Paper Mario: Sticker Star (Nintendo 3DS) Review by James Denham

(Fawfulthegreat64)
Warning: There will be spoilers in this review, so if you have not played or
beaten any Paper Mario games, especially Sticker Star, be warned.
Chapter 1: The First Three Games
Before we get into this game itself, we must familiarize ourself with the series
it is a part of. Starting with Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64, Nintendo and
Intelligent Systems began creating a series of spiritual successors to Super
Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Super Nintendo.
Paper Mario introduced a new design of Mario and friends. They were now flat
paper cut-outs in a diorama-style 3D world. The story was rather simple for
an RPG, but still worked well for the game it was in. Bowser has kidnapped
Peach once again, but this time he has also stolen a magical artifact called
the Star Rod, which can grant any and all wishes. Mario rushes in to save the
day, but due to his enemy's increased strength, he fails to rescue the
princess and is knocked out of the sky castle.
In Paper Mario, Mario must rescue seven Star Spirits, the guardians of the
Star Rod that are the only ones with the power to breach the invincibility it
grants Bowser. They have all been captured by Bowser's underlings and are
being held in seven locations throughout the Mushroom Kingdom.
Combat in this game is turn-based, but not your typical JRPG layout. Mario
can have a single party member out at a time, and everyone has their own
unique moveset in battle. Mario can jump and use his hammer. He can also
wear Badges found in the overworld that increase the power of some attacks
or grant him new ones. Powerful attacks require Flower Points to be used,
which can be healed by items similarly to health. Each partner also has
special moves only utilized by that character in battle. The first party
member, Goombario, also has a Tattle ability that is used to describe enemies
and reveal their health, power and defense.
In the overworld, each partner is used in one specific way to progress. For
example Kooper the Koopa can get inside his shell and be kicked to hit
objects Mario himself can't reach. Parakarry the Paratroopa can carry Mario
across gaps, and Bow the Boo can make Mario invisible to avoid enemies.
Many of these moves can also be utilized in battle. There are numerous
sidequests and optional bosses in this game, and that does not change in the
sequel, The Thousand-Year Door.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, often called Paper Mario 2 or TTYD, has
a much more complicated plot than its prequel. Unlike before, Bowser is a

side villain this time, while the main threat is a new organization of extraterrestrials called the X-Nauts, led by Sir Grodus, whose goal is to gather the
seven Crystal Stars required to open the titular Thousand-Year Door which
supposedly has a great and legendary treasure behind it. As part of his grand
plan, he captures Princess Peach after she sends the Magical Map to Mario.
The gameplay is largely the same as in the previous game. Mario can use
variations of the Jump and Hammer commands in battle along with Star
Power and items, although this time there is an Audience that can
significantly affect the battle depending on whether you please them or not.
Badges also return, filling the exact same role as in the previous game.
Then came the controversial third title, Super Paper Mario. Many fans bought
this game expecting more of what the first two games had in store and were
disappointed because in fact, the entire turn-based battle system was
scrapped in favor of a platforming-focused game.
That said, it still stayed true to the rest of the Paper Mario formula, even
improving in some ways, such as the story. I won't spoil the whole thing, but
the villain of this game, Count Bleck, plans to destroy all dimensions and the
entire multiverse. Trust me, this game gets extremely dark, especially in later
chapters. It also features one of the best (in my opinion of course) plot twists
in Paper Mario history. Let's just say when all is said and done, I felt sorry for
the villain, which is a rare thing for a series like this.
The gameplay, while different, was still fun and innovative. Levels would
primarily appear as a side-scrolling platform level, but Mario has the ability to
flip dimensions and go from 2-D into 3-D. This changes the perspective and
allows for some clever puzzles. Princess Peach, Bowser, and Luigi are also
playable in this game, the latter being for the first (and currently only) time in
the series. A few RPG elements returning from previous Paper Mario games
were the enemy designs, the use of items (though badges were scrapped),
the ability to sleep in an inn, and more, some altered to accomodate for the
gameplay changes. While it is my personal favorite in the series, it's still very
easy compared to its predecessors. But enough about this game. This review
is about Sticker Star, so let's move on to just that.

