Game Review: Paper Mario - The Thousand Year Door

Growing up, I never had the fortune of owning a Nintendo Gamecube during the sixth generation of video game consoles. Admittingly, I never really felt like I was missing out as I was predominately a PlayStation 2 kid at that point in my life. There were however a few games that often made me envy Gamecube owners like Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and most notably Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Touted as one of the best RPGs of that era, Thousand-Year Door defined a legacy all of its own.  With a charming visual style, simple yet layered mechanics and a compelling narrative, there’s a reason it’s praise lasted long after its initial release. As time went on and I moved onto the newer line of consoles, I always yearned for an opportunity to experience the game that so many people praised. That’s why when Nintendo made the official announcement during their September 2023 Direct that they were remaking the title for Nintendo Switch, I knew my time had finally come to right a twenty year wrong.

Like the original title, the remake of Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The game touts a brand-new array of graphics, animations and music along with a whole slew of other quality of life improvements to help justify the remake stance that the game was being presented with.  The remake did exceptionally well upon release, mimicking similar success as the original. Averaging a solid 88 on OpenCritic, The Thousand-Year Door was received well both commercially and critically, with reports noting unit sales at 1.76 million a month after release; to add perspective, that matches the total lifetime sales of the original title within a single month!

The story of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door follows Mario (Who could have guessed?) as he is invited to the far-off seaside town of Rogueport within the Mushroom Kingdom by none other than Princess Peach.  After arriving, Mario soon learns that Peach had gone missing after discovering a treasure map that leads to the legendary Crystal Stars and the Thousand-Year door they are known to open.  Realizing that the map may have some clue behind the disappearance of Princess Peach, Mario ventures across the land, recruiting a bright cast of allies on his journey to find the Crystal Stars and stop the villainous X-Nauts from unleashing the ancient evil that lays locked behind the Thousand-Year Door.  While Mario is on this adventure, separate segments from the perspective from both Princess Peach and King Bowser are shown along each individual chapter, showing the parallel plotlines leading all three of these characters to the ultimate climax of the narrative.

No one typically expects much in terms of narrative scope from the world of Mario. That’s why the Paper Mario series packs such a fun punch because it delivers anything but a generic experience.  In Thousand-Year Door’s case, the narrative and it’s writing is jam-packed with tight and comedic elements to appreciate from start to finish.  The core structure of the narrative is admittingly MacGuffin-heavy with the Crystal Stars all conveniently being tied to separate locations, but I find the game is smart in the way it fashions each individual chapter’s plotline around it.  The locations within the game and the cast of characters that inhabit them make up a large portion of the games core appeal.  There’s just something so inherently charming about the writing behind the game that helps to leave a long-lasting impression.  You can tell the localization team had a lot of fun playing around with the fourth wall in this game and poking light-hearted fun at the regular RPG/Mario elements.

What accompanies the charming and humorous narrative is the game’s core mechanics.  Navigation-wise, the world is crafted into a selection of segmented areas which literally pop to life like you were reading a pop-up book.  In each area there’s a ton of secrets to find and collect and the game utilizes a smart Metroidvania-style structure in which abilities and tools you will acquire later into the game will allow you to discover hidden secrets in earlier levels.  I really appreciated how much depth there was to the level design.  There’s not a single location in this game that doesn’t hold some sense of reward for approaching it with a different perspective and trying out different abilities. It also goes to show how well suited these locations are in establishing a core theme and embedding the narrative through its design.  I never expected a Paper Mario game of all things to remind me of Dark Souls, but the sense of depth and structure layered into each of the levels really reminded me of the fun drive to fully explore and the rewarding aura that was tied to discovering secrets or items. 

Combat is the fundamental crux of Paper Mario though and Thousand-Year Door refines the core RPG approach that was introduced in the original Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64.  Whenever you encounter an enemy within the game’s levels, a combat encounter will initiate in which Mario and his assigned companion will literally take center stage to take them on.  Utilizing a turn-based combat set up, both Mario and their enemy will take turns in taking hits at one another.  While basic in its setup, the game has a great sense of definition and fluidity by allowing you to equip badges to obtain new abilities and attacks to clear out your enemies with.  The later into the game you get, the more scope and potentiality there is behind your playstyle. Along with the badge system, the number of companions you obtain throughout the course of the game also add a nice layer of flexibility to your playstyle. Each companion in the game has their own unique abilities which will make taking on the game’s larger than life enemies and bosses a really run challenge. 

What really helps deliver the core appeal behind Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is its visual design.  Every aspect of the game, whether it’s the setting, characters or set-pieces is intrinsically crafted to reflect the paper theming behind its title. Mario’s abilities allow him to fold himself into all sorts of paper-themed items, as mentioned earlier, locations and combat sections will literally pop up like pop-up books.  Foldable elements of the environment can be peeled back to reveal additional secrets.  The developers really tool the whole “Paper” thing seriously when it came to crafting the design of Paper Mario.  The HD treatment the game is given through the remake helps reinforce even more how much allure is baked into the games image.  Colors are more vibrant, detailing like shadows and reflections layer across surfaces and character animations and expressions are more nuanced. 

Despite waiting over twenty years, I feel I picked the best time to pick up and play Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.  All of the incredible elements that defined the game’s original legacy are still here in the remake.  The confidence the game has in delivering an entertaining and all-around memorable experience is something worth valuing all on its own.  The remake treatment not only gives the game a much-appreciated touch-up to meet modern day standard, but it has offered many including myself who never had the chance all those years ago to finally take part and experience this truly phenomenal game.