Paper Mario 2: RPGs and Broadway Finally Meet
Written: Oct 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: -Fun battle system, Engaging, humorous story line, Fresh Graphics.
Cons: Lack of Voice overs and a slow start.
The Bottom Line: The most fun I've had gaming in a long time, highly recommended.
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| pavona21's Full Review: Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door for GameCube |
Paper Mario? Mario RPG?
Back in 1996 when games were still games and many modern day gamers were still teething, breast feeding, or eating Gerber’s, Square and Nintendo teamed up to create a little game known as Super Mario: RPG. This surprising collaboration between two video game powerhouses was a huge hit and is to this day, many Nintendo fans favorite RPG of all time. But, just a couple of years later Square and Nintendo had a big falling out, and all hopes for a sequel went down the crapper...Or did they?
3 years ago, one of Nintendo’s in-house studios, Intelligent Systems(the guys originally behind Mario and Metroid), decided to pick up where Square and Nintendo had left off by starting an entirely new series of Mario themed RPGs. Paper Mario was released for the then dying N64 just 5 years after the original had been embraced for the thriving SNES. The RPG with classic characters and a fresh look went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. That said, it was only a matter time before Intelligent Systems began developing a sequel to Paper Mario. That sequel is Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door. This is a review of it...
Story: 9/10-Oh my god...They kidnapped the Princess...Bastards!
It all starts out in a dirty little port city, properly named Rogueport. Princess Peach is in Rogueport in search of treasure and adventure, and sends for Mario to meet her there. But, when Mario arrives, peach is gone. It may be hard for you believe, but she's actually been kidnapped!(trust me on this one) So, using the Map that Peach sends him as his guide, Mario must embark on a quest to find 7 crystal stars which are necessary to open up the Thousand Year door, and eventually, save the Princess. On the way, he's joined by a slew of interesting sidekicks, most notably Goombella, a good Goomba, Koops(a koopa), and a Yoshi Baby. Each of these characters are a great compliment to Paper Mario, and you can use their skills and special abilities to take advantage of foes and unlock new worlds. Mario, too, is hooked up with some crazy cool abilities that you will help you throughout your quest. Because he's a paper sprite, he's able to do things use his flatness to squeeze through tiny cracks, and fold into paper airplane like designs to carry him over a gap, among other things.
Much like any other Mario title, Paper Mario 2 takes you through multiple different worlds. These worlds range from slow and somewhat boring(the first two worlds), to ridiculously fun and addicting(most of the rest), but show good variety throughout. Like Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario and Luigi Superstar saga before, each world introduces a plethora of different side characters to talk to. Similarly to what was seen in Superstar Saga, these characters are both cute and comedic at the same time. It's almost worth the price of admission to just walk about the game and talk to all the NPCs.
Battling
The fun story and cute, humorous characters are great, but what's an RPG without a good battle system? Luckily, Paper Mario 2 sports one that is both fun and well designed . Unlike a lot of RPGs, Paper Mario doesn't tend put you in a position where you have to fight meaningless battles over and over again. Instead, it allows you to run, jump, and fly away from foes in a style so ridiculous, only Mario himself could pull it off. The battles that you do choose to partake in(or the ones that you have to fight out to progress the story) are run in a very fresh, interesting way though. The battle system in Paper Mario 2 turns out to be a direct mocking of serious turned based RPGs.
You see, Mario, his sidekicks, and the foes that he's fighting, do battle in front of a "live" audience full of toads, koopas, and shy guys. In these stage play battles, Mario and his friends must not only win the fight, but also win over the crowd by timing moves and counters properly and performing special moves. If you gain the support of the crowd, your celebrity will be increased and you'll be able to perform some devastating special moves. If you tick the crowd off, on the other hand, onlookers will stand up and walk out or even start throwing things at you. There’s also a bit of strategy involved here. While you can use your sidekicks in battle, you’re only able to use one of them at a time. That said, a bit of research on your enemies should be done before putting a helper there.
In between battles, you can even level up Mario by using the star points that you earn in combat. Leveling up allows Mario to carry more special badges, which can you can be bought, found, or won in battle. These special badges can be used to everything from Power up Mario's Attack and Defense, to changing his battle sound effects, to increasing the power of his hammer attack. You can also level up Mario's sidekicks by finding Shine Sprites(Yes, like in Mario Sunshine) throughout the world.
Controls: 9/10-as Smooth as Paper
Paper Mario 2's controls are simple enough for a child to master, but responsive enough for a die hard RPG gamer to be satisfied at the same time. Most of the battle controls are done using combinations of the A and B buttons with the control stick, with a hint of timing. Timing truly is everything here, being as though hitting the A button at the right point either before or after an attack will make that attack even more damaging. The same can be said about blocking. Using the B button at the right time can decrease the damage that you take, or even negate it altogether if you're really on point. Combination and defense timing will take a bit of time to master, but before time, should become second nature. Those aside, all other mechanics of the game are generally easy to learn, especially because of the beginning of the game’s tutorial nature.
Graphics: 8/10-I'll take Paper Mario over computer paper any day!
A lot of games that mix 2D characters with 3D backgrounds or visa versa don't get the job done graphically, Paper Mario, on the other hand, makes it work. Similar to what we saw in The Wind Waker last year, Nintendo has put together a bright, well animated, and cheerful environment. The best word to describe the graphics is smooth, as the game runs at a polished framerate with no slowdown and very few loading scenes. The pure nature of the game also gives way to a lot of cool "paper" related effects. For example, at times in the game, the initial background blows or tears away to unlock a hidden stage. Also, in combat, powerful, well timed moves can cause the stage to collapse altogether and fall on Mario and foes. Nintendo could have done a slightly better job in adding more and better "papery" textures, but most gamers should be happy with what's here.
Audio: 9/10-Fun Loving Nostalgia
I should probably throw this fact out there before it gets too late. Much like we’ve seen in Mario RPG, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, and The Wind Waker, all of Paper Mario 2's dialogue is controlled via text. While a lot of people may think this takes away from the game, I think that Intelligent studios and Nintendo did a great job making the transition from Japanese Text to English, flawlessly. It would have been nice to see some quality voice acting, yes, but the dialogue is very well written, and very funny. That aside, the rest of the audio department is nicely put together. You'll recognize a lot of melodies from back in the day(especially the NES Mario's), and many of the characters even sport their own theme music. The sound effects and other touches are as cartoony as ever, but in a good way. Overall, an enjoyable experience for your ears.
Other General Comments/End
The allure of Paper Mario 2 is surprisingly difficult to put into words. It wouldn't seem as if an RPG encompassing all things Nintendo, with a Mario made of paper as the main character, could be a good, fun title. But it is. Intelligent Studios has came together, and put out a game that is purely fun and addictive. Sure, there a few problems here, like the lack of voice acting and a somewhat boring introduction. At the same though, the battles are awesome, the graphics are refreshing, the cameos(Luigi, Pikmin, others) are amusing, and the game lasts upwards of 30 hours. Skeptics of this game, especially those that never played the first one, should really get out and pick up Paper Mario 2. This is the most fun I've had gaming in a long time.
Thanks for reading,
-Pav
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
pavona21
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Member: Eric Pavona
Location: Scenic Michigan
Reviews written: 105
Trusted by: 67 members
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