Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Episode Transcript
It's time to review "Super Paper Mario," for the Wii.

Super Paper Mario is the third installment in the Paper Mario saga... well, actually, it's not really a saga, since none of the three stories are related to each other.

Story
The story starts out before you even get to the title screen. We see a bunch of Koopas, Goombas, Paratroopas, and... what's this? Bowser and Peach at the altar?! Yep, it's true, and with them is a mystery character named Count Bleck, who likes to speak in the third person. What the heck? Count "Bleck?" It's like the developers were on their lunch break, and after one of them obliviously bites into his rotten sandwhich, he yells out his name.

This Review's Comedy Skit
(We see FreQuenczy's dining room; he, RedToa94, and Spunky511 are sitting at the table.)

Spunky511: So have you thought of the name for the bad guy yet?

RedToa94: Nah, I just can't think of anything.

FreQuenczy: (bites into his sandwhich) Oh, bleck! (spits it out)

RedToa94: I got it!

Story
Right after Peach is forced to say "I do," a black heart called the Chaos Heart comes out of the altar. Just then, Luigi comes up the steps and (dramatic voice) tries to be the hero, (normal voice) but fails. Sorry, Squeeggee, but the game is called Super Paper "Mario," not "Luigi."

After Luigi's failed attempt at a rescue, Count Bleck uses the Chaos Heart for his plan to destroy all worlds.

Now, at the REAL begining of the game, we see Mario and Luigi sitting in their house, just relaxing. They get bored, so they decide to go to Princess Peach's Castle. As they go outside, Toad meets them and tells them that Princess Peach has been stolen. Big surprise. Does Peach ever just have a normal day? And for Heaven's sake, she's a princess. Therefore, she's royalty. Wouldn't you expect royalty to have the tightest security up to date?

(An image of Toad appears on screen.)

Well... then again, when you have two- foot tall security guards, I guess it would be easy to take over.

(Back to the game.)

Peach should just ask Mario to live in her castle and become head of security. Yeah, that's the ticket.

So Mario and Luigi suspect Bowser is the culprit, and decide to go to his castle to rescue her. At Bowser's Castle, we learn that Bowser WAS going to go attack Peach's Castle, again, but he was too late. Just then, Peach appears above them, calling out for rescue. Count Bleck appears out of nowhere as well, and tells everyone that he was the one who stole Peach. Mario tries to attack him, but to no avail. Even Bowser tells him to let her go.

Count Bleck then opens up a void, which sucks everyone except Mario into it. It doesn't show where Count Bleck took everyone, but if you didn't skip the very begining, you should have seen it.

Mario wakes up and meets a creature called a Pixl, whose name is Tippi. Tippi wants to help Mario, and Mario welcomes her. Tippi transports Mario to a town called Flipside where they meet Merlon, who is the head elder of the town. He tells them that there is a void up in the sky, and that it will destroy all worlds if Mario doesn't retrieve all seven Pure Hearts to stop Bleck and the Chaos Heart.

Main Review
So now your journey begins. Super Paper Mario is quite different than the other two prequels, and you will notice this as you walk around the town. The style of the game is a pure 2D sidescroller, instead of a 3D game with a 2D feel, like in Paper Mario and Thousand Year Door. The artwork is different as well; it's not better or worse, it's just different. And the battle system has been changed up as well. Instead of a turn- based RPG, it is now a real- time RPG. I have to say, I did not like this change; I LOVED the turn- based style of the previous two games. Don't get me wrong; I love both styles of RPGs, but I prefer turn- based for the Paper Mario series.

In the first level, Mario will gain the ability to flip from his 2D enviroment to a 3D view. In this mode, the game looks like it did with the previous Paper Mario games. While in 3D, Mario can find hidden secrets and new paths. But you have to be careful, because you can only be in 3D for a limited amount of time, until you start to take damage.

As you go through each level, you will meet up with new Pixls, who will give you special abilities to help you on your quest. Some of them are quite helpful, and you will use them a lot, while with others, you'll hardly use them at all.

The graphics are simple, yet colorful. They're nowhere near as good as Super Mario Galaxy, but then again, they weren't meant to, either.

The controls are simple as well. You hold the Wiimote like a real controller, and you use the directional pad and buttons to control Mario. Sometimes you will use the motion sensors and the accelerometer in the Wiimote, but not too frequently.

I also liked how they kept the breaking-the-fourth-wall humor, as they did in Thousand Year Door. (plays a scene to demonstrate.)

Bestovious: Press (A Button) to slip between the very fabric of space and flip between 2D and 3D! Well, what do you think? Mind blowing, isn't it?

(Mario responds.)

Bestovious: What is this (A Button) I speak of? I assure you that if we are being watched from another dimension... Those beings will understand. But you lack the mustache for full comprehension.

(Back to the review.)

There are only a few things with the game that I didn't care for. One of them was actually one of the main new features of the game: flipping from 2D to 3D. This got VERY annoying sometimes because you couldn't stay in 3D for very long, unless you wanted to take damage. Also, in 3D, there was very little depth perception when fighting enemies. I would usually have to flip back to 2D to hit them.

I've already said this, but I didn't like the fact that Nintendo decided to change the battle system to a real- time RPG. I just didn't find it as fun as I did back when I played the former two Paper Mario games. There is one good quality about this way of fighting, though: it was much easier and faster to complete the levels, since killing your enemies usually only took a couple of seconds. rather that a couple of minutes.

Closing Verdict
Super Paper Mario is a great game. For those of you who have played the first two Paper Mario games, like me, you may not enjoy it as much as the first two. But, then again, you might. For those of you who like real- time RPGs, you will really like this game. All in all, this game is definitely worth the money.

This game gets a 4.25 out of 5, with the title of Awesome!

Other Game Information
Developer: Nintendo (Intelligent Systems Ltd.)

Publisher: Nintendo

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