When it comes to the quality of its recent games, Paper Mario has had quite a bumpy ride recently. From the somewhat divisive 2.5D Super Paper Mario to the half baked Sticker Star, the series has generally been seen as not living up to the days when it was just a good old fashioned RPG with charm and personality.
And what is the pinnacle of the Paper Mario series? The mark of the franchise's golden age? Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door. So in rememberance of a series that once held so much promise before it was crushed under bad experiments and Miyamoto's orders, here's my review of the second Paper Mario game. A true classic if there ever was one.
Graphics
Graphically, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door looks amazing.
I mean, the other games look decent, but they lack something in comparison to this one. Paper Mario N64 lacks the sophistication only possible on the Gamecube, Super Paper Mario has a bland NPC cast list and visual style in general and Sticker Star lacks any kind of soul in its otherwise shiny exterior. But Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door is the best of all possible worlds. Here are some amazing highlights of the game to show you what I mean:
Just look at those screens. The Creepy Steeple, the derelict Riverside Station in the sunset and even the fairly happy go lucky grass land of Petal Meadows have soul and personality. A unique art style each that you'd never expect to see used in a Mario game. It just looks fantastic.
There's nothing to criticise here at all, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door just absolutely nails the perfect art style for the series.
Music
And musically the game's no slouch either, with some excellent original tunes that fit each area perfectly. Have a listen to some of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTYnay4WYTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvoaVFLwOgs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDue183YvpA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyhLabJvb2M
Every location, every boss, every moment... has it's own perfectly done leitmotif. It's a brilliant soundtrack that stands up to even the best of the later Mario series like Dream Team and Luigi's Mansion 2, and that serves as a sad reminder of what could have been had Sticker Star been a good game. Nothing to fault here either.
Gameplay
But all the best graphics and music in the world can't save a bad game (just ask Paper Mario Sticker Star!) Thankfully though, Thousand Year Door delivers in the gameplay department.
At it's core, this is pretty much a cross between an RPG and the Legend of Zelda. You explore new areas, defeat bosses at the end of what may as well be considered 'dungeons' (in all but name) and you take on enemies in the turn based battles so often used in RPGs.
But Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door manages to make all of these things better. You see, each area can only be navigated with special abilities given to you by characters called 'partners' (think party members in a normal RPG), so you have to swap between them to solve puzzles or get past difficult points. And in addition to this, Mario also has a bunch of nifty paper abilities he unlocks that let him turn into objects like a boat, plane or roll of paper. This keeps the overworld exploration very fresh and avoids the ability stagnation that quite a few other Mario RPGs seem to fall into.
In battle though, things change from the norm even more. Whereas most RPGs just have battles take place in a generic 'environment' based on where you encounter the enemy, Paper Mario 2 has a stage as the setting, complete with cheering audience and cardboard backdrop.
And that's not just an aesthetic thing either! Because to use your most powerful special abilities, you need to fill a meter. This only goes up when the crowd is pleased with your actions, so you then have to do fancy moves and tricks with action commands and things to make them cheer even more.
To add to this, the stage you fight on is as interactive as the combat itself. The audience throws objects like dangerous rocks and useful healing items at Mario and his enemies, things like the backdrop fall on random people, different NPCs run on stage and affect things in the process... Heck, some enemies even use the audience in attacks, like the first boss eating them or a later boss using them as machine gun ammo when attacking Mario! It's all very clever and all adds another layer to the already complex combat system.
Talking of combat, I'd better at least explain how it works, right? Well basically, Mario, his current partner and the enemies take turns at attacking one another with different moves. And because this is an RPG, you use action commands to maximise the power of your attacks and counter/block enemy ones. So far so good.
But then, various other things need to be considered too. Like how certain enemies are spiky and can't be jumped on. Certain ones have elemental weaknesses or explode upon being attacked. Some fly and are immune to ground based abilities. It's a very strategic system even without the stage being involved.
You've also got various other things to consider, like a cooking system, sections involving Peach and Bowser as playable, badges with different effects...
