96-641: The following is a list of characters from the Paper Mario series of video games, a spinoff of the Mario franchise in which the characters are, or can become, 2D paper cutouts. The first two Paper Mario games were noted for introducing unique, original companions that were either existing Mario races or related to the Mario universe, with well-known examples being Goombella, a student Goomba , Madame Flurrie, and Vivian . However, after Thousand-Year Door ,
192-538: A Nintendo Direct presentation in early 2016. The game received negative reception afterwards, as fans were frustrated the series was following an action-adventure genre format like Sticker Star . Tanabe mentioned that Mario & Luigi would replace Paper Mario as the RPG series and Tabata noted that the Paper Mario series would focus more on non-RPG elements, such as "puzzle-solving" and "humor", to differentiate
288-414: A turn-based combat system , where Mario and one or more opponents take turns attacking one another. The first two games, Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door , feature elements similar to that of a typical role-playing video game (RPG). Mario encounters multiple allies that join him on his journey, who can help complete tasks in the worlds and fight in combat, the latter of which
384-460: A "must-buy" and complimented its blend of platforming and RPG styles, controls, and writing but was critical of the "ridiculous" amount of text and the "barren" appearance of the 3D segments. GameTrailers were also critical of the reliance on text but praised the story as well as the "robust" and "addictive" gameplay. Bryn Williams of GameSpy praised the "highly bizarre and amusing story line" as well as its level design and controls but said it
480-428: A Pixl who accompanies the player from the start, can reveal hints to defeating enemies and is used to find secrets in the environment. The hub world is the town of Flipside, described as being located "between dimensions", and has a mirrored counterpart, Flopside, unlocked in the second half of the game. From Flipside and Flopside, the player can travel to different worlds via dimensional doors. Access to each world
576-464: A direct sequel to the previous game, The Thousand-Year Door . The game had a playable demo at E3 2004 , and was released worldwide later that year as The Thousand-Year Door internationally and Paper Mario RPG in Japan. By the time the game was released, another series of Mario RPGs, Mario & Luigi , was created for Nintendo's handheld consoles. The first game in the series, Superstar Saga ,
672-525: A falling ceiling; Peach and Mimi fall into a pit; and Dimentio appears to kill both himself and Luigi. Mario and Tippi confront Bleck alone; Tippi reveals herself to be Timpani, but Bleck refuses to end his plan. The other heroes return and defeat Bleck by using up the power of the Pure Hearts. Bleck, returning to his Blumiere identity, urges the heroes to kill him to destroy the Chaos Heart and avert
768-454: A key, the game will freeze and force the player to restart from the previous save. Nintendo of Europe offered to replace any affected game discs with patched ones at no charge. The Korean version was the last to be published, releasing two years after Japan; it also contains unused development assets unique to its version. According to the review aggregator website Metacritic , Super Paper Mario received "generally favorable reviews" with
864-482: A locked portal that is thought to lead to the riches of a lost kingdom. Soon after, Peach is kidnapped by the X-Nauts, who want to open the portal. Peach messages Mario about her kidnapping and informs him that he needs to search for the seven Crystal Stars to find the treasure. During this, Mario becomes cursed, which allows him to perform special moves such as folding into a paper airplane or boat. Combat takes place on
960-445: A mandate and was cited as evidence that the restrictions could be loosening. Mario , Princess Peach , Bowser , and Luigi are the four playable characters in the Paper Mario series. Matt Casamassina of IGN notes that the main characters are "all fun to play for different reasons" and that the ease of moving between playable characters "is a plus since there are some well-designed puzzles that require you to use two or more of
1056-639: A new experience point system, and new strategic and somewhat puzzle-like gameplay around combat. Paper Mario is a 2000 role-playing video game (RPG) released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000 in Japan, and 2001 worldwide. The game was later re-released on the iQue Player in 2004, the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015, and via Nintendo Switch Online in 2021. In Paper Mario , Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and steals
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#17328011651361152-413: A part of Mario's party . In addition, allies known as Pixls, which grant abilities for combat and traversing levels, can be summoned and used. Since Paper Mario: Sticker Star , the Paper Mario games were aimed more towards the action-adventure genre. RPG elements, such as experience points, allies, a complex plot and variety of fictional races, were reduced. It instead emphasized puzzle-solving,
