Paper Mario (Video Game)

Paper Mario is a role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64, first released in Japan on August 11, 2000.² It is the inaugural entry in the Paper Mario series, a role-playing and action-adventure spinoff of the Super Mario franchise named for its distinctive visual style of 2D paper cutout characters set within 3D papercraft environments.¹ The game reached North America on February 5, 2001, and Europe and Australia on October 5, 2001.²

Origins

The project originated as a spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the first role-playing game in the Super Mario franchise, which had been developed by Squaresoft for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.¹⁸ The switch of Mario’s role-playing line to a new developer was a consequence of the broader shifts of the fifth console generation, during which Sony’s PlayStation overtook Nintendo’s long-standing dominance in the home market and relegated the Nintendo 64 to a distant second place.¹ Contemporary accounts attribute Nintendo’s decline in the era to several decisions: launching the Nintendo 64 in North America a full year behind the PlayStation, continuing to store games on cartridges rather than switching to the cheaper CD-ROM format, a pricing strategy insufficiently complex to hold market position, and high fees and strict policies imposed on third-party developers.¹

Those conditions drove several third-party studios away from Nintendo, among them Squaresoft, the creators of the Final Fantasy series, which moved its development to Sony’s console.¹ With Square gone, Nintendo turned to its affiliate Intelligent Systems to create Mario’s next role-playing title.¹ Intelligent Systems had been founded in the 1980s by Toru Narihiro and had begun by providing auxiliary programming for games on the Nintendo Entertainment System — the Family Computer in Japan — and its Famicom Disk System add-on.¹ The studio went on to develop two successful series for Nintendo: the military-themed turn-based strategy franchise Wars and the fantasy-oriented tactical role-playing series Fire Emblem; the success of those debut installments led the company to expand beyond programming and hire designers, script writers, artists, and musicians.¹ At the time Mario’s new role-playing game was to be created, both franchises remained exclusive to Japan.¹

Development

Production began shortly after the Nintendo 64’s Japanese release, under Shigeru Miyamoto, who stated that the game was developed with amateur gamers in mind.¹ It was initially conceived as a direct sequel to Super Mario RPG, using a similar graphics style and intended for the console’s disk drive add-on, the 64DD.¹ The game carried over mechanics from its predecessor, such as timed button presses that deal additional damage in combat, implemented as a means of easing fans into finding interest in the role-playing genre.¹

Art director Naohiko Aoyama was responsible for creating the series’ distinct paper-like style for character graphics.¹ According to Hiroyasu Sasano, one of Nintendo’s support engineers on the first game, Aoyama believed players “might be getting tired” of computer-generated 3D graphics and thought it difficult for polygonal models to bring out the “cuteness” of his character designs.¹ The title Paper Mario, used for all releases of the series except the Japanese release of the first game — which was called Mario Story — was chosen to emphasize this unique graphical style.¹⁹

CGRundertow PAPER MARIO for Nintendo 64 Video Game ReviewCGRundertow

Release and reissues

The game was released as a single-player title rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, A for all ages by CERO, and 3 by PEGI, with equivalent all-ages ratings across other territories.² It shipped in six languages, including English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, European French, German, and European Spanish.² On the Nintendo 64 it was distributed on cartridge, and later reissues moved to digital download.²

The game has been reissued repeatedly across Nintendo’s platforms.² It appeared on the iQue Player in China on June 8, 2004, on the Wii Virtual Console beginning in July 2007, and on the Wii U Virtual Console beginning in April 2015.² On December 10, 2021, it was added to the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics service for Nintendo Switch Online, released simultaneously across Japan, the United States, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, and South Korea.²

Series and legacy

Paper Mario was followed by five further main entries in the series and one remake, for a total of seven installments.¹ In release order these are Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and Paper Mario: The Origami King.⁷ The series has also crossed over with fellow Super Mario role-playing series Mario & Luigi in the game Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.¹ Four of the entries were made for home consoles and one for a handheld.¹

A high-definition remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was released for the Nintendo Switch on May 23, 2024, and stands as the most recent installment in the series.¹⁵ As the series matured, its visual identity became increasingly literal: the “paper” aesthetic of the later games grew from what had begun as the American title’s emphasis on the cutout look of the original.⁹

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Overview Trailer – Nintendo SwitchNintendo of America