Mario has been the mascot for Nintendo almost since its inception. This popular plumber has played in almost every type of game imaginable. He has filled roles from tennis to golf, kart racing to a doctor handing out medication. He has even starred in his own RPG for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. With the Nintendo 64 nearing the end of its time, Nintendo once again makes an RPG attempt. .Akin to Super Mario R.P.G's success, Nintendo makes another try to coerce fans into the RPG community, in time for its next generation console.
   Paper Mario has the story that Mario games are required to have. Big Bad Bow ser hatches yet another plan to capture Princess Peach. Using his castle in an unexplained manner, he steals Peach's castle, toting it off into the dark sky. Mario, in the knack of time, rushes to her aid, only to find that Bow ser has acquired the Star Rod. With the new found power of the Star Rod, Bow ser appears to be invincible. Trouncing Mario soundly, Bow ser tosses him from the castle. Mario is injured from the fall, and is rescued by a family of Guam's. Mario needs to rescue the captured Star Spirits to have any chance at defeating Bowser.The graphics of the game are what makes it stand out from the other Nintendo 64 games, not for the overwhelming aspects of today's RPGs, but because of the uniqueness of how the sprites move. Unlike the typical sprites, these act as though they are made out of paper, hence the name Paper Mario. When Mario and company have to turn around, the sprite will actually flip over, showing for a second how thin the character is, before heading in the other direction. Considering the advanced 3D engine the Nintendo 64 is capable of, this was a very different aspect of the game to get used to.
   The battle system is turn based, with menus to choose actions. Mario and his helper will always get to attack first, but there is the ability to earn First Strike before battle. First Strike basically means that whoever strikes the other side in the field area first will do a single pre-emptive attack to the other party, before Mario starts his first turn. If there is a collision but no attack, there is no pre-emptive damage to either side.Using a multitude of available attacks, Mario must defeat Bowser's henchmen. All attacks can be categorized into five categories. Those are jump, hammer, star power, items, and helper attacks. Items are almost self-explanatory, some attack and other heal. For the jump and hammer attacks, Mario can gain abilities by equipping badges that he finds throughout the land. Badges can also enhance Mario's HP, FP (magic), power, defense, or even add sound effects. Attacks such as Multibounce and Mega Quake are handy when the battles typically consist of Mario and his chosen helper versus five or six baddies. Once Mario gains the Action ability his attacks, and his helper's, can be enhanced by following simple directions at the bottom of the screen. Also, as Mario rescues more and more Star Spirits, he will gain new Star Powers. Two particularly useful ones are Chill Out, which lowers the attack of all enemies by three for a few turns, and Smooch, which restores 20 of Mario's HP.
   And then we have the helper attacks. Throughout Mario's adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom, certain individuals will ask to accompany Mario on his quest. Either for their own reasons, or to simply work with the legendary plumber, Mario can gain the help of eight friends, ranging from a Goomba, a Boo, Koopas, and many other types. Each friend has a specific field ability, as well as battle abilities. At first, each friend will only have two abilities in battle -- typically a free attack, and one that costs FP to use. As Mario finds blue power up blocks, he will have to decide which friend gains more power, and learns a new attack. Eventually everyone will have four attacks if Mario can find all the blocks.
   Using the abilities of Mario's helpers will seem obvious. When approaching an obstacle, it is apparent that Mario needs to hover over this pit, or blow up that wall, or make other clear choices. Then there are the secondary conditions. For example, if the flying Koopa, Parakarry, has a letter for the person Mario is talking to, he will give the letter to that person. However, if another helper is out, nothing extra will happen. Don't worry about remembering too many, as secondary responsibilities are spelled out very clearly when they need to occur.  If fact, that is likely one of the most annoying parts of the game. Since everything is spelled out so clearly, all the time, there's not a lot of exploration and experimentation to do. Like typical Nintendo titles, there are numerous objects to collect, but Mario is hardly required to find them all in order to defeat Bow ser. The objects, mostly Star Pieces and Badges, are mainly there to keep the RPGamer occupied once the game has been mastered. Even the riddles and quizzes are brain-dead easy, leaving little challenge in the game. Except for the final fight, all the enemies are basically pushovers requiring basic strategy at best. Also in typical Nintendo style, there is no chance to save after defeating Bow ser, so in order to get back and gain more items make a very long journey back to Toad Town.
