Paper Mario is a video game series that is part of the Mario franchise. It was created by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The games mix elements from role-playing, action-adventure, and puzzle genres. Players control a paper cutout version of Mario, often with other characters, as they work to defeat the main villain. The series includes six main games and one spin-off. The first game, Paper Mario (2000), was released for the Nintendo 64. The most recent game is a 2024 remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004), which is available for the Nintendo Switch.
The original Paper Mario was planned as a follow-up to Super Mario RPG (1996), a game made by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Changes during the game’s creation led to it being released as a standalone game called Mario Story in Japan. While the early games in the series were praised, Kensuke Tanabe, a game designer, wanted each game to have different types of gameplay. This caused the series to shift from role-playing to action-adventure over time, though some role-playing features remained in later games.
The first two games, Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door, were highly praised for their stories, characters, and unique gameplay. When Paper Mario: Sticker Star was released in 2012, some players criticized the game for changes in its style, the removal of fictional races, and less original character designs. However, the game was still praised for its writing, music, and visual style. Super Paper Mario is the best-selling game in the series, with 4.3 million copies sold by 2019. Together, all Paper Mario games have sold 12.54 million copies.
Several Paper Mario games were nominated for awards. The Thousand-Year Door won “Role Playing Game of the Year” at the 2005 Interactive Achievement Awards. Super Paper Mario won “Outstanding Role Playing Game” at the 12th Satellite Awards in 2007. Sticker Star won “Handheld Game of the Year” at the 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards in 2012. The Origami King was nominated for three awards, the most for any Paper Mario game. The first two games in the series inspired other indie games, such as Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. Some Paper Mario features have also appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series.
Gameplay
In the series, Mario has a mission to explore the Mushroom Kingdom or a similar world. Each game divides the world into areas to explore. These areas have puzzles and things to interact with, such as obstacles Mario must hit with his hammer to move forward. The locations look like they are made of paper and include coins and collectibles, like hidden trophies. There are also non-player characters (NPCs), which Mario can talk to. All games except Super Paper Mario use a turn-based combat system, where Mario and opponents take turns attacking each other.
The first two games, Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, include features common in role-playing video games (RPGs). Mario meets allies who join him on his journey. These allies help complete tasks and fight in battles, which are similar to other RPGs. Players can choose to perform a regular attack, timing a button press to deal more damage, or use a special attack, which is stronger but uses flower points (FP)—a game statistic. When enemies are defeated, experience points (called Star Points, or SP in the game) are earned. These points make Mario and his allies stronger as they progress. Upgrades for special attacks are found in the game world.
Super Paper Mario, the third game, moves away from the RPG style and plays more like a platform game. Unlike the first two games, which use turn-based combat, Mario fights enemies in real-time while moving through the game world. Experience points are still earned by defeating enemies. Although Mario does not fight with unique partners, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser can be played as part of Mario’s group. Allies called Pixls, which provide abilities for fighting and moving through levels, can also be used.
Since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the games in the series have focused more on action-adventure gameplay. Features like experience points, allies, complex stories, and fictional races have been reduced. Instead, the games emphasize puzzle-solving, a new experience point system, and combat that includes strategic and puzzle-like challenges.
Games
Paper Mario is a role-playing video game (RPG) released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000 in Japan and 2001 worldwide. It was later available again on the iQue Player in 2004, the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015, and via Nintendo Classics in 2021. In the game, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and steals the seven Star Spirits and the Star Rod to make himself invincible. Mario must rescue the trapped Star Spirits, defeat Bowser, and save the Mushroom Kingdom.
Gameplay involves Mario and his allies solving puzzles using their unique abilities. As the game progresses, Mario meets new partners. In battles, Mario and his allies use special abilities that require Fantasy Points (FP). In the overworld, other abilities can be discovered and used in combat.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an RPG released for the GameCube in 2004. A remake of this game was announced for the Nintendo Switch in September 2023 and released on May 23, 2024.
The game takes place mainly in the town of Rogueport, where Mario and Peach find a locked portal believed to lead to the riches of a lost kingdom. Soon after, Peach is kidnapped by the X-Nauts, who want to open the portal. Peach sends Mario a message about her kidnapping and tells him to find the seven Crystal Stars to locate the treasure. During this quest, Mario becomes cursed, allowing him to perform special moves, such as folding into a paper airplane or boat. Battles happen on a stage in front of a live audience. If Mario performs well, the audience throws helpful items or harms the opponent. If Mario performs poorly, the audience leaves or harms him.
