This was the last N64 videogame I ever bought (unused) before I upgraded to an XBox in late 2001, and I must say that I'm honored to say so. This is an amazing game, full of great puzzles and fine RPG battles. Mario's world has never been shown like this before, and Nintendo has made a big gamble by creating such a game--and it works!
What's great is how it seems sort of childish, but is actually rather hard at times. Even though it's sort of sappy and corny and the music is sickeningly sweet, it's a surprisingly deep and beautiful game that will appeal to adults far more than to children.
Don't be turned off by the marketing and design of the game!
The graphics are excellent. The game is designed in 2D, and with the 64 bits on a Nintendo, this only means that the designers have more room to add great detail to the two dimensions. The result is brilliant.
If you haven't upgraded yet, or if you still just own a dusty old N64 (I got mine Christmas '96, when they were the Furbies of that year and very hard to find in stores), this is certainly a must-find. I don't know if they still manufacture N64 games, but you'd be doing good to look for a used copy if they don't. Mine's in top-notch condition, being the last I ever got and unused since 2001 (when I beat it in 24 hours flat-out), but I'm not selling!!
I recently unplugged my Xbox and decided to try a few N64 games. I was amazed at how fun it was to start "Paper Mario" over. I'm proud to say that this game exists in my rather lengthy archive. DO NOT let its image get to you.
There's a reason it has 100% good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with an average of 9.1 stars out of 10.
Highly recommended! Completely engrossing and truly addictive.
5/5 stars.
