Paper Mario Thousand Year Door
SCORE: 84
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door was one of the most eagerly anticipated role playing games on the Gamecube. Partially because there were so few role playing games on the Nintendo Gamecube (editor: winner of Family Friendly Gaming’s most family friendly video game home console), and partially because the original Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 was a pretty good game. Nintendo went the extra mile using the paper theme in this game; for Mario can turn into a paper airplane, a paper boat, and turn paper thin to slip through tight areas. Princess Peach sends Mario a map (right before she is kidnapped) to a treasure that will open the Thousand Year Door. What that treasure is, however is unknown. In fact a thousand years ago (the last time the door was opened) the entire town was destroyed. Mario goes off on a quest to find all the Star Crystals in order to open the door. Of course rescuing Princess Peach, and stopping the X-nauts are part of the equation as well.
Graphically Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door certainly plays to its strong suit (the entire paper theme). The number of enemies this game allows in certain areas is simply astounding. The whole 2D graphics in a 3D world are not really the RPG Master’s thing, but ones does become accustomed to them. Most of the graphics are bright and colorful as the screen shots on this page exhibit. The one drawback to the graphics is the treasure chests who curse the player. These curses are skills that the player needs, so the ugly face and curse does not fit the rest of the game.
The music in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a lot of classic music that reminds of previous Mario games. There are also some remixed themes for the acute of acoustics. The sounds generally fit into the different areas, and actions quite well. There is a bad guy that calls others fools, and there is a character that promotes the religious theme of reincarnation. It is interesting that so many other magazines completely miss the religious undertones that are promoted in this game.
There is a ton of stuff to unlock, unearth, and find in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Like most role playing games there is not a whole lot of reasons to replay the game, however there is such a good length of time is worth the money in this reviewers humble opinion.
The gameplay in this game works amazingly well. The controls are quick, responsive, and quite intuitive. The control scheme, and level design work as well. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is a fun game to play. The inclusion the audience during the cartoon style violence turn based role playing game battles is an interesting twist indeed. The occasional nod given to the player of the game is also nice as well. There are some challenging areas, and some tough puzzles to solve.
The demonic possession at
the end of the game is something that was extremely shocking. The whole
curses thing was just strange, and the box calling the player an idiot
was certainly not needed. All in all this is a decent game with a few
issues here and there. I would really like a sequel to this game, if
they can correct these problematic issues with the moral, and spiritual
content of the game.
-RPG Master
Graphics: 80%
Sound: 86%
Replay/Extras: 90%
Gameplay: 90%
Family Friendly Factor: 75%
System: Gamecube
Publisher: Nintendo
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
{Mild Cartoon Violence}
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