(Belated) Throwback Thursday - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday (a bit belated), our weekly look into my Top 100 games and general nostalgia, now examining the esteemed Top 10 games I can't recommend higher.  Sorry for the delay folks as it's been a busy week, and I didn't want to shortchange such a beloved game here.  Speaking of which, making the fold this week: The game of paper planes and luxury trains that is Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Released in the US on October 11th, 2004, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the second entry in the Paper Mario series and is highly regarded as the best of its peers, if not one of the greatest RPG's ever made (I'm willing to defend this bold assertion).  Taking what was a strong foundation from Paper Mario for the N64, Thousand-Year Door is a familiar sight with its unique paper aesthetics, clever turn-based battles with timed-based action inputs, and its creative world building.  However, this game takes all of these wonderful attributes and pushes the boundaries of each into a more engaging, bizarre and memorable adventure ever thought possible.  It all begins with Mario voyaging to the new horizons of Rogueport, a seedy and dicey pirate port that stands in striking contrast to the colorful and upbeat Mushroom Kingdom. With a missing princess Peach, a mysterious group of thugs known as the X-Nauts, and a magical map to an unknown treasure as their only lead, the stage is set for an adventure like none other.

Speaking of stages, let's highlight how ingenious the battle system is in this game, of which now takes place on a stage full of viewing audience members.  They aren't just for decoration though, for the bigger the audience, the more cheers and adoration you'll earn to fill your Star meter and power up your special moves.  Depending on how well or poorly you land attacks during battle will earn / lose you members for your audience.  As a stage for the battle, it's full of backdrops and set pieces which can tip over and fall should an attack shake the stage enough, requiring quick reactions to defend against or may play a key assist in stunning the enemies.  Occasionally, there are even rogue enemies implanted in the audience who will try to sneakily attack Mario on stage, which players can defend against should they react just before such an attack.  It's such a cleverly designed system that engages players across multiple layers of focus, which makes for twice the fun and total immersion.

As Mario continues to impress, the seats beneath this stage will fill with more and more viewers.

The battle stage is not the only place where this game so cleverly interweaves dueling interactions, as there are many a moment where multiple conversations will be carried forth on screen at a time.  One of my favorite moments is during a conversation with Toadsworth, a couple of Mafia Pianta's rough up their rival Craw's in the background, exchanging threats all the while you're carrying your own discussion.  It's such a unique and engaging means of storytelling that makes this world feel all the more bustling and alive.

As mentioned above, Thousand-Year Door is one of the boldest games in the series to explore new and weird ideas, from strange new characters like giant, intricately folded paper dragons to a spooky threesome of shadow sirens, or strange and peculiar locales like a floating, glitzy smack-down arena in the sky to a dreary and cursed twilit village full of pigs and very insightful ravens.  Every character met and destination traveled to is full of such interest and a joy to discover.  And getting to these locations is more thrilling than ever before thanks to a handful of wonderfully creative new paper abilities which enable all sorts of interesting means of traversal.  This game really has fun playing the concept of paper, both in visual effects and gameplay mechanics, as Mario can fold into various forms like paper airplanes or paper tubes, or even just turn sideways to thin himself out.  The ingenious aspect of these abilities is the multiple means in which they can be applied.  Take the sideways flip for instance: One might use it to fit through the bars of a jail door, or it could also serve as a means to fall down a skinny sewer vent.  The game constantly asks you to challenge your way of thinking to discover fun and interesting new secrets.  Did I mention that these paper abilities come from evil spirits in treasure chests who think they're in fact cursing you?  It's a hilarious bit that doesn't get old.

Hooktail the dragon - such a wickedly cool designed boss.

Paper abilities aren't the only means of traversing these cool worlds, as your partners play a big role in such too, and in very creative means too.  Kicking Koop's shell and holding it place for a delayed release to hit a switch.  The way Goombella can identify every single character and area to be found in the game.  Every partner is full of such personality and appealing design.  I mean you get to team up with sea-faring Bob-omb with a steering wheel as a decorative fuse!  How cool is that!?

I mean look at him!  Admiral Bobbery!

As will likely be the case for these final few games of the Top 10, I could go on and on gushing about the many endearing attributes to this game.  Like how you can get a uniquely colored baby Yoshi per your save file.  Or the surprisingly touching story of TEC and Peach.  Or how Luigi has his own adventures of Paper Luigi which you get to listen to in exaggerated detail as told by Luigi throughout your own adventure, of which you get to meet all his what look like equally interesting partners.  The incredibly challenging pit of 100 trials which delivers a satisfying bout of post-game content.  How you can travel into the backgrounds of certain locations.  Or how there is a secret partner in the game that is entirely optional to discover!  This game is a pinnacle of creativity and hallmark of RPG's.  Hopefully Nintendo sees the same and will give the series a return to form with this to serve as a shining example what can be achieved when you push the boundaries of a strong foundation.