Super Paper Mario - Fort Francis / World of Nothing
Added 2025-06-11 01:33:42 +0000 UTCMario fans are about to get a loottt of videos this month..
Debut of SPM!
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Comments
You mention "the original Mario Brothers" among Intelligent Systems's resume - that might not be the game you think it is. Most of the "original" Mario things are from Super Mario Brothers, which came out after just-plain Mario Brothers. The one without the Super is a single-screen arcade game closer to the original Donkey Kong.
Patrick Shaughnessy
2025-06-11 17:04:22 +0000 UTCMan, you could not have picked any two more different songs thematically. Fort Francis is a literal nerd lair owned by that chameleon guy you saw in the thumbnail, filled with cat robots wearing maid costumes, entire rooms full of anime merch, and doors that quiz your worthiness to see Francis by asking you true/false questions like "I love going on message boards and complaining about games I've never played!" (The answer is true.) It is definitely one of the more unique areas in the series and a highlight of the game imo. Meanwhile, World of Nothing is exactly what it sounds like. The world in question, which was formerly a very lively and colorful place, has been literally wiped from existence and you're exploring what's left of it to find your next plot coupon. The game's villain is intending to do this to EVERY world and this is your first demonstration of what that would actually look like. Hence the ominous feel to it. It's funny that you thought Bowser was the cause, since he's actually one of the playable characters here and his reaction to this is something like "Okay, I may be evil, but this is too much even for me!" For your first Mario game, I will always recommend Galaxy for the main platforming aspect (and the incredible soundtrack), but if you wanted to start with Paper Mario, I'd just recommend going in release order. The original N64 game still holds up super well and is easily available on Switch. TTYD is my favorite, but it's a deliberate departure from Mario's usual settings, whereas the original will probably give you the best idea of what the Mario world is like.
Berserker88
2025-06-11 12:50:46 +0000 UTC
