Paper Marios

Drez

So...I'm curious...are these games actually storyline sequels of each other?

I ask because I've never played any of them except for The Thousand Year Door (the Gamecube one) and only then for about two or three hours. Now that I have a Wii, I have access to the other two - Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 and I bought Super Paper Mario for the Wii yesterday as part of this hugeoid sale.

So...I'm wondering if I should nab Paper Mario (for the N64) for 10 bucks and then play all three in order. I know, I know, it'll be hard to go back to the N64 one after playing the newer ones anyway, from a graphical/technological standpoint, so I may do it anyway, but I'm really just curious about the storyline: are they all more or less independant of each other or...what. I'm sure that's how it is, but being RPGs, maybe not.

Speed Racer

I think the first two have very loose connections to one another, but that's it.

tarnok

I played TTYD then Super and then the original and I had no problem with the story or graphics.

Drez

Another question: does Paper Mario via Virtual Console work all right with a Gamecube controller? I don't have a classic Wii controller yet...

Steev

I have all three, although I never got very far in Paper Mario 2. I played through the original Paper Mario when it came out on VC and it was a lot of fun. They definitely improved on some things with the sequel, but I wouldn't say it would be a huge leap backwards to play the first one.

I didn't notice any real connection between the games. They all follow a very similar formula, though.

tarnok

I did notice though, as I played the original Paper Mario shortly before Galaxy came out, that the beginnings of both games are nearly identical. Mario goes to a party at the castle, Bowser shows up and carries the castle away w/ Peach in tow, Mario attempts to follow and is smacked down. Hell, they both begin with Mario receiving a letter inviting him to the castle.

Speed Racer

tarnok wrote: »

I did notice though, as I played the original Paper Mario shortly before Galaxy came out, that the beginnings of both games are nearly identical. Mario goes to a party at the castle, Bowser shows up and carries the castle away w/ Peach in tow, Mario attempts to follow and is smacked down. Hell, they both begin with Mario receiving a letter inviting him to the castle.

...There is no castle in Thousand Year Door. He gets invited to the thieves' town to help look for the buried treasure. But yes, in general, you're right, the plots of the two games have very similar formulas.

Drez

Mushroom Pie wrote: »

tarnok wrote: »

I did notice though, as I played the original Paper Mario shortly before Galaxy came out, that the beginnings of both games are nearly identical. Mario goes to a party at the castle, Bowser shows up and carries the castle away w/ Peach in tow, Mario attempts to follow and is smacked down. Hell, they both begin with Mario receiving a letter inviting him to the castle.

...There is no castle in Thousand Year Door. He gets invited to the thieves' town to help look for the buried treasure. But yes, in general, you're right, the plots of the two games have very similar formulas.

I think he is talking about Super Mario Galaxy vs. the original Paper Mario.

tarnok

Mushroom Pie wrote: »

tarnok wrote: »

I did notice though, as I played the original Paper Mario shortly before Galaxy came out, that the beginnings of both games are nearly identical. Mario goes to a party at the castle, Bowser shows up and carries the castle away w/ Peach in tow, Mario attempts to follow and is smacked down. Hell, they both begin with Mario receiving a letter inviting him to the castle.

...There is no castle in Thousand Year Door. He gets invited to the thieves' town to help look for the buried treasure. But yes, in general, you're right, the plots of the two games have very similar formulas.

I am comparing the original Paper Mario to Super Mario Galaxy, not TTYD.

Speed Racer

Oh oh oh oh

Huh, yeah, now that you mention it, they are almost identical.

Strifer

Paper Mario 64 holds up pretty well all around by today's standards.

Drez

Does Paper Mario 64 control well with the Gamecube controller? I assume you cannot use the Wiimote alone, right?

Steev

I only used a classic controller, but back when I was discussing it in one of the Virtual Console threads, others said the Gamecube controller works fine. It's either that or the classic controller, no option to use the Wiimote alone.

Drez

SteevL wrote: »

I only used a classic controller, but back when I was discussing it in one of the Virtual Console threads, others said the Gamecube controller works fine. It's either that or the classic controller, no option to use the Wiimote alone.

That's what I figured; Nintendo 64 VC games unilaterally require either the classic controller or the Gamecube controller, I believe?

I just think that's kind of funny considering you play Super Paper Mario by using the Wiimote like an NES controller. :P

KungFu

I played Paper Mario 64 and I still think of it as one of my favorite video games. The style is just so awesomely done.

I never have played TTYD or the Wii ones...I probably should.

Alfred J. Kwak

I'd say do it. Paper Mario is a great series and a breath of fresh air in the RPG genre. I played PM: TTYD first and loved it from beginning to end, then got the first Paper Mario for the VC and had no problems with the graphics (which held up suprisingly well for a N64 game). Haven't played the Wii game yet, but I'm looking forward to change this in near future.

