Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#8: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Rating: E

Players: 1

Price Range: ~$70 USD

An RPG in the Paper Mario subseries from Super Mario.

Yeah, this is basically a shoe-in for one of the best RPGs on the system. Not quite a classic for me, for I see another RPG being the greatest the console has to offer. However, that's for later when I talk about that one.

As to what that game is?

DragonsDwelling, I know you can make a great guess...

For now, let's go over the great things from this game. It is without a doubt the best game in the Paper Mario series, which, unlike the other Mario RPG games, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario and Luigi, has honestly been very mixed in its quality. While the original game on the N64 was very good, you can tell that it is a bit rough around the edges and feeling naked in terms of mechanics compared to Thousand-Year Door, even if a few prefer it over its sequel. However, many people gloss over this because of the fact that the N64 didn't really have any other RPGs of any real note or were of very dubious if not poor in their construction. Super Paper Mario was a little polarizing at the time due to being more so a platformer with RPG elements, but people have softened over the game in retrospect, likely due to the very low tier games we would receive later on.

Sticker Star was when the series truly dropped the ball in terms of the high standards of the series. It is without a doubt not only one of the worst games in the Super Mario franchise but also possibly one of the worst games ever made. The game is insanely unenjoyable, ripping all semblance of personality and creativity the series is known for, with an utterly braindead story, generic characters, ear grating music, and utterly butchered battle mechanics, where there is no level up system, so fighting enemies is worthless, and the attacks and resources being stickers was such a poor idea that it really takes playing it to believe how bad it really is. Not only that, but it is just boring, like, criminally boring, and that's in addition to puzzles, including in boss fights unwinnable otherwise, that make no logical sense whatsoever, leading to frustration as to what to actually do. Truly a terrible experience all around. I have no idea how I managed to beat this game while I was younger. I must have been so bored out of my mind to the point of finding even the worst things entertaining.

Color Splash was only a smidge better, but that doesn't change the fact that it is nearly the same exact game with the same issues. Graphically, musically, and in terms of humor, the game is more refined, but other than that, it has virtually the same flaws. Well, even though it's a game that's forgotten, it wasn't like it was a game everybody was invested in either. Origami King is a step in the right direction, with a better story and exploration mechanics despite having just generic characters visually, like...just Toads or Mario enemies, nothing else besides a few exceptions. The battle system and usage of coins was an attempt made, but like the Magic Armor in the Zelda games, it is just the acknowledgement of a core issue as opposed to an actual solution. The boss battles are actually really good though.

Unlike many other games in several Nintendo franchises, like base Mario or Zelda, the Paper Mario games have a very clear ranking amongst the gaming community, with the general order from worst to best being Sticker Star, Color Splash, Origami King, the three being at the bottom mostly because their lackluster cast of characters, lack of original elements, and bad game mechanics due to the lack of progression from RPG systems, Super Paper Mario, the original Paper Mario, and then Thousand-Year Door. Even then, I still don't think that Thousand-Year Door is a perfect game. That's not even getting into the recent rerelease, which I'll say my piece at the end about, but be warned, I'll be very scathing and negative about it.