Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

GCG0038 - Developed by Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. and published by Nintendo of America Inc., "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door" was released on October 11, 2004. This new Mario 3rd-Person Perspective RPG is truly inspired. The scenario is that a thousand years ago a city was buried and subsequently another town was built on top of it. All that remains of the previous city is a mysterious door, and no one knows what secrets lie behind it. Princess Peach finds a map and mails it to Mario, so Mario sets off to Rogueport to meet Princess Peach. unfortunately, Princess peach has gone missing. Mario shows the map to Goombella, who takes Mario to an archeology professor who takes Mario to the thousand-year door. When Mario stands in front of the door, the map begins to show the locations of stars which open the door and the adventure begins. The story line is typically great as in any Mario game, but it is the smaller subplots that make "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door" so charming, memorable and challenging. I don't want to spoil anyone's fun by describing the diverse episodes, because each provides a thrill of contrast and discovery. All I will say is that this game has beautiful visuals, is inventive, challenging and full of personality. Like any great RPG, game-play is spent exploring the various environments you will find yourself in, jumping from platform to platform, encountering and battling enemies, and gaining experience levels and new skills. But unlike many other RPGs, "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door" doesn't play like or feel like an RPG, but much much more. The reason why Paper Mario is so successful and popular is because it doesn't limit itself to standard RPG conventions. There is a lot of variety and diversity in what you can do, and the game never feels like you are mired knee-deep in mud. There are hidden switches or passageways you must find and you may need to navigate around certain dangers. And in battle mode, Mario keeps the crowd happy by executing action commands (hitting buttons at the right time during his attacks). Having to time exactly when to press your button is what really helps make Mario's battles an active and entertaining aspect of this game. And though a turn-based battle system, it never feels random, obligatory or unfair. And there is a crowd. If the crowd gets rowdy, they will throw things at Mario. The player can attack the crowd at this time. Mario isn't always alone, several funny and unique characters join him in his adventure sometimes. And all of them have special abilities that can be used effectively to help Mario. On the whole, the world of The Thousand Year Door is a great experience that was brilliantly imagined and consummately realized. This game is brimming with fantastic funny characters, and it's a tribute to great programming that its length doesn't make it tedious, but challenging. If you like any of Mario's past games and adventures, you must try Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. it will not disappoint. Pre-owned. Includes case, disk and instruction manual - Plays on Gamecube or Wii - Rarity Rating D