfectly playable experience right on the card, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an easy recommendation. It’s yet another home run from Nintendo and their Switch console. After seven years of nothing but hits, it’s easily the console of choice to recommend for basically everyone. And with games like this arriving almost yearly, it remains my go-to choice of console on a daily basis.
Don’t miss out on one of the best RPG adventures out there, you won’t regret it.