3.5 / 5 stars
By Nintendo for the GameCubeThis is the second game in the Paper Mario series and, while not as good as the first, it’s still an excellent game. It’s very akin to the first Paper Mario in that its fights are turn-based, so they rely on your strategical skills as opposed to your talent with operating the joystick. This time, instead of Mario having to save the princess, he has to save the world, because the Thousand Year Door is about to break open and a horrible monster will come out. You run around collecting seven Crystal Stars, which are scattered throughout the lands, much like the seven Star Spirits in the first game. In this one, your time with Mario is broken up by running around doing stealth operations as Peach, who has been kidnapped again, and also as Bowser, who is trying to get the Crystal Stars before Mario does.
I think the fighting is improved in this game because of the little details added on. Now you fight inside of a little stage where the audience and the stage itself can interact with you during a battle. For example, props fall from the ceiling, making you or your opponent dizzy if they hit you; the audience members can through things like Honey Syrup or rocks at you; and you have the opportunity to get your health replenished if you get the audience excited enough. It is also helpful that your partner has his own separate health bar, instead of his health being the same as Mario’s, as in the first game. When you do a first strike, you can perform an Action Command, which wasn’t allowed in the first game.
However, I preferred the terrains and enemies of the first game to those in Thousand Year Door. The Glitz Pit was one big annoyance because you have to fight your way to the Crystal Star in a scenario much like crappy TV wrestling; I found that whole area to be a bore. Traveling on the Excess Express to Poshley Heights was also not very fun; I missed the entirely fantasy lands of the first Paper Mario. I don’t want my fantasy game to involve real-life scenarios; I want to go to a haunted forest, I want to bring water back to a living water lily, etc. So, if Thousand Year Door had had its own fighting style but with the enemies, lands, and storyline of the first Paper Mario, it would have been a much better game.
I thought Thousand Year Door was the hardest of the three Paper Mario games for two reasons: succeeding at it requires you have good strategical skills, like in the first game, but its enemies and situations are harder than in the first game. The boss fight, for example, involved three separate fights, each of which was harder than the last because the opponents’ hit points were much increased. In battles, I used Vivian a lot to set opponents on fire and keep them burning (but watch out for Embers and other fiery creatures—burning them actually helps them) and, if I had one big enemy to fight, Mario’s Power Smash attack was very helpful.
Despite the cost of 7 Badge Points, I nevertheless enabled the Quick Change badge as I did in Paper Mario because it was extremely helpful. I also used up 5 Badge Points to enable Defense Plus, and for the boss fight, I upped my max health with a badge and also enabled Flower Saver to decrease how much FP was used for attacks.
I also appreciated the extra features that made Mario more papery, such as the ability to turn into a paper sailboat or a paper airplane. Such things were missing from the first game, and I think they really added to the gameplay. Besides offering a new challenge (I always had trouble flying the airplane), they just added to the feel of the game by making it more obvious why this was “Paper” Mario.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
3.5 / 5 stars
By Nintendo for the GameCube
This is the second game in the Paper Mario series and, while not as good as the first, it’s still an excellent game. It’s very akin to the first Paper Mario in that its fights are turn-based, so they rely on your strategical skills as opposed to your talent with operating the joystick. This time, instead of Mario having to save the princess, he has to save the world, because the Thousand Year Door is about to break open and a horrible monster will come out. You run around collecting seven Crystal Stars, which are scattered throughout the lands, much like the seven Star Spirits in the first game. In this one, your time with Mario is broken up by running around doing stealth operations as Peach, who has been kidnapped again, and also as Bowser, who is trying to get the Crystal Stars before Mario does.
I think the fighting is improved in this game because of the little details added on. Now you fight inside of a little stage where the audience and the stage itself can interact with you during a battle. For example, props fall from the ceiling, making you or your opponent dizzy if they hit you; the audience members can through things like Honey Syrup or rocks at you; and you have the opportunity to get your health replenished if you get the audience excited enough. It is also helpful that your partner has his own separate health bar, instead of his health being the same as Mario’s, as in the first game. When you do a first strike, you can perform an Action Command, which wasn’t allowed in the first game.
However, I preferred the terrains and enemies of the first game to those in Thousand Year Door. The Glitz Pit was one big annoyance because you have to fight your way to the Crystal Star in a scenario much like crappy TV wrestling; I found that whole area to be a bore. Traveling on the Excess Express to Poshley Heights was also not very fun; I missed the entirely fantasy lands of the first Paper Mario. I don’t want my fantasy game to involve real-life scenarios; I want to go to a haunted forest, I want to bring water back to a living water lily, etc. So, if Thousand Year Door had had its own fighting style but with the enemies, lands, and storyline of the first Paper Mario, it would have been a much better game.
I thought Thousand Year Door was the hardest of the three Paper Mario games for two reasons: succeeding at it requires you have good strategical skills, like in the first game, but its enemies and situations are harder than in the first game. The boss fight, for example, involved three separate fights, each of which was harder than the last because the opponents’ hit points were much increased. In battles, I used Vivian a lot to set opponents on fire and keep them burning (but watch out for Embers and other fiery creatures—burning them actually helps them) and, if I had one big enemy to fight, Mario’s Power Smash attack was very helpful.
Despite the cost of 7 Badge Points, I nevertheless enabled the Quick Change badge as I did in Paper Mario because it was extremely helpful. I also used up 5 Badge Points to enable Defense Plus, and for the boss fight, I upped my max health with a badge and also enabled Flower Saver to decrease how much FP was used for attacks.
I also appreciated the extra features that made Mario more papery, such as the ability to turn into a paper sailboat or a paper airplane. Such things were missing from the first game, and I think they really added to the gameplay. Besides offering a new challenge (I always had trouble flying the airplane), they just added to the feel of the game by making it more obvious why this was “Paper” Mario.