Paper Mario

"Awesome game! Need say anything else? *is on writer's block*"

I remember as a child (actually, about four years ago) about how I played this game and loved it with all my heart. Unfortunately, I had to sell it (along with my other N64 games, including the other awesome ones, like Donkey Kong 64 or Yoshi's Story (Yes, Yoshi's Story)) for an XBox. For crying out loud, an XBox!

But now, with only my memories (and my Paper Mario Strategy Guide :P), I have decided to tell anyone and everyone who reads this why I loved this game.

Storyline/Plot: 10/10

Just to remind you, I personally could care less for the fact that it's basically another "Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario fights way to Bowser, Mario defeats Bowser, Mario saves Princess"-type of Mario game. It's basically what the series is supposed to be; it's how it came together and how the series became popular in the first place.

I give the story a perfect score because it's good that way.

But enough ranting. The story goes like this: Mario receives a letter from Peach, saying that she's throwing a party. (Now, doesn't that sound like fun? ^__^) And when Mario and Luigi head inside her castle, they were suprised to notice that many, many other species of strange people from other parts of the Mushroom Kingdom were there. But with Mario being Mario, he gets a little bit of alone time with Princess Peach (not in that way, you sicko!).

Unfortunately, as the two were just barely starting their conversation, Bowser crashed through the window and asks Mario for a fight. Mario accepts, but as he stanced for battle, the Koopa King takes out a foreign (though pretty :P) object called the Star Rod, and boasts about how with it, he became invincible. Thus, instead of the red plumber being the last one standing, he fell, making Bowser the winner of this round.

And with that came chaos. Bowser's castle lifted Peach's castle and soared to the skies into the starry atmosphere. So now Peach is stuck in her own castle (atop of Bowser's), Bowser's all-powerful with the wave of a girly-looking wand, and Mario's thrown out a window. What's there for Mario to do? What's there for Luigi to do? (The answer to this one is easy: Do nothing!)

Fortunately, after being revived by the Star Spirits, seven special stars that guarded the Star Rod until Bowser stole it, and found by a young Goomba, Mario starts his quest.

(So shoot me for practically spoiling the intro. I got carried away with it.)

As a last thing, each "level" or part of the story is called a Chapter, which adds to the storybook feel that the game seems to have.

Characters: 9/10

Okay, for main characters, there's Mario, Peach, and Bowser, right? But they're definitely not the only ones! Along with Mario, there are eight partners that join your party, each with a unique purpose dedicated to their specialties. The first one you get is a kid Goomba whose special ability is to tell you about different places and people pretty much anywhere you go, and sometimes he'll drop hints about what to do in a certain room that has a puzzle. From there you get a variety of other partners whose races are that of enemies from other Mario games, from the shell-shooting Koopa to a green Boo with a fan and the ability to make our hero invisible to even (my favorite) the mailman--erm, mail-Paratroopa, who gave you the letter in the first place! I've practically spoiled you some with the partners I've just said (not like they have some big counter-plot or evil background or something of the sort).

The NPC's, on the other hand, are there to be NPC's. Though some can be pretty funny, pretty cool, or probably just... stand out above others. The bosses are basically the same thing, but you fight them, and they definitely look better than the ones from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

Indeed, if you've played the second one before this one, then you might not be as enthralled about the personalities or the dialect of the characters in Paper Mario. I've noticed from playing the second one that in the first one, the partners barely spoke except in certain situations, and their personalities are a bit harder to find. Not like I really care so much, although it's what gave this a nine point five instead of a perfect ten, based on what I think others who recently play this might think.

Graphics: 10/10

I have to say, I'm surprised at how decent the graphics look like now compared to back then. It's like me buying a toy, playing with it a bit (and it looking at least decent and clean), leaving it for several years, and coming back to find it looking exactly like you left it.

My favorite part about the graphics is that not only do the characters look less pixelated around the edges than with other "sprited" 2D games, but the way that the 2D blends in well with its environment. It's strange at first, but not like Katamari Damacy strange. The "paper" style of this game was not only breath-taking for me, but it practically sucked me into this game.

To those who have seen screenshots or pictures of this game, some might turn away from this game because it looks to kiddish for them. I ensure you it isn't.

Sound/Music: 10/10

Ahh, one of my favorite parts of this game has got to be the music. I could care less for sound. To me, sound is like this: if whacking a hammer doesn't make a nonexistant dog barking and plain old jumping doesn't sound like glass breaking, and they sound like what they're supposed to sound like, then I'm fine with it.

As for voice-acting, there isn't any! But the good side to it is that you can do something call using your imagination and making up their voices. If you want, you can even read out their lines, giving a flair and voice to each character that speaks. (Heck, I've done this with the sequel, and I'm fine.)

