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Genuinely funny, sharp writing and a great sense of humor; great cast of partners with fun abilities; a story that's heartfelt, hilarious, well-written, and keeps things interesting from one chapter to the next; fun battle system that's easy to pick up; quality of life improvements from the original actual make a difference; updated graphics look really nice but don't lose the charm of the game's original look
Weak, inferior updated soundtrack compared to the original; changes to timing in battle make some moves very difficult to pull off compared to the original; changes to some moments in the script have a negative impact on the scene and make them worse than the original versions
Welcome to another Backlog Review, where we take a look at an older game that fans might have sitting waiting to be played or are still considering giving a purchase. This time we’re looking at Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Everyone has that game (or games) that sticks with you. The one that wasn’t just a good time while you were playing it, but that you frequently think back to, and it maybe even influenced your gaming preferences. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (TTYD) launched on GameCube in 2004, just a couple of months before my 14th birthday. I hadn’t played a ton of RPGs growing up but did play Paper Mario on Nintendo 64, which I loved. But I had no way of knowing how much I was going to love TTYD.
TTYD is the first game I remember making me genuinely laugh out loud. The writing and localization were so spot-on, in particular the team’s ability to write unique, distinct, memorable characters through use of eye dialect and pronunciation spellings. Witty dialogue, biting insults, and over-the-top personalities helped drive a story that was at times surprisingly poignant, and at others so hilarious that, in retrospect, I’m surprised Nintendo allowed the writers to keep some of the content in the final version. The writing was so good that after the game’s release, Nintendo Power did an interview with the localization/writing team, giving them some much-needed credit and well-deserved time in the spotlight.
When I heard TTYD was getting a rerelease, I honestly had mixed feelings. While it’s one of my all-time favorite games that was hugely formative on my gaming tastes, and I was excited to not have to pull out the GameCube to play it again, I also didn’t think the game needed a remaster (which I worried would stray a little too far into full remake territory). After seeing some of the changes made to Super Mario RPG for the Nintendo Switch version, I wasn’t convinced the TTYD remaster would preserve the things that made it great.
I’m happy to say that, for the most part, I was wrong.
For those unfamiliar with the plot, a brief summary: Peach gets herself kidnapped again and Mario has to save her, but this time the stakes are much higher than just “save the princess.” Peach finds a treasure map in a place called Rogueport, which she mails to Mario, asking him to meet her there. Rogueport was built over the ruins of a city that was destroyed by a cataclysm and sunk into the earth. Before Mario arrives, Peach is kidnapped by a group of bizarre eccentrics called the X-Nauts, who want the map to locate the legendary Crystal Stars, which are the key to opening The Thousand-Year Door beneath Rogueport.
It supposedly hides an incredible treasure behind its doors that Grodus, the leader of the X-Nauts, desperately wants. It soon becomes apparent that his plans are much more sinister, and the fate of the world is bleak if he gets what he wants. Mario’s journey then takes him across a number of unique locations, in a story that keeps things interesting from chapter to chapter. From the seedy underworld of amateur prizefighting to a murder-mystery-inspired adventure on a three-day train ride, to shady dealings with mafiosi and pirate curses, this is one of Mario’s more complex, well-written adventures.
Quality of life issues seemed to be the central focus of this remaster. While TTYD was pretty darn close to perfection, in my opinion, it also had some less-than-ideal features, like an extremely tiny inventory and no quick way to switch out party members, among others. A number of adjustments have been made to create a better experience, like increasing the inventory from 10 items to 15, increasing the number of coins Mario can carry from 999 to 9999, and adding a partner wheel to allow the player to easily and quickly swap out partners.
The game’s new fast-travel pipe room is immensely useful, making backtracking from one part of the map to the other a significantly faster, easier task. It’s one of the best changes to the game along with the partner wheel. The updated graphics are really nice and do a great job of maintaining the essence of the original game’s look while sharpening and brightening things up. Unfortunately, this game suffers from the same issue as the Mario RPG remake: an inferior, modernized soundtrack that completely loses all of the charm of the original. TTYD on Switch introduces two new badges, one of which switches the game’s soundtrack back to the original when equipped (the other turns Mario gold). I got the badge as soon as it was possible to do so and never took it off. The game’s original score is so good and deserves to be heard over the completely forgettable, sterile tracks made for the Switch version.
One audio change that is welcome are the unique voices that have been given to every character and NPC when they speak. While they don’t actually speak their dialogue aloud, they “talk” in voices that resemble the voices they have in other games. It’s a really adorable touch that works well with the script to give these characters even more personality and life.
