Video Game Review: Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii

I was so hyped on Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo wii. I mean I had a countdown. Sadly though I didn’t put in a deposit for a pre-sale. However with some good use of words, and a little manipulation, I got my copy the day of release. YIPPIE!!!!

So I figured that Paper Mario for the wii was going to be similar to all Mario games. King Bowser shows up stronger than ever with new tricks up his sleeve, he captures the Princess, and there is your story.

However it was clear from the get go that the villain was a strange cartoon like character that I had never seen before in any Mario games I have ever played. The new villains name is Count Bleck. Count Bleck is not really interested in the Princess; he is more interested in destroying Flipside, the town in which the game takes place.

Count Bleck however is far from frightening. He was actually pretty pathetic looking, and looked like he'd make an easy enemy. I was more worried about that little floating joker guy. (One of his minions.)

After about 20 minutes of straight up text explaining the situation the game begins. But uh oh, Peach, Luigi, and Bowser have been kidnapped.
In order to find them, and save Flipside, Mario begins his quest. This quest will take you through 8 worlds; in each world you must collect 8 pure hearts.

Fear not though, although Mario’s brave sidekick Luigi has been kidnapped Mario gains a new partner. A butterfly pixel named Tippy. This pixel is a small crudely drawn butterfly that glows each color of the rainbow. In order to use Tippy you simply hold the remote towards the TV like a remote control. Tippy is used to uncover hidden things that Mario cannot see. Tippy is your main pixel in the beginning of the game.

Throughout the game you will collect more pixels each with an individual talent to help guide Mario on his quest. For instance you will come across a pixel that lets Mario use him to throw, another pixel will allow you to hop on his back to float quickly through long empty sections in boards, and another one will allow you to hammer down on your enemies.

Super Paper Mario for the Wii is a strange type of role playing game. In older Paper Mario games if Mario accidentally got hit by an enemy, a new board would pop up and you would be taken into an arena type battle.

This is not the case in this game. You go about your way just like you would with the original Mario bros. However with each hop and kill action Mario gains points. The more points you gain the more Hp (Heart power) Mario gains.

Moving on…

Each world is unique, and charming in Paper Mario Wii, no world’s repeat and look like the last.
Not only that Mario has a new trick up his sleeve. You can simply hit the A button to transform from 2D into 3D. So now things that you normally couldn’t see or find in 2D could easily be accessed by hitting the A button. However you have to be careful, you only have a limited amount of time when you flip into 3D. You have close to a minute in 3D, however when you flip back your life will slowly restore.

As you move forward you will rejoin with Peach, Luigi, and yes, even mister Bowser surprisingly joins the crew.

You can easily select which character you would like to use, and each have a special power, so throughout worlds you may be switching often. Peach can glide using her umbrella, Bowser can breath fire and eliminate enemies the fastest, and Luigi can do an extreme power jump. Mario is the only one who can flip into 3D.

OHH I LOVE THAT NOSTOLOGIC FEEL

There will be many areas in which you will be transformed into old school Mario Bros. Style gaming, which is an awesome addition to Super Paper Mario for the wii. When any of the characters hits a question mark block if a mushroom comes out the character will get enormous killing and smashing down anything in its path.
However when the characters blow up to this huge killing machine, they take on the form of there old Nintendo style look.

Not only that but there are some secret warp pipes that will warp you straight back into time. One warp in particular will take you to a board in which you may recognize from the original Mario Bros.
For me it was an awesome short ride back into old school gaming in which I at one time adored. You really have to appreciate old school Mario to enjoy these flashbacks though, otherwise they will just look like poorly put together mini boards.

DANG ENEMY’S!

Not only that but most of the small enemies that roam through the lands are the same characters we love to hate. You still have those goofy green turtles, the koopas, turtles with wings, and those guys I’ve always hated the hammerhead brothers. You will also meet up with the spiky rocks, the cactuses that follow you around, and many more old school enemies. Boo is also here, and many, many more.
All of them took on their old look, and have not been modified in any way.

There are also some newer enemy characters that just didn’t fit into the world of Mario, so it was odd having these guys present. Not only that all of the new enemies were poorly put together. I mean seriously they looked like stick figures. I was not impressed.

