For those of you who weren't particularly fond of more recent entries in the Paper Mario series, perhaps an unofficial re-textured version of the original game released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000 might be of interest.
A game design student at Zurich University of the Arts, who goes by the handle Nelde, has been chipping away at the project for close to five years now. New Paper Mario aims to enhance every texture in Intelligent System's existing game with significantly higher resolution ones, thanks to the assistance of Illustrator and Photoshop.
Nelde will also make alterations to character design, including transforming the star character Twink into a Luma. His reasoning behind the decision is based on the fact Lumas are regularly present within modern Mario games and far more unique in terms of design.
Whilst it's not as gorgeous as the fan-made HD remake of Super Mario 64, it's certainly a lot easier on the eyes than the now visually-dated original iteration of Paper Mario – with the creator drawing graphical inspiration from all of the sequels in the Paper Mario series including The Thousand-Year Door on the GameCube, the Wii entry Super Paper Mario, and even the most recent release, Sticker Star on the 3DS.
The project will be made available to the public in the near future, but until then you'll just have to settle with the delightful trailer below, mouth-watering artwork viewable on the creator's DeviantArt page and also the game's Tumblr page.
Let us know in the comments what you think about this fan-driven facelift of the original Paper Mario, and if you would eventually like to see an official Nintendo makeover of the N64 classic.
[source polygon.com]
Comments 36
Nice, it looks better than most fan retouches. But it's a waste of time imo as they now have no right to their project seeing as it was built off the back of someone elses
...Just how many fan remakes are in the works right now...?
This looks amazing! i'll definitely have to try this out!
Immediately the fact that they changed Twink from a Star Kid into a Luma strikes me as just wrong.
I don't think it looks "stunning" at all,in fact it looks rather cheap and like a flash game if you ask me.HD does not always mean better
Looks pretty nice.
What do you mean "not as gorgeous as the HD remake of Zuper Mario 64"!?
This has a lot more attention to detail than the other one. Granted, reworking entire animations and 3D models is more difficult than sprites that mostly already exist, but this still looks a lot better.
It's not some obnoxious project to prevent a completely outdated platformer from falling into obscurity (like SM64HD), it's a facelift to give the first entry exactly the same visual base as the rest of the series, which are much more unique as an artstyle.
@RupeeClock Same here. Even though I love Lumas, that change should not have been made since Twink is not Luma. They should realize that this is a remake and it should stay true to the original.
@Shirma_Akayaku
Heck, it's a texture pack.
Looks good, though I'm not sure how to feel about Twink being a Luma.
Please Nintendo, surprise us with a real new, traditional HD sequel to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Wii U. Sticker Star came out in 2012, it's time please?!
I like that the bushes in the facelift actually have less detail on them than in the original.
I really wanted to have something good to say about this, but it's just a cheap texture pack. The original textures were rich an clever, those are just plain and generic. What the heck, the background is supposed to be an aquarelle!! It's supposed to be blurry like that, and it's incredibly detailed, and he just made it into a plain vector 'cloudy' background. The grass was really nice, now it's just a bunch of dots in a row. This is proof that a higher resolution doesn't mean that the quality is better. I would stick to the original textures, even if playing with higher resolution settings.
.. wow, I sounded like an old man ranting
Think the remake has less charm.
Paper Mario Wii U Confirmed?
just give me PM5 before I die...T_T
this sounded awesome, but looking at the video I actually like the original art better
@MetaSmasher The video is 4 years old.
Meh. I never cared for the first Paper Mario much. TTYD and SPM are where it's at.
There's a saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The newer visuals make this feel closer to a mobile flash game than a console title. A lot of details that doesn't need to be change got change for the worst, I rather stick to the smooth waterpainting visuals of the original. Also why change Twink into a Luma? Luma are creatures, Twink is a star spirit, they're not the same. Fans need to start making their own new stuffs and stop sprinkling their craps all over work that isn't theirs.
i would rather these come to wii u so that nintendo doesnt bring down the hammer of justice
You should never start changing in game characters surely.....
Looks gorgeous, but as some have already stated, quite a waste of time and effort.
Aside from twink...I can't tell the difference.
Looking at the side by side I have to say that the first is better.
Looks pretty off to me... What's up with Mario's walk animation? Still, impressive looking project though.
Meh, just Paper Mario with the graphics of the sequels, but with Twink a Luma now (WTF) and some downgrades (the backgrounds really ruin the aesthetic feel of the original).
I like that it makes the original look closer to TTYD, but I don't like the changes. Why make Twink a Luma? It gives him a lot less visual flare and kinda screws with the story (it's minor but it's annoying). Also, is that a bandage I see on Kooper's face? What's that doing there? Is this guy trying to work Kooper into being Koops's distant cousin or something?
Wow, looks great!
So is this supposed to be HD textures for an N64 rom with the RICE plugin, or is this it's own game being built up?
I'll never understand why people like HD remakes so much. It's the same game...
Twink is a luma..............................I'm sorry, I can't get over that.
Am I the only one that noticed the Youtube upload date 0.o
I think this looks really well done no matter if it's just a texture pack or some of the characters have been tweaked a little. A lot of people in the comments are being really hard on this project but seeing how this is probably going to be free, I think they should try it out.
Why do these people publicise these things before they're done? Are they stupid? Just finish it and then get it out there so someone can keep the finished product before Nintendo crush it.
Looks nice.
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