What is your favorite non-traditional Paper Mario game?

[Kitty Paws]

I know some people dislike the later titles because they widely differ from what they were accustomed to from the first two games in the series. The first one I have played was Super Paper Mario and while I might have had a different opinion had I played the original Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door, I enjoyed the game a lot and thought it had fun gameplay and a great cast of villains. I'm playing Sticker Star and I remember hearing bad things about the game back when it came out, but I'm having plenty of fun with that one too.

Which non-traditional Paper Mario game do you like the most? Are you happy with where the series is at or would you like to see some changes?

Edit: I have not included Paper Jam in the poll because I consider it part of the Mario&Luigi series. I only wanted to include standard PM games.

 

[GamerJM]

I haven't played Origami King but I played the other three and Super is easily my favorite of those. It has RPG mechanics and a narrative that feels like old Paper Mario. It has more of what I like about PM64/tTYD in it than not just the newer Paper Mario games, but also the Mario & Luigi series as well.

 

[Zalman]

Origami King is my favorite Paper Mario game, period. I found it to be more memorable than even the old ones.

 

[vixolus]

I only played Super Paper Mario as a kid and never played the turn based stuff, but enjoyed it a lot IIRC

 

[PhazonBlazer]

I actually love Super Paper Mario, I haven't played the others.

 

[Command & Conker]

Origami King is loaded with charm. Really enjoyable game.

 

[PhazonBlazer]

Oops double post

 

[mrmickfran]

Super but it's a really low bar

 

[Dyle]

Definitely Origami King. Its only major weaknesses are the bizarrely limited standard battle system and the poor pacing with the 5th world being the least engaging. I have a lot of nostalgia for Super and would say it has the best narrative in the series overall but it goes in much harder than it really should have on the punishing, unfun elements, forgetting that some of those bits that have been used elsewhere in the series are supposed to be there as jokes, not as significant mechanics. It demands way more patience than it deserves to.

Color Splash is fine and nothing more than that and I have no interest in ever playing Sticker Star

 

[Ramsay]

Super Paper Mario is the only game here that's actually good.

 

[Kito]

I skipped Sticker Star and Color Splash, so it's between the other two.

Loved everything about Origami King except for the combat, which i loathed after the first few hours. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the combat in Super Paper Mario, but everything else was a bit lame.

It's kind of like a draw, but considering I can't remember almost anything about SPM, and loved the hell out of the worlds and characters in Origami King, I guess I'll vote for that.

 

[Jahranimo]

Origami King is in my backlog but I liked Color Splash the most of those.

 

[Phendrift]

Super Paper Mario still maintains the charm of the old school games, so that. The gameplay was interesting too

TOK next

then CS and then SS

 

[Truno]

Super Paper Mario is underrated

 

[Cantaim]

Super Paper Mario is the best game in the entire series for me.

 

[PlayBee]

Origami King is probably a better game than Color Splash, but I think I had a better experience with the latter. I guess I'm just tired of the formula.

 

[joffocakes]

Origami King of those, and maybe overall though it's lose with TTYD. I really, really loved it. Really enjoyed Sticker Star as well but haven't played Color Splash (though I do own it) and gave up early on in Super Paper Mario.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Super Paper Mario was a game I hated so much it drove me away from the series until today. I might pick up Origami King.

 

[Smoshow]

At this point what you call non tradition is just the traditional game and what we got back on N64 and GameCube are the outlier

 

[Squid Bunny]

Didn't play Origami King, but love SPM and really enjoyed COlor Splash.

Sticker Star must die.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Thousand Year Door

because "traditional" hasn't been the norm nor recent

 

[lightning16]

Origami King is a fantastic game. I don't even care for the combat (don't hate it but don't like it much), but everything else is to such a high quality that it's one of the few games where I didn't even care that much. It was up there with the best games of the year last year with games like Ori and 13 Sentinels. It's no TTYD (nothing is - it's the greatest game ever made) but it made me excited for the future of the franchise for the first time in 15 years.

Color Splash was also solid. Like Origami King, it was strong in most areas outside of combat. Unfortunately the game's economy is abysmal which makes fighting things actively feel bad, and while the rest of the game is strong, it's not as strong as Origami King and the game isn't able to overcome it in the same way. Was very close to being a very good game.

 

[Poltergust]

Anyone who votes Sticker Star is getting major side-eye from me.

 

[Waggles]

Super paper mario is the only one that held my interest.

