RF Generation Message Board

Paper Mario is a simple and lighthearted RPG for the Nintendo 64.  It is the first game in the Paper Mario series, and it is also a spiritual sequel to Super Mario RPG for the SNES, with many story elements and gameplay mechanics carrying over to this game.  

Platforms
N64
Virtual Console

Checkpoints
Week 1 – Complete Chapter 2
Week 2 – Complete Chapter 4
Week 3 – Complete Chapter 6
Week 4 – Finish the game

Achievements
1. Score 100 First Strikes against enemies
2. Collect all 160 Star Pieces
3. Collect all 80 Badges
4. Deliver all Letters
5. Complete all 20 errands for Koopa Koot
6. Earn the Diploma at the Dojo
7. Take Merlee’s Special Course
8. Correctly answer all 64 Chuck Quizmo questions
9. Transform into 8-bit Mario in the Ghost House
10. Upgrade all of your companions to "Ultra"
11. Score 10 Power Bounces on a single enemy
12. Create all 50 of Tayce T.'s Recipes
13. Locate Luigi's secret diary
14. Defeat optional boss, Kent. C. Koopa
15. Complete the Club 64 side quest and help Pop Diva sing again
16. Defeat optional boss, The Anti Guy Unit

Note:  Progress of many of these achievements can be tracked on a sign in Mario’s house.

Participants
Disposed Hero (1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16)
douglie007
EngineerMike
MetalFRO
Shadow Kisuragi
singlebanana (4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15)
theGrue

I'm in! Obviously.

I'll see if I can't get in on this. I think I have a copy, but if not I'll try to track one down.

Somehow, I've never come across this one for less than $50, so barring an unexpected turn of events, I will not be participating.

Yeah, trending at $30-$35 on eBay. You must be experiencing some "local convenience" gouging. I'll keep an eye out if you are interested in a copy. Just let me know what you are willing to pay via PM.

I would get it on virtual console. I'll jump on there and see what it cost. Never played any of the paper Mario games


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Found my copy.

I played it one afternoon a few weeks ago to check it out and I have really enjoyed it so far. If you like Super Mario RPG, then you'll enjoy this one.

Sweet! Glad you're joining in.

Paper Mario is the "spiritual" successor to SMRPG. I played through Paper Mario: TTYD (GameCube) and loved it, though it did border a bit on sexual innuendos with a particular character.

I just started TTYD recently, I probably won't be going through it anywhere near as quick as a month, but i'll be playing along with you guys in spirit. it's supposed to be very similar to the first game. I already finished the first one last year, otherwise I would have joined in on this one.

I played TTYD at least 10 years ago and thought it was great.  I don't remember much at all about the game though, so I won't be able to provide any insight on any similarities or differences.

I have always wanted to play this game, but I have not seen this one at a price I can afford. I can't wait for when its my month, I hope you have fun with what I got planned.

You all have fun with this one, it looks like a great game.

I played 3/4 of the way through last year. Will sign up and try and get at least one or both of the games done next month.

You know, I loved TTYD but I've never played this one! I think childhood me was mad that they threw out the art style and new characters from SMRPG. Also, we were at peak Dreamcast at the time. Now, I've got plenty of time to decide whether to go original hardware or Virtual Console...

:) Im sucking this year, I haven't finished any of the playthroughs, but I will still sign up :) just encase I do :)

I would like to participate in this, but I have a qualifying question first: I've been casually working on this game over several months, just playing through a chapter at a time every few weeks.  Can I just pick up where I'm at and play along?  Would that be cool?  I would like to actually finish this game at some juncture :)

I don't think it matters when you start it, just that you're participating...

Not a problem. ;)

Sweet, count me in!

The checkpoint for Week 1 has been added to the OP:  Complete Chapter 2

We may have underestimated the length of this game, and it may be tough for most participants to finish the game within the month.  As such, I encourage everyone to go ahead and start the game whenever you're ready.

Have fun!

Checkpoint #1 reached. Anyone else started yet?

not sure if i mentioned already but it took me around 30 - 35 hours to beat it last year, it's not a short game by any means but not unreasonably long either.

i just finished the prologue in thousand year door, for those new to this series if you ever go from the first game to the 2nd you'll be really happy you did them in release order. it's great to see how things have improved and all the new things they added :)

Reached the checkpoint.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!  Glad you're playing Mike. Thoughts so far?

