Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Review (Switch) – Still A Classic

I’ve made my thoughts clear about the Paper Mario franchise quite a bit as the host of the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast. I loved the first two games, liked the third on Wii, and then everything went downhill. Furthermore, it infuriated that the team, especially Shigeru Miyamoto, stated that they NEEDED to keep changing things to engage players and keep it fresh, when we all knew that was a lie. Fast forward to now, and the best game in the series is on Switch, and as my Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Review will highlight, Nintendo did right by fans with this remaster/remake…and it’s about time.

Game Name: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Developer(s): Intelligent Systems
Release Date: 5/23/2024
Price: $59.99

Yes, I put a spoiler tag for a 20-year-old game! But not everyone has played it, okay? To that end, I’m happy to say that the story of Paper Mario TTYD is pretty much the same outside of some changes in the original localization (see: Vivian’s gender). That’s good because the story was already incredible and full of fun elements; that’s not what needed to be changed or upgraded, and the same with the gameplay. So, what did get the tap in terms of upgrades?

That would be the visuals, sound effects and music, animations, and a few other additions to make the game extra special. For me, the best improvement is in the visuals. For the record, making a game about paper characters in a paper world is never meant to be “visually awe-inspiring,” but it’s clear that they took their time to improve upon not just the graphics but the way characters emoted in various situations.

As someone who played the game religiously back on the GameCube, I could easily tell when people were doing looks or animations that weren’t there before, and it definitely elevated the scenes that were there. The team at Intelligent Systems was likely limited in what they could do before, but not anymore! It seems that almost every character, from Mario to Peach to Grodus and beyond, has new additions to their visuals, and I really enjoyed it.

Just as enjoyable were the additions and expansions of the sound effects for the characters. For example, each character now has a true voice when they’re speaking. Before, it was all the same noise, but in the Switch version, they all have different pitches and tones to help separate them. That even goes for characters like Flavio, who you can really hear sing in the game. It’s quite nice and is one of those “little details” that makes everything shine even more.

While I know there is some debate about whether the soundtrack is better on the GameCube or Switch version, I found this one. I could feel the music and easily recalled how the main beats went. There’s no need to compare versions when both are great on the systems they’re on, okay?

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the game’s great story within my Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Review. There’s a reason why many, especially me, feel this is the best game in the series, possibly by a large margin with respect to the first game on N64. The journey to get the Crystal Stars and save Princess Peach from the X-Nauts is a thrill from nearly start to finish. Even after not having played the game for over a decade, I found myself getting excited about the story beats that I knew were coming, such as going to the Glitz Pit, or getting Vivian in my party, and so on.

There was so much creativity within this game that it hurts seeing what came after it. There’s beauty, charm, and whimsy in many of these areas that players still resonate with all these years later. Not to mention, we get to see all-new species within the game that help showcase the vast world that Mario and his friends live in. I truly love it. Some might think it’s odd that the story didn’t get big changes like in certain recent remakes by Square Enix, but you don’t always need to go in that direction when the story is darn near perfect.

Oh, and as for the gameplay and battle system, everything is just as you remember it there, too. Some small button changes have been made to suit the Switch controls versus the GameCube controller, but you’ll adapt quickly. If anything, you’ll love how familiar it feels, all the while enjoying the visual improvements to the attacks, stage, and so on.

So, is my Paper, Mario The Thousand-Year Door Review, going to end on a high note because of how great it is? Well, no. lol. Even after all these years, I have some small gripes with the game. For example, there are certain beats in certain chapters that I feel slow things down too much. Such as the majority of “Three Days Of Excess,” which is my least favorite chapter of the game by far. Pennington…you’re the worst.

Furthermore, I know some are conflicted about the “Retry” feature in both the main campaign and Pit of 100 Trials. On the one hand, it does make the game more accessible, but I do respect those who loved the challenge of it before and wanted to keep it here. Another small thing for me is that the game can be a bit easy. I only ever needed to upgrade my HP and Fp and not equip lots of badges, and I pretty much breezed through the game.

Even still, you’ll see a VERY positive score in my Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Review ending, and for a very simple reason: this game is so much fun! I truly love it with all I have, gripes aside, and I REALLY hope that Nintendo FINALLY listens to fans (and me) by giving them the true follow-up/sequel to TTYD that we’ve been asking for. Both the fans and this series deserve it.