Super Paper Mario review: Mario goes 2D on the Wii

Mario goes 2D on the Wii
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Mario goes 2D on the Wii 25/07/07
by thelocaluk

Super Paper Mario tells the dark tale of a Dark Book that can tell the future. It goes on to tell how many people have read it, but despite knowing the future, they are only depressed by it! If you bother to watch the cut scene that plays if you do not press the 2 button on the menu screen, it shows the forced wedding of Bowser and Princess Peach. Peach is forced to say “I do”, and the Chaos Heart is created the instant that they re married. This is the beginning of the end….


Princess Peach...and Bowser?!

When the story starts, Mario and Luigi are casually sitting around. Toad comes in to alert them that the castle has been raided by an evil force. When they race to Bowser’s castle, they learned that he was planning an attack, but had not yet launched it! Who could it be? As if on cue, Count Bleck shows up for his self-introduction and Mario’s friends and enemies alike are sucked into a different world, leaving Mario behind.

Mario meets Tippi, who informs them that all worlds are about to be destroyed, and that he needs 8 pure hearts to fix it. With that knowledge, Mario agrees to go to Flipside to begin his journey….

The story is fairly well. It is leaps and bounds beyond the other Paper Marios, that’s for sure. It’s a bit darker, and even involves romance. It gives you a reason to actually hurry up, because the “Void” that will destroy all worlds gets gradually bigger. While there’s no time limit like in Zelda: Majora’s Mask, it creates excitement.

The writing is nice, and it’s well played. I’m still waiting for the day where there is voice acting in the Paper Mario series. I have to admit the larger letters, and shaking word bubbles is a nice touch. I actually ended up laughing out loud a few times, especially in Francis’s Castle.

The graphics have a nice, clean feel, and are rather neat. I don’t mind them, but I suppose the developers could add some more to it. I guess it just takes a Nintendo fan to appreciate an art style like Super Paper Mario’s. The 2-D 3-D switch is a little awkward for the graphics, the 3-D world is a bit ugly, missing walls, and not sloping.

The music for this game is pleasing; it has a nice Mario-ish feel to it. The music goes along with the levels nicely. Not outstanding, but passable.

The control is probably this game’s trump card. 3-D lovers and 2-D fans alike will love the game. It adds a new take on older games, and quite nicely at that. It’s kind of cool when you flip into 3-D, and you say, “Whoa, those aren’t stairs, this column is just set back further!” or “Hey, there’s enemies behind here!” .It lets you explore the 2-D view of the game. The quick-menu makes the whole selection process nice, as well. You’ll be shaking and tilting your Wii Remote to get style points, as well.

That’s my take on Super Paper Mario. Better Story, great graphics, neat controls, and actually funny dialogue.

I’m giving this game 9.5 out of 10. One of the best games for Wii since Twilight Princess.