This is probably my third or fourth time playing this game. I have always liked it, as it is the spiritual successor to SMRPG. The fight mechanic is easy as soon as you figure out timing. I also like the Mario and Luigi handheld series.

I should probably just hook up an N64 in my computer room...

As you all know, Disposed and I always play ahead for these playthroughs in order to set the checkpoints and because we typically record the podcast during the middle of the month. As of last night, I've collected the last captive star and am on my way to Bowser's Castle. As you can see, I'm just over 20 hours into the game and pretty sure I'll only have two more hours to play at most. I've finished/been working on a few of the side quests during this time as well and my time includes delivering all of the letters, finishing the Dojo, and doing a good portion of the Koopa Koot fetch quest. I think that howlongtobeat states 24 hours, and I believe this to be pretty accurate in terms of my gameplay. So if you haven't started yet, don't let the time commitment scare you away.


It looks like Disposed has put up the second check point, so let's discuss our thoughts on the game so far through the 2nd Chapter.

Please be sure to check the achievements. We have added a few more since Week 1. I have completed achievements #'s 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, & 14. ;)

Thanks for the info, Rich!  I'm getting pretty close to the end of Chapter 6, and I think my total game time is about 17-18 hours so far.  ~25 hours seems like a good estimate for completion.

hmm maybe my memory was foggy on how long it took me, i'll check my file tonight and see what it was when i finished

Initial thoughts on the game:

Some of the things that I really like about the game are the puzzles and the variations in the worlds for each Chapter you explore. One of my favorite puzzles in the game was Dry Dry Desert Ruins; it wasn't overly difficult, but somewhat challenging (like most of the puzzles in the game). The battle with Tutankoopa was fairly easy especially if you focused on him and avoided the Chomp. I got lucky in that over 75% of his ceiling attacks backfired on him and knocked him down to the lower level (not sure if this is the norm). The Koopa Bros. (an obvious TMNT knockoff) were fairly simple and seemed to be a fair first boss battle. Nothing overly impressive, but I appreciate the game forcing you have implement a strategy early on.

The game has some interesting concepts, especially the leveling system. Unlike most games where your power increases upon leveling, instead you choose from HP, FP (mana), and badge points. It seems that the power structure of your character is dependent on Badges, which is pretty interesting to say the least. I'm not a big fan of the low scoring attacks and a combat system with no crits. Really? However, the combat system is not without its charm and integrates the +blocking and +attack interactive system from SMRPG, which is cool. 

I agree.  Many of the early boss fights are pretty easy, but seem to get more difficult later on.  Either way, I'm finding the boss fights to be pretty enjoyable and among the highlights of the game.


Haha, I also thought of them as a TMNT clone.  Another enjoyable boss fight.


Yeah, not a huge fan of the leveling system.  My biggest gripe is that leveling up doesn't feel as worthwhile in this game as most other RPGs.  Sure, you can increase your HP and the like, but what I really want to do is increase my attack power.  Although, on the very rare occasion that the game does increase your attack power, it just makes it that much sweeter.


Great point about the badges, and it might be worth throwing out some suggestions on what badges you're typically using.  One in particular that I love is the 'Quick Change' badge which lets you switch your party members without wasting a turn.  I never go without it.  I also make good use of the 'Power Bounce' badge.

To me, the "Peekaboo" badge that you trade with Merlow for is essential. I like being able to see every enemy's HP (including bosses) and you can use a companion other than Goombario and don't have to keep wasting a turn to use his ability.

"Pretty Lucky" is another I kept on quite a bit (until I got the upgrade); it causes enemies to periodically miss and without it, you basically always get hit.

"Zap Tap" is another I like and it can keep enemies with multiple melee attacks down to one attack and cause 1 damage for each enemy attack.

"Feeling Fine" is another I always have on hand. It prevents status effects like poison and dizzy and can be crucial in quite a few battles. The latter three are also acquired from Merlow.

"I Spy" is great for later on if you are looking for star pieces to fill out your badge inventory, and only takes 1 BP to use. (badge shop quest)  

I also keep the "Power Bounce" badge on at all times and it's probably the only one I never switch out. (Koppa Bros. fortress)

I'll have to get the "Peekaboo" badge if I don't have it already.  I was just thinking last night during a boss fight that it would be nice to know the enemy's HP, but didn't want to waste a turn having Goombario use Tattle.

