By Damien Wilburn

Fans of Nintendo buy their consoles for one reason: the first-party exclusives. So far, the Wii has been plagued by many lackluster games, but there are a few gems that shine – the obvious exception being “Twilight Princess.”

At E3, tears were wept as Nintendo pushed “Super Mario Galaxy” to late 2007, so what would satisfy Wii owners’ lust for red plumber action until then?

Welcome to “Super Paper Mario,” the sequel to the incredibly fun RPG on the Gamecube. Even for those who didn’t play the original, this game really proves Nintendo’s claim that it doesn’t take powerhouse graphics to make a fun, amazing, gaming experience.

The game play is what truly sets this title apart from others. Although it comes from an RPG heritage, it plays much more like a platformer.

Several RPG elements, including leveling your characters, a reasonably lengthy story, and annoying item swapping menus, are here, but as for controlling Mario, it’s as slick as “Super Mario Bros. 3.”

Eventually gamers will be able to change between Mario, Peach and Bowser to solve a variety of puzzles, but its Mario’s game play that makes the game glisten compared to other platformers.

Although the majority of the game is set in a 2-dimensional world, Mario has the ability to “flip” into 3D, allowing the player to not just move linearly from left to right, up to down, but also control depth.

The initial reaction is probably “how is this different from other 3D platformers?”

Simple: by alternating between 2D and 3D, you are able to control Mario’s depth in the 2D world as well, which allows one to find hidden items and also solve a variety of puzzles that cannot be seen in just a flat, paper world. Perhaps confusing to describe, but while playing, it’s a blast.

Graphically, it is possibly Wii’s best yet. The cartoony atmosphere with bright, vivid colors gives the game a very kiddy look, but combined with a fantastic art style and wonderfully quirky humor, and this is a game that will appeal to every age group.

The game’s music is classic Mario, and he even emulates Link a bit, never really saying much besides just a few grunts and groans (all of which fitting his Italian persona, and making you giggle with every utterance).

The controls to the game are very simple, essentially using the Wiimote as a standard gamepad by holding it on its side.

This game cannot receive enough praise.

The gameplay is revolutionary, the puzzles intriguing, the classic Mario humor is abound – it is almost perfect.

With about 20 hours of game play, it might not take long to beat it on the first run, but it is light-hearted and enjoyable enough that there is plenty to see with a second time through.

-Damien Wilburn