Two new bosses are available for the player to take on (one of which is a bit of a spoiler related to one of the game’s earlier chapters), giving the game an additional level of challenge over the original. There’s also the new NPC, Battle Master Toad, who will spar with you to help you learn the battle system and practice your moves. I never interacted with him because I didn’t need the help. Star Pieces now serve two purposes: they’re not only used to unlock new moves for your partners, they also unlock content in the game’s Art and Sound Galleries, where you can view concept art and listen to the game’s soundtrack.
This version of TTYD has made some changes to the game’s original script, supposedly to be more faithful to the game’s original Japanese script. In some instances, however, the changes make certain scenes feel a little strange or devoid of the personality of the original English translation/localization. For example, shortly after Goombella joins Mario’s party and the pair go into the Rogueport Sewers, they encounter a trio of Goombas who try (and fail) to hit on Goombella. Their egos bruised by her rejection, they decide to attack, and the entire scene is a great early example of the array of personalities that come through in the localization team’s talented writing and characterizations.
However, that scene has been rewritten entirely in this version, with the Goombas instead calling Mario and Goombella stuck-up “surface dwellers” who think they’re better than them because they get to see the sun. Nowhere near as interesting, creative, or amusing, and quite frankly pretty sterile and boring. I’m not sure if this change was made to better align with the game’s Japanese script or if someone thought the original English translation was somehow offensive, but if it was the latter I find that very odd given some of the other dialogue choices that weren’t changed. This is a good example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — leave good writing alone if you can’t write something better.
Despite all of the cool changes (as well as the middling or lame ones), TTYD on Switch remains the same game at its core as its GameCube predecessor. Same story, same characters, same battle system. As you unlock new partners and encounter new enemy types, it’s up to the player to determine which partner they should bring into battle — and when it’s time to switch someone out. Badges are key in this game, as they have critical effects in battle, from equipping Mario with new moves, to increasing his and his partner’s HP, Flower Points (FP), power and defense, and much more. Badges require Badge Points (BP) to equip, and the better the effect, the more BP the badge needs to be worn.
Each player’s experience will be different because they’ll be equipping badges to compliment their play style. Play style will also determine which of your stats you’ll want to focus on increasing with each level increase; fights earn Mario Star Points, and every 100 Points increases your level. You have to choose whether you want to increase HP, FP, or BP with every level-up, which you should consider carefully depending on how you fight. Do you rely on your Specials a lot? Consider investing more in FP. More of a physical fighter? Stay alive longer with more HP. Want to unlock the benefits of badges? Focus on increasing BP.
One issue that many players, including myself, ran into during combat was the significantly more difficult timing for Mario’s jumps. This is felt most acutely when trying to do Mario’s Power Bounce, which lets him jump on an enemy repeatedly until the player messes up the timing for the Action Command. However, in this version of the game, I was never able to time the jump past four jumps. Every single time, the jump failed on the fourth bounce. I was able to time my defense and the Stylish command between jumps pretty easily, but the timing for the Power Bounce is significantly different this time around and it negatively impacted my playthrough. Not being able to effectively use Power Bounce was a real downer.
The game isn’t particularly difficult and the average player will likely beat the game without much of an issue. However, boss battles provide a good increase in challenge, the final boss in particular. The last fight was actually a surprising jump in difficulty, from a time when bosses were supposed to be a gut punch that make you reassess your strategy. Items like the Shooting Star and Earth Quake (yes, that’s stylized correctly) are very satisfying to use, while your partner abilities range from kind of lackluster to absolutely clutch.
It had been so long since I played the original TTYD that I forgot about how incredibly touching the final fight is. Without diving too much into spoilers (yes, it’s a 20-year-old-game, but still), I’ll just say that there’s a moment where everyone that Mario has met on his travels throughout the game become vital in helping him bring down the boss. It’s unexpected, genuinely heartfelt, and underscores why good writing is so vital for a narrative-driven game. I was also really struck by how thought-provoking the side story is between Peach and TEC. Long before arguments and questions surrounding the sentience of AI were happening on the internet, Nintendo was exploring the idea in TEC’s rapidly-growing fascination with Peach.
It’s also incredibly sweet hearing Peach talk about Mario and explaining the concept of love to TEC through the lens of her own feelings for Mario. The side story is so well-written that I became emotionally invested in it after the first interaction between Peach and TEC. When you’re invested in characters because they give you a reason to care about them, emotionally-driven moments with them hit so much harder. It was a strong reminder of why this game left such an impression on me as a teenager.
While I have no faith that Nintendo will return to the TTYD blueprint for any possible future entries in the Paper Mario series, a girl can dream.
