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Reviews VideoGame / Super Paper Mario

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Aa123 Since: Jun, 2021
06/04/2021 13:30:24 •••

A 3d mechanic in a 2d game with 1d gameplay.

Personally I don't mind when a series takes a change to a brand new direction, usually it means they can strive for more creativity. But this game crosses the line with being unique and being creative with it, and being unique for the sake of uniqueness. Super Paper Mario as a concept is a pretty excellent game, traveling through dimensions in a real time combat system with a 2.5d mechanic, and a story that goes beyond the average Mario game, but what we actually got is half baked ideas that feel just tacked on, filled with enemies that don't add or remove from the game, with a story that can't decide to be deep or traditional. The levels are most of the part downright the bottom of the barrel when it comes to level design, 1-3 with a clue you must find across a flat desert, 6-1 with you fighting the same enemy multiple times, 4-3 which mission is literally finding a candy! And so much more. Games Like Sticker Star or Color Splash can afford having simple levels like these because they can have as much levels in the chapter as they want, but here it's always 4 levels, doesn't help enemies are just there, so even "combat" isn't entertaining, it's like they took TTYD and amplified the obnoxious parts and removed what made it the slightest bit fun. The only chapter that gets near the definition of the word "good" is 5 and even then it has some problems like the first level. Now the story, I think that games like Mario shouldn't dwell a lot on their plot but still, it's kinda bland and barebones, yeah it goes beyond the average Mario game but that doesn't mean it's entertaining. The plot tries you to care about Tippi and Bleck without really doing a lot with them, and most characters are kinda bland, at least a game like TTYD can pull off serious moments nicely at times, but this game... sigh. Disappointingly mediocre at best, a messy missed opportunity at worst, and the worst in the series. People might point to Sticker Star, but at least that game tried at times and was mildly fun, something I can't say about this game. Music and dialogue are great as always though, and I liked the pit of 100 trials way more than TTYD's version.

Valiona Since: Mar, 2011
06/04/2021 00:00:00

I suggest that you divide your review into paragraphs. Doing so would make it easier to read, and help you organize your thoughts. As it stands now, it's just a stream of consciousness that's hard to follow.

Apart from this, the review is overly harsh on the game, dismissing the game's strengths(e.g. the story) and unfavorably comparing the game to Sticker Star. Not only did Sticker Star have barely any plot, but its sticker-based mechanic was shallow and frustrating for an RPG battle system. While I would have preferred that Super Paper Mario be an RPG like the first two games, I actually felt the gameplay was enjoyable, and more recognizably similar to the first two games than Sticker Star's was.

Basically, Super Paper Mario wasn't perfect, but it was a good game that was more enjoyable and true to the spirit of Paper Mario than Sticker Star was.


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