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There are a lot of Paper Mario games out there, with varying degrees of quality. (We don’t talk about Sticker Star anymore.) With one of the strongest entries now on the Switch, we figured it’s a great time to talk about which Paper Mario game (or games) are best for people to play.

As someone who played Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door again fairly recently, I'm going to say that is the best Paper Mario game you should play. It's an absolutely fantastic RPG with tons of personality, memorable characters, great challenges, and a lovely aesthetic. There's no busywork. No bland character designs. Every part feels valuable. Plus, it's very easily accessible right now. — Jenni

With the caveat I’ve ironically played almost every Paper Mario game except The Thousand-Year Door (will change that soon with the Switch version), I would say the original Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 is a classic and great place to start. The Wii U and 3DS games all have their share of issues, so there is nothing like the simplicity, charm, and surprisingly solid graphics in the original that hold up much better than other N64 titles. Plus, it is available through the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. — Cody 

The post Which Paper Mario Game Should You Play? appeared first on Siliconera.

The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack is about to offer another game, as Nintendo revealed the Paper Mario debut date. It will be added to the service on December 10, 2021. Everyone who pays for that version of the plan will be able to access it.

In Paper Mario, Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach again. It is up to Mario and his allies, like Kooper and Goombario, to rescue the kidnapped Star Spirits and Peach. During some segments, people also get to play as Peach as she tries to simultaneously free herself and get insight into what Mario should do next.

Here's a trailer showing it off.

Adventure through the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach from Bowser’s clutches as a paper-thin version of Mario!

Paper Mario unfolds on #NintendoSwitch for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack on 12/10! #Nintendo64 pic.twitter.com/2DIatjGtTU

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 3, 2021

Paper Mario debuted on the Nintendo 64 back in 2000 in Japan. It released worldwide in 2001. After launch, it showed up on the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Wii U Virtual Consoles. The Paper Mario Nintendo Switch Online debut is set for December 10, 2021. The Expansion Pack costs $49.99 for a single hip and $79.99 for a family one. Other games will include The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Pokemon Snap.

The post Paper Mario Nintendo Switch Online Release Date Confirmed appeared first on Siliconera.

Last week, the much rumored Super Mario remaster collection for the Switch was confirmed during the September Super Mario 35th Anniversary Direct. While Super Mario 3D All-Stars is exciting, it might not exactly involve the Super Mario remasters, or even remakes, people might want. So we decided to think about which games we’d ideally like to see again.

I know it isn’t going to happen. I would like it to happen, but it won’t. But maybe, just maybe, we could get a Paper Mario as one of the next Super Mario remasters or remakes? Honestly, a remaster would probably be fine. The game looked great on the Nintendo 64, thanks to the artistic direction. But a remake that keeps the characterizations, combat system, and charm, but maybe touches things up a tad, would be wonderful. Please? - Jenni

I'm fully on the record about loving Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year-Door and want more people to play it, but if I'm wishing something into existence, I'm going to pick something that would truly benefit from the technical aspects of a remake or remaster and that game's great as-is. Also I think a lot of you would get mad at me for trying to pick the GameCube version of NBA Street V3, even though it totally deserves it. So instead, I'll go with Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix! It's a whimsical and highly accessible entry in the rhythm franchise that could very much benefit from better audio quality, fresh pads and all the lag settings needed to play music games on modern displays. - Graham

I'll be honest with you all here... the only time I truly enjoyed Mario games much was in the SNES era. Barring Super Mario Kart--which effectively received a game with every new console--I also played Super Mario World, Super Mario All-Stars, and Mario Paint... But I dared myself to put up Mario Is Missing here. I how my parents loved it so much for teaching me about the world's famous landmarks. I think it would be interesting to see a remake where the cities are made to be more accurate with the same level of detail as Odyssey's New Donk City. - Kite

I have to confess... I've never been a huge Super Mario fan. I'm terrible at platformers, and I have little patience to boot. I always enjoyed watching people play them, but I was never a huge player until I discovered Paper Mario: Sticker Star. (I never had an N64, so I missed out on all the classic Paper Mario titles.) That said, though, I have a major nostalgic cling to Super Mario Bros. 2. I loved the idea of throwing vegetables, I loved picking whichever character I wanted, and I especially loved that it wasn't about saving a princess from a monster. I'm not sure how a remake would look, but I'd love to see Nintendo try. - Keri

I need more proper Wario Land games in my life. Why not start with an update to his debut game, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. Yes, I know this isn't a Mario game to nominate as a Super Mario remaster or remake, but it is a "Mario" game. Hear me out. Wario games were fun before they turned into collections of mini-games. I loved the familiarity of Mario platformers with an anti-Mario. Captain Syrup was a real goal of mine back in the 90s when I devoured this game on my Game Boy. I need a new Wario (not Ware!) game for the Switch just as badly as we need the OG Paper Mario and Thousand Year Door on the Switch. Which was yesterday. - Annette

