What Is The Best Paper Mario Game?

Which Is The Best?

  • Paper Mario 64

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Paper Mario TTYD

    Votes: 16 48.5%
  • Super Paper Mario

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Paper Mario Sticker Star

    Votes: 3 9.1%
  • Paper Mario Color Splash

    Votes: 2 6.1%

  • Total voters
    33
I mean at least the absence of a spin dash makes Baby Yoshi and Carrie that much more hype to get.
 
I was about to say it probably had to do with the gamecube controller having less buttons but then I remembered that the L button doesn't do anything.
 
I was about to say it probably had to do with the gamecube controller having less buttons but then I remembered that the L button doesn't do anything.
yay now we get to use it for levitation cheats

honestly tho the spin dash is annoying imo, as you have to keep pressing and it goes in sharp movements where you stop still for a second each time and cant move freely whilst spinning. yoshi, carrie, and dashell were much better
 
Or they could just implement a faster way of travel and just be done with it. Like, Pokemon had a dash button and eventually a bike, there wasn't a need for a character who's sole purpose was to be Mario's slave.
 
Oh god this entire time and no one brought up the action command for Yoshi's regular attack.

Anyone that thinks the GCN shoulder buttons were meant to be bashed repeatedly like that can go play Sub-Marathon and then an N64 spinning control stick minigame for a few hours.
 
I'll never understand why Cudge or Dashell even exist.

It's a living.

Eh, I understand Cudge's existence since some games don't let you use the hammer until later (like the Mario & Luigi series and I think Paper Mario), but Dashell's is just sad.

Oh god this entire time and no one brought up the action command for Yoshi's regular attack.

Anyone that thinks the GCN shoulder buttons were meant to be bashed repeatedly like that can go play Sub-Marathon and then an N64 spinning control stick minigame for a few hours.

It sucks to pull it off, I completely agree. Games should never let you bash the left and right buttons repeatedly, that's what Smash is for.
 
Tangentially related but I have to wonder how accurate that survey for Super Paper Mario was where less than 1% said the story was their favorite thing about it.

Anyways Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for me.
 
I don't take that survey seriously, since it's a convenient sampling survey with a heavily restrictive sample size. But even so, if you read the critic reviews of Super Paper Mario, most critics mention its story in just a paragraph, and there are some that don't even mention it at all. Most critics who praise the game think its gameplay is its strongest component, and because the poll asks which ones they like the most, they're probably going to point to that. Some do mention story as its defining component (like GameSpy in Metacritic), but it's not the majority of them.






It's really tough finding and reading, reviews for that game, btw, a lot of the links are frustratingly dead. Here's the Metacritic link if you want to take a look yourself.

 
I don't take that survey seriously, since it's a convenient sampling survey with a heavily restrictive sample size. But even so, if you read the critic reviews of Super Paper Mario, most critics mention its story in just a paragraph, and there are some that don't even mention it at all. Most critics who praise the game think its gameplay is its strongest component, and because the poll asks which ones they like the most, they're probably going to point to that. Some do mention story as its defining component (like GameSpy in Metacritic), but it's not the majority of them.






It's really tough finding and reading, reviews for that game, btw, a lot of the links are frustratingly dead. Here's the Metacritic link if you want to take a look yourself.

miracledinner: exists
Oh god this entire time and no one brought up the action command for Yoshi's regular attack.

Anyone that thinks the GCN shoulder buttons were meant to be bashed repeatedly like that can go play Sub-Marathon and then an N64 spinning control stick minigame for a few hours.
i think that action command was fine personally

I know, like that's 99% of the game's praise from what I've seen.
yeah i agree i really dont think that survey was accurate
 
I mean, it says results you don't agree with. People don't like seeing statistics that don't agree with their previously established viewpoints based purely on anecdotes.

I've already said why I don't think it's inaccurate, and not because I have a better general idea of the people's opinion of the game: that's the nature of convenient sampling polls with a heavily restricted sample size. It's like taking the MarioWiki Poll Committee poll results seriously.
 
I can't comment on Paper Mario: Color Splash since I have never played it, but here are my preferences based on what I have played:

  1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Despite the gimmicky audience feature and some excessive goose-chase backtracking, TTYD succinctly combines solid RPG game play with a story that balances uniqueness of plot with appropriateness for a Mario game.
  2. Paper Mario - The story is obviously not intricate, but Paper Mario's premise is believable and fitting for a Mario game, and the personality of the characters - as shown through their dialogue and interactions with each other - inherently builds the Mario universe.
  3. Super Paper Mario - I actually generally like the plot and game play mechanics. The game definitely is a bit detached from the prior two games, though. Some of the experience itself is hit-or-miss, including the infamous portions of Chapters 2 and 6; additionally, the 2D-3D switching concept could have been implemented more intuitively. Nonetheless, I find the overall experience of the game to be charming.
  4. Paper Mario: Sticker Star - This is a bottoming out of the list. It is not a terrible game, but it is definitely uninspired considering it is a Paper Mario game. The fact that the developers were forced to make it decisively less like TTYD adds insult to injury.

