If you love old school mario platformers and can read...Well you should pick up this game!!
Story:
While on the subject of reading lets discuss the story! First, this is nothing like you have ever READ. Do me a favor, think of every single mario game. Now think of the premise, now think of the most random thing possible...like Corey Feldman naked doing Tequila shots off the belly of a very very expensive hooker; you know the kind of the hooker that would charge you extra for kissing... WHAT?? Seriously, I don't want to give away the story because I hate it when people ruin good stories. So just trust me on this one, the story is fun and exciting and nothing like you would imagine. Lets put it this way, this games story would be closer to a final fantasy or Zelda title than a Mario game; catch my drift.
Gameplay:
Ok now that I'm done ranting lets get to the review. First and foremost, this game is a Platformer with some Adventure/RPG elements. What I mean by this is; Platforming is the primary gameplay element, running jumping, squeezing the life out of goombas and Koopa Troopers; great fun all around. In Mario's predecessors, you ran from the beginning of the level to the end with amazing 2D side scrolling action. The new twist to this game is the 3D elements that has been added on top of the 2D aspect. Which is the case at first, until the paranoia that is "OH crap did I miss something!!" sets in. After a couple of hours, you will begin to realize that every time you enter a new area you switch to 3D; after a while it becomes second nature, but those first couple of hours I personally felt like as if I overlooked something in the level. As I stated this fear is quickly distraught as the level design truly beings to shine. To put it simply, in the 20 so hours I played, I never once felt lost or even confused as to what the designers were trying to accomplish in each level. Which in my opinion is the greats cause of disstress for most games in these kind of games. While I'm on the level designers a giant Kudos goes out to them for such hilarious themes, including: retro mario levels, space, pixilated forest/castle, and countless others that will surely bring a smile to your face. Unfortunately, the only gameplay mechanic that felt tacked on was the RPG elements. In the previous installment of Paper mario, the user could personalize mario in however why they saw fit; did you want mario to be a total badass? Well, it was possible in the previous game since after leveling ever attribute point could go into mario's attack power. This game doesn't allow for that level of customization, instead the game picks a category to level regardless of the event or user preference. I feel, the RPG elements are dumb down and nonexistent; if you haven't figured out yet I'm kind of a old-school rpg fan which is exactly what Thousand Year door was.
Graphics & stuff
The graphics for Super paper mario is exactly the same as Thousand year door. Now I love how the art style is inventive and corky but for all you graphic whores you will probably be disappointed. "OOOH NO A DEVELOPER ACTUALLY TRYING TO CREATE SOMETHING SWEET AND ARTISTIC; NOT JUST PUSH POLYGONS..BOOOOO HOOOOO!!" Give over it and just play this game. The only downer to this game personally is that the soundtrack isn't totally amazing like every other mario game. Its sad because up until this point I have cherished mario game soundtracks; they always seem to bring back my youthful days... ohh man being 5 was totally awesome!! Other than that, the sound effects and overall presentation is pretty sweet and stays true to the mario experience.
Now, I know that many of the Wii games haven't had a great sense of epoch or grand feel. Even though this game and Zelda Twilight princess were originally gamecube games, I will give nintendo the benefit of the doubt and just say that they rule the school like Cory Feldman?? I have got to stop talking about that guy!! In the end, if you like old school platforming mario games with a hint of RPG elements and a pinch of adventuring than your going to love this game. P.S: Oh and by the way, all you tards that think this game has poor presentations due to lack of voice work. Guess what, you have a mouth right, do your own voice work and shut up already about mario and Link talking!!