A New Dimension of Fun — GeekDad Reviews ‘Paper Mario: The Origami King’

In addition to being Nintendo’s corporate mascot and the star of his own beloved platformer franchise, Mario is unique because of his sheer number of successful spinoff series. Whether kart-racing, battling it out with other first- and third-party characters in Smash, or taking on any number of arcade-style sports, Nintendo’s mustachioed plumber aims to please, but few of these adjacent properties have a more vocal and dedicated fanbase than the Mario RPGs.

Stretching all the way back to the SNES and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, these games have evolved over the last two and a half decades, eventually splitting into two different (but stylistically similar) franchises: the Mario & Luigi series and Paper Mario. This week, the latter makes its way to the Nintendo Switch with Paper Mario: The Origami King, a game with all the action, humor, and charm fans have come to expect.

Paper Mario: The Origami King — A (W)Hole New World

Each Paper Mario title adds a new wrinkle — yes, that is a horrible pun and I am very, very sorry — to the original’s winning formula. Sticker Star, for example, included collectible decals that both aided in the turn-based combat and could be used to manipulate the overworld environment, whereas Color…