Super Paper Mario

The Good
After an extensive introduction (with vast amounts of text and only minor cut-scenes), the player is introduced to "Flipside", the practical overworld of the game. Initially, you notice the paper cut-out style of the artwork and graphics. This is charming in it's own innocent way, even if very simplistic.

Within this town, the player can interact with NPCs as well as get involved in side-quests and even a virtual video-arcade. These little distractions are a nice addition to the main game, and rival most mini-games I've tested in other Wii titles; "Rayman Raving Rabbids" for one. The characters are not in typical Mushroom Kingdom regalia. In fact, most characters resemble a kind of tangle of geometric shapes and scribbled lines. Again, this has it's unique appeal too.

The main game is divided up into Chapters, and each Chapter is split into four levels. The gameplay is mainly platform hopping and enemy stomping, with a little problem solving thrown in for good measure. Mario controls fine although there is no dash button, and the art of jumping and stomping is alive and well in this game.

Visually though, the game is very cheery and colourful. The sprites (and they are 2D sprites!) are comical and lively, and the dialog (if you don't mind reading in your video games, which I actually prefer) is fairly interesting and sometimes even out-loud laughable. As with others in the series, plot-points and directions are sometimes rammed down your throat. You're never unsure of where to go - another kid-friendly decision I think.

The Bad
My main gripe is that the fusion of gameplay styles are too watered-down.

It seems like they intended to cover the best areas from RPG games and platformers, but it never really came together that well for me. The platforming is hardly challenging, and the RPG elements are hardly interesting. The item and leveling systems are very basic indeed. Unlike "The Thousand-Year Door", (a brilliant RPG quest), leveling up is all automatic, and the decisions that go into shaping your character are made for you. I suppose that was a kid-friendly decision.

The inclusion of Peach and Bowser as playable characters excited me, but their actual role in the game is minimal and sometimes even forced. Peach is quite manouvreable but weak, whereas Bowser is sluggish and damn powerful. His stomp is the most brutal force in the game - that is, if you can get his hulking body up and around your foe. Also, his fire-breath is fairly useful, even if it seemed a little like a novelty.

Long-term interest in this title may wane, as once the main mission is complete, their are only a few chores left to tidy up, and admittedly, some of them aren't so fun. Digging about for "treasures" that are revealed on purchased maps was fun for the first ten or fifteen times, but I felt like it turned into an orienteering class crossed with a memory test. Even after checking a guide, my interest in completing this section of the game waned.

The Bottom Line
I have mixed feelings about this title. On one hand, it is a very original concept, with funny and kooky gameplay, but on the other, you kind of feel like the game was only a reflection of what it might of been, and the easy difficulty really does harm the replay value. Also, the self-referencing and fun-poking was fresh in the first two Paper Marios, but now the satire has run a bit dry for me. Maybe the next game can take some pointers from the masterpiece Mario Galaxy.