The 15 Best GameCube Games Of All Time

#11 – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Before Paper Mario went down the action-adventure road that Color Splash boasts and lost the RPG touches that were stolen by the Mario & Luigi series, we had Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It’s a turn-based RPG sequel to the first Paper Mario, and though it didn’t shake up the formula too much, one could argue that the excellence of Paper Mario needed no shaking. It just needed an ancient seaside town far from the Mushroom Kingdom, a mysterious curse, and seven more magical collectibles for Mario to chase in order to save his princess.

There’s no denying how much we love the battle system of these games. It’s turn-based, but with timed button presses required to deal the maximum amount of damage from each character’s attack. We also love that while Mario is the main character, the rest of the party doesn’t consist of the typical Luigi/Toad & Friends arrangement. Instead, we get memorable strangers such as Goombella, Madame Flurrie, and Vivian the Shadow Siren. As fun as the Mario & Luigi games can be, they have not yet reached the heights of Paper Mario’s RPG roots and games like The Thousand-Year Door.

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