Paper Mario (2000)

This title is an RPG that stands out for its unique style and accessible gameplay, it introduces a world where everything looks like it’s made of paper, characters, scenery, and effects, which gave the game a playful, storybook atmosphere. This was a bold stylistic choice at the time, and it helped Paper Mario stand apart from both traditional Mario platformers and other role-playing games. This really has a feel like a sequel to the Mario RPG from the SNES, not just because of it's combat mechanics, but on a overall gameplay feel, so if you liked the ones from SNES, then there is no excuse not to play this one.

The story is straightforward, Bowser has stolen the Star Rod and captured Princess Peach, and Mario must gather the power of the Star Spirits to defeat him, but it’s told with a surprising amount of humor and charm. Along the way, Mario is joined by a variety of partners, each with their own personalities and abilities, such as Goombario with his headbonk or Bombette with her explosive skills. So again, this really feels like the SNES counterpart down to the pacing and characters. These partners aren’t just helpful in combat but are also key to solving puzzles in the overworld, which keeps exploration fresh.

Combat uses a turn-based system but adds timing-based action commands, where pressing a button at the right moment can increase damage or reduce it when defending. This mechanic keeps battles interactive and more engaging than the typical “select attack and wait” style found in many RPGs of that era. This makes up for a much more dynamic combat system, while at the same time, being accessible enough because it doesn't really introduces a lot of complexity. The badge system also provides customization, letting players adjust Mario’s abilities to fit their playstyle, adding some depth to the combat features.

While it isn’t as complex or lengthy as other RPGs like Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, Paper Mario succeeds through its balance of accessibility, lighthearted storytelling, and polished design. Its mix of puzzle-solving, exploration, and character-driven humor makes it one of the standout titles on the Nintendo 64, and it laid the groundwork for what would become one of Nintendo’s most beloved RPG series. This is definitely one of the best RPGs that I've played, but I'm biased since I like alternative games, so if you are expecting a traditional RPG, or even JRPG, then I would stay away from this one, but this is a must-play for Mario fans. I would also recommend trying to play the most recent re-releases, as for me, I decided to play the vanilla original 64 version.

Paper Mario was a fun romp from start to finish, even if it did start to get slightly repetitive as I got closer to the end.

The graphics haven't aged too badly because of the heavy stylization, and I still found myself going 'whoa' at places like Star Haven, even 20 years after the game's initial release. Every location had its own distinct personality, and I can still vividly remember all of them, all the way from Toad Town to Shiver City, not to mention the people in said places. To me, the most memorable part of Paper Mario is the huge variety of characters, lots of them being ones never seen before, and their designs always have so much personality in them! I can't help loving every single one.

The music was.. decent. It's a mario soundtrack, what can I say. Koji Kondo did a great job, don't get me wrong, all the tracks sound exactly like the places they were made for, but I doubt I'll be returning to many, if any, of them after finishing the game. The soundtrack kept the fun, whimsical atmosphere on it's feet, and I couldn't help humming to most of the songs as time went on. It's not bad by any means (even if a few songs ended up getting on my nerves so bad I had to mute the game entirely), just doesn't fit into my personal preference when it comes to video game music.

What I enjoyed a lot was the interactive battle system. It kept me from button mashing with my eyes closed, and kept the battles interesting for a long while. I also enjoyed the badge-mechanic. Giving the player the ability to go back and remove any ability and replace it with another was something I appreciated a great deal, especially because I could remove old, weaker attacks with one better one. Some things clearly showed age, though, especially the fact that your party members can't use any items at all, and you can't switch places with them for the sake of damage control.

The story is a Mario story. Save the princess, save the world, hooray! Enjoyable enough to play through, and it's mostly carried by the characters and their strong personalities.

Overall, I think it was pretty great. I was still smiling when the credits rolled, and I feel like I'll remember this game quite fondly from now on. I would definitely recommend for any nintendo-fan!

Cute and light fare. Not as interesting as Super Mario RPG but about as long. I think the graphic style, being the main point of this game, worked well. Lots of super cute moments.

I wasn’t hugely excited about the return of timed actions in battle, but they did make an effort to diversify to add variety. Unfortunately, between nine different characters with maybe ten or so unique inputs across them, you’re missing button presses some times. I never did get used to Mario’s last jump variety.

The nine characters all have unique contributions in and out of battle, but character development is really where this game suffers. I’m not invested in any of them because they contribute nothing except “I do this thing, I’ll go with you.” Then the game shoehorns these obstacles just to get use out of the characters. It’s a little cart before the horse or what have you.

