Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (GCN)

Episode Transcript
It's time for the "Paper Mario!" The Thousand Year Door review, for the GameCube.

This is my first GameCube requested game, requested by Animallver223; thank you.

Thousand Year Door is the second Paper Mario game; the first one was just called "Paper Mario" for the N64, and the third game is "Super Paper Mario" which I have a review for; check it out when this review is over.

Story
The story starts out with a book telling you about a town's history, on how a catacalysm swallowed it into the earth, and how it was never seen or heard from again. The camera then sets on Peach, who is by herself, looking around a little town. She is called by a hooded seller to come look at his fine wares. Peach picks out a pretty box, and the seller says that it is said to contain a map that shows the whereabouts of a legendary treasure, but he doesn't know for sure. He or she tells Peach that only ones with a pure heart can open the box, so he or she tells Peach that if she can open it, she can keep whatever is inside. So, being the naive princess that she is, she agrees and opens the box. As she opens it, a bright light comes out, and the screen fades away.

So after you pick a name for your profile, the camera lays upon the Mario Bros.' household. A delivery Paratroopa comes by and drops a letter off to Mario. Luigi and his nosy self opens the letter and reads it to Mario. It's from Peach, who tells Mario that she has found a map, which leads to a treasure, and that he is suposed to come help her look for it. So of course, he goes.

Once you arrive at your destination, you meet up with a Goomba named Goombella, who wants to help you on your journey. Mario agrees and lets her tag along. They then meet up with an old proffessor Goomba, who tells you that your map leads to the Thousand Year Door, and that the only way to open it is with the power of the seven Crystal Stars.

Main Review
So now your journey begins. Thousand Year Door is a 3D game, but with 2D charachteristics and principles. You, the characters, and all the other objects in the world are 2D, but are placed with a 3D effect. It may sound confusing, but when you start playing, you'll think nothing of it.

The graphics are great. This isn't one of those games where it has to be realistic; cartoon style works just fine. Everything is vibrant and colorful.

Paper Mario is a turn based RPG; every time you engage in battle, the screen will turn into a stage, where an audience is watching you, and you have to take turns with your opponents attacking and so forth. I like both turn based and real time RPGs, but when it comes to Paper Mario, I definitely prefer the turn based style. Each time you win a battle, you will gain experience points; when you reach 100 points, you will gain a level, which will increase either health, Flower Points (which are attack points), or Badge Points. You can only choose one, so pick wisely.

I'm sure you know what health and attack points are, but what are Badge Points? Well, throughout the game, you can obtain items called Badges. Badges have special characteristics in them, which when applied to Mario, can give Mario special abilities. The better the charachteristic, the higher the price is to wear them, so the more Badge Points you have, the more Badges you can wear. Hooray for logic! (Logic For Dummies appears on screen.)

The controls are simple, but well done nonetheless. Move with the analog stick, and attack with either the A or B button. The battle controls can become a little bit trickier, but nothing out of the reach.

As you go through the game, other characters will join your party. Every partner has their own unique attacks and abilities, which will help you not only in battle, but also with puzzles as well. Also, as you go through the game, Mario will gain unique, special abilities that will help him find new paths, solve puzzles, and gain hidden items.

Throughout the game, there are Shine Sprites which you can collect. If you can gather enough, they will help gain new attacks for your partners, which can be VERY helpful in the later levels. They aren't a necessity, but they're upgrades, so why wouldn't you use them?

Now, I can't show it, because I've already beat the game, and it would take me too long to get to the point on a different profile, but Thousand Year Door has some good humor in it, especially when the charachters break the fourth wall. I wish I could show it, but if you want a taste of it, check out my Super Paper Mario review; I do show some breaking the fourth wall humor in that video.

Closing Verdict
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a great game. The graphics are bright and colorful, the controls are sharp, the gameplay is very addicting, it has some good humor in it, and the game can be quite long. The only things I founed irritating with this game is, since you're in 2D, the depth perception can be low at some points, and sometimes there's just too many enemies and it gets repetitious. But overall, those two negative details play such a small role in the game's performance, you may not even notice them.

This game gets a 4.5 out of 5, with the title of EPIC!!!