1248-436: A powerful attack against enemies or can be used to solve puzzles in the overworld. Alongside the use of stickers, Mario can "Paperize" the environment to flatten his surroundings and reveal stickers and other secrets. Paper Mario: Color Splash is a cross-genre video game released for the Wii U in 2016. In Color Splash , Mario and Peach discover a color-drained Toad , prompting them to sail to Prism Island to investigate
1344-485: A pure RPG or platforming game. Its story also received praise, although some criticism was directed at the large amount of text. Game Informer reviewer Bryan Vore appreciated the inclusion of more platforming elements and the dimension flipping mechanic while praising the writing as "arguably the best" in any Mario RPG. Reviewers at Famitsu lauded its dimension-flipping mechanic, balance, and control scheme. Matt Casamassina of IGN called Super Paper Mario
1440-444: A score of 85 out of 100, based on 57 critics; it has the sixth-highest score among Wii games released in 2007. The dimension-flipping mechanic received generally positive reviews. Gamasutra described the game as a "landmark Wii release" and a "hit with critics". The dimension-flipping mechanic, puzzles, creativity, and writing received praise from critics, and most criticism was directed at its inability to please those looking for
1536-589: A sequel to Super Mario RPG (1996), developed by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . Changes in development resulted in the game becoming a standalone game titled Mario Story in Japan. Although the early games in the series were well-received, Kensuke Tanabe wanted each one to have different genre and core gameplay elements. This led the series to slowly move genres from role-playing to action-adventure, though some role-playing elements are still present later in
1632-403: A shadow of his power to ensure the Chaos Heart can finish its task. Blumiere and Timpani marry, which banishes the Chaos Heart and reverses its destruction. The heroes, along with O'Chunks, Mimi, and a revived Nastasia, return to Flipside, but Blumiere and Timpani are missing; O’Chunks, Mimi, and Nastasia pledge to create the perfect world Blumiere promised to make. Intelligent Systems developed
1728-401: A stage in front of a live audience; if Mario performs well in battle, the audience will throw helpful items on stage or inflict damage to the opponent. Contrarily, audience members will leave and sometimes inflict damage on Mario if he performs poorly. Super Paper Mario is an action role-playing platform game released for the Wii in 2007. In the game, a new villain, Count Bleck, summons
1824-402: A strategic combat system. Upon its reveal, fans criticized Color Splash for continuing the trend of action-adventure installments, and a Change.org petition calling for its cancellation was created. The game was initially disparaged further when it was announced but received generally positive reviews upon release. Most reviewers praised the redefined graphics, and soundtrack, but combat
1920-532: A whitepaper published by the Japanese Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association , Color Splash had sold over 60,000 units in Japan and nearly 1.2 million copies worldwide by July 2020, making it one of the best-selling Wii U games . The Origami King had the best launch in the series, having doubled the launch sales of Super Paper Mario in the U.S., and the series' best launch in its first month. By December 2020,
2016-406: Is Mario's ability to flip between 2D and 3D perspectives. Most of the game is played in a 2D perspective, with the 3D perspective being used to solve puzzles and access previously unreachable areas. Peach, Bowser, and Luigi also have unique abilities, and additional abilities can be gained through acquiring partner characters known as Pixls. Super Paper Mario received generally positive reviews and
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#17328011651362112-575: Is a cross-genre video game released for the Nintendo Switch in 2020. Mario and Luigi head to Toad Town in the Mushroom Kingdom, which they discover to be abandoned. At Peach's Castle, they discover Peach brainwashed and folded into origami by King Olly. Many other residents, including Bowser, have met a similar fate. King Olly covers the castle in five decorative streamers and Mario, aided by Olly's sister Olivia, head out to destroy
2208-421: Is a crossover, its gameplay is more similar to Mario & Luigi 's than Paper Mario ' s. The player simultaneously controls Mario and Luigi, who use their usual abilities, and Paper Mario, whose actions are paper-inspired, which include folding into a shuriken in combat, and performing a high-damage attack by stacking multiple copies of himself. Intelligent Systems was founded after Tohru Narihiro
2304-465: Is developing Born of Bread with Gabriel Bolduc Dufour, said that it retains core RPG gameplay concepts from the Paper Mario games. He mentioned how his ultimate goal was to curate what made the RPG elements so special. Similar games the series has inspired include Scrap Story , Seahorse Saga , and Tinykin . Paper Mario was the best-selling game in its first week in Japan and other regions, and has sold 1.3 million copies, making it one of
2400-607: Is initially locked; completing each world and retrieving the Pure Heart therein opens access to the next one. Super Paper Mario opens with Count Bleck abducting Bowser and Princess Peach and forcing the two to marry. Their union, as foretold by the Dark Prognosticus, summons the Chaos Heart. Bleck takes control of the Chaos Heart and uses it to open the Void, a slowly expanding inter-dimensional rift, in order to destroy
