Losing the Edge | Paper Mario: Sticker Star Retrospective

Today, we look at the Paper Mario game that many say is where the series began losing its edge in this Sticker Star retrospective. Whereas Super Paper Mario changed up the formula while still keeping the RPG roots and focus on storytelling intact, Sticker Star stripped all of that away to redirect the Paper Mario series into a more conventional space. This has partially contributed to Sticker Star's controversial reputation as the game where the series nosedived in quality. Today, we'll examine those claims by taking a look at Paper Mario's first (and so far, only!) handheld title. #PaperMario #StickerStar #Nintendo
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The picture of Koji Kondo was taken by Vincent Diamante and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license: creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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TIMECODES
00:00 - INTRO
01:17 - DEVELOPMENT
04:43 - GAMEPLAY AND BATTLE SYSTEM
11:01 - PUZZLES AND WORLD DESIGN
13:35 - LEVELS
18:43 - AESTHETICS
21:58 - STORYTELLING AND CHARACTERS
25:32 - CONCLUSION
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SOURCES / RECOMMENDED READING:
Nintendo Life: The Team Behind Paper Mario: Sticker Star (bit.ly/3y6qkN9)
3 Shigeru Miyamoto Interviews on Paper Mario Sticker Star / Color Splash ( • 3 Shigeru Miyamoto int... )
Iwata Asks: Paper Mario Sticker Star (bit.ly/3msViMW)
Vooks: Paper Mario 3DS resticks as Paper Mario Sticker Star (bit.ly/3mhEhpb)
GamesRadar UK: Paper Mario The Origami King developers talk origami influences, hidden Toads and celebrating Super Mario (bit.ly/3mhEhpb)

[@Khalith]

Seriously Shigeru’s habit of getting rid of story is causing more harm than good. It ruined a twilight Princess sequel and Paper Mario. It’s frustrating.

[@ducks698]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again he needs to retire. I absolutely recognize the good he’s done for games but he’s doing more harm than good now. Something new and innovative doesn’t always mean good

[@swainblaine1609]

his design process for games is a little outdated. He thrived in the era where the story was relegated to the instruction manual, nowadays games don't even have an instruction manual. He needs to understand that story really does matter in a game.

[@changvasejarik62]

I hear about miyamoto’s involvement in developing the game and all I hear if chuggaaconroy going “MIYAMOTO!!!” Over and over.

[@gum8191]

I hope he expires

[@_Pyroon_]

Just imagine if they stopped the super Mario's platformer fundamentals because they felt like ports of the previous game? You'd have a massive mistake and also tragedy that paper Mario is succumb to. Let's change everything when we've already got an amazing formula... Why Nintendo, why?!

[@nintendonut999]

That "Only 1% of players enjoyed the story of Super Paper Mario" is such a weird statistic. For a game focused on the story that people love, 1% seems like a statistical anomaly.

[@King_Luigi]

It's also a rather vague and flawed statement to just throw out there. For starters, it's entirely possible that the "1%" only covered surveys from Japan (and _maybe_ some of Europe). As Club Nintendo surveys _didn't exist_ in North America until ~1.5 _years_ *after* SPM released here. With Australia getting it more than 6 months after the game released in their region. So just _when_ did they decide to "tally up" those surveys to get their "results"? Does that statement take the _entire_ survey into account or just specific multiple choice questions? Also... "1%" doesn't _mean_ anything. Like 1% of _how many_ exactly? 10,000? 200,000? 1.5 million? (sigh) ...god... this past decade has been so frustrating for Paper Mario.

[@ValseInstrumentalist]

I was one of the 1%! I did Club Nintendo reviews for all of my games back in the day.

[@King_Luigi]

@@ValseInstrumentalist I did a fair amount of CN surveys back then as well. But, as I mentioned above, we can't be sure either of us were actually part of that _specific_ "1%" or not. Besides, it's not like _every_ person that played the game _also_ filled out those surveys either. There's a lot of unknown variables to this whole situation that we just won't have.

[@geoffabbythomas7293]

I think they rigged it somehow

[@ThrillingDuck]

To this day it's like a gut punch every time I hear it, and it frankly makes no sense. 1% of who? Who the fuck did they interview to get SUCH an anomalously low percent to that question. I'm pretty sure the modern consensus on SPM is that the story is its BEST feature lol.

[@aidenh.2782]

27:54-28:02 Not a fan of this type of reductionist criticism because a piece of media is conceptually fantastical, but I agree with the remainder of the review.

[@ronnieradon]

..yeah, that bit really bothered me. shit like that is so annoying

[@zjzr08]

Not only that, but with it tied to a series that has sort of consistency and expectation on what it should have, I don't think it's fair for audience to not have the foundations of it at least be there, as why is the one paying for the product needing to adjust per se?

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Did someone else write that line into his script or something? It contradicts at least half of the rest of the video.

[@zjzr08]

It has been clarified, while Miyamoto didn't think stories are necessary in games (although I do think a basic outline is needed), he doesn't discourage it, and even criticized how the gameplay of Sticker Star became boring to him.

