| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Super Paper Mario
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
The ESRB says:
Comic Mischief GamerDad saw typical crazy cartoon antics from Mario and friends. Mild Cartoon Violence Mario and company defeat silly enemies by stomping on their heads mostly. Or they can whack them with a mallet, blow them up with a bomb, or burn them with fire. But defeated enemies only disappear in a puff of sparkly stars. The Paper Mario games on the Nintendo 64 and GameCube consoles featured unique cutout paper graphics in a role-playing game adventure. But core Mario gameplay mainstays were still part of the picture, as the turn-based battled had plenty of hop and bop action found in any Mario title. Now Nintendo has bridged that gap even more with Super Paper Mario for the Wii. Mario's latest paper adventure still has cartoon visuals that look as if they leapt from a pop-up book, but the Wii game ditches the RPG-like turn based battles for more action oriented gameplay. Super Paper Mario is a full-on, 2-D platform jumping adventure. Stomp on Goombas, warp down pipesﾗjust like the good old days. Mario travels through 8 worlds split into four sections each (just like the old games: World 1-1, 1-2, etc.) Some RPG elements have trickled in however. Mario and friends walk about a town called Flipside between levels, gathering information and items before tackling the next world. Players also open up an inventory to use healing items and check stats, among other things. Mario even gains experience points and levels up by defeating enemies to increase his score. But the big thing that separates Super Paper Mario from other 2-D platformers is that Mario has the power to change the world from 2-D to 3-D at any time with a push of the big A button. Flipping to 3-D reveals things hidden in the background that you couldn't see with a 2-D perspective alone. Super Paper Mario uses this gimmick extensively for solving clever puzzles, defeating enemies, and uncovering hidden treasure. For example, early on in the game, Mario comes to a wide gap, but you can see some hills in the background. Switch to 3-D, and you see that the hills actually create a small path for Mario to scoot across to the other side of the gap. But Mario can only use this dimensional flipping move for limited amounts of time.  Joining in on Mario's latest world-saving quest are his closest friends and enemies, and you can play as them, too. Princess Peach can float down slowly with her parasol, and big Bowser can breathe fire to attack enemies. But only Mario can flip from 2-D to 3-D, so you'll be playing as him the most. Mario and pals also use little sprites called Pixls that give them even more special moves like picking up and throwing enemies, laying bombs, shrinking in size to fit through small gaps, and other useful things. While most Nintendo Wii games use the remote in new and exciting ways to control your character, Super Paper Mario's controls are more traditional as the game was originally meant to be a GameCube title. Hold the remote on its side, like how you would a regular control pad or on a Wii Virtual Console title. You can point the remote at the screen to reveal information or uncover hidden secrets sometimes, or shake the remote after jumping on the enemy to add extra ﾑstyle' points to your score. But mostly you'll be moving Mario the old fashioned way, but it's still very responsive and fluid controls. The bright and colorful cartoon visuals and graphics seem to leap off the screen, and the happy bouncy tunes fit right in, too. Retro Mario fans will also go nuts enjoying all the nods to classic games strewn throughout the levels. And along with the fun 2-D Mario action is a cleverly well-written script, though it can get a little gabby at times, which interrupts the action pace for a bit. Even so, a large fun quest with lots of things to do and secrets to find--with lots of laughs along the way--make Super Paper Mario one of the best games on the Nintendo Wii.  
Kids will love the fun cartoon visuals and easy to understand 2-D Mario gameplay. Violence is only typical cartoon Mario fluff. Mario stomps enemies or kicks them off screen. Defeated enemies either fall off the screen or disappear in a puff of sparkly stars. No blood or grizzly death scenes, just silly Looney Tunes style antics. If your kids don't like to read, they may have trouble with Super Paper Mario as it has tons and tons of text in the storyline and dialogue. Younger gamers may also need a little help from time to time with some of the obstacle jumping and puzzles.
But perhaps the biggest offender for kids in Super Paper Mario is that the text may be a little too clever for its own good. Just like Looney Tunes, Nintendo has a knack for making kid friendly entertainment that won't insult the intelligence of adults, and Super Paper Mario is no exception. The funny script in the game makes subtle references to things adults would know more about, and would go over most children's heads. Some examples would be the many classic Mario in-jokes that some kids would be too young to remember, references to rater R movies like Office Space, and nerd culture. In one stage, Mario and friends must fight a nerdy chameleon that will only let ﾑhot babes' into his castle (just switch to Princess Peach and you can walk right in). And in another level, Mario explores a fiery cave-like world called the Underwhere. The inhabitants in the Underwhere claim this is where video game characters go when their ﾑgames are over.' It's a comical and subtle reference to Hell, but some families may be uncomfortable with that anyway. But aside from that, Super Paper Mario is a fantastic game with plenty of replay value that the whole family will enjoy. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Super Paper Mario |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
