Paper Mario (game)

Lin Beifong

Lin Beifong

Iron Chief
Chat Administrator
Core 'Shroom Staff
Retired Wiki Staff
Sorry for my untimely input. I seem to have a knack for noticing things only shortly before or after they expire.

I've noticed that the Paper Mario page has been nominated for featured status. I agree with the opposers that the article is not ready to be featured. But I've noticed that a lot of people were making references to the list of reasons that got the article unfeatured, and I think there's a bit of a misconception there.

The version of the article that was unfeatured is this one. However, I have performed an extensive rewrite of the Paper Mario article in April, which aimed to address most of the flaws pointed out during its unfeaturing. The result of this is a version that is different and does not share many of the flaws that got the article unfeatured.

I'll go through the list of reasons one by one:

The very first thing that I noticed about this article is that there's not a single mentions of items in any useful format. Not a list or table, not a small description anywhere, not even a link to the Recipes page (speaking of, the ability to cook items isn't mentioned as well).
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I've added a section describing how items work, as well as the difference between key items and normal items. Tables have also been added.

After that, I started to look through, and my biggest complaint is with the story: I'd describe it as Beige Prose. Personally, the entire thing is a complete slog to read through, with nothing naturally flowing from one sentence to another and basically no descriptors. I'm not expecting flowery writing like what you'd see from a novel, but good writing is still essential, and something that has me jumping over whole sentences just to get to the end is not good writing. Look at Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Party DS, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for articles that have genuinely-interesting story descriptions.
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I had started rewriting the story summary, but I burned out after Lavalava island and had to stop, so this remains a fair complaint. The rewrite needs to be finished.

Alongside the items, there are actually quite a lot of stuff that's missing: the Letters, the Star Pieces, the Li'l Oinks, the shops, the status effects, an explanation of Badges, a description of the staff that isn't just a list, Koopa Koot's Favors, images for the boss table, the Save Blocks, the Recovery Blocks, the Super Blocks, Merlee, Chuck Quizmo, and I'm positive that there's more that's missing.
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I have added sections explaining all of these things as well.

One more thing that's missing: no gameplay section. Sure, we've got a header for the battles, but how about everything outside of the battles? You know, platforming, the overworld, interacting with NPC's, using abilities in the overworld... That alone is a huge chunk that's missing.
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I've provided descriptions of gameplay both on the overworld and battles. I've also added all the different control schemes, as well as descriptions for action commands and overworld abilities.



So all in all, I believe that continuing to refer to this list of issues is unnecessary. All that the page needs at this point is for the story summary to be finished, and one instance of a red link corrected (by creating a page for the Star Ship). I think the rewrite template should be changed to reflect this, so new users do not waste effort trying to fix issues that have already been fixed.

Once these two things have been taken care of, I feel like the rewrite template can be removed.
 
If we don't already have it listed somewhere, Nintendo Power rated Paper Mario 4.5 out of 5.

EDIT: Here's the actual review:
The game looks like it's for young audiences, but don't let its Yoshi's Story aesthetic lead you into thinking Paper Mario is just for little kids. Sure, the game isn't terribly difficult, but it manages to provide satisfying fun almost every step of the way. If you've ever been a fan of Mario, Paper Mario will deliver the fun you expect from him.

Marioesque touches fill the game, from its worlds of Toads and Koopas to the invisible blocks and panels that you must punch or hammer to uncover secret power-ups. Even the RPG system of battling maintains the Mario feel by letting you interact in the turn-based fights (a well-timed Controller tap will determine the strength of your attack or defense). Surprisingly, Paper Mario is only the second true Mario adventure for the N64. It looks flat, but, not surprisingly, it never falls flat. It's classic Mario.
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Going to do some quick searching regarding review scores.



IGN gave the game a score of 9.0

Paper Mario is the best RPG for Nintendo 64, and moreover, a great entry into the genre versus any system. While the cute, simplified look of the game and its similarly colorful mascot characters may turn off those looking for a Final Fantasy killer, it'd be a huge mistake to pass this title up for that reason alone. For underneath its 2D surface, Paper Mario is a fantastically deep, intuitively designed, and wonderfully rewarding experience complete with enhanced takes on old-school turn-based fighting mechanics and a statistic system that would satisfy any RPG fanatic.

A must buy for Mario fans and RPG lovers alike. And if you've never played an RPG before, this is the perfect one to start with.
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Nintendo Life gave it a 10/10, though this is a VC review.

Paper Mario was, much like Super Mario RPG was to the SNES, the swansong of the N64. It was followed by a sequel, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, in 2004. It's still a frequent debate which of the two is better, though I would have to go with the sequel. Still, the original Paper Mario is also brilliant! Since the Wii can play GameCube games, you can just buy Paper Mario on VC and hunt down a copy of the sequel if you don't already own it. Any self-respecting Nintendo fan should play at least one of them.
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Gamespot gave it a 9.5.

