Super Paper Mario
Ok, just a quick post to mention Super Paper Mario on the Wii. I just can’t resist saying something about it. Essentially, this is Mario as you know it … side scrolling platform mayhem … only there exists an ‘alternate’ dimension in the 3d world that hides bonuses, power ups and solutions to puzzles.
Think of Mario, then think of pressing a button and seeing the view shift around (Matrix-style) to 3d Mario where new things are visible and the 2d graphics are now flat planes you can just walk around. It’s not just a cool gimmick, either - your ‘3d time’ is limited and you are against the clock in 3d mode to complete whatever it is you need to complete.
The scriptwriting is actually worth reading - I want to read it … well, ok (as Phillip pointed out in the comments below) I want to read *some* of it. In Super Paper Mario, the scriptwriters recognize their context; writing in a self-aware and somewhat self-deprecating fashion like a little ‘wink’ to game players and those who are Mario-savvy. Interestingly, there are also references to ‘the fourth wall’ - an imaginary wall between performer and audience member coined in theater theory - a fantastic way to both reference and explain some of the technological constraints of the world without ‘breaking character’. Now that we’ve got some intelligent writing in the genre, it would be great to get some better editing; I don’t think I’ve met anyone who didn’t skip a few hundred pages here and there!
Super Paper Mario is a ‘must play’ for anyone interested in game design, programming (just look at the transitions between game environments for starters), in-game audio or just playing great games. I’m surprised that the whole world hasn’t gone crazy about it.
If Alfred Hitchcock made platform games, he would probably have made Super Paper Mario. Come to think of it, Mario’s silhouette does look kind of familiar … 
This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 11:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 8th
2007 at 5:58 pm
It’s a neat game, but first, I have no patience for ALL THAT TEXT. Man, I mean, I’m all for reading but it was just way too much.
August 8th
2007 at 11:26 pm
Welll … ok, I have to admit that the skip button on my ‘wiimote’ is wearing out. I stand by my statement about the script being the most interesting yet, even if there *is* way too much of it. Perhaps it’s time that localization took into account the 99% of the western world that doesn’t want to read novelizations in extremely small windows?
August 13th
2007 at 7:49 am
I adore this game. I’m not a fan of how much stuff I have to read but I take those moments to stretch
August 13th
2007 at 8:43 am
More than anything, it’s just how beautifully the whole game is crafted. I think that it’s funny in this day and age of full immersion experiences with photo-realistic rendering and dolby surround sound explosions and whatnot, a publisher would go to such great lengths to produce such a diverse title for more than just a niche.
Of course, the franchise is strong but they haven’t just concentrated on that franchise to power the game - which we see more and more of with kid’s movie tie-in games and licencing deals. This game just puts them all to shame. The polish, the creativity and the game balancing are all absolutely stellar.
Good idea with the stretching … when using a computer or console, one should stretch regularly. This has been an announcement from the Fuel Health and Happy Dept.
August 18th
2007 at 5:32 am
I totally agree on the text thing its more than rediculous and as a result I know that a lot of people dropped off the game because of it. But man when you get in there and really play its probably one of the most detailed and fun games I’ve played in a really long time. Its definetly inspired me in many ways when thinking of new ideas for some of our work.
But now onto Mario Strikers CHARGED!!!!
August 26th
2007 at 10:37 pm
I also agree with Joel. People these days are go go go!! They want the action, and can’t be bothered to slow down and read. I guess that’s the society we live in.
August 27th
2007 at 11:17 am
It’s a shame text to speech isn’t further along the line … having voiceovers would no doubt make it a lot more accessible. Skip through the text and you miss some little gems - it certainly seemed to me as though the writers had fun doing this and were given more creative freedom than on previous titles. Be interesting to find out more about the writers…