 

[Horohorohoro]

Origami King. I've never played Color Splash but Sticker Star is the only Paper Mario game I ever dropped. 64 is the best, TTYD afterward. Super Paper Mario is one of those games that's far worse to actually PLAY than I remember it being, but Origami King is at least fun in quite a few places.

 

[diakyu]

Origami King far and away.

 

[inner-G]

The only Paper Mario I really liked was the N64 game

Super Paper Mario is probably the least offensive of the new ones, though.

 

[Becks']

Origami King is an absolute banger of a story. We need more Olivia.

Spoiler: Origami King Ending Spoiler

Bring back Olivia from the dead Nintendo.

 

[Bananastand]

Origami King is great. I honestly think the battle system is super fun

 

[Blade24070]

Origami King was a fantastic game.

 

[MayorTortimer]

Super Paper Mario is so cool - would love if they re-released it for the Switch... I am loving Origami King too - my answer to this might change after I beat the game haha.

 

[Cass_Se]

Super Paper Mario has an absolutely abhorrent pacing. The game drags terribly on a number of occasions so while I think TOK's combat system gets old quickly it never ceases to surprise with it's variety so it wins for me

 

[Dunban_Fyuria]

I've only played Super Paper Mario and the Origami King out of all those, SPM was pretty fun but I prefer TOK. Heck TOK is my 2nd favorite Paper Mario game in general, that game had so much charm and funny writing.

 

[King Dodongo]

I put origami king above thousand year door anyday.

 

[Platy]

while origami king has an AMAZING ost

Snif City Royal Hotel (Pool) - Paper Mario: The Origami King OST

Snif City Royal Hotel (Pool) - Paper Mario: The Origami King OSTComposers: Yoshito Sekigawa, Shoh Murakami, Yoshiaki Kimura, Hiroki Morishita, Fumihiro Isobe...

www.youtube.com

i will go with Super Paper Mario because the writing is the best one in the series

 

[spunodi]

The Origami King was my favourite game of 2020.

The same 2020 that had Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Never have I been more pleasantly surprised. An absolute joy (and my nephews have also completed it!)

 

[Cokomon]

I love how 'non-traditional' is now two thirds of the series.

 

[Pokemaniac]

The game is certainly not without its issues, but I had the most fun with Super Paper Mario, and it's the one that really still felt like a Paper Mario game since it came before Nintendo got overly restrictive with Mario spin-offs (admittedly possibly in part due to Super Paper Mario).

 

[NuclearCake]

Origami King was decent. (Still nowhere near PM64 and TTYD.)

The rest of them are terrible (Yes even SPM)

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Super Paper Mario rules.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

I'm not super huge into Paper Mario, but I really did enjoy the puzzle aspect of Origami with lining the enemies up into rows and what not for attacks. It's probably been my favorite.

 

[Starphanluke]

Origami King is my favorite Paper Mario, period.

 

[Xita]

Super Paper Mario is my favorite Paper Mario.

 

[Kirbivore]

Where's Paper Mario 64?

 

[PancakeFlip]

The gameplay loop is broken in three of these titles, no amount of writing and charm can fix that for me.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Super is the only real pick here. The best characters and plot by a wide margin with bowsers dialogue being a standout for the game, shame it was a little too weird for Nintendo as the series (and other Mario Spin Offs in general) seem to have to tone it down because of it.The main mario games can still be weird though, and I guess Origami King had... stationary...

I think that ending of that last sentence explains how it's Super Paper Mario easily enough.

Spoiler

I didn't even need to go into the part where Origami King tries to make you feel things with a character death in one chapter, and then undermines it in a future one where you use near identical looking character as cannon fodder for a minigame.

 

[Apollo]

Super Paper Mario is an incredible incredible game.

 

[Kahhhhyle]

I've only played Super Paper Mario and Sticker Star because after I finished SS I don't even wanna try the other two because of how much they look like SS.

So Super Paper Mario for me.

 

[Zeal543]

SPM, it's bizarre how they already had a good base for a non-RPG PM game and they decided to move away from it

 

[Bjomesphat]

Origami King is fantastic.

And I would argue that more RPGs should have completely optional battles. At least in Origami King I can choose to fight or not with little to no consequences, in PM64 and TTYD, you're basically forced to fight in order to gain experience so you can progress the game. With how basic the battle system is, it gets tedious.

I'd also argue Origami King's boss fights are some of the best in all of gaming. The puzzle, the strategy, the unique twist in each battle. There's absolutely nothing else out there like it.