Honestly, it's a hard game to even begin to explain the fantastic gameplay of, having literally hundreds of unique ideas crammed into every area and a combat system with so many unique mechanics that explaining it would take weeks. But what matters here is that it's a fun game and that everything works extremely well.
World/Theme
Outside of the gameplay though, there's also another thing in this game I found rather great, the theme running throughout.
What is this you may wonder?
Fiction. Every single chapter is basically a light hearted parody/pastiche of a literary genre, complete with things that mock the standard conventions of said genre.
Contrast with say, Super Paper Mario (where the game introduces a bunch of bizarre concepts and never really fully integrates them into the story) or Paper Mario Sticker Star (New Super Mario Bros Paper Edition), and Thousand Year Door stands out as one of most interesting, well themed games in the franchise.
Story/Humour/Script
Storyline wise, Paper Mario 2 is quite simple. Peach has been kidnapped, so try and get her back while collecting the Crystal Stars.
Okay, it's technically a bit more than that (the X-Nauts are the kidnappers and have captured Peach so she can be used to revive an ancient demon being as part of Sir Grodus' evil plan) and each chapter has a sort of 'mini' storyline to watch unfound... but it's not really the strong point of the game.
What is though is the script and humour. It's hilarious, it's well written, and it's filled with great characters with amusing personalities that you get to see interact for about 30 hours. Highlights here include a useless detective who thinks Mario is Luigi, a pro wrestler/fighter who happens to be a large ham and such partners as a reformed villain, a Goomba professor and an ex sailor on the drink after his wife passed away. Oh, and a mafia made up of Piantas, can't forget those.
It's got the sense of humour and 'soul' that a Mario RPG should have. No legions of generic Toads or bland Mushroom Kingdom regulars, no underdeveloped characters that add nothing to the world. Just an environment filled with interesting people with interesting and amusing things to say.
Length/Replay Value
As far as length goes, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door does pretty good. In addition to a lengthy main quest with lots of things to do, tough bosses and great locations to explore, you also have such things as...
A ton of side quests, including a whole noticeboard full of them in East Rogueport.
A pit with 100 floors of monsters (many unique) and a hard boss at the bottom
Hundreds of recipes to make
A lengthy tattle log to fill out
Badges to collect
An optional partner to recruit
And much more besides
So it's certainly got a lot of great content and replay value in that sense. However...
I have to admit, it's far from perfect here. Indeed, of all the notable aspects of the game I cover in this review, the replay value and things to do side of things is arguably the weakest one.
For instance, there's no jukebox at all here. That's practically a cardinal sin in a game with a soundtrack that's this amazing, and it's a bit disappointing given how its sequels have at least a basic one and Mario & Luigi Dream Team manages a full version with all possible songs in.
There's also no boss rush here. Again, that's kind of disappointing given how many unique battles you end up going through with no way to replay them. Hooktail? Magnus von Grapple? Grubba? Doopliss? Cortez? Never get to fight any of them ever again without replaying the whole game from the beginning. It would have been great to see some sort of Battle Ring/Gauntlet style option here to resolve this, and the lack of one is definitely one of the more disappointing things about Thousand Year Door.
But those are the only problems I have with the game in this respect, and overall I'd consider the replay value and game length as very good.
Overall
In conclusion, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door is an amazing game. It's got a great art style and soundtrack, a well written script filled with personality and charm and some fun gameplay that's as surprisingly deep as it is enjoyable to play. Definitely recommended for anyone who likes Mario or RPGs, as well as anyone put off the Paper Mario series by the travesty that was Sticker Star.
97%
And what is the pinnacle of the Paper Mario series? The mark of the franchise's golden age? Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door. So in rememberance of a series that once held so much promise before it was crushed under bad experiments and Miyamoto's orders, here's my review of the second Paper Mario game. A true classic if there ever was one.
Graphics
Graphically, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door looks amazing.
