There, once upon a time, was a little RPG for the N 64 called Paper Mario.
You might not have remembered it, since it came out about the end of the short, sad life of the N 64, but it, nothertheless, is there. It is a rare find now adays, up there with Suikoden I and II and OrgeBattle 64.
This last little while, the brilliant minds at the big N decided to revive this game in a new form. Hence, Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door was born.
The premise of the game is simple, like all mario games. The Princess is captured, there is a mixture of mario vs Bowser, and this time another race called the X-Nauts to roll into the mix. They all are gunning for 7 crystal stars to open the 1000 year door to get the legendary Treasure hidden behind it. You can pick up characters on the way and level everyone up.
What makes this game really fun is the battle system. you have points, either star or flower, to be able to execute moves and during certain points in moves you hit other buttons for style attacks or defensive counter attacks. Each battle takes place on a stage and you geta audience that grows with you. Sometiems they will give you items, or send props flying at you or your enemies.
The story line is interesting, but the interludes between finding the crystal stars can be taxing. Everytime you finish, you play a interlude with the princess Peach and then one with Bowser. They are short, but take a little bit of fun out of the game. I managed to get half way through before we had guests take over the living room as their bedroom, but before then I was addicted and now that they are gone, I can feel the need to play building.
Where I rarely do this, I have to give props to Nintendo for creating another worthwhile, legendary game. It is too bad that the truely awesome games are coming out at the end of the next gen console's life. If Nintendo could strive to supply us with great games like this through the life span of the system, then I for one could be talked back into the folds of fanboy love for the system that introduced me to the geek/gamer lifestyle I prize today.