Because you have so little BP in the early parts of the game, I have a ton of badges that I wasn't able to use when I first got them and have since forgotten about them.  I'll have to go back through my list and see what's all there.

Well that's the crux of the game isn't it? Spend your levels on BP and get leet offensively and/or defensively, or invest in HP/FP for longer battles. It's an interesting concept and I think it makes most gamers seek to find some sort of balance. I will say this.....there is a 2:34:00 speed run on YouTube. I'm going to have to watch it when I finish. There has to be some sort of exploit using a combination of  the badges.

don't forget about the HP and FP increasing badges, i found those essential as well. with them it made it worthwhile to focus on BP upgrades when levelling, because you can use the BP to increase your other stats. there are some badges, including the FP and HP ones, that you can use multiple of the same badge at once, not sure if anyone caught on to that.

another one that i can't remember the name of but i found extremely useful was one that i believe lowered your HP slightly to give you an increase in attack power. great on bosses, though useless on most battles.

I used some of the HP and FP increasing badges early on, but I finally realized that at 6 BP per badge, that space was better used in increasing my attacks; you can equip about 2-3 badges for the 6 points it takes to use one HP/FP increase. Those badges only up your HP/FP by 5 points (the amount increased in one level up), so they really aren't helping that much when you consider that an enemy can do that much damage in one turn. On the flip side, if you increase attack power, you can take down enemies quicker and not have to worry about additional attacks; this saves you more HP in the long run. If anything, the badges are well-designed in that they are not overpowering, but make you really consider what you need most for both normal and boss fights.

those are good points but i found the HP/FP increases really helpful on some bosses. there were some that i already had all my available attack increases applied, but each time i was dying within 1 or 2 turns of winning. so even though they don't add a huge amount of HP, they let me hold on just long enough to finish off some battles that i was otherwise getting really frustrated with.

on the flip side like i said, some battles you were better off sacrificing the HP for the attack bonus, it all depends on the situation. i just found that the HP increases were usually more helpful than the attack increases.

The Power Bounce ability can be pretty overpowered if you can get the timing down.  I used to struggle just to get 10 consecutive hits with it, now it's not uncommon for me to get 30+ hits with a single attack.  I used it against a certain mini-boss last night and defeated it in one turn.

I guess the only thing keeping me from using it against the tougher bosses are their higher defense ratings.  Most of the hits do 0 damage against them.  :(

Like Mario RPG, I could never really get the feel of the power bounce down. Often doing a double jump would do just as much, if not more damage than 3 power bounces, so I never wanted to risk it. The good thing about this game is that you don't have to use the power bounce and can still do fine in the game. It's nice to be able to do it, but like most abilities, the game doesn't make you rely on it.

wow, i had no idea power bounce could do more than 7 hits. somehow i always managed to lose the timing at the same number of hits.

Apparently the world record is 101.  :o  Yeah, I doubt I'll ever come remotely close to that.

Well, I've been woefully absent for most of this discussion, in part because I've been working way too many hours, had personal stuff going on, and have been focusing my off-time on my Game Boy Guru project.  However, last night I fired up Paper Mario and played for a little while, so I've hit the checkpoints for Week 1 and Week 2, by completing Chapter 4.  I started Chapter 5 last night after that, but died on an enemy in the jungle after saving the first Yoshi, so I have a bunch I have to redo, sadly.  I feel like every time I go into a new area, Mario is underpowered.  If I use a powered up companion, that helps, but it's not until I level up that I feel like I can take on any enemies without fear of dying and having to start that chapter practically all over again.  Maybe my badge layout needs to be tweaked, but I'm using at least one HP badge, and a badge that decreases the damage I take by 1, so that should be helping somewhat.  I guess I just need to keep leveling up my badge points and adding more HP badges.

Are you blocking each time and using star powers? I'd say to look over your badges and try to find a good combination that works well for you. Like I said, I didn't use HP badges but concentrated on offense and defense upgrades instead.

