Absolute Mario

Super Paper Mario Review

Overview

# of Players	1
Genre	RPG
# of Levels	8 Worlds with 4 Chapters each and a Prelude
Controllable Characters	Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi
Story	There exists a book called the Dark Prognosticus that foretells an apocalypse, and whoever possesses this book will also possess great power. There also exists another book called the Light Prognosticus, written by someone to counter the dark book. It foretells of a certain mustachioed hero in overalls who is the one that will save the world. Sound familiar? The game opens with a man named Count Bleck officiating the marriage between Bowser and Princess Peach. Wait, whaaaat?! Peach is just as confused at this event, but there's little room to protest when Count Bleck's assistant, Nastasia brainwashes her and she returns the vow to be Bowser's wife. At this moment, their marriage forms a bond which conjures the creation of the Chaos Heart. With this new entity, Count Bleck uses it along with the Dark Prognosticus to wreak havoc on all creation. As a result, a black void starts forming in every world, and it grows bigger as time goes on, threatening to swallow everything in existence. Can the hero who is prophesied in the Light Prognosticus stop this from happening?

Review

Feature	Rating	Comments
Graphics	10	Even though this game is mostly in 2-D, it's far from boring. There are many different paper and drawing effects used to spice up the visuals.
Sound	10	Catchy and fitting to each situation.
Challenge	7	I haven't played through the entire game yet, so this isn't a final score, but so far the game hasn't been hard at all. It seems like whenever you're in a fix, if you just flip to 3-D, you can get out of it quite easily.
Replay Value	PENDING	There are lots of reasons to go back to previous chapters that you've already played in order to collect cards or items that you've forgotten, but I have yet to see if this entire game is worth being replayed as it's too early to tell.

I feel like this game finally captures the true essence of what a Paper Mario game should be. Unlike the previous two Paper Mario games, the characters are 2-D in 2-D worlds. This makes for a very nostalgic platforming experience. But once Mario gains the ability to flip into 3-D, a whole new element is exposed. Stuck because a seemingly impassable enemy is in front of you? Flip to 3-D and go around them! You can also find more coins and secret items once you get a view beyond the depth of the level.

Also, unlike its prequels, the battles in this game are not turn-based, but rather in real-time just like the platformers of old. But it doesn't necessarily make it less Paper Mario-y; you still have to master action commands of certain attacks, you're still allowed to use items during battle, and you can still execute "stylish moves" by tilting and shaking the Wii remote.

There are also plenty of sidequests and minigames reminiscent of Paper Mario 1 and 2 to keep you busy, so playing the game beginning to end doesn't necessarily mean that you've mastered it.

To sum it all up, this game is the perfect marriage of a simple, fun RPG and a simple, fun platformer in many ways. You'll enjoy it whether you're a veteran or very young gamer.

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