Summary
- Changes to party members like Vivian and Admiral Bobbery show the evolution of character designs in the game.
- Old party member cameos from the N64 version like Parakarry and Bow were almost included in the new game.
- Cut badges and items like All or Nothing P and Fire Flowers hint at the potential for more content in the game.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was released in 2004 as a fully-fledged game on the GameCube. That said, as is the case for many games that make it to launch, some stuff did get left on the cutting room floor. Whenever a game is remastered or remade, developers have a chance to right their wrongs.
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Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch adds a lot of nice quality-of-life improvements, like giving players a bigger starting inventory. The visuals also help represent the world more clearly, so that it is easier to navigate. However, this new version still has missing content from the original or has some things altered. Many of these discoveries can be made by unearthing gallery art in the game. Also, some sprites were dug up and filed away on Unseen64, which is always a great source for canceled games and cut content. Let's dive into some secrets.
6 Changes To New Party Members
From Vivian’s Elements To Admiral Bobbery’s Military Status
Almost every party member in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door went through changes, as can be seen in the game’s artwork gallery. Vivian and her two sisters all have an elemental prowess in the game - Vivian controls fire, Marilyn controls lightning, and Beldam controls ice. Their hats were going to have an elemental signal besides the coloration, but that was scrapped, as were the more ghost-like sheet costumes. Flurrie had a more cloud-like design than even her final draft and one design had her holding an umbrella.
It seems like she was almost a bird or plant that could control wind too. There are a few more designs for the young Yoshi in the documents as well as Ms. Mowz, who at one time had more feminine masks. The biggest change in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is that Admiral Bobbery had a military background instead of a naval one. He’s the only character that got a sprite finished and in the game’s code, but it was scrapped. Koops and Goombella are the only two that didn’t change much.
5 Old Party Member Cameos
Parakarry And Bow Are Missing Their Friends
Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Watt, Sushie, and Lakilester were the eight party members who joined Mario in Paper Mario on the N64. At one time, they were all supposed to be in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door to serve cameo appearances. All the character sprites are in the game’s code, too.
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Of those eight, only two made it in officially - Parakarry can be seen in the intro delivery of Mario’s mail from Princess Peach, and Bow can be found in Poshley Sanctum, but only after beating the game. There are other cameos from Paper Mario characters, like Jr. Troopa, but Parakarry and Boo are the only two party members who were seemingly deemed worthy enough to say hi.
4 NPC Changes
The Battle Master’s Many Changes
There weren’t a lot of additional things added to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but one big thing was the Battle Master. This Toad appears in almost every city or major location to teach Mario about combat. In the design documents, it seems like the team at one point wanted to make him appear older, like a stereotypical ancient Kung Fu master.
Above him is a boxing Toad which is either another idea for the Battle Master or just a cut character. On the very bottom of this page are cowboy versions of a Koopa Troopa, Goomba, and Boo which do not appear, so who knows what purpose they served. Another big change was that the Punies, who appear in Chapter 2 of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, were at one point more duck-like creatures. Finally, Flavio was almost a Toad at one point.
3 Missing Enemies
From A Random Enemy To A Scary Boss
There are a few optional bosses in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, like the Atomic Boo. At one point, there was another version called the Dark Atomic Boo, which was purple in color. The sprite is in the game’s code too, but there are no indications of where this boss might have popped up.
Also in the data is a scrapped robot. There is no play data for it, so it may have even been an NPC, but no other character exists like this in the game. Finally, there are sketches of the Shadow Queen in the documents that show her having a more corporeal form. She could have either had a planned flashback or maybe she wouldn’t have taken over Princess Peach’s body once unleashed.
2 Cut Badges
Partners Got The Shaft
There are no weapons or armor to equip in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but there are Badges. These Badges can give Mario new abilities in battle, or they can boost his stats and other bonuses. One of the best ones in the game is called All or Nothing.
This Badge will boost Mario’s attacks by one, but only if players land their attacks perfectly. There is an All or Nothing P Badge in the data and all Badges that end in “P” indicate it is for a partner. There seem to be a lot of cut partner Badges in the game’s code besides this. Mario also had Badges cut for stronger jump and hammer attacks called Mega Jump and Mega Smash, and the list goes on, because there are over a dozen cut Badges in the game.
1 Cut Items
Mario Could Have Had More Classic Power-Ups
Besides using abilities and Specials in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, characters like Mario can use offensive items. One is a classic power-up from the franchise, a Fire Flower, which will attack all enemies for three points of damage. In this drawing, Mario can be seen wielding an anthropomorphic piece of fire, indicating that it could have perhaps replaced the Fire Flower.
There are fire-based enemies in the game called Phantom Embers, so perhaps Mario was going to be able to use them in battle or in the field. Also, in these drawings are Chain Chomps attacking Goombas. Perhaps this indicates the team was thinking about making Chain Chomps weapons or items like they were for Bowser in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- Released
- May 23, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Franchise
- Paper Mario
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 30 Hours
