You’d be forgiven for thinking that Paper Mario’s transition to the Nintendo 3DS - his first ever foray into the realm of portables - is merely replicating the flat plumber’s console escapades. On the surface, the game’s basic aesthetic would seem to indicate that resemblance, with turn-based battles, time-based action prompts and a sharp 2D style (now in 3D!) that toys with the notions of a paper-based life. You might then think that applies to every aspect of the game - and yet you’d be wrong, despite the fact that this game does actually retain all the previously mentioned characteristics. Like so many Nintendo sequels, Paper Mario: Sticker Star keeps the core essence of its franchise safe while finding new avenues for innovation. In this case, that innovation comes through the battle system.
Playing this latest iteration of Paper Mario quickly proves that its turn-based mechanic is unlike anything the franchise has attempted before. Allies are gone, as is the weaponry that Mario used to employ. This time, your entire offensive capability is provided through stickers that are acquired during the exploration of stages or purchased with coins earned in battle. These stickers will still enable familiar attacks, like Mario’s jump or his trusty hammer, but then they’re gone. Your offense is now a finite resource that must be collected or earned. The fact that your weaponry is entirely disposable, and can now be collected at different strength levels, immediately changes the entire premise of Sticker Star. You must now measure the effectiveness of your offense, as foolishly wasting overpowered attacks will deprive you of that resource in the future.
Yet battles aren’t as simple as placing stickers into “move slots.” This isn’t an arbitrary substitute for selecting menu options. Developer Intelligent Systems actually introduces a great deal of complexity by boldly introducing significant restrictions - and enticing players to then step beyond those boundaries.
The restrictions are these - Mario must attack his opponents in a sequential, front-to-back order. The second in line can only be targeted directly once the first is defeated. Mario can also, by default, only make one attack per turn, despite the fact that he no longer has his friends to help him against what could be 4:1 odds.
What comes next is the clever part. The game takes what would be considered stifling limits and flips them into strategic elements. Sticker Star rewards you if you can pull off a “Perfect” battle, meaning you eliminate all of your foes before the start of your next turn. The financial rewards can be great, which pushes you to be less conservative with your stronger stickers. Yet just one attack, no matter how powerful, is unlikely to take our several enemies. Enter: The Battle Spinner.
Mario can activate the Spinner, which is basically a 3 category slot machine, to not only win substantial rewards but more moves (he’ll get 1 extra slot for a double match and 2 for a triple). Mario can even spend quite a bit of money to “rig” the Spinner, making this mini-game just a bit easier. And the goal here isn’t necessarily just to achieve that “Perfect” rank. Imagine a boss fight and the advantage of getting in as much offense at once becomes clear.
Whether or not the risks and rewards of Intelligent Systems’ new battle mechanics will continue to be entertaining throughout the entirety of this Paper Mario adventure remains to be seen. The game will need to challenge players to risk using the Battle Spinner, through a certain level of difficulty as well as increasing rewards.
And while the battle mechanics are by far and away the most curious, and recurring, element of Sticker Star, they are not at all the only changes being introduced. In a first for the ‘Paper’ series, Mario’s adventure is now positioned in a familiar world and level-based structure, with each stage then introducing various puzzles, battles and challenges. It actually feels right at home for a portable game, and it’s easy to see how a lengthy RPG would be more digestible in this form.
Stickers aren’t the only thing Mario can collect. There are ‘Scraps’ to find, which are pieces of the world that must be replaced through a ‘Paperize’ ability in order to keep moving. Likewise ‘Things’ - real world objects that exist within this paper-based land - can be tracked down and eventually converted into giant stickers (which, incidentally, take up a larger portion of your limited, grid-based inventory), which then will have a variety of effects.
Playing through just a couple opening stages of Sticker Star revealed all of these ideas, and it’s easy to get the sense that they are just the surface of what ought to be a lengthy RPG. We’ll be playing more Paper Mario in the very near future - so keep an eye on IGN for more details soon.
Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com and the leader of IGN's Nintendo team. He also watches over all things WWE, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and much more. Follow @RichIGN on Twitter, if you dare!
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