In the original, Mario and friends are flat planes with black outlines to give the impression that they are drawings rather than computer graphics. While this design is still present in the remake, you can also see a faint hint of white marking around the edges of the character model, similar to what you would see on real paper cutouts. It’s subtle but pervasive, and adds to the feeling that these models were truly cut out by hand.
Every part of the world has this kind of attention to detail. When you first enter Rogueport, there’s a platform in the main square with a sling on it. In the original, the wooden steps are straight, flat, and everything is at right angles. It’s good for a background element, and the flat sling cutout sways in the wind, so the effect works.
In the new edition, however, the steps are a little crooked and wobbly. The side pieces of the steps look bent, as if a child had accidentally applied too much pressure when inserting the step pieces. It stands, but only just. A slight gust of wind could blow the whole thing over. It may seem unimportant, but such details easily draw you into the story. Paper Mario‘s world.
This is a situation where the improved graphics of a more modern console complemented the design choices of the original game. The Switch graphics might mean that Mario and friends can look more realistic, but in this case that just means they look more hand-made, like a paper model of the Mario from Super Mario 64.
The amount of detail the remake adds – with more complex models, better lighting and reflection systems, and higher resolution textures – makes the illusion so much more intense and enjoyable. In each new environment, it’s clear how much effort has gone into recreating every aspect of the game.
Improvements in quality of life
A faithful recreation is not always the best way to approach a remake, and thankfully Nintendo agrees. This new version, if The Thousand-Year Gate has some features that are not present in the original, but would have been a welcome addition.
The most useful of these, in my opinion, is the partner ring. In the original game, you had to open a menu to switch between different members of the party. This wasn’t difficult in itself, but it was tedious. In the remake, you can hold L and tilt the control stick to quickly switch partners. It’s a shortcut that doesn’t fundamentally change the game, but it’s a welcome convenience.
Likewise, there is a new option when you lose a battle. Previously, when you lost a battle, you had to reload from the last save location, which could sometimes be annoyingly far from your previous save location. In the remake, when you lose, you are presented with a new “Retry” option, which takes you back to the last section of the map, thus reducing the number of gigantic a lot of tedious backtracking.