Super Paper Mario Retrospective and Review - ScionVyse

After the excellent Thousand Year Door, Intelligent Systems decided to take the beloved Mario RPG franchise in a very different direction. Did they pull it off, or did it end up falling flat?

[richardkirkland]

My favorite detail is that after the game, instead of somehow getting Tippi back, you get a robotic replica of Tippi made by Francis.

[stagelights_]

i was actually shocked to hear the 5-1 block pattern was only 25, because as a kid i thought it was like 80

[Phazer]

36:39 finally someone explains this properly - mario might be the player character, but he is not the *main character* of this game! you as the player are thrust into this story and get to make many choices to participate (starting the game saying no to merlon, joining mimi in 2-4, joining dimentio in 8-3). timapni and blumiere are the real main characters of the story, who can never leave its central narrative

[ivanzoneBR]

This is an unforgettable game that I deeply love. You made a really good review of it, but if you don't mind I want to conterargue some of your points and my thoughts overall.
The platforming isnt bad, it works fine, my only problems are the knockback that pushes you away and the fact you get way overleved quickly that makes everything easier.
I get it that the points system isnt that great since it just boosts hp or power when you level up, but since this gives an actual meaning to points that were basically useless in the main Mario series, it didn't bother me.
All the chapters doors being in one place isnt a issue since you can and should use the Pipe that Merlon gives you and you can easily go from a chapter to another. There isnt a Creepy Steeple situation in this game (I will explain what I mean in the TTYD video)
Chapter 2 is very meh overall, but Chapter 5 aside from its atrocious start, is actually a good chapter, 5-4 being in my top 3 levels of the game.
And lastly I praise this game like TTYD because it has a post-game, with new dialogue for characters and plenty of content to do, way more than TTYD even. Games, especially recent ones, feel cheep if they dont give the players nothing substantially to do after beating the game.

[unoriginalusername]

My thoughts on the chapter structure and gameplay: Every other Paper Mario game plays like a JRPG with Mario characters/aesthetics. Super Paper Mario plays like a true hybrid of RPG and platformer. And, while I don't know that it's executed that well, it was a cool and interesting thing to try out.

[CubingEncoded]

This is such an incredible video! Will be watching the other ones in the series. Thank you for the entertainment!

[DTgamer_Shiver-is-best-waifu]

25:13
Link: smashes pots intentionally and gets rewarded with gems inside

Mario/Peach : Accidentally breaks a single vase and gets punished by paying off one million Rubies

[shreksnow]

I played this phenomenal game as a kid when my parents bought me a Wii for Christmas and I’m so happy it was included (also had Super Mario Galaxy and Okami with it. So happy I played those great games as well). I really loved the INSANE story. It was shockingly deep. It’s really too bad that Paper Mario went downhill after this. It’s too bad that they didn’t continue on with the 64/TTYD formula, and make a sequel to this that addressed the various issues. I had a lot of fun with that.

The only other one I played was Color Splash. I thought that one was fun, but it definitely had its issues. I really wish that they would’ve had a deeper story. I liked the witty dialogue that elevated the bland story. One thing the new games do right is adding far more interactivity in the world. It would be nice if we got something with the battles of TTYD and the interactive elements of the new games.

Great video! I will be sure to check out your others. Too bad we don’t have any remakes or hd ports of these older games. More people should be able to enjoy them.

[Ruin]

This game feels like how many times can you jump on wigglers heard from SMRPG to get a frog coin.

[OneDoomedAngelo]

I've always imagined that the Bowser sections in Paper Mario TTYD were the main inspiration for them to turn Paper Mario into a platformer. Back when I was playing TTYD, I always thought it would be cool to see a full game of the Bowser jump'n run sections and with this game, they sort of did it exactly that!

[Royalhanburglar]

Loved the inclusion of secret sprites in this game! They weren’t pivotal but I loved finding them

[treyparkerofficial]

I know I'm late to the party, but this is the first video I've seen from you, but I have to tell you that you are video and narration skills are incredible, definitely subscribed

[IndyGibb]

I’m a third into the video and am glad you aren’t just bashing the game. It was my first paper mario game and my only until just a few years ago when Paper Mario ended up on switch online. I’ve played some of it and some of The Thousand Year Door, and after that, although I understand why many older Paper Mario fans dislike this one and feel it is the turning point in the series, I (who loved the story and wasn’t too turned away by the admittedly not super great controls), loved it and still do. I may edit this comment after the video but I’m very happy so far at the amount of good things you have to say about it. I was worried starting this series you would hate upon it like many people online do.
Edit: After finishing the video I’m definitely going to leave a sub. In the last one talking about the “low lows” at the end, I was worried you might overcriticize this game. I’m glad you didn’t. It’s not perfect but, as you said, it accepts that and ends up still being a real standout in the series. I personally don’t mind the disconnectedness of the chapters, because I never played the earlier games to compare it, nor did I terribly mind the controls. I now understand much of my trouble with the game was due to it’s less than amazing control scheme, but I have also played enough of it that I have gotten used to it. The story is also probably my favorite in any game ever, even over Inscryption (one of my favorite games of all time). I binged your Mario and Luigi series today and am now doing this one, and I really enjoy these retrospectives, so I will definitely be dropping a sub.

[wallygator]

I'm not ashamed of liking this game.

[jimbobgamer]

This is my favorite Paper Mario game. My one gripe is that I wish some bosses(like the final one for example) were a bit more difficult

[gamingwithahandicapreviews]

This game is eighteen years old next year. eighteen! I remember the Wiis launch window like it was yesterday

[EnglishShirashi]

This is my favourite Mario game EVER, the story is just so good!

[goomyiscute]

The Ultimate Show is right up there with In The Final and even Ultimate Koopa for the best boss music in a Mario game ever

[flostafo-chan]

34:32 Little mistake there: Tippi, or Timpani, was just a mere human, not from the Tribe of Ancients, since that went almost extinct in the timeline years later the Pixel Revolution. So yeah, classism. In fact, the Tribe of Darkness kept for longer time since they separated from the Ancients after the catastrophy with the Pixel Queen and blah blah, becoming purists.

Also, we *do* know a bit about what happened to her: Blumiere's father, in a desperate attempt to separate them after not only grounding his son to not leave the castle they lived and even threathening Timpani physically, he managed to send Timpani to travel between worlds endlessly until she ended up in Flipside. That's where Merlon found her and, knowing she was close to death, kept her soul and transformed her into a Pixl. Merlon explains this even when Tippi faints. And it's rummoured that Dimentio was the one who helped Blumiere's father with the task, knowing the ancient who knew about dimentions died and one of his son's survived somehow, becoming Dimentio.

39:19 And Luigi being important for Dimentio isn't out of nowhere, not only by the reasons you gave, but specifically because both Prognosticus say that "depending of which side a certain man of green is, one of the books' prophecy will become reality", which means that, depending of which side Luigi is, one team or the other wins.

Yep, I became a big info dumping fan thanks to the bits of lore you can get in the overworld. Specially with the "the rest of characters just go on the ride", specially when we see Bleck's minions. Nastasia owning her life to Blumiere from saving her from a trap in her bat form (yes, she's a vampire), O'Chunks emotionally manipulated and even potentially brainwashed to join the cause after he lost his companions in a war thanks to an advisor who sold them to the enemy, Mimi being the creation of a witch with the rests of a failed pixel, and of course, the star of the show, Dimentio, who's the son of the creator of the Pixls and almost 100% sure brother of the Queen Pixl who became Shadoo.

[metaltrashbucket]

There's a gas station in the depths of space. Greatest Mario game ever made