5 Changes in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch
From a new Partner Ring to upgraded visuals, here are some of the biggest differences between the GameCube and Switch versions of this classic Mario RPG.
Posted 6 months ago
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door turns 20 in 2024, and Nintendo has marked that milestone in a big way, releasing a new and improved version of the classic Mario role-playing game on Switch.
The Thousand-Year Door takes players to a world made of paper and challenges them to help Mario and his friends collect the Crystal Stars and defeat the evil X-Nauts.
While the new Switch version of The Thousand-Year Door retains the title’s witty dialog and turn-based combat system (among many other features), it also incorporates a series of updates and enhancements designed to improve the overall player experience.
Here are five of the most noteworthy improvements and features found in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch.
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1. An updated soundtrack and graphics
Video game technology has come a long way since 2004, and The Thousand-Year Door on Switch makes use of those advancements with improved graphics and music.
However, if players are feeling nostalgic for the GameCube original, they can purchase the “Nostalgic Tunes” Badge from the Lovely Howz of Badges shop in Rogueport for a single coin. Once equipped (it doesn’t require any BP), this Badge changes the game’s background music to the original tracks from the GameCube version of The Thousand-Year Door. Any additional tracks that are new in the Switch version will also play when this Badge is equipped.
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2. The Partner Ring
Mario will team up with a variety of companions on his journey, with each one having different abilities. This means players may need to swap between companions to complete specific actions throughout the game.
On Switch, a new Partner Ring feature allows players to quickly switch to their desired companion when they’re outside of battle by pressing the “L” button, rather than being required to navigate the game’s menu system to switch to a different partner.
This feature may not seem that impressive on paper, but it’s a great quality-of-life improvement over the original experience.
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3. Ian Foomus
This purple mouse character can be found in the Trouble Center on the east side of Rogueport, and he’s there to help players complete some of the “Trouble” requests they can claim from the board in the Trouble Center building.
Once players accept a request from the Trouble Center board, they may be able to pay Ian a few coins to learn more information or a clue about the request. Ian won’t sell information for every “Trouble” request that’s available, but he’s there to help players complete some of the game’s trickier tasks.
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4. Battle Master Toad
Found throughout the in-game world, players can talk to the Battle Master Toad to learn more about the game’s battle system and practice their Action Commands. Since the game’s combat system relies heavily on properly-timed button presses, the Battle Master gives players a safe place to work on their timing skills before jumping into battles that count.
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5. Art and Sound Galleries
Players can collect Star Pieces and Shine Sprites as they make their way through The Thousand-Year Door, with these items being used to unlock Art and Sound Galleries where they can view the game’s artwork and listen to its soundtrack.
These Art and Sound Galleries are split into themed categories, with each one having a different unlock requirement. For instance, players are required to collect all of the Shine Sprites in the Rogueport area to unlock the Rogueport sound gallery.
What Henry said in his review...
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"The Switch incarnation of Intelligent Systems’ RPG is a phenomenal feat of nostalgia fodder, and a joyous game in its own right. Spruced up visuals and music complement a brilliant and bizarre Mario adventure."
Game code provided by Nintendo.