REVIEW: Super Paper Mario for Wii

REVIEW
Super Paper Mario
Wii
Nintendo / INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

Reviewed by: Eric Leamen

Nintendo's most recognized franchise character, Mario, was notably MIA during the Wii launch. Gamers have waited almost 6 months for the first Mario title on Wii, and that title came in the form of Super Paper Mario. A sequel to The Thousand Year Door, Super Paper Mario is by far one of the best Wii games yet.

Super Paper Mario begins on a lazy afternoon at the home of Mario and his brother, Luigi. You're interrupted by Toad, who tells you that the castle has been raided, and Peach is missing. Luigi quickly suspects Bowser (who wouldn't?) and the Mario Brothers take off!

But Bowser is just as surprised as Mario and Luigi are that Peach is missing. Suddenly, a top hat cladded villian, known as Count Bleck, appears in the sky with Princess Peach, and he kidnaps all but Mario. When you wake, you're greeted by a multicoloured butterfly, Tippi, who takes you to a town called Flipside, where your journey will begin.

In Flipside, you meet a man named Merlin. Merlin tells you about a prophecy in two books, The Light Prognosticus, and the Dark Prognosticus. The Dark Prognosticus speaks of the destructions that will be caused by the union of a mighty king and a beautiful princess. The Light Prognosticus speaks of the four heroes that will stop said destruction.

The main quest of Super Paper Mario is to find all 8 of the Pure Hearts, and stop the interdimensional rift, which was created when Bleck forced Bowser and Peach to marry, from growing larger and consuming all worlds. Once you find a Pure Heart, a door to a new world will open. Each world contains a Pure Heart, so naturally, there should be 8 worlds. I have yet to finish the game, but it appears that there will be more than 8. Each world has a theme, and four stages, or "chapters" as they're called in this game.

Unlike it's predescessors, Super Paper Mario is a platformer, not an RPG. Although, the game does still include RPG elements. For example, instead of lives, you have hit points. You can still collect items, and use them to restore hit points, but we'll get more into items later on. All of your "battles" are done in real time, side scrolling style. You jump on enemies heads to kill them, and if you shake the controller, you get extra "style" points.

Of course, one of the main selling points of Super Paper Mario is the ability to flip from 2D to 3D. Mario will learn this ability very early on, as he will need it on his journey. Flipping is very simple, you just press the A button, and presto! But the second you flip, a meter will start to countdown, and if you let it run out, you'll start to lose hitpoints. Flipping can be used for many different purposes, whether it's just to find hidden coins or items, if something is blocking your way, or if you need to flip to get somewhere.

Throughout your journey, you'll partner up with at least 2 other characters: Princess Peach and Bowser. You'll meet them both half way through a level, and when you do, they'll join your team and aid you on your quest. Each character has their own special abilities: Peach can fly far distances using her parasole, and Bowser can burn enemies to a crisp with his fire breath. Supposadly, these are the only two characters, besides Mario, that are playable in the game, but the Light Prognosticus speaks of four heroes, and the "man in green", so I believe that there is a way to "unlock" Luigi as a playable character.

Along with your team of heroes, Mario will be assisted by small fairy like creatures, known as Pixls. Tippi is the first Pixl you meet, and she will stay with you throughout the game. In each chapter, you'll find a new Pixl, each with their own special ability. The first Pixl you will find is Thoreau, you can use him to pick up enemies and throw them, or you can throw Thoreau himself. The second Pixl, Boomer, is a bomb. You can use him to blow up blocks or enemies. No matter which Pixl is active, you use his/her power with the 1 button.

Super Paper Mario is played holding the Wii remote sideways like and NES controller, or like you do in Excite Truck. You will use the DPad to move Mario left or right, press 2 to jump, 1 to use your active Pixl, A to switch from 2D to 3D, Minus will show you controls, Plus will bring up the full menu, and 1/2 at the same time will bring up the "quick menu" allowing you to switch characters, Pixls, or retrieve Items.

There are a wide variety of items in Super Paper Mario, which keeps the original RPG style of the game in tact. One of the most abundant items, the Shroom Shake, restores 10 HP. You can get items either from shops in Flipside or other chapters, you can get them from killing enemies, or by flipping into 3D and finding hidden items. Into the third and fourth chapters, you'll need a TON of HPS restoring items, so make sure you stock up! One of the items, the most important one, that you get at the beginning of the game is the return pipe. The return pipe allows you to go back to Flipside from wherever you are, but in order to return to the level you where in, you'll have to start the chapter all over again.

Of course, Super Paper Mario doesn't have HD realistic graphics. It's supposed to look like paper! But the effort they put into the 2D part of the game is astounding. These worlds look so beautiful and vibrant, it's amazing! There are some frame rate errors, but very few and not very often. They must have put a lot of time into the 2D art for this game. The 3D however doesn't look so great. Obviously it's supposed to be a 2D game, but Nintendo could have put a little more time and effort into the 3D graphics. That is where most of the graphical glitches occur. When you flip into 3D, you can only look toward the end of the level, you can't move the camera at all in 3D. Given that you can't control this game with an analog stick, the 3D controls are also a little hard to control as well.

Super Paper Mario has some of the coolest and best composed music in a game I have ever heard! I wish I could download these tunes, because some of them are really really cool! The majority of the music really fits with the level it's been put in, and it almost feels as if you're moving along with the beat of the music. One of the best songs is from the retro stage, they're essentially remixes of the classic Super Mario Bros. songs. Sound effects are also really well incorporated into the game. Almost everything you do has a sound effect attached. From jumping, to flipping into 3D, to using a Pixl.

There is no voice acting in Super Paper Mario, which means that this game is VERY wordy! I'm being totally serious when I say that SPM could be adapted into a novel! There is a lot of reading to do, and in some cases you just wish that the characters would stop talking so you can play. You'll be pushing the 2 button a lot! It's definately not a game for younger children! The amount of writing might attribute to the fact that the game is suppossed to be like a story book. You might also want to have a notepad handy, because you'll have to write things down, like secret access codes.

Despite some notable flaws, I've had a really great time with Super Paper Mario, and I think it is definately a worthy first Mario title for Nintendo's Wii system. I highly reccommend it to all Wii owners as the next and first must have title of 2007.

Gameplay: 9
Story: 8
Graphics: 9
Controls: 7
Re-playability: 7
Tilt: 9

Editor's Score: 8.2/10