Super Mario 64 is an absolute classic, for sure. But considering all the extra content that the DS version added in, I can’t believe a remake or remaster hasn’t been considered. There are fun twists to the game, such as being able to play as Yoshi in a 3D free-roaming title for once, and there are extra bosses to fight to unlock the extra characters. While it’s true that there were some compromises made for the game, such as needing a run button or the touch screen, a remake could solve these problems and possibly give those who missed out during the DS days a new way to play the eternal classic. - Alistair

I know that chances of this one happening are really low, but there aren't many things I wouldn't do to get a remake or even a proper remaster of Super Mario RPG: Legend o the Seven Stars. Purists might say that it was perfect the way it was and a part of me feels that way too because it kind of had a charm of its own. However, I always appreciated all the small details about the game which I think would shine much better in an updated release. I always enjoyed the animated expressions from the characters in Super Mario RPG, and that's something we've seen carry over to the Paper Mario series, but I think we could still have something special from it with a modern touch. - Sato

The next Super Mario remasters will be Super Mario 3D All-Stars' Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy.

The post Siliconera Speaks Up: Mario Game Remasters and Remakes We Should Get appeared first on Siliconera.

Paper Mario: The Origami King, Nintendo’s lone pillar in an otherwise-quiet summer for the company, tries a lot of things. It brings new characters and battle systems into the fold. Its writing and art are stellar. But while it contorts itself to comply with management choices and add dimension to its gameplay, it still can’t help but feel... flat.

First, we should talk about the elements that make Paper Mario: The Origami King stand out and shine. They’re not hard to see! Building toward a clear aesthetic and crafting entirely within the bounds of what runs well on the Switch has made Origami King a visual showpiece. Everything feels physical, with small details of wear and misalignment of platforms adding to the world’s character at every turn. It’s a world you’ll want to take in at every turn as you play.

The wit of Origami King is, as you’d expect, stellar. While the Paper Mario games have taken turns along the way that weren’t always great, both the localization and the underlying writing have remained at unreasonably high levels. The team at Nintendo’s Treehouse is so well-regarded in large part due solely to Paper Mario’s writing, and you can tell that they’re both fully invested in working on it and having fun along the way.

Some elements of Origami King’s structure do hold back your enjoyment of that writing, though. It’s largely due to tedium. The game repeats text, throws redundant tutorials at you whenever it can, and tosses one or two more screens of talking into a conversation than would generally be wise.

Adding to this is the tedium between text, leaving your patience no time to recover. The overall pacing is very slow. Quest design and objectives involve a lot of backtracking. Repetitive battles ambush you with little to no benefit. And then there’s the confetti.

Early games in the Paper Mario series were so compelling, at least in part, because of how they made every number count. Every single coin! Each point of HP! Every turn of battle! The values in the game were so distilled and balanced that these things felt consequential.

Origami King takes things in the other direction, with piles of coins, damage that adds up but doesn’t feel painful and the never-ending quest to gather confetti. It’s not like the game invented this concept; mobile games make a living on this sort of inflation, and its roots absolutely lie in Japanese console RPGs and hack-and-slash action games. But it’s strange in a franchise with such a well-considered past to feel like you’re being buried in confetti and coins until you forget you’re not having fun. What is the point, ever, of having to hit the confetti button multiple times in a row? Or of gathering a fraction of a throw?

Perhaps it’s because Paper Mario: The Origami King’s primary goal is to get you to interact with every object in its world until there’s nothing left. All the paper holes to patch with confetti! All the folded Toads to find and hit with a hammer! Even all the special points to stand on and use motion controls! (The motion controls are bad. You can turn them off in the menu. Immediately do that.) These elements point to Origami King’s true genre: it’s a hidden object game.

Because it’s certainly not about its battles. Built on a ring-based system, the idea is that you align enemies into formations that you can easily hit, then use your jump or hammer to do just that. This could work! In theory. In practice, it’s tedious paint-by-numbers, because there’s always a “correct” solution, the game telegraphs precisely what it is and you just do it. If you could find your own success here, it would work a lot better. And success means, well, nothing.

This system is augmented by stuff that at least suggests that the dev team at Intelligent Systems re Paper Mario’s RPG roots. You can buy and equip boots and hammers, as well as ive perks that help you get through. You should use them because they help, but with a system like this, making you even less insulated from consequences further dilutes battles’ meaning. Eventually, you’ll encounter Origami King’s attempt at a partner system, but it never makes for interesting combat decisions.

