Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Review: Expertly Crafted

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

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Platform reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Pros

• A superb and often strange setting
• Engaging turn-based battles
• Great writing and humor

Cons

• Some unwelcome backtracking
• Too many easy early fights

ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
ESRB Content Descriptors: Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes

Review code provided by the publisher.

The trouble with returning to games you loved as a kid is that you can never guarantee they were actually any good. Was Goblin Commander a genuinely decent console strategy game, or was I just really into little green men thumping each other when I was 12? Some mysteries are best left unsolved. So when Nintendo finally announced it was giving Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – one of my all-time favorite GameCube games – the remaster treatment, I was excited. But a part of me couldn’t help reserving some apprehension, too.

I needn’t have worried. The Switch incarnation of Intelligent Systems’ RPG is a phenomenal feat of nostalgia fodder, and a joyous game in its own right. The graphics and music have been sharpened significantly, achieving a beautiful level of vibrancy that my time-tinted mind convinces me the original had all along. And to be fair, fancy lighting, resolution, and anti-aliasing aside, it really wasn’t that far off. What’s more impressive, though, is how little else has needed touching up.

When a remake like 2023’s Resident Evil 4 graces our screens, it marks just how far visuals, controls, and gameplay have progressed in the years that have passed. In The Thousand-Year Door’s case, the lack of revision is a reminder instead of how bizarre and brilliant the original has always been.

Our dungaree-clad hero’s story starts in fairly standard form: A letter from Princess Peach. An invitation to the city of Rogueport, with a mystery map and tale of legendary treasure to boot. But from the moment the iconic plumber hops off-ship and onto the opening harbor, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door establishes itself as a Mario game like no other.

The hub city of Rogueport is an unscrupulous place: A hive of smugglers, brawlers, and graffiti-smothered walls. It’s the kind of locale that’d cause Super Mario Wonder’s Prince Florian to faint at the mere suggestion of a visit. Don’t be mistaken, this is still a Mario game; there’s plenty of color, and you’ll be chatting with Toads, Goombas, and Koopa Troopas aplenty. But there’s a seedy undercurrent to The Thousand-Year Door that it’s impossible to imagine making the cut today.

One of the first things to happen to Mario upon arrival is a thief nabbing a chunk of his coins. The game won’t even explicitly tell you that it’s happened. The centerpiece of the town square is a hangman’s noose – a morbid detail which no-one local seems to consider worthy of note. Even Mario’s usual associations show their shadier sides. Princess Peach’s aide Toadsworth is eager to inform Mario that the Mushroom Kingdom royal has gone missing, but only so that Mario can get to rescuing her and he can laze around at a boozy inn instead.

Before long, you’ll have your hands in the muck too. Choose to “help” the local citizens and Mario will soon be smuggling suspect packages, catching scammers so their victims can dish out corporal punishment, and aiding a mafia boss in tracking down his eloping daughter. It’s utterly un-Nintendo stuff, yet somehow Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door manages to pull it off with such mischievous humor that it doesn’t feel out of place.

How Mario even fights his foes hasn’t had a mention yet, but that’s only because the locations and characters are the real stars. Each chapter brings a playful backdrop fit for the stage, with standout highlights including the wrestling drama of Glitzville and an Orient Express-style train-set mystery. Tropes are played with constantly, but with a genuine sense of charm. It’s as if everyone involved is in on the joke and eager to ham it up for full effect.

This pantomime-esque delivery is exemplified by The Thousand-Year Door’s brief but brilliant Bowser sections. As Mario and co. tear across the land, his usual nemesis is left scrambling to keep up. Bowser’s mini-chapters are played almost entirely for laughs, with the King of Koopas arriving late to each locale, long after Mario has already moved on.

Joining Mario on his journey are a coterie of companions, or Partners as they’re known in-game. In addition to some unique commentary during cutscenes, each offers a functional use when exploring: the adorably shy Koops can be kicked ahead to collect items; opera-singing ghost Flurrie can blow some objects out of your path; and a young punk-styled Yoshi can hover over gaps, carrying Mario on his back.

The new powers each Partner brings are simple in function, but their matching obstacles are dropped in with just enough variety to keep you rotating through the lot. Though for combat purposes or pure character, you’ll inevitably find yourself picking a favorite to keep by Mario’s side. (Shout out to our boy Koops!)

Blissfully, swapping between allies has been made all the more expedient thanks to a new addition: the Partner Wheel – one of several new features aimed at making menus and interactions less tedious for the modern player. The most prominent of these include the addition of a tutorial character called the Battle Toad and the ability for cocky, college student companion Goombella to chime in with a direct hint whenever needed.

Combat in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door takes the form of turn-based battles. When Mario runs into an enemy, everyone hops onto a stage, squaring off in front of an audience. Each side takes their turn to lump out damage or activate other effects like items or power-ups. There’s an on-the-face-of-it simplicity here that you’d expect from a Mario game. By default, our plumber has just two attacks: jumping on an opponent’s head or thwacking them with a hammer. Fundamentals he’ll stick with throughout the game.

But in almost every facet, extra interactions have been crammed in to make fights dynamic and interactive. Each attack has a timing-based input to maximize damage. For Mario’s jumps, a tap of the A button as he lands on an enemy’s head will see him hit twice, while his hammer is charged up and unleashed by holding left on the analog stick. Partners have their own suite of moves and inputs, with more unlocked each time they’re upgraded.

It’s a satisfying foundation, with plenty more to discover on top. Hit an enemy before they reach you in the overworld and you’ll be granted a free strike as the combat curtain lifts. Heavy attacks will sometimes cause scenery to topple on you or your foes, and even the audience can get involved by attempting to throw items, both helpful and hurtful. Tap A during just the right window of an attack and you can also grant it the Stylish effect. These showboating flourishes reward additional Star Power to spend on special attacks, but you're left to discover the precise timing for each through practice.

Add to that badges which grant Mario powerful move variations, and you steadily build up a suite of tools through which to tackle all kinds of enemies – both franchise staples and things much stranger. Sometimes adjustments are forced upon you in a heavy-handed manner, making you to lose a fight before immediately gaining the power needed to overcome it. But tailoring your team to face fresh foes in each new location remains satisfying throughout.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s flamboyant show fights are a blast. But combat is also the aspect most likely to put some off. There’s an awful lot of it for a start, especially in the game’s early stages where challenge is notably lacking. Engagement is essential. Fights are turn-based, but you can’t just pick your moves and watch the act play out. Even opponents’ turns will keep your fingers hovering over buttons as you guard or deflect hits. And if timing isn’t your forte? Tougher bosses may prove a painful struggle.

A few other frustrations crop up outside of combat. Rogueport’s Trouble Center dishes out simple side quests between each core chapter. But while the writing around them is usually a lot of fun, these tasks too often demand tedious backtracking, especially as Mario can only take on one at a time. It’s a small irritation, but likely to tire those hunting total completion.

It’s difficult to get hung up on any issues for long, however, when The Thousand-Year Door’s papercraft environments are such a joy to inhabit. Walls fold up or flatten in a satisfying manner as you enter buildings, with gaps often clearly visible between misplaced seams. Environments play with perspective regularly, and in battles, stage elements unfurl like a pop-up book.

Boss fights bring out fantastic papercraft creations, and they aren’t afraid to break the rules when it comes to things like stepping off-stage to gobble the audience. It’s a world that wants to have fun, not strive for perfection. The greatest compliment I can pay Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, then, isn’t related to any one mechanic or moment. It’s that it’s been near impossible to keep a smile off my face for the entire playtime.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Release Date: May 23, 2024

• Nintendo SwitchBuy