Our first glance at the video gave us the impression that Super Paper Mario would be a departure from the previous Paper Mario games, going for a 2D platforming style of gameplay as opposed to the previous role-playing game slant that really shone in The Thousand Year Door. And as we learned yet again with New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, there's absolutely nothing wrong with traditional 2D gameplay. The visual twists will perhaps be enough to keep things fresh, and we were drawn to the overlapping layers of multicolored boxes used to produce the game's trees and clouds. It takes some thinking outside the box to imagine that the reddish-hued boxes are symbolizing fruits on the tree, but this kind of radical direction in game artistry will undoubtedly be part of the appeal.
A none-too-subtle homage to previous Super Mario games is exciting to witness as well, with invincibility power-ups allowing the playable characters, Mario, Peach, and Bowser, to transform into giant versions of their 8-bit selves, who can then rampage across a level, smashing up all blocks in their path and knocking any enemies unlucky enough to be in their way absolutely senseless. The three starring characters have their own unique attributes, of course, with Mario being well-rounded, Peach able to float gently with the aid of her parasol, and the lumbering Bowser having use of his flaming breath. And of course, you have real-time character switching, and can thus swap between abilities on the fly.
The gameplay is then revealed to be far deeper than just 2D platforming, though. Mario (and presumably the other characters as well) will be able to turn his perspective, and in turn the player's, 90 degrees, meaning that what was once a 2D left-to-right side-scrolling adventure has now become a top-down vertical platformer with true depth. Other levels reveal Mario wearing a bubble helmet with antenna, perhaps a tie-in to his upcoming Wii game, Super Mario Galaxy. In Super Paper Mario, he'll be able to float through space, blasting critters and asteroids with a spaceman raygun. Indoor levels that presumably take place on other planets will allow the mustachioed hero to defy gravity, running vertically up and down sheer walls.
Super Paper Mario appears to be making inventive use of depth, with objects moving in and out of the backfield, and player control shifting between fast-paced 2D side-scrolling gameplay and 3D platforming. The sheer creativity behind this game is already quite remarkable, and GameCube owners should be pleased that after months of slow releases, they still have something to look forward to before Nintendo devotes all of its resources to the Wii.