Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a turn-based comedy trek through a new location in the Mushroom Kingdom. The game was originally released for the Nintendo GameCube before being remade for the Nintendo Switch. When it was initially released, high praise was given to the story, battle system, and partners you earn throughout your adventure. Despite being a Mario title, which usually consists of a thin story. The Thousand-Year Door is packed with lore, and you get to see the lives of many of Mario’s usual enemies. Just how well does this game hold up to today’s standards though, and just how much did the remake change? We take a look below.

Touring Rogue Port

Your adventure kicks off when you arrive at Rogue Port, a bustling hive of villainy. Mario is summoned to the location by Princess Peach to investigate an old map. Before he can meet up with her, though, she goes missing. Luckily, Mario comes across Goombella, who helps set him on the path to finding the Crystal Stars. Each Crystal Star is divided into chapters with seven stars to collect in all. The main narrative focuses on this ushering Mario from location to location.

Mario will take on a dungeon and a boss in each chapter, with many twists and turns. He will also encounter several new partners that help fill in the lore for each town.  The story itself is pretty solid and broken up to have two short segments featuring Peach and Bowser gameplay at the end. Most of the dialogue is humorous, so if you’re looking for a darker story, this game won’t be for you. At the same time, most RPGs have failed to recapture the charm of Paper Mario’s story. 

Without giving out too many spoilers, the game only gets better the further you progress. It’s easy to see why the Glitz Pit is such a staple choice and why Twilight Town gave young students the creeps. Many of the game’s bosses are also fun to discover, especially with the comical weakness of Hooktail at the end of Chapter 1. All in all, if you’re looking for a shorter RPG with a fun story, this is the perfect choice.

One of the key attractions is the partners’ various personalities. Each partner has their own story and reactions to the chapters they are in. It’s easy to get attached to someone like Koops, who is trying to make his own way, or to Goombella, who is weak in battle but helpful outside of it. Each partner also comes with their own out-of-battle ability. These range from hiding Mario from enemies to helping activate switches. Outside of the partners, you can find some memorable characters. For instance, Luigi can be found after each Chapter in the Rogue Port Inn with a new story about the Waffle Kingdom. This made me want to check out every inch of the game and see how the characters reacted as I progressed.

Reaction Times Matter

Outside of the lore and story, the main draw to the Thousand-Year Door is the gameplay. There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s start by looking at the basics. Mario and his base partner, Goombella, start off with a limited range of attacks and then build on them. Mario has his hammer and jump move, while Goombella has headbonk and tattle. As you upgrade Mario’s allies, that will unlock more powerful moves, but these will cost more Flower Power or FP. Mario relies on finding new shoes and hammers to make his attacks stronger, along with badges. As Mario levels up, he can enhance one of three stats: health, FP, and Badge Points. There are a hundred levels, so fully upgrading them all is possible. However, just focusing on one will cause the game to be much more difficult.

Badges are one of the most central parts of the gameplay. They can be found and bought in a large number of places, and each has their own ability. Each badge also tells you how many badge points are required to use it. Additionally, not all badges are going to be useful in every situation, so you really need to swap them out often to optimize your battles. There are also some badges that can be used for partners and badges that don’t cost any BP, as they add sound effects to your hammer. This system works extremely well and collecting all of the badges is fun to do. I enjoyed swapping around the different abilities to find great combos.

There are also a number of items and Crystal Star moves for you to work into your strategy. These are all easy to understand. However, you have to gather star power from the audience and can only carry ten items at a time. To gather audience favor, you simply need to do well in battle and execute action commands well. If you’re also blocking well, then the audience size will increase. As for items, you can find them all over the world and buy many of them in shops. Additionally, there is a cooking system that unlocks later on so that you can make better healing items.

As for the combat itself, it’s really not all that hard. Many seasoned RPG fans will have no problem running through the game. It heavily relies on a time-based button press to get the most out of your attacks. It seems that the timing for these is even easier in the remake and the game signals which button to press and when. I honestly never played much of the original, and I felt like a battle pro shortly after going into the sewers for the first time. Just get to know each enemy and their moves. A large cast of adversaries is in the game, but you will always have an inkling to what will and won’t work. For example, you will take damage if you jump on a spiked enemy.

Finally, as you get further into the game, more and more partners unlock. Each partner has their own unique list of abilities. How effective these changes are varies by the enemy but, for the most part, the partner you acquire in each chapter will be the most effective. You can swap out partners during battle or even swap your attacking order to make things flow smoothly. It’s easy to get attached to certain partners, and I did feel like somewhere more useful than others later in the game.

A Grand Adventure

Rogue Port is the main hub of the game and where you will need to visit to reach new areas. Luckily, this is eventually made easier, helping the story to flow better. With that being said, the game’s graphics, art style, and locations are truly classics. The paper style that this game is remembered for really does work with everything, especially when you earn abilities like lying, turning flat, or making Mario into a boat. As you progress and unlock new abilities, more and more of the world opens up to you.

If you’re not feeling the main story, then you can even indulge in some side quests or take time at the parlor where you can gamble the day away. If you’re a lore buff, then speak with all of the characters around the towns and then use Goombella to learn their names and an extra fact. As mentioned above, you can even do some simple cooking to make unique items. For players who really enjoy the combat, there is the ultimate challenge of the Pit of 100 Trials. This forces Mario through 100 battles, but there are rare prizes to earn to make it worthwhile. The game has no shortage of enjoyable side activities, even though many of them may be on the shorter side.

While you’re adventuring, take note of the music. The remake has done a bit of an update to many of the tracks, but they all sound great. The essence of the originals was kept, while putting a fresh spin on things. You will also notice that the graphics are much shinier. The game was rebuilt for the Nintendo Switch, and it’s gorgeous. This is partially due to how well the art style for the game made the original age well. It’s no secret that developers poured time into polishing every aspect of this adventure.

A Masterpiece

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a game that you don’t want to miss. While the combat is pretty easy, it’s still fun, and a great introduction for younger games. With the updated graphics and soundtracks, it’s even more appealing than it was on the Nintendo GameCube. Players will also find that many of the new additions to the game make it much more fun to play. In fact, one of my only real complaints about the game is that it couldn’t be longer. Everything from the battles to the story just kept me playing, which isn’t something I often experience anymore. This is a game that will have you wanting to get home from work or school each day until you beat it.