There's almost no continuing storyline to speak of, so I'd say start with whatever game you feel like (I suggest playing PM: TTYD first, as it is the better game imo). From what I've heard, Super Paper Mario's gameplay is quite different from the other ones though, it's more like a classic Mario Jump & Run with some RPG elements and loaded with text, so if you feel like needing a break from the standard Paper Mario formula, you should give it a try.

Gaming-Module

I haven't played the first Paper Mario, but TTYD is one of my all time favorite Gamecube games of all time. I savored it for a lot longer than most people's average play time with it.

I was severely dissapointed with Super Paper Mario. The town and puzzle bits are tedious and platforming in flip mode is too frustrating. I sold it a few weeks after buying it.

Mustachio Jones

Paper Mario is probably on my top ten list of games. TTYD was good, but the first one did it so well that the sequel just felt uninspired to me. SPM should've just stuck with the RPG formula. It was a good idea, but good god do I love me some Paper Mario.

I can still remember obsessing over it when it first came out. Hell, I can still play through most of the game in my head. And do, very frequently. It's about time I go back and play it.

Goatmon

Paper Mario for the N64 was my favorite game, EVER, for quite a while. I was honestly convinced there would probably never be a sequel to it. Then came the Thousand Year Door, and I was fucking blown away. It had EVERYTHING that made Paper Mario awesome, but they added more and more, and just kept piling on wonderful content with rich, full chapters, ripe with stuff to do and tons of amusing characters to see and fun batltles to fight in.

I should say that the battle system was easily my most favorite part of the game, especially in the sequel. The whole stage presence factor really made it fun, since all you're really doing is putting on a show for the crowd. The special moves and the timing and the badges and all that, it made for a lot of really great combinations of skills. The system was that much more amazing in Thousand Year Door, when your partners levelled up and had health and all that just like Mario does.

With that in mind, the very concept of a Paper Mario (Wii) that had no battle system AT ALL, was rather daunting. I haven't touched the title, and have little reason to feel bad about this.

I grew attached to paper mario as an RPG, not a straight-platformer with a handful of the Paper Mario elements thrown into it.

Man, I really REALLY need to get my wi-fi working again so I can get the N64 version on the VC.

TelMarine

I played Paper mario 2 first and I thought it was a fantastic game, was totally addicted to it and ripped through it in 3 days. Super Paper Mario also took me about a week to beat and was a great game, but I was initially thinking it would have way more platforming elements (from the teaser video), so some chapters lack some decent platforming, but overall fun game. I also downloaded Paper Mario 1 off the VC, I'm about 11 hours into it and I haven't played it in a few months. Not that it is a bad game mind you, I just got distracted by other stuff. The graphics have aged considerably well, probably the best of all N64 games.

Furu

I am playing through TTYD as we speak and to be honest, I haven't had this much fun with a video game in a long time. Everything about it is just so fun.

UncleSporky

I probably have the same stuff to say as anyone in the thread, so short and sweet:

They don't really have a contiguous story, each is an independant RPG. All have wonderful production values; Paper Mario 64 is probably the most unaged 64 game out there. The humor is not often just groan-inducing, it's actually legitimately funny. SPM on the Wii even has some commentary on gamer/nerd internet culture.

All three are worth your time, though some people don't like SPM as much due to being wordy and not much of an RPG.

Beedle

The first two Paper Marios are very similar - besides from being the same style of game, they have largley the same characters and locations too. I played TTYD first and after that had trouble getting into the original since it seemed to be just slightly-less-of-the-same.

Edit: I didn't say it because it's already been said so much, but my post feels unfinished without mentioning that of course all the Paper Mario games are terrific.

Furu

A lot of the partner characters are similar, though I'd say altogether PM2 has the better crew.

Pheezer

The Paper Mario games have recurring characters and themes the way the Super Mario games do. The stories are independent. They may or may not be part of a larger canon, but it really doesn't matter if they are or not anyhow.

Paper Mario is most closely related to Mario RPG (actually very similar), and Super Paper Mario is most closely related to Super Mario Bros., with some basic RPG elements (XP determining character level which in turn determines HP and ability to deal damage, items that damage enemies/heal you, etc). I have not yet played The Thousand Year Door but my understanding is that it's more RPG like than Super Paper Mario.

For what it's worth I think Paper Mario and Super Paper Mario are both completely fucking awesome, but very different at the same time. Super Paper Mario is a must own game if you have a Wii.

Gosling

On the matter of TTYD...

Please don't tell me I have to hand over ALL my money to use the damn cannon?

Joshua368

mtvcdm wrote: »

On the matter of TTYD...

Please don't tell me I have to hand over ALL my money to use the damn cannon?

You do, but he gives it all right back.

Road Block

While I havn't played TTYD the original Paper mario was more fun then it had any right to be. And the graphical style barely ages at all. Is it wrong that I have an overpowering urge to play it again when I have already clocked it twice. One of which was this week.