Super Paper Mario is an action RPG released for the Wii in 2007. In the game, a new villain, Count Bleck, summons the Chaos Heart to destroy and remake the universe. Mario tries to stop Count Bleck by collecting the eight Pure Hearts with the help of Peach, Luigi, Bowser, and a new ally named Tippi.
Unlike earlier games, Super Paper Mario focuses more on platforming than role-playing. Mario can switch between 2D and 3D views, which changes the game’s perspective. When he switches, hidden elements appear. Mario is helped by allies called Pixls, who have special abilities. For example, the Pixl Thoreau lets Mario pick up and throw objects. Battles happen in real-time in the overworld. After winning, Mario earns experience points.
Paper Mario: Sticker Star is a cross-genre game released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. The Mushroom Kingdom is celebrating Sticker Fest, an event where residents make wishes on the Sticker Comet, which are granted by Royal Stickers inside the comet. Bowser destroys the comet, scattering the six Royal Stickers across the kingdom. Mario, with help from a sticker named Kersti, searches for the lost stickers to fix the comet.
Sticker Star’s gameplay uses stickers found in the overworld, bought from shops, or received from other characters. In battles, Mario’s abilities depend on the stickers he has. For example, a Jump Sticker lets Mario jump and stomp enemies. Other stickers, called Thing Stickers, resemble real-world objects that can attack enemies or solve puzzles. Mario can also "Paperize" the environment to flatten it and reveal stickers and secrets.
Paper Mario: Color Splash is a cross-genre game released for the Wii U in 2016. Mario and Peach find a color-drained Toad, leading them to Prism Island to investigate. They learn the island is also color-drained because the six Big Paint Stars, which give it color, have been scattered by Bowser.
Color Splash keeps some elements from Sticker Star. Mario uses a paint hammer and red, yellow, and blue paint to color objects in the overworld, earning rewards like coins. The player can use the Wii U GamePad to trace holes in the paper environment, revealing secrets called "Cutout." Like Sticker Star, battles use cards to choose actions and targets. Cards can be found in the overworld or bought in shops. Thing Cards work like Thing Stickers in Sticker Star.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is a cross-genre game released for the Nintendo Switch in 2020. Mario and Luigi find Toad Town abandoned and discover Peach brainwashed and folded into origami by King Olly. Other residents, including Bowser, have also been folded. King Olly covers the castle with five streamers, and Mario, with help from Olly’s sister Olivia, works to destroy the streamers and defeat Olly.
Unlike Sticker Star and Color Splash, this game brings back RPG elements. Mario has allies, though their roles are simpler than in earlier games. He uses a power called the 1000-Fold Arms to tear parts of the environment and reveal secrets. He also has a bag of confetti to fill empty spaces. Battles take place on a circular field divided into rings. Players rotate the rings to line up enemies and deal more damage.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, called Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in Europe and Australia, is an RPG released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015. It combines the Paper Mario series with the Mario & Luigi series. In the game, Luigi accidentally knocks over a book that merges the Paper Mario universe with the Mushroom Kingdom, spreading Paper Mario characters across the kingdom. Two Bowsers from both universes team up to kidnap both Peaches. This game focuses on characters from mainline Mario games rather than original series characters. It is the only Mario & Luigi game to do this, with Starlow being the only original character from either series who appears.
Although Paper Jam is a crossover, its gameplay is more similar to Mario & Luigi than Paper Mario. Players control Mario and Luigi, who use their usual abilities, and Paper Mario, who uses paper-inspired moves like folding into a shuriken or stacking copies of himself for powerful attacks.
Development and history
Intelligent Systems was started after Tohru Narihiro became an employee at Nintendo in the 1980s. His job was to convert games from the Famicom Disk System to cartridges. Later, Narihiro created successful games in the Wars and Fire Emblem series. This helped him grow his company by hiring more artists and developers.
