Super Paper Mario

NOTE: This article was copied and pasted from a Wayback Machine archive of the Awesome Games Wiki page of the same name of this page.

Super Paper Mario
Interdimensional adventure!
Protagonist(s): Mario Princess Peach Bowser Luigi Genre(s): Platform Role-playing Platform(s): Wii Release Date: NA: April 9, 2007 JP: April 19, 2007 EU: September 14, 2007 AU: September 20, 2007 HK: July 12, 2008 KOR: February 26, 2009 Developer(s): Intelligent Systems Publisher(s): Nintendo Series: Paper Mario Predecessor: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) Successor: Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012)

Super Paper Mario is a platform RPG game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii and the third game in the Paper Mario series.

Plot

Mario, Princess Peach, Bowser, and Luigi journey across various worlds to collect powerful artifacts known as "pure hearts" to stop the villain named Count Bleck from destroying the universe.

Why It's Totally Hi-Technicaaaal

1. The main gameplay gimmick revolves around switching between 2D and 3D environments to solve puzzles. Some objects only exist in 3D, walls may become flat and crossable in 2D, ect.
2. As much as The Thousand-Year Door, while the Mario franchise isn't know for having proper and interesting plots (with the most games having a cliche as Bowser kidnapping Peach and Mario going to rescue her), but Paper Mario is exactly a home of great stories. This game has an unique charm of starting innocently and progressing to characters that make certain references to pop-culture (such as Francis, who is a obsessed with butterflies and video games), then the story goes darker such as the Void literally destroying a world, then Mario and his company is sent into The Underthere and they progress to The Overthere. Additionally, there are some moments that are really memorable for a Mario game, such as infamous animation, where Mimi transforms herself into a spider with a neck cracking and spider legs showing up. Additionally, player can see that Mimi is rather a robot by flipping into the 3D and the player can witness this cutscene 3 times, the first two being in 2-4, and the last one is in 8-4.
3. Nice solid controls.
4. Despite the games change from an RPG game to a more platform game, it still has its RPG elements.
5. Excellent graphics.
6. Motion controls don't feel invasive and are only required occasionally.
7. Excellent plot which features some of the best antagonists in the entire Mario franchise.
8. Humorous dialogue.
9. Tons of likable characters.
10. Like the previous game, the tone of the game is much more darker and serious than the standard Mario games, while still keeping in a cartoony comedic feel with a some comedic moments.
11. Bowser, Peach, and Luigi become playable through the game, each with their unique abilities.
    • Peach joins in the second chapter; as a character, she has a parasol, using which she can land smoothly, and also avoiding most attacks by holding the D-Pad down;
    • After being defeated in the chapter 3-1 by Mario and being told by the Mario and Peach that his minions were hypnotized, Bowser joins the party and offers the fire-breathing attack, and overall he is 2 times stronger than Peach and Mario, yet his biggest disadvantage is a slow speed;
    • Being brainwashed and fought twice by the co. in chapters 4 and 6 by having a name Mr. L, Dimentio sends this man into The Underthere, and after being found scared in this area by Mario (who and his team are also sent by Dimentio in there), Luigi regroups with his brother and offers a Super Jump move, which can be used to defeat enemies 2 times more effective than Peach and Mario, and also having a worse traction but a better jump than his brother.
12. Lots of optional collectible items and side-quests.
13. The Pit of 100 Trials side-quest returns from the previous games, this time there are 2 pits that are connected to each other (in order to reach the Flopside Pit, you have to clear the respective Flipside) and the Sammer Kingdom, to complete which you should clear the game. The rewards for completing the pits are Pixls' Catch Cards (excluding the Barry, Tiptron and Piccolo) and a Dashell Pixl after defeating Wracktail (a Super Paper Mario equivalent of Bonetail from the previous game); Dashell and Paper Mario partners' Catch Cards and the Heroes quartet with their dark counterpart after defeating Shadoo (a superboss who uses the same powers as the Heroes in this order: Luigi (looks like an Mr. L), Bowser, Peach and Mario; additionally, the heroes cards double up their attacks and Mario can infinitely flip into the 3D); Catch Cards of seven partners from The Thousand-Year Door after completing respective Flipside and Flopside pits and the Sammer Kingdom, which become inaccessible afterwards.
14. The final battle against Super Dimentio is very rememberable thanks to the music and the atmosphere.

Bad Qualities

1. The navigation in some levels can be confusing, especially in levels such as Chapter 2-4, Chapter 5-4, and even the last level, Chapter 8-4. Some levels, such as Chapter 2-3 (a mission where you have to pay Mimi 1 Million rubies simply for breaking a vase) and Chapter 5-1 (there’s 1 part with the second 3 block puzzle that’s filled with Muths and you won’t know the code until you type in “Please” 5 times to an NPC at the beginning of the chapter to get the code, and even worse, the code is long (thankfully, the game gives you an advice to write the code)) are tedious and considered some of the worst in the Mario series.
2. Bowser is too overpowered in this game, especially with Carrie.
   • Speaking of Pixls, some of they are extremely powerful throughout the game as previously mentioned Carrie (thanks to her ability to extend the character's hitbox and raise the speed, making Bowser brew fire while he jumps, and obviously, defeating spiked enemies) and useless outside their chapter (as Dottie, which is used only in 5-4, yet still useful if the player will need to access doors to enter Itty Bits shops, and the other example being the Piccolo, and while it isn't required, the only things player gets are the music ability which heals them and makes some items appear when used on certain blocks).
3. When low on health, the game makes sure you know by a constant, high pitched, loud, annoying beeping that does not stop until you regain health. If doing the Pit Of 100 Trials or the 100 Sammer Guy fight, this beeping may continue for a long time without any chance of getting more health.
4. The bosses are somewhat hit or miss compare to the first and second game. Additionally, the game somewhat lacks in difficulty, as most of the bosses can be defeated rather easily (except for Dimentio (second time) or Mimi).
5. This game, unlike the others, is a Platformer-RPG hybrid, emphasis on the Platformer aspect. This was enough to turn some fans of the previous two games away from this one since a lot of RPG elements does not combine with a platformer style such as the pits and items.
6. After you clear the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials, Shadoo will send you back, prompting you to clear the stage again in order to fight the boss (despite this, the rewards after defeating the boss are awesome).

Trivia

• The game was originally going to be released for the Nintendo GameCube like its predecessor, but was moved to the Wii.

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