Paper Mario

"Paper to the Rescue!"

Paper Mario is an adventure/role playing game on the N64. This game, featuring everyone's favorite Mario, really takes the cake in terms of innovation. This game is so different, so awesome, that anybody could find in instantly enjoyable. What more is there to say on this great game? Lots! The game is greatly different style wise than the platforming Mario games, but he's seen a lot of different game styles. This one, is definitely a success. When you combine a great story, a great idea, and everyone's favorite plumber, how could you not get a success anyway?

Story: Mario sets out from his house to go to a party that Princess Peach has. Wait. He's paper. Whoa! Yes, Mario is now a 2 dimensional walking plumber. Anyway, everybody has a good time, until Bowser comes to take Peach away. Oh no! I smell a story that keeps repeating itself... but just when you thought it was more of the same, Bowser brings out the Star Rod, making him invincible. Now Mario must free the Star Spirits in order to be able to take on the now invincible Bowser. This is an interesting story, incorporating new ideas and the classic Mario plot into one shiny new game. The paper aspect of Mario isn't really a big story issue, which is kind of a downside. This is because some players want to know why the mustached plumber is a flimsy piece of paper. Another plus is that the quest for the star spirits takes you to many different parts of the seemingly ever changing Mario world, where you meet new characters and advance the story. There are also parts where you play as Peach that really serve to advance the story, and let you have fun while your at it. Unlike previous Mario games, the story in this one is much, much more involved. There are even side events and plots, for those gamers who like to go off the normal path of a game. This is good as all games of this measure need things that don't follow the main story. Doing so keeps the interesting of the gamer, and this game does that successfully.
SCORE: 10

Gameplay: The gameplay of this game is, without a doubt one of the most interesting things ever seen for the Nintendo 64. You make use of your jumping skills like always, but this time you get a hammer. A nice, blunt hammer that you can smash things with. The world is littered with collectibles, and you can use your jumping and hammering skills to reveal hidden items. There isn't much exploring, but that's ok because other elements of the game make up for that. Battles are started when you attack an enemy, get attacked by an enemy, or just plain run into one. You can get a head start (or your enemy can) depending on how you enter. But when you do, its a turn based game. You choose and action, then your partner, then the enemy. Early enemies are easy, but later on you have to find out what works best for each enemy, which could get pretty hard later on. You are given different partners throughout the game that open up new possibilities and areas from previously explored parts of the world with their unique ability. They are different, and useful in different ways. They can all be upgraded later, and learn new abilities. New abilities. You learn these yourself from an in game system called badges, where you have a set amount of BP (badge points) that you can use. Equipping certain badges takes up a specified amount of BP, but give you a bonus or ability that you can use to help you in battle. There are also some fun ones that just change how your hammer sounds and stuff like that. This is a really nice system that allows for different players to have their own unique experiences while playing the game. You can buy badges or you can find them off of different things and methods as you explore with your partners. The amount of exploring and collecting in this game is immense, and the more characters and special items you receive, the more there is to find. This is because your partners and certain upgrades to your boots and hammer give you different powers outside of the battles. These reveal different things, and almost always allow for travel to the next area. The Peach levels are also sometimes very fun. There is one after every chapter, and some are just dialog sequences, while others are fun mini games. Sadly, they aren't repeatable as some of them were really deserving of being played all day. The game itself is divided into chapters, each with a boss at the end. Some chapters are memorable, with fun mini games and challenges while others would make you want to cry. There are also side games and side quests that you can do parts of as you progress through the story, that add excitement to the game if you don't feel like doing the same routine. Overall, the gameplay is excellent and ties into the game itself very, very well.
SCORE: 10

Graphics: The graphics in this game aren't realistic, nor do they make an attempt at doing so. Some of you may be going: Darn. Well, don't get sad! The game is the best use of the capabilities of the Nintendo 64 for graphics I have ever seen. Other games are blocky and not pretty to look at. But this game solves that with its unique style. What is this style? Everything is paper! Everything! The entire screen is a series of paper folded into scenery, and all the enemies are made of paper. The graphics are truly innovating, and in this way avoids the ugliness of the other N64 game graphics. This is just pure eye candy. The whole game is. If that isn't enough, the game's multiple chapter's each have its own section of the world. Each part of the world also has a different theme, and its amazing to see what they can turn into paper as you progress through the story. A paper desert? A papery adventure in the clouds? All here, and much more. This is an incredible idea. Maybe not everyone would like the graphics, because of the way its made. But most people would enjoy this type of innovation. The fact that everything is paper also makes for some fun scenes, where the papery qualities of Mario and other characters is used to produce humor.
SCORE: 10

Sound: The sound here is pretty fun to listen to. In every environment you get music that truly fits. This makes for a wonderful gaming experience. There are some games where the music can get repetitive and on some people's nerves, but different areas have different music, and if you don't focus intently on the music, it makes a good background tune as you progress throughout the world. The sound effects are also pretty fun. Also, if you didn't like the normal and sometimes boring sounds of his hammer hitting everything, you can equip badges at no cost that change the sound. If you equip more than one, than you would get random noises that were interesting as you whacked away at the world and its enemies. The music and sound effects are also more lively than some other Mario games, and it really brings the world and its characters to life. Although this game would not suffer much from bad music, it really brings the whole package together into a real nice experience.
SCORE: 9

Replay Value: The replay value of this game is high. Sometimes, replay value isn't determined by the amount of unlocked content or by how things are different in a second play through. If a game is really enjoyable, like Paper Mario, it will get much play time. This game's replay value is so high because it is so great a game. Everything fits together perfectly for a rather enjoyable time. Some people who like to mix things up could try going back through with certain badges only, just to add some difficulty or extra excitement to this game. Whatever they do, this game will be fun. The story is another deciding factor here. Because of its epic nature, its not surprising that players would wish to experience it once again. All these and more give it its value. Too bad all games eventually get boring, and if you aren't a big Mario fan, this too will eventually fade.
SCORE: 8

FINAL SCORE: 9
This game is in truth, not worth renting. Not worth renting at all. Why? Because you should BUY it! Yes, its so good that it really does deserve to be bought instead of rented, and since this is a modern review for a somewhat ancient game, you really aren't going to find this at Blockbuster. So go ahead and buy it wherever you can, because awesome gaming opportunities like this don't come often.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/07