[@AkiraStrix94]

That might just be his opinion, and I do get that, but we live in an age where story does matter, depending on the game. Certain Nintendo titles that came out within the last decade did not reflect that. And even if he thought the gameplay was boring, that just makes it more confusing as to why he even suggested that Sticker Star be made the way that it was. I didn't play this game when it came out, and from what I have seen online, it doesn't look like I was missing much. He may not discourage story in games, but Yoshiaki Koizumi is the reason a good number of Nintendo's first party games have an interesting bit of story, and that without said story (basic premise aside), much like say the storybook that Rosalina reads to the Lumas in Super Mario Galaxy, I think it helped make that game even more interesting because Rosalina was given a good bit of backstory, and I can certainly appreciate Koizumi for putting it in there. And by comparison, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is just as fun as the first Galaxy, but it feels like it's missing something. Sticker Star feels the same way to me, despite the fact that I never played it. I have nothing but respect for the man, but his logic on video games, let alone Mario and Zelda games, not needing any kind of story outside of the basic premise, continues to make zero sense. It's like how I feel about Star Fox Zero, because in some ways, it has a few similar problems that Sticker Star suffers from. A basic story that has no identity of its own while still feeling like a Star Fox game, and gameplay that feels so very cumbersome and isn't fun. I know Star Fox Zero has its fans, but while they can look past the flaws of that game, I can't. I wanted so hard to give that game a fair chance, but I just couldn't. Now, Ubisoft did come along, and did the best they could to try and undo that travesty with including the Star Fox team for the story of Starlink Battle for Atlas, and I do admit the inclusion of Star Fox characters feels a bit shoe-horned in, that game was still very enjoyable, and the story was just as well done.

[@zjzr08]

@Trixter Foxx (Akira) Miyamoto just said to not make it similar to "TTYD", which could be interpreted in many ways...does he not want it to be an RPG, does it not innovate enough as an RPG, etc. Overall, I think Paper Mario lost its direction when the old director Ryota Kawade left, and the new head Kenuske Tanabe seems to have no idea what Paper Mario is really about as he just got most involved since Super Paper Mario, which while had the essense of the past games, probably had him mistook it as an ever changing franchise mostly focusing on the paper aspect. Koizumi was responsible in a handful of narrative elements in some Nintendo games, but he himself did say things where he thinks story is unnecessary in certain games like DK Jungle Beat I think. Saying "games are unnecessary" isn't a general thing, and Koizumi didn't hide Rosalina's story due to fear of Miyamoto, and it's more likely he just wants to do it in private, with Koizumi presenting it to Miyamoto from time to time. Funny enough Star Fox Zero was also handled by Tanabe hence why it feels like it had the similar issues Sticker Star had.

[@fawfulthegreat64]

I just miss the series having full creative freedom. I wouldn't even mind the gameplay mechanics in Sticker Star if I was as invested in the story and characters as I was with Super or TTYD. I just can't have that level of investment in something that's exclusively pre-existing mainline Mario characters. I want to have stuff like Vivian again, X-Nauts, legendary prophecies, Dimentio, etc. Honestly I love the first three games for their stories and characters, and settings/narratives that fleshed out the Mario world. Sticker Star removed those aspects, and even though I like Origami King for what it is, I still don't feel like we've got it back yet. The restrictions are still there, and honestly I feel like modern Nintendo in general is more strict about what can and can't be in a Mario game and it's had a particularly tragic effect on Paper Mario, which was loved for pushing the boundaries in the first three games and delivering stunning epics with world-shattering subversions of what the average normie would expect out of Mario. But sadly Nintendo now wants to appeal to those audiences more, they want everything to be familiar to a random non-fan so they buy. It hurts so much how corporate and brand-focused Mario has become. Mario Party Superstars brings back Mushroom Village but replaces all the fun unique Toad residents with recolors of The Regular Toad (tm).

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Appeal to what audience? Who asked for this?

[@ahmedhasan4966]

​@@AkameGaKillfan777 idk casual?

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

@@ahmedhasan4966 Tanabe has such stupid definitions for "casual" and "hard-core" players.

[@ahmedhasan4966]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 yup agreed.

[@IamCanadian3333]

I've yet to see that "less than 1% poll," tbh. The most I've heard when asking people is that people seemed to have misinterpreted the question, and and that answering "no" would hopefully help bring Paper Mario back to it's roots as opposed to butcher it further which is sadly what we got. =/

[@MultiCool55]

I never could enjoy this game, the removal of pretty much everything that the first two, and to some extent, super had was way too much. (Specifically things like the badge system, experience points, an actual plot that isn't just "oh boy bowser kidnapped peach again, go get him!".) Perfect example of fixing something that isn't broken. This game feels completely soulless, which is arguably the worst thing any Mario game could be.

[@AlliroG98]

Paper Mario 64 didn't have much better main plot tho

[@Zero_de_Nova]

@@AlliroG98 True and the Pardner are more than hollow! But its the first one so it can do that.

[@AlliroG98]

@@Zero_de_Nova Technically, Super Mario RPG was the first one. And it had a superior partner system, too.

[@retrofan4963]

@@AlliroG98 Paper Mario 64 has a lot going on for a first game in the Paper Mario series. And the characters and the world are much more creative and 3 dimensional than Sticker Star to the point there's no comparison. Sticker Star is purely soulless. Super Mario RPG did a great start ground work for the Paper Mario series. But saying Paper Mario 64 is comparable to Sticker Star's story, like what? You must have forgotten the full story of Paper Mario 64 and its execution if you say that. It's more than just rescuing Peach from Bowser. You also have to help the Star Spirits, which the star rod is stolen by Bowser. There's lot of depth of the characters that make you care what's going on around the story. Sticker Star doesn't have that.

