Paper Mario: Sticker Star Had Some Mini-Games Left On The Cutting Room Floor

Wouldn't have made much of a difference for me as I'm having a hard time enjoying this Paper Mario game anyway. Something I never thought I'd say as I loved all the previous entries in the series.

Maybe these mini-games could be released on the eShop as stand alone games you don't need Paper Mario Sticker Star to play.

@Yosher You enjoyed Super Paper Mario for Wii and don't enjoy Paper Mario: Sticker Star huh? Just wondering, but that seems a bit odd to me. The Sticker System is pretty cool, to me. The lack of leveling up was weird at first, but it is a really good game overall. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather play Super Mario RPG... but Sticker Star is really fun and a good, if sometimes frustrating, experience.

I smell DLC potential.

DLC perhaps?

I'm always for games taking longer to be released for extra features like this, and to all those asking for this to be DLC: This is why DLC is controversial in the first place (unless you were implying we get it for free - in which case I laugh and tell you Nintendo wouldn't do that, even though it'd be great).

Was using the word "Stuck" twice a freudian slip?

many have been getting stuck into the game
Get stuck into the comments below

My very bright 10 year old son has been having a difficult time playing this. He's even considering buying the strategy guide which he never does. I also read a bunch of people online complaining about the difficulty of finding stickers. He'll live, and he'll finish it, it's his third Paper Mario game, I'm just surprised he's "stuck" so early in the game.

At first I thought this game felt boring, battles may as well be avoided, and the gameplay was overly simple. No level up system made battles seem pointless, until I realized how valuable even a few coins are, as then you can buy common stickers to use in the easier battles while saving the better stickers for harder battles. Getting no damage in a battle is many times worth it, and I started seeing that, as the game progresses, it has it's own way of adding strategy and depth. Puzzles and bosses require trial and error (bosses have various weaknesses that may not be initially obvious), and I slowly began to accept it as a good game that simply isn't like the early Paper Mario titles. I hope we get more of the RPG goodness in the future, but I wasn't too disappointed.

My one complaint is the final world felt way too short, and perhaps this is why. The minigames would have added length there. The game seemed to ramp up into an ending out of nowhere. While a fun game in its own merits, I do wish they simply delayed the game instead of cutting content.

@rjejr This game relies on skill way more than the other titles. The lack of a level up system makes it more difficult, simply because players can't simply grind their way through. In previous titles, a player with less skill could level up to make up for poor timing with attacks or less strategy. In this case, timing in battles becomes increasingly important, as well as strategic use of stickers. In a way, the game was made to be more simple, but it simply expects the player to be much more cautious with their strategies and know when to avoid battles and when to enter them.

@Boo_Buster Yes I enjoyed Super Paper Mario more than Sticker Star. I haven't completed Sticker Star yet (I'm at the start of chapter 4 now) but it's just the whole sticker mechanic that throws me off. You need these things for everything in the game, battles are completely useless as they're only there to take your stickers away and you don't gain anything from them, and when you happen to be missing a certain sticker to progress you'll have to backtrack and find out which sticker you need in order to progress. This is very annoying to me and makes me simply have a hard time enjoy this title. The fact that every single character in the game is so generic instead of the personalized characters from previous Paper Mario titles doesn't help much either, it sucks all the fun out of it. The only thing this game has over the other games is the 3D, which works very well with this concept. Aside from that.. it's just not fun.

Personally I'd rather have RPG mechanics than mini games, but you know, whatever.

Bring it to the shop. Love the game.

Let's just say the mini games left on the cutting room floor aren't the only evidence that Intelligent System ran out of time. This game was clearly not Quality Assured to the same standard as most of Nintendo's top tier releases. Quite a few of those puzzles were outright obtuse, and some were simply nonsensical.

I'm a big fan of this game. Its great

Well, I thought Super Paper Mario's Mini Games were okay.

How about we move those on over to an HD Mario and Luigi game on Wii U?

be nice to see them release as DLC, or even a stand-alone mini-game pack in the eShop...

