also known as Paper Mario - The Thousand-Year Door
GameCube
🇯🇵
Reviewed in 2004
87
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✪ Reviewed on February 14, 2023
82
Intelligent Systems push Paper Mario higher, a paper-craft RPG that is both hilarious and moving. Playful turn-based combat, varied partners and pin-sharp writing. Arguably the peak of the sub-series, an essential discovery.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player7+
Description
Mario battles villain Lord Crump in this Japanese Nintendo GameCube Paper Mario RPG version. Published by Nintendo, released in Japan in July 2004. Original Japanese turn-based RPG with paper Mario, varied partners and seven chapters exploring different universes.
Paper Mario RPG review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
A whole world folded, cut and glued: paper sets and characters turn every scene into an origami theatre. The creases, the accordion transitions and the bold colours make the smallest battle a playful spectacle. This visual idea, charming and inventive, has lost none of its freshness.
Playful and swinging, Yoshito Hirano's music sparkles with jazz, mischievous brass and rousing rhythms. Each chapter has its own colour, and the battle themes, terribly catchy, make you want to hum between turns. This witty melodic freshness is the whole charm of the adventure.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Timing your button presses in the heart of turn-based battles, playing the crowd on a theatre stage, folding the paper scenery: the RPG grants itself a system as clever as it is expressive. The humour and readability keep every fight alive. Utterly fresh, this cardboard adventure charms genre veterans and newcomers alike.
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Nailing your commands with the right timing, recruiting new companions and pressing on from chapter to chapter strings together rewards and twists with a constant smile. Badges, levels and discoveries keep alive the urge to fine-tune your hero. A few back-and-forth detours weigh on the middle of the adventure, but this mischievous battle loop and the papercraft staging stay terribly endearing.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Seven colourful chapters carry the paper Mario through towns, dungeons and puzzles, for a main adventure that is already hearty. Partners to recruit, badges to combine and side quests add a layer of exploration and optimisation that holds you well past the credits. That balance of humour, pace and richness explains why it ranks among the most beloved RPGs on the machine.
Paper Mario RPG is the original Japanese edition of The Thousand-Year Door via Nintendo with a specific domestic sleeve. Collector value comes from the simple Japanese Paper Mario RPG nomenclature (without the Thousand-Year Door subtitle) and from the JP version being the original before Western localisation adjustments.
Is Paper Mario RPG still worth playing in 2026?
A spiritual sequel to the first Paper Mario by Intelligent Systems, The Thousand-Year Door imposes an ingenious turn based combat system blending active timing and stage mechanics. The sublime paper art direction, memorable characters like Goombella and Vivian, and the ever present humour place the title among the very best Mario RPGs. Often cited as the peak of the sub series, the game remains absolutely essential for anyone fond of Japanese RPGs that are accessible, funny and deep at once for newcomers.
