RPGs evolved more than most genres over the years, and it’s pretty tough to revisit some. I was curious and maybe a little apprehensive to see how well Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door aged after nearly two decades – but I shouldn’t have been. We’ve played the first three chapters of the Switch port, and what made Thousand-Year Door stand out in 2005 – its unique battle system and bubbly script in particular – still give it a strong identity now.

Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door starts with an invitation. Peach tells Mario to visit her in Rogueport for a treasure hunt, and if you’re familiar with Mario, you can guess what happens next. And you’d be wrong. Peach is nowhere in sight when Mario arrives, and Bowser eventually turns up just as bewildered as our heroic plumber.

A broad story loosely connects each chapter, though most of the important bits happen during interludes starring Princess Peach. The Thousand-Year Door really is a “friends you made along the way” game, though. Chapters are self-contained stories centered on a specific region and its problems, with a dungeon-like challenge and a big boss at the end. It’s all very traditional RPG stuff – until it isn’t. Chapter 3 throws a wrench in the works and completely shakes up the familiar “explore, battle, dungeon” structure for the better. 

Thousand-Year Door might be pushing 20 now, but it feels much less dated than its predecessor thanks to a script that sparkles with personality. It has a keen sense of humor, and it’s unafraid to be completely ridiculous at times. Its early cast is familiar, especially if you played the original Paper Mario, but even though they aren't especially deep, they’re charming, memorable and, in the second and third chapters, even defy genre norms.

Combat is entirely unchanged from the original, so much so that my muscle memory reacted as if I last played Thousand-Year Door a few weeks ago and not over 15 years ago. Mario’s special attacks and stylish move inputs are unchanged, and while I initially thought such familiarity would make Thousand-Year Door feel stale, I quickly realized that wasn’t the case. 

Outside Sea of Stars and later Mario & Luigi games from the now-defunct Alpha Dream, pretty much no RPG since Thousand-Year Door made timed button inputs the foundation of their battle system. They certainly didn’t include the idea of performing for an audience. What you get in Thousand-Year Door might not feel as inventive as it did in 2005, not when so many other RPGs have tried revamping their systems since then, but it still has a strong identity of its own.

On a practical level, it means even battles against lowly weaklings require an extra bit more attention and planning. Every enemy has unique attack and movement patterns, and while Paper Mario is hardly a brutal RPG, our red-capped hero can easily get worn down after a few hits and mistimed button presses.

As for what’s new in the remaster’s opening few hours, the first thing I noticed was how shiny Paper Mario on Switch is. Literally. The ground has a sheen to it, and it reflects whatever’s on it like highly polished stage boards. It’s a clever touch that underscores the whole theatrical performance motif. You get a stronger impression of that thanks to the zoomed-out camera in places like Rogueport, which makes it easier to see each stage’s edges and lends the whole thing a pop-up effect – fitting, given the story’s context.

Anyway, everything else is shinier and more visually appealing, too. The Thousand-Year Door on Switch looks a lot closer to the Wii U’s Paper Mario Color Splash than it does the Gamecube original, and I’d forgotten how much I prefer the thin, page-like papercraft look over Color Splash’s chunkier, construction paper aesthetic.

Remastering the game means Rogueport and its surrounding locales actually have light now as well. The Gamecube was far from a technological masterpiece, and it painted pretty much every area with the same washed-out color tones. Sure, you’d get your odd vibrant colors from props or other environmental objects, but everywhere looked faded.

Not so in the Switch remaster. A dusky, dingy orange bathes Rogueport, while Petal Meadows looks like a meadow where sunshine abounds and happy turtles frolic (before almost being eaten by dragons). The improvements really show in the second and third chapters, which play with color and lighting in much more effective ways. Sure, good lighting is a pretty basic thing to ask for, but it’s still nice to see the attention to detail show up in what could have potentially just been a lackluster port.

We’ll have more on Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Switch remaster in the lead-up to its May 23, 2024, launch, so check back soon.