Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - DF Switch Review - Brilliant Visuals... At 30FPS

Nintendo returns to its classic library once again to revitalise a brilliant, older game with vastly superior visuals. However, a GameCube original that ran at 60 frames per second only runs at 30fps on Switch. Tom Morgan stacks up the new version of the game up against the original - the visuals are obviously a massive improvement, but to what extent does Paper Mario *need* to be a 60fps game?

00:00 Overview
03:03 GameCube vs Switch Visual Upgrades
08:47 Performance Testing
10:24 Final Thoughts

[DeBron]

can't believe Nintendo are selling us cardboard again

[AnimeUniverseDE]

Hopefully this game getting a remake is an indication of where the paper Mario series is headed, because I want more games like TTYD

[rhoharane]

SSR makes sense. they're making it look like glossy magazine prints that you'd arts-and-crafts into a diorama, not the real world materials. The complaint that "they don't look like stone" doesn't make sense because that was never what they were going for.

[samuxan]

This way of showing the differences is more compelling than the usual videos

[Phelaidar]

Honestly, I love the reflection, as it reminds me of shiny paper from magazines.

[RidingADream]

I am a veteran Paper Mario fan - was raised with the original N64 one and I have played all games many times. I need to say that the 30 frame rate is obvious and kinda spoils the experience for a veteran. For most people it’s absolutely fine and they will never notice. But for someone who has played the TTYD for years, it rubs you the wrong way.

Visually-wise, the game is stunning. The Origami King engine is heavily used (I’m shocked people thought they would use the old engine) and it’s utilised fantastically! It’s a clear preference tho, I still prefer the original art style in almost all areas. The Origami King is my second favourite Paper Mario after the N64 one, but the seeing its engine to a classic is a bit of shock to me.

In conclusion, we got a fantastic remake of a classic Paper Mario game. It could be a bit better. Switch offers 3 entries of the paper Mario games and I highly recommend to play all of them!

[GreatWalker]

30 FPS is a real downgrade. They are going for realism but 60 FPS add more to that effect than SSR and SSAO, imo. Using baked AO would be more than good enough.

[CryZe]

It turns out that it's using the Origami King engine internally, so it's a full remake.

[AceofShadow]

Hoping they copy Sony and Microsoft and give it a 60 FPS Patch on Switch 2.

[rLgxTbQ]

I wish devs would stop throwing the kitchen sink of Unreal Engine effects at every game they make

[CaptToilet]

Remake or not, it is still very odd the framerate gets cut in half yet a game like Metroid Prime Remaster is 60fps and graphically superior. Very odd indeed

[DenkyManner]

The reflections are an interesting choice. They decided everything was made of glossy paper. Not sure that's a justifiable choice in all cases.

[Mucrush]

There's no way anyone can still only consider this a remaster... when most assets are remade from scratch, then its a remake (and its also running on the Origami King engine)

[brijorff]

Thousand Year Door and Metroid Prime are looking so beautiful. Great time to be a Nintendo fan! Please do Metroid Prime 2!

[Pikaso]

I hope the switch 2 will be able to play switch 1 games with next gen patches. 60 FPS is a must in my opinion.
I mean even games like the Links Awakening Remake struggled quite a bit, which is a shame. Those games deserve better framerates, or even higher resolution.

[HoroJoga]

Maybe they could've put a toggle to 60 FPS on the menu with the trade off of having less SSAO effects across the board.

[cannonbyrd]

The ssr is really overused. Like I can get the stone being reflective cuz it's next to a dock. But the grass? And yet it could be foil in universe, but maybe they could just make the ground out of something different for variety.

[lammyjammer]

This type of remake blurs the lime between memory and reality. For someone recalling both of these they might as well be the same game in hindsight, which is brilliant!

[ClaspedDread]

I do wish it was at 60 FPS. The original feels so smooth and snappy because of that. Its not a dealbreaker of course, but i will always prefer a higher frame rate over visual quality. Every game just feels better to play at 60 over 30, it doesn't matter what genre.

I think people are just upset about it because the original game was able to do 60 on hardware that is over 20 years old. If the original game was at 30, i think most people wouldnt complain too much. It's fair to expect a system that released 16 years later to at least match the original game's frame rate.

[DexSS]

I think the idea with the SSR on the floors (seems clear that this is the case) is that it's a shiny cardstock paper finish over that of what the art on it is depicting... It's not stone, it's shiny paper with a stone print. It's not grass, it's shiny paper with a grass print. Etc...