Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Original Black Label) Not Players Choice or Best Seller Covers
From Nintendo
This is the Original Black Label very first printings of this game. These are ones that are not marked Players Choice or Best Seller.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #6460 in Video Games
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
A rare RPG gem in a sea of mundane.
Way before they went overboard on stupid gimmicks with Super Paper Mario, but after they learned their lessons on what worked and what didn't from Paper Mario, we have the Thousand Year Door. The pinnacle, in my opinion, of the Paper Mario series. I'll simply break the game down into bite-size chunks:
Story: This is a far different story than the typical 'Bowser' is the main villian mythos. You are sent to a vastly different land that is the polar opposite of the bright and cheery Mushroom Kingdom. You are sent to investigate the disappearance of Princess Peach and the reason why she asked you to Rogueport to find a 'treasure.' The treasure is rumored to be behind a door that's been shut for a Thousand Years, sealed by seven crystal stars. The final end result of the story is something more deadly and terrifying than Bowser could ever be. Although he does make frequent appearances as comic relief.
Sound/Music: Improving upon the previous title in every way, the game remixes old tunes and comes up with fresh new ones for almost every area. Nothing ever gets repetative and everything suits well to the area it plays for. The sounds are also top notch and don't detract from the overall presentation.
Controls: After a few minutes of adjusting to the controls and literally being thrown into a battle 2 minutes of starting the game, you should slip right into a groove and have no complaints for the rest of the game.
Gameplay: This game has it in spades. There is simply so much to do not only in the secret-encrusted city of Rogueport, but in all the individual areas and towns you will visit. There are so many badges, star pieces, hidden question blocks, trade sequences, help quests, side quests, and mini-games that you won't be bored for a long time. The difficulty of the game is on the moderate side, nothing that you can't complete with a small amount of time spent for level grinding, which is a good thing. Only downside is that some of the help quests can be a bit mundane and boring having you travel back and forth multiple times through the same areas to complete it. Beyond this gripe, which is purely optional and not intended to be completed to finish the game, this game is very innovative, genius, funny and good in all aspects.
A highly recommended game for all RPG fans out there and Mario RPG fans in particular. Especially now since the Wii can play Gamecube games, there is no reason not to pick this up and pop it in the Wii for a great time. Don't rent, simply buy, it will be worth your money.
