Super Paper Mario

I think it best that I come out swinging for this review. Super Paper Mario has a lot of interesting ideas but fails to properly execute any of them. Unlike its predecessor, it is woefully dated graphically. Combine that with boring level design, a penchant for padding and a tonally inconsistent plot and you have one of the most middling games in the entire Mario series. Perhaps the most disappointing game in Intelligent Systems’ entire catalog, there is no reason to play Super Paper Mario when there are hundreds of better platformers out there.

As is standard for the Paper Mario series, it excels in its presentation. In a surprising reversal though, it is SPM’s soundtrack that is the standout player. Every level has a catchy, memorable piece that fits in with the setting. There isn’t a ton of variety in the soundtrack but every song is able to make the levels feel more alive and vibrant than it would otherwise. And the game desperately needed that extra kick because Super Paper Mario’s art is decidedly bland and uninspired compared to its predecessors.

Since Super Paper Mario started life as a Gamecube game, it makes sense that it would recycle many of the art assets of Thousand Year Door. This wouldn’t be a problem if the new art-style didn’t clash with the old Thousand Year Door models. Mario, Peach, the Koopa Troopas and everything else that was brought over from TTYD don’t work with the pixellated aesthetic of Super Paper Mario.

The whole pixellated aesthetic is the first instance of Super Paper Mario not properly executing a great idea. Many of the new enemy and NPC designs look great and have a distinct Yoshi’s Island vibe. There was clearly some work put into the new designs and it totally paid off. Unfortunately, the same amount of effort put into the enemies and NPCs was not put into the backgrounds. One of the most impressive parts of Thousand Year Door was the backgrounds of the various areas which used colors and the paper aesthetic brilliantly. The same cannot be said of Super Paper Mario. With the exception of two areas, SPM’s levels have exceptionally dull and dry backgrounds. They do little to make the models pop and the use of cel-shading isn’t nearly as well executed here.

            The 3D environments look especially stale with most of them just being the same flat texture repeated until it hits an equally uninteresting wall. The game tries to throw in some graphical tricks with the whole flipping gimmick but it quickly loses its luster as it starts to repeat the same tricks over and over again. Super Paper Mario may have seemed a little impressive in 2007 but in a scant seven years, it looks incredibly dated and flat. A far cry from the stunning graphical prowess of Thousand Year Door, Super Paper Mario fails to live up to the series’ graphical standards.

            The ability to switch over to a 3D plain is an interesting gimmick and likely how Intelligent Systems sold the idea to Nintendo. It’s just a shame that it was done so poorly. The first two worlds work it into some clever puzzles but that’s where the creativity stops. Afterwards the 3D gimmick is either used to recycle past puzzles, thrown in randomly as a reminder that it exists or used as a way to cheese your way through the game’s more difficult sections. This flipping mechanic adds so little to the game that calling it a “selling point” or a “feature” is almost false advertising.

            Super Paper Mario is stuck between wanting to be an RPG and a platformer. It’s not a mix that works well at all since the superfluous RPG elements weigh down the platforming and the platforming just isn’t well done in the first place. If there was ever proof that Intelligent Systems should stick to RPGs, it is Super Paper Mario. Unnecessary elements like items, a health bar and an EXP system don’t add anything to the experience. What should have been a pure Mario platformer (only Paperized and with the flipping mechanic) has instead been turned into a disgusting chimera that struggles to function underneath its own weight.

            Super Paper Mario is heavy on padding and backtracking. Every level that isn’t a straight shot to the end is a massive fetch quest for keys, stones or missing NPCs. This gets tiring almost immediately as the levels are incredibly dull from both a graphical and gameplay standpoint. The puzzles are very simple but assault you with hints regardless. The enemy placement is haphazard and irritating and the strict hit detection makes getting back and forth a massive pain (unless you want to cheese the game of course). Couple that in with an overabundance of bottomless pits and a fetish for labyrinthine levels and you have a Mario game that instead feels like a Kirby game. And not just any Kirby game, the worst Kirby game.

             If there’s one thing I can give Super Paper Mario, it’s that it has a lot of good ideas. For example, the addition of multiple playable characters that you can switch to on the fly is a novel idea. The ability to play as Peach, Bowser and (a Paper Mario first) Luigi was definitely a draw. But once again, the game fails to deliver. These three are only occasionally useful and the game telegraphs when you should use them. There is little reason to ever switch over to any of them as Mario is far more versatile than any of the three other characters. In addition, many of the Pixls (SPM’s replacement for partners) seem poorly thought out. Many of them are used to solve a handful of puzzles and then never used again. Only two or three are used heavily and that’s mostly for attacking. Both of these seem like concepts that were brought up early in development and kept around despite having little to no purpose in the final game.

            Mario RPGs are known for their humor and wit and once again, the Paper Mario series follows through on that expectation. There’s a definite pattern with humor in the Mario games. A lot of the jokes seem to revolve around verbal tics, references to past games or strange Meta jokes. Super Paper Mario conforms to this and for the most part, it does its job well. Some of the verbal tic jokes (mostly those centered on Count Bleck) don’t work that well and clash with the villain himself but it is a solid showing otherwise. The meta and referential humor work and while the game isn’t laugh-out-loud funny, it managed to elicit some smirks.

            If there’s anything Super Paper Mario is known for, it is its plot. And it deserves that praise because Intelligent Systems clearly tried to make the game’s plot engaging and emotional. The game doesn’t quite hit it on all notes but it does manage to craft a memorable, if imperfect story. The cast of villains is great with one of the supporting villains being one of the greatest villains in any Nintendo game and the main conflict is well-paced and knows how to hold your interest. The worst part about the plot is how our four main characters are overshadowed by the supporting cast. Once a character enters your party, they basically lose their personality. It’s upsetting to see a hilarious character like Bowser get the shaft despite technically being a main character. It’s doubly upsetting when you realize that he was funnier in Thousand Year Door despite only showing up occasionally.

           

            The game’s tone is also all over the place. The game jumps from goofy to somber at a moment’s notice. It’s jarring to see one of the villains using his farts to launch out of a room only to immediately jump to a melodramatic soliloquy delivered by the main antagonist. Moments like this happen far too often for me to take the bulk of the game seriously. It straightens itself out in the later chapters but it takes a long time to find its balance.

            Super Paper Mario is a game with very few redeeming qualities in the gameplay department. It’s almost entirely reliant on its plot and its presentation and even that falters in some places. A solid soundtrack, an ambitious plot and a neat, if underutilized, visual style can’t save it from what it is, a tedious mess of a game. Had any of the numerous gameplay gimmicks played out like intended, it could have been something special. As it stands, it is the least essential game in Intelligent Systems’ entire library. At least Wild Gunman was in Back to the Future II. Super Paper Mario doesn’t even have that.

Final Score: 4.0