A few years later, Paper Mario was released. The Nintendo 64 RPG, PM incorporated elements of other RPG's, and crammed them into the Mario universe. While brimming with quality, it was obvious that the game was made by Nintendo. Although the game sold poorly, a fan base toward the Plumber's RPG's grew.

Now, players can experience the sequel to Paper Mario in the form of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for the GameCube. While offering a new style and battle system, does it manage to stay fresh in its core gameplay? Join me to find out... and maybe we'll open the Thousand Year Door...

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door begins with a bang as Princess Peach is on yet another vacation. While taking a stroll in the not-so lovely town of Rogueport, she is approached by a mysterious figure. He asks Peach to.... well, you can fill in the rest. It only occurs in every Mario game. Peach gets kidnapped by a mysterious man, and then gets taken away to the menace's base, where they need her to do something. Except this time its not Bowser... the mysterious menace's are none other than the X-Nauts!!! Who are these mysterious X-Nauts and what do they want with Princess Peach?

While sharing a family moment with his brother Luigi, Mario gets a letter. "Mario, I've discovered a map that shows the way to The Thousand Year Door... please come and help me find it". Being the helpful plumber that he is, Mario sets off to Rogueport to join Peach.

Upon arriving, Mario sees a damsel in distress, but its not Peach. The damsel is none other than Goombella. After helping her out of a pickle, Mario mentions the Map that Peach sent him. Goombella tells Mario of her former professor who can help them. After meeting with the professor, Mario sets off for the town's sewer system, for the map points to The Thousand Year Door.

Upon reaching The Thousand Year Door, the location of a Crystal Star is revealed. These Crystal Stars open The Thousand Year Door, according to the professor. Is it possible that the X-Nauts kidnapped Princess Peach to steal the map and get the Crystal Stars? Mario sets off on an amazing adventure to find out!!!

But all is not well in the world. Once the nefarious Lord Bowser hears of Peach's kidnapping and the Crystal Stars, he hits the roof. "Princess Peach is mine to kidnap! What are these Crystal Stars? They sound like good world-conquering tools... I want em!!!" he screams. So he sets off to find the Crystal Stars, and his beloved Princess Peach.

At the end of each of the game's seven chapters, you get the opportunity to play as Princess Peach, trapped on the X-Naut base, and as Bowser, whose missions always make you crack a smile.

Once you start the game, the first thing you'll notice are the graphics. They scream quality. The pastel-shaded world is complemented by the fantastic backgrounds and the amazing character designs. They truly are a big improvement over the original's already great graphics.

Although PM2 doesn't feature any voice-overs, the dialogue is often funny enough to keep the flow of the story moving along. PM2 makes throwbacks to Mario's past voyages, and even throws Luigi into the mix, as he is on his own hilarious quest that he describes at the end of every chapter.

Unlike other RPG's, the combat in PM2 keeps the player enthralled. As opposed to pressing a button and watching a character attack on-screen attack the enemy, PM2 forces you to be an active participant in battles. In every battle, the player will press buttons to block and counter-attack his or her enemies. In order to make hits hurt the enemy more, the player must press buttons in the correct order to make a direct hit. This is a great system, and always allows the player to have fun in battles.

PM2's combat takes place on a stage in front of an audience. Do a good job, the audience will love you. Do a bad job however, and the audience will throw objects at you and sabotage the stage to your enemies' favor. Some of Mario's past enemies may show up in the crowd to get even with him, but with the touch of a button you can knock them out with your hammer. If you please the audience, you'll also get more Star Points (once you get a 100 of them, you level up).

Unfortunately, all is not perfect in PM2. The game is far too similar to Paper Mario. Literally. The characters that join your party are almost the exact same as the ones that joined your party in PM1. The leveling up system is also flawed. Instead of increasing in each category, you can only pick one category for Mario to level up in: Badge Points (allow you to wear more badges, which allows you to use more moves), Flower Points (allows you to use more moves during battles), and Health Points (increases your health by 5 points). This system is slightly flawed, for it should have increased all your stats by a few points. Also, there is a decent amount of backtracking in this game, but it is all in good fun.

Overall, PM2 Is a very enjoyable game, it just has its fair share of problems. I'd say it's the best RPG on the Cube easily. Be sure to pick this one up for Christmas. 

Graphics: 8.0 | Sound: 6.0 | Control: 7.0 | Replay: 8.0 | Overall Game Score: 8.5/10