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Limitations can, paradoxically, be a boon for artists. Such was the case with the original Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64. The system could handle only so many polygons, and it’s difficult to make a collection of polygons cute, so Nintendo opted to design a world around simple, flat planes. A paper RPG brought to life, the game had a design that was so iconic that it has stood the test of time. Surely, a modern high-definition remake would undermine that, right?
Well, perhaps not.
If it hadn’t been for the 2019 remake of 1993’s The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, it would’ve been easy to doubt that a graphical upgrade could improve an older classic. Generally, players—and the gaming industry broadly—tend to think increased graphical power is synonymous with “more realistic.” Link’s Awakening disproved that by using the Switch’s capabilities to give the game a toylike aesthetic that was vibrant and nostalgic, all while maintaining the feel of the original.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door presented a different challenge, though. The original game came out for the GameCube, the second generation of 3D-capable game consoles, and by the time it did, the aesthetic of flat, paper-crafted set pieces was already solidified. Any remake would have a much more vivid memory to live up to in the minds of fans. Which is why the new remake for Switch feels like such a marvel.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s Added Depth
From the moment I first fired up the new Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, I was struck by how much the world looked like, well, paper. “Isn’t this what it’s supposed to look like?” I thought. But looking back, the 2004 original really just looks … low poly. Don’t get me wrong, the design still gives the impression that you could make these levels out of paper cutouts. It’s just clear that most elements are made of the kind of infinitely-flat planes that only a computer can conjure.
In reality, even paper has depth, if only a little bit—especially the kind of sturdy paper you might expect to build a diorama out of. In this new remake, Nintendo has paid an exceptional amount of attention to this easily overlooked fact—a move that has made Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door the new game to beat when it comes to rebooted classics.
In the original, Mario and his friends are flat planes with black outlines, to give the impression they’re drawings rather than computer graphics. While that design is still present in the remake, you can also see a faint hint of a white highlight around the edges of the character model, much like you’d see on actual paper cutouts. It’s subtle but pervasive, and it contributes to the sense that these models really were cut out by hand.
Every piece of the world has this attention to detail. When you first enter Rogueport, there’s a platform in the main square with a noose on it. In the original, the wooden steps are straight and flat, and everything is at a right angle. It’s fine for a background element, and the flat noose cutout sways in the wind, so the effect works.
In the remake, however, the steps are a little crooked and janky. The side pieces of the steps look bent, like a child accidentally forced it too hard while slotting in the step pieces. It’s standing, but only barely. A mild gust of wind might blow the whole thing over. It might seem unimportant, but details like this make it easy to get drawn into Paper Mario’s world.
This is one situation where the improved graphics of a more modern console augmented the design choices from the original game. Switch graphics might mean Mario and his pals can look more realistic, but in this case that just means they look more handmade, like a paper craft model of the Mario from Super Mario 64.
The rich detail that the remake adds—with more complex models, better lighting and reflection systems, and higher resolution textures—makes the illusion so much more immersive and delightful. It’s apparent in every new setting how much effort was put into re-creating every aspect of the game.
Quality-of-Life Upgrades
Faithful re-creation isn’t always the most ideal way to approach a remake, and thankfully Nintendo agrees. This new version of The Thousand-Year Door comes with a few features that aren’t present in the original but would’ve been welcome additions.
The most useful of these, in my opinion, is the Partner Ring. In the original game, you had to open up a menu to swap between different members of your party. It wasn’t difficult per se, but it was tedious. In the remake, you can hold L and tilt the control stick to rapidly swap partners. It’s a shortcut that doesn’t fundamentally alter the game, but is a welcome convenience.
Similarly, there’s a new option when you fail a battle. Previously, if you lost a fight, you would have to reload from the last time you saved, which could sometimes be annoyingly far from where you were. In the remake, when you lose, you’ll see a new “Try again” option that will bring you back on the most recent section of the map, cutting down on huge amounts of tedious backtracking.
There are a few other features that are welcome additions, like a higher cap on the amount of coins you can collect and a slightly bigger starting inventory, but for the most part, the game is the same as you’d recall from the GameCube days.
Just like with Link’s Awakening, Nintendo has managed to rebuild a classic game from scratch with improvements in only the right areas. The restraint that kept Nintendo from changing the parts of the original that worked is just as impressive as how much effort was put into the aspects that could be improved. Whether you loved the original, or never picked it up, the new Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a joy to play.
