Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

This was my first experience with a Paper Mario-game and I have to say that I liked it. Personally I think that Bowser Inside Story is my favorite of the RPG-styled Mario-games, but this is a funny and at times surprisingly clever game. It's not a great platformer nor a great RPG, but it manages to be very varied and fun throughout. The wii-mote is used in an interesting way and the graphics are excellent. The flipping between dimensions is handled very well and there are loads of great references to earlier Mario games. The combat and boss-fights are a bit on the easy side, but the difficulty in some of the later puzzles more than makes up for it. The story was nothing really groundbreaking but it's always fun to get the opportunity to control Bowser. There are also some extra challenges throughout the game that add more playing time when you've finished the story. All in all, a really solid and fun Mario-game.