Despite the fact that the successor to Nintendo Switch is already on the horizon, mentioned by Nintendo itself and due for release in 2025, the Japanese company's hybrid console continues to thrive. Completing its catalog with great titles that continue to capture the attention of new players seems to be the company's goal for the remainder of 2024, with the firm intention of making its system the best-selling of all time, surpassing PlayStation 2 and its 160 million consoles sold worldwide.

To achieve this, Nintendo is turning to its existing big franchises, with a particularly aggressive commitment to the Mario factory which, after the release of its film adaptation, is experiencing a second youth in the video game sector. As the arrival of new installments that already seem destined for Nintendo Switch 2 is being prepared, the latest title to join the current generation catalog is the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, which allows us to relive one of the brand's best-regarded spin-offs throughout its more than four decades of existence.

A great adventure in origami style

If there's one thing the Mario factory is known for, it's having titles for all tastes that capture the attention of different types of audiences. While the main titles boast a great deal of originality through the classic platformer concept, be it side-scrolling like the fantastic Super Mario Bros. Wonder, or 3D adventures like Super Mario Odyssey, the spin-offs tend to take more risks in order to offer something different from the more conservative titles. And this is exactly where Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door comes in.

Born in the heart of GameCube, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door became one of the spin-offs that stood out the most at the time with a really original concept that impressed players with the depth of its story and the inclusion of new characters that accompany Mario on his adventure, adding interesting experiences and abilities that were far from what had been seen before. This is the fourth title based on the RPG genre, one of Mario's favorites after platformers, and the second under the Paper Mario brand, after the release of the first installment in 2000 for Nintendo 64.

The particularity of this type of videogame is its own conception, because although it fulfills many of the characteristics of a classic RPG, its world is created entirely out of paper, as if they were origami figures that come together to form a whole; in fact, this construction on paper is fundamental for the functioning of some of its main mechanics, allowing Mario to adopt the shape of a paper plane or even to go through small spaces by becoming as thin as a sheet of paper.

To this end, the characters that accompany him also play a fundamental role in the development of the title, allowing him to acquire new abilities that influence the environment to get information about enemies and certain places, as well as to reach objects and switches necessary for the resolution of puzzles that are far from the plumber's reach, among many other things. One of the great strengths of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is its ability to build a world that feeds on everything new that’s introduced to the player's controls to make it completely organic, like the pages of a book that’s written with the player’s every action.

Nintendo's theater of dreams

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is one of the most beloved games in the GameCube catalog and one of the highest-rated Mario spin-offs of all time. It was certainly one of the most original in its conception at the time and managed to elevate the brand's video game qualities beyond the platform games, which at the time were triumphing with well-remembered titles such as Super Mario Sunshine. And it did all of this through its theatrical construction that invites the player to enter into a piece of theater in every fight.

This is because battles in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door feature audiences watching the actions of the main characters, Mario and a single companion, and the opponents, allowing them to act directly on what happens on stage. Therefore, their applause and cheers serve to unlock a special power that can tip the balance of each fight in the player's favor, although it can also become a double-edged sword, because some of those attending the play can attack the allied group by surprise, generating unexpected damage that can be crucial to the resolution of the battle, something that takes on a greater dimension in boss fights.

Nintendo's great work with this game translates into an original videogame that manages to bring out the best in Mario, with irreverent humor and a very interesting story, controlling various characters such as Mario himself, Peach, and even the villainous Bowser to make up one of the most complete titles in the RPG sub-series from the Japanese firm. Now, its resurgence in the form of a remake serves to remember times past and allow new generations to enjoy its great performance before bearing down the curtain on a Nintendo Switch that continues to accumulate successes before closing its adventure in the sector.