@Raylax #13
Can't the same be said for any other RPG game ever when facing a boss? Either:
A. Hit the Boss now.
B. Buff Self then hit Boss hard.
Or C. Die trying.

The only real difference between other RPGs and Sticker Star is that SS lets you run from Boss fights.

A shame these mini-games got left out, it would be nice if they did release them as DLC content maybe if that's possible.

I doubt it will be DLC. The team will have to move on to future projects

Each PM game has something about it (that) I like, that the others don't have. PM was a great concept, w/ a, imo, great storyline(the story was very Mario). PM:TTYD enhanced/built on/improved the gameplay mechanics of the first, but to me, didn't have much of a Mario-style story. SPM is, imo, the weakest, but to me it's still a good game, just deviated from the timed-action-command turn-based-battle system, & rpg-esque style story progression the first 2 games had. Not to mention, to me, the story wasn't Mario-esque. Let me clarify though, SPM did have timed-action-commands, just not in a turn-based battle system. It really boils down to player expectation(s), & genre tastes.

Then, years later, PMSS comes out. To me, the gameplay is a mix of Super Paper Mario(platformer levels w/ a goal to reach, much like the flag, or card roulette block from the Nes SMB series), the timed-action-command enhanced turn-based battles of the first 2 PM titles, & a Super Mario Bros. 3/World style overworld map.

While it does seem pointless to have turn-based battles, when you can't lvl up, I can see why Nintendo put them in - SPM gave enemies hp, but not turn-based battles to confront them in. Basically, Sticker Star to me, has SPM style gameplay, like I mentioned above, w/ the addition of turn-based battles.

I believe I figured out why you need stickers for battle. If the game allowed for Mario to have a basic hammer, &/or jump attack that could be used in battle, even if you had no stickers, then the stickers would have almost no point in existing, at least as far as battles are concerned. Stickers, their existence, & usage, would have to be for nothing more than non-battle story/gameplay-progression.

Effectively, the lack of leveling up, does make the turn-based battles pointless-seeming. But, it did help make the game different from SPM. Still, I would have preferred leveling up. It would make the turn-based battles have a purpose/reason for existence.

Even w/ the stickers-needed-to-battle deal, & the lack of leveling-up bit, I still love this game. I got this game for Christmas, & I gotta say, imo, this is better than SPM, by a decent much, regardless of the issues I mentioned.

This game needs more than mini-games to make it better. What I find so hard to believe is that they ran out of time. REALLY?! How many years was this in the making?! Were they only working 1 hour a day, every other week, or what?!

@Yosher Yeah, the gameplay got pretty stale after the first few worlds and without a story OR progression system, there was nothing to keep me going.

@Capt_N #24 - That makes me wonder, what would Mario get for leveling up if attack power depends on the shininess of stickers and HP Plus Hearts increase Mario HP?

DLC!

My DLC scanners within my brain detect a high note of DLC mini-games.

Game was great nonetheless

When I walked into Bowser's Castle, it looked and felt like a recreation of Bowser's Castle in Super Mario RPG. If they added the minigames, it would have been even more similar to the second time you visit Bowser's Castle to fight the giant sword, since you had to play funny minigames in that one, too.

Whats with the people saying the game is too hard and stickers are too difficult to find?! Im having zero problems, sure gonna look for things a bit but I love the experience so far, 14 hours in!

Sounds like it could have been neat to have in the final product. But i really wish intelligent systems would take Paper Mario back to it's roots. Paper Mario Sticker Stars feels and i hate using this term "casual". You don't get a party of interesting companions and the music isn't as catchy as past Paper Mario titles.

It probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, like one of the users said here. Regardless, Sticker Star is my second favorite title in the series, just right behind Paper Mario 64.

I find it funny that you have a whole bunch of people asking for variation and change to Mario, but when there is they hate it.

I think this was Miyamoto's worst mess up in recent history. The beta version of this game very closely resembled TTYD, but Miyamoto said that it "felt like a port" and so they removed all RPG elements and the interesting characters were replaced with toads. I just don't like that he criticisized it for being samey, yet continues to parade around each new NSMB game like it's the most innovative Mario game yet....
/rant

I really don't understand why this is news. Every book written in the history of mankind has thousands of words that got cut from the finished published copy. Every film ever made has hours of footage that is left of the cutting room floor. Every game ever produced has ideas and features that were originally intended to make the game, but left out for a wide range of reasons.

