2D Characters In a 3D World! Can it work, we send JC off to see.
Paper Mario
Review

A super-cute world populated by paper-thin mushroom folk, and flying turtles delivering your mail. Not convinced? You will be...



The root of Mazza's problems - the powerful Star Rod - is half-inched by Bowser.

This is certainly not your bog-standard RPG. Notorious for its bizarre graphical style, Paper Mario has already had plenty of criticism levelled at its refusal to take the genre seriously. Just a quick glance over the saccharine images on these pages will probably be enough to make die-hard role-play enthusiasts retch in disgust. The undeniably cute 2D sprites surrounded by a 3D environment rich in primary colours hardly seems the idela setting for an epic tale of good versus evil, does it? More like a dumbed-down RPG for kids. endearing and memorable role-playing adventures you're ever likely to experience. No matter what your tastes are, after just an hour in Mario's new world, we can guarantee that you'll not want to move from your chair. Ever. It all kicks off in true panto style.

A magical rod that holds the power to grant wishes is stolen from the seven 'Star Spirits' by the bothersome Bowser. Using the wand, Bowser is reborn as the most powerful entity in the Mushroom Kingdom and, naturally, his first goals are to kidnap the Princess (which no one could have seen coming) and punish his nemesis, Mario. These he does successfully, and so it's up to you to pick the defeated plumber back up and set off on a search for the imprisoned Star Spirits, in the hope that they'll help you overthrow Bowser and restore peace to the kingdom.

Paper Mario begins very simply, allowing you plenty of time to familiarise yourself with the basic mechanics of the game. Starting off in the little Goomba village where you're found after your beating by Bowser, you'll wander around talking to the Goomba family, solving simple problems and engaging in easy battles before you're finally plunged into the game proper.

Gameplay-wise, anyone who's played an RPG will be instantly at ease with Paper Mario, as all the tried and tested elements are present and correct. There are three distinct types of play. First are the 'town' sections, in which you're safe to wander around, gather information, shop for items and sleep to heal yourself. From here you'll embark on cross-country journeys where you'll battle enemies to earn experience - or Star Points - plus coins and useful special items. Once you've travelled, talked and tooled up, you'll then be required to enter a dungeon or fortress to battle tougher enemies and bosses in order to progress. It may all sound familiar and predictable, but believe us, you'll be more than pleasantly surprised with the way Nintendo have put this all together. In conjunction with the kooky originality of the visual style, there are many aspects which set the game apart.

First up is the battle system. True, as with the majority of turn-based battles, they do tend to become slightly repetitive - but unfortunately this is the nature of the RPG beast. However, Paper Mario's system goes some way to relieving this by use of 'action commands'. These are a series of button-prompts which need to be timed correctly in order to inflict as much damage as possible. There's also a multitude of different badges to collect which can then be assigned to Mario to alter his stats and techniques. Finding them all and experimenting in battles proves to be very rewarding indeed.

The crowning achievement of Paper Mario - strangely enough - comes through the plot, character interaction and translation of the original Japanese text. This is undoubtedly one of the most amusing RPGs we've ever encountered, while the localisation of the dialogue is superb throughout. It's almost as though the game is constantly sending itself up with references to itself and the oddities of the familiar characters - like Peach casually commenting on the fact that all her clothes are exactly the same, or Luigi complaining about the fact that Mario is always swanning off on adventures without him. In this respect, it all feels very similar to Earthbound on the SNES - another excellent, quirky Nintendo RPG.

The longer you play Paper Mario, the more you'll appreciate the unorthodox styling and likeable characters, and before almost enchanting, oddball ambience. So what you're essentially looking at, then, is an RPG that caters for all. It's cheerful enough to attract younger players, clever enough to appeal to older ones, while being sufficiently inventive, taxing and lengthy to provide enough entertainment for those who consider RPGs to be their genre of choice. Strange it may be, but worth every penny? You bet your life.

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