Roundtable Review — Paper Mario

Roundtable Review No. 2 – Paper Mario, by SkylerOcon and Wizzerd

Finally, finally, it’s time to showcase Paper Mario in the second Roundtable Review.  Now let’s get this ball rolling.  Paper Mario’s mobility is indeed emphasized in many of his attacks.  Attacks like Neutral Special and the like definitely fit into the playstyle, but there are a few oddball moves here and there that just cut the moveset’s flow off.  Case in point: Down Smash.  It sounds like a hell of a lot of fun to play around with, and it certainly follows the badge motif of the series, but for such an interesting move, it’s just not included in the playstlye as much as it should be to feel acceptable.  Also, having a mechanic in Star Power that only affects the Final Smash?  That’s certainly a first; it’s so out of line with the playstyle, but I can’t rip on it, as it absolutely works with how you included it.

Now, into a more positive light.  The helpers aspect of the set really shows just how much you’re promoting every part of the trilogy.  I think implementing them as well as you did into the playstyle was one of the higher points of the set.  The move each helper replaces feels disjointed and random at times, but at least each helper is tailor-made to help Mario in one move-genre (as in, KOs, combos, etc.)  The other main reason I’m impressed by the overall set is how well your two styles compliment each other.  This set has the readability and organization Ocon is so proud of.  Wizzerd adds in creativity and keeps the set fresh, while being kept in check from doing anything too crazy.  To finish up my leg of the review, I’m intrigued by the execution of this joint; in my opinion, it’s one of the better ones in this contest.  I won’t go out on a limb and call it a frontrunner, but I definitely think it can hold its own come the following week of voting.

The main thing I like about this moveset is the subtle nods to the Paper-Mario gameplay mechanics. Stuff like canceling the dash attack into to a jump and his FSmash being his literall “run-away” animation were very nostalgiac, full of character, and genuinley interesting moves in their own right. The badges were kinda confusing and I think would have been better used on a special input, but then again, all of your specials deserve their spots too and I’m glad you at least attempted to include badges.

The main thing I would criticize is his playstyle. So he sucks in every way except stalling. Yaaay, you made a playstyle with just as much extreme frustration as the Mewtwo set you criticized. Either he makes every match drag on an on, or his opponent catches up to him and destroys him. Even barring how boring he every match would be, making a character with only one true advantage isn’t gonna do him any favors in the tourney scene. Despite this, this is still an enjoyable moveset and like I once said previously, actually makes me want Paper Mario in a Smash Bros game.

Yes yes, Paper Mario’s playstyle is gay. I don’t particularly mind the concept of stalling in and of itself. It’s a perfectly viable concept to make into a moveset. The only thing that makes it as gay as it is in Brawl are techniques such as planking and the infinite dimensional cape (Since MK isn’t broken enough as is) and what-not. This is certainly no more gay then, say, the masses of camping movesets we have.

There’s no question how much Paper Mario flows into this playstyle. Rool seems to of been blinded by all the various creativity bursts – specifically the star-power, which felt rather un-needed when the set already had more then it’s fair helping of creativity, and the dsmash is another big one. It’s still very much there, but with so many things going on (The fact he has more button inputs then a normal char further confounds it, though this actually contributes to his playstyle) it’s very understandable to see how one could miss it. Still, it’s far from impossible to see, and you rather shove it up the viewer’s face in the end for anybody paying a remote amount of attention (And they should very much be wide awake after the stellar organization and all the creativity, still jerking off to dtilt over here). Those who deny the existence of Paper Mario’s playstyle deny the existence of playstyle itself.

Yeah, so Paper Mario is a pretty fitting set, yep. I can’t deny that, nor can I deny its many interesting ideas. My main problem with it is that it just isn’t very interesting. The playstyle is clear enough, but one wonders why the whole evasive-manuevers thing fits Paper Mario more than some other character, what-have-you. And I stand by the moveset feeling schizophrenic. It’s too creative to be entirely feasible, too nondescript to be uber-creative, and too crowded to be a dedicated playstyle set. There are so many things going on, as Warlord mentions, that it’s easy to get lost in the subtleties and lose track of the big picture. You can’t ask the reader to do all your heavy lifting for you.