2496-664: Is often ranked as one of the best games in the series. Reviewers praised the game's plot and characters, with Eurogamer considering the story whimsical in tone. The new paper-based game and audience mechanics were also lauded. The Thousand-Year Door won " Console Role-Playing Game of the Year " at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards . Despite deviating from the RPG style, Super Paper Mario still generally received positive reviews. The concept of changing dimensions received praise, though there were some complaints for underdeveloped gameplay. Some reviewers criticized
2592-467: Is similar to other RPG games. The player can either perform a regular attack, where they time a button-press on the controller to deal more damage, or use a special attack, which is more powerful but consumes flower points (FP)—an in-game statistic—when used. When defeating an enemy, experience points (known in-game as Star Points, or SP) are awarded, which makes Mario and his allies more powerful as they progress. Upgrades to special attacks can be found in
2688-456: Is the best-selling game in the series , with 4.3 million sales as of 2019. The series has collectively sold 12.54 million copies. Several Paper Mario games were nominated for at least one award; The Thousand-Year Door won "Role Playing Game of the Year" at the 2005 Interactive Achievement Awards , Super Paper Mario won " Outstanding Role Playing Game " at the 12th Satellite Awards in 2007, and Sticker Star won "Handheld Game of
2784-429: Is the next great hope then, and while the latest entry does appear to have solved some of the problems fans had with recent previous entries, many series stalwarts are likely to be left waiting for that mythical Thousand Year Door sequel in the sky. Andy Robinson, Video Games Chronicle Paper Mario: The Origami King review The Origami King re-added favored RPG elements and removed unwanted features, though it
2880-469: Is to collect the eight Pure Hearts and defeat the main antagonist Count Bleck. The player can talk to non-player characters (NPC), defeat enemies, or interact with the environment. Unlike previous Paper Mario games which used a turn-based battle system outside the overworld , in Super Paper Mario all combat is in real-time. Experience points are gained after defeating enemies and allow
2976-511: Is used to fill in empty holes of the overworld. Combat emphasizes puzzle-solving on a circular combat field; the circle is divided into rings and the player is given time to rotate the rings horizontally and vertically to line up the enemies and deal more damage. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam , known as Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in Europe and Australia, is a role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for
List of Paper Mario characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
3072-432: Is why The Origami King used origami as a new paper-like theme. Tanabe explained how the game's writing was kept broad in its context and format so it could be understood by other ages and cultures. He has since kept away from a complicated plot due to how it "led the game away from the Mario universe", and instead created a story where different locales would be tied to specific memorable events. Tanabe also noted that it
3168-580: The Mushroom Kingdom or a similar world. Each game divides the world into several explorable areas that contain puzzles and interactive elements, such as obstacles that Mario has to hit with his hammer, that need to be completed to progress in the story. The locations are designed to look as if they are made out of paper, and contain coins and other collectibles, such as hidden trophies. There are also non-player characters (NPCs) which Mario can talk to. All games except Super Paper Mario feature
3264-608: The Nintendo 3DS in 2012. In the game, the Mushroom Kingdom is celebrating the Sticker Fest, an annual event where the residents can wish upon the Sticker Comet and have their wishes granted by the Royal Stickers living inside the comet. However, Bowser appears and destroys the comet, scattering the six Royal Stickers across the kingdom. Mario, allied by a sticker named Kersti, search for the lost stickers to fix
3360-496: The Nintendo 3DS in 2015. It is a crossover between the Paper Mario series and Nintendo's other spin-off series, Mario & Luigi . In Paper Jam , Luigi accidentally knocks over a book that contains the Paper Mario universe, which causes the two universes to cross over and spread Paper Mario residents all over the Mushroom Kingdom. The two Bowsers from both universes team up to kidnap both Peaches. Although Paper Jam
3456-462: The Nintendo 64 . Game development began shortly after the console's release in Japan in 1996. The game, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto , was originally planned to be a sequel to Super Mario RPG, Super Mario RPG 2 , used a similar graphics style to its predecessor, and was to be released on the 64DD , a disk drive add-on for the Nintendo 64. Naohiko Aoyama, the game's art designer, later switched
3552-515: The Paper Mario series. Super Paper Mario was nominated for Best RPG and Best Wii Game in GameSpot and IGN's Best of 2007 awards, winning the award for Best RPG from IGN . 1UP.com nominated it for Best Adventure Game and Game of the Year. It received six award nominations from Nintendo Power , including Wii Game of the Year and Game of the Year, and won the Reader's Choice award in
