But let’s start with the basics. Super Paper Mario was originally developed as a GameCube title but, like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, will supposedly be released on the Wii as well. This has been backed up with release schedules from Nintendo itself which clearly label the title as a future Wii game. Notably, the Japanese Nintendo site doesn’t even acknowledge the Cube version’s existence, while the American Nintendo site does. The game was also supposed to be released late last year, but for some unknown reason - probably one involving the Wii - has failed to see the light of day.
The story of Super Paper Mario is as yet unknown, but the game follows a similar layout to the Bowser levels in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, which recaptured the basic “jump on your enemies” Mario gameplay. Rather than being a gimmick though, this time there are fully-fledged levels featuring an array of secrets and puzzles – a standard for Mario titles.
To solve puzzles during your journey, Mario has the ability to turn the level by a ninety degree angle, allowing players to see Mario’s surroundings from a 3D perspective. This feature has a time limit, and must be reset by returning back to the 2D perspective. The ability apparently comes in handy when trying to cross obstacles. What otherwise looks like a mountain in the background for instance, acts as a pathway when switched to a 3D view, allowing you to cross over a trench which you previously couldn’t jump across. Another example: a tall warp pipe blocks your path, yet by using the 3D perspective, you can simply go around the warp pipe. Paper-thin ladders are also revealed for Mario to climb on to reach higher points. Controlling Mario during these moments is done in exactly the same way as in other Paper Mario games: by pushing up and down on the analogue stick.
2D becomes...
The gameplay is deeper than this, however. There are some things that not even our favourite plumber can overcome and as such, you’ll need to enlist the help of Bowser and Peach, both of whom you can switch to at any given moment. Bowser has his classic fire-breathing ability to singe enemies, while Peach’s umbrella comes in handy to hover over long distances to reach platforms.
Besides the familiar faces, there’ll also be some new ones as well. If you’ve watched the trailer, you may have noticed two odd figures following the trio around. These two creatures are called “Fairens”, and act a bit like partners from the other Paper Mario games. One that looks like a butterfly acts as a guide and gives you information about the level you’re in. At this stage it's unknown if this particular Fairen feeds you information on enemy stats too, as Goombella did in The Thousand-Year Door.
The second Farien has multiple functions, in the form of Fairy Abilities. For instance, Fairy Toss allows you to pick up and throw enemies at one another when the Farien changes its form to look like a hand. Fairy Hammer, another example, allows you to use a hammer (like you couldn’t have guessed that by the name) when the Farien mimics that shape. For the time being, we can only assume these two Fariens will play larger roles and have more abilities than what has been revealed, but we’ll wait and see when the final product is released.
And what would a Mario game be without items? Mushrooms will no longer make Mario bigger, but instead act as a health food for his HP level. Not all RPG elements have been completely wiped out - aside from the mushroom change, Starmen have also been tweaked. Instead of making you invincible and glowing like it’s the festive season, you’ll become giant-sized in a similar fashion to New Super Mario Bros., though with one main difference - the giant versions of Mario, Peach and Bowser will be 8-bit versions of their classic NES sprites. Footage even shows Peach wearing her old white-coloured dress for those of you that passed the last castle, something which many of you will probably relive on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Fire Flowers this time come in two colours: classic red and the new blue. Instead of letting you shoot fireballs at enemies though, they now speed up your character if you obtain a red one, or slow your character down if you obtain a blue one.
... 3D!
As with New Super Mario Bros. many of the Mario staples are included in Super Paper Mario. Koopas, Goombas, and Hammer Bros. all return and look like their Thousand Year Door counterparts. Even the old 1-coin and 10-coin boxes return for those coin collectors out there. It really captures the glory days of Mario, so much so that there’s even a level that matches the 1-2 world from Super Mario Bros. perfectly, right down to the secret warp zone at the end of the level. Fans will no doubt enjoy spending some time exploring the level in 3D.
Aside from the classic-styled levels, Mario will also find himself at some stage floating in space shooting a raygun at enemies while wearing a space helmet. Presumably on another planet (we’re getting the Super Mario Galaxy feeling here), he’ll be able to walk up and down on walls. Boss-wise, there have been a few leaked details of some fights you’ll be up against. These include a giant blooper battle under the sea, a battle against a giant snake that you have to climb on top of to find its weak spot, and some sort of mummy.
Graphically, Super Paper Mario’s character models look identical to those of The Thousand Year Door (except for Peach who now wears her modern day dress), with the environments taking somewhat of a dramatic turn. No longer will you be exploring a pop-up book, as each level has been designed to look like the old NES classic. Backgrounds appear to have some sort of lightshow going on in the sky, with vibrant textures flashing beautifully. At other times, the backgrounds are made completely of squares, forming a sort of mosaic look that your average Ancient Roman would be proud of.
8-bit glory.
If you thought Twilight Princess was going to be the final bomb in the GameCube’s bestseller list, think again. Super Paper Mario is shaping up to be one of the best, and last, GameCube titles before all of Nintendo’s development resources focus on the Wii and DS exclusively. If a Wii version is to be released, Super Mario Galaxy may just have a rival on its hands, though we have to stress that it would be just plain stupid of Nintendo to release both titles around the same time period. Here's hoping that one will be released some time in the middle of this year (preferably during the quiet period), while the other cashes in on the Christmas rush. Either way, we look forward to playing Super Paper Mario in the near future.
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