[@AlliroG98]

@@retrofan4963 Sticker Star has Wiggler, the Enigmansion, the travelling Toad and a bunch of other side characters. There are also multiple occasions where you have to save Kersti from some kind of specific trouble. Each boss also has a backstory of some kind. Both games have the problem that it's just Bowser kidnapping Peach, but both games also have other story elements to compensate.

[@zeospark9715]

Also you LIKE Kersti? I don't really like her personality as she's the type to lash out for no reason and treats Mario as the bad guy for the most part. Hell, even when Mario wants to help out all the Toads in Decalburg, Kersti tells him that he should focus on collecting the royal stickers instead. And her "revival" at the end felt so forced. Honestly, that's the only thing I disagree with and don't worry, I know it's your opinion but Kersti is just a badly written character. Even Starlow has more redeeming traits than her and Starlow likes to pick on Luigi for a living.

[@kazimierzliz8280]

I don’t have anything bad to say about this game or people who like it. I do think that Miyamoto definitely overstepped his bounds and took a sledgehammer to this game and series. Whether you think it was to the games benefit or not, I don’t think that was right and I’m tired of people trying to defend him on this one.

[@ForrestFox626]

My biggest problem with Sticker Star: What is the point of fighting? A game can be visually stunning or funny, but at the end of the day I'm playing a game. And if the gameplay isn't interesting or worth doing why am I playing. Coins are easy to get outside of battle, there is no experience points, stickers are just an idiotic concept. Nothing here gives me something I can get better somewhere else.

[@ECL28E]

Also, because the stickers are single-use, battling is a net-loss; especially int he early-game where the album is like 2 pages

[@orangeslash1667]

@@ECL28E The reason why modern Paper Mario is so gimmicky, is because the devs want to take advantage of the 3ds's Hardware in a way that couldn't be done on older hardware. That's a good way to describe modern Nintendo that take advantage of the hardware before they make a game. The problem is just cause you can doesn't mean you should.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@orangeslash1667 And they ended up not doing that. There isn't a single mechanic in the game that benefits from using the 3D function. I may think what Nintendo did with the Wii U did was completely embarrassing, but I could see them trying to get something out of it. I never understood how 3D was supposed to be a selling point for the 3DS?

[@orangeslash1667]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 Scott made a video about that kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3XIe2NsnreVjaM.

[@CloudConnection]

HEADS UP: I know there's some minor audio issues with my voiceover in this video, particularly in the first half. I tried to remove them as best I could, but some I couldn't remove without having to rerecord entirely. Hope you can enjoy the video regardless! ALSO: It turns out you CAN manually sort Stickers using the Touchscreen; didn't realize that while I was playing and I feel like an idiot. Thanks to DerEric for pointing that out!

[@Notsophism]

That was a remarkably balanced perspective on the game! As always, your frank, relaxed approach for these reviews pulls through; well done!

[@HahnKirby]

Sticker Star was the first Paper Mario I didn't finish, I made it to around world 3 before I was just bored to death. It was so bad I haven't played another Paper Mario since. Shigeru Miyamoto might be a legend, but he had some horrible takes with this one.

[@afterdinnercreations936]

I manged to finish this and Color Splash (although I almost forced myself to finish the latter) The final-straw for me was Origami King.

[@HahnKirby]

I wish we could get a new game with a story like Super Paper Mario, and the gameplay of Thousand Year Door. That would be the perfect Paper Mario.

[@Happymealthief]

I can definitely see why people dislike this game but honestly I didn’t actually find it unplayable and I did get some enjoyment out of it. Great video as always 👍

[@Griffnix]

Gameplay wise it was good. I hated the bosses since you needed certain Thing Stickers to make them easier and combat was just a waste stickers. If your attacks weren't disposable, I might have likes it again but this is not one I'd play again.

[@Rabki]

I honestly loved Sticker Star, so thank you for giving it some justice!

[@LunarBoo]

Actually, you can sort your stickers manually by just using the Touchscreen. Anyway, I like having a review of this game that isn't just 'Sticker Star bad'. As one of those who actually enjoy the game (mainly because of the puzzles, combat does indeed have its problems), it is really frustrating to get bombarded with the same points all the time. Yes, I know that there are no EXP in this game. I played it. I don't mind. I like the adventure/puzzle aspect of the game, and I like the level-based system.

[@CloudConnection]

Well damn, I feel like an idiot for not trying to sort them with the Touchscreen. thanks for pointing that out, and thanks for watching!

[@ThatFanBoyGuy]

@@CloudConnection Yes, you can sort stickers manually through the touch screen, but to be fair, that can be more annoying than the auto-sort. To start, you have to make sure wherever you move it, it has the space, or the sticker won't move. Also, if you want to move it to a different page, the touch screen responds extremely slow to it. After a while, I just gave up manually sorting and used the auto-sort.

[@Ashanmaril]

@@CloudConnection it's barely worth mentioning that you can manually sort stickers because you could accidentally press the sort button once and undo everything. They game clearly wants you to just use the sort button to order things, and sorting manually is just pulling more wasted time from the battle system that's already disincentivized by every mechanic in the game.