Super paper mario was decent. However I much prefer the original. Mainly because of the system in place.

DaveTheWave

I just recently finished PM on VC, and it's really a fantastic game. The only problem is there are a few really useless characters (Parakerry, Sushy, Kooper later in the game) compared with TTYD's more balanced cast, with only the blowjob girl being really useless. The combat is much, much slower in the original, though, and going back to it was hard. I had to force myself through the first chapter because of the simplicity and slow pace of the early game combat vs TTYD's. Once you start getting badges and stuff though, it's all sweet. The only other thing I can think of that annoyed me with PM1 was that badge points were maxed out at 30, when TTYD had no limit. Bit of a pain, but the enemies don't get as hard as TTYD, so it balances itself out in the end.

gtrmp

No Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga love in this thread? It's the true spiritual sequel to Paper Mario, and I think it's actually better than TTYD.

Dritz

Who the heck is the blowjob girl? You mean Vivian (I think, the ghost one)? I didn't find her useless at all, fiery jinx was a great move and fairly easy to pull off.

Mustachio Jones

I still think Watt from PM64 is the most useful of any of the partners in any of the games. She just did so much freaking damage fully upgraded that no one could even compare.

Road Block

I tended to favour Spike simply since he didn't get injured if he attacked a spiked/eletric/fire enemy. Watt was nice for beating DR though.

Personally I felt Goombario was the most useless. His tattle ability was rendered void as I quickly figured out how much damage it took to kill something. And I wasn't willing to waste (At worst) a move to switch to him a move to tattle and a move to switch back to someone better on boss fights. (Though I did on bowser simply because I knew I was about to win. The bugger was on two Hp.)

Zealous One

Goombario does end up kind of a one-trick pony since he's got nothing on spiked enemies. However, Sushie really ended up pulling her weight in the end. She's got a solid projectile attack that has an elemental advantage (unlike ice, water isn't resisted and still hurts fire extra), a defense booster at a time when defense was extremely important (in TTYD you can superguard all day), and a full screen attack that does a ton of damage if you have good reflexes. Watt still beats her out due to that awesome basic attack for free though (On a side note, what's Watt's real gender? Watt was female in PM1, but is referred to as "he" in SPM...is this another one of those Vivian things?).

The Wolfman

Dritz wrote: »

Who the heck is the blowjob girl? You mean Vivian (I think, the ghost one)? I didn't find her useless at all, fiery jinx was a great move and fairly easy to pull off.

I think he means

King Riptor

The Papaer Mario's have been consistently good.
P64 was a bit bland but that game pulls you in and damn if I just can't stop playing it once I start.

I reallly dislike the bulk of TTYD's exterior areas but rougeport itself is a a nice hub. The humor is also top notch. While I liked the game overall the minigame spells really took me out off the battle and the Ally system blew( You mean they can die now? Well that's. . . MY FUCKING ONE UP MUSHROOM!).

SPM is my favorite of the console RPGS. The villans were likeable I got to play as bowser again and of course Mr. L stole the spotlight. the perspective switch made for some interesting puzzles to boot.

I did miss the turn based battles though. The Pixls were annoying and really made me wish I had Gombella or Lakilster back especially after I found out what that ancient race made pixls from.
Also having to manually switch characters and Pixels? That's just mean Nintendo.


The Superstar sagas hit a sophmore slump.
These were supposed to be the Traditional style RPGs with sidequests and what not. The original is the funniest RPG I have ever played. It let you explore the world and you never felt rushed. It was IMO the best RPG's on the gameboy. It's a pity it was so short.

Partners in Time - The concept had lots of potential and the battle system was excellent it was just way to linear. Props to giving Professor Gadd more screen time.

cooljammer00

Paper Mario>TTYD

Furu

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Paper Mario>TTYD

In some parallel universe where completely awesome things are better than merely good things.

Rotam

Paper mario is the best thing I've bought on VC. I've yet to play the GC game.

Super paper mario was pretty disappointing. I didn't like the direction they took with it. Most of NPC art was horrible, and looked like it was drawn by six year old. I actually couldn't wait until I was finished with it. I really enjoyed everything in it before the space level, after that the game went down shitter.

Crashmo

The gamecube controller is fine seeing as you need to push like two buttons ever in the game. Mainly just A, though, during fights and whatnot.

Edit: Rotam doesn't every Mario game look like it was drawn by a six year old?

Gosling

I don't even use Flurrie at all unless there's an obstacle that absolutely requires her. Kooper, too. I'm getting the most mileage out of Goombella, Vivian and Bobbery, in fluctuating order (Goombella being my go-to field person). The Yoshi guy's primary purpose got usurped by Art Attack, which kicks all holy ass, so I only use him anymore if I'm low on star power and I can't get things done any other way.

And then let's talk Ms. Mowz. I thought you were a GOOD thief, not a Keystone Kop went bad.