Super Mario RPG was the first Mario role-playing game. It was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and made by Square. Square used new gameplay ideas, like timed button presses to deal more damage in battles, to help fans learn to enjoy the role-playing genre. Although Nintendo wanted Square to make another RPG, Square later signed a deal with Sony Interactive Entertainment to create Final Fantasy VII for the original PlayStation. Instead, Nintendo asked Intelligent Systems to make an RPG for their new console, the Nintendo 64. Development began shortly after the console was released in Japan in 1996. The game, led by Shigeru Miyamoto and a team of about 20 people, was originally planned as a sequel to Super Mario RPG called Super Mario RPG 2. It used similar graphics to the first game and was meant to be released on the 64DD, a disk drive add-on for the Nintendo 64. Naohiko Aoyama, the game’s art designer, changed the graphics to a paper-like style because he thought players might prefer "cute" 2D designs instead of 3D graphics. Development took four years, and the game was released in August 2000 near the end of the Nintendo 64’s lifespan, as the GameCube was about to be announced. The game was called Mario Story in Japan and Paper Mario in North America.
At the 2003 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo announced a direct sequel to Paper Mario, called The Thousand-Year Door. A playable demo was shown at E3 2004, and the game was released worldwide later that year as The Thousand-Year Door internationally and Paper Mario RPG in Japan. By the time this game was released, another Mario RPG series, Mario & Luigi, was created for Nintendo’s handheld consoles. The first game in the series, Superstar Saga, was made by AlphaDream and released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Kensuke Tanabe, who supervised The Thousand-Year Door, and assistant producer Risa Tabata were inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto to add new gameplay ideas to make the series more fun. In a 2020 interview, Tanabe said it was hard to keep players interested when games in the series felt too similar, so they tried to make bigger changes in each game’s design and team.
The series changed over time to reach new audiences. For Super Paper Mario, game director Ryota Kawade wanted to surprise fans with new ideas not seen before. When the idea of switching between 2D and 3D gameplay was suggested, Kawade shared it with Tanabe, who approved. They decided to make the game an action-adventure instead of an RPG and added real-time combat. Tanabe asked the writers to keep the story similar to an RPG. Super Paper Mario was announced for the GameCube at E3 2006 but was later moved to the Wii and released in April 2007. The game was designed for a GameCube controller, so it did not fully use the Wii’s motion controls.
Trailers for Sticker Star were shown at E3 2010, E3 2011, and Nintendo World 2011, but the game’s title was not announced until E3 2012. It was released later that year. Since Shigeru Miyamoto was no longer the series producer, he asked developers to use existing characters from the Mario franchise instead of creating new ones. Nintendo’s intellectual property team required this rule for future games. Miyamoto also wanted to change the combat system from The Thousand-Year Door and remove most story elements based on fan feedback.
Paper Jam was inspired by Sticker Star. AlphaDream wanted to add a third button to control a third character in their new game and thought Paper Mario would be a good fit. Every game in the series from Color Splash onward includes a white paper outline around Mario. The developers of Paper Jam needed to make characters from different series look distinct.
With the Wii U’s stronger graphics, Color Splash focused on the console’s visuals and controls. Artists made the graphics look like paper and craft materials, and the Wii U GamePad influenced combat because developers found motion controls fun to use. Producer Kensuke Tanabe limited character design variety and avoided original characters to respect Shigeru Miyamoto. The game was announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation in early 2016. It received negative reviews because fans were upset the series shifted to an action-adventure style like Sticker Star. Tanabe said Mario & Luigi would replace Paper Mario as the RPG series, and Tabata noted Paper Mario would focus more on puzzle-solving and humor to differentiate the two. The game was released worldwide in October 2016 and became the lowest-selling game in the series, possibly because of the Wii U’s low sales and the Nintendo Switch’s announcement before its release. Paper Jam was the last Mario & Luigi game made by AlphaDream before the company went bankrupt in 2019.
This game is an action-adventure. Nintendo also has another series called Mario & Luigi RPG. To keep these two series different, Paper Mario games focus more on non-RPG elements.
Paper Mario: The Origami King was planned for the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros in September 2020 but was announced in May 2020 instead. Soon after the game’s ROM was leaked, it was released worldwide in July 2020. The Origami King is the first game in the series without Shigeru Miyamoto’s direct involvement. Critics were disappointed by the lack of roles for iconic characters and gameplay changes. The game features large open worlds instead of the linear levels used in earlier games.
In a 2020 interview with Video Games Chronicle, Tanabe said he pays attention to criticism but also considers casual players and new fans. The Origami King focused heavily on puzzles. Tanabe explained that he could not satisfy all fans, so he introduced new ideas, like the origami theme. He kept the story simple to appeal to different ages and cultures. He avoided complicated plots because they “led the game away from the Mario universe” and instead tied different locations to memorable events. Tanabe also said it was no longer possible to change Mario characters or create new ones connected to the Mario universe since Sticker Star.
