| Paper Mario: The Thousand-year Door |
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''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', known in ''. It was developed by Intelligent Systems and released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube Video Game Console in 2004 . ''The Thousand-Year Door'' follows the artistic style of its predecessor with a unique 2D -characters-in-a- 3D -world look, and improved overall graphics as well. It has many In-joke s and references regarding Intelligent Systems' '' Fire Emblem '' series, older titles in the Mario series, and other games that play on Nintendo consoles and Handhelds . GAMEPLAY Unique elements ''The Thousand-Year Door'' has some unique elements which owe to its very singular visual style. The graphics consist of an interesting mixture of Three Dimensional environments and Two Dimensional characters, who look as if they were made of Paper , hence the name. At different points in the game, Mario is "cursed" with abilities that enable special field moves, all of which are based on the paper theme. These include:
A variety of other visual effects in the world also play on this theme. Illusory objects that conceal secret items or switches can be blown away by a gust of wind, as they are actually pieces of paper with the object drawn on them stuck onto the page of the game world. Some switches cause changes in the world in ways that match the paper theme, like a bridge appearing by way of a Flipbook -like animation or stone stairs being folded out from a single piece of stone-colored paper. In battle, when using some attacks, if the player is lucky, the background (and sometimes rocks) will fall down on the enemy like paper and do some damage. Another feature this game includes is the ablilty for the player to control Bowser in certain parts of the game, half of the "Bowser Chapters" have the player control Bowser in a true side scrolling evironment (reminiscent of the original Super Mario Bros. levels, with remixed music). The only Power-up of these minigames is a cut of ham. Several of these can be collected until Bowser becomes gargantuan and invincible. Battle system Battles in ''The Thousand-Year Door'' borrow heavily from the original '''', and '' Super Mario RPG ''. The turn-based system, in which players select an attack, defense, or item from a menu, is augmented by timed button presses that, when performed correctly, can result in substantial attack or defense bonuses. In contrast to both ''Paper Mario'' and ''Superstar Saga'', battles in ''The Thousand-Year Door'' happen on a stage in front of an audience. As the characters perform more advanced attacks, the audience grows, and Star Power is awarded based on the size of the audience. However, when you fail to execute a timed button press in time(such as jumping but not pressing A before you hit), some of the audience members may run away, thus shrinking your Star Power. Having Star Power in turn lets the player perform special moves. The size of the auditorium in which battles take place is affected by the fame ranking, which increases every ten levels up until Level 30. The player begins with a fame ranking of "Rising Star" (50 seats), then "B-List Star" (100 seats), then "A-List Star" (150 seats) and finally "Superstar" (200 seats). Defeating enemies awards various numbers of Star Points to Mario; for every 100 points, Mario is able to Level Up , choosing between three character statistic enhancements. Selecting Health (HP) adds the specified number of points to Mario's maximum Heart Points, allowing him to last longer in battle; opting for Flower Points (FP) gives Mario additional ability to do special attacks or defenses; and finally selecting Badge Points (BP) increases the number of badges he can equip at any given time by increasing Mario's total BP. Unlike Paper Mario, there is NO Limit to the amount of times Mario can level up HP, FP, and BP. It gets increasingly harder to level up, as the Star Point Value for every enemy decreases by one with each level up. Eventually, every enemy Mario fights (including relatively strong opponents such as Rawk Hawk) will only yield one Star Point. However, also unlike the original ''Paper Mario'', all battles will relinquish at least one Star Point, making it entirely possible to continue to level up. Badges Badges are found or bought in various spots. Dazzle will trade Mario Star Pieces for Badges as well. Equipping a Badge can do various things; some Badges provide boosts in offense and defense, some provide additional attacks, some increase the player's character statistics, and others only cause aesthetic changes to the game. There are literally dozens of Badges in the game, and each one has a unique power. Each Badge (besides the ones that only have aesthetic effects, such as the Attack FX Badge series) takes a certain number of Badge Points, or BP, to equip; as noted above, players can increase his or her total BP when he or she levels up. There are also "P" Badges, which have the same name but with a P tacked to the end (for example, Pretty Lucky P) for use by Mario's partner. Several Badges are sold only by Charlieton, a wandering merchant in Rogueport. STORY ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' opens with a short introduction about a prosperous seaside town that was destroyed by a Cataclysm and then sank into the depths of the earth. After the site of the town was completely purged of all evidence of its existence, a new town, called Rogueport, was built there. A legend about a mysterious treasure then soon spread through the town. Princess Peach , who was traveling, visited the town and met a merchant. The merchant gives her a small box, which is said to hold a map leading to a great treasure. The box also has a magical lock which will only open for one with a pure and noble heart. Peach is of course granted with the heart to open the box, and she now becomes in possession of the magical treasure map. Thrilled with this map, she sends it to Mario accompanied by a letter telling him to meet her in Rogueport to join her for a treasure hunt. Rogueport is the main setting of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The town is run by , are not from there. This town is sometimes assumed to be within the Mushroom Kingdom (presumably very very far away from Toad Town), but in-game dialogue contradicts this by saying that Mario actually leaves the Mushroom Kingdom to get there. The town is the hub of the routes to all locations nearby, much like Toad Town was in the original Paper Mario. A long sewer system runs underneath the city and within the underground there is the legendary Thousand-Year Door which is said to hold a legendary treasure. Upon arriving, Mario discovers Peach has been kidnapped by a mysterious group called the , who are also after the treasure on the map. So, Mario sets out to rescue Peach and beat the X-Nauts to the treasure. Each Chapter is a separate story with Mario trying to get one of the Crystal Stars. At the end of these there is a section with Peach, then one with Bowser. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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