Paper Mario

"An Artistic Masterpice in every way possible"

An Artistic Masterpiece in every way possible

I was really into the whole RPG thing until I played Chrono Trigger for the Snes. It was one of the best (if not only) RPG I played at the time. Now a whole lot of years later, Paper Mario comes out and blows my mind away.

Story 10/10

I really should’ve given this a ten because think about this, In just about every Mario game the princess gets kidnapped right? Well think about how she gets kidnapped and what Mario has to do to get her back. In this story he is invited to the castle for a party by Princess Peach, and while there, her castle gets lifted up into the sky by Bowser. Bowser and Mario fight and LOSES! Back on the ground Mario then finds out that Bowser has stolen the star rod from the Seven Star Spirits, and has imprisoned them. Mario then has to rescue the Star Spirits in order to head up to Bowser’s castle to fight him again and meanwhile makes 8 friends along the way that accompany him to the castle. I don’t really think that the professional game reviewers (Ign.com, Game Informer Magazine) don’t really think about the Mario story like that.

Graphics 10/10

Very Unique in every way possible. It reminds me of the Cel-Shading in Jet Set Radio and Sonic Shuffle. It has a “Paper” like look to it, hence the name “Paper Mario” For example if you turn around with Mario, he’ll turn around and his whole sprite will do a complete turn. He even disappears off the screen for a second when he turns. Everything else in the game does this too. The graphics really got a 10 because of the unique concept.

Sound/Music 10/10

This really got to me. The sound effects are good enough but the music perfectly suits where you are. For example when you head into Shooting Star Summit, you hear the music and it makes you wonder(at least it made me wonder) what kind of place is this. I especially like the Shooting Star Summit Theme, The Cloudy Climb Theme, Tutankoppa Battle Theme, and then when you beat the game and it shows that endless “The End” thing that you see in most Mario games, I liked that jingle the most(it actually made me feel sad that there was nothing else to find in the game)

Gameplay OUT OF RANKING/10

EXTREMELY OUTSTANDING. This is where you go if you want a RPG with a little “Mario” in it. Platformer mechanics mix with an RPG battle system couldn’t have been done more flawlessly. Mario travels through various lands, from desert to rainforest, on land, water and air, platformer style. That is to say, he jumps on objects, breaks blocks, uncovers hidden items, and so forth. But he interacts with characters, enemies, and storyline development RPG style. For example, once Mario comes into contact with an enemy, the game interface immediately switches to accommodate a turn-based RPG battle. The battle system Paper Mario employs is refreshingly interactive, despite being turn-based. Mario and his party of characters take turns fighting off foes via a menu-driven interface, utilizing standard moves such as jumps (on the heads of enemies), as well as magical fire-flowers bomb-explosions, lightning bolts, and so on. After an action is performed, the enemy has a chance to react and deliver their own attack. The design, however, is slightly enhanced over the traditional turn-based fight because players can execute additional moves within an action to inflict more damage upon enemies, and to protect themselves from oncoming enemy attacks. For example, Mario can, in addition to the standard jump blow, use a special ability to inflict as many damage points as possible. It's a seemingly miniscule addition to an otherwise copied battle system formula, but it goes an incredibly long way to the enjoyment of the experience, and it comes as a welcomed surprise.
At the core of this RPG formula are three different point systems that determine what Mario can and cannot do: Heart Points (HP), Flower Points (FP) and Badge Points (BP). Heart points are Mario's life force; if he runs out of them, he dies. Flower Points are used for magical attacks and special items. And Badge Points determine how many power-enhancing badges Mario can wear. As in any RPG, the more points, the better. Our hero can up the level of each by winning combat battles with enemies, as Star Points are awarded for each successful interaction (the number varies depending on the difficulty of the enemy battle). When Mario acquires 100 Star Points, he has the option of adding five Points to his HP, FP or BP and there's quite a bit of strategy to the whole affair. While one might initially think that upping their Heart Points to the maximum would guarantee success, but as you continue through the game the difficulty ramps up. But with special badges and life restoring magical items, gained only by equipping Mario with more FP and BP, the character can still exit each encounter as the victor. The setup, like everything else in the title, is simplified, but still solidly engineered and rewardingly intuitive. No complaints in this department.
Replay ability 9.9/10
If you’re a completist like me, then you’ll be on this game for a while. You can level up your characters, try to get all of the badges, Run chores for money, find items for a Toad Woman to make recipes for additional items (50 Recipies in all), minigames, and so much more. The only thing that the game was missing was the ability to fight the bosses in the game.
Overall 10/10
This game is right next to my favorite Nintendo game(and favorite game) of all-time Super Mario Kart for Super Nintendo. I highly recommend this to any RPG player, but I especially recommend this to Beginner RPG players.
Play/Buy/Rent
I highly suggest buying it if you’re already into the RPG thing, but if you’re just getting into RPG’s rent it, and then buy it! This game will indeed become a classic one day.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/30/03, Updated 01/30/03