   The Nintendo 64 has catered almost exclusively to the younger generation, with a few notable exceptions, but they are now growing up. As the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube releases draw closer, Nintendo must induct these young players into the RPG community. Paper Mario serves this purpose very well. With all the Badges and helper abilities open for Mario to use, the game goes a long way to develop the problem solving abilities of the younger gamer. For the older, more experienced RPGamers, Paper Mario is a light, refreshing change from the norm, but can easily be completed in a rental period.Paper Mario is the follow-up to Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars for the SNES. Existing in a world composed of paper cutouts, Paper Mario combines the simplified RPG system that made Super Mario RPG such an innovative and fun game with the side-scrolling action that made the 2D Mario games so popular. Not only is Paper Mario a tender bit of nostalgia to anyone who misses the good old days, but it is also a shining example of what Nintendo does best.The game plays similarly to Super Mario RPG. The game is broken up into the field screen and the battle screen. Mario and his party move around on the field screen--an adventure-based 3D plane where you interact with items, enemies, and people in real time. Once an enemy spots Mario, it will charge him. If you touch the enemy, you'll enter the battle screen--a turn-based, menu-driven combat system. How you touch an enemy has a dramatic effect on the start of the combat round: If Mario strikes the enemy in the field screen, he'll strike once before combat actually begins in the battle-screen system. If the enemy charges Mario, the enemy will strike first. This system rewards you for quick reflexes and mixes in a taste of the now extinct side-scrolling action that made the Super Mario series so popular. In combat, Mario has two basic attacks--jumping on enemies and hammering enemies. Mario will eventually gain several special attacks, but with the exception of the powers endowed to him by rescued star spirits, the attacks will always be a modification of his jump or hammer attack. Additionally, Mario can use items to aid him. The game has several items, both for offensive and defensive purposes. Mario also has friends who can help him. As in any RPG, Mario will eventually stumble across other characters that share his goal, and they will join Mario in his quest. Mario can have any one of his sidekicks in battle with him at a time and can use that character's power to defeat enemies. The characters also have special abilities that are used on the field screen. Characters will carry Mario across chasms, let Mario travel over the water, fetch items that are just out of reach, make Mario invisible, and more. Progressing through the game's levels is an excellent combination of turn-based combat and classic side-scrolling Mario action.

Paper Mario has a plot that should be familiar to any Mario fan. Bow ser has once again invaded the land of the stars and has stolen the magical Star Rod--a scepter that has the power to grant the wishes of whoever holds it. Bow ser used the Star Rod to imprison the seven star spirits, who used their power to watch over the land. Armed with the power to make his slightest wish a reality, Bow ser quickly kidnapped Princess Peach, made himself invincible, and scattered the imprisoned star spirits to the ends of the Mushroom Kingdom. It's up to Mario to find the seven star spirits, rescue them from Bowser's evil minions, and eventually use their power to defeat Bow ser himself.Paper Mario is an extremely simplified RPG. Mario has only six essential stats. Mario's heart points represent his health--when it reaches zero he dies. Mario's flower points let him and his sidekick execute special attacks. Badge points allow Mario to wear badges--special items in the game, which endow Mario with new abilities and attacks. Badges can be found, bought, and given to you throughout the course of the game, and they are vital to Mario's development. Each badge has a rating--depending on how powerful the badge is--that requires badge points to equip. The more badge points Mario has, the more badges he can wield. Additionally, Mario's jump and hammer attacks are represented by what particular hammer and pair of boots he has. Mario starts the game with the basic pair of boots and no hammer and eventually finds a powerful hammer and a more powerful pair of boots. These new boots not only boost your attack power, but they also let you stomp through special areas in the field screens. Additionally, the hammer will raise your attack power, and it can also be used to smash through huge blocks that will impede Mario's progress through the game. Once Mario rescues the first star spirit he'll gain star power--a category of special attacks comparable to magic in other RPGs. Mario has a star spirit gauge that will gradually fill during combat. Each star you rescue will not only increase the size of your star spirit gauge but will also endow Mario with a new star spirit technique. Once Mario rescues all of the star spirits, they'll combine to give Mario the star beam technique--the only attack powerful enough to stand a chance against Bow ser and the Star Rod. Mario gains star points by defeating enemies in the battle screen. Once Mario collects 100 star points he levels up. Leveling up replenishes any spent heart points, flower points, and star power, and lets you choose to upgrade one of three stats--your heart points, badge points, or flower points. Unfortunately, leveling up only upgrades that one stat, so you'll have to choose carefully. Also, once you beat the boss of any one area, the enemies in that area will no longer give you star points when you defeat them. This, combined with the slow process of upgrading all your stats, keeps the leveling up in Paper Mario a fairly controlled process, as you cannot become more powerful than you're supposed to be. As such, the game is always challenging--Mario will never beat a boss character without breaking a sweat.
Actually participating in combat is also extremely simple. Mario and his companion stay on the left side of the screen, and enemies line up to on the right side of the screen. Enemies are either on the ground, in the air, or on the ceiling of indoor areas. Mario can hammer the first enemy in line on the ground, or he can jump on any enemy on the ground or in the air. Mario's sidekick has a basic attack that usually specializes in air enemies or ground enemies and an additional special attack. Mario can find special blocks that let him upgrade his sidekicks, which will not only boost that sidekick's attack power but will allow that sidekick to learn brand-new special attacks. Landing attacks has an appropriate effect on enemies. Jumping on flying Guam's will remove their wings and make them ground-based, and jumping on koopas will flip them. Mario will take damage if he jumps on spiked or fire-based enemies. Using the right attack on the right enemy is more important than the raw strength of your attacks, and many boss characters will require you to figure out their weak point and exploit it. This makes the combat in Paper Mario an exciting and somewhat strategic element, as you're never simply using your best attack to kill whatever you come across.

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