Paper Mario

In the series, Mario is tasked with a quest to explore either the Mushroom Kingdom or a similar world. Each game divides the world into several explorable areas that contain puzzles and interactive elements, such as obstacles that Mario has to hit with his hammer, and contain coins and other collectibles, such as hidden trophies. There are also non-player characters (NPCs) which Mario can talk to. '' The first two games, Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, feature elements similar to that of a typical role-playing video game (RPG). Mario encounters multiple allies that join him on his journey, who can help complete tasks in the worlds and fight in combat, the latter of which is similar to other RPG games. The player can either perform a regular attack, where they time a button-press on the controller to deal more damage, or use a special attack, which is more powerful but consumes flower points (FP)—an in-game statistic—when used. When defeating an enemy, experience points (known in-game as Star Points, or SP) are awarded, which makes Mario and his allies more powerful as they progress. Unlike the previous two games, which use a turn-based combat system, Mario does not enter a combat phase and instead fights the enemy in the overworld in real-time. XP is still awarded for defeating enemies. In addition, allies known as Pixls, which grant abilities for combat and traversing levels, can be summoned and used. Since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the Paper Mario games were aimed more towards the action-adventure genre. RPG elements, such as experience points, allies, a complex plot and variety of fictional races, were reduced. It instead emphasized puzzle-solving, a new experience point system, and new strategic and somewhat puzzle-like gameplay around combat. == Games ==

Main series Paper Mario (2000) Paper Mario is a 2000 role-playing video game (RPG) released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000 in Japan, and 2001 worldwide. the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015, and via Nintendo Classics in 2021. In Paper Mario, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and steals the seven Star Spirits and the Star Rod to make himself invincible. Mario must save the imprisoned Star Spirits, defeat Bowser, and save the Mushroom Kingdom. Gameplay centers around Mario and his allies solving puzzles, with many of the challenges designed around one of the characters' unique abilities. Mario encounters multiple partners as the game progresses. In the overworld, other abilities can be discovered that can be used in combat. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004/2024) Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a role-playing video game released for the GameCube in 2004. The game is set mainly in and around the hub town of Rogueport, where Mario and Peach discover a locked portal that is thought to lead to the riches of a lost kingdom. Soon after, Peach is kidnapped by the X-Nauts, who want to open the portal. Peach messages Mario about her kidnapping and informs him that he needs to search for the seven Crystal Stars to find the treasure. During this, Mario becomes cursed, which allows him to perform special moves such as folding into a paper airplane or boat. Super Paper Mario (2007) Super Paper Mario is an action role-playing platform game released for the Wii in 2007. Mario is aided by other allies called Pixls, who have different abilities. For example, the Pixl Thoreau allows Mario to pick up and throw objects. Instead of a turn-based combat system, battles take place in the overworld in real-time; upon victory, Mario is awarded experience points. Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012) Paper Mario: Sticker Star is a cross-genre video game released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. In combat, Mario's abilities depend on the stickers obtained; for example, a Jump Sticker allows Mario to jump and stomp on his enemies. Other stickers, called Thing Stickers, resemble real world objects that can either be used as a powerful attack against enemies or can be used to solve puzzles in the overworld. Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016) graphics (HD) on the Wii U, the paper-like aesthetic was emphasized from Color Splash onward. In Color Splash, Mario and Peach discover a color-drained Toad, prompting them to sail to Prism Island to investigate the oddity. After noticing the island is also color-drained, they speak to Huey, guardian of the Prisma Island fountain, who explains that the six Big Paint Stars that give the island color have been scattered, later revealed to be Bowser's doing. Color Splash preserves certain elements of gameplay introduced in Sticker Star. Mario is equipped with a paint hammer; various containers of red, yellow, and blue paint can be found that can be applied to Mario's hammer. The player can use the Wii U GamePad to trace a hole in the paper environment to reveal secrets, known as the "Cutout" ability. Much like Sticker Star, the player pre-determines their action in combat with cards to determine the action and target. Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020) Paper Mario: The Origami King is a cross-genre video game released for the Nintendo Switch in 2020. Mario has an ability called the 1000-Fold Arms, which gives him oversized arms that can be used to tear parts of the environment to reveal secrets. Additionally, he possesses a bag of confetti, which is used to fill in empty holes of the overworld. Combat emphasizes puzzle-solving on a circular combat field; the circle is divided into rings and the player is given time to rotate the rings horizontally and vertically to line up the enemies and deal more damage. Spin-offs Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, known as Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in Europe and Australia, is a role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015. It is a crossover between the Paper Mario series and Nintendo's other spin-off series, Mario & Luigi. In Paper Jam, Luigi accidentally knocks over a book that contains the Paper Mario universe, which causes the two universes to cross over and spread Paper Mario residents all over the Mushroom Kingdom. The two Bowsers from both universes team up to kidnap both Peaches. Like the modern entries in the Paper Mario series, this game avoids characters original to the series and focuses primarily on characters found in the mainline Mario games. This is the only Mario & Luigi title to use this approach, with Starlow being the only character original to either series who makes an appearance. Although Paper Jam is a crossover, its gameplay is more similar to Mario & Luigi than Paper Marios. The player simultaneously controls Mario and Luigi, who use their usual abilities, and Paper Mario, whose actions are paper-inspired, which include folding into a shuriken in combat, and performing a high-damage attack by stacking multiple copies of himself. == Development and history ==

1984–2005: Intelligent Systems founding, Paper Mario, and The Thousand-Year Door '' inserted in a Nintendo 64 Intelligent Systems was founded after Tohru Narihiro was hired as an employee by Nintendo to port games on the Famicom Disk System to cartridges in the 1980s. Narihiro went on to develop successful games in the Wars and Fire Emblem series, which allowed him to expand his company with additional artists and developers. , was originally planned to be a sequel to Super Mario RPG, Super Mario RPG 2, used a similar graphics style to its predecessor, and was to be released on the 64DD, a disk drive add-on for the Nintendo 64. Naohiko Aoyama, the game's art designer, At the 2003 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo announced a direct sequel to the previous game, The Thousand-Year Door. The game had a playable demo at E3 2004, and was released worldwide later that year 2006–present: Change in genre, concepts, and philosophy The series underwent changes in an attempt to reach new and various audiences. For Super Paper Mario, game director Ryota Kawade wanted to surprise fans of the series with new concepts that did not appear in the previous games. When the idea of being able to alternatively switch from 2D to 3D was conceptualized, he presented the idea to the new producer, Tanabe. When Tanabe approved, they both agreed that the idea would work well as an action-adventure video game rather than an RPG, and real-time combat was also introduced to fit the idea. Despite the changes, Tanabe asked the writers to keep the plot similar to a role-playing game's. Super Paper Mario was announced for the GameCube at E3 2006, but it was ported to the Wii in mid-2006 before being released in April 2007. Since the game was intended to be played on a GameCube controller, it did not take full advantage of Wii's new motion controls. but its title was not announced until E3 2012, and the game was released later in the year. As Miyamoto was no longer the series producer, he asked the developers to not create any new characters and instead use established pre-existing ones in the Mario franchise; Nintendo's intellectual property team enforced this statement into future games in the series. Paper Jams development was mainly inspired by Sticker Star. AlphaDream wanted to use a third button to control a third character in their newest game, and felt Paper Mario would fit the role. Every game in the series from Color Splash onward has a white paper outline around Mario; the developers of Paper Jam needed to differentiate the characters from the separate series. Producer Kensuke Tenabe limited the variety of character designs and continued to exempt original characters, out of respect to series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. The game received negative reception afterwards, as fans were frustrated the series was following an action-adventure genre format like Sticker Star. Tanabe mentioned that Mario & Luigi would replace Paper Mario as the RPG series and Tabata noted that the Paper Mario series would focus more on non-RPG elements, such as "puzzle-solving" and "humor", to differentiate the two. The game released worldwide in early October 2016 and became the lowest-selling game in the series, possibly due to the low sales of the Wii U and the announcement of the Nintendo Switch prior to its release. Paper Mario: The Origami King was planned to be announced for the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. in early September 2020, but was instead announced in mid-May the same year. Soon after the game's ROM was leaked, the game released worldwide in mid-July 2020. The Origami King is the first game in the series that Miyamoto was not actively involved with. Despite the appearance of some iconic characters from the mainline Mario series and the return of allies, critics were still disappointed in their lack of role in the plot and other gameplay aspects. The game features large overworlds instead of linear-based levels in the previous games. In a 2020 interview with Video Games Chronicle, Tanabe reaffirmed from previous interviews