I try to use the maneuver where you press "A" to block, but some enemies it's hard to predict when to actually press the button, so some stuff appears to either be unblockable, or I'm just not skilled enough at it to do so.  In any event, I did get through Chapter 5 on my 2nd try, and had little trouble with the Piranha boss, once I had Sushie powered up a 2nd time.  That "Squirt" technique is killer when you can go full powered and score 9 hits against the boss in a single attack.  Once I enabled that badge that decreases damage by 1, that helped a lot.  6 Badge Points seems like a lot to sacrifice for that, but it really goes a long way to keeping enemies that are hard to block from milking away your HP too fast.

Very nice! That one of the more difficult boss fights in the game. One thing I like is that they get progressively a little tougher as you go along in terms of strategy. The boss fights seem to be well planned out and I think they did a fine job in this aspect.

Also, every attack is blockable in terms of reducing some damage. Even Bowser can be blocked if you get the timing right.

There's also a badge called "Dodge Master" that is supposed to make it easier to dodge enemy attacks.  I've been using it for most of the game, and I feel like it has helped somewhat.

i don't think i was aware of the dodge master badge, that would have helped me a lot. i found the timing for both blocking and the bonus attack damage to be really difficult through most of the game.

I'm not familiar with Dodge Master, either.  Where does one obtain that?

Also, Chapter 6 completed as of yesterday evening!  I haven't gone through the post-chapter Princess Peach portion, but hopefully tonight, along with maybe Chapter 7 :)

Dodge Master is purchased at the badge shop. If anyone is interested in a list of badges and where they are all found, may I suggest.......... http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/n64/papermario/badges.shtml

Man, I haven't checked in at all yet! Just completed Chapter 2 this evening, then checked in with the thread and went sidequesting for badges and such. Snagged the Peekaboo, as per the recommendation, and boy that is helpful. Also delivered a few letters, found the warp pipes from Toad Town's sewer, then delivered more letters. I'm at about 6 hours playtime, it's fun but hopefully the next couple chapters go a bit quicker!

I spent about an hour last night on the first steps for Chapter 7, and realized very quickly that I was lacking the Ultra Boots.  Not sure how or why I missed those earlier in the game, but I'll have to backtrack some and nab those before I can get to the blue door.

Today is the last day of this month's playthrough. Please take a moment to check in and give us your thoughts on the game. Thanks for playing!

So now that the month is over, I guess I can finally reveal my thoughts about Paper Mario.  I really wasn't a big fan of this game.  I elaborate a bit more on it in the podcast segment, but overall I just thought the game was way too simplistic.  That's not to say that I think this is a bad game, or that I didn't get some enjoyment out of it, but this game just didn't quite 'click' with me.  I know that this game has quite a following and I can see why people like it, it's just not for me.

That being said, I hope all of our participants this month had a better experience with Paper Mario than I did.  It's one that I'm glad to have finally played and cross off my backlog.  Good luck to those of you who are still working through it!

I concur with these sentiments and of course, you will hear a great deal more about our thoughts on it on the podcast. Not to worry, we don't bash this game and like Steven, we are glad we played it and got some enjoyment out of it. However, I think that having played Super Marior RPG and then this game, it definitely affected the way I felt about the latter. I think this is a realistic feeling, since I played them in order, but I could see how someone who played Paper Mario first might have enjoyed it more. PM is an RPG by definition, but I think it really struggles (or maybe attempted to on purpose) to adhere to the better mechanics of this genre and just tries to be too "cutesy". That being said, I would actually play another Paper Mario title and have heard very good things about the GC game. I think that attempting an RPG series with the Mario franchise was a great idea and can work if done well and staying true to the genre.

I came in from the opposite direction, having never played Super Mario RPG, and having played the GameCube sequel first, I can see how the original Paper Mario was a solid start to the series, but was lacking in some aspects compared to its successor.  It certainly didn't make enough use of the "paper" concept, and had some shortcomings that I think hold it back from being absolutely essential.  It's not that far off the mark, and I definitely had fun with it, but as I mentioned on the podcast, greater things were definitely ahead for the series.  I did like the fact that it sort of combined some action elements with the battle system, i.e. the "First Strike" system, and the use of the Action Command (though that can be fiddly at times).  The game does suffer slightly from identity crisis, because it tries to combine action and platforming elements with turn-based RPG elements, and doesn't quite hit the mark on any of it the way a Nintendo game ought to.  Thankfully, the light-hearted story, fun characters, and nice graphical style help keep the game fun throughout.  Oh, and the soundtrack is only okay.