So, Sticker Star is a normal game?

The first 2 paper marios are a bit better than this 1, but its defo better than the wii version and 1 of the best games available for 3ds, which there isnt many decent games available for yet. Looking forward to luigis mansion 2 being released

Still a pretty good game, i can tell that because i also enjoyed looking for secrets a lot.

I really don't like that they cut stuff simply because of some forced time schedule. I personally would rather they extend the development time a little if it means realizing the game as per the original vision. To me the making end game as great as it should be is more important than cutting stuff just to get it out in quicker time. Publishers can argue all they want about schedules but as the consumer the end result it always what matters most to me.

No kidding, the game is loaded. Anymore and they would had Mass Effect the thing.

The moment I realized your special stickers would shine and shimmer on the bottom-screen along with the movement of the system is the moment when I realized Paper Mario: Sticker Star was phenomenal and worthy of really long sentences in the comments section of an article about the game.

Playing games as an adult sucks everything gets analyze to a T. Let's all make a game

It really sounds like Shiggy dropped the ball on this one. It was in development for years, but they had to keep changing it and making it worse because of his instructions, and by the time they had to release it they couldn't even fit in everything they wanted to. If he had just let them do their thing, maybe we would have a true Paper Mario RPG with hilarious new characters and amazing new locations and an epic story like we're all used to, with some cool mini games to boot! Now we've got...this. I haven't played it yet, but even if it's enjoyable in a different way it's still one of my biggest gaming disappointments in years (right next to Skyward Sword).

I thought something seemed missing from that final level.

It would have helped the castle. This game was a huge disappointment. It's not bad, but it's nowhere near as good as it could have been/should have been. As soon as I saw the new style of fighting my excpectations of this fell through the floor. There were no partners, only three towns, and it's just... ugh. It looked way better in E3 2010 and 2011. If Miyamoto really made Intelligent Systems screw this game up I'll never be able to buy another one of his "series-changing gimmick" games. World 6-3 was missing something and this should have been it. It didn't HAVE to be out this year. I could wait forever for an excellent-looking sequel (like Luigi's Mansion 2). They delayed that to Q1 2013, they should have done the same with this, if not more extreme. If they didn't add in the sticker gimmick in the last minute, it would have been fine! The only thing they got right was that all the characters are cool, but there were no partners! What happened to that Chain Chomp from E3 2010? I have nothing against Kertsi, but what's an RPG without partners? NINTENDO...!

@LuigiMan200: That's a really good question. If I was designing this, I would have made the shiny stickers have their own album, & be used for primarily plot/gameplay advancing, &/or necessary for striking certain bosses w/ certain stickers that would be their weaknesses.

@EvisceratorX I totally agree on this. It would have been so much better if it was a "port" of TTYD. What's wrong with Miyamoto today anyway?

Why there is no badges, no partners, no "Do nothing" option, you can only attack the first enemy, no star points (exp), no items (only healing items), no "stylish" moves, no story (peach getting kidnapped and something to collect from all the worlds), no moving as peach (or bowser), not really good music imo, no pit of 100 trials, no minigames. I really want the next paper mario to be a good one, not like this one. I really regret wasting 45 euros on this. >_> I didn't enjoy the game at all.

While there is enjoyment to be had in the game, I feel the battle system is a little bit inadequate. In the original Paper Mario Games, you utilized partners, basic moves, powerful attacks that required FP, and even badges which changed status effects. In the original Paper Mario and it's GC sequel, your basic arsenal were the jump and hammer attacks. Even if you depleated all your FP and items, you could still continue to whail away at your enemy using basic jump and hammer attacks. Now you are required to use stickers to do anything. Run out of stickers and your only recourse is to flee battle and go to town to buy more or collect them in the field. And despite the fact stickers are plentiful in the game, they are still valuable commodities which take up real estate. I got sick of wasting good stickers on lower enemies such as goombas which could normally be stomped without depleating any items, simply by using good old-fashioned jump and hammer tricks. It makes it hard to destroy a boss too when I mostly have to work with the stuff I found in the field. Sure I can convert rare and powerful items into stickers for use in the field or battle, but these use-once items are larger than normal stickers and no easy way to restock without returning to Toad Town and paying a certain shardy toad up the nose for the privalege of reusing them.

