Paper Mario: Sticker star is the fourth game in the Paper Mario series and is on the Nintendo 3DS.
The story starts in a town named Decalburg, which is home to a festival called the Sticker Fest. Citizens gather to see the Sticker Comet, which is said to make wishes come true. Mario and the Toads watch as a comet floats down to them. Shortly afterwards, Bowser tries to steal the comet for himself A few Toads try to pull him away, but he instead crashes into the comet, causing it to break into six pieces and fly across the kingdom. One of the strongest ones happens to land on Bowser's head and makes him invincible. Mario attempts to attack him, but is knocked out by the overpowered Koopa King. Mario wakes up to find the festival grounds completely torn up. After searching the grounds a little bit, he finds a sticker fairly named Kersti, who yells at Mario for touching the comet. After the ranting she joins Mario to look for the six Royal Stickers, six special stickers that were inside the Sticker Comet.
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| Kersti |
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| All six Royal Stickers |
Despite being a Paper Mario fan, I must say that there are some disappointing elements in the game. Sticker Star returns to turn based RPG battles, however, they are a little dumbed down compared to Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door. First, every attack is a sticker, including the jump and hammer attack. Each sticker can only be used once, including the jump and hammer. If you run out of stickers, you cannot attack and have to run from the battle. Stickers are still pretty fun, I just wish that the system was at least a little different.
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| You pick your stickers, which appear in the one to three slots above Mario. Afterward, you do what the stickers are made to do. |
Second, no partners appear in the game, which is a little disappointing. It doesn't damage the battle system any. Instead, we get a battle spinner. For 3 coins, you play a slot game. If you get three matching items, you get to use three stickers. Finally, but it doesn't really bother me, is that you no longer level up by battling. Instead you must find HP Hearts, which add 5 HP to your health and are commonly hidden in caves. It can be stressful if you have to battle strong bosses, since most of the bosses are rather difficult, so I recommend looking high and low for hearts.
Like most Paper Mario games, graphics are a definite yes. A new thing tested in this game is the landscape. Unlike past games, they are nearly completely made of cardboard, which adds a nice touch to the paper concept. Speaking of the paper concept, the characters in the game have been polished as well. From folding in half when jumped on to being crumpled into a ball, they definitely have more paper characteristics on them.
Like most Mario games, the music is well done and fits their respective places. From happy, to warm, to creepy, to Christmas-like, to tropical, all the music is very good. Sounds are very cartoon-like and don't sound too real, which definitely fits the game. There weren't really any voices so I can't say anything about them. Overall, music and sounds are all well done and pass.
Paper Mario: Sticker Star is an enjoyable game either way. Despite some parts of the game that are downers, it is still fun to play. If you like Paper Mario no matter what, try it. If your a little skeptical about it, at least test it first. In the end, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is an enjoyable game and may be well worth it.
Gameplay-3
Graphics-5
Music-5
Sounds/Voices-5
Controls-5
Overall-9.6
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