You know what’s weird? I didn’t ever write all that much about Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door when it was originally released on GameCube. I did a thing where I critiqued a TV Guide review of the game, but that’s effectively it. In retrospect, it’s a bit weird because I think about TTYD all the time. Mostly because the battle victory theme is what plays in my head every time I achieve a personal victory. It’s a bit of a stretch, but it counts!
Anyway, there’s a new Switch remaster that came out a while ago, which I’ve now finished playing. Like Super Mario RPG before it, it’s unfortunately the same game with a new coat of paint, some localization tidying, a few quality-of-life improvements, and a teeny-tiny portion new content. Oh, and also both games have fantastically re-arranged soundtracks. I would actually argue that the new soundtracks are reason enough to buy and play either game, because they are marvelous.
With the TTYD remaster, I’ve finally put in the effort to actually finish the game. And not like, just get to the end of the story. I did that already back in 2004. No, this time I finished the game. I found all the badges, I collected all the star pieces, I made all the recipes, I solved all the troubles, and I beat all the optional bosses. I truly got 100% and earned the special new badge that turns Mario gold.
And it was not at all worth the effort!
Continue reading Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Completionist