[@tripleaaabattery8480]

Puzzles? You mean having to replay every level more than once because you missed a thing thats required to progress? Or maybe that one swamp level that literally has kaizo blocks that have no indication that they're there

[@hozkahilgarri3936]

Your review is well balanced and made some good points. While admittedly, yes, it's not a completely terrible game, it has great aesthetics and music, it just suffers so much from sterilization of characters personality, combat and story. Bowser having no dialogue to make him interesting or compelling or charming is one of the great travesties here. The other is making combat so unrewarding and unnecessary that it's better to avoid. "Only 1% of players liked the story in Super Paper Mario" seems like such a strange statistic, I that I feel like it was most likely skewed or completely fabricated to justify amputating one of the most iconic and interesting ingredients of the first 3 entries. The stories and manner in which they were conveyed are unique and well executed, and the fact that fans have replayed and continued to talk about these games for 20 years SHOULD carry some weight in the developers' perspective. It bewilders me so much; I can't imagine any fewer than 50% of players liking the story of SPM. And personally I feel TTYD had the best story, subplots and lore of the three. I just can't comprehend the dev's reasoning and I never ever will. I staunchly and vehemently resent the latter 3 titles, and it offends and disturbs me that they have actually sold as many units as they have. (It only offends me because I know that they'll continue to base future decisions on sales, which will likely prevent any future titles from providing a new experience harkening back to the first 2 titles, one I personally love. And I'm sure that is the root of most fan vitriol. I know, I'm only repeating what many fans have continuously (or rabidly) stated. However, I feel that the echo chamber of criticism by fans doesn't exist solely because fans enjoy ripping on new things. The new games received such resounding criticism for very objective reasons, rather than pure subjectivity, or else the criticisms wouldn't be so convergent. The first 3 entries demonstrated their ideas very well, and it's just so bizarre and baffling that the following 3 were so heavily sterilized. Unfortunately history has shown that the wishes of fans will have no impact on their decisions for future entries in the series.

[@napoleonfeanor]

The people at Nintendo are too obedient to Miyamoto-san and probably afraid of saying no.

[@zeospark9715]

Yeah Miyamoto really dropped the ball by not letting them do what they originally want. His insistance on taking all the main elements from the game made SS the worst in the series.

[@the757general2]

That's Japanese culture in a nutshell. Always kiss your boss's ass!

[@leomassafm160]

Less backtracking than its predecessors? Did we play the same game? In fact, I can say with absolute certainty that the series' backtracking problem is at its worst in Sticker Star!

[@retrofan4963]

I feel people are too afraid to admit there exist a bad Mario game outside of infamous dead horses like Hotel Mario. Sticker Star is plain, dull and suffered to not stand out other Mario games due to creativity taken out. I don't know how this game is worth a second shot for "redeemable" in my opinion. I'll stick with 64, TTYD, and SPM than the modern Paper Mario games, thank you very much.

[@UncleFlutus]

Great review, it’s nice to hear a generally well rounded take on Sticker Star for once since usually discussion for this game stops at “this game sucks” and never goes any deeper than that. I’ve always found this game to be an interesting case. On a game design level, the battles are pretty lackluster, and some of the puzzles can be way to cryptic. But man, even with this games pretty noticeable flaws, I weirdly find myself revisiting this one even more than the Paper Mario’s of old. I’m a huge aesthetic person, and I love how this game looks and sounds. Picking up stickers and hearing that sound it makes is like so satisfying to me. I also really enjoy exploring the areas and just taking in the environments even though on a conceptual level they aren’t anything too special. I think this game has charm, just a different type of charm than it’s predecessors. I’ve always found this games positives to barely ever be talked about so again, really enjoyed this review.

[@ForrestFox626]

If the gameplay in a game is lackluster not everyone will see a game through

[@UncleFlutus]

@@ForrestFox626 yeah I know, and I think that’s fair. i’m just the type of person who appreciates a game in many different areas so I can personally excuse some lackluster design elements if I like other things in a game lol.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@UncleFlutus The reason why modern Paper Mario is so gimmicky, is because the devs want to take advantage of the 3ds's Hardware in a way that couldn't be done on older hardware. That's a good way to describe modern Nintendo that take advantage of the hardware before they make a game. The problem is just cause you can doesn't mean you should.

[@zeroxenoverse9251]

Still though that's basically what most vids about SS in a nutshell.

[@_Pyroon_]

Paper Mario has been and still is the only rpg with turn based fighting that I highly enjoyed, it's so disappointing that it's just turned into a series for testing whacky mechanics...

[@strain42]

Sticker Star is always the game that I think of when I'm asked to think of a game I don't like or a game that I consider bad. Not necessarily because it IS one of the worst games I've ever played. I've definitely played way worse. But the levels of excitement I had for it vs. how much I enjoyed what I played is still one of the most staggering differences I've ever personally had with a game and that's always gonna leave a pretty big impression with me. I will say this though, I absolutely loved that third level. Like the Poison Forest was absolutely my jam.

[@_Pyroon_]

It's so disappointing that this game actually sounded good and had rpg elements, friends, and a decent story line until shigeru 'renovated' it.

[@lilypyrope4620]

When Petey Piranha said "Shiny Petey Time", I felt that

[@sanicguy4145]

This was my first paper Mario game and I have a huge soft spot for it but I agree it has many flaws and doesn’t compare to the other games in the series, but I do think it is criticized a little to harshly. It’s soundtrack is also amazing.

