From one colourful goofy-looking RPG to another. This time it's the Nintendo 64 playing the host to the second RPG title for the moustached plumber. The first, Super Mario RPG, didn't engage with me in any real way. It was showing its age, I suppose, and the characters weren't doing it for me.
Fast forward four years, with a new console to play on, and the second game, Paper Mario, has the chance to save the day and hopefully offer a Mario RPG that gets my attention.
I said Grandia II was predictable. I wonder if Mario is about to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser...
Fun Times
Ok, ok. Star haven, wish-granting rod, stolen by Bowser for nefarious purposes, no doubt. It's an unexpected start, I'll give Paper Mario that.
I don't really care for all this star heaven mumbo jumbo, it's a bit flimsy, but what isn't are the graphics. They not only look basic but at the same time, they make the game look like it could have been released yesterday. Some styles just don't age and Paper Mario is looking great for being nearly twenty years old.
Even the fact that the spaces in which the paper-thin characters glide around are three dimensional, even they are textured and coloured in such a way as to look like a cartoon or a comic book or something, and they hold up next to the characters because of it.
Interacting with all these Mushroom people is as easy as sliding up to them and pressing the A-button, and wait for them to waffle on. It's all optional, but it does highlight the controls, and by that, I mean that, sometimes, Mario feels a little like he's on some ice, sliding around and past people, and trying to put yourself on a specific spot is tricky. This might be an issue with my controller, and a sticky analogue stick, or with the emulation, but I can't say for sure.
Finally, Mario, you're in! After all these years, all these problems with Bowser, it's over! You can enjoy the da-
Oh, for fu-- what do you want this time, Bowser, old buddy, old pal?
Paper Mario uses a turn-based combat system full of familiar Mario attacks, like Super Mario RPG before it. Select your action, select your target, and jump on their head. No fuss, no complications.
Well, that's a complication.
Frustrations
Paper Mario is wordy. The only difference between it and Grandia II so far is that our hero, Mario, doesn't speak, and therefore doesn't come across as a dick. At the same time, however, he doesn't really come across as Mario, either. I expect Mario to say things. I know he can speak, so why is he so mute in RPGs?
He's mute in most games. Or mostly mute at least. But Mario, the silent protagonist? It just doesn't quite work for the character. It does work for us players stepping into his boots, though, which is what they're going for when they explain everything like this.
With another opportunity to walk around and talk to the Goomba's who've taken me in, I get interrupted by yet more plot. The amount of story to gameplay these days feels out of whack, and this was released twenty years ago.
I know, big surprise, isn't it? Guess I better get going.
Further Fun Times
So Paper Mario is fun. Having the characters be made of paper allows them to flop around and float to safety in cute little moments of humour. The developers are sticking to this style and using what it means to be flat in a three-dimensional world to great effect. You can already imagine the type of jokes that'd come about, or the types of abilities you could give characters, and I'm liking it.
This is the first real level, as such, that you're left lose to explore. Blocks from other Mario titles are familiar to a great many players, but most of these we can't interact with, having no hammer to whack them with. We'll have to hunt through the bushes, themselves just paper-thin sprites. All of a sudden, I'm reminded of the later South Park games. Must play those at some point.
Almost, Goompa. Almost.
Hammer in hand, it's time to save the world.
Combat is, so far of course, nice and simple, and is a back and forth battle of attrition. I think at this stage of the game, you're going to take hits but not enough to end your adventure, so I'm not really worried about how any of these fights are going. I would imagine the future will bring us more complex challenges, where we need to think about who to attack first or what to attack with, but these are still early, early, goomba-bopping days.
Back with a hammer, I get rewarded for returning a doll and then get given a badge to make my jumps that much more impactful. These badges can be turned on and off and unlock various abilities to help you out. I don't know why I didn't just get given new, heavier boots, but that's just me. Paper Mario clearly cares more about badges and making sure you wear them when required.
Armed with a hammer and now a Goomba who uses his head in more ways than one, we're finally ready to leave this place and get on with our mission to rescue the Princess and save the day. Again.
Battles with buddies are better battles. They're still back and forth battles, but there are more approaches to them. Do you scout out your opponents' stats, or just launch into a diving headbutt and whittle away at their health bar?
When there are more party members, and everyone is equipped with badges and the enemies are more varied in their own attack strategies, I can picture Paper Mario being somewhat tactical in nature. You've not got a whole arena to navigate - you're even battling on a stage as if this is some kind of story - but you can jump over enemies to attack them in any order, for example, and can switch up your own party to decide who acts first.
Like other RPGs of the day, if you see an enemy, you can try to avoid it or else get the upper hand, in this case by attacking it first, which gives you an incentive to approach with care and wallop things with a hammer or whatever. Every little helps, be it First Strikes or fancy badges.
Final Word
I had to call it time on Paper Mario, lest I end up playing it all day - which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong, but I had plans for the rest of the day.
Mario titles are known for their ability to appeal to all kinds of players and are as friendly and approachable as puppies or something. They just grab you in ways that many other family-friendly games don't.
It is true that I don't really care about saving the stars, or whatever waffle we find ourselves doing here, but there's enough in the gameplay for me to want to see more. I mean, just look at the map. Who doesn't want to adventure around this?
Paper Mario is appealing to me. I'm feeling what I imagine players who love Super Mario RPG felt when they first played that game. It was new and different and took Mario to places he'd never been. Paper Mario is also new, and also different, and also takes Mario to places he'd never been, and yet it's homely and familiar, and comfortable to play around with.
Yes, it's got its quirks that may or may not be because of sticky controllers, but it's ticking the boxes that I didn't expect it to tick. I didn't think I'd play it so eagerly. I didn't think it'd be fun for someone now entering their fourth decade of existence. What is it about the Mario titles that succeed at doing all of this game after game?
I thoroughly encourage you to try out Paper Mario, especially if you weren't too hot on Super Mario RPG, like me. I've no idea what it's like when you get stuck in, but I'm going to find out.
Fun Facts
Developed with 'amateur gamers' in mind, Paper Mario would be regarded as well made but a bit on the basic side. Still managed to spawn an entire Paper Mario spin-off series, however...
Paper Mario, developed by Intelligent Systems, first released in 2000.
Version played: Nintendo 64, 2000, via emulation.