The original Paper Mario will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack catalog on December 10. The RPG, developed by Intelligent Systems, launched for the N64 back in 2001 (2000 in Japan), and is widely considered to be one of the best games of its time, if not ever. The Switch has its own Paper Mario game, of course, with Paper Mario: The Origami King, but fans who’ve been starved for a more traditional Paper Mario experience (and there’s no shortage of such people) will be glad about this announcement. Check out its announcement trailer below.

A few weeks ago, a datamining leak suggested that a number of Sega Genesis and N64 games were planned to be added to the Expansion Pack lineup in the coming weeks and months- subscribers will be hoping they’ll be added at a steady clip going forward, now that Paper Mario has kicked things off.

Meanwhile, leaks have also repeatedly claimed that Game Boy and Game Boy Color games are also eventually going to be added to the service. Read more on that through here.

Paper Mario hasn’t been an RPG series for a while, with every game since The Thousand Year Door moving further and further away from how the series originally started out. It’s fair to say that with the recently released Paper Mario: The Origami King, Intelligent Systems finally figured out how to properly realize their ambitions for innovation and non-RPG gameplay in Paper Mario games (and it helps that the indie-developed RPG Bug Fables that released earlier this year is basically the perfect Paper Mario replacement), but there are many who want the series to go back to its RPG roots.

Will that ever happen? It seems the developers themselves don’t know the answer to that question. Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer Germany (translated by Nintendo Everything), Paper Mario series producer Kensuke Tanabe said that though the goal with each new instalment is to try new and innovative things, the developers haven’t decided whether that’s something they’ll keep doing with the next Paper Mario game, or if they’ll take it back to being an RPG.

““When developing Paper Mario: Sticker Star, one of our goals was to move away a bit from the traditional RPG style,” Tanabe said. “Nintendo has another RPG series starring Mario and we wanted to distance ourselves from it by making an adventure game with a focus on solving puzzles. Even though we’ve stuck to that decision so far, we haven’t decided yet whether or not we will keep doing so in the future. Personally speaking, I want to keep developing Paper Mario games that are both innovative and unique.”

Tanabe elaborated on his point about innovation and uniqueness, saying this his personal philosophy as a developer is to keep delivering new kinds of gameplay experiences.

“The game development philosophy I’ve adopted from Mr. Miyamoto is developing innovative and unique gameplay systems,” he said. “I’m not opposed to the fans’ opinions. However, I view my game development philosophy as separate from that. If we used the same gameplay system wanted by the fans again and again, we wouldn’t be able to surprise them or deliver new gameplay experiences. We always try our best to exceed expectations in surprising ways. At the same time, there’s no guarantee that we’ll always succeed in doing that – so it’s a real challenge.”

Scores of Paper Mario fans will tell you that the series desperately needs to go back to its RPG roots, especially with the other RPG Mario series, Mario and Luigi, seemingly having no future anymore. That said, if Intelligent Systems do decide to keep trying new things, hopefully, they’ll continue the upward trajectory they kicked off with The Origami King.

You can read our review for Paper Mario: The Origami King through here.

Nintendo’s iconic Italian plumber has been dominating the headlines of late. Reports emerged yesterday that in celebration of Super Mario’s 35th anniversary this year, Nintendo will be releasing multiple Mario games on the Switch in the coming months, which includes remasters for the likes of Super Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and 3D World. Those same rumours have also backed up other previous reports that a new Paper Mario game is in the works as well.

GamesBeat, while reporting on these rumours, provided some information on the latter based on what they have heard from their own sources. The new Paper Mario game apparently represents a return to the roots for the franchise, and will be more in line with the series’ N64 and GameCube instalments (you know, the good ones) rather than the forgettable entries on the 3DS and the Wii U- which is something all Paper Mario fans should be ecstatic about.

With so many reports having coming from reputable sources over the past 24 hours, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo starts making official announcements. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated as the story develops.

1985 was a historic year for Nintendo, and for gaming as a whole, because that was the year when a little game know as Super Mario Bros. first came out. 2020 is the series’ 35th anniversary then, and it seems Nintendo has big things planned for the occasion.

According to VGC, multiple sources are indicating that this year, to celebrate the iconic mascot’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo will release multiple Mario titles for the Nintendo Switch. This will include a new Paper Mario game – which is something that has been in the rumour mill for a while – as well as re-releases for “most of” the Super Mario series’ back-catalog. A remaster of Super Mario 3D World has been rumoured for a while now, but this would also include games preceding that, including the likes of 3D Land, 64, Sunshine, and both Galaxy games (though VGC’s report doesn’t mention any games in particular by name).

Reportedly, Nintendo was originally planning on revealing this stuff at E3 2020, but with the show having been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they have had to reassess their plans. Allegedly, alongside these announcements, Nintendo will also reveal new details about its partnership with Universal, which includes the Super Nintendo World theme park and the upcoming Super Mario film. The recent collaboration between Nintendo and LEGO for Mario toys, it seems, is also part of the anniversary celebrations.

When asked for a comment on the same, Nintendo said to VGC that they do not “comment on rumour and speculation.”

Stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we’ll keep you updated as this story develops.

Nintendo’s lineup for 2020 is looking dry so far, and though there has een some speculation of an upcoming Nintendo Direct with new announcements, so far, the only known upcoming Switch releases of note are Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, and No More Heroes 3 (which may or may not get delayed). However, if a recent “leak” is to be believed, there may be more stuff waiting in the wings that we don’t yet know about.

Known leaker Sabi recently took to Twitter to shared details on games they claim are going to launch in 2020 itself (presumably on the Switch). These games are a new Paper Mario title – which will supposedly be more in line with earlier traditional entries in the series – and a new 2D Metroid game – which is allegedly a sequel to Metroid Fusion (via Nintendo Enthusiast).

