Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Over the last couple of years, there has been a growing trend for games to mix-and-match game genres. Time was, you would get a FPS and it would involve a collection of guns, a mountain of ammo, and a linear run to the finish. Now, just about every FPS has elements of the RPG: take Medal of Honor: Airborne and it's weapon upgrading or games like Battlefield where your experience in the field unlocks new tactical options. Super Paper Mario for the Wii takes the same evolutionary principle and applies it all over the platform game, with interesting results... OK, so it's not the first time this has happened: the mixing of Mario's traditional platform-hopping and RPG elements began in 2001 (in the US and Europe) with Paper Mario for the N64, though this, in itself was a sort-of sequel to Super Mario RPG for the SNES. The developer, Intelligent Systems has produced each of the Paper Mario games, and each has been subtly different in gameplay mechanic, with past iterations using a more RPG-like, turn-based battle system. Super Paper Mario, on the other hand, is more of a platform game at heart; albeit one with an important twist. The twist is literally that! For almost all of the game, at the press of a button, you can rotate your view of the traditional 2D flat world, and see into the third dimension. This is an absolute genius touch, which means that Mario (and pals) can suddenly hunt behind blocks for coins, slip behind enemies (almost all of them are 2D, so 'flipping' the view into 3D means that only the edge of the 2D 'sprite' is visible) and discover whole new pathways stretching off into the z-axis! There are some fantastic visual tricks such as holes in the backdrop that are barely visible in 2D, but readily apparent in 3D, tubes in the foreground that lead to tubes in the backdrop, and seemingly impossible jumps up platforms that are easy in the 3D world. In fact, it's so useful that you would probably spend your whole time in 3D if it wasn't for a timer ticking down on each 'flip' which removes health when it runs out. Again, this works excellently, forcing you constantly think about what dimension you need to be in, where your objective might be, and how to get out of trouble.
RPG elements play on the 3D nature of the world, by having a central 'hub' town (actually two towns, but in mirror image) with characters to talk to, shops, an inn and secret bits to discover. In a similar way to the Legend of Zelda games, parts of the town will be inaccessible until you have the right tools to get through. These come in the form of Pixls – little 'sprites' that you discover as you make your way through the game that provide skills that are often vital for progression. Tippi, the first Pixl you meet allows you to use the Wiimote as a kind of torch, highlighting dark areas, hidden blocks and doors and describing objects. Other Pixls allow you to plant bombs, hit things with a hammer, and float across spikes. Standard RPG conventions such as hit-points and an inventory with items to collect are all present and correct (even if your inventory is restrictively small). You even have the choice of using Luigi, Peach and Bowser as your character throughout various parts of the game which adds variety in your approach to problems, as they each have a different skill.
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