With stunning graphics, excellent sound, and extremely solid gameplay, Paper Mario is a quality game on all fronts. The sprite-based graphics combined with classic Mario gameplay make this a must-own for any Mario lover, and the simplified RPG system makes this a compelling game for both RPG fans and non-fans alike. Games of this caliber are few and far between, and it's too bad that Paper Mario might be the last great 2D Mario game.
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RPGamer gave it an 8.

The Nintendo 64 has catered almost exclusively to the younger generation, with a few notable exceptions, but they are now growing up. As the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube releases draw closer, Nintendo must induct these young players into the RPG community. Paper Mario serves this purpose very well. With all the Badges and helper abilities open for Mario to use, the game goes a long way to develop the problem solving abilities of the younger gamer. For the older, more experienced RPGamers, Paper Mario is a light, refreshing change from the norm, but can easily be completed in a rental period.
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Its Metacritic score is 93
 
Appreciate the research, thanks. I'll implement it when I have the time.
 
Code: 
==Reception==
===Critical Reception===
{|cellpadding="4" style="float:left; border: 2px solid black; width:100%; font-size: 100%; text-align: center; margin:5px;" class="wikitable review_template"
!colspan="4" style="font-size:120%; text-align: center; background-color:silver"|Reviews
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6"
|Release
|Reviewer, Publication
|Score
|Comment
|-
|Nintendo 64
|Matt Casamassina, [http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/02/06/paper-mario IGN]
|9.0/10
|align="left"|"''Paper Mario is the best RPG for Nintendo 64, and moreover, a great entry into the genre versus any system. While the cute, simplified look of the game and its similarly colorful mascot characters may turn off those looking for a Final Fantasy killer, it'd be a huge mistake to pass this title up for that reason alone. For underneath its 2D surface, Paper Mario is a fantastically deep, intuitively designed, and wonderfully rewarding experience complete with enhanced takes on old-school turn-based fighting mechanics and a statistic system that would satisfy any RPG fanatic.

A must buy for Mario fans and RPG lovers alike. And if you've never played an RPG before, this is the perfect one to start with.''"
|-
|Nintendo 64
|Ben Stahl, 
[http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/paper-mario-review/1900-2682319/ GameSpot]
|9.5/10
|align="left"|"''With stunning graphics, excellent sound, and extremely solid gameplay, Paper Mario is a quality game on all fronts. The sprite-based graphics combined with classic Mario gameplay make this a must-own for any Mario lover, and the simplified RPG system makes this a compelling game for both RPG fans and non-fans alike. Games of this caliber are few and far between, and it's too bad that Paper Mario might be the last great 2D Mario game.''"
|-
|Nintendo 64
|Mikel Tidwell, 
[https://www.rpgamer.com/games/mario/pmario/reviews/pmariostrev1.html RPGamer]
|8/10
|align="left"|"''With stunning graphics, excellent sound, and extremely solid gameplay, Paper Mario is a quality game on all fronts. The sprite-based graphics combined with classic Mario gameplay make this a must-own for any Mario lover, and the simplified RPG system makes this a compelling game for both RPG fans and non-fans alike. Games of this caliber are few and far between, and it's too bad that Paper Mario might be the last great 2D Mario game.''"
|-
!colspan="4" style="background-color:silver; font-size:120%; text-align: center;"|Aggregators
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6"
|colspan=2|Compiler
|colspan=2|Platform / Score
|-
|colspan=2|Metacritic
|colspan=2 style="background-color:gold"|[http://www.metacritic.com/game/nintendo-64/paper-mario/critic-reviews 93]
|-
|colspan=2|GameRankings
|colspan=2|[http://www.gamerankings.com/n64/198849-paper-mario/index.html 88.81%]
|}

I've started assembling the reception table. Maybe it'll save some time.
 
I think we should follow the "Ignore All Rules" advice from Wikipedia and force renominate the article if the nomination fails (which I think will).
 
I've contacted the administration and asked if an extension of the deadline is possible, considering how this is a special case. I'd rather wait for their input before anyone goes rogue.

EDIT:
So, discussion on what exactly to do is still going on, but for now the general consensus seems to be to at least wait for the removal of opposes to run its course.
 
My suggestion to this issue is

The 24-hours wait time to remove oppose votes will apply as it normally would, ignoring the nomination deadline. If an oppose review their vote and decide to keep it, the nomination fails as normal. If they don't respond or all of them rescind their vote, then a new nomination can be made right away.
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So, since 24 hours have passed since the necessary amount of votes for the removal of opposes has passed, and all opposes have been removed, I've archived the previous nomination and created a new one.

I hope that is ok.
 
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