Updated with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Switch, an HD remake of the 2004 GameCube original. Enjoy!
The Paper Mario series began two decades ago when Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 launched in Japan on August 11, 2000. Since then, we’ve seen five more mainline Paper Mario games of various flavors, plus a 3DS crossover with AlphaDream’s Mario & Luigi series.
Diverging from the role-playing path charted by Super Mario RPG on the SNES, the Paper Mario series has evolved and strayed from its traditional roots over the years, with The Origami King on Switch introducing a ring-based combat system alongside its origami antagonists.
We recently asked Nintendo Life readers to rate the games in the series by assigning a rating out of 10 via our user rating system, and you’ll find the ranked results below. We’ve included the Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam crossover title for fun; if its inclusion seems like sacrilege of the highest order, simply pretend it isn’t present and you’ll get your rank of master paper marians! Likewise the Switch remake Thousand-Year Door.
Note that the order below is updated in real-time according to each game’s respective user rating. Therefore, it is entirely possible to influence the order even as you read this. Simply click on the game you want to rate and assign a score on the game page.
If you’re looking for more information on this colorful collection, you might want to check out our history of the Paper Mario series. For now, let’s dive into this Paper Mario ranked list, starting at the bottom…
Paper Mario: Sticker Star it’s often funny, very charming and a joy to play, but it’s also too familiar and doesn’t want to go out and do something crazy, even if the potential to do so is huge. Despite its inhibitions, the game maintains a rhythm that’s so delightful and fun that you can’t help but smile at the metric ton of whimsy built into its rock-solid foundation, made all the more impressive by its wonderful use of stereoscopic 3D. The Star sticker might trigger some already seen from a veteran of the series, but such a vivid and bright memory is worth remembering.
Paper Mario: Color Splash it’s not just painting by numbers. The series still sits in that awkward middle ground between pure RPG and adventure title, but this entry found a comfortable niche that quieted many of our misgivings. Almost everything was polished to a papery sheen, showcasing some of the best writing and presentation of the series to date. The battle system and overall plot are the weaker aspects of the experience, unfortunately, but even when we were unhappy with the enemy encounters, Prism Island was always a joy to explore, with diverse environments and catchy tunes that will keep you engaged from start to finish. It’s a game of memorable moments and, taken as such, you might just find it a messy work of art.
Adding Paper Mario to the AlphaDream Mario & Luigi mix, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam completely successful as an accessible, fun and lengthy crossover for fans and newcomers alike. This is an enjoyable game that introduces a solid roster of mechanics, plays with the combat system in exciting ways, and breaks up exploration with random quests. While it doesn’t quite touch on its environmental design and storytelling, Paper Jam’s simplicity makes it a great starting point for people looking to immerse themselves in both series. Fans should be aware, however, that this crossover is closer to the main Mario & Luigi game than an entry in the Paper Mario series.
Paper Mario: The Origami King it’s trying to do something different with its combat system and, to be honest, we’re not really feeling it. However, that doesn’t mean the rest of the game isn’t a whole lot of fun, and while the puzzle-based battles aren’t exactly what a new Paper Mario game needs, they’re not so awful that everything else shouldn’t be experienced as a result. It’s still not new The Millennium Gate fans had their hopes up, but it’s still one of the funniest games in the series and has a genuinely likable supporting cast, and while the combat is far from ideal, the fact that we still thoroughly recommend the game regardless should speak volumes.
Super Paper Mario blends the classic platformer with some of the RPG elements of its predecessors and throws in world-turning mechanics that give you a whole new perspective on traditional 2D platform courses. Originally planned as a GameCube game, it perhaps makes more sense to be different from the Thousand-Year Door way of doing things and certainly divides fans of the series. No matter where you are on the fandom spectrum, the Wii entry is a beautiful game with creepy puzzles and an intriguing, unique turn mechanic.
For years, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has been considered the best Mario RPG of all time, and the Switch remake proves that it deserves that title. This is a fantastic RPG adventure, whether you’re a Mario fan or not, with best-in-class combat and brilliant writing. A fresh new locale, beautifully enhanced visuals, and new quality-of-life features help iron out a few minor kinks to make this the definitive way to play Thousand-Year Door.
Two decades later and Paper Mario may not look as sharp as it once did, but it holds up very well where it counts and battles The Thousand-Year Door for the title of best Paper Mario game.
The N64 original is very good at easing Mario fans into a new style of adventure, while providing a depth for RPG players that you might not expect from a paper-thin premise. With a great supporting cast and loads of trademark Nintendo charm, the original is among the best. Being able to play on Switch is great news for anyone who missed out.
The GameCube’s power allowed for a greater fidelity to its paper-based art style than the original, but otherwise Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door stuck closely to the original blueprint. It’s a beautifully colorful adventure filled with clever callbacks to the burly plumber’s history and the same reckless spirit that makes so many Mario RPGs refreshingly different from the mascot platformers. Where other entries have dropped the ball in an area or two, Thousand-Year Door gets everything right; the plot, the writing, the battles, the presentation – the lot.
GameCube disc prices have skyrocketed in recent years, and considering the quality, it’s not hard to see why. Cherish your copy if you have it and maybe lend it to a trusted friend who has never visited the town of Rogueport.
And if you don’t have a copy or a GameCube? Well, that’s what the Switch version is for!
Ah, it was a great idea on paper. Any surprises? Remember, if you haven’t rated any or all of the games listed above, you can still do so via the respective game page and it will still count towards the top ranking.
If you absolutely must, feel free to vent your uncontrollable rage at Paper Jam’s inclusion, but we’d rather hear from youour personal favorite paper mario(s) in the comments below.
