This was the first Paper Mario game I ever played, and if I had never played TTYD it would be a full 5. Considering this game on its own away from the other Paper Mario games it's actually still a 5. I think people shit on this game too much for not having a turn-based battle system and having too much platforming. The 2D-3D gameplay is pretty fun and the characters and story are all worth experiencing. There are a couple of bum chapters and the backtracking padding is horrid upon replaying, but if you're just looking to play the game once and say you've played "the first bad Paper Mario game", then you'll have to play Sticker Star afterwards, because this is not a bad Paper Mario game.