[@LazyGardenGamer]

I actually didn't even want to click on this video, because that's how massive my hate is for this game, but I liked your first few vids in the series and so figured I'd watch it all the way through. I liked hearing your thoughts, but still hate this game so much, lol. I was really trying to like it, but started just forcing myself to finish it around the wiggler stages. I didn't like that combat was so limited. I didn't like losing "thing" stickers by accident. I absolutely hated how easy the final bowser fight was, and how bowser had zero personality this time around. None of the puzzles felt unique, the art style felt "off," somehow, and yeah the severe lack of writing for any kind of continuation just felt un-Paper Mario to me. And every NPC being a generic red spotted toad? No. Definitely in the top 3 most hated games

[@Dharengo]

I don't want to 'get past it' if I'm completely honest. I cant just accept that this game has nothing of the things I love the most about this series. Even Super had a lot I liked, even if the RPG mechanics were very light. The overt focus on the paper stuff is off putting and immersion breaking. The paper stuff used to just give a story book aesthetic, but now everyone in the world knows they're made of paper it's just dumb.

[@Goomba1309]

(Fair warning: Very long comment ahead) There's something that needs to be said about the current state of Paper Mario. Many people back then thought Miyamoto was responsible for the way Sticker Star turned out and the impact it had on the series going forward; hell, it's still brought up to this day by some people. Except there's one problem, and I want to address this first and foremost, right here, right now, because I'm sick of seeing it. *SHIGERU MIYAMOTO.* *DID NOT RUIN.* *PAPER MARIO.* Want evidence? Glad you asked (or not). You remember the infamous quote from the Iwata Asks about Sticker Star that everyone likes to use to somehow prove how Miyamoto "ruined" Paper Mario, the one where he thought that the Sticker Star prototype played exactly like TTYD? At a glance, the statement does make it look like Miyamoto is at fault here, but when one looks at the other lines, things start to make more sense. In fact, the line right after that said, and I quote, that "at first Miyamoto-san said that something like an RPG would be fine, so for a while [Tanabe] thought that something like the previous one would be fine". But wait, if Miyamoto wanted an RPG, why would you make something that's not an RPG? Of course, this is just conjecture as we don't have a good idea of what the E3 2010 demo played like, but from these statements, it does sound like the gameplay was effectively unchanged from TTYD. (Even Iwata-san suggests that.) It can be reasonably suggested that Miyamoto was suggesting to advance the gameplay in a similar way to how TTYD improved on PM64 (having the same basic gameplay but still feeling quite different), instead of feeling more like DLC to TTYD, which is a legitimate complaint. Each game should feel unique. It's obvious that Miyamoto didn't want the sticker system, as stated by Aoyama himself, who said that "[Miyamoto] said [the sticker-based battle system] was boring". The sole reason Sticker Star didn't retain the gameplay of the first two games was because Intelligent Systems, for some reason, thought that the suggestion to add something unique to spice up a battle system meant to throw away everything they had and start anew. To put it in the words of Iwata-san once again, they "purposefully threw out the basic RPG structure". But how about the characters and the story? They're 100% Miyamoto's fault, right? Well, once again, Intelligent Systems shows how they're... not that intelligent. As for the lack of story, even if Miyamoto influenced them, Intelligent Systems still were the ones who created the story. Iwata-san himself even says that "[The story] was just what Kudo-san wanted". From Kudo-san's quote: "I originally saw it in a way that's similar to Miyamoto-san. Personally I think all we need is to have an objective to win the boss battle at the end of the game. I didn't think we necessarily needed a lengthy story like in an RPG. Instead, we looked at the characteristics of a portable game that can be played little by little in small pieces and packed in lots of little episodes and ideas. I always did like putting in little ideas, so I actually enjoyed it." it can be seen that the WRITER of the story deliberately went along with the thoughts of Miyamoto-san, creating the "story" found in Sticker Star today. In no way did Miyamoto force them to do so, they had a choice and they chose to not have a major story. As for the characters? Sure Miyamoto told them to, 'As much as possible, complete it with only characters from the Super Mario world.' But guess what? There's like 20 other species in main-series Mario games they could make use of, including, but certainly not limited to: Piantas, Nokis, Professor E. Gadd, Toadsworth, Toadette, the Toad Brigade, Penguins and Gearmos. And how about those enemies? As seen by Mr. Blizzard and Petey Piranha, they certainly have no trouble using 64 and Sunshine enemies/bosses, like: Chargin' Chucks, Stretches, Fishbones, Mad Piano, Rexes, Cataquacks, Reznors, King Boo, Phantamanta, Cheepskipper, the Koopalings, and so on. Point is, Intelligent Systems had to purposely limit themselves to Toads. There's no way they could simply forget about all these varied, interesting allies and enemies. Or well, maybe... If you want more proof that Intelligent Systems didn't have to do anything Miyamoto-san told them to do, look no further than this little game called Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, a game with a nice story, unique characters, and an interesting world, that released merely a year after Sticker Star and was in development since 2010. Surely, Miyamoto would've asked the same thing to them, right? Again, this is just conjecture, but it seems there's pretty solid evidence in the Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Iwata Asks Interview. In fact, if Maekawa's quote about how "[AlphaDream would] take [Nintendo's opinions] back and work it over" and "accept some parts, and then we’d hash out those parts we couldn’t accept face-to-face in a meeting" is anything to go by, AlphaDream totally ignored Miyamoto's suggestions to make the game they wanted to make, something that Intelligent Systems just didn't have to spine to do, unfortunately. There's one last thing I want to talk about, and it's about the current state of Paper Mario. For some reason, some people like to use it as evidence that Miyamoto is responsible for the "fall" of Paper Mario. Except that is also false, because as stated in an interview with Paper Mario producer Kensuke Tanabe and director Masahiko Nagaya by Eurogamer Germany, 'ever since Paper Mario: Color Splash, we have almost complete control over the creative direction of the game', and that 'Mr. Miyamoto checked in on development once or twice, but there were no specific requests to make changes'. So think about this for a second: Intelligent Systems have complete control over the creative direction of the games, with Miyamoto barely involved, yet they don't do anything creative, therefore Miyamoto is to blame. What level of guilt by association are we on right now? And finally, the coup de grace: this quote from an interview with Tanabe about Paper Mario The Origami King: "Since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, it’s no longer possible to modify Mario characters or to create original characters that touch on the Mario universe". And to that I say, "bah humbug". By the time Origami King was released, we already had Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Tennis Aces AND Luigi's Mansion 3, all games that had either modified Mario characters and/or original characters that touched on the Mario universe. And even AFTER Origami King was released, there's still other games that contradict that statement, like Mario Golf Super Rush, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and even Mario Strikers Battle League. So it's not that "it's no longer possible", it's just that they're just lazy and choose not to add any of those characters that were added no problem in the games I mentioned earlier. And the less I talk about Intelligent Systems deliberately ignoring fan feedback, the better... EDIT: Corrected minor spelling errors

