Now, before I begin my first post, I want you to think. Think about the Paper Mario series. Think about why you love it. Compelling storylines, silly characters, fun atmosphere, the multiple sidequests that keep you coming back for more. Sticker Star throws it all out the window. The partners, the fun story, the interesting characters, FP, badges - all gone - to focus on one aspect - stickers. Stickers, stickers, stickers. The fourth installment to the series picks the concept of turn-based battles up again as opposed to the real-time battles seen in the game's predecessor, Super Paper Mario. Unfortunately, the developers turned this aspects upside down for this game. As I previously stated, partners, FP, and badges are all things of the past - your main method of attacks is now stickers. Stickers are staples everywhere - stuck to walls, bought in shops, dropped by enemies, so on. Another thing gone from the series is XP, and level-ups. You "level up" by finding and collecting HP-Up Hearts, found sporadically throughout the game. These increase Mario's maximum health by 5 points. The overworlds have changed much as well. Instead of one main hub leading out to many different locations, the game uses a world map, similar to that of Super Mario Bros. 3, or Super Mario World. The vast terrains and multiple hidden areas are no more - the game is rather straightforward with the levels. Until there's a puzzle, that is. Many puzzles have to be solved using a specific sticker, and stickers similar to the required stickers will leave you out of luck (i.e., in W4-1, you must use the Heater sticker to melt the snow, a lighter or matches will not work). Possibly the largest disappointment was the final world. In the first three games, the final world was littered with puzzles to solve (maybe not as much the first game, but definitely Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario). Honestly, world 6 might as well just be one level long. Level 1 is just a gate you have to enter, and level 3 is a long carpet, a boss, and the final boss. ...yay? I try not to dwell on the negative too much, but there's not really a ton of positive in this game. Sure, there are some good levels and the soundtrack is enjoyable, but the negatives are really overwhelming.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I was really looking forward to this game. Needless to say, Sticker Star did not meet up to expectations. In conclusion, this installment to the series was far short of stardom, but don't worry, there are tons of stickers.
Final score: 5.5/10