I mean, the other games look decent, but they lack something in comparison to this one. Paper Mario N64 lacks the sophistication only possible on the Gamecube, Super Paper Mario has a bland NPC cast list and visual style in general and Sticker Star lacks any kind of soul in its otherwise shiny exterior. But Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door is the best of all possible worlds. Here are some amazing highlights of the game to show you what I mean:
Just look at those screens. The Creepy Steeple, the derelict Riverside Station in the sunset and even the fairly happy go lucky grass land of Petal Meadows have soul and personality. A unique art style each that you'd never expect to see used in a Mario game. It just looks fantastic.
There's nothing to criticise here at all, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door just absolutely nails the perfect art style for the series.
Music
And musically the game's no slouch either, with some excellent original tunes that fit each area perfectly. Have a listen to some of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTYnay4WYTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvoaVFLwOgs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDue183YvpA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyhLabJvb2M
Every location, every boss, every moment... has it's own perfectly done leitmotif. It's a brilliant soundtrack that stands up to even the best of the later Mario series like Dream Team and Luigi's Mansion 2, and that serves as a sad reminder of what could have been had Sticker Star been a good game. Nothing to fault here either.
Gameplay
But all the best graphics and music in the world can't save a bad game (just ask Paper Mario Sticker Star!) Thankfully though, Thousand Year Door delivers in the gameplay department.
At it's core, this is pretty much a cross between an RPG and the Legend of Zelda. You explore new areas, defeat bosses at the end of what may as well be considered 'dungeons' (in all but name) and you take on enemies in the turn based battles so often used in RPGs.
But Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door manages to make all of these things better. You see, each area can only be navigated with special abilities given to you by characters called 'partners' (think party members in a normal RPG), so you have to swap between them to solve puzzles or get past difficult points. And in addition to this, Mario also has a bunch of nifty paper abilities he unlocks that let him turn into objects like a boat, plane or roll of paper. This keeps the overworld exploration very fresh and avoids the ability stagnation that quite a few other Mario RPGs seem to fall into.
In battle though, things change from the norm even more. Whereas most RPGs just have battles take place in a generic 'environment' based on where you encounter the enemy, Paper Mario 2 has a stage as the setting, complete with cheering audience and cardboard backdrop.
And that's not just an aesthetic thing either! Because to use your most powerful special abilities, you need to fill a meter. This only goes up when the crowd is pleased with your actions, so you then have to do fancy moves and tricks with action commands and things to make them cheer even more.
To add to this, the stage you fight on is as interactive as the combat itself. The audience throws objects like dangerous rocks and useful healing items at Mario and his enemies, things like the backdrop fall on random people, different NPCs run on stage and affect things in the process... Heck, some enemies even use the audience in attacks, like the first boss eating them or a later boss using them as machine gun ammo when attacking Mario! It's all very clever and all adds another layer to the already complex combat system.
Talking of combat, I'd better at least explain how it works, right? Well basically, Mario, his current partner and the enemies take turns at attacking one another with different moves. And because this is an RPG, you use action commands to maximise the power of your attacks and counter/block enemy ones. So far so good.
But then, various other things need to be considered too. Like how certain enemies are spiky and can't be jumped on. Certain ones have elemental weaknesses or explode upon being attacked. Some fly and are immune to ground based abilities. It's a very strategic system even without the stage being involved.
You've also got various other things to consider, like a cooking system, sections involving Peach and Bowser as playable, badges with different effects...
Honestly, it's a hard game to even begin to explain the fantastic gameplay of, having literally hundreds of unique ideas crammed into every area and a combat system with so many unique mechanics that explaining it would take weeks. But what matters here is that it's a fun game and that everything works extremely well.
World/Theme
Outside of the gameplay though, there's also another thing in this game I found rather great, the theme running throughout.
What is this you may wonder?
Fiction. Every single chapter is basically a light hearted parody/pastiche of a literary genre, complete with things that mock the standard conventions of said genre.
