Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

"All the fun of the first Paper Mario. Just add more paper!"

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know this review is extremely late, and this review will need alot of words to be able to submit, but I have a good reason to review this game: This game is the reason I came to GameFAQs, and this review is my tribute to it. If you've played the original Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64, and you worry that you won't be able to understand it, have no worry or fear. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is similar to the the original, but has nothing very important carrying over (Apart from a few cameos and references). The original was a great game, but this game improves on it. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door puts the "Paper" back in the series. With all new characters and abilities, this game will make you laugh over and over, as you dive into the wonderful world of Paper Mario.

Gameplay
The game starts off with the usual stuff. That silly girl Princess Peach has gone and got herself kidnapped (Again), this time it's because she found an extremely valuable treasure map and mails it to Mario. Problem is that the baddies are trying to get this map, as it leads to a treasure that is more valuable then anything that Mario has encountered. And this time, puzzle solving and turn-based fighting won't be enough! ..... Ok, maybe I over-did that. The game plays almost exactly the same as the original: You run around out in the field, jumping on things, hitting things, talking to things and entering battles by touching an enemy. There is one astounding difference between the two, however, and it focuses entirely on the whole "Paper" aspect of the series.

You remember when you were a little kid, and you used to make paper planes and throw them around, watching them soar majestically through the skies before being stuck on the roof of a building? You can now do that with your favourite little plumber. Once you get "cursed" by some hilarious possessed black treasure chests, you can contort Mario's body into various shapes and objects, letting you access new and important areas. Just a few of these awesome abilities are turning into a Paper Plane (For those without Jugem's Cloud), Paper Ability (Turn sideways and get into small cracks and spaces, always a hit at parties) and Paper Tube (Turn into a tube and roll around, for getting into low spots and other stuff). There are a total of 4 of these abilities, and each one is necessary at one point or another for progressing in the game. But, no quest is without enemies.

Fighting is the usual Mario RPG stuff: Enter a battle by attacking an enemy in the field, and then enter a series of turn-based fights to the death. Unlike the Mario and Luigi games, and Super Mario RPG, the HP level is pretty low, with most attacks doing an average of about 4. The highest HP for any enemy/boss is 200, and that's alot. As usual, each enemy has its weaknesses and advantages, and they can be easily defeated if you know what to do. And keeping with the original Paper Mario, you start off with only your trusty hammer and jumping abilities. And you can have your partners help you as well, and they are always essential. There are a total of 7 partners, including 1 unlockable partner (Not telling who) and with just the gameplay covered, I suggest we move on to the next part of the review.

And there are bonus levels, in which you control Peach and (Surprise) Bowser!! That's right, you get to play as everyone's giant turtle-dragon-koopa thing. You play as him and Peach after every chapter, usually just walking around and talking. Bowser's are definitely the best, as 3 times you get to play through 3 of the original Super Mario Bros. levels: The first one, an underwater one and a castle one. These have you running around, smashing blocks, breathing fire and collecting pieces of meat to grow. Aside from the main plot and gameplay of the game, these moments are arguably some of the best parts in the entire game. Sadly, you can only play them once through the entire game.

Sound
Gameplay is always essential for a good game, but sound is just as important. There's no point in playing through Mario's adventures if you're not going to listen to the sound, as they are always good and fitting (Plus the volume button on the remote is there for a reason). There are approximately 18 main areas (Plus alot more little areas) that have great and memorable music. My personal favourite is the main music of Rougeport (The central area that leads pretty much everywhere in the game). I would try and go on a bit longer for this segment, but there are more important parts. But to recap, the sound is very fitting and good. Although if you want to play your favourite songs over it, go ahead.

Graphics
A large step-up from the original. I'm not insulting the N64's graphics, but this version is much better. The whole game has been made much less blurry, and much more papery (If that's a word). Looking at Mario, you can tell that he's made up of parts (His arms, head, body, legs, e.t.c) and so are other various characters in the game. And Mario has cute little stances and other stuff: Don't move him for awhile, and he'll fall asleep. If he's down to low HP, he'll kneel over and pant. Also, you can upgrade his appearance several times: You can get special badges that change his colour scheme, three times: I won't tell you how, I'll let you figure it out for yourself. Remember those Piantas from Super Mario Sunshine? They make another appearance, and this time they are in a much more mature manner: They are running a Mafia-like gang, and are rivals with a new gang called "The Robbos". The Piantas look awesome, wearing black and white suits and dark sunglasses, I just had to add this into the review. The battle stuff looks awesome too, we'll focus on that in the next paragraph.

A new addition to the battles is the audience: That's right, the disembodied voices you could hear in Shy Guy's Toy Box from Paper Mario returns as an actual live audience, applauding and throwing stuff at you. If they are carrying good stuff (Items, coins, e.t.c) you can let them throw it. If they hold something bad (Broken cans, rocks, bones, e.t.c) you can tap the X button and you or your partner will attack them, making them leave. The size of your audience depends on your level, and the audience matters. When you perform a special "Star Power", it takes up a small amount of your stored power. When you battle, and perform well, the audiences will throw large amounts of Star Power at you, which will refill some of your Star Meter. The audience plays a huge part in this game and you will need them. Also, the audience members play an important part with each other: Piranha Plants sometimes turn and eat other members, Bulky Bob-Ombs explode and scare members away, Crazy Dayzees sing and make audience members fall asleep (Which gives you no Star Power, because they're asleep). Shy Guys are my favourite, because they run up on stage, exit left or right and then drop stuff on you or your opponent (Which is pretty good, considering this all that they do in the game).

Replay Value
Once you've finished the main part of the game, you can keep on playing. Forever. And if you feel like it, you can try and complete the game 100%. There is truly a lot of depth to the game: There are 8 chapters (9 if you include the Prolouge), you can play through the Glitz Pit again (A wrestling kind of place), fill out your Tattle log, fill out your recipe list (A grouchy Toad chef known as Zess T. appears as the replacement for Tayce T.), collect all badges, collect all Star Pieces.... Oh, there's just way too much to talk about. One part never fails to amuse me: Remember those Mafia Piantas I mentioned? They have their own casino, and inside you can play various Paper games and the slots. It is so damn fun!

Rent or Buy?
That all depends on how much you want to complete. If you rent it, you may be able to finish the game, or come close. If you buy it, you can finish it and be able to do all the small sidequests and minigames. I highly recommend buying it, as you can keep it as long as you want and replay all the fun parts.

The Conclusion
This is truly an amazing game. This review has taken me hours to write, and I've written more words then I ever thought I could, and it's for my favourite game of all time. It may be about 2 years old, but it's beauty still shines and if you ever feel the need to replay it, I'd support you all the way. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a game to be remembered. As a poet may say, "It's just the sort of game you'd want to play over and over again". It may not win any modern awards against the likes of the new "next-gen" games, but you can easily see the game's potential. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, we salute you.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06