Anyway, back to the music. There's a lot of good music here. And when I mean good, I mean really good. As in, "if this rating thing could go past ten, then I'd make it eleven" good! The music, though I don't remember too much off of my head right now, matches the stages and bosses well. Whether it's snapping your fingers to the Koopa Bros, whistling to the calm happy-go-lucky Koopa Village theme, or belly-dancing (?! I doubt anyone does this. Not even me) to my personal fave, the Dry Dry Desert.

Overall, sound and music gets a perfect score from me.

Controls: 10/10

WTFreak? Why even have a Controls section if the controls are basic to a point? Well, there's a bit more waiting for you just ahead. Come on. You know you want to... ;P

From what is there to know, Control Stick is to move (no duh!), A is to jump, B for hammer, etcetera, etcetera. I won't explain the whole shindig. Overall, it's easy, basic, and has something the sequel doesn't have--it's a little thing called "Spin Dash".

What's Spin Dash, you ask? Why, it's a little move you activate by pressing Z, and it makes Mario move faster! Now that's something you don't see everyday. And, as the name implies, Mario spins while he does this. ^o~ It's definitely way useful, especially in the larger areas. Heck, take it for granted right now, if you have this game!

Gameplay: 10/10

Dffkdfjkdfkdl! That can only describe the gameplay: undescribable, simple, and addictive. :)

The game's turn-based battle system is pretty basic: hit enemy with attack, your partner goes, then it's the enemies' turn. After you defeat enemy, you earn experience. Rinse and repeat. But there's a twist. Once you receive an item called a Lucky Star (I won't tell you where to get it, though~.), you can do Action Commands.

Just what exactly are Action Commands? Do they involve guns? For the gun question, no. But for the first question, AC's are basically certain button or control stick commands that make the attack's power more efficient if they're done right. There's a bunch of different commands that each attack is done in, some involving holding or tapping the Control Stick to the left until a certain point, some involving holding or tapping the A button, some button patterns, and some others just plain nothing! XD

Also, when you earn 100 Star Points (like Experience points, but with stars), you level up. Along with leveling up, you can choose between increasing your HP (your life, duh), FP (like MP/TP/PP/Etc.P, but with flowers replacing Magic/Power/Technique/Etc.), or BP (points used when equipping badges.)

Also, there are equippable items called "Badges". Badges give you special effects: making you more powerful, adding extra sounds, give you new abilities, etc. No two Badges are exactly the same (like snowflakes :D), and they require different amounts of BP.

One last thing: where an enemy is or what type of defenses it has affects what attacks to use. For example, if an enemy flies, you jump instead of hammer to de-wing it. And for spiked enemies or enemies on fire, you hammer them or use attacks that don't involve physical contact. (There's actually two badges that solve the conflicts with spikes and fire, but they're slightly later than just Chapter 1.)

There's a lot more to this than I explained. But if you at least play the game, you'll see what I mean.

Difficulty: Medium

I gave it a ten because it was easy in terms of battle system, but somewhat more difficult in terms of puzzles. Quiz questions they may ask throughout the game can be pretty simple, if you know so-and-so's friend's name or how many legs are there in this group of people. But the questions also have more basic stuff you're bound to remember if you've payed enough attention to the storyline.

Stuff involving more complex "what to do next"-type of situations in certain places were certainly what I had some trouble with. Heck, it took me practically a month and a strategy guide to get through one point in Chapter two! And that's only, like, one-quarter of the basic, straight-forward game there.

Playing Length: N/A

I might as well not have put this up. But since this is my first review, I put it here so I can introduce you to the fact that I don't care how long it takes me to beat a game. As long as it isn't in five minutes, it's decent.

Not to mention that this game most certainly did not take me six hours or even three days. It took me a month, for god's sake, to complete one of the Chapters! >:O

So this is for you to decide.

Replayability: 9.5/10

I personally only finished the game once, and just to ruin your fun a bit, there's no saving after that. The good news is that this game's interactivity in battle makes this worth playing some more. Even if it does mean starting over or fighting the last fight over again. It's pretty much worth it.

Believe me on this. :D

Overall: I love this game ever since I first played it. I wish to play it some more, just to experience the fun again. Or, at least, let me play a bit of Super Mario RPG (Mario's first RPG) for a bit ('cause I've never played it before).

Buy or Rent: BUY!!

To be honest, I don't remember how I got this. Maybe I saw the commercial at one point and thought, I gotta get that game! Or maybe my dad just found it in a random video game store and bought it while I was at home. Or maybe I just bought it from nowhere. All I know is that I still have the box. I think. >.>

Anyways, I recommend buying this, unless you're one of those more complex-game players. Or if you're just one of those freaks that think it's fun to get frustrated. And I recommend it as an N64 Best Choice for Mario fans! <(^__^)>

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/05