Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

"The Mario series gets a revival"

Introduction

After a few lacklustre outings on Gamecube (most notably Mario Party 5), this game gets the Mario series firmly back on track.

Gameplay - 9/10

This is fun; along with the traditional features of Mario games (warp pipes, hidden blocks, and the like), there are some new ideas. For example, there is the "partner" system, where Mario has one character who follows him around and helps him (and you can get a number of friends, who you can select very quickly). A lot of the gameplay involves getting into fights with opponents, at which point the game turns into a theatrical stage, with an audience, where the fight takes place. At times it can be irritating, as once an enemy runs into you, you will be forced into a fight, and will lose coins if you choose to flee (sometimes I'll have just finished one fight, and a new enemy will appear out of nowhere).

The fight set ups are quite fun, with Mario and his partner attacking the enemies, and being attacked in return. The audience that watches you makes for some interesting experiences, as they will occasionally attack you if they don't like your performance (just three hours ago, I got stoned to death by an angry crowd). As you battle more enemies, you get more star points and the more star points you get, you can increase health, "flower points" (which allow you to do certain fancy moves) and "badge points", which allow you to do other moves, such as increase your power, or automatically regain energy. The enemies featured in the game are very creative, ranging from normal enemies (koopas and goombas), to daisies that attack by singing, and monsters that create clones of themselves.

Like all traditional Mario games, this game features an "Overworld", from which all other worlds can be accessed, and it can be really fun to explore, and there are interesting characters that you get to talk to.

The game is divided into several "chapters", where Mario and his gradually growing entourage of partners go to find (and battle) the boss and obtain a crystal star - each one gives you new special moves to use in battle when you have enough star power (such as drawing around opponents to damage them, or freezing them temporarily). There is a variety of gameplay styles - one level has you leading "punies" around a tree and using them to assist you in tasks. One level has virtually no platform action at all, with Mario thrown into the gritty world of the "glitz pit", where he must fight a number of opponents repeatedly in something similar to a gladiatoral arena. Sometimes you may find yourself going back and forth a bit too much, but it's not so much as to be annoying.

In addition to this, there are lots of other features and sidequests. A toad called Zess T. will cook you items using other items (you are given some recipes, and others are trial and error), you can go on errands for other characters, and you can visit a place called the "Pit of 100 Trials", where you have to do nearly 100 fights. This can be very challenging if you do the whole thing (but allow yourself a few hours, though).

The one problem I have with this game is that sometimes the gameplay breaks into narrative a bit too much, when you just want to get on with it, and sometimes it can be confusing. At one point, for example, I was watching a cinema of Bowser and suddenly things stopped dead and it took me a few moments to realise that the game was actually expecting me to control Bowser and make him walk across a room just so the storyline could continue. However, there are also some brilliant parodies of older Mario games where you go through traditional 2D levels, playing as Bowser!

However, there are some lovely "puzzle" aspects, and Mario gets some great new moves (turning himself into a paper aeroplane, for example).

Overall, the gameplay is very fun - it rarely gets dull, and to improve things, there are lots of reasons to revisit old worlds, because you will constantly be accessing new moves that help you to access items you couldn't before. Some of the boss fights are actually completely random and unexpected (you may suddenly find one showing up right in the middle of a level), but all of them are enjoyable - despite being surprisingly hard the first time you play.

Story - 9/10

For once, there is decent story. Although Peach has once AGAIN been kidnapped, but there seems to be a lot of political correctness as for once she is not made out to be some annoying whiny character that constantly needs Mario's help (a far cry from the sexist stereotype of older Mario games). It did bother me at one point, as the storyline appeared to require Peach to strip naked and take a shower, which just seemed like a needless excuse to get all the perverts playing the game excited. I was more impressed with another joke that featured in the game, which was evidently a subtle dig at certain people, as one of the minor characters is revealed to be an obsessive Peach fan, and it is hinted that he needs to get a life.

Every effort seems to have been made to make the game suitable for all ages. Although it appears childish at first, the story certainly is not childish. It opens with Peach standing by a gallows, before Mario heads out to the appropriately-named "Rogueport", where he finds Goombella being attacked. It isn't long into the game that Mario actually gets mugged himself.

Mario is then told that he has to search for "crystal stars", which he has to use to seal the thousand year door - and also find out who kidnapped Peach. The story takes an interesting turn when Bowser shows up, and finds himself at odds with the other main villain of the game, and putting a few "shades of grey" in the plot makes the game more interesting. Bowser's remarks about "no one kidnapps Princess Peach - except me, of course" are hilarious and a great example of a game series making fun of itself.

The chapters themselves feature their own mini-stories, which occasionally introduce what turn out to be significant characters in the game. One of the stories involves Mario joining a fighting club, and he has to solve the mystery of why fighters are disappearing, and deal with the self-important Rawk Hawk. Another chapter features Mario solving mysteries on board a train, with the help of a penguin who fancies himself as Sherlock Holmes, but also thinks Mario is Luigi.

The supporting characters in this game are similarly great; Goombella is an obvious example of an assertive female character, and delivers a number of hilarious lines when she is selected as your partner. Most of this game may well leave you laughing out loud (one character apparently suggesting that Bowser take a picnic, much to the Koopa King's disgust), while others are more touching, such as Peach's conversation with a computer that is strangely reminiscent of Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bowser's flying machine from Super Mario World makes a cool reappearance. Luigi is present too, although at one point he appears to be talking like Ned Flanders from The Simpsons. His main purpose is just to bore Mario with stories of his own adventues, though.

Graphics - 7/10

At first, I was worried about the way they made Mario look, but actually the graphics are generally good, and are often reminiscent of traditional Mario games. Despite the childish appearance, this should not put you off for long. Some of the character sprites are actually quite funny.

Sound - 7/10

This is also generally good, with a few neat remixes of classic Mario tunes.

Play Time/Replay Value - 9/10

You probably will want to play this game - again and again, and if you're like me, you may find it difficult to tear yourself away, just wanting to do a little bit more - it is very addictive.

Final Verdict

Buy this. Although it takes up a massive 17 blocks, it is 17 blocks well used. Once you have finished this game, you will probably get the urge to play it all over again.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/05, Updated 09/26/05