[That time a knight in shining armor shoved the princess into a random pillar and then never returned]
Super Paper Mario is a game that earnestly believes in itself and its ability to capture fans of the Mario series, especially those were fans of the previous two games in the franchise. It boldly asks the player to accept that this game is going to be playing in 2D for about 90% of the whole game, that the combat is going to be more action-platformer than JRPG, that the story is going to actually be quite deep (even more so than its Gamecube predecessor), and that the game prioritizes its best parts and as a result leaves a lot of padding and flat characters, all of which add to one of the most fascinating games in the Mario franchise.
Of the four playable characters, only one, Mario is able to shift between 2D and 3D. The other characters also have little tricks that make them unique and helpful as well: Peach is able to float across gaps, Luigi can jump super high, and Bowser can break the game! These characters, of course, aren't Mario, and as such only work in a 2D space. You wanted 3D gameplay? how about only with Mario? Why else would anyone use Mario otherwise? The game does a great job at using the 3D mechanic and it's clear that there were plenty ideas of how this flipping between 2D and 3D mechanic could work, while still keeping the gameplay unique and fun. I'm particularly impressed by the maze in 8-3 where one has to appropriately navigate the path top take with Luigi, but the arrows are only visible in 3D with Mario.
Super looks at these fans of Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and dares them to play something different than before. And to Super Paper Mario's credit, its attempts at a different take on gameplay were still quite manageable, dare I say still even fun, unlike the later games in the franchise. That, of course, isn't fair to Super Paper Mario; the development team absolutely took a risk in ditching the JRPG turn-based combat for something closer to a story-based platformer, and I think they got a really good amount of mileage out of it. There are, of course plenty of other parts of the combat and overworld exploration that I wish were slightly different (having the game not be broken by Bowser + Carrie, having fewer motion controlled mechanics for healing items, giving Peach more movement moves beyond invincibility frames and a hover mechanic), but alas, it is what it is. It's not like these concerns of mine actively detract from Super.
The plot is something that feels as though the scenario was written for an entirely different game, and then by some strange miracle it was retconned to have Mario characters. The love story between Blumiere and Timpani, especially given its unconventional method when considered against other video games of the day, is astonishingly well-executed. I love how in every chapter, the story leading up to the events of the game regarding Tippi and Bleck is methodically revealed to us solely with dialogue, a literal memory of the previous events. I love the way that it made me confused at the start, like I had been suddenly thrown from a goofy wacky Mario game with a character named O'Chunks who farts to fly off screen to a story of two nameless voices falling in love was so jarring, but also wonder, and I'm glad that it was presented to me in this whiplash-like contrasting way.
Super's weakest aspect is no doubt, its supporting cast. Beyond the main cast and the villains, everyone else is notably quite forgettable. Barring perhaps Luvbi and Francis, the rest of the "so-called" characters are either obnoxiously or otherwise silent after their initial dialogue. I am, of course, talking about the Pixls. While listening to Slim clearly go off his rocker with non-sequiturs, Thudley investigating the party's "girth", and Fleeps's bizzaro need t sing in faux-Italian to alert the party they need toilet paper are all amusing in their own rights, after this initial conversation, Pixls are little more than quite literal upgrades for Mario, rather than unique and distinct characters. The fun in exploring the world with characters like Lady Bow or the baby Yoshi in the previous two games did not carry over into Super and it's a real disappointment I have with the game.
I kept track of the number of times this game elicited a genuine reaction out of me, whether it be laughter, disgust, frustration, or a singular tear rolling down my cheek. These moments totaled to around 40 through the course of 32 chapters. Whether they be positive (the cutscene after beating the Chapter 7 boss), negative (the 5-1 passwords and almost all of 7-3), or anywhere in between (finding Flopside to be just a worse version of Flipside made me laugh for some reason), Super kept me interested and engaged for almost all the time, even when [I was holding left on my controller to run while an NPC designed like an Egyptian slave master ways a whip back and forth]. In what other Mario game can you say that? You could replace that sentence with any of the following bulleted scenarios and the game would be just as wacky.
- A giant cybernetic dragon emerged from the desert and quoted Zelda II and used the Wii Shop searching icon
- A mansion's maid is able to transform into a mechanical spider by channeling 'The Exorcist'.
- A nerdy salamander otaku boots up Swoon.exe, a dating sim texting interface to talk with Princess Peach
- An outhouse in space is out of toilet paper, and your companion REALLY has gotta go. (also I did laugh at that the fact that there finally is a "toilet paper" joke in the Paper Mario Franchise)
- A surfer dude caveman named Jasperoid asks you to type out the word "Please" five times
- THE WORLD ENDS
- MARIO GOES TO HELL AND THEN ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN TO FIGHT SATAN
I state again, in what other Mario game do situations like these actually happen? Who cares if the pixls are quite literally flat characters when you have Luigi being the apocalypse maiden? The game's short enough to finish in a couple sittings, each chapter is pretty accomplishable provided that one knows which items to pick at which spots (again, 7-3), so why not give it a shot. It isn't 64 or TTYD's gameplay, but it is it's own fantastic and unique story with a LOT of memorable moments.
Play it wherever you can find it, and enjoy the ride, even through the padding.
