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Paper Mario: Sticker Star * Format: 3DS
* Unleashed: Out Now * Publisher: Nintendo
* Developer: Intelligent Systems * Players: 1
* Site:
papermario.nintendo.com/
from rising above novelty. Some variety comes in the form of oft-oversized stick- ers created from random things (called, appropriately,
Things) found strewn
Much here is borrowed from its predeces- sors, throwing Japenese-style role-play- ing and Mario’s penchant for explorative jumping together to make what should be delicious results. However, Sticker Star does away with much of the former, streamlining itself into a patchwork puz- zle-platformer that forsakes stats for stickers. Branching hubs and overworlds have given way to a world map dotted with linear levels, and while the series’ semi-active turn-based combat of timed button presses remains, it peels away layers of complexity until only the most basic remain. This shift would’ve been more reasonable if the new sticker sys- tem had more fun than frustration, but bogglingly broken combat and bogglingly boggling puzzles dash this wistful hope. The stickers create a rote basis for com- bat. Paper Mario’s traditional trifecta of attacks, special attacks and items has been swapped out for the sole mechanic of stickers themselves, which basically operates by reducing everything to a single inventory. The touchscreen be- comes your album, displaying the variety of jumps, hammers, and mushrooms at your disposal. Though each can only be used once, there are enough pasted across the levels that the problem quickly shifts from filling your album to manag- ing its limited space. Tapping out attacks is amusing enough, but absent complex- ity and effortless button prompts keep it
throughout the kingdom of mushrooms, be it a pair of scissors, a refrigerator, or the odd giant goat. But while their anima- tions are endearing and lovingly crafted, their similar effects add little to what’s ultimately a dreadfully dull way to do battle.
This could’ve been a forgivable offence; however, the combat’s not only shallow; there’s no actual reason to do it at all. Apart from the few mandatory bosses, every fight in Paper Mario can be avoid- ed, or at worst, fled from. Previous games have handled this by incentivising you to fight, be it through character progression or barriers to retreat. Here however, with levelling and experience points taken en- tirely out of the equation, battles reward you solely with stickers and a few coins (with which to buy more stickers). Simply tapping the always-available ‘run’ button is the far more inviting option, which is consistently successful the first or second try. Add that it carries no penalty beyond wasting a turn and it effectively removes combat itself as anything more than an entirely optional (and dull) distraction. The most aggravating puzzle element is the game’s use of Things as their solutions. A given quandary will often require a specific Thing, which could be just a screen or two away, or in another World entirely. Clues tend to range from nonsensical to non-existent. The answer could hide among any of the dozens of side-paths and secrets littering Sticker Star’s abundant levels; worse, testing a
sticker will use it up, discouraging any experimentation, as you’ll need to trek all the way back to find it yet again should you need it later. Minutes can stretch into hours as a given string of searches drags on. It makes the reasonable length (upwards of twenty hours) something of a farce.
Even when hating it you can’t help but to love it. Sticker Star doesn’t skimp on its clever wordage and vibrant personality. Its cast of near-identical toads surprise and delight with their vast vocabularies and distinct outlooks, spouting a good share of laugh-worthy lines incidental to the disappointing plot. The world’s bland- ness is further lessened by the series’ trademark art, bursting with colourful cut-outs. Though showing a choppier frame rate than its predecessors, 3D is handled with the perfection one would expect from such a suitable showcase for its eye-popping tricks. However, what’s most noticeable, and laudable, is Sticker Star’s energized and exception- ally-produced soundtrack. Paper Mario: Sticker Star does so much right, but gets too much wrong. A sound premise and lively presentation are ulti- mately unsupported by their paper thin foundations. What few pages of depth exist are revealed to just be stuck to- gether, and by the time the painful process of peeling them apart is over, you’ll wish they’d just been ripped out to begin with.
written by Critical Gamer’s Bryan Kelly
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