Super Paper Mario (Wii) Review
Worth waiting for?
There is probably not a Nintendo gamer down under who hasnt heard of the famous Super Paper Mario delay. After a good 5 month wait the PAL version will soon be released in Australia to a legion of starved fans, or at least those who didnt lose patience and import in one form or another. (I being one of the latter) If youve borne the grunt of the delay then you are surely hoping that the game will deliver something pretty special. Super Paper Mario delivers a fusion of platformer and RPG that is somewhat different from previous titles, but pure gold all the same. Youll hate Nintendo for the release date but love them for the game.
A marriage made in hell
As it is standard fare for the majority of Mario games the story begins with Mario and Luigi kicking back in their home in the Mushroom Kingdom, albeit not for very long. Soon enough a stressed out toad appears to inform you that Princess Peach has once again been kidnapped. Quickly assuming that Bowser must be to blame, the two heroes make their way to his castle where the king of koopas is hatching his own plan. After some brief confusion a mysterious figure appears declaring himself as Count Bleck before using dark magic to open a rift that sucks in everyone but Mario. Next thing you know, Bowser and Peach are in front of the altar and about to be wed. Count Bleck plans to use their union to unleash the power of the chaos heart. Meanwhile Mario awakes and soon finds he has been named as the hero of legend who naturally has to clear up the entire mess and make things right.
Once the opening story has come and gone youll be itching to get started. In Super Paper Mario you hold the Wii remote sideways and essentially control the game like a classic NES platformer; or at least thats what you do for the first level or so anyway.
The fun begins as soon as Mario gains the ability to flip between dimensions whimsically at the press of the A button. No, its not like light and dark Aether; youll be flipping between a two and three dimensional view. (Thats 2D and 3D) When flipping to 3D a whole new set of possibilities appear. Youll soon realise that the importance of the game hinges on shifting your view wisely to take advantage of the situation. Early on this is rather simple. Theres a two dimensional rock/mountain/enemy blocking your pathway so the natural strategy is to switch dimensions and walk around it. Dont be fooled though, as the game does get much more complex as you get further into the game and the solutions to certain puzzles become less and less blaringly obvious as you progress.
Role Playing the Plumber
One point to note though is that you cant stay in 3D forever. Theres a time limit before you begin to start feeling it with a bit of health loss. If you havent played a Paper Mario title before, the general idea is that Mario is given stats that increase throughout the game like in any RPG. In Super Paper Mario defeating enemies and picking up certain items adds to your score, which will allow you to increase your stats once you earn enough. Your score is like your experience bar. Enemies, like Mario have different amounts of health, attack, defence and so on along with other traits and weaknesses to exploit. To add to the increasing pool of tricks at Marios disposal throughout his adventure he teams up with some other well know characters, each with their own unique abilities, plus some strange little sprites called Pixls that grant even more talents.
Essentially the game is split into chapters, or worlds if you look at the game in the classic sense. In each world Mario has to collect an artefact called a pure heart that is of course hidden as far away as possible. The chapters have individual stages within them where the goal is naturally to reach the end of the level and get through whatever puzzles, enemies and bosses are thrown at you. While it seems to have the same simplicity as 2D Mario titles of old, as the player progresses they will find themselves having to use the entire array of tricks and abilities at their disposal to clear a single level by combining use of character and Pixl abilities, with the linearity of levels lessening the further you progress. The game is still 100% Mario platformer through and through, but now it just has so much more variation packed in for good measure. Its just a fun sort of game. Intelligent Systems have done an outstanding job in putting a breath of fresh air back into one of gamings oldest genres. All in all youll be hard pressed to find something to fault with the game mechanics.
Pop-up Pleasure
As the name suggests Paper Mario games have a very unique presentation style. Essentially the characters and visuals in the game are created like paper thin cut outs and the game is rendered as it would be in your favourite pop-up storybook or third grade diorama. Whilst not next-gen visual eye candy, the art style allows for some very interesting and sometimes even humorous effects such as peeling off a piece of scenery to reveal a switch or to watch a bridge be folded out and constructed before your very eyes. However the graphics are very crisp and clear and have been made to be the best they can be considering the visual direction. Things do take somewhat of a turn for the worse when flipping to 3D though, simply because you can see out into the great nothingness and the once beautiful 2D environments become barren and bland.
As for other parts of the presentation the soundtrack is pretty decent, but not really earth shattering. Music is appropriately themed to the various environments Mario visits throughout his journey whether it is vast desert or a fabulous mansion. However, one of the best things about the Paper Mario games has always been the humorous flair the developers have used when creating the setting for the game. While there are some potential laugh out loud moments in the game, the game is packed with weird and wonderful characters that will at the very least cause you to smile or chuckle, whether its the Scotsman OChunks or the first boss who threatens to Ctrl Alt Del you. One thing to note though is that the amount of text in the game can get a bit excessive. The opening sequence becomes a bit boring after a while and often youll find yourself scrolling blindly through text simply because theres too much of it, with the main consideration for this being that the game is much more of a platformer than RPG.
Closing the book
Super Paper Mario is a practically essential Wii title. What the game may lack in certain areas of polish it makes up for with solid gameplay foundations and a good old dose of classic Mario. There is plenty of content packed in and your adventure is sure to keep you amused for a fairly long period of time. Wii motion controls arent excessively forced in and the game is generally very well designed if you forget about the excessive text and the less aptly rendered aspects of the soundtrack and visual presentation. Regardless of whether or not youre a Nintendo fan Super Paper Mario proves that our old buddy still has plenty of good times to share with us.
Pros
+ Well tuned controls that dont go overboard with unnecessary motion gimmicks
+ New 2D-3D concept adds great depth to the game
+ Zany and hilarious character cast
+ At least 20 hours of solid platforming goodness
+ Unique visual appeal and presentation style
Cons
– Excessive text to the point where its ridiculous
– 3D visuals pale in comparison to 2D presentation
– Certain aspects of the soundtrack are bland and uninspiring
