The Paper Mario & RPG series has now been running for several years, starting at the original Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo back over 10 years ago. Things have changed quite a lot since the series began, in fact this latest outing scoots off the main vein of the series by following the usual Wii standard of making games more accessible, this may upset Mario RPG purists as Super Paper Mario dumps the traditional turn based combat that was created by Square, makers of Final Fantasy for Mario RPG, and instead goes back to roots and uses the classic real time Mario formula found in the original NES games. This definitely makes the game appeal to gamers that usually would not like the heavy text and menus of the RPG games, it makes the whole game much easier to get into and much quicker to play through.

The Gamecube Paper Mario allowed you to move across the Y axis, giving areas richer backgrounds

Paper Mario has 8 chapters each divided into 4 sub worlds just like Super Mario Bros 1, observant players will see many other tips of the hat to other Nintendo games. I won’t spoil the moments by listing them here, but it is typical of the games humor and style to see art from Super Mario 1 or obscure lines of dialog. The talking in the game is kept pretty light, besides the odd piece of advice the game could be played through without enjoying any of the games dialog and just skipping through into the action. This just adds to the game’s accessibility without taking away too much from the RPG elements, there is plenty of dialog if you want to talk to some of the wondering NPCs, this also opens up a few side quests that’ll make the game easier if you want to spend the time doing them.

The Wii Paper Mario does feature widescreen support

Throughout the game you’ll find clean and sharp graphics, once you advance far enough in the story you’ll see some really nice and stylish shifts from 2D to 3D. in the end though it’s nothing that’s really ahead of 1000 Year door for the Gamecube but since 2D art has it’s own timeless quality it’s not really a letdown. The sound is also exactly what you’d expect from a high profile Mario game, with several remixed songs as well as some new tunes, it all follows the same good quality and high standard of all the other Mario games before it.

Like I mentioned before the gameplay has gone through some streamlining, you’ll need no experience of the previous games to get any head start on the story or the game mechanics. Paper Mario includes a handful of playable characters that you’ll unlock throughout the game, as well as a dozen Pixls who will grant you a special move as long as they are equipped. This is pretty standard stuff and the unlocking of new Pixls and characters allows new areas to be reached thanks to your new abilities.

Flipping to 3D adds depth, but there isn’t a lot going on in this dimention

The Wii has been needing some large games to build interest from the hard core gaming community, and while Super Paper Mario definitely isn’t a pickup and play mini game collection, it also isn’t as hard core as some may hope. Without getting involved in the pit of 100 trials, the side quests and the card collecting, I was able to sail through the game in about 15 hours with no real difficulty. Even people with very little gaming experience may find themselves solving puzzles and beating the various creatures without dieing a single time, but the ride is fun while it lasts.

* Screenshots thanks to www.gamespot.com