Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario is probably one of the most unique RPGs ever released. Released on the SNES, Paper Mario took the Mario universe and created an RPG experience that was both seminal and incredibly enjoyable, easily following in the footsteps of its spiritual predecessor, Super Mario RPG. One of its gimmicks was that the characters were all two dimensional in three dimensional environments, so that when a character turned at an angle, players could see their paper-thinness, hence the title Paper Mario.

One of the best aspects of gameplay for Paper Mario was the action-like interactivity that most RPGs lack. Instead of random battles, players could see enemies before they attacked, and if Mario successfully jumped on the foe, he would gain an advantage in battle. When battle actually began, it was turn based, like most RPGs, but it also required input from the player to make attacks effective. This kept the game from being the dull "choose your attack and watch" affair that many RPGs can turn into.

Recently, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga revitalized the Mario RPG on the Game Boy, taking the RPG formula and adding a dual protagonist in Mario and Luigi. The game was received with acclaim, and so the stage is set for the long awaited sequel to Paper Mario.

Although details are almost nonexistent at this point, as most of the details will more than likely be revealed at E3, there are a number of screenshots to show off the game's graphics. The visuals are lovely, with a very pretty and colorful cel-shaded look. There is also a very interesting screenshot that shows Bowser stalking through a stage that seems very reminiscent of the original Super Mario Bros, which seems to indicate that another Bowser-Mario team-up is in the works, as well as the idea that Paper Mario 2 will evoke a lot of nostalgia in some of the older gamers.