Rating: [89]
Super Paper Mario is a game that earnestly believes in itself and its ability to capture fans of the Mario series, especially those were fans of the previous two games in the franchise. It boldly asks the player to accept that this game is going to be playing in 2D for about 90% of the whole game, that the combat is going to be more action-platformer than JRPG, that the story is going to actually be quite deep (even more so than its Gamecube predecessor), and that the game prioritizes its best parts and as a result leaves a lot of padding and flat characters, all of which add to one of the most fascinating games in the Mario franchise.
Of the four playable characters, only one, Mario is able to shift between 2D and 3D. The other characters also have little tricks that make them unique and helpful as well: Peach is able to float across gaps, Luigi can jump super high, and Bowser can break the game! These characters, of course, aren't Mario, and as such only work in a 2D space. You wanted 3D gameplay? how about only with Mario? Why else would anyone use Mario otherwise? The game does a great job at using the 3D mechanic and it's clear that there were plenty ideas of how this flipping between 2D and 3D mechanic could work, while still keeping the gameplay unique and fun. I'm particularly impressed by the maze in 8-3 where one has to appropriately navigate the path top take with Luigi, but the arrows are only visible in 3D with Mario.
Super looks at these fans of Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and dares them to play something different than before. And to Super Paper Mario's credit, its attempts at a different take on gameplay were still quite manageable, dare I say still even fun, unlike the later games in the franchise. That, of course, isn't fair to Super Paper Mario; the development team absolutely took a risk in ditching the JRPG turn-based combat for something closer to a story-based platformer, and I think they got a really good amount of mileage out of it. There are, of course plenty of other parts of the combat and overworld exploration that I wish were slightly different (having the game not be broken by Bowser + Carrie, having fewer motion controlled mechanics for healing items, giving Peach more movement moves beyond invincibility frames and a hover mechanic), but alas, it is what it is. It's not like these concerns of mine actively detract from Super.
The plot is something that feels as though the scenario was written for an entirely different game, and then by some strange miracle it was retconned to have Mario characters. The love story between Blumiere and Timpani, especially given its unconventional method when considered against other video games of the day, is astonishingly well-executed. I love how in every chapter, the story leading up to the events of the game regarding Tippi and Bleck is methodically revealed to us solely with dialogue, a literal memory of the previous events. I love the way that it made me confused at the start, like I had been suddenly thrown from a goofy wacky Mario game with a character named O'Chunks who farts to fly off screen to a story of two nameless voices falling in love was so jarring, but also wonder, and I'm glad that it was presented to me in this whiplash-like contrasting way.
Super's weakest aspect is no doubt, its supporting cast. Beyond the main cast and the villains, everyone else is notably quite forgettable. Barring perhaps Luvbi and Francis, the rest of the "so-called" characters are either obnoxiously or otherwise silent after their initial dialogue. I am, of course, talking about the Pixls. While listening to Slim clearly go off his rocker with non-sequiturs, Thudley investigating the party's "girth", and Fleeps's bizzaro need t sing in faux-Italian to alert the party they need toilet paper are all amusing in their own rights, after this initial conversation, Pixls are little more than quite literal upgrades for Mario, rather than unique and distinct characters. The fun in exploring the world with characters like Lady Bow or the baby Yoshi in the previous two games did not carry over into Super and it's a real disappointment I have with the game.
I kept track of the number of times this game elicited a genuine reaction out of me, whether it be laughter, disgust, frustration, or a singular tear rolling down my cheek. These moments totaled to around 40 through the course of 32 chapters. Whether they be positive (the cutscene after beating the Chapter 7 boss), negative (the 5-1 passwords and almost all of 7-3), or anywhere in between (finding Flopside to be just a worse version of Flipside made me laugh for some reason), Super kept me interested and engaged for almost all the time, even when [I was holding left on my controller to run while an NPC designed like an Egyptian slave master ways a whip back and forth]. In what other Mario game can you say that? You could replace that sentence with any of the following bulleted scenarios and the game would be just as wacky.
- A giant cybernetic dragon emerged from the desert and quoted Zelda II and used the Wii Shop searching icon
- A mansion's maid is able to transform into a mechanical spider by channeling 'The Exorcist'.
- A nerdy salamander otaku boots up Swoon.exe, a dating sim texting interface to talk with Princess Peach
- An outhouse in space is out of toilet paper, and your companion REALLY has gotta go. (also I did laugh at that the fact that there finally is a "toilet paper" joke in the Paper Mario Franchise)
- A surfer dude caveman named Jasperoid asks you to type out the word "Please" five times
- THE WORLD ENDS
- MARIO GOES TO HELL AND THEN ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN TO FIGHT SATAN
I state again, in what other Mario game do situations like these actually happen? Who cares if the pixls are quite literally flat characters when you have Luigi being the apocalypse maiden? The game's short enough to finish in a couple sittings, each chapter is pretty accomplishable provided that one knows which items to pick at which spots (again, 7-3), so why not give it a shot. It isn't 64 or TTYD's gameplay, but it is it's own fantastic and unique story with a LOT of memorable moments.
Play it wherever you can find it, and enjoy the ride, even through the padding.
Rating: [89]