A look back at: Paper Mario

The Nintendo 64 was all about action-packed games and weird controller layouts. It was definitely a complex system, but surprisingly not a whole lot of RPG-style games came out of it. Enter Paper Mario, probably the only decent one on the entire system.

Paper Mario sure manages to make an interesting story using denizens from all over the franchise (at least at the time). Who would think that a chapter-driven Mario RPG would have companions in the forms of several different Mario enemies? Yeah, they're all cool, a nice tattling Goomba, a shades-wearing Lakitu, and a lady Boo. And then there's all the enemies Mario actually does fight, Bowser himself just so happens to be the big bad of the game, taking something straight out of Kirby in order to make himself all-powerful. And rummaging the ground off of Peach's castle to make it float in the air with a clown face and spiked balls flailing is hilariously silly.

Put simply though, this game loves to go all out with what it has. Maybe not in its simplistic battle system though. That's just Mario and companion vs whoever, using abilities, special abilities, star abilities, and the well-touted action command. Yes, Paper Mario actually debuted the actual term, although I'm sure as heck it was in a prior game before this. I'd rather be dodging attacks than defending, but alright.

But yeah, this game has a nice story of finding the seven star spirits and freeing them from the monster that you will obviously well know at the start of each chapter. And then the sidequests, whether or not a minigame is involved, who knows, but these sidequests are certainly worth whatever rewards I'm gonna be given. Oh yes, and the Peach interludes. Those are surprisingly well done, especially since it has a semi-tactical espionage for Mario when he needs it. Though I do always wonder, what's with the Koopatrol always roaming the castle with flashlights? Do they honestly expect Peach to always be roaming around like that?

So yeah, this game is quite interesting. Nowhere near the level that the Mario & Luigi games are, though, but it at least tries.