[@concordjuniper33]

I'm glad somebody took the time to research this and find out what seems to actually be going on, because many KZbinrs I've seen tend to have differing opinions on who's responsible for this happening and it's hard to make out the truth over it. I actually learned something from reading this. Good job! I also found it interesting that this video doesn't even seem to mention Tanabe once, clearly blaming just Miyamoto for it, which, after reading what you had to say, it doesn't seem like Miyamoto was quite as responsible as many people think he is--heck, some people even straight up accuse him and blame him of things that aren't even true if you look into things more carefully. I would love to see a video covering this more sometime, especially if it reached more people, because I think this needs to be brought more into the open.

[@coalstocking]

great video, i just found you and im in love with your channel so far, though the music is incredibly quiet, you might as well not even include it lol

[@InsomniacManiac]

Keep it up my dude, love the retrospectives!!!

[@Peartato59]

I remember enjoying the writing and humor more than any other aspect of the game. I also had to drop the game at the final boss (which I never do) because of Kammy’s ability to temporarily turn your stickers into sandals, meaning if you don’t memorize the positions of all of your stickers, you could accidentally use super powerful stickers to do one damage to her and not have them available for the Bowser battle.

[@Thrillin_Chillin_Drillin]

Sticker Star had the most potential of any RPG on the 3DS. If Miyamoto dislikes RPGs why was he even allowed to demand anything within the gameplay?

[@ZelosSama]

3:55 yeah he did that a lot where it wasnt needed . its really frustrating. as much as he had good ideas , a lot of them were just him being old school and seeing problems where there usually wasnt.

[@SuperLegendOf364]

I personally got into Paper Mario BECAUSE of the story. They showed me how deep the series could get if they weren't held back by the whole rescue Peach thing (which admittedly did happen in the first 3 games too.) So yea, not a fan of how the last 3 games have been. Bowser not getting to talk is a travesty, and I think toads are now my least favorite mario design due to overexposure.

[@schnorks0]

It's possible I just missed it, but I don't think you mentioned one of the biggest flaws of the gameplay for me. From what I remember each boss required a different arbitrary "thing" sticker to beat, and the only way to know which one to take into battle was to go in blind, fail, and come back-- literally trial and error. I already wasn't having fun with the game, but that annoying element is what finally made me put it down in the second or third world.

[@Yoshinator]

There are some clues with most of them, like the Pokey stage looking like a baseball field, but most of it is trail and error.

[@Baconator2558]

I think Gooper Blooper and _maybe_ Bowser were the only ones that required them iirc. The other ones were just made easier with them, and I think the snow boss was just weak to any fire attack.

[@caioviski016]

Awesome video!! You should do a Wii Sports Resort Retrospective! Keep it up!!

[@Shiver-is-best-waifu]

23:21 I've NEVER heard nor want to hear anyone say that Kersti is cool. She's quite bad actually. She's rude to Mario by her first interaction, she states that she's too delicate to fightin front of GOOMBAS that she egged on, her hints are rarely helpful, she's really mean throughout the whole game and to top it all off, her "emotional goodbye" to Mario was not only awful but then Mario wishes her to come back which defeats the purpose of her sacrifice. Nintendo is saying, Hey, You can use Kersti's power but she can't actually die. We had other female partners in other games that were small but they fought just as much as Mario. Even Watt a newborn, helps him on his journey. Kersti is the worst character in the Paper Mario series. She's rude and annoying, not useful with her "Advice" and her emotional speech is not earned because she just comes back anyways.

