Super Paper Mario For Nintendo Wii
Nintendo’s Super Paper Mario became the first new Mario game for the Wii when it was released on April 9, 2007. This game is part RPG, part 2D platformer and all fun. It is also, without question, one of the best games for the Wii so far.
The graphics will pop out at you when you play Super Paper Mario. Bright, colorful, and very reminiscent of Mario’s old 2D outings, they may not be a technical marvel but you won’t care. The levels make use of a wide variety of art styles so you’ll never get tired of the visuals.
In the sound department, the music is catchy and everything sounds exactly like it should. The hilarious story involves Mario teaming up with some old friends and enemies to defeat a new foe with plans to destroy the world. Like the previous Paper Mario games, Super Paper Mario is full of laugh out loud dialogue between the characters, which is a nice change of pace, seeing how many games forget about humor entirely.
In many ways, Super Paper Mario plays like the classic 2D Mario platformers. Running through the levels, jumping on turtles, and going down pipes is fun and very nostalgic. However, there are a lot of other things at work, too. First off, Mario isn’t alone in this adventure, I also got to control Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser, each with their own special moves and abilities. Mario and the gang also gain experience and level up by defeating monsters, just like in an RPG, and can carry around and use a variety of items.
The two biggest changes to the game play are the Pixels and the third dimension. Pixels are little creatures that grant Mario special abilities that can be used both for fighting and puzzle solving. I could only equip one Pixel at a time but it was easy enough to open up the menu and switch to a different one.
Finally, there’s the 3D aspect. Although I spent much of my time in Super Paper Mario exploring areas in 2D, Mario has the ability to temporarily flip the world around, accessing the third dimension, which has a surprising number of uses. For example, an impassable wall in 2D might be paper thin in 3D, allowing you to easily walk around it. The 3D flip is used in a variety of clever ways throughout the game and certainly makes for a cool twist on an old formula.
Super Paper Mario gets my two thumbs up! I think this is going to be a must-have for any Wii owner whether they’re a long time Mario fan or just looking for a great, fun game to play.