3648-626: The Wii in 2006. It was released in April 2007, becoming the first Mario game for Wii. The controls were kept similar to the GameCube version, and implementation of the Wii's motion controls were minimal. Early PAL copies contain a bug if the language is set to English, German, or Spanish. According to Nintendo of Europe , if Mario speaks to the NPC Mimi in chapter 2–2 without first picking up
3744-405: The Wii in mid-2006 before being released in April 2007. Since the game was intended to be played on a GameCube controller, it did not take full advantage of Wii's new motion controls. Trailers for Sticker Star were shown at E3 2010 , E3 2011 , and Nintendo World 2011 , but its title was not announced until E3 2012 , and the game was released later in the year. As Miyamoto was no longer
3840-613: The best-selling game in the Paper Mario series and one of the best-selling games on the Wii . Paper Mario: Sticker Star followed in 2012. In 2016, Super Paper Mario was re-released on the Wii U 's eShop . Super Paper Mario is a platform game with action role-playing elements, differentiating itself from previous games in the series. Like its predecessors, the graphics consist of 3D environments and 2D characters which look as if they are made of paper . The player controls Mario and various other characters, overcoming linear platforms as in other Mario games. The player's goal
3936-450: The best-selling games on the Nintendo 64 . Similar to Paper Mario , The Thousand-Year Door was the top selling game in Japan in its first week, and sold over 1.3 million copies since 2007. It is the thirteenth best-selling game on the GameCube . Super Paper Mario was the top selling game of the week upon release in Japan, and ranked as the third best-selling game on the Wii in April 2007, similar to its predecessors. By 2008,
List of Paper Mario characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-446: The role-playing , action-adventure , and puzzle genres. Players control a paper cutout version of Mario , usually with allies, on a quest to defeat the antagonist . The series consists of six games and one spin-off; the first, Paper Mario (2000), was released for the Nintendo 64 , and the most recent, a 2024 remake of 2004's Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door , for the Nintendo Switch . The original Paper Mario began as
4128-414: The Chaos Heart to destroy and remake the universe to his liking. Mario sets out to stop Count Bleck by collecting the eight Pure Hearts with the help of Peach, Luigi, Bowser, and a new ally named Tippi. Unlike the previous games, Super Paper Mario features gameplay more closely related to platforming rather than role-playing. Mario can switch between 2D and 3D, which rotates the camera 90 degrees to change
4224-432: The Dark Prognosticus, determined to bring end to the universe. Unbeknownst to him, Merlon found and rescued Timpani by transforming her into a Pixl, wiping her memories in the process. The two slowly realize the other's identity over the course of the game. With all eight Pure Hearts, the heroes travel to Castle Bleck. They encounter each of Bleck's minions but are lost one-by-one: Bowser and O’Chunks are seemingly crushed by
4320-490: The Glitz Pit. Count Bleck , originally known as Lord Blumiere , is the presumed main antagonist of Super Paper Mario, who seeks to use the Chaos Heart to destroy all dimensions. GameAxis Unwired praised the characters as "colorful". Paper Mario Paper Mario is a video game series and part of the Mario franchise, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo . It combines elements from
4416-498: The Mario & Luigi RPG series, and so since we already have that established Mario & Luigi RPG series, in order to differentiate these two series that we have running concurrently, we've tried to focus more on the non-RPG elements for the Paper Mario games. Producer Risa Tabata, E3 2016 Paper Mario: The Origami King was planned to be announced for the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. in early September 2020, but
4512-618: The Star Rod and captures the Star Spirits, turning them into cards and having his most powerful followers guard them. They also appear in Mario Party 5 . In the first three Paper Mario games, Mario and his friends are assisted by a character named Merlon, as well as his similarly named family. Kammy Koopa is an old female Magikoopa, and head advisor to Bowser. Rawk Hawk is a boss based on Hulk Hogan who can be fought at
4608-427: The Sticker Comet. Sticker Star ' s gameplay relies heavily on stickers, which can be found stuck in the overworld, purchased from in-game shops using coins, or received from other NPCs. In combat, Mario's abilities depend on the stickers obtained; for example, a Jump Sticker allows Mario to jump and stomp on his enemies. Other stickers, called Thing Stickers, resemble real world objects that can either be used as
4704-479: The United States in April 2007, ranking as the third-best selling console game of April 2007 in the United States behind Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl . By March 2008, Nintendo reported 2.28 million copies sold worldwide, with 500,000 copies sold in Japan and 1.78 million copies sold overseas. According to Kotaku , more than 4.23 million copies were sold worldwide, making it the best-selling entry in
