A "cut" above the rest: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door review

Nintendo's mustached mascot literally takes to the stage in the critically-acclaimed blockbuster Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, originally released on Oct. 11, 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube. To this day, it remains the favourite game in the series by many, and for good reason. It overflows with adorable and memorable characters, inventive environments, and addicting gameplay. So grab your Fire Flowers, buy some tickets, and grab a seat at the show. You'll be "flat" out laughing by the time we're done.

The visual charm is always a delight to experience. [1]

The game opens up with a letter arriving at Mario's house. As you would expect, the letter is from none other than Princess Peach herself, who claims she has found a treasure map that leads to a fantastic treasure. She was last seen in Rogueport, a dingy, crime-ridden city set far away from the comfort of Mario's homeland, the Mushroom Kingdom. With the map that Peach left for him in hand, Mario heads for Rogueport, only to find that she's gone missing. He sets out to track her down, while simultaneously "unravelling" the secrets of the map and the mysterious relics that it leads to: the Crystal Stars. Over the course of the game, the story will gradually become more and more deep, even becoming somewhat dark at certain points. That is partially what makes this game so amazing. Mario games have never been known for being very strong story-wise, but this game has one of the most enriching, detailed plots for a Mario game. The entirety of the plot is split up into eight "chapters," which further increases the unique "papery" feel of the game. During these chapters, you'll visit locations that each house it's own secrets, such as a mysterious island infested with spirits of poor souls lost at sea, an old church steeple with a really, REALLY annoying poltergeist problem, and a modern-day fighting arena with some dark secrets to uncover. The various environments never fail to captivate your attention, with each one bringing it's own secrets to unravel and people to meet. Some look up to you and accompany you on your journey. Others envy your magnificent mustache and sneakily plan your downfall. The character diversity in this game is insane. While many of the NPCs look alike, you'll rarely come across two people with similar personalities. The field gameplay is mainly focused on exploration and puzzle-solving, and you'll have to use your various strengths and powers as well as your companion's abilities in order to traverse the landscape. The puzzle aspect of this game blends perfectly with the exploration, with there being a perfect balance between the two. Puzzles can vary from hitting switch A and switch B at the same time in a flower-covered meadow, to solving enigmatic riddles with obtuse answers in a centuries-old underground palace. But where the gameplay really shines is in it's combat gameplay.

It's not every day you get to explore an enormous tree filled to the brim with tiny adorable creatures. [2]

When I said Mario literally takes to the stage, I meant it. The whole combat gameplay takes place on a stage, with an audience, smoke machines, and even cardboard backgrounds and defective light fixtures that can fall on you (Seriously, watch out for those). Mario primarily attacks by jumping or by hitting with his hammer, with each method of approach having different pros and cons. For example, jumping can hit any opponent, grounded or not, but can damage Mario if he jumps on something hot or pointy. The hammer is big and powerful, but you can't hit aerial opponents and can only attack the first enemy on the stage. Your allies can attack, too. All of your companions have different moves that are each useful in it's own way. For example, Goombella, the first ally you meet in your adventure, can use her special Tattle ability to look up information on your opponent, such as how much HP they have, or how many points of defense they have. All of the tattles you've acquired will be kept in a special book in the menu, which can become a lengthy sidequest in itself. You can only have one ally with you at once, however, and it will cost you a turn to swap them out. The combat is turn-based, with you and your ally moving first and your opponents moving last. The combat is all about timing; pressing certain buttons at just the right time can increase the damage you give, let you attack again, and decrease the damage you receive. Some attacks can be countered by pressing B just at the right time, However, these actions are significantly more difficult to time and only cause any damage if the enemy makes any direct contact, but they are VERY satisfying to pull off. There is also a treasure trove of various items to use in battle or in the field, with certain items healing you and your partner and others summoning a storm of shooting stars to attack your opponents. Badges can also be collected in the field, and equipped in the menu to give you various boosts and extra attacks when in battle. The stage and the audience can greatly influence the events of the battle as well; the smoke machines could suddenly breathe fire at you, an angry audience member might throw something at you, or a Shy Guy will hop up on stage and start causing mischief. You can also flare up the audience by doing things like dealing out maximum damage, which in turn will allow you to use special attacks more often. Even Mario's skittish brother Luigi occasionally shows up to cheer his sibling on. The combat does has several issues, however. Several points in the game require you to fight large groups of enemies one after the other, which can get repetitive. The combat overall is quite simple, with there not being many different attacking options.

Your average combat scenario, neatly sorted into five different categories, complete with two man-eating weeds and a very angry audience. [3]

One of the best aspects of the game is it's dialogue. The game is quite lengthy, with 30 to 40 hours in the main story alone, and there's loads of dialogue that manages to give you the information that you need to know, while also being downright hilarious. Mario's always been known as more of a listener, so he doesn't talk much. His allies, however, all have completely different personalities, and each provide a unique twist in the conversation at hand. The only downside is that the best of your allies' dialogue are in cutscenes that you can only view once, so you'll never get to see all of your allies putting their two sense in the conversation during your first run through of the game. Your companions also speak up when Mario can't, and it's quite funny watching Mario muttering something and his current partner understanding his every word.

That's a peculiar-looking belt he's wearing, isn't it? [4]

The audio performance is also top-notch, with the area music fitting the environment very well. Some can also be extremely catchy. However, after about 20-30 hours, you might have heard the main battle theme one too many times. The visual presentation is gorgeous, with all of the character models, backgrounds and set pieces being nice and "thin" (In a good way!). Mario even flips around like a sheet of paper when you walk in the opposite direction of which he's facing. The graphics look beautiful for GameCube standards, even rivalling The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker that released a year earlier. There was seldom a point where something important looked visually ugly, and the various NPC designs are creative and colourful, despite some of them looking like a child's colouring book.

Take a look at this gameplay montage showcasing

several environments, as well as some battle gameplay. [5]

Overall, if you enjoy RPGs and you want to experience a unique twist on the genre, than this is the game for you. The story is deep and involving, with more and more details being revealed as you progress. The visuals are fantastic, and the music tracks are nice and catchy. The combat isn't complicated, but it doesn't need to be. This isn't your average role playing game, because it's charm puts it in a league of it's own. This wonderful, adorable game is the product of a group of incredibly talented game designers, and it's quite difficult to pull away from their whimsical world once you get into it. I loved it from start to finish, and it remains one of my favourite games to this day.

The good

+Fun, addictive gameplay

+Beautiful visuals

+Hilarious dialogue

+Surprisingly deep story

+Simplistic, but detailed combat

The bad

-Combat can become slightly repetitive at times

The ugly

I apologise for my use of "tearable" paper puns in this review.

Final rating: 9 out of 10


[1] Digital image. Mario Wiki. SWFlash, 29 June 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. <http://www.mariowiki.com/images/b/b6/PMTTYD_Marioshouse_inside.png>.

[2] Digital image. Mario Wiki. RAP, 23 Mar. 2008. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. <http://www.mariowiki.com/images/0/03/The_Great_Tree.jpg>.

[3] Digital image. MobyGames. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. <http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/89643-paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-gamecube-screenshot-a-battle.jpg>.

[4] Digital image. Mario Wiki. L151, 7 June 2012. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. <http://www.mariowiki.com/images/a/ab/ChampionshipBattle.png>.

[5] Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Gameplay GC. DarkFulgore2000, 14 July 2009. Web. 18 Jan. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5epXZATW0>.