Super Paper Mario Appreciation/Discussion
Okay so Super Paper Mario not only was my first Paper Mario game, but it is the only one I've ever played, which obvi feeds into my strong opinion of it. I came onto Reddit, hoping to see memes, people talking about favorite moments, and screenshotting some of the dialogue differences depending on which character you are at specific points of the story. Instead, I was met with everyone saying it's the worst Paper Mario (other than Sticker Star?) to date and the only positive posts I see have people in the comments saying, "that isn't a hot take. SPM is universally loved," so you can hopefully understand my confusion.
(Feel free to skip to the last two paragraphs to avoid reading my whole ode to the game)
Anyways, I absolutely adore the game in nearly every aspect; storyline(s), music, art style, 3D/flipping mechanics, and pacing. I did see people critiquing the combat, which I will say I agree with as someone who wholeheartedly loves the game. The combat did leave a lot to be desired, but the Pit of 100 trials (both Flip and Flopside) do help make you hate it a lil less because there is some degree of strategy required to come out alive. Dashell is also a worthwhile reward because the movement speed in the game is annoyingly slow for patches when you just need to run straight for a while.
As for storyline, people also crap on that a lotttt. But, I notice they mainly complain about the main storyline. This game's charm comes from the adventure itself and all the little storylines that you encounter up until the final battle. The ones that stick out the most to me for emotional beats are the Cragnons/Florosapiens, Squirp, and Luvbi storylines.
The first time I played the game, I was beating myself UP over killing King Croacus IV ;-; I cannot believe we as the main character screwed up so badly and it just speaks to how people in the real world are quick to pinpoint the good guys as bad. A costly mistake. As for Squirp, I thought he was so annoying at first xD but then at the end when he becomes a statue and joins his mother, Squirpina XIV, it just is such a fitting end for him. You also get another thrill/jolt of how important this mission of extracting all the pure hearts is and how everyone needs to play their part, reaffirming this sense of urgency to hurry and save all worlds.
Then Luvbi...oh Luvbi. The first time I did that storyline, I sobbed like a baby. How much of a crazy twist was it that she was the pure heart all along...and how Queen Jaydes and Grambi were so devastated to let her go, but ultimately knew it was their responsibility. The way she pretended to hate them in the end to make it easier for them to let her go, only to ultimately admit she loved them before taking on the Pure Heart form. It tugged at my heartstrings something fierceeee.
All of these storylines along with the heart-wrenching ending of letting Tippi and Bleck go back to being Lady Timpani and Lord Blumiere after getting fragments of their love story was nothing short of a beautiful melancholy. And then there's the music. The fact that Timpani and Blumiere's memory theme uses the same notes as Count Bleck's theme, just sped up and twisted into something darker, is such a powerful detail. It really makes you appreciate the artistry that went into the soundtrack.
The track that plays when you place a pure heart into the designated heart pillar just fills you with this renewed sense of purpose of seeing things through to the end. You get that feeling of just how important this mission is again and when the next door opens, you can't help but hurry to save your progress and trek through to get the next one.
Then there's the humor this game offers. The Cragnons' way of speaking in general is so funny, but Flint Cragley cracked me uppp the first time I played this game and he still made me laugh this time around when I replayed it nearly 20 years later. And Fort Francis. Oh God. That entire subchapter made me laugh so hard with every message I read. And that whole dating sim with Peach. I restarted the game just to see how the dialogue changed depending on which answers you picked xD Francis is a perfect representation of how some Redditors act when an opinion contrary to theirs is presented. "I love going online and complaining about games I've never played." 💀
Anyway, I could go on and on FOREVER on why I love this game and to what degree. With all of this said, I do plan to play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door because everyone in this sub seems to hype it up the most and say it's better than SPM in every way. I already downloaded it on my AYN Thor so I'm excited to play it through if it's apparently even better. But the main point I make is that Super Paper Mario fills me with so much childlike wonder and whimsy and I love it so much. It will always remain a very special game in my heart and I hope to share it with my children one day.
So I wanna know. What were your favorite parts of the game? Which story beat hit you hardest? Who was your favorite character? What did you wish there was more of? (I wish we got more of Tippi remembering her past and what she loved about Blumiere).
P.S
The only part I truly hated about the game is that we never did find out who that mysterious Mr. L guy really was. I thought they'd reveal his identity at the end but man. The not knowing really knocked it down a star rating for me :/