On September 14, 2023, Nintendo announced a remake of The Thousand-Year Door for the Nintendo Switch.
Reception and legacy
Paper Mario received good reviews when it was released. People liked how it combined roleplaying, platforming, and ideas from the Mario games. The writing and characters were especially praised. Magazines like Nintendo Power and GameSpot listed it as one of the best games for the Nintendo 64. In 2006, Nintendo Power ranked it as the 63rd best game on a Nintendo console in its "Top 200 Games" list.
The Thousand-Year Door is often considered one of the best games in the series. Reviewers praised its story and characters. Eurogamer said the story had a playful tone. The new paper-based game style and audience mechanics were also praised. The Thousand-Year Door won "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year" at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
Super Paper Mario received mostly positive reviews even though it changed the traditional RPG style. The idea of switching between dimensions was praised, but some people said the gameplay was not fully developed. Some critics found the story too complicated, but most liked the writing and humor. The game was often listed as one of the best games on the Wii.
Sticker Star received mixed reviews. Critics liked the graphics, world size, and characters, but the lack of variety in character designs and gameplay features like stickers were not well-received. Some reviewers, like Philip Kollar of Polygon, said the stickers added an interesting layer of strategy. However, many criticized the stickers for being limited in use and requiring players to repeat tasks. Fans disliked the removal of a strategic combat system.
When Color Splash was announced, fans criticized it for continuing the action-adventure style. A petition on Change.org asked for the game to be canceled. After release, most reviewers praised its graphics and soundtrack but said the combat was too simple. Some noted that the game lacked a clear purpose. A reviewer from Giant Bomb said the coin system, which let players buy cards for combat, was pointless. He also criticized the character designs, like the many Toads, for being unoriginal.
The Nintendo Switch game The Origami King is seen as a new hope for the series. It added back some RPG elements and removed unwanted features, but it still used the action-adventure format. Reviewers praised its interactive elements, writing, characters, and worldbuilding. Hidden Toads, which had funny dialogue and interesting hiding spots, were especially enjoyed. The combat system had mixed reviews: some liked its strategy, but others found it hard and unrewarding. One criticism from GameSpot was that the character designs were less charming than earlier games.
Games released after Sticker Star were strongly criticized for removing RPG features like the XP system, original characters, and other unique elements from earlier games.
The Paper Mario series has inspired many indie games. Jose Fernando Gracia, the creator of Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling, said the series was a major influence. He noted that the first two Paper Mario games inspired his game's success. Nicolas Lamarche, who is making Born of Bread with Gabriel Bolduc Dufour, said the game keeps core RPG ideas from Paper Mario. Other games inspired by the series include Scrap Story, Seahorse Saga, and Tinykin.
Paper Mario was the best-selling game in its first week in Japan and other regions. It sold 1.3 million copies, making it one of the best-selling Nintendo 64 games. The Thousand-Year Door was also the top-selling game in Japan during its first week and sold over 1.3 million copies by 2007. It is the 13th best-selling GameCube game. Super Paper Mario was the top-selling game of the week in Japan when it was released and ranked third on the Wii in April 2007. By 2008, it had sold over 2 million copies worldwide. As of 2019, it had sold about 4.3 million copies and is the best-selling Paper Mario game. Sticker Star sold around 400,000 copies in Japan by 2012 and nearly 2 million worldwide by March 2013. By 2020, it had sold almost 2.5 million copies, making it one of the best-selling Nintendo 3DS games. Color Splash sold over 60,000 copies in Japan and nearly 1.2 million worldwide by July 2020, making it one of the best-selling Wii U games. The Origami King had the best launch in the series, doubling the sales of Super Paper Mario in the U.S. By December 2020, it had sold 3.05 million copies and is the second best-selling game in the series, becoming one of the best-selling Nintendo Switch games. By December 2022, it had sold 3.47 million copies. The remake of The Thousand-Year Door sold 1.74 million copies within a month of its June 2024 launch. As of December 2024, it had sold 2.06 million copies.
Various Paper Mario elements have appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series. The most notable is the "Paper Mario" stage, which is based on multiple games in the series and includes areas inspired by Sticker Star and The Thousand-Year Door. The stage first appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014 and later in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2018. Ultimate also includes "spirits," which are collectibles based on characters from the series. Three characters from The Origami King—King Olly, Olivia, and Princess Peach—were added in August 2020 after being folded into origami.