[@Goomba1309]

Also, a "sassy, feisty woman"? More like a "bratty, rude little twerp"

[@leftovernoise]

I had honestly completely forgotten that I played this until this video haha

[@darkcloak100]

Just wait for Chuggaaconroy to find this

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

He's doing a better job, but he's still not done

[@salamiselimbo17]

I love that game, I used to tilt my 3ds to make my stickers in my album shine and I really felt it when I got a new crown stickers the new page was good rewards but yeah I would have liked more

[@BrandBurgund]

All Shigeru Miyamoto needed to say was “It needs to be MORE like TTYD”

[@kronux3831]

I honestly think the game had a lot of potential, especially with the sticker mechanic. Honestly, I enjoyed several different parts of the game, but there were also a lot of places where the game needed some more care, and when there were issues, those issues tended to be pretty significant. One example of something that needed some more care is the boss fights - a lot of them are really cool, but the balancing is pretty horrible. Having fights rely on the player having certain rare stickers is kind of a drag, and the final boss is so difficult that I was unable to beat it without a guide.

[@Leumascar]

To go by a polls results that were locked behind a site in which you are required to make an account, have people that actually knew of the polls existence at all to answer it, have those people who actually did fill it out to know and play SPM, and finally to go by those results to determine how they should make their next game is asinine and incredibly narrow in terms of looking for feedback. Polls like that should be sent to any and all fans in order to get proper results. There is no way anyone can say out of all SPM fans only 1% enjoyed the story.

[@_Pyroon_]

Just imagine if they stopped the super Mario's platformer fundamentals because they felt like ports of the previous game? You'd have a massive mistake and also tragedy that paper Mario is succumb to. Let's change everything when we've already got an amazing formula... Why Nintendo, why?!

[@fernando98322]

Surprised you didn't mention the Sticker Museum, it's literally the best part of the game, Chapter 4 aside

[@CloudConnection]

Full disclosure: I didn't actually discover the Sticker Museum when I was playing the game. Just never thought to Paperize in Decalburg, I kinda thought that that whole "Toad's voice under the fountain" thing was just a gag. Just from reading up on it, it looks like a cool little side area but probably wouldn't catch my attention for long.

[@10thletter40]

I liked sticker star a little, but the battle mechanic of having basic attacks disappear on me with one use was killing me. The big items were especially upsetting to deal with

[@CountMonsparkle]

The game itself is... fine, but I absolutely despise it for a different reason. You can definitely notice a change in philosophy, not just in the Paper Mario series but in the Mario franchise as a whole, that all seems to have started with Sticker Star. From this point onward, baring remakes, pretty much every Mario game became as vanilla and bland as possible. The "Mario-formula" was cemented here, meaning no more innovative locations, no more interesting character designs or personality, and no more original stories. You see it in full effect with both the modern PM series as well as the M&L series (damn I hate how generic Paper Jam was). There was a point where I actually cared about the Mario lore, the Mushroom Kingdom and its surrounding areas all seemed like places with their own history and everything. But nowadays, it is all too obvious that Nintendo themselves don't care at all about that aspect, and so the magic of this franchise has become lost to me, which pains me so much to say. And it all can be traced back to this game...

[@ECL28E]

I still finished Sticker Star and Color Splash. The former because it felt like a decent experiment. The latter, out of obligation. I only got halfway through Origami King before leaving it and playing Hollow Knight and Bug Fables, instead

[@JayCruz49er]

I enjoyed this game a lot. I fell most folks that hated it, didn’t like it for what it wasn’t instead of what it was. Is it a great game? No. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I may be the only one here but fuggit. I love this game!

[@YuseiTheSynchroHero]

Chapter 4 is probably my favorite part of the entire game.. although, I guess it's like finding a shiny gem under a pile of debris. I guess when my parents found and got me this game from a Goodwill of all places... That should have been the red flag. Years later and honestly, my thoughts haven't changed at ALL (it's not better or worse than I remember). I remember just pushing myself to finish the game and I haven't really came back to the game since. I loved certain battle themes like the Mini Boss theme (that has no business being such a BOP) Writing is hit or miss at times but the shady dealer Toad in Toad Town always made me chuckle. I just wish he had a punny name and a small design distinction like in the older Paper Mario games. Shade T. probably. The names and small aesthetic differences made me appreciate even the original Toad Town NPCs like Felissa T. (One of "The Three Beautiful Toad Sisters") and her silly self referencial speak (example: "I, Felissa T, [insert dialogue here]). The combat in Sticker Star while not as unweldly like Super's platforming combat still wasn't all _that_ engaging and I would have rather have seen an improvement on Super's real time action combat instead. At least there was some great potential (and sadly Origami King only does this with the Paper Machos) The overabundance of Toads with no names and no visual differences (age, gender, size, etc.) Almost was giving me "Minions" vibes and... -Not a fan of them- and just Nintendo being afraid that unique Toad characters or Goombas, or Koopas would damage the _Mario brand_ or would be "too liberal" for 2nd party studios to be doing again. And all I can think is "This wasn't a problem BEFORE So what happened?" Was it actually Super Paper Mario?? I mean the weird abstract shapes characters weren't my favorite (with obvious exceptions like Tippi, Count Black and his crew, and even Flint Cragg) but damn, I didn't hate them THAT much to where I would have wanted it all stripped down to the bare bones Mario characters. Toadette and Toadsworth haven't appeared in Paper Mario since TTYD and... I don't get why. I think it's strange to chalk up people's rather depressing feelings about the franchise as just a "ha ha SILLY moment" when you, yourself grew up with the older games and should know just how important the elements of the original games were (no matter how imperfect they were). Getting emotional about your favorite things is a normal thing. Do some people go TOO far? Yes... But that's a vocal minority. Some people can't and/or won't "move on" because perhaps the original games impacted them THAT much in other ways. I know it did for _me_

