Paper Mario 3D – What Should We Expect?

After all, it is widely agreed that Nintendo lost the “console wars” of that generation. Due to this, many people missed the opportunity to play this amazing game and to many people’s surprise the franchise was given a new opportunity on the Gamecube.

Thankfully the Gamecube title, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door took all of the best points about Paper Mario, such as the turn based game style, the quirky graphics and the characters with attitude and added it into a new town with an entirely new storyline. Well, entirely new is a bit of an overstatement, but it wasn’t just Peach being kidnapped in Mushroom Kingdom – it was somewhere else! The series took a new twist in Super Paper Mario, one of the distinctive elements of the franchise was almost removed – turn based gaming and replaced with the ability to be able to switch between 2D and 3D – opening up an entire new dimension in the game play.

So with this in mind, what’s to be expected from Paper Mario 3DS, where we have next to no information available to us?

Storyline

As with all Mario titles in general, there’s only so many times that Princess Peach can be kidnapped with a history surrounding it. Super Mario Brothers on the Wii managed to get away with this as there was no storyline to tell and this was perfect as it was very akin to Mario of old. Paper Mario on the other hand has always been very storyline driven, granted the linear gameplay restricts much, but it’s an important part of the overall game.

Fortunately there are loads of options available for Paper Mario 3DS. Invariably we will see Princess Peach kidnapped, however, this time around she could be kidnapped by an evil version of herself from the “other” dimension just to upset everyone. Alternatively Luigi could be kidnapped and Mario and Peach have to work as a team to rescue him. How about Luigi kidnaps Peach because he’s being controlled by spirits from under the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser is after Luigi and Mario is aware so he’s battling both Bowser and the evil spirits but keeping Luigi close to hand.

They are just a few scenarios that could be seen, each of them are a slight variation on what’s been seen before, but different enough to keep the gamer’s interest. This sort of “new but old” feel is vital to keeping the Paper Mario franchise fresh and interesting without changing it too much from the well formula that people have come to love.

Gameplay

Paper Mario has a style of gameplay that’s unique in the wider Mario franchise. Not only is the 2D style of game an oddity but it’s also the way that player’s battle that makes Paper Mario unique. The battles, for the most part, are not randomly generated such as with Golden Sun or Final Fantasy, the user gets the option as to whether or not they battle. If a gamer doesn’t want to battle that Kooper, they simply avoid it, if they opt to make a few points then they start their first attack and then move into the turn based gameplay style. This makes Paper Mario very unique the wider franchise but also different from a fair few games in the RPG genre.

This unique style was almost removed in Super Paper Mario, as the attack style was completely changed. In Paper Mario 3DS, it would be great to see a return to the older style of play. Not only would this give Paper Mario back its quirkiness, but it also sees a return to a style of gaming that’s not normally seen in the Mario franchise. Although many could argue that the turn away from turn based battling was a good thing, it’s equally argued that it took away the title’s heart. Battling in games such as this is really what makes or breaks the game and to fundamentally change the entire style of battle is something that shouldn’t be done lightly and it’s this writer’s opinion that a return to the older style of gameplay would be advantageous for the series – especially for a handheld title.

Graphics

Since the very first Paper Mario title, Mario has had a very unique look. Although it’s clear to see who the characters are, they have taken a different approach to the character design from the past. One could argue that Nintendo have taken inspiration from a very strong cultural style that’s unique to Japan – anime. Even so, these graphics are still distinctive to Paper Mario and are given an additional edge by the way that Nintendo have opted to stylize each of the characters.

It’s very easy for Nintendo to simply be happy with what they’ve done in the past and to just to add a few more colours to the characters with each new title. However, Nintendo have done more than this in the past, with each version of Paper Mario receiving a revamp to make the game look just that bit better.

With Mario becoming 3D in a 2D world, we should expect to see a revision to the character designs but also the world at large. Whatever Nintendo opt to do for the storyline, it’s going to need to be in 2D, so we may see a world that looks truly amazing. With the finishing touches that only Nintendo seem to do so well, such as the flower boxes having different numbers of flowers in them, or the odd bug that’s not just repeating across the screen. This level of finesse and je ne sais quoi that Nintendo has provided to the rest of the franchise will certainly be seen again with Paper Mario 3DS.

The Inevitable Question – 3D

3D is a touchy subject, many still think that it’s a gimmick that won’t be used to its full potential. Just like many of the features that the Nintendo DS have aren’t always used in all videogames, such as the microphone or being able to close and open the DS case to reveal new information. However, in Paper Mario 3DS, there are many ways that 3D could easily make the franchise much more appealing.

It’s already been shown that Nintendo have been thinking about dimensions with Super Paper Mario, being able to turn to your side and see an entirely new viewpoint is a great idea. It’s something that will be very surprising not to see return in Paper Mario 3DS; however, it’s how it’s implemented that is key. In a title where 3D is the entire point of the game there are going to be many ways that the development are going to try and focus on getting new forms of gameplay across. One such way, which is unconfirmed, could be for each of the backgrounds to be “layered” upon one another. Imagine having a number of paper cutouts and then placing them ontop of one another to create a world, almost in the same way that old animation was done with character cells on top of backgrounds, this could easily be the way that Nintendo opt to create Paper Mario 3DS and then when Mario turns to the side he’ll be able to see a world inbetween the “gaps”.  It would be very easy for the 3D effect to show when Mario is the right way around as there will be a “distance” effect created, this depth will show how far Mario has got to walk in the first instance but then in the second create an entirely new way to play.

The 3D effect can also be used to emphasis certain moves and weapons in battle, such as showing the backgrounds of the battle scenes in 3D and the stage, the characters in 2D and then the weapons in 3D. This would create emphasis on the characters surroundings and the actual battle at hand rather than the characters and the way they battle.  The possibilities are literally endless.

Closing Thoughts

Paper Mario 3DS could very easily turn out to be the best Mario game to date. With many little quirks that are unique to the Paper Mario franchise, Nintendo have got a great opportunity to catapult Paper Mario into the cult status forever with this title.  However, it could very easily go the wrong way if Nintendo aren’t very careful with how they approach the battle system and the implementation of 3D – after all, we don’t want to see Paper Mario in a 3D character form as he’s made of paper!