by Emily Shimp

Created on: May 05, 2009

Since I first played Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 in 2002, I have been a fan of the Paper Mario games. Both the first one and its Gamecube sequel will filled with awesome turn-based battles, great graphics and sound, witty humor, and hours of side quests. A couple of years ago, I picked up Super Paper Mario (originally intended for the Gamecube, but moved to the Wii) even though I heard it would be more like the old side scrolling Mario games of yore rather than a turn-based RPG game. Does it play as well as the previous Paper Mario games, or the classic 2D Mario titles for that matter. The answer is yes...and no. Let me explain...

This time, Mario is out to stop the mysterious Count Bleck, who has married Bowser and Princess Peach in order to create an expanding void which will eventually destroy the world. To do this, our hero will have to collect the eight Pure Hearts which will eventually lead him to Castle Bleck. It sounds like the same old hero-must-save-the-world-from-villain story, but there are some emotionally-engaging parts to the story, which I would be spoiling if I went into further detail.

You play as four characters in the game: Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi. Mario can flip the 2D action into a 3D world to find hidden paths, enemies, and items. Peach uses her parasol to glide through the air. Bowser is super strong and can breath fire, though he is understandably slow. Luigi has a super jump that enables him to reach high places. As you unlock these characters, you will have to select which one is right for the present situation. Unfortunately, this feature is not utilized enough, as Mario is usually the character of choice.

Unlike the previous Paper Mario games, the battles are in real time, and you will find yourself defeating enemies with a single (sometimes more than one) stomp and kicking Koopa shells to kill enemies in your path. Our heroes still level up, though; this time by accumulating score points. The bad news is, you can no longer choose which attribute you want to upgrade. You can only boost your HP and attack power, and the level ups alternate between the two. One of the reasons why the first two games were great is that you could upgrade one of three different attributes of your choosing to make the games as easy or as hard as your wanted. Here, that feature is sorely missing, which is a disappointment.

Mario's partners this time around are Pixls, little creatures that help you out in a variety of ways. The main Pixl is Tippi,

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