4800-475: The Year" at the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards in 2012. The Origami King was nominated for 3, the most at once for the series. The games, mainly the first two titles, have inspired various indie games including Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling . Numerous Paper Mario elements have also been included in the Super Smash Bros. series. In the series, Mario is tasked with a quest to explore either
4896-408: The additional layer of strategy, like Philip Kollar of Polygon considering it engaging, multiple functions of the stickers were criticized. Thing Stickers were considered one of the game's biggest weaknesses, and stickers in general were disliked for having only one solution to each puzzle and frequently requiring players to backtrack. Sticker Star was overall disdained by fans for the loss of
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#17328011651364992-405: The apocalypse; however, it is seized by Dimentio, who seemingly kills Bleck's assistant Nastasia and brainwashes Luigi into serving as the host of the Chaos Heart. Blumiere and Tippi are teleported away, and the remaining heroes appear overmatched without the power of the Pure Hearts; however, the love between Blumiere, O’Chunks, and Mimi restores their power. Dimentio is destroyed but leaves behind
5088-405: The console's graphics and controls. The artists made the graphics look like paper and craft materials, and the Wii U GamePad heavily influenced player combat as the developers found the motion controls fun to use. Producer Kensuke Tenabe limited the variety of character designs and continued to exempt original characters, out of respect to series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. The game was announced via
5184-408: The first Mario game on the Wii. The game follows Mario , Peach , Bowser , and Luigi as they attempt to collect Pure Hearts and stop Count Bleck and his minions from destroying the universe. Whereas preceding Paper Mario games are turn-based , Super Paper Mario has elements from RPGs and side-scrolling platformers ; some critics described it as a hybrid of the two genres. The main feature
5280-437: The flawed universe and create a perfect one in its place. Mario is teleported to Flipside by Tippi and is tasked by Merlon to collect the eight Pure Hearts, which are necessary to undo the destruction. Mario, after learning the ability to flip between dimensions, starts his journey with Tippi at his side, traveling to the different worlds to collect them. During the adventure, Mario reunites with Peach and Bowser, who join him in
5376-436: The game designer behind Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling , the Paper Mario series was a major inspiration for the game's development. Bug Fables is similar to the first two games in the Paper Mario series, which Gracia considers to be the reason for the game's success. He said that creating a combat system similar to Paper Mario was simple, but not as much as maintaining a similar style of humor. Nicolas Lamarche, who
5472-821: The game had sold 3.05 million copies and is the second highest selling in the series, becoming one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch . Various Paper Mario elements have been featured in the Super Smash Bros. series. The most prominent is the "Paper Mario" stage, a map based on multiple games in the series that folds into multiple areas with themes of specific games, such as Sticker Star and The Thousand-Year Door . The map first appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014, and later appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2018. Additionally, Ultimate has featured "spirits" – in-game collectibles representing various video game characters based on characters from
5568-419: The game had sold over 2 million units worldwide. As of 2019, the game had sold about 4.3 million copies and is the best-selling Paper Mario game to date. Sticker Star sold around 400,000 copies in Japan by 2012, and almost 2 million worldwide by March 2013. As of 2020, the game had reached almost 2.5 million sales and is also one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo 3DS . According to
5664-515: The game included the character designs being less charming than past entries. The three games since Sticker Star were strongly criticized for the removal of elements that made the games RPGs, such as an XP system (which critics believed made combat unnecessary), the removal of new and original characters, and the removal of other unique aspects from prior games. The Paper Mario series has been used as inspiration for various indie games . According to Jose Fernando Gracia of Moonsprout Games,
5760-508: The game was positively received for its combination of roleplaying, platforming, and pre-existing elements from the Mario franchise. Its writing and characters received additional praise. Publications, such as Nintendo Power and GameSpot , listed it among the best games on the Nintendo 64. It was listed as the 63rd best game on a Nintendo console in Nintendo Power ' s "Top 200 Games" in 2006. The Thousand-Year Door
