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« on: November 07, 2012, 01:15:34 PM »
Well... Looks like whatever I put now probably won't be given a second thought, considering how late I am to see this..
However, these are my favorite games ever. I'll never come across another game series that is as personal to me as the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi games. I'm going to talk about what I myself have held dear all these years concerning these games, and maybe that'l mean something to whoever might read this.
I preordered a game yesterday. And the sole reason for this action was to finally get a poster of my favorite game series ever. A Paper Mario Sticker Star poster, free when you preorder the game. The time I've waited for this particular game is almost unbearable, considering that would be 5 to 8 years. I thought that Super Paper Mario was a great addition to the games, but I still felt that The Thousand Year Door was the last incredibly spectacular Paper Mario game.
When E3 2010 came by, Nintendo announced the 3ds and various games for it, but never did they mention the existence of a new Paper Mario game. The ONLY one thing that told me it was real.... was seeing random video game titles pan across the bottom of the television screen on G4 at E3. It really confused the heck out of me that Nintendo had no interest in even talking about this one title. I literally forgot every single other video game existed for a while when I found out about it. I myself was not interested in any Wii games or anything either. ..I guess I'm just a simple person sometimes..
So, yeah. Paper Mario's like the sh*t to me. I've had to beat the 64 version around 20 times, TTYD at least a dozen, and SPP like half a dozen times. There's more to the Paper Mario games to me than I think anybody else will know. And also, since playing Super Mario RPG for the SNES, I've learned how some people might be letdown when transitioning from SM RPG to Paper Mario. It really is a drastic change to be sure. Regardless though, Paper Mario came first for me, and I can just remember how much I wanted the GameCube sequel when I found out about it.
But anyways, Paper Mario huh. I've played these games too many times over, and I'm not ashamed of it. I don't really think anything I say now though will amount to anything considering everyone's played all the Mario RPGs of course. I will say though that Paper Mario is an experience for me that speaks in a way of not really a typical game would, but how so that it's kind of a whole presentation of itself. I'd say that's what I like about Paper Mario more than the Mario and Luigi games. While M&L definitely can pull out some incredibly satisfying moves, in Paper Mario, instead of taking the gameplay so far, it puts on a kind of performance. A celebration of itself so to speak, and that is definitely not a bad thing in my eyes. Seeing the stage come out from behind a big red curtain, to hear the music kick off in a battle transition, putting on a show yourself as you pick off enemies one at a time... is what truly makes Paper Mario my favorite series of games. It's only the Mario and Luigi games that come so close to this formula after all, which is why I will now talk about Mario and Luigi.
A commercial was the first I heard about Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga. It was a game that lets you control Luigi as well as Mario, and that was enough to make me get it.
Since I didn't have much of an opinion when I was 9, I'll just say what I like about Superstar Saga overall.
I thoroughly enjoyed the catchy music. I'd love to see a new Mario and Luigi game with remixes to the original normal and boss battle themes from Superstar Saga. I can just imagine the fast paced gameplay keeping up with the tunes.
I think about my favorite scene from just the beginning of the game. The scene when Bowser scoops up Luigi with his Cruiser. I can't help but laugh every time it comes to mind. There were always extremely funny instances in the Mario and Luigi games, and I hope to see more one day.
The best minion to ever walk the Beanbean Kingdom. Fawful. His constant fascination with phrases of mustard and fink-rats satisfied me to no end. If I have any disappointments with this character, it's that he was killed off in the last Mario and Luigi game. I probably had the most appalled face when I saw him self-destruct that one day... But who knows? Maybe he really will have the last laugh one fateful day......
I eventually lost my copy of M&L SuperStar Saga one day. I wanted it back so much, that I actually gave a foot high stack of Pokemon Cards to one of my friends who had it just to get it back. I still have that copy, and it still sits on my dresser when I don't use it.
And there's pretty much what I have to say about Superstar Saga. Guess I'll move on to the DS.
Of all the places to even find out about it, I saw Partners in Time on a stupid middle school website when I was doing work in school. After that, I always went to the official Partners in Time website, just because of how exited I was for it, and how much I liked the title screen music for the game.
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time is my favorite M&L game, even though I still find that SuperStar Saga was the best. I positively loved the perspective of controlling not two Mario bros., but FOUR. If that didn't make me vomit with anticipation for it, just the idea of a new M&L game did.
I don't want to keep this up too longer so I WILL say this about Partners in Time. It has the best story of the games hands down. I mean, oh my god, just think about it for a second. Space Mushrooms come to the Mushroom Kingdom to conquer it not only in the past, but in the future. Mario and Luigi not only team up AGAIN, but with their PAST SELVES! And the best part of the story, was the twist at the end with there being a SECOND Shroob Princess all along! I didn't see that coming, not for a long shot. That's probably why the third M&L game kinda let me down in a way, as far as the story goes. The ONLY letdown in Partners in Time for me however, was the alteration of Bros. Attacks. It was a good battle system, but I still could have seen something much better if they'd just compromised the original Bros. Attack system for four bros. instead of two.
Other than that, Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. My favorite M&L game, without any doubt.
And the ending with everybody and their past selves waving goodbye to one another, will always get me.
Always.
Bowser's Inside Story. I didn't think highly of this idea when I found out about it. Mario and Luigi running around in Bowser's body while he did all the work did not appeal to me to say the least. In fact, I would have never gotten this game if a little cousin of mine hadn't forgotten that he'd loaned it to me like two years ago. Still have it, and yes, I've grown attached to it. I've come to greatly appreciate the battle gameplay in this one, and the music that plays (specifically Mario and Luigi's normal battle theme) is highly commendable.
I can't say much else about BIS except I WISH that Fawful wasn't killed off. It was such an incredible delight to see Fawful back in all his furious glory. But now that he's gone, I have to shed a tear off and on for that awesome minion who aspired to be something more fearsome and villainous than what he was at the time. Fawful, you did great being a minion as well as a villain all these years. And if you really didn't get killed off, I'll eagerly await the day you come back to make a wonderfully delicious sandwich of maliciousness topped off with the well known sound of your laughter and beloved mischief making across all the kingdoms. Farewell, Fawful of Fury.
"Paper Mario", and "Mario and Luigi". Two very different, yet very similar game series that have been there to entertain, inspire, amaze, and to speak to so many people across the world in so many ways. After a lifetime of going back and forth between these games, I've become too attached to ever let go of such things. I feel there are lessons as well memories from these games that I should never forget, thoughts that remind me what the essence of these games try to be, and what the games themselves aspire to get across to the player. I feel that to remember what makes video games what they are, we MUST remember the games in our lives that affected us in such ways that make them our favorites. When we remember the good things about games, it's that knowledge that game companies use to create new ones. Without this kind of common sense so to speak, how can we possibly preserve the true future for the games we hold dear, and the ones that haven't, but still NEED to be made? I think that is something that all game companies should hold on to.
Now, to bring this to a close. I don't know how much fun, how long, or exactly how spectacular Paper Mario: Sticker Star will be. But I will say this. I can't ever turn my back on this series, as well as the Mario and Luigi series. Paper Mario, as I've made well known, is something I treasure most above all other games. If there's anything that shows that a game hasn't forgotten what it's all about, I see no reason not to give it a chance. This Sunday, for what seems like an eternity instead of 5 years, I'll finally get to again experience the feeling of playing my favorite game ever for the first time.
And maybe, someday soon, I can finally say the same for Mario and Luigi on the 3DS.
Thank you. For taking so much time out your day to read my comments about my favorite games.
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