Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

"Shallow's unbiased and fair review!"

It's finally here! Those who played the first Paper Mario for Nintendo 64 have been waiting.....waiting for a sequel. Sure, we got Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, but it wasn't a direct sequel. But here it is, and those who played the first one will more than likely eat this one up. I know I did! Although I enjoyed Paper Mario alot, I kept an open mind when playing this game, and I didn't let my enjoyment of the first one affect how I felt about this one.

Storyline: The storyline.....was awesome! Much better than in the first, to say the least. Although very cliched, it was still very good in every way. The subplots in all the different places are all excellent, as well. I'll try to do my best to describe it without any spoilers. Princess Peach takes a vacation to Rogueport. Rogueport. That's just asking for trouble. But alas, this princess has always been ignorant to the point where she always finds a way to get kidnapped. In this case, you would think that maybe she should avoid places where Rouges hang out, but no. Anyways, she finds a mysterious box given to her by a mysterious salesman. Inside the box, she finds a magical map. She sends the map to Mario, and requests him to help her find out what it leads to. When he arrives, the Princess is nowhere to be found! I bet that's a shocker! Well, Mario meets Professor Frankly, who helps Mario find out what the map is about, and what it leads to. This leads to a very long quest...well, longer than what Mario anticipated. That is what I am going to leave you all with, but I thought I'd let you know that Bowser and Luigi aren't completely left out in the cold. Bowser...is always one step behind Mario. And Luigi, although he doesn't join you, has his own little 'thing' going on for him. I won't say what, but I know that you will enjoy it if you play this. Summary: Although a bit cliched here and there, the overall plot is pretty good. The humor in this game is really amazing. Yes, I actually chuckled at some things that were said and done throughout this game, and you probably will too. Definitely A+!

Graphics: It's hard to begin here. If you played the first PM, then you will be completely used to these graphics. The areas are in 3D, while the characters are papery-thin 2D characters. It might be hard to imagine if you hadn't played the first PM, but it actually works out really well. I love how Nintendo made alot of the areas in this game. The colors are really fresh and varied, even beautiful in some places, such as Keelhaul Key. The character sprites are pretty well-done, too. Some of the characters are truly unique. There was one thing that did disappoint me, however. It might sound stupid to all of you, but it does sort of have a slight importance to me. Atmosphere. I'm not saying that the atmosphere doesn't fit the game, but it surely didn't impress me as much as the first one. Here are some examples. The main city that serves as the center of all the different places of the world, Rogueport...it really fit the kind of environment it was supposed to well. It's really junky looking, and there are all kinds of bandits and thieves. But...I don't see this as an ideal place to have as your ideal central place of rest. Mushroom Kingdom in PM was a pretty good place to have as your place you that connects you to everywhere in the game, and it was just fit, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, there are places that fit the atmosphere really good....such as Keelhaul Key and Creepy Steeple were ideal places for what they were supposed to be. Again, like I said, this might sound stupid to you, but play the game for yourself, and make your own judgement. What are problems to me might not affect you at all. Summary: The graphics are great, and they fit each other very well. Not all of the places you go to fit the atmosphere they should (in MY opinion), but other than that, I have no complaints whatsoever.

Gameplay: Ok, here's the second major point that makes this game up (the first being the Storyline.) If you played PM, then you will be completely used to it. This is, both a good and bad thing. It's good because you are familiar with it, and this concept won't be too awfully hard or anything (not that it is in the first place), but it's also bad because it doesn't feel like anything new was presented to players. Personally, this hasn't hampered my enjoyment too much. There are some new things added in this game as well, but it's not like they revolutionize the genre or anything. The most noticeable being that there is an audience watching you during your battles. At first, it starts small, but as time goes on, you get more and more people watching you. If you pull of a move perfectly, they'll cheer you on, and fill up your Star Power Guage (it's similar to the guage in PM, except it doesn't fill up automatically. It's based largely on the audience.) However, they can also throw things at you. They can throw helpful or harmful items at you as well. You have to pay attention to the symbol that shows up, see if the item is good or bad, and determine whether or not you need to attack that audience member. There are other actions you can take as well. You can Appeal to the audience....get them to cheer you on even more and fill up your star guage quicker. You can also switch partners as well. The most notable thing about partners this time around is that they have HP as well. Now, the enemies don't JUST attack Mario all the time. If they die, you can just switch in another partner. Although most of the partners are similar to those of PM, there are a few who are different. You can also use Special Moves that take up Star Power from the guage I was telling you about. These moves aren't automatic, as they were in PM. Each move requires you to push different buttons with precise timing. Pull it off, and you receive big rewards. Fail, and you'll see that you wasted your Star Power. It all works out very well, for the most part. Summary: Although there are a few additions to the battle system, everything works out the same way for the most part. A lot of the attacks from PM have been retained, and alot of new ones have been added as well. The new moves help add variety and balance out the old moves.

Sound/Music: Hmm...it's hard to start here, too. How about with the music? I'm going to sound like I'm repeating myself here, but the music fits the game pretty well. I noticed a lack of music that really stuck with me through the day, but that's not to say the music is bad. I just didn't really hear anything that caught my ears, so to speak. As I stated before, each different song really fits in where it's supposed to. At the very least, the battle music isn't as repetitive as the music from PM. :p The sounds are pretty much the same as the music; nothing is exceptionally noticed more than anything else, but it still fits the game. There hasn't been anytime in the game where I heard something and said, 'Ok...that sounded pretty dumb.' Summary: Not much to say here. Although nothing here is especially notable, it does fit the game through and through. Not as repetitive as before, and that's always a good thing!

Overall: All in all, this game makes one definite Gamecube game that you NEED to seek out and buy now. This isn't a game for all RPG fans, but if you enjoyed the first Paper Mario, you will more than likely love this one. Even if you aren't a fan of PM, you should at least rent this. Everybody is different, so they need to take different actions based on how they feel on certain games like this. If you own a Gamecube, and you are a big fan of Nintendo games, or RPG's, definitely buy this. If you are a casual gamer, then you should at least rent it. But do not pass this up! You can also introduce yourself to the series by playing Paper Mario, but keep in mind that you don't HAVE to know anything of the original to enjoy this one. Trust me, this is a great game!

There's only one thing that I want to know about. The first Paper Mario kinda hinted at a game that had just Luigi as the main character....and what do you know! Luigi's Mansion was released for the Gamecube! This time around, we are given hints of another game with Luigi as the main character. Perhaps Paper Luigi is on Nintendo's planned roster of games within the next few years? Only time can tell, folks.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/04