I decided to pick up Paper Mario before I moved on to the Thousand Year Door, and boy was I surprised! Everything about this game is fabulous, and if you still have your N64, this game is reason enough to dust it off. The story is quite simple: Bowser stole the Star Rod and became invincible. He then kidnapped Princess Peach, and scattered the star spirits around the kingdom. Mario must reunite these spirits and foil Bowser's plan. Not such an ambitious story as far as Mario games go, but hey, what were you expecting? Paper Mario is a fairly simple RPG, where you have only a few things to keep track of. First off, you have items, like you do in nearly every RPG. You also get coins, and Health, which as you imagine are pretty standard. Flower Points (FP), substitute for Magic Points, and usually increase or change your attack. Combat is turn based, and often requires you to perform some set of button pressing or control stick moving to maximize your attack. You also get a star meter which alows certain types of specials during the attack mode, such as healing or making your enemies fall asleep. The last major category is badges, which you collect as you move along. When you equip badges, you get some type of special benefit, such as increased HP, a better attack, or a more powerful attack. Essentially it is a system that allows you to decide what you want to improve. Leveling up is also linked to battles. The more enemies you face, the more "star points" you receive. When you've collected 100 star points, Mario levels up, and you can chose to improve HP, FP, or Badge points (which allow you to use more badges at once). You also travel with several companions. These friends each have unique powers, and they can be leveled up as well by finding boxes hidden throughout the game. This adds a nice touch to the game, because these companions each have different strengths that you can use in different places in the game. Often using a specific character as the "member of your party" is necessary to make it through part of a chapter. There are a total of 8 chapters, none of which are really difficult. The most fun part of the game is probably the battles, which are turn based. Some of the enemies that you encounter are really neat though! To top off a fabulous RPG experience, the graphics are among the best the 64 has to offer. Maybe the 2-dimensional stylized graphics were easier for Nintendo to make, but they certainly did a fabulous job. The sound is good for a N64 game. There are several different sets of effects that you equip from badges which are hidden throughout the game. Although the sound effects are pretty standard, the music fits well with the games environments. The game is approximately 25 hours in length, and it is worth every minute of it! I was pleasantly surprised, and you will be too! This game makes it into my top three of the Nintendo 64, and is possibly the greatest for this generation of consoles.
Paper Mario is quite unique among the Mario franchise. Sure there have been Mario RPGs in the past, but what sets Paper Mario apart from the others is that, well, Mario & Co. are two dimensional paper figures. Now if... Read Full Review
I loved Paper Mario, from the fun battle system (that had a strange amount of depth to it) to the weird storyline / characters, to the charming graphics, it was a blast to play. I had a few complaints but nothing to har... Read Full Review
