An interesting new take on the Paper Mario universe.

User Rating: 8.4 | Super Paper Mario WII
Let's get this out of the way right now: if you're expecting Paper Mario and Thousand Year Door all over again, this game isn't for you. It's has "Paper Mario" in the title, but it retains only the barest essentials of an RPG, that being the idea of HP, a form a currency, and experience (or "points" in Super Paper Mario) that leads to levels up. All fighting is done in real-time and in the field; there are no "encounters" (well, almost none - I won't give away what I mean here). This game is much better classified as "action/adventure" than "RPG".

That said, however, if you're looking for a good game, this is, nonetheless, certainly that.

The general idea of this game is that you, as Mario, are whisked away to the town of Flipside by this butterfly creature named Tippi after a mysterious figure who calls himself Count Bleck attacks Bowser's castle and steals (yes, steals) everyone inside. In Flipside, from a sage called Merlon, you learn that Count Bleck has started the wheels in motion for the destruction of everything. Well, that's not good. So it's up to you and three others (Peach, Bowser, and Luigi - no shockers here) to go and save the world.

Along the way, you'll run into things called "Pixls". They are quirky little things who each grant you one power - though you can only use one at a time - and who are named according to what they do for you (e.g., one named "Thoreau" - "throw", that is - enables you to grab stuff and throw it). In addition, the butterfly who took you to Flipside is also a Pixl who is with you at all times (well, at most times), who can give you information about stuff when you point the Wiimote at them.

The gameplay is much akin to the good ol' days of Super Mario Bros. You hold the Wiimote sideways to play the game, use the D-pad to move, press 2 to jump, and press 1 to use the power of the Pixl you have with you. The A button is also used to "flip" from 2D to 3D when Mario is the guy you're playing as. By flipping through dimensions, you can see things such as secret passages or treasure chests that were behind other environmental objects when in 2D mode. It makes for an interesting take on things, although you can only stay in 3D mode for a limited time before your stay hurts you - I never did figure out why they did this.

The graphics haven't changed hardly at all from the old Paper Mario games. So the result is that if you liked the graphics from the old Paper Mario games, you'll like the graphics in this game, and similarly if you didn't. It's not super-detailed, but then again, it never was meant to. It gets the job done quite well of conveying a cartoony, playful setting.

The game is very much into stumping you with puzzles and tasks that require you to hunt for things, so if you dislike that sort of stuff, you may find playing through Super Paper Mario frustrating, as it happens quite frequently. Some I admittedly found kind of tedious, but fortunately the ones that are especially so are quite few and far between, and are quickly forgotten once you're done with them.

All in all, Super Paper Mario is quite a lengthy game that is certainly worth a look for anyone who liked the first two, and also for people who enjoy this sort of game in general. It's not perfect, and there were places I had a few minor issues with, but the bottom line is that it's nonetheless fun, and in the end, that's what one truly remembers about a game after one finishes playing it.