BOSSES-

There will be a boss at the end of each world. Sometimes there will even be two. I have found that this game uses extremely easy bosses and most kills only call for you jumping on the enemies head, or blowing flames at them using Bowser.
I felt a little jipped though while dealing with boss battles. Some battles were long, and tiresome, but were not at all difficult. Once you figured out how the boss moved, its pattern pretty much repeated. It never got upset and stronger as death approached like most bosses do in games.
Then I got sort of angry when every boss was just as easy as the last, and in some cases even easier than the last.
One would think as they progress through a game that enemies would get harder. They never did.

The only thing that got harder was the boards. Each land is filled with secret twists and turns only found while randomly flipping into 3D, so it gets a little tedious if you don’t know where to flip into 3D in order to find the secret passage, or hidden door using Tippy.

It was easy to figure out most of the secrets in the first 5 boards, but after that no clues were present, and I found myself roaming aimlessly for nearly 2 hours searching for something I could not see without constant flipping and the use of Tippy.

GRAPHICS-

Well here is where Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii may have failed for some. The graphics were almost exact to Paper Mario on the Wii. However they had a little oomph. Not much, but a slight push in the right direction. I mean how pumped up do you want Mario games to be?
It’s the cartoon charm of Mario games that makes them adored by all who play them. If you go and put Mario on steroids will it even be a family based game you would want to play?

Worlds are drawn together before you begin them in almost an etch a sketch type charm, leaving you impressed, and at the same time wondering why it was done sort of poorly, almost as if it was rushed.

For me the graphics were more than acceptable. Colors were bright and vibrant, and nothing was blurry. Plus I enjoy the way Mario gaming is, and I wouldn’t want high-end graphics to mess with it in any way.

MUSIC-

Music you will hear in this game has that Mario chime and bell charm it always had. It is light and plays in the background softly, so it’s not annoying. I also didn’t recognize any repeats in different lands or levels.

WHATS GOOD-

I was in love with this game the moment I turned it on. I was pumped and ready to go and kick some Count Bleck butt.

But what made this game so cool that I couldn’t stop?

-The re-play value is a perfect 100%. Even after beating worlds and moving on to the next level, there is always something hidden and waiting to be revealed in the land. There are even some hidden specials waiting for you to return to that do not open up until you beat the next level.

-The game is not short; there is a good 20 hours of complete game play packed up in this disc. You’re not going to get bored either.

-The blast from the past. I enjoyed seeing old school characters and enemies.

-The use of the pixels and there special unique abilities.

-The hidden cards throughout the worlds. There is a whole bunch of mini cards scattered throughout the world, and although they are pretty useless, you can sell then in the card shop. Once you have collected an enemy card you can reveal its weakness. But odds are it was a weakness you already knew.

-The use of flipping into 3D. Oh man!!!!

-The use of other characters during game play.

-The game did not glitch once during my game play. Something I was afraid would happen before I even bought this game.

-The nostalgic feel of it all.

THE BAD

-How you get lost in some worlds not knowing what the heck to do unless you use a reference guide or looking on the Internet for a tip.

-How Bowser is no longer the villain. Something about kicking some lizard tail again was why I bought the game.

-The extremely long text. After defeating a land there would always be a 5 to 10 minute dialogue going on with both Count Bleck and his minions or with Mario and Merlon the wizard in town at Flipside. Most of the time you will find yourself hitting the button repeatedly just to get on with the game, and even still it’s a long 5-minute click battle just to get back into gaming.

-A lot of the items Mario collects proved to be worthless in battle. Unless it was a mushroom to increase my HP, it didn’t work.
What is the point of getting a lightning bolt if I can’t use it against one of the bosses!? I can only use these items against the weak in land enemies!? What good is it!?

-It’s only for one player, and there are no mini games for 2 people to play like other Wii games have.

Weak enemies I can jump on. So these other items are all useless, and take up space in my inventory.

OVERALL-

Super Paper Mario Wii is so far the best Nintendo Wii game I have played to date. I have been bummed out by so many Wii games I have bought in the past, and I honestly did not have high hopes for this game either.

However, Mario once again proves himself to be better than the rest, and I was happy with my $55 purchase.

I was seriously about to sell my Wii if I ran into another crappy game. I’m glad it didn’t have to come to that.

RECOMMENDATION:

Hear ye’, hear ye’…
I recommend this game to anyone who is anyone. It’s a game children and adults will enjoy.