© NintendoIn the same VGC interview where Kensuke Tanabe said that Nintendo wouldn’t ignore casual gamers, the Paper Mario: The Origami King The producer spoke about the creative restrictions linked to the Paper Mario series, which have been in place since Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
Kensuke Tanabe: From Paper Mario: Sticker Star, it is no longer possible to modify Mario characters or create original characters that touch the Mario universe. That means if we are not using Mario characters for bosses, we need to create original characters with designs that do not involve the Mario universe at all, as we have done with Olly and the stationery bosses.
Whether a character becomes an all-time hit or not is not up to us on the development side; I think it’s more the case that the characters that fans really accept end naturally like that. I hope that the origami brothers in Paper Mario: The Origami King remain in the memory of the players, even if they only appear in this title.
This means certain characters that modify the existing ones (for example, Koops and Goombella de Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door), are essentially banned today and new ones must be original. There’s also no guarantee that new characters will make more than one appearance.
Tanabe already mentioned these guidelines in an Iwata interview. Question about Paper Mario: Sticker Star – highlighting how Shigeru Miyamoto told him to complete this particular game with the characters from Super Mario World, and noting how “strict” the rules were regarding new characters (thanks, Nintendo enthusiast):
In addition to wanting us to change the atmosphere a lot, there were two main things Miyamoto-san said from the start of the project: “It’s okay without a story, do we really need one?” and “As much as possible, complete it only with characters from the world of Super Mario.
But not being able to use new characters is quite strict. Of course, we were unable to create new enemy characters, and as for the allies among the Super Mario characters, there is actually only Toad in various colors!
So there you have it – consider this as a reminder of why the Paper Mario series is so much more traditional today. What do you think about this design decision? Leave a comment below.
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