Pixls and power-ups
To help Mario and the team in the quest to stave off the destruction of all worlds by collecting Pure Hearts, the gang are aided by Pixls, little fairy-type creatures that give the guys extra powers ranging from dropping bombs through to shrinking the team to miniscule proportions. Each of the Pixls are introduced through the story and are then featured in a level that allows you to use their power.As you progress through Super Paper Mario you’ll gather more Pixls giving you a wide range of powers to use. It’s a testament to Nintendo’s excellent level and overall game design that pretty much all the Pixls are of some use no matter which level you’re playing, though obviously some are better suited to one area than another.
I mentioned earlier that there’s and RPG element to Super Paper Mario and this is most obvious in the inventory screen where you can access a whole load of extras. From here you can switch characters and Pixls, select items to use, access maps and even recipes to make from dropped items. Even though this is a comprehensive inventory covering everything you can do, it’s simplicity in itself to use and my 7 year old very quickly got the hang of it and was soon recovering health and flipping between characters and Pixls.
In previous Mario games you had a limited amount of health and Super Paper Mario is no different. But where it does differ is that as you progress, you’re total HP increases, as does the amount of damage you cause either from your own attacks or with items you use. Of course, the further you get in the game the tougher the enemies become so building up your total HP and filling your inventory with Mushroom Shakes to replenish your health becomes essential.
In addition to the main story mode there’s a few cool side games that act as a bit of a diversion from the main game. Down in the depths of Flipside, the town that you’ll use as a base for your various adventures, there’s an arcade where you can try out in various mini-games. Or, if you fancy a real challenge, why not take a run through the Pit of 100 Trials, which, as the name suggests, is one hundred levels of increasing difficulty… with no save points!
In fact, Flipside itself is a bit of an adventure as all is not what it seems. Flipping to 3D and you’ll see that Flipside is actually multi-layered and not just the 5 storey town it first appears… further, once you reach about mid-way through Super Paper Mario, you’ll discover Flopside, the mirror image of Flipside where there’s even more exploring to be done.
And that’s what makes Super Paper Mario so damn good. The fact that you can, at any time, go off on a good explore to discover all the extras packed into each area, stage and screen. Often, if you’re stuck, flipping into 3D will reveal a new path or route through a level and you’ll soon find yourself flipping frequently just to check out what’s going on around you. Flipping has the other advantage of helping you avoid tougher monsters and maybe even sneaking up from behind them as they, being 2D monsters, can’t see you once you enter the 3D world… so flip, run past them, then flip back to deliver a sneak attack!