5856-474: The game would work better in the style of an action-adventure video game , though he asked the staff to keep a role-playing game plot. Kawade found it difficult to "create a harmonic relationship between the worlds of 2D and 3D", and noted that the process consisted of trial and error. He said how creating one level "required the efforts of creating two levels", as they aimed for adding secrets in 3D that were not visible in 2D. On May 11, 2006, Super Paper Mario
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#17328011651365952-492: The game's perspective. When he swaps dimensions, hidden elements become visible. Mario is aided by other allies called Pixls, who have different abilities. For example, the Pixl Thoreau allows Mario to pick up and throw objects. Instead of a turn-based combat system, battles take place in the overworld in real-time; upon victory, Mario is awarded XP. Paper Mario: Sticker Star is a cross-genre video game released for
6048-446: The gameplay, calling it "slightly weaker" than most Mario platformers, but lauded its writing as "consistently hilarious, and toward the end, even impressively touching". Ricardo Torres of GameSpot said it was "not quite on par with some of the other entries in the series" but praised its gameplay, writing, length, and side quests. Michael Cole of Nintendo World Report criticized some "tedious puzzles" and backtracking, and praised
6144-619: The graphics to a paper-like style because he believed players might prefer a game with "cute" 2D character designs instead of one with low-polygon 3D graphics. Development took four years and was released in August 2000 towards the end of the console's lifecycle with the GameCube nearing announcement. The game was titled Mario Story in Japan and Paper Mario in North America. At the 2003 Game Developers Conference , Nintendo announced
6240-472: The heroes to continue forward." In his adventures, Mario is assisted by various partners. The Star Spirits are a group of deity -like beings that reside in Star Haven in the heavens and watch over the Mushroom Kingdom, granting the wishes of good people using the Star Rod. They also possess the power to neutralize the Star Rod's power should it fall into the wrong hands. In Paper Mario , Bowser steals
6336-424: The highest, Peach can hover and access inaccessible areas, and Bowser can breathe fire to defeat enemies; only Mario retains the ability to flip between 2D and 3D. The player can swap between any character in the party at any time using an in-game menu. Fairy-like creatures called "Pixls" are obtained that each bestow one additional ability, such as Thoreau, who allows the player to pick up and throw objects. Tippi,
6432-405: The idea to the new producer, Tanabe. When Tanabe approved, they both agreed that the idea would work well as an action-adventure video game rather than an RPG, and real-time combat was also introduced to fit the idea. Despite the changes, Tanabe asked the writers to keep the plot similar to a role-playing game's. Super Paper Mario was announced for the GameCube at E3 2006 , but it was ported to
6528-624: The oddity. After noticing the island is also color-drained, they speak to Huey, guardian of the Prisma Island fountain, who explains that the six Big Paint Stars that give the island color have been scattered, later revealed to be Bowser's doing. Color Splash preserves certain elements of gameplay introduced in Sticker Star . Mario is equipped with a paint hammer; various containers of red, yellow, and blue paint can be found that can be applied to Mario's hammer. When he hits something in
6624-520: The overworld, an uncolored object is colored and rewards items such as coins. The player can use the Wii U GamePad to trace a hole in the paper environment to reveal secrets, known as the "Cutout" ability. Much like Sticker Star , the player pre-determines their action in combat with cards to determine the action and target. Cards can be collected in the overworld or purchased in shops. Thing Cards are present, which function similarly to Thing Stickers in Sticker Star . Paper Mario: The Origami King
6720-467: The overworld, other abilities can be discovered that can be used in combat. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a role-playing video game released for the GameCube in 2004. A remake of The Thousand Year Door , was announced for the Nintendo Switch in September 2023 and released on May 23, 2024. The game is set mainly in and around the hub town of Rogueport, where Mario and Peach discover
6816-468: The overworlds. Super Paper Mario , the third game in the series, deviates from the RPG genre and plays more as a platform game instead. Unlike the previous two games, which use a turn-based combat system, Mario does not enter a combat phase and instead fights the enemy in the overworld in real-time. XP is still awarded for defeating enemies. Although Mario does not fight alongside unique partners, Luigi , Princess Peach , and Bowser are playable and
6912-470: The player to level up to increase their stats. Mario can temporarily "flip" between dimensions, where the camera rotates 90 degrees to reveal a 3D perspective of the stage, revealing elements hidden in the regular 2D perspective, and can be used to maneuver around obstacles impassable in 2D. Luigi , Princess Peach , and Bowser join the player's party as playable characters, each with unique abilities used to overcome specific obstacles. Luigi can jump
