What Came Before

Before Super Paper Mario, there was The Thousand Year Door (Gamecube).  I bought it last year and just picked it back up yesterday.  I was completely lost.  No idea how to navigate the underground city, I just wandered around for awhile.  A long while.  I still only have one star.  My stats are low.  It will take awhile to get those stats up because PM:TTYD is a game of ones and twos.  I believe there is a story on the RPG engine in Gamasutra, and recently, too.  The bright side of the levelling up is that it's always at 100 star-points.

100 points is a lot of battles since you get about one per enemy.  So wondering around aimlessly was not too fulfilling.  I discovered the "Troubles" list and performed all the tasks.  I had to listen to Luigi tell his tale, and the senile mayor's talk.  I got an email at a pivotal part in the plot, but it was a total gossip rag and had NO relevance (that I know of).  I finally got into that tree!  It's a good thing, because I couldn't remember why the little worm was tagging along.

The highlight of getting back on track is when the little bugger explained exactly what I was thinking, "...and there's this stupid door we can't get open!"  Those were precisely the words on my mind.  The game has a good sense of humor.  I actually can't believe I figured out how to find the "Secret" entrance, so here's to luck!

The best thing about this predecessor to Super Paper Mario is that it has its own hint system.  The Fortune teller can tell you roughly what you need to do, for a price.  The other things he(?) does is reveal where still-hidden stars and star fragments are.  I also had to by the penetrating hammer technique badge in order to even damage the spiked skeleton thingies.

Thousand Year Door battles are more strategic than your average RPG.  They're weird, too, but funny.  An audience watches each battle on a stage.  I guess they don't have TV in Paper-world.  Unlike most RPG's with turns, you can't pause in the middle, the audience gets grumpy and throws things at you!  There is nothing more satisfying then bouncing them out of the theater, though.  It's worth the $20, though, and it plays on the Wii!  It is not a short game.