Paper Mario Series

[Ivy]

General Paper Mario thread. Mario RPG's are great. Thanks to whomever split this topic.

I haven't played Super Paper Mario, is it worth buying now? I hear it isn't as good as the two previous installments.

[Bwarch]

My personal opinion is that TTYD and SPM are both amazing games that stand on their own as different games.

A lot of people didn't like SPM because it wasn't a second TTYD. And they wanted a rehash, because Nintendo.

I would thoroughly recommend a playthrough of SPM, it's good fun and the writing is amazing.

[LovelyPenguin]

I would thoroughly recommend a playthrough of SPM, it's good fun and the writing is amazing.

Seconded. While I prefer the gameplay of the first two Paper Marios more, SPM has a really good plot.

Now, while we're on the subject of Paper Mario Games: as for Sticker Star...I can't really recommend it. I mean, SS is an all right game, I suppose, but it just isn't anything like the other Paper Marios. It would perhaps be a decent game if it didn't have the Paper Mario name attached to it, since it has its own strong points, but as it is, it just doesn't compare to the others games in the series, if that makes any sense. It would be like having a Mario Kart game as "New Super Mario Bros Wii U 2 Deluxe": sure, it could be a good game, but it wouldn't be anything like what you've come to expect from the series, and wouldn't feel like it belonged.

I dunno, guess that's enough rambling, specially since it kinda derails the thread.

[Bwarch]

specially since it kinda derails the thread.

Voila~ Now it is its own thread and we can get down to business.

I respect Sticker Star for trying something different, I really do. Considering Nintendo rehash city.

But it just didn't work and the game wasn't really that fun for me. I was forcing myself to complete levels sometimes. There just wasn't anything... interesting there. A majority of the starting game for the first hour or so seemed to be just battle, battle, battle. No puzzles, no witty scenes, just battling goons. And the combat in Sticker Star was snores-ville.

I don't really like turn-based combat more often than not anyway, I feel it's much more boring than alternatives. A game like TTYD though was carried for me by the puzzles and the dialog, it was way too fun, and maybe the action commands also made it a little bit better to where I felt like it mattered what exactly I did.

[metasomnia?]

It helps that Paper Mario and TTYD's stats in general were very minimalistic, so a lot of the time, action commands could win or lose your battle.

Edit: Especially in TTYD if you superguard. There's only two attacks in the game you can't superguard.

[Bean]

Super Paper Mario has a lot of unnecessary dialogue in it, but the thing that bothered me most about it was that it didn't know whether it wanted to be a platformer, adventure, or RPG. It's an okay game, but it was definitely my least favorite of the three Paper Mario games I've played (original, Super, and Sticker Star).

[darkychao]

My personal opinion is that TTYD and SPM are both amazing games that stand on their own as different games.

A lot of people didn't like SPM because it wasn't a second TTYD. And they wanted a rehash, because Nintendo.

I would thoroughly recommend a playthrough of SPM, it's good fun and the writing is amazing.

I don't like it because the partners were the most two dimensional things ever, the side quests are dumb an pointless, and the postgame is the most fukken infuriating thing ever.

[Lunikyuu]

I say go for it. Even though I think some things could've been done better, I still think it's a pretty great game, and it has probably the best story in a Mario game in my opinion. On the other hand, Sticker Star had a few shining moments, but overall it just felt kinda meh, to me. I feel kind of the same way as Bwarch that there wasn't enough aside from battles to really keep me entertained, although I actually thought the battle system was a pretty neat idea,.I think the problem I had is the fact that it doesn't feel like there's enough reward for fighting enemies in that game. In past Paper Marios you got some sort of experience for fighting enemies, which gave you a reason to keep fighting. However, in Sticker Star, all you get is coins, which you can get elsewhere, and are only used to buy stickers, which you can also get elsewhere, making battles seem almost meaningless. Also the fact that I was expecting a story on par with Super Paper Mario's made Sticker Star even more soul crushing. However, I will say that I really love some of the boss themes in Sticker Star, and the Sticker Museum actually made collecting stickers somewhat fun.

edit: yeah, I just realized I kinda made that more about Sticker Star than Super Paper Mario, oops...

[Doctor Shemp]

There's a big distinction between making a rehash and making a sequel. A sequel continues on the same playstyle while in a rehash everything feels like the previous game but with a different name and maybe a slightly different appearance. TTYND felt like a sequel without being a rehash, while SPM doesn't feel like a sequel at all. It's more of a reboot if anything. So I think people's objections came on the grounds that a reboot is what you do to a series that's degenerated into endless rehashes or lost sight of its original purpose. The Paper Mario series hadn't done either of those things and so didn't need a reboot.

I personally didn't like it partly on those grounds but mainly because I thought the characters were wholly uninteresting (with a few exceptions like the nerd character), and the constant cutaways to those flashback scenes irritated me and seemed very badly written.

[pholtos]

Then came sticker star... ugh.

[cheez8]

I say it is as good as the previous two installments- it's just not similar. Basically, if you like the Paper Mario series, and you also like Mario platformers, then you'll probably like Super Paper Mario.

Kind of sucks that the helper characters get as little dialogue as they do, admittedly, but... to be perfectly honest, it's pretty much no different than the original in that regard. Bow was like the only character who ever had any lines after joining your party in that game. SPM is hardly any worse about it (mostly because it hardly has room to be any worse) but it also has more humorous dialogue throughout the game along with a more interesting plot.

[Kapus]

There's a big distinction between making a rehash and making a sequel. A sequel continues on the same playstyle while in a rehash everything feels like the previous game but with a different name and maybe a slightly different appearance. TTYND felt like a sequel without being a rehash, while SPM doesn't feel like a sequel at all.