7008-423: The plot as overly complicated, but most praised the game's writing and humor. The game was commonly listed as one of the best games on the Wii. Sticker Star received more mixed reviews than its predecessors. Critics enjoyed the graphics, world scale, and characters, although the lack of character design variety, and gameplay mechanics such as the stickers, were not well-received. While some critics enjoyed
7104-467: The previous games. In a 2020 interview with Video Games Chronicle , Tanabe reaffirmed from previous interviews that while he makes note of general criticisms, he makes sure not to ignore "casual players" and new fans of the series. With this in mind, The Origami King greatly focused on puzzle-solving. Tanabe said that he could not satisfy every fan amidst the core veterans and casual players, and instead attempted to gravitate towards new concepts, which
7200-615: The quest. Bleck sends his minions, Dimentio, Mimi, and O'Chunks, as well as a brainwashed Luigi, to attack Mario's group and slow their progress. Luigi eventually recovers his memories and is the last to join Mario's group. Mario succeeds in collecting all eight Pure Hearts, but not before the Void grows large enough to obliterate one of the worlds. In flashbacks, it is revealed that Count Bleck and Tippi were originally lovers Blumiere and Timpani. Blumiere's father, disapproving of their relationship, banished and cursed Timpani to wander between dimensions forever. Blumiere, in despair, took control of
7296-422: The same, leading them to explore bigger changes in each game's gameplay and design team. The series underwent changes in an attempt to reach new and various audiences. For Super Paper Mario , game director Ryota Kawade wanted to surprise fans of the series with new concepts that did not appear in the previous games. When the idea of being able to alternatively switch from 2D to 3D was conceptualized, he presented
7392-406: The series largely moved away from this in favor of using existing characters or introducing new characters unrelated to the Mario universe. This restriction was dubbed the "Mario mandate" by fans and critics and was controversial due to causing characters to lack uniqueness. However, the 2024 remake of Thousand-Year Door featured a purple Toad with a unique design, which seemed to contradict such
7488-430: The series producer, he asked the developers to not create any new characters and instead use established pre-existing ones in the Mario franchise; Nintendo's intellectual property team enforced this statement into future games in the series. He also asked to change the combat system from The Thousand-Year Door , and to remove most of the story elements due to early feedback from fans. Paper Jam ' s development
7584-413: The series' previous games and Super Paper Mario . Director Ryota Kawade changed the traditional concept of previous games with the intention of surprising fans with a new concept. While creating game concepts, he implemented switching through dimensions; he differed the combat from previous game entries to fit with the idea of dimension swapping. When presented to producer Kensuke Tanabe , they both agreed
7680-510: The series. The first two games in the series, Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door , received critical acclaim, and were praised for their story, characters, and unique gameplay. When Paper Mario: Sticker Star was released in 2012, the series began to receive many complaints about its change in genre, removal of original fictional races, and less unique character designs, but continued to garner praise for its writing, characters, music, and enhanced paper-inspired visuals. Super Paper Mario
7776-475: The series. The most recently added were three characters from The Origami King in August 2020, being King Olly, Olivia, and Princess Peach after having been folded into origami. Super Paper Mario Super Paper Mario is a 2007 action role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii . It is the third installment in the Paper Mario series following Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004), and
7872-457: The seven Star Spirits and the Star Rod to make himself invincible. Mario must save the imprisoned Star Spirits, defeat Bowser, and save the Mushroom Kingdom. Gameplay centers around Mario and his allies solving puzzles, with many of the challenges designed around one of the characters' unique abilities. Mario encounters multiple partners as the game progresses. In combat, Mario and his allies have special abilities that consume FP when executed. In
7968-421: The streamers and defeat Olly. Unlike Sticker Star and Color Splash , the game reintroduces some RPG elements. The game brings back allies, albeit in a simplified role compared to the first two Paper Mario games. Mario has an ability called the 1000-Fold Arms, which gives him oversized arms that can be used to tear parts of the environment to reveal secrets. Additionally, he possesses a bag of confetti, which
8064-468: The two. The game released worldwide in early October 2016 and became the lowest-selling game in the series, possibly due to the low sales of the Wii U and the announcement of the Nintendo Switch prior to its release. Paper Jam was the last game in the Mario & Luigi series created by AlphaDream before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019. This game is an action-adventure. I'm sure you're aware that, at Nintendo, we also have another series called