Chapter 2: Story
Simply put, there is no story in this game. But for the sake of neutrality, I will
summarize the plot:
It's the night of the Sticker Fest, where the Sticker Comet appears and all the
Toads are gathered with Princess Peach to make a wish. Suddenly, Bowser

appears and tries to nab the comet. After a failed attempt to stop him by two
Toads, he touches the comet, and it blows up. Five Royal Stickers scatter
across the Mushroom Kingdom and the sixth one somehow lands right on
Bowser's head, turning him into an uber-powerful godlike monster. Mario
attempts to jump on his face, but ends up crumpled on the ground in the
midst of the trashed festival.
That's... it. The plot is referenced a whole two times throughout the whole
game, and other than that you're just collecting the Royal Stickers with
minimal dialogue (really the only significant text is when reading signs or in
the rare scenario of a sub-plot, such as when the only partner in the game,
Kersti, gets separated from you and you have to rescue her)
The final battle sequence is extremely underwhelming compared to even the
first Paper Mario. The twist is quite literally the same one I've seen in
countless Mario games: Bowser is defeated and disappears, then he comes
back huge. This time it's not even explained, it just happens. Cue one of the
most forced moments in Paper Mario history: Kersti's sacrifice. If you recall
Super Paper Mario, there was a very emotional heroic sacrifice at the end.
Well imagine if they took that, and applied it to one of the most unlikable and
useless characters in the series. Then acted like it's the saddest thing ever. To
top it off, she doesn't even stay dead. Mario gets to wish on the Sticker
Comet to bring her back after beating Bowser. You know, because of the
"happy ending for all" thing. It might have meant a little more to me if the
sacrifice had been final, but nope, Nintendo doesn't have the balls to kill off a
protagonist in a Mario game any more.
The story is crap and it's my main complaint with this game. I'm being very
generous when I give it 3 out of 10 stars.
Chapter 3: Gameplay
The gameplay revolves around the stickers that were scattered around the
land in the process of the excuse plot being put into motion. They are Mario's
battle commands. Quite literally in fact. There are no options to use your
hammer or jump without using up a sticker. If you run out of stickers, you
must run from battle (and even bosses allow this), or block an enemy attack
and hope the game is generous enough to drop you a crappy sticker as
reward.
That said, it still plays quite well for what it's worth. While non-boss battles
are unnecessary and only serve to waste stickers due to the lack of an
experience system, I find myself battling enemies anyway since it is still an
enjoyable experience and can actually help clear out stickers to make room
for more.

Stickers come in various tiers. We have Worn-Out stickers, which are the
weakest variety. Then we have normal ones, Shiny ones, and Flashy ones,
each more powerful than the previous. They also come in Big varieties, which
are more powerful than their small counterparts. Mario can also find "Things"
in the overworld, which are gigantic real-life objects like fans, scissors and a
"Cat-O-Luck." While initially useless, Mario can convert them to stickers by
throwing them at a special wall, allowing for their use in battle.
Some stickers have overworld uses too. Kersti does not fight with you in
battle, but she allows you to "Paperize" and place stickers in the overworld,
causing various effects. However place the wrong sticker, and it is discarded
rather than returned to you. You can also find ripped voids in the world, which
require Scraps to patch. For example, if you find a Scrap that looks like a
bridge, and there's a void preventing you from crossing a river, you can fill
that void by placing the bridge scrap there and creating the bridge.
The gameplay is flawed, but rather addicting nonetheless. It's fun to pick up
and play, but I can't say it holds a candle to the first two Paper Mario games,
or even Super Paper Mario. Overall the gameplay gets 7 out of 10 stars.
Chapter 4: Presentation
Ah, here we have one of the better things about this game, the presentation.
It's awesome to look and listen to. The music is upbeat and one of the few
things that Sticker Star may have the best of in the series. The game feels
more papery than any of the previous entries, in which the "paper" in the title
just referred to the characters being flat. In this game, every detail is
designed to look like it's in a cardboard or paper world. From the stickers
themselves, to the Bowser Tape, to the very ground Mario walks on, nearly
everything is made of some sort of paper, and even the sound effects reflect
that. Even fire is papery in this game. It lives up to its title well. What a
shame it didn't live up to the legacy of the Paper Mario name. The overall
presentation gets 8 out of 10 stars.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Sadly, despite having an amazing presentation and decent gameplay, the
story really brings it down. Normally this would not be too much of a deal
breaker, but this is an RPG series we're talking about, and one that has
always had at least a passable story. Paper Mario 64 may not have had the
best story in the world, but it wasn't cringeworthy. Overall I am sad to give
Paper Mario: Sticker Star a 5 out of 10 stars. Buy it if you're a hardcore Paper
Mario fan and/or a Nintendo collector, but don't go into it expecting any
dramatic plot twists like the last two entries, but rather a typical New Super
Mario-type story. It's enjoyable but still a disgrace to many fans of the series.