Also, and we really thought this lesson was learned from the last two games: if you make something consumable or breakable, you discourage using it. The equipment in this game is just better stuff that breaks after a few uses, rather than an interesting puzzle piece to build battles around. But you have a ton of money and can just keep buying new ones, we guess.

It feels like Intelligent Systems knows this battle system is bad, because it never uses it for anything important. Boss battles are reconfigured with Mario around the outside of the ring, maneuvering through it with arrows and switches to make the right path to a strong attack. This variant does work better, when you see it. Newer players, or ones less adept in spatial reasoning, can get through just fine with simply aligning the arrows. Experts can use the extra time to pick up item chests or boost damage along the way. It feels like this system would break down if it was put in front of players too many times, so... it isn’t.

There are two generally accepted factors in the Paper Mario franchise’s modern transition. The first, that Nintendo company policy prevented the development team from creating new characters in the Mario universe, is well-documented. New characters can be made that are entirely separate from Mario (like the new origami people). Existing default characters can be used (like Toad or Bob-Omb). But there is nothing in the middle.

This is, of course, a management decision and not a law, so it could be easily reversed, but it’s not what’s causing the series’ gameplay problems. We’ll miss the charm of iral Bobbery, but you could offer the same combat options with Origami King’s vanilla Bob-Omb. You could also use those entirely unrelated characters for that, too. After all, Super Mario RPG’s Geno didn’t fail to build a fan base, and Geno isn’t a Koopa Troopa or Toad or Goomba.

The other factor: that Paper Mario’s move away from RPG into PC-style adventure was a conscious one, likely driven by the Mario & Luigi series filling that void. Well. So. That’s over. Moving back in that direction would no longer crowd another project. But, much like the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom trapped by the Origami King’s streamers, the Paper Mario franchise itself is held back by red tape.

It doesn’t seem that there’s a corporate decision to keep Paper Mario from crowding the core 3D platformer series. You’ll regularly hit points in the adventure that have Mario jumping and dodging and hammering foes in the overworld, and these sequences rely on careful timing and movement. The game isn’t exactly built for it, both in its more lackadaisical engine and the dissonance when your paper-thin character gets hit in his invisible width. These elements are clearly built to break up the tedium, and when successful, they do. But often, you’ll have to try these over and over again, and that just doesn’t help.

Can a game show significant improvement over its predecessors while further entrenching itself along the wrong path? Origami King certainly tries, making a game that’s a blast to read and gorgeous in screenshots but just not that fun to play. In many ways, it delivers the quality and polish you expect from Nintendo. As a full package and a time investment, it’s hard to recommend.

Paper Mario: The Origami King is available now on Nintendo Switch.

The post Review: Paper Mario: The Origami King Looks Good, Lacks Depth appeared first on Siliconera.

The video above shows a man wearing a virtual reality headset to play Paper Mario from the perspective of a giant. That is, he looks down upon the game from above, moving his head around to get different angles, the flat characters running around like ants below him.

This was made possible due to Reddit “Cegli,” who has been developing new advances in DolphinVR, which lets you play Wii, GameCube, or Virtual Console games in virtual reality (running off the Dolphin Emulator).

What Cegli created was a hack that forced the camera to remain static as the characters moved around, submitting control to the virtual reality wearer’s view, instead. He also created a hack that disables the culling of the geometry so it appears as a single consistent world (inside each level).

The post Virtual Reality Lets This Guy Play Paper Mario From A Giant’s Perspective appeared first on Siliconera.

Club Nintendo has a new batch of virtual rewards up for in North America. The following games are available from now until August 3rd:

• 3D Classics: Kid Icarus (3DS eShop) – 200 coins
• Metal Torrent (DSiWare on eShop) – 200 coins
• Donkey Kong Jr. (Wii U Virtual Console) – 200 coins
• Paper Mario (Wii/Wii U Virtual Console) – 250 coins

Club Nintendo will also announce this year’s Platinum reward in the near future.

The post Club Nintendo Digital Rewards For July Include 3D Classics: Kid Icarus appeared first on Siliconera.

The U.S. Club Nintendo website has four new games on offer for Club Nintendo . All four games will be available until March 10th and are listed below:

Metal Torrent (DSiWare) – 150 coins

Paper Mario (Wii Virtual Console) – 200 coins

Birds & Beans (DSiWare) – 100 coins

Kirby Super Star (Wii Virtual Console) – 150 coins

Note that DSiWare games from Club Nintendo can only be ed via a Nintendo 3DS system.

The post Paper Mario And Kirby Super Star Are New Club Nintendo Rewards appeared first on Siliconera.

Nintendo set a time frame for their Paper Mario game for Nintendo 3DS. The game is slated for release in 2012 in Japan.

The post Paper Mario Cut For 3DS Next Year appeared first on Siliconera.