Game: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Genre: Role-Playing, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch
Developers | Publishers: Intelligent Systems | Nintendo
Age Rating: US E | EU 7+
Price: US $59.99 | UK £49.99 | EU € 59,99
Release Date: May 23rd, 2024
A review code was used, with many thanks to Nintendo EU.
For two decades, as far as fans of the series are concerned, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has set the benchmark for Mario RPGs. The GameCube classic perfectly entailed what fans adored in their turn-based Mario adventures: quirky humour and characters, grand journeys, engaging combat, and plenty of charm.
While some folk often regard The Thousand-Year Door as the last of the “true” Paper Mario games, it’s worth noting that Paper Mario: The Origami King on the Switch, though distinctly different in style, still delivers exceptional gaming experiences.
Fast forward 20 years, and Nintendo has re-released Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on our favourite handheld, the Nintendo Switch.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In this adventure, Mario travels to the rundown town of Rogueport to meet Princess Peach, who has discovered a map of an ancient treasure. Upon arrival, Mario learns that Peach has been kidnapped once again, leading him to clash with the X-Nauts, a sinister secret society.
Mario’s journey involves gathering seven Crystal Stars, powerful artefacts connected to an ancient evil buried beneath Rogueport and uncovering the secret behind the sleeping door.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door sticks to the same structure as the original Paper Mario, as it still works. Each chapter sends Mario off to some corner of the continent, such as Petalburg, Boggly Woods and Glitzville, to encounter new characters and challenges.
Solve Puzzles and Wander around the World
Accompanying Mario on his journey is a single partner that can be swapped out or in to explore further, solve puzzles and lend a hand in battles. Often these partners are enemies from earlier Mario games, with familiar baddies like Goombas and Koopas recast as allies and friendly NPCs that populate the world.
These partner characters can also be used outside of battle. Each partner has a different ability that works in the field: Koops’ shell can reach far-off items, Madame Flurrie can reveal hidden objects with her wind and so on.
Take Part in Turn-Based Battles
Turn-based battles take place on a stage with an audience; when the battle starts, the paper stage and all the props unfold. If I’m correct, the stage has had an upgrade, as I don’t remember so much of it unfolding in the Gamecube version. Anyway, it’s little touches like that you will notice if you have played the game before.
During battles, Mario and his partner take turns attacking with jumps, hammer strikes, turtle shells, and other unique techniques. Each move feels like a mini-game, often requiring timed button presses to keep jumping on an enemy’s head.
The same goes for defending. You can duck to reduce damage or avoid a hit entirely with perfect timing. While this level of involvement in the battles might get annoying, as the powerful “star” skills do take a long time to execute, they are meant to be used sparingly.
Having battles on a stage is a fun twist on the setting that works because the game treats everyone like actors in a stage performance. It’s not a serious RPG, just a fun stage show with intermissions between chapters and even an audience cheering or throwing things from the sidelines.
During battles, the audience, made up of Toads and Boos and other characters in the crowd, sometimes throws items you need to watch for and cheer you on to perform well. Mario’s star power refills based on the audience’s excitement, and you can even impress them with hidden “stylish” button presses. Some stage features, like smoke machines that make attacks miss, can be annoying, but the crowd mechanic is a cool idea.
Battles aren’t particularly deep or challenging, and sometimes, they can feel a little repetitive, but they are cute and funny. Even the customisation is kept simple, with Mario’s only equipment being badges that grant various boosts and skills.
Collect Badges
Badges add strategy and customisation to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. On your journey, you collect badges that enhance attacks or give new combat abilities.
Each badge needs badge points to be equipped, and Mario has a limited number of these points. Furthermore, you can only increase Badge Points when Mario levels up instead of increasing his health or Flower Points (used for special moves). However, even if you focus on Badge Points, you can only equip some of the badges you find. Balancing Mario’s build affects how battles go and involve some strategy on your part.
Play As Other Characters
Every so often, the gameplay breaks up, and while you play most of the time as Mario, there are moments where you’ll switch to Peach and, indeed, to Bowser,
However, I think that some story elements in Princess Peach’s segments haven’t aged well, especially when she has to take off her dress a few times within the space of a couple of seconds of gameplay. It’s still fun to see how she assists Mario from afar.
Improved Paper Mario for the Nintendo Switch
Changes in Gameplay
For this remake on the Nintendo Switch, new things have been added to make your journey more fun and user-friendly.
Swapping partners has been refined; previously, you had to pop into the menu to swap out a partner. However, now it’s a simple case of accessing the new Partner Wheel to switch between partners, making it easy. While it only saves on one or two menu clicks, it also helps make your journey much smoother.
There is a new hint system that helps you figure out what to do next if you find yourself stuck. Additionally, a new pipe room in Rougueport sewers can be used for fast travel and help you get around some areas. Even though the new pipe room does help, the backtracking can feel like a chore at times.
Changes in Sound and Graphics
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door also has a new music and audio arrangement, which I love, as the old tracks from the GameCube version have been updated. However, if you really miss the old tracks from the original GameCube version, you can hear them again once you obtain a specific in-game item.
This Switch version of Thousand-Year Door now runs at 30 FPS, which is below the GameCube version’s 60 FPS. However, I can’t say I noticed much difference with the drop in framerate, and it certainly doesn’t change the gameplay or the enjoyment of it, which is, after all, why we play games.
The game’s graphics have been changed to a more high-definition version for the Switch, with enhanced lighting and much more of the paper aesthetic in the visuals and details of the game.
It looks gorgeous on the Switch OLED, with environments appearing much more like papercraft, and the characters seem to have more expressions. There are many other changes in the game, but I don’t want to spoil it all, so I’ll leave you to discover them if you plan on playing the game yourself.
Conclusion
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door overall story is fun and filled with plenty of characters and zany humour. Each chapter has its own story, making this one of Nintendo’s longest Mario adventures that feel fresh and never boring.
The battles with the turn-based RPG system have aged well, staying simple enough for everyone of all ages in the family to enjoy. If you missed playing Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it first came out, you’re in for a treat with the Switch version. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a classic Mario RPG, and now it’s a must-buy for the Nintendo Switch.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up 
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