Summary
What was once an impossible dream for many fans is finally real asPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorhas been completely reworked for the Nintendo Switch. The situation feels rather similar to what happened with theSuper Mario RPGremake last year, as many fans expected far more drastic changes if Thousand-Year Door was to ever be rereleased or remade. ThePaper Marioseries continued in the absence of the GameCube game being accessible so there were a bit more things to fear when it came to aPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorremake.
RecentPaper Marioreleases never matchedThousand-Year Door’s unique style which led many, many fans to crave and ask for it for the last three console generations. Even putting the secondPaper Mariotitle on Nintendo Switch Online, whenever GameCube games theoretically arrive, would be enough as it would be a way to experience the game without paying what would be likely hundreds of dollars. However, the impossible was made possible, andPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Dooris natively on Switch as a perfect fusion of the series' past and present.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Is Now a Pop-Up Book of Players' Dreams
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorhas been given a fresh coat of paintthat brings the soon-to-be 20-year-old game closer to more recent series standards. However, it doesn’t sacrifice any of the original’s charm, choosing to add and improve a plethora of things rather than take anything away.
Returning players will need to adjust to some things but not everything overall. While there’s a heavier emphasis on things being paper than in the original game the overall tone is still as cartoony and charismatic as ever even with the up-to-date translation the Switch version offers. There’s an obvious throughline fromPaper Mario: The Origami King’s world designthat was consistently always paper at best and a construction paper mess at worst, but it seems that Intelligent Systems combined both styles to create something akin to a playable pop-up book.
ThePaper Marioseries has leaned heavily into the arts-and-crafts aspect of its world sincePaper Mario: Sticker Starfor the 3DS, which was poorly received by fans for its nature of going backward in terms of removing RPG elements and becoming far easier in difficulty and more simplistic in story; two important pieces ofPaper MariothatThe Thousand-Year Doorhas always handled with flying colors.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Should Point Towards the Series' Strengths From Now On
Of course, not everything looks great in the newer Switch release, with the Crystal Stars being made of metallic wrapping paper and bodies of water stubbornly being relegated to the same construction paper ofThe Origami Kingserving as examples that may push the new look ofTTYDonto players a bit too heavily. These are only a few small things out of the plethora of details that help make this classicPaper Mariogame one of the series' best offerings all over again, evenbecoming one of the highest-rated games of 2024despite its age.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s success serves an important point in thatPaper Marioplayers may not hate the emphasis on paper or at least not mind it, but there’s a lack of a game that’s creatively exciting and alive, full of comedy and depth in both gameplay and story. There hasn’t been a title that fits that billsinceSuper Paper Mario, and even then, the drastic difference in gameplay between it andTTYDis a point of debate among fans.
With how the Switch version of this beloved classic bridges the gap between what’s commonly seen as the series' best game and its most recent ones, Intelligent Systems has a perfect way to understand the common threads between them to takePaper Marioin a more inspired direction going forward. While thePaper Marioseries doesn’t inherently need to stay RPGs only, the more out-there gameplay styles and explorations could be received much better if what madeTTYDso iconic and fun remained going forward.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)
WHERE TO PLAY
Join Mario and friends on an epic paper adventure: A classic story unfolds on the Nintendo Switch system.Collect the Crystal Stars before the bad guys do: The X-Nauts are after the treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door! With a map from Princess Peach—and the help of a few locals—Mario must journey through a colorful world made of paper to find it first.Surprises abound in this deep and engaging tale, where everyone’s got something to say and it’s often not what you’d expect! Here are just a few of the colorful characters you’ll encounter along the way.Master your badges and timing-based attacks to impress the audience in a theatrical twist on turn-based RPG combat. Make use of all the abilities that come with being cursed—er, conveniently made of paper—like folding into a plane to cross big gaps or turning sideways to slip through narrow openings.
