New Releases 11/13

Well, actually, 11/11 (make a wish!)

Okay, so it didn't release today, but Paper Mario: Sticker Star launched on Sunday for the 3DS, so I thought I'd cover it here.

The Paper Mario series is perhaps my favorite spin-off of the Mario games (okay, it's a toss-up between Mario Kart 64 and Double Dash, really). Most of the Mario games the story goes something like this: "The princess has been kidnapped by Bowser. Again. Go get 'er." The story in the Paper Mario games is more or less the same, except there's actual dialogue and it's funny. I mean really funny. Not a thin-lipped smile like the writing that some games elicit, or the minor titter that a commercial in Grand Theft Auto may evoke, but actual, honest-to-Bob, laugh-out-loud moments. That's right, I lol'd irl.

"3! 3 Goombas, ah ah ah!" /Count

The Paper Mario series started on Nintendo 64, but one could argue it has roots in Squaresoft's Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo. The game was a deviation from the standard Mario formula in that it was an RPG instead of a platformer, with a full-on party of memorable characters with their own interesting back stories and abilities. The game was a collaborative effort between Squaresoft and Nintendo, and would be the last game Squaresoft would make for Nintendo until 2003's Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the GBA.

Stop! Hammer Time!

Super Mario RPG was a hit, and since they were no longer able to work with Squaresoft (the two developers had a well-documented tiff over Squaresoft choosing to release Final Fantasy VII on the Sony Playstation, a direct competitor to Nintendo), Nintendo hired Intelligent Systems to design the spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario.

Besides featuring RPG turn-based battles, the game had a unique art style in which the characters resemble paper cutouts (hence the name) against a 3D backdrop. The combination of art style, gameplay, story, and music delivered Nintendo a hit that they have continued to capitalize on.

Nintendo first released a sequel on the GameCube, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and another one on the Wii, Super Paper Mario. I never got to finish Paper Mario: TTYD. I rented it and was thoroughly enjoying it, but it continued to freeze on my after playing the initial thirty minutes of the game. I loved the first title and enjoyed Super Paper Mario (which was a bit of a deviation from the series, choosing to be more action-oriented than its predecessors by embracing its platformer heritage), so I can safely say that I am looking forward to Sticker Star.

Sticker Star has, as you might have guessed, stickers you can collect that affect gameplay. Some are power ups while others can be used to solve puzzles. The combat is a return to form for the first two games (Paper Mario, and Paper Mario: TTYD) but critics are deriding the game by saying it's too different from those other titles. I haven't played it yet to form any opinions about it, but I know it's one of the few 3DS titles that has piqued my curiosity.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star is available only on the 3DS. It retails for $39.99. If you have a 3DS and Paper Mario: Sticker Star...can I borrow it? Please?