With that said, the first two games in this series are among my favorite video games in general.
 
I voted sticker star, but I'd probably vote color splash if when I ever get the opportunity to play it
Sticker Star is better than its Paper Mario predecessors. It's back to a standard world theme like 64, but with a great twist and fixes. No more over-elaborate angsty plots. Kameks back, proving we didn't *need* Kammy. And Junior is here too! Instead of um.. Koopa Jr? Don't get me wrong, they're ok characters but come on, they were clearly clones.

But what I love the most? The new battle mechanic. Power up galore! It's very Mario!
Heck, just the other day, I got the frog suit, I swear I cried a tear of joy I did.

Needs more Bowser scenes though, I'll admit.
Additionally, the overworld map is an enjoyable time saver of transportation. It fits the series nicely too.

Imo,
PMSS is to PM64
As SM3DL is to SM64.
How the series's should have played from the start.
 
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TTYD is my favorite. I feel like it balances the gameplay, cutscenes and story well, and I also felt like the story was interesting, which is a plus since I normally don't care about stories.

PM64 is my second favorite, with basically the same reasons as above.

Now, I'm not sure whether I should put SPM or Color Splash/Sticker Star on third place. My problem with SPM is I find it too easy to beat, and I'm not a huge fan of the story, it feels like the protagonists have no role or connection to the story at all, you can remove them and the story will basically be the same.

While I liked the silliness in both Sticker Star and Color Splash, both games were also quite easy to beat. But I prefer Color Splash to Sticker Star because I found it to be more enjoyable overrall.
 
About Super Paper Mario. I say that big problems with the plot/characterization are:

1. Count Bleck and Co. aren't sympathetic enough to make their redemption work. We're shown that they're fine with wiping out worlds with no remorse shown on-screen. When Bleck does turn, it's less that he realized what he was doing was wrong and more that he knew for sure that Timpani was still around in some form so he could still have what he wanted. When the two sacrifice themselves, it's only needed from Dimentio still being able to trigger the universal self-destruct (aka a contrivance so that Timpani and Blumaire have to sacrifice themselves).

2. Bowser is way too defanged and is treated as just the team's loud oaf friend. Just compare him with how he is in Bowser's Inside Story.

3. Everything else covered here.
 
2. Bowser is way too defanged and is treated as just the team's loud oaf friend. Just compare him with how he is in Bowser's Inside Story.
Yeah, this was something that bothered me too, admittedly. Putting Bowser in silly situations can be comical; reducing him to a toothless, harmless threat is just sad.
 
Those of you that have seen my Top 150 Games thread know I ranked Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as my favorite Mario game overall. I love how the story is pieced together, but even if you ignore that, the gameplay feels great to me. I didn't mind the audience or stage hazards, if anything it kept me alert during what probably would've just been simple battles. I much prefer Badges over Stickers, as FP is easily replenishable. While the graphics are certainly not the best, that's one point I'll give to Sticker Star, I really enjoy seeing things act like paper even when they clearly shouldn't (Hooktail's flipping stairs, for example). The dialogue is great and I love the partners interactions with Mario, all the diverse characters really adds to the charm of the game.

Sticker Star didn't even break 150, I had a terrible time playing the game. Battles were dull and pretty much pointless, aside from possibly Stickers you had to use to finish the battle in the first place. Very little story and character diversity, even among Bowser and Peach, who are usually the most talkative of the characters in the series. Navigation was sometimes confusing and it isn't clear what Sticker or Thing I needed to use to solve a puzzle on occasion. The only really good things I can say about Sticker Star is it has incredible graphics and sound design. For an RPG, there weren't very many RPG elements. I would've loved to play the original build.

Super Paper Mario is pretty high on my list, I like the story, game play, graphics, and such. But it felt more like a glorified New Super Mario Bros. game than a Paper Mario one. The 3D mechanic is interesting, but it's used mainly for just getting around an object you can't pass in 2D, and the time limit doesn't make much sense.

The original Paper Mario is sort of the middle ground. Its game play is good, has plenty of good locations, and a solid enough story to be enjoyable. But it certainly shows its age after The Thousand-Year Door expanded on pretty much everything.

Haven't played Color Splash, but I'll probably find it slightly more enjoyable than Sticker Star. Not too hyped for Origami King, either. I'm not sure what to think about Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
 
I did a write-up on the first game some time ago, it seems, and my feelings on the game are solidified by the fact that my opinions on ttyd exist. All you guys need to know.
 
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