- Castle and Dragon: Fantasy Fiction/Fairy Tales. The brave knight gathers a party to defeat the evil dragon
- The Great Boggly Tree: RTS Games and Pikmin.
- Of Glitz and Glory: Professional Wrestling, with the theme basically being a fictionalised version of the WWE (albeit with genuine combat).
- For Pigs the Bell Tolls: Horror films, what with the mysterious antagonist, small town in the middle of Lovecraft Country, a monster stealing your identity, etc.
- The Key to Pirates: Pirate/Adventure Fiction. Like Treasure Island I guess. Maybe Robinson Crusoe.
- Days of Excess: Mystery Fiction, the Murder on the Orient Express.
- Mario Shoots the Moon: Spy Fiction and James Bond. Even got the Russian military base pastiche.
- The Thousand Year Door: Standard 'save the world' fiction.
Contrast with say, Super Paper Mario (where the game introduces a bunch of bizarre concepts and never really fully integrates them into the story) or Paper Mario Sticker Star (New Super Mario Bros Paper Edition), and Thousand Year Door stands out as one of most interesting, well themed games in the franchise.
Story/Humour/Script
Storyline wise, Paper Mario 2 is quite simple. Peach has been kidnapped, so try and get her back while collecting the Crystal Stars.
Okay, it's technically a bit more than that (the X-Nauts are the kidnappers and have captured Peach so she can be used to revive an ancient demon being as part of Sir Grodus' evil plan) and each chapter has a sort of 'mini' storyline to watch unfound... but it's not really the strong point of the game.
What is though is the script and humour. It's hilarious, it's well written, and it's filled with great characters with amusing personalities that you get to see interact for about 30 hours. Highlights here include a useless detective who thinks Mario is Luigi, a pro wrestler/fighter who happens to be a large ham and such partners as a reformed villain, a Goomba professor and an ex sailor on the drink after his wife passed away. Oh, and a mafia made up of Piantas, can't forget those.
It's got the sense of humour and 'soul' that a Mario RPG should have. No legions of generic Toads or bland Mushroom Kingdom regulars, no underdeveloped characters that add nothing to the world. Just an environment filled with interesting people with interesting and amusing things to say.
Length/Replay Value
As far as length goes, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door does pretty good. In addition to a lengthy main quest with lots of things to do, tough bosses and great locations to explore, you also have such things as...
A ton of side quests, including a whole noticeboard full of them in East Rogueport.
A pit with 100 floors of monsters (many unique) and a hard boss at the bottom
Hundreds of recipes to make
A lengthy tattle log to fill out
Badges to collect
An optional partner to recruit
And much more besides
So it's certainly got a lot of great content and replay value in that sense. However...
I have to admit, it's far from perfect here. Indeed, of all the notable aspects of the game I cover in this review, the replay value and things to do side of things is arguably the weakest one.
For instance, there's no jukebox at all here. That's practically a cardinal sin in a game with a soundtrack that's this amazing, and it's a bit disappointing given how its sequels have at least a basic one and Mario & Luigi Dream Team manages a full version with all possible songs in.
There's also no boss rush here. Again, that's kind of disappointing given how many unique battles you end up going through with no way to replay them. Hooktail? Magnus von Grapple? Grubba? Doopliss? Cortez? Never get to fight any of them ever again without replaying the whole game from the beginning. It would have been great to see some sort of Battle Ring/Gauntlet style option here to resolve this, and the lack of one is definitely one of the more disappointing things about Thousand Year Door.
But those are the only problems I have with the game in this respect, and overall I'd consider the replay value and game length as very good.
Overall
In conclusion, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door is an amazing game. It's got a great art style and soundtrack, a well written script filled with personality and charm and some fun gameplay that's as surprisingly deep as it is enjoyable to play. Definitely recommended for anyone who likes Mario or RPGs, as well as anyone put off the Paper Mario series by the travesty that was Sticker Star.
97%
). The Thousans Year Door is my 5th favorite game of all time for a reason (well two actually): it feels so magical and it never gets boring.