"Look, daddy! I'm flying! I'm flying! I'm... turning sideways to fit into bad guys' hideout? You bet!"

Paper Mario for the N64 was by far the best RPG game for the system. It combined both witty and stylish graphics with the quote "Your paper. Your thin. Your 2D". Now, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door has arrived for GCN and gamers are itching to join Mario on his new paper thin adventure. Lets see how the game stacks up...

Gameplay: 10/10

The game play in this game is absolutely stunning! The main part of the game play is the turn-by-turn fighting style. While most people might find that taking turns in a fight isn't really exciting with the you hit I hit and so on and so forth, this game gives new meaning to that. Along with the power ups you can use to surprise your opponents, there's also guard moves, special attacks, badges that help you defend and attack, and much more to make the turn-by-turn way better then you might think. The new partners also bring to the table a good dishing out of fighting skills. The abilities of the new partners are based on 3 things: Attacking, Defending, Healing. These things are crucial when it comes to an RPG game.

Sadly, they have removed the tornado spin which helped in Paper Mario 1 by means of spinning instead of running. New paper theme abilities make up for that though. Now our hero can turn himself into a plane to glide to distant spots, thin himself out to sneak into narrow cracks, and even turn himself into a ball so he can roll down hills. The possibilities are endless when it comes to paper and Nintendo has thought of it all. Great job!

Partners also have HP now which means that if your partner loses all of his HP, he will be out of the battle. This is a unique idea because it takes the load of damage off of Mario and as the saying goes 2 fighters are better then one. As for the partners moves, they ARE similar to Paper Mario 1's moves, with some new additions. Instead of repeatedly pressing a button and tilting your control stick a certain way, you now have to line up the cursor with the target, press A only when something special occurs, or holding something down until the spinner stops at the point in which you let go to deal damage dealing moves. Very creative!!

Coins. The basic money system in all Mario games. Nintendo thats that to a whole new level! Now, it costs 6-8 coins to heal, items cost a bit more then in the original Paper Mario, AND there are items that fetch prices up to 360 coins, and some of these are only one use! Thankfully the enemies drop items and coins which makes the hefty prices easier to maintain. There are even badges that helps you get coins much easier. Personally I believe that it shouldn't cost money to heal, but in the long run, you'll forget that healing costs anything.

Now lets look at the all new audience. Cute little fellows aren't they, UNTIL THEY START THROWING ITEMS! Ahem, excuse me for my immediate burst of energy there. The audience is what keeps your Star Power bar full so you can use all new special abilities. As I said earlier the audience does throw items at you and yes they can be avoided. Just press X when one of your buddies decides to get naughty and he will be dealt with. The audience I think is a way better addition then having to charge it up all by yourself. Now all you need to do is let your creative moves win over the audience so they will be happy, and help charge your Star Bar.

One last thing is the Experience points or "Star Points" You get for defeating enemies. 100 Star Points means one level higher and that means you can raise your HP by 5, FP by 5, or your BP by 5, as it was like in the original game. You can earn between 1 Star Point to over 50 Star Points by defeating countless new enemies in the game. Another thing that goes along with the Star Point is indeed the enemies. Nintendo has been brainy enough to create much more enemies for the new game, you'll never get tired of beating them. Trust me on that one! In conclusion I say Gameplay 10/10? More like Gameplay 11/10.

Graphics: 10/10

Now you might be thinking "Sure, paper themes are great, but whats a game without the 3D experience?". That question can be answered by simply saying: Paper Mario. The idea of using paper themes all over the game is amazing, and the ability to make everything look realistic while not to use 3D images is great. The new revolution of 2D images proves that not all games need that 3D touch. Paper Mario 1 graphics taken to a whole new level pretty much describes this game. Pop up book buildings when you enter, Paper raping up to reveal a bridge, and pieces of paper flipping over to uncover secret entrances is a taste of what this game has to offer when it comes to the All-New paper theme. Kiddy is definitely NOT the word for the graphics this game can deliver to your TV. Just play this game once and you'll see why people call this "The Ultimate Gaming Experience".

Sound: 8/10

The first basic flaw in the game as I know it. Now the overall music is good enough to listen to (Especially Rogue-port), but some battle music just doesn't cut it for freshness in this game. Old music from previous games put into this sounds like a good idea and it is, but you can say all the old music was good. The Sound Effects badges are just there if you want them there, and I don't really use them that often. There are little parts with voices but nothing too major in that department. Bowser's voice is definitely the WORST I've seen when it comes to voices. Don't ask me why, I just find it odd. Overall the game music is good voices are bad sound effects are good/bad which makes my rating not 10/10.

Story: 10/10

Sure, the story is almost the same as Paper Mario 1, you have received a letter delivered by Mario's old friend: Parakarry. He learns that princess peach is off for vacation and sends Mario a map so he can help her search for treasures and stuff where she's at. What do you know, she gets kidnapped. Not by bowser, but by Grodus, a new character in the Mario series. Now Mario has to defeat Grodus and collect the seven Crystal Stars to open the Thousand-Year Door. Interesting? Yes. New? Yes and no, but still makes for a great story!

Replayability: 9/10

Side quests, Side quests, Side quests. TONS of them at that. There's so much to unlock in this game (Badges, Recipes, Tattle Log). It never ends when it comes to the excitement of the side quests this game has. There's even a new trouble center where you get to help the residences of Rouge-port with their problems. Where it comes to Replay, this game has Replay written all over it.

Rent/Buy: Buy

Unfortunately, I did not have the money to buy this great game, so I rented it. I wish I could of bought it, because it's just that good. If you have the money, buy it. Thats all there is to it. If you don't, rent it. Either way your in a Win/Win and possibly another Win situation.

Overall Rating: 10/10

A Great Game, hands down. One of the best games for the Nintendo GameCube.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/04