8160-457: The writing, visuals, and gameplay and called it a "peculiar, unexpected love-letter to Nintendo fans". Several reviewers at RPGamer praised the writing and comedic dialogue. In its first week of release in Japan, 144,000 copies were sold, a similar total to previous Paper Mario games. It ranked as the best-selling game of the week. According to the NPD Group , 352,000 copies were sold in
8256-493: Was announced for the GameCube through a trailer at E3 2006 , to be released in the fourth quarter of 2006. Nintendo opted not to have a GameCube on the show floor for a playable demo. GameSpot listed Super Paper Mario as a finalist for its E3 Editor's Choice. Nintendo confirmed a release date of October 9, 2006 later in May. Super Paper Mario was set to be one of the last first-party GameCube games, but development moved to
8352-470: Was considered too simplistic and some reviewers noted its lack of overall necessity to the game. Giant Bomb reviewer Dan Ryckert observed that the primary function of coins was to buy cards for combat, which awarded coins in return; he considered the overall system pointless. Ryckert also criticized the depiction of characters, such as the abundance of Toads for lacking in original designs that past entries had. [The] Nintendo Switch's [The] Origami King
8448-463: Was developed by Square . Square used experimental gameplay mechanics, such as timed button presses to deal more damage in combat, to try to ease fans into finding interest in the genre. Although Nintendo wanted Square to create another RPG game, Square later signed a deal with Sony Interactive Entertainment to create Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation . Instead, Nintendo hired Intelligent Systems to create an RPG for their newest console,
8544-466: Was developed by AlphaDream and released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Kensuke Tanabe , the supervisor of The Thousand-Year Door , and assistant producer Risa Tabata drew inspiration from Miyamoto to introduce different gameplay concepts to make the series more entertaining. In a 2020 interview, Tanabe acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining motivation when every game in the series is
8640-537: Was hired as an employee by Nintendo to port games on the Famicom Disk System to cartridges in the 1980s. Narihiro went on to develop successful games in the Wars and Fire Emblem series, which allowed him to expand his company with additional artists and developers. Super Mario RPG , which was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), was the first Mario role-playing game and
8736-502: Was instead announced in mid-May the same year. Soon after the game's ROM was leaked, the game released worldwide in mid-July 2020. The Origami King is the first game in the series that Miyamoto was not actively involved with. Despite the appearance some iconic characters from the mainline Mario series and the return of allies, critics were still disappointed in their lack of role in the plot and other gameplay aspects. The game features large overworlds instead of linear-based levels in
8832-475: Was mainly inspired by Sticker Star . AlphaDream wanted to use a third button to control a third character in their newest game, and felt Paper Mario would fit the role. Every game in the series from Color Splash onward has a white paper outline around Mario; the developers of Paper Jam needed to differentiate the characters from the separate series. As the Wii U has more graphical power than previous Nintendo consoles, development for Color Splash emphasized
8928-518: Was no longer possible to bring back original characters since Sticker Star . As the final announcement of a Nintendo Direct on September 14, 2023, Nintendo announced a remake of The Thousand-Year Door , set to release on the Nintendo Switch in 2024. It features remastered HD graphics, and retains the arts and crafts visual style that was established in Color Splash and The Origami King . Paper Mario received critical acclaim when released;
9024-474: Was one of the best-reviewed Wii games of the year. Critics praised its gameplay, dimension-flipping mechanic , art style, originality, and story, although the large amount of text received some criticism. It was nominated for and won several awards, including the award for Outstanding Role Playing Game at the 12th Satellite Awards ; critics have since regarded it as one of the best games on the Wii. More than 4.23 million copies have been sold as of 2014, making it
9120-517: Was still criticized for continuing the action-adventure format. It was praised for its interactive elements, writing, characters, and worldbuilding. Of these elements were hidden Toads, which reviewers commonly called fun and enjoyable, commending their humorous dialogue and interesting hiding spots. Reviewers gave the game's combat system a mixed reception; it was liked for its unique layer of strategy, but dreaded for being difficult and unrewarding. One of GameSpot ' s few criticisms of
9216-453: Was too easy and lacked in replay value. GamesRadar+ reviewer Brett Elston praised the graphics, dialogue, and controls but said that it started to "peter out close to the end". Shane Bettenhausen of Electronic Gaming Monthly called Super Paper Mario a "must-play for any Wii owner" and praised its creativity, gameplay, puzzles, and script but criticized the "undercooked" RPG elements. Eurogamer reviewer John Walker also criticized
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