Review: Super Paper Mario

Super Paper Mario (Intelligent Systems, 2007) is a platforming successor to the Paper Mario RPG series.

Gameplay
SPM is basically a platformer. And it's a bad one. The game's main gimmick is that Mario can switch into 3D to find new paths through the maps. The problem is that this ability is very time limited to avoid you just running past all the enemies. But in the puzzles where you need to use it, it generally runs out too quickly. I'm self declared as video game OCD, but even I was willing to take "3D damage" for leaving the game in 3D mode too long, just to keep things moving.

The 3D segments have all the other issues that regular 3D platformers do. Difficult to gauge jumps and walls in front of the camera are par for the course. The 2D segments aren't much better. Nintendo was the king of these for a reason. They tuned everything. Intelligent Systems didn't, and it showed. None of the enemies were fun to fight. And the added element of RPG hit points made them annoying to kill.

You have multiple characters and multiple back up characters with secondary abilities. The amount of switching required to get past the game's puzzles is maddening. It feels like I spent around a third of my time with Super Paper Mario in menus to switch characters or back up characters or use items. I got the distinct feeling the game was designed for a regular controller that would have had enough buttons to keep me out of the menus. And the tiny Wiimote D-pad was less than optimal as well, as I found myself entering doors or ducking unintentionally frequently enough to be annoyed.

It completely killed the momentum of the game. Of course, with as much flipping the screen and reorienting myself I was doing, it's not like the game had much momentum to lose.

And those puzzles I kept swapping characters to get past didn't do much for me, either, as they mostly felt like game length not gameplay. There's a fair amount of backtracking and since the enemies don't respawn, the trek back through an empty level gives one plenty of time to think about little joy the gameplay is providing.

Theatrics
It's another off brand Mario game, which means quirky characters and ridiculous situations. I got a chuckle or two out of some of it, but it's attempts at emotion flopped. Maybe in a better game, I'd have become attached enough to the characters to care. Actually, there was one character I cared about. Somewhere around halfway through the game you get to control Mario's archnemesis Bowser. He breathes fire, which is helpful with a couple puzzles and a few enemies. I played through most of the latter portions of the game with him as his bad attitude mirrored my own, and his dialog was generally funnier than anyone else's.

Of course I basically had to cheat to make him a usable character since he's such a huge target, so slow, and can't breath fire and walk at the same time. One of the helpers lets you overcome some of those problems. I actually began to hate Mario because I had to switch back to him so often to solve stupid puzzles.

Aesthetics
The Paper Mario games have a simple, cartoony style. But Super Paper Mario felt sparse, like Intelligent Systems was trying to save money. And the super low poly 3D monsters were just ugly. But I've always hated super low poly stuff. Even when they were state of the art I thought the PS1 and N64 had mostly ugly games.

Final Score
2 of 5

I'll freely admit that I'm biased because of my love for the older Paper Mario games, but I stand by this score. There is no depth like the RPGs had, and the platforming and puzzle elements are distinctly sub par. (That phrase doesn't make any sense does it? You want to shoot below par. Sub par should mean good.) My main joy from the game was playing as Bowser, essentially against the designer's wishes.