More Thoughts From Me #229: A Look Back At All the Paper (Mario)

Paper Mario: The Origami King will be coming out very soon (July 17th) and so I thought I’d take a look back at previous Paper Mario games. Here they are: the good, the bad, and the ugly…

The newest Paper Mario game will be coming out soon. So its time to take a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the series. Let’s start at the beginning…

Paper Mario: Debuting on the Nintendo 64, this game looks pretty good for its age. I didn’t play this game on the 64 (never had one), I played it on the Wii Virtual Console. And I thought it was great. This is still one of the best Paper Mario games. Rating: Good

Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door: There’s a reason that many think this is the best of the Paper Mario series…its because it is! Thousand Year Door has it all: great graphics, fun gameplay, smart writing, and wonderful music. This is Paper Mario game you must play if you can only play one of them! Rating: Really good

Super Paper Mario: This game isn’t as bad as people try to make you think but as a Paper Mario game…well…the writing is good. Its just that the gameplay is pretty much a Mario platformer with cool 2D/3D graphics. Its not an ugly game for sure, but I can’t give it a good rating. This just isn’t what Paper Mario should be! Rating: Bad

Paper Mario Sticker Star: Oh man. Do we really even have to talk about this one? Sure, the graphics are fine and the gameplay is ok. I guess. Sticker Star isn’t a horrible game but I would not recommend it as your first Paper Mario experience. The game lacks the charm of other games in the series. Its a misstep for sure. Rating: Ugly

Paper Mario Color Splash: I love Paper Mario Color Splash. I gave it a 10 out of 10! I stand by that score. This is a really wonderful game. Please read my review to find out what I like about it. Rating: Really good

Paper Mario The Origami King: To be determined. Its not out yet ok? Rating: ????

So yes, there were some speed bumps in the Paper Mario franchise, but c’mon 3 out of 5 is not bad! Three great games, one bad one, and one ugly one. And really, there will be some that argue with me over Super Paper Mario. Thats fine. Its not that its the most horrible game ever, its just not what (most of) the fans want out of a Paper Mario game!

I know there will some who want to argue with me over Color Splash. Please go play the game first. Its just absolutely wonderful. A HUGE step up from Sticker Star.

From the looks of it though, The Origami King might be even better than Color Splash! It could be…Thousand Year Door levels good? Paper Mario 64 levels? Lets hope its not Sticker Star levels…

What are your favorite Paper Mario games? Are you looking forward to newest entry?!

Next week: Some more thoughts on New Horizons swimming/diving update! Some positive things to say…and some less than positive things too.

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. All the thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Is it July 17th yet?!