I've always cherished the RPG Marios for their story elements (even Super Paper Mario, despite ditching a conventional turn-based battle system, had a very well developed plot), which seems notably lacking in this game so far. Now that someone else mentioned it, so far into the game, there's been no mention of any princess to be rescued either. I got Sticker Star for Christmas and just recently cleared world 1 btw. And why did they unlock Worlds 2 through 4 at the beginning of the game? Also, the World map is pretty bland with it's disconnnected levels.

Despite it's downfalls, Sticker Star does seem to be a pretty fun title, although I can't imagine doing additional playthroughs once I've finished the main adventure. SMRPG, PM64, PMTTYD, and even Super Paper Mario seem worthy of additional visits, or even starting all over again just to relive it. I've beaten PM 64 twice and working on a third, starting fresh with new files.

I don't understand why people hate PM:SS. This game is the second best paper mario, behind TTYD IMO, and I have played all of them. I actually like the sticker concept because of the level difficulty involved. If you lose all your stickers, or if something takes the away from you (Scaredy Rats), then you have to run away or die. The constant challenge of having to rearrange your stickers to make more room, especially when going up against a boss, with NO BOSS SPECIFIC STICKER makes the game much more interesting. I am probably one of the few people here that LIKE to take on the boss the hard way and destroy it through sheer overwhelming power (in this case lots of stickers). I agree that the sticker concept could have been used a little more effectively by removing the infi-jump sticker, as it is cheap beyond belief, and 6-3 did seem to be missing the minigames from the shortness of the level, but it still did its job perfectly. Maybe in the future the company will release the missing content as DLC, a patch, etc. or maybe a person will hack the game and reinsert the minigames on his/hers own time. But for now, PM:SS will stay as my favorite game for a long time, even if it is missing a bit of content. PS: Who tried to beat Bowser in his cardboard form WITHOUT using Kristi? I got down to 20 hp before I used all my stickers, which only filled 5 pages. The final boss is actually more challenging IMO then the shadow queen if you try to beat it head on without using Kristi, which makes it all the more interesting.

@ShadJV I'm only on world 2, have 1300 coins, and I'm bored out of my mind with the game already. How do you find coins to be valuable in this? My album is full of stickers just from picking them up, I never need to buy anything.. I was really disappointed when I turned on the game to see everything RPG about it was ripped out, I didn't look much into it prior to purchase to keep the game fresh and exciting. I won't be making that mistake with a Nintendo game every again, and its sad that a Paper Mario game is the cause.

It was very fun, but did feel a bit incomplete in some areas.

Maybe we see those mini-games in the next Paper Mario! Who knows!

@StarDust Thanks for the information. The need for stickers for EVERYTHING sounds annoying. My interest in this game has declined.

I had this game for about 2 months now and I STILL havent completed it

This is not a bad game. I would have loved it-- had I never played another Paper Mario before. Unfortunately, I had previously played all three of the previous Paper Marios. They all had unique characters, like the partners, Doopliss, Dimentio, Grodus, Tubba Blubba... I became attached to many of these characters, their stories really were awesome, it showed that there was so much more to the Mario universe than meets the eye. Even Bowser gained so much personality from the games, you never knew when he was going to crack you up. Then we got Sticker Star. All the unique characters were replaced with generic Toads, partners were completely scrapped, Bowser and Luigi lost all their dialogue, there were no unique enemies like Spanias, Ruff Puffs, Rawbuses... all just regular Marioverse enemies. Nintendo, you can do better than this, come on!

@LordFawful Yep, I agree. The game's good, but there's so much they missed out on.