Reviews

Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS Is Consistently Fun And Engaging – Review

Sarah

December 5, 2012

The Paper Mario series is one of the few game series’ that are consistently fun no matter the incarnation. Characterized by the paper style characters and setting, the games have always been creative, colorful, and addicting. The newest release, The Paper Mario: Sticker Star was released for 3DS.

The Paper Mario: Sticker Star is described as:

A flat-out epic new adventure, starring the Mushroom Kingdom’s most famous hero in an elaborate papercraft world. With the land positively packed full of stickers, Mario™ will collect and use them to fight off baddies, uncover secrets, and more. Fans of the Paper Mario series will discover all new gameplay elements new to the franchise, while newer players will enjoy a craftastic new twist on their favorite Nintendo hero—only for Nintendo 3DS!

It doesn’t take long to get addicted to this game. The game begins with you at a sticker festival in Mushroom Kingdom that is once again ruined by Bowser and his backup of minions. After the festival is ruined you must unstick all the stickers in the kingdom as well as defeat Bowser. After ten minutes of gameplay, I couldn’t stop. I had to find all the stickers, I just had to! Like the previous Paper Mario games, you must have a sharp eye to find all the stickers in the 2D world.

All the characters are charming as usual. The paper cut out Toads and all of Mushroom Kingdom are gorgeous. Similarly to previous games, you have an assistant to aid you through the game. In this one, you have Kersti, a sticker of great importance who wants to help Mario save the world.

The Paper Mario: Sticker Star does a great job of throwing you into the storyline. It doesn’t waste a lot of time setting the story up rather assuming players are familiar with the ongoing feud of Bowser and Mario. I think this is great for seasoned players who want to pick this game up.

The controls are easy to use for anyone. You have the option to use the stylus or use the d-pad controls. Children with small hands might prefer to use the normal controls over the stylus though I, myself, found them easier to use altogether. The game is not hard to learn either. Like most Mario games you have the standard A and B buttons to control most of what you need to do. The only thing I didn’t like was using stickers during battle. The battles are turn-based but Mario must use stickers out of his inventory to do battle moves. I would prefer if he had skills to learn rather than a finite set of stickers in his inventory to use.

The 3D capabilities on this game make it look fantastic however, it doesn’t take anything away from the gameplay if you wish to play in the normal mode.

Also, who doesn’t love stickers? This game will satisfy that love that all children have and remind adults of the love for stickers they once had.

The Paper Mario: Sticker Star will be a great gift to give any Mario fan as well as 3DS players in your life. It is great for children and even casual gaming adults who have a 3DS.