This silly game about Mario exploring a world made of literal paper put a bigger smile on my face than anything I have played in a very long time.
The Thousand-Year Door is a 20-year-old role-playing game that has been freshened up for the Switch — maybe that’s why it has so much personality.
Paper Mario at its core is about one fantastic concept: What if a 2D platformer was literally 2D?
The gritty and goofy world of Paper Mario is a paper diorama. You take control of Mario and his friends, who are well aware of their two-dimensional, paper-cut-out form.
When Mario needs to break out of prison, he turns sideways and slips between the bars. When he needs to cross a gap, he folds himself into a paper plane.
The funniest gag to me is every time you rest, Mario tucks himself into bed in one smooth motion, like filing a sheet of paper into a cabinet. It makes me laugh every time.
The developers hit gold, then kept digging deeper. Mario is sassy, his friends have spunk and all the characters you meet have bizarre and whimsical personalities.
Mario games are never bland, but the franchise doesn’t often commit so deeply to humour.
I haven’t played another entry with nearly as much spirit.
The dialogue is so fun I find myself anxiously deciding which of Mario’s friends to take with me. They each react to the story in different ways and it feels a shame you can’t see them all.
The only fault with the paper world concept is how difficult platforming can be. I am admittedly terrible at platformers, but I found navigating simple jumps frustrating due to the lack of visual clarity regarding Mario’s position. This was especially true when moving towards and away from the camera. Mario is a 2D plane navigating a 3D space, it can get confusing sometimes.
The combat does become a grind sometimes and some of the timing mini-games feel finicky, but it’s neither too easy nor difficult. For the most part it is enjoyable.
What I found most exciting were boss battles, where the enemies would utilise origami-style techniques as opposed to their 2D minions.
There are a lot of great games on Switch, but most of the titles I love are serious and sincere. That’s fantastic, but sometimes I just need something to put a smile on my face.
If you’re after something new that is undeniably fun, it’s hard to recommend anything over The Thousand-Year Door.
