super paper mario. fuck, which door is this?

final verdict:

8.6 excellent. Head and shoulders above the competition.

8/10  Concept - a mario game. somewhat repetitive, but hard to go wrong.
8.5/10  Gameplay - i like the jump between 2-D and 3-D.
10/10  Graphics - i LOVE the way this game looks. i know it's no final fantasy, but screw final fantasy. overrated. the graphics for this game are perfect for this adventure.
8/10  Sound - classic mario sounds with a twist.
8.5/10  Entertainment - you get to play as bowser. that's worth the 8.5 right there.

the story

a side scrolling adventure with rpg elements, you start off with a scene of luigi and mario lounging around, looking for some entertainment. they decide to visit peach in her castle but just when they begin to embark, a messenger is sent to tell them peach has been kidnapped. again!

mario and lugi head straight away to bowser's castle, and we cut to a inspirational speech by bowser to his minions. they're gonna do it this time! capture peach, kill off mario, and take over the world!
so when mario and luigi arrive to find bowser hasn't captured peach .. yet, they're perplexed. someone else beat him to it? bowser's kinda pissed about that.

enter count bleck, a strange new villian, who knocks out mario and takes bowser and luigi.

mario is transported to the town of flipside where he is asked to go on a mission to collect 8 pure hearts - the only known way to stop count bleck from destroying all the worlds. he's got more gall than bowser, who just wanted a bride and a castle mario couldn't blow up.

each level (you start with a pure heart, so i imagine there's seven total) is four stages long, ending with a boss (normally one of count bleck's minions). after their defeat you're awarded with a pure heart, which transports you back to flipside so you can place the heart in a "heart tower". while running around flipside looking for the next heart tower (they're all hidden, of course, and some are a real pain in the ass to find), you can talk to various villagers, obtain or sell items, and even play in the arcade (if you can find the damn thing.

you don't just play as mario! excellent! as you rescue (or find and defeat them), you open up three different playable characters. i mentioned BOWSER already so i'll just leave the remaining up to you.

the controls

famous for his 2-D side scrolling adventure, paper mario stirs it up a bit by allowing you to switch to 3-D to find hidden doors, pipes, entrances and even enemies.  basically, if you can't figure out what you're supposed to do switch to 3-D and it'll probably reveal itself to you.

you hold the wii-mote sideways to use the d-pad and 1 and 2 buttons to control the game. i thought this would be mildly uncomfortable, but it really wasn't. only on ocassion do you point the wii-mote at the television and such times take place when your friend/guide , a "pixl" named tippi, wants to reveal things to you that you wouldn't normally be able to see.

various pixl's join you throughout your adventure to aid on your quest such as: thoreau (clever), a pixl used for picking up and throwing objects, boomer (a bomb), and carrie (a pixl that turns itself into a floating platform).

the graphics

i love them. that's all i'm going to say about it. well, i'll show you these too.

the only problem i have with the game (and i'm leaving it for last because i really did enjoy this game), is the god-damn mazes. through a door, down some stairs, you've got a locked door. what'd we miss? up a floor, 3-D, find a hidden door, go to the third door, fall, end up where you started. damn. which door did i go through?

i would play, save, and then start up again going, "okay. where did i leave off. where am i supposed to go?". i know the maze like levels are part of it's charm, and i don't mind them when they're carefully laid out, but wow. some of them have you shooting through twenty different doors with no way of picking the right avenue.

overall, i found myself wanting to play it more and more, which i imagine the defining element of a great game. if i could leave a trail of breadcrumbs through the doors i might like it a little more but i mentioned you can play as boswer, right? that's all i need.

Anything You Can Do GAME REVIEW by Jill.