Super Paper Mario - Old School Classic for the Wii generation

Oh, little Jumpman - how far you have come from your humble ape hunting days. I remember you when you were just a wee (wii?) little 8-bit red and blue sprite that could barely swing a hammer. Since then you've been a boxing referee, a plumber, a big game hunter, an adventurer out to save the princess, a Television and movie star - and of course world famous mascot for a international video game giant.

With Mario's first proper 3-D adventure (Wii-D?) still some ways off, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have stepped up to fill the gap with a very traditional platformer/RPG adventure game: Super Paper Mario. Much like Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Paper Mario was originally started life as a Gamecube release. However despite this, SPM doesn't feel like a slapdash port with wiimote waggle bolted on at the last second. In fact, it's a fun, if not exceptionally deep, little game.

We open our story with Princess Peach (Mario's main squeeze) on the threshold of wedded bliss with Bowser (Mario's main arch-nemesis, and not the lead singer of Sha-na-na). It turns out that the wedding is an insidious plot by the dastardly Count Bleck, a villain who has set out to destroy all worlds by creating a creates a Chaos Heart - a source of ultimate power through which he will rule supreme.

Of course, in true video game RPG fashion, if a Great Evil threatens the land, the prophecy (there's always a prophecy) tells of a Hero of Legend who will arise and save the people. In this case, the prophecy seems custom tailored for Mario, as the chosen one is said to wear blue and red and sport a huge mustache.

Mario must venture to various worlds through dimensional doors, gathering eight objects called "pure hearts" to form the purity heart, an ancient artifact of great power and the only thing that can counter Count Bleck's evil plans.

GAMEPLAY -
Much like the New Super Mario Brothers for the DS, this is old school platforming at it's finest. While there are several RPG elements in the game - leveling, hit points, buying items, inventory - but when you get right down to it, Paper Mario is the same old run/jump/bob mechanic that we've played for the last 20 years now. No turn based combat, just jumping on the heads of your enemies.

Mind you, it's not a pure platformer. There are worlds to explore, hidden areas to uncover, items to gather and people to talk too. While this is all fine, and does add depth to the game, it occasionally bog the story down. Sometimes you just want to jump on a fire breathing turtle.

THE GRAPHICS -
While Super Paper Mario doesn’t have super sexy graphics and mad crazy real time lighting effects, it does sport a level of artistry rarely seen in gaming. Some levels stick with the paper cutout style while some have a blocky, geometric look to them, while some levels give a nod back to the NES days with pixilated, retro backgrounds. The wide variety of looks to the game really gives Intelligent Systems some room to play creatively and have fun with the premise of the game. And it works - the game looks great.

The characters also enjoy a really neat cell-shaded cartoon-ey style that mirrors the background and world art. They maintain the paper look of the setting, yet sport clean, smooth animation.

THE SOUND -
The game supports Dolby pro logic II surround, and includes a mix of new music with a Mario-esque feel to them with remixes of familiar old Mario Brothers tunes, another lovely nod to the past. Even better, Intelligent Systems managed to dodge a standard RPG pitfall, and didn’t beat to death any one track. Like most Nintendo games, there's no voice acting for any of the characters beyond the occasional brief soundbites from Mario.

THE CONTROLS -
Super Paper Mario is unusual in that the Wiimote held sideways like a typical, old school NES controller instead of being held like a television remote. After months of unlearning gaming controls, this was unusual at first. But it wasn’t before too long that I found myself getting right back into the groove. The controls are basic - D-Pad on the left for control, (1) and (2) buttons on the right for use Pixl and Jump respectively. The (A) button switches between 2-D and 3-D, and wiggling the wiimote occasionally has added benefit to jumps - and that’s it. No nunchuck, no wild swinging of your arms to jump. Just a very clean, simple control scheme that's easy to pick up.

REPLAYABILITY -
Here's the one big problem - the game is pretty linear. There are instances where you can revisit worlds with unlocked characters with new abilities and travel to new, unexplored areas - but once you beat the game, there's doesn't seem to be a lot to do. That said, it took about 2.5 hours to get through just one world, and there are at least six more left to go. Even a dedicated hard core gamer will easily get 20 hours out of the game.

THE DOWN SIDE?
If there's a problem with Super Paper Mario, it's that the game loves to talk and talk and talk. It was easily nearly half an hour of text at the start of the game, where the Evil Plot is explained in great detail at least three times. When talking to the guy who sends Mario on his quest, I swear I was speaking to the High Priest of Exposition. While it's easy enough to skip the text, doing so runs the risk of skipping a key plot element or bypassing the solution to a puzzle.

The upside is that all this dialogue is genuinely funny and often very clever - a rare thing in video games. During the tutorial, the High Priest of Exposition says something like "You can flip dimensions with the "A" button. What's the "A" button you ask? I have no idea, but I'm sure that the Great Beings that watch over us will have this knowledge."

The other problem I have with the game is the camera view while in 3-D mode. The placement of the camera sometimes makes it tough to kill enemies or line up a jump just right. While it's not insurmountable, it is a flaw worth noting.

WOULD I BUY THIS AGAIN IF MY COPY WERE STOLEN?
Probably, if I could get a good deal on it. I still have some areas I have to go unlock, and the mini games were pretty fun.

THE BOTTOM LINE -
Super Paper Mario delivers engaging game play, an inventive world design, and witty characters all wrapped up in a fun, charming little package. While it's not quite refined enough to stand in the pantheon of All Time Classic Mario Games, SPM is a still a rock solid game that is easily among the best the Wii has to offer.

Roll on Super Mario Galaxy!