Colorful Paper Marios: A Look At the Paper Mario Franchise

All this week I’ve been looking at just Paper Mario Color Splash, however today I want to look at the other Paper Mario games along with Color Splash. Paper Mario has seen five games in its franchise now (including Color Splash), plus a spinoff crossover with the Mario & Luigi franchise. Nintendo loves their Mario rpgs. Which one of the Paper Mario games is the best so far? Which one is the worst? And where does Paper Mario Color Splash fit into all of that? Lets take a look at the Paper Mario franchise!

Paper Mario started out on the Nintendo 64. We’ve seen one new game in the franchise for every one of Nintendo’s consoles since then. Plus, Nintendo did a Paper Mario for the 3DS and a crossover game with the Mario & Luigi rpg franchise on 3DS. Let’s take a look at all of the games so far.

Paper Mario 64

I never owned a 64, so I didn’t play this game until it was downloadable on the Wii. I remember seeing an advertisement for Paper Mario 64 back when it came out though and thinking that it looked awful. I was so very wrong. Paper Mario 64 is a really good game. It is the most traditional rpg among the Paper Mario games, with a classic turn-based battle system and other wonderful rpg elements. The story, as with all the Paper Mario games, is very lighthearted and full of humorous dialogue. Paper Mario 64 is an excellent game! You can find Paper Mario 64 is on the Wii U Virtual Console right now and I highly recommend downloading it.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

The next Paper Mario game came out on the Gamecube. This was the first Paper Mario game that I played and what an introduction to the franchise this game was! In my opinion, Thousand Year Door is still the best Paper Mario game. Of course, I haven’t played Color Splash yet, so we’ll have to wait and see if I think that game dethrones this one!

Why is Thousand Year Door so great? Well, first of all, there’s the graphics. Paper Mario 64 was pretty good for its time, but the second game was even better. And of course there’s the battle system.

Thousand Year Door has a turn-based battle system, but the twist here is that the battles take place on a stage…with an audience! The audience will actually effect your battle at random times! The battles in this game are so much fun. Thousand Year Door has a great world to explore, an excellent story, and some cool paper transformations too. Anybody who loves the Paper Mario franchise, probably loves this game the most. We keep hearing all the time about people who want Nintendo do an HD version of this game and/or do a sequel just like it. If you want to play the Thousand Year Door, you’ll have to get a Gamecube or a Gamecube compatible Wii system. This game is currently not available on any of Nintendo’s modern consoles!

Super Paper Mario

When Super Paper Mario came to the Wii, everyone was stunned. The first two games in this series were rpgs. However, this third game is a platformer instead of a rpg. The game still has a very good story and a lot of humor, but all of its rpg elements were stripped away for a different experience. What makes Super Paper Mario special is how the game starts in 2D, but then you can shift the game into a 3Dish landscape to get to new areas. Its a very cool effect. And you have to love the game’s graphics. Overall, I’d say that Super Paper Mario is a fun game, but its not the best of the series. There are a lot of people who don’t like this game at all. I think it is a good game, but I’m glad that Nintendo didn’t stay with the series as a platformer. Super Paper Mario is currently available on the Wii U as a Wii download.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Sticker Star is the most controversial game in the Paper Mario series. You would have thought it would’ve been Super Paper Mario, but you’d be wrong. Sticker Star was the first Paper Mario game for a portable system. Thats not what makes it controversial though. Nintendo took the Paper Mario franchise back to being an rpg with this game, but they changed everything else about the game. There is still a turn-based battle system here, but you have to use “stickers” to do things in battles (and sometimes out of battle) and the rpg elements in this game are much more shallow. Plus, Nintendo put all of the levels into a map much like a regular Mario game.

A lot of people didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t wander around like you use to. Sticker Star’s story isn’t that great either. However, I’m not going to say that Sticker Star is a totally bad game. Some of the sticker elements of the game are neat and this game has really good graphics too! It may not be the best Paper Mario game, but if you like the series, you should definitely give it a try. Perhaps you’ll like the game more than some of us! Paper Mario: Sticker Star is currently available via the 3DS eshop and in retail stores.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Nintendo surprised everyone when they announced that there was going to be a Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario crossover for the 3DS. Such an idea seems more like something a fan came up with than something Nintendo would do. Yet, they did do this crossover and in my opinion, it is the best Paper Mario related game since Thousand Year Door. The Mario & Luigi series has always been more heavy into rpg elements than the Paper Mario franchise. So, Paper Jam feels like the first time in awhile that Paper Mario has been in a regular rpg. And this game is a lot of fun.

The humor and story in Paper Jam are really crazy and the battles are exactly what a lot of fans wished that Sticker Star had been. I also think that the game has excellent graphics. Its amazing how Nintendo blended the Mario & Luigi graphics with the Paper Mario characters. Yes, this game isn’t technically in the Paper Mario franchise, its more of a Mario & Luigi game, but I feel like any article about the Paper Mario franchise should mention this game. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is currently available on the 3DS eshop and in retail stores.

And now:

Paper Mario: Color Splash

The newest game in the Paper Mario series comes out tomorrow. Color Splash has been controversial, like Sticker Star, from the moment it was announced. Many fans of the series worried that the game would be just like Sticker Star because of the world map in Color Splash being similar and the battles being ruled by cards and not a straight turn-based system. From the moment I saw the game though, I thought it looked a ton better than Sticker Star. Yes, it does have the map like Sticker Star and yes the cards do remind me a bit of the stickers.

However, the map in this game is far more detailed and larger the previous Paper Mario game and the cards look a ton better than the stickers. I also think that the paint mechanic in Color Splash looks like a lot of fun. Add into all of that just how creative the levels in the trailers look and how the writing looks much sharper than Sticker Star. Color Splash isn’t the Thousand Year Door sequel that many of the fans in the series want, but I think those fans will enjoy Color Splash if they are willing to give it a chance.

That said, I don’t have Color Splash yet. I will be getting the game next week. Its only then that I’ll know for sure whether or not Color Splash is better than Sticker Star. At the moment, I’m very excited for this game. We’ll see if that excitement holds up when I get my hands on the actual game!

So where does Color Splash fit in with the other games? My guess is above Super Paper Mario and Sticker Star. Will it be able to dethrone Thousand Year Door? I doubt it, but you never know. Many Paper Mario fans would laugh at the idea. Most of them haven’t played this game yet. I think its always wise to keep an open mind. Don’t judge a game just by its trailer(s). If you love a franchise, then you should be open to new ideas. Keeping a series the same all the time will lead to the series getting stale! Basically I’m saying that you should give Paper Mario: Color Splash a chance. You never know, it might just become your favorite new game!

We’ll have a review of Paper Mario: Color Splash as soon as possible. Please join me tomorrow for an article about Color Splash’s release!