I used Kooper mostly in the beginning, then Boo, then Watt, with some Lakilester and Bombette mixed in for fast traveling and DPS, respectively. My RPG FOMO wanted me to use Watt to find everything and also Goombario to hear all the descriptions but that’s not sustainable switching between them and the team member you actually need to use, so I stopped that pretty quickly.

I didn’t 100% everything, but did get all the badges, letters, and star pieces. I missed two badges and one letter before the end, so I had to cheat a little to find them. but don’t tell anyone.

Started 4/16/20. This is the first N64 game I’ve ever played! Moves a little slow and the freaking timed hits in battles are back from Mario RPG (not my favorite feature) but so far it’s cute and light and a nice contrast to the deicide in Breath of Fire 2.

Unrelated, but this is also the last game I have to finish on my Wii from store purchases. Minus some Sega games that are also in the Genesis Classics collection. I’d rather play them on PS4 than the Wii, so oh well, money not well spent. Then it’s time to bust out the PSX. I guess the quarantine is good for catching up on a lifetime of backlog.

So yeah, Paper Mario. :)

I don't know if this was actually my first RPG back in the day (other than Pokemon), but that's beside the point. All I know is I played it when I was pretty young. Now I've taken to calling Paper Mario "My First RPG" because it's like an introduction to RPGs; everything has been stripped down to the simplest it can be, and that goes for the platforming and puzzle elements as well. If you're looking for intense, strategy-driven battles, tough platforming sequences, or head-scratching puzzles, Paper Mario may not be the game for you. However, if you're looking for a really fun game that incorporates basic elements from all those types of games, then look no further.

Paper Mario is extremely accessible. Instead of having attacks that do hundreds or thousands of damage (which can be intimidating at the beginning of a game), most attacks start off with doing just one damage and work from there, and the health points work accordingly. You can attach badges that give Mario different abilities, and most of them use Flower Points to work. It's all fairly simple and straightforward. While this makes the game easy to pick up and play, I found it also put a bit of a cap on how strong you could make Mario and how much fun you could be having.

For example, when you level up, you get to choose to increase your Health Points, your Flower Points, or your Badge Points. Not your strength. The only way to get stronger is to use the few badge points that correlate with strength or find the upgrades in the game, all of which are necessary to move forward. Since the game forces you to get stronger at a certain pace, it's not quite as satisfying when you grind and level up Mario. Sure, you can use more abilities, but it doesn't compare to, say, Final Fantasy VI, when you find the Ultima weapon and you just know that nothing will be able to stand in your way. For me, it put a cap on the "wow" factor.

The puzzles were the same way. I'd say a solid two of the eight chapters made me stop and think for a while. Other than that, the game is pretty straightforward and linear. Sure, there are the usual buttons that need pressing and walls that need exploding, but they're pretty obvious, and the only way they'd become tricky is if you somehow forgot about your partner's abilities. The final dungeon, as all good final dungeons should do, forces you to make use of all the abilities and partners you've amassed thus far in the game. Which is great, but again, it's just a matter of switching out your partner and doing the exact same puzzle you've solved a hundred times.

For these reasons, Paper Mario dropped out of my list of all-time favourites games. That being said, it's still a really fun game. The story is charming, the characters amusing, and the battles varied enough to keep you paying attention, for the most part. There's some fetch-quest syndrome and backtracking, but it's not bad enough to make you fall asleep. Toad Town is a great hub, and every world is colourful and unique. Overall, it's a great game that everyone should play, but don't expect to have your mind blown by the gameplay or mechanics.

Just beat this game after hearing about how much people love the early Paper Mario games. I'm definitely satisfied with it! I really enjoyed the characters and writing, it's just so relatable. There's so many RPGs out there and I feel this game stands out with it's nuanced battle system. The way that you attack and take damage is so fun, making for an extra layer of depth to planning out battles. For the most part it's very easy as long as you use common sense, with the occasional scary situation. You are, thankfully, rewarded for putting in the extra effort to explore and strategize effectively throughout the adventure. The only thing that I can say negatively about the game is that it is a little too simple with its puzzles and fetch quests. I wouldn't rather things to be cryptic by any means, but less running around would be nice.

Overall, Paper Mario is very good! If you want a welcoming first RPG or something less traditional, definitely give this one a go. You'll definitely find yourself smiling while playing this game.