Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

A massive adventure unfolds as Mario and friends follow a magic map’s clues…

JP release: 22nd July 2004
NA release: 11th October 2004
EU release: 12th November 2004
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: 91%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code, Texture Pack

The first Paper Mario was a wonderful RPG. The turn-based combat isn’t my kind of game, but I still adored it due to clever writing and just a general, adorable vibe. The GameCube sequel is very much more of the same, with the story filled with clever moments and parts that circumvent your expectations.

It starts the same way as the first: Mario receiving a letter from Princess Peach, this time she is off on an adventure to find a legendary treasure, hidden behind The Thousand Year Door, and wants Mario to join her, but upon reaching the shady town of Rogueport, the princess has already being captured.

However, it isn’t Bowser doing the kidnapping this time, but some mysterious people from space. Bowser is not happy with this, and also sets out to save Peach, wanting to rescue the princess before Mario does. Alongside playing as Peach in the mysterious base, you also get to play a segment as Bowser in some areas, including a few 2D platforming segments. It’s a nice little palate cleanser between chapters, and very light-hearted and fun.

Along the way, Mario will meet a new set of wonderful partners (including a hidden one that you can miss completely), each with their own stories to tell. They’re all either unique designs of classic Mario enemies or completely new creatures for the game. This also extends to the NPCs, who have lots of unique elements to make them all look and feel distinct, something that makes the game really stand out.

Combat is the same kind of turn based combat with action commands to make your attacks more powerful, but adds a few new things to the mix. You can now use B to defend, which fully negates damage and harms your attacker, but the timing has to be extremely precise, making it difficult to perform. The amount of people in the audience can also affect how quickly your special powers recharge and they can even throw stuff at you – good and bad things. Even the stage itself can become a hazard.

The amount of fighting can vary massively. One chapter has Mario join a fighting championship, which, as you might have guessed, involves a lot of combat. These matches have quite unique enemies to help keep things interesting and rules (such as appeasing the crowd or not using a specific ability) to follow. Another chapter is the opposite – a lovely mystery on a train with very little battling. Each chapter has its own little gimmicks and quirks to keep them all interesting (well, apart from one near the end which is just backtracking to most previous areas).

In the overworld, Mario also gains some more paper-like abilities that make use of the paper setting more than the first game. He can turn into a plane, boat, roll up or simple turn himself sideways. There’s plenty of hidden secrets to find, leading to badges that let you alter your abilities – one of my favourites is one that lets you swap your partner and use them in the same turn. It creates for a very lovely game.

Fave

From controlling hundreds of tiny worm-things to fighting an enormous origami dragon to taking part in a full-on battle tournament, there’s a fresh idea and a new surprise around every corner, all wrapped up in a narrative that flows constantly by likeable and brilliantly-written characters.
Jes Bickham, NGC Magazine #100

Remake or remaster?

There’s a full remake on the Nintendo Switch. It has completely redone graphic and a few quality of life improvements.

Official Ways to get the game

The remake is available on Switch.