Game-Art-HQ

Paper Mario  ” Shooting Star Summit” drawn by Cronoan

“Shooting Star Summit was one of the new locations in the Mario universe, first referenced in Paper Mario. It’s the first place you go that you realize this is not going to be a typical Mario game. With bright stars crashing all around, on a plinth above the mushroom kingdom’s capital, it feels like Mario might actually be in space. I wanted to capture that ethereal other-worldly feeling in this piece.

The Nintendo 64 came out at a special time in the console era. New capabilities of a 64 bit system allowed Nintendo to completely change the way we play video games, and the platformer genre in particular. But even as side scrolling was becoming a thing of the past, Nintendo didn’t shelve it entirely.

By blending the classic side scrolling gameplay into an open 3-D environment, Nintendo stylized one of the most beloved series in the Mario franchise. The rpg elements, fantastic characters, gorgeous style, emphasis on exploration, and occasional retro cameos make Paper Mario a classic that still holds up to this day.”

~

Paper Mario was released in August 2000 in Japan for the Nintendo 64 and later in 2001 it also made it to the USA and as the first Super Mario RPG to Europe as well.

Before launch it was originally known as Super Mario RPG 2 while it was never meant to be a direct sequel of the game developed by Squaresoft for the SNES.

The 2D sprites for the characters which were  also responsible for the name “Paper” Mario became a trademark of the series that got sequels for every Nintendo TV console so far, the newest game is the upcoming Paper Mario: Color Splash for the Nintendo Wii U

Back to the Nintendo 64 Anniversary Main Gallery