Super Paper Mario is a great way to get your Mario fix while awaiting Galaxy.
The evil Count Bleck is trying to evaporate the entire world. Mario, with the help of some new creatures called "Pixls" (think different abilities, but embodied in fairy form) and some other Mushroom Kingdom personalities must band together to keep the Count from negating all existence.
There are various reasons why Super Paper Mario can be called a "unique platformer." First of all, when Mario jumps on the heads of enemies (because, let's face it, that's what Mario does best) he doesn't just smash them, but instead takes away some of their hit points. Smaller enemies can be killed in one hop, but the bigger ones usually need a bit more than that. Every time you kill an enemy, you get experience points that allow Mario to level up. All of these RPG elements really spice up the traditional platforming style of the game, and make the game feel surprisingly fresh.
Mario has the ability to flip his world into 3D, allowing easier access around pipes or enemies. While this is a really good idea, and very exciting for the first few hours, switching back and forth throughout the game to solve puzzles or jump around a level just gets really annoying. It's one of those ideas that is cool in concept, but doesn't make the game any more fun.
SPM is pretty long, with the main quest taking you anywhere from 15 to 20 hours to complete. Apart from the main quest there are a few different things game completists are going to feel like they have to do. First off, when you collect various food items in-game, you can take them to the chef in town to make a new item. Every time you make a new item with her, she writes down the "recipe." There are 96 recipes in all.
Another side quest involves card collecting. Throughout the levels, you will find cards with (usually) the face of a particular type on enemy on them. The cards are useful because it allows you to have stronger attacks against the enemies that you have cards for. Also, if one were so inclined, one could search for all 250+ cards in the game (some of them being very rare). It seems like a tedious task to someone such as myself, but I can see where maybe this could be done if you have a really boring week sometime this summer.
The graphics of the game are very unique, but by no means does anything in the game push the Wii's hardware to new heights. The art style is charming with its childish qualities, but at the same time, it would be nice to see what my $250 gaming machine is REALLY capable of.
All in all, I think this game is a very good addition to any Wii collection. It will last you a good chunk of time, it's fun, and hey, it's Mario. For some, that is reason enough to pick up this title.