Nintendo Concludes September Direct Presentation With Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Return

Nintendo concluded their latest Direct presentation – held on September 14th, 2023 – with a surprise announcement that beloved GameCube title Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door is receiving a remastered version for Nintendo Switch consoles. The franchise originated on Nintendo 64 in 2001 and became a fan-favourite amongst the community for its unique visuals and intuitive gameplay. The popularity from those first two iterations has allowed the series to progress over time and includes six games in total with Paper Mario: The Origami King being the most recent entry. Nintendo has not officially confirmed as to exactly when Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door will release outside the vague 2024 window.

The narrative begins in the town of Rogueport where Princess Peach has travelled to – crossing paths with a mysterious hooded woman who entices her to purchase some of her trinkets where a pretty box catches her attention. She obtains a map which leads to a legendary treasure and sends it off to Mario back in the Mushroom Kingdom before finding herself kidnapped once again. Players will encounter plenty of colourful characters along the way including Goombella and Professor Frankly as they search for Crystal Stars – proverbial keys required to unlock the namesake Thousand-Year Door and uncover connections to an ancient evil whilst rescuing the missing Princess Peach in the process.

Nintendo affirms that more details regarding Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door will be available in the future – likely through another Direct presentation. This upcoming release marks the first time that two separate Paper Mario games were released within the same console generation. Gameplay features classic RPG elements and turn-based strategy with players taking turns – Final Fantasy style – delivering damage to opponents in order to defeat them in combat. Special abilities can be learned throughout the story including Earth Tremor and Clock Out with items available to purchase from vendors to assist in battle; Sleepy Sheep has the potential of putting enemies into a temporary slumber.

Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door is scheduled to launch in 2024 exclusively on Nintendo Switch.