Thank you.


Super Paper Mario isn't much like the first two games in the series, but it's still pretty good in its own right and is worth a playthrough. I say go ahead and pick it up.

[Jesuiscontent]

Official tier list you cannot disagree with

The Thousand Year Door : Godlike
Super Paper Mario : Excellent
Paper Mario : Good
Stickinyourstar : Garbage

Also about the SPM thing, I don't think they intended to make it as a reboot, it's just that Intelligent Systems seem to hate doing the same thing more than twice

[InsaneIntentions1]

First two are easily the best

[Sorel]

So, let's get zis straight:

Super Paper Mario is a mix of Platformer, Adventure RPG, and paper. Am I the only one who liked it most?

The original Paper Mario and The Thousand Years Door are Adventure RPGs, with lots of cool battles.

Sticker Star is... how can you describe that?
Unique?

[BeatBoxingBoo]

i coincedentally found this just now http://helloyesthisispapermario.tumblr.com/

[LovelyPenguin]

specially since it kinda derails the thread.

Voila~ Now it is its own thread and we can get down to business.

I respect Sticker Star for trying something different, I really do. Considering Nintendo rehash city.

But it just didn't work and the game wasn't really that fun for me. I was forcing myself to complete levels sometimes. There just wasn't anything... interesting there. A majority of the starting game for the first hour or so seemed to be just battle, battle, battle. No puzzles, no witty scenes, just battling goons. And the combat in Sticker Star was snores-ville.

I don't really like turn-based combat more often than not anyway, I feel it's much more boring than alternatives. A game like TTYD though was carried for me by the puzzles and the dialog, it was way too fun, and maybe the action commands also made it a little bit better to where I felt like it mattered what exactly I did.

Sweet! And yup, totally agree. I actually haven't bothered beating the final boss 'cause the story simply didn't grab me. To me, the game felt like a traditional Mario platformer (aside from the turn-based battles) as far as the way it was setup (overworld, individual levels with multiple goals to end them, and minimal plot/dialogue/characterization).

On the plus side, this game really took the paper theme and ran with it. By the time we got to SPM I was kinda wondering why there was even a paper theme anymore, when it didn't seem to come into play all that much. Shoot, SPM actually had more of a video game theme than anything else. To an extent, I also felt this way for TYD, but at least that had the paper curses to kinda tie the theme back in. Now, for SS, there's definitely a paper thing going on, what with the stickers and the real-world "things" and whatnot; much more of a storybook/paper cutout world feel.

[Medley]

Never played Sticker Star or the original, LOVED TTYD, and wasn't a big fan of SPM.

[skyluigi2]

The Thousand Year Door is easily the best, no questions asked. I'd go as far as to say it's my favourite game of all time...! The original was also really great. Super Paper Mario, on the other hand... I say this a lot, but if TTYD didn't exist, people would think SPM was amazing. People wanted a TTYD sequel and ended up with a weirdo 2D thing. It's not a bad game, it's just in comparison to TTYD, it's... pretty mediocre. Sticker Star was also a thing... a horrifically bad one. No partners, no RPG style battles (although SPM didn't have them either), no new characters besides Kersti... it was bad. Whenever people ask I just tell them the series ended at The Thousand Year Door. SPM and SS just seem like their own thing, you know?

[Bryux]

Official tier list you cannot disagree with

The Thousand Year Door : Godlike
Super Paper Mario : Excellent
Paper Mario : Good
Stickinyourstar : Garbage

I'm a naughty boy so I'm going to disagree with you.

The Thousand Year Door : Godlike
Paper Mario : Excellent (Godlike for it's time)
Super Paper Mario : Exceptionally Good
Stincker Star: Crap

[Bean]

Sticker Star is... how can you describe that?
Unique?

Sticker Star is definitely an RPG except you're winning coins in fights to spend on bigger stickers. The problem with that one is that you really needed a guide to know which stickers to bring into certain situations. I liked it well enough, but I can see why it would bother some people.

[GlitchedGhost]

Sticker Star was my first Paper Mario game. I haven't beaten it though due to the battle system being silly with constantly having to collect stickers, and I found the story wasn't all that great. Overall it didn't really hold my interest, and I found it a bit boring. I will admit, it did have it's moments, but they were few and far between.
ie:

and my personal favorite:

I played TTYD after SS, and absolutely loved it. The story was great, I loved the partners, the battle system was pretty good. Good writing, funny moments, etc. It really showed me how... different SS was.

SPM, while it was a weird mix of RPG/platformer and different from it's previous ones, I still found it quite fun. The story was well written, and surprisingly dark. I really liked the villians in SPM, they had quite a bit of character. The gameplay was pretty okay. Not as fun as TTYD personally, but was still fun enough to play through at least once.
MImi is like something I'd see in one of my nightmares though. *shiver*

I haven't played the first one yet though. I really still want to. I've heard most people say it's really good, like TTYD, but I've heard a minority of people say that it's not as good as TTYD. Guess I'll have to see when I play it!

[Diggertron]

I was very disappointed with Star Sticks, TTYD is beyond godlike, thinking of doing a 10hp run of it after my exams are over.

[Leeroh Zenon]

TTYD is absolutely my favorite, though I love the super freaky-weird art style and setting that SPM goes for. SPM also has much better writing, though the platforming is lame sometimes. TTYD has an excellent soundtrack, while SPM has one of my favorite soundtracks of all time.
Like This.
Overall, I find the two pretty much equal.
(I haven't played the original paper mario since 2004, and I cast SS out from memory to avoid sadness)

[Sorel]

I just noticed that Floro Sapiens is a pun...