[@hgmd3284]

I am not alone! I personally think sticker star is good. This vid was really good, I’ll watch the color slash vid next, then origami king

[@oliverhurt3418]

Seriously, the whole "not allowed to represent age or gender"-thing is so frustrating, as it prevents the newer PM from fitting in with the universe established in it's older titles! I mean, no females, children, or elderly variants among any of the various Mario species? Come the 🤬 on!

[@LokiEris]

"Never run out"? Heh, no. It happened too often. It was my biggest issue with the game.

[@ChildrenShowArchive456]

Unpopular Opinion: I Actually Love Kertsi Because She’s So Cute And Sassy.

[@Xf3rnaPlays]

Great, you love an objectively irritating and uninteresting character

[@P-Switch5482]

Color Splash and Origami King have by far the best soundtrack in the series, so I highly recommend you do yourself the favor and look into that. Origami King has the best battle theme, & there are numerous variations on said theme depending on the world you're in. When I heard the music of Sticker Star just now, I found it incredibly underwhelming compared to the latter two. I'd say Origami King has the best music, & as someone who's been a musician (mainly Saxophones, currently on Soprano) the past 25 years, I know what I'm talking about.

[@HiJello64]

I thought the level design was fun, but it’s flaws are pretty dominant to the experience. That being said I don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be.

[@UncleFlutus]

Yeah, I feel like exploring was super fun mostly throughout the game. I feel like a lot of people still hold their personal biases towards this game so they don’t really want to acknowledge any of its positives. Which is weird to me, especially since it’s been almost 10 years. You’d think people would eventually learn to move on but I guess not lol.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@UncleFlutus Is there some sort of imaginary stature of limitations where people are just supposed to stop disliking something? 100 years can pass and people will still not think it's good. Sure, we don't talk about it, but that doesn't change how bad it was. It's the same thing with Teen Titans Go. People aren't talking about it anymore, but it does not change the fact that most of the criticism it got still holds up and is still justified.

[@jackcottle8144]

This game sucks

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

Sticker Star is an interesting concept in the end... but it falls prey to a simple question. If fighting only gives me back what I use why fight? In most games, especially slow RPGs, when a player spends stuff they need to get something greater then what they spend. Sticker Star is what SPM would've been without its story. Flaws as the only takeaway for many people and a constant feeling of being talked down to and slapped.

[@skylight1198]

Story + writing is literally half of Paper Mario...

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Because it's an RPG, where stories are essential

[@jaretco6423]

So is gameplay.

[@zaxon810]

@@jaretco6423 and the gameplay has been shit after TTYD.....

[@Youngbane1457]

This is a good video, but it doesn't distract from the fact that my friend is taking basic geometry in 12th grade

[@CC-ly3rg]

That game was so good I played it so often when I was like 10 and completed it 2 times and once with all stickers in the museum.

[@ThatFanBoyGuy]

Glad you finally caught up to me! Lol! I am about close to finishing Color Splash, and to give advance warning, Color Splash battling with Sticker Star to be the least suckiest. I enjoyed your opinion of Sticker Star, and I bet I will appreciate your opinion of Color Splash.

[@kevinmark6389]

If I'm being honest Sticker Star and the two that games that came afterwards feel like a puzzle game, not a RPG with puzzles

[@tripleaaabattery8480]

Then why even have the turn based battle systems to begin with?

[@Zero_de_Nova]

Its a 50/50, not bad for a new Paper Mario Beginning.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Not bad, TERRIBLE

[@Jakub1Star]

this game is so good compared to thousand year door.

[@Xf3rnaPlays]

Get out of here man, go away from the paper mario community. It's fine if you like sticker star, but this is too much. Get your stench away from this series

[@zeospark9715]

Oooh boy yeah Sticker Star has a good soundtrack but wait until you get to The Origami King. I am safe to say it definitely has the best soundtrack of the entire series in my opinion

[@twindrill2852]

Yep! (Spoilers) If SS focused on jazz, TOK focuses on _everything_ : rock, orchestics, jazzy tunes, japanese folk, and even metal. A jack-of-all-trades, to be exact.

[@kingdomheartsgamer8771]

Im gonna play this with cheats on and see if i like the story have not played this in a while

[@SpongicX]

Gee Miyamoto, thanks for killing the series...

[@tigertyrant713]

!

[@LordVerdo]

Sounds like this game got butchered by Miyamoto’s decision making.

[@pappy2690]

I abandoned Nintendo after the gc and shit like this proves it was a good idea

[@ArcRogerr]

Nintendo as a whole? That's a bit excessive. Other IPs are thriving. It's Paper Mario that's stuck in a rut.

[@grimheaper6251]

If only I could dislike this video.

[@toooydoeur]

🤨

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

You can?

[@Baconator2558]

?