that while he makes note of general criticisms, he makes sure not to ignore "casual players" and new fans of the series. With this in mind, The Origami King greatly focused on puzzle-solving. Tanabe said that he could not satisfy every fan amidst the core veterans and casual players, and instead attempted to gravitate towards new concepts, which is why The Origami King used origami as a new paper-like theme. Tanabe explained how the game's writing was kept broad in its context and format so it could be understood by other ages and cultures. He has since kept away from a complicated plot due to how it "led the game away from the Mario universe", Tanabe also noted that since Sticker Star it was "no longer possible to modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario universe." Nintendo announced a remake of The Thousand-Year Door, releasing on the Nintendo Switch in May 23, 2024. It features remastered HD graphics, and retains the arts and crafts visual style that was established in Color Splash and The Origami King. == Reception and legacy ==

Reviews Paper Mario received critical acclaim when released; the game was positively received for its combination of roleplaying, platforming, and pre-existing elements from the Mario franchise. Publications, such as Nintendo Power and GameSpot, listed it among the best games on the Nintendo 64. It was listed as the 63rd best game on a Nintendo console in Nintendo Powers "Top 200 Games" in 2006. The Thousand-Year Door is often ranked as one of the best games in the series. Reviewers praised the game's plot and characters, The Thousand-Year Door won "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year" at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Despite deviating from the RPG style, Super Paper Mario still generally received positive reviews. The concept of changing dimensions received praise, though there were some complaints for underdeveloped gameplay. but most praised the game's writing and humor. Sticker Star received more mixed reviews than its predecessors. Critics enjoyed the graphics, world scale, and characters, multiple functions of the stickers were criticized. Thing Stickers were considered one of the game's biggest weaknesses, and stickers in general were disliked for having only one solution to each puzzle and frequently requiring players to backtrack. Sticker Star was overall disdained by fans for the loss of a strategic combat system. Upon its reveal, fans criticized Color Splash for continuing the trend of action-adventure installments, and a Change.org petition calling for its cancellation was created. but combat was considered too simplistic and some reviewers noted its lack of overall necessity to the game. It was praised for its interactive elements, and worldbuilding. Of these elements were hidden Toads, which reviewers commonly called fun and enjoyable, commending their humorous dialogue and interesting hiding spots. Reviewers gave the game's combat system a mixed reception; it was liked for its unique layer of strategy, but dreaded for being difficult and unrewarding. One of GameSpots few criticisms of the game included the character designs being less charming than past entries. The three games since Sticker Star were strongly criticized for the removal of elements that made the games RPGs, such as an XP system (which critics believed made combat unnecessary), and Tinykin. Sales Paper Mario was the best-selling game in its first week in Japan and other regions, and has sold 1.3 million copies, making it one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo 64. Similar to Paper Mario, The Thousand-Year Door was the top selling game in Japan in its first week, and sold over 1.3 million copies since 2007. It is the thirteenth best-selling game on the GameCube. Super Paper Mario was the top selling game of the week upon release in Japan, and ranked as the third best-selling game on the Wii in April 2007, similar to its predecessors. By 2008, the game had sold over 2 million units worldwide. As of 2019, the game had sold about 4.3 million copies and is the best-selling Paper Mario game to date. Sticker Star sold around 400,000 copies in Japan by 2012, and almost 2 million worldwide by March 2013. As of 2020, the game had reached almost 2.5 million sales and is also one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo 3DS. According to a whitepaper published by the Japanese Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, Color Splash had sold over 60,000 units in Japan and nearly 1.2 million copies worldwide by July 2020, making it one of the best-selling Wii U games. The Origami King had the best launch in the series, having doubled the launch sales of Super Paper Mario in the U.S., and the series' best launch in its first month. By December 2020, the game had sold 3.05 million copies and is the second highest selling in the series, becoming one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch. By December 2022, the game had sold 3.47 million copies. As of December 2024, the game has sold 2.06 million copies. that folds into multiple areas with themes of specific games, such as Sticker Star and The Thousand-Year Door. The map first appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014, Additionally, Ultimate has featured "spirits"in-game collectibles representing various video game characters based on characters from the series. The most recently added were three characters from The Origami King in August 2020, being King Olly, Olivia, and Princess Peach after having been folded into origami. == See also ==