As always, take this with a grain of salt. It’s best not to put too much stock in unverified leaks, especially when it comes to the notoriously unpredictable Nintendo. That said, it’s been a while since we last saw game from both these series, with Intelligent Systems’ Paper Mario: Color Splash for the Wii U in 2016 and MercurySteam’s Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS in 2017. It would definitely be interesting to see sequels for both of them.

Meanwhile, recent leaks have also suggested that Nintendo is planning at least two more Wii U ports for the Switch this year, while another Nintendo rumour earlier this month claimed that a new Switch model would be out in mid-2020.

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Lawbreakers – Health Regeneration

Gears of War scion Cliff Blizenski had some good ideas with his gravity shooter, Lawbreakers but when it didn’t take off like he had hoped, major changes came to the game including introducing regenerating health to resolve the problems gamers were having with dying too often and too fast. But tossing game balance out the window to buff everybody’s health and make it regenerate while not under fire just made games draw out way too long.

On the higher end of the Mario spin off spectrum, however, are the Mario themed racers, the Mario themed 2D platformers, and the Mario themed RPGs. The latter category is especially high quality, with several Mario RPG games, such as Legend of the Seven Stars, The Thousand Year Door, and Bowser’s Inside Story, having come to define their respective systems over the years. The newest Mario RPG, Sticker Star, the fourth installment in the Paper Mario RPG subseries, is a great game, and a definite step up from its immediate predecessor that nevertheless fails to live up to the lofty standards of the aforementioned games.

Sticker Star doesn’t deviate much from Mario’s formula as story goes; it’s positively a reskinned Super Mario Galaxy, actually. The annual Sticker festival is approaching, and the entire Mushroom Kingdom gathers to celebrate and commemorate the Sticker Comet (that’s a thing), before Bowser decides to be a spoilsport, absorbs the comet’s power, and kidnaps Princess Peach. Mario then needs to search for the remaining five fragments of the comet scattered across the Mushroom Kingdom, along with the Sticker caretaker Kersti, to power up himself and take Bowser down. So… yes, it’s Super Mario Galaxy again.

As it is, then, the story isn’t particularly great, especially by RPG standards, but it serves to get you from one well designed paper theme Mushroom Kingdom locale to another, which, I suppose, is the ultimate objective of the story in a Mario game. What is great, however, is the dialog, which is witty, funny, sardonic, self aware, and self referential. At this point, thanks in no small part to the accomplishments of the Mario and Luigi RPG subseries, Mario RPGs have developed a reputation for being laugh out loud funny, and in that regard, Paper Mario does not disappoint. Multiple times throughout the story, you will be laughing at just how well written and funny the dialog is.

It’s a game that doesn’t take itself seriously, and it is dripping with charm for that. The characters are all adorable (especially the paper themed Mario), the locales are great and striking, colorful, with paper forests, oceans, mountains, caves, deserts, and more all being among the places you visit on your paper odyssey. The graphics get a special visual treat in 3D, with the entire paper themed motif looking like a boxed diorama with the 3D on at full blast. The environments themselves are gorgeous, and the actual characters inhabiting them even more so. Visually, Sticker Star is a striking game.

As a matter of fact, in almost every sense, Sticker Star seems to be the true successor to The Thousand Year Door that Super Paper Mario never was. Unfortunately, the new concepts it introduces are its undoing. Take, for instance, the battle system. It plays like traditional Paper Mario games (no more of that Super Paper Mario bullshit here), but as the title suggests, a major component of the gameplay here is stickers- you collect them, and you use them over the game to win battles and progress. Stickers are found all over the place, and specific ones may be required in specific situations. General stickers, like Jump and Hammer, are found aplenty, whereas rarer, more powerful ones, are obtained later on, and are devastating (and comical). The stickers are also used to progress throughout the world, in conjunction with a mechanic called ‘paperizing,’ which flattens the entire world into two dimensions and lets you find secrets (often necessary to progress) that you otherwise would not have found.

The entire system is genius, when it works. The problem is, it is also the game’s biggest undoing. Oftentimes, you need a specific sticker to progress, and you can’t find it; it could be anywhere in the world, and the game is obtuse and unhelpful, leaving you to wander aimlessly until you happen to chance to upon it. The search for these stickers kills the game’s momentum, and is highly frustrating, making you want to stop playing the game entirely. You can spend hours just trying to find the right sticker, and this kind of game design isn’t clever or ‘difficult,’ it’s outright insulting to the players, substituting needless fetch quests for actual content. It is also really baffling, because, of all game developers, Nintendo more than any other, has a tendency to introduce a new concept in a game and then design and polish it to immaculate perfection. Rarely does Nintendo (or any of its sub studios) fail to fully realize a new mechanic it introduces.

Mercifully, the rest of the game is great, up to the usual standards of the series. After the mishap that was Super Paper Mario, Sticker Star is a step in the right direction. It’s not quite on par with the greatness of the first two titles yet, but it’s a step in that direction. Hopefully with the next one, Intelligent Systems nail the central concept better than this time, and deliver us a Paper Mario game that is really on par with The Thousand Year Door’s legacy.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo recently released a trailer of Paper Mario 3DS, one of their many upcoming 3DS games.

Not only does the game look a lot of fun in the trailer, the visual style is simply awesome. It’s just really good looking. Kind of along the lines of Kirby’s Epic Yarn, just…. very different.

Maybe you should check out the trailer yourself.

There’s just a lot of 3DS news around these days, so keep yourself up to date with all the latest 3DS news here.