7 new details in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door!

Great Goobery! Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door comes out this week! (23rd May if you want to be more precise.) Let’s get prepped with a time-honoured tradition that has been passed down since people first lived in caves: a list of stuff*.

If you played the original version of the game back on the Nintendo GameCube system, you may be wondering what’s different. Here are some of the changes and additions that you’ll find in the Nintendo Switch game!

Updated graphics and soundtrack

Yep, you may notice this one right away. The graphics and soundtrack have seen a big revamp since the original came out in 2004. All the papery goodness is still on display—it just looks and sounds shinier (if sound can be shiny, that is).

Oh, and if you’re feeling nostalgic for the classic soundtrack, simply find and equip the Nostalgic Tunes Badge for a blast from the past.

Quick-travel pipes

The quick-travel pipes were in the original game, but they’ve been recently worked on by a trained plumber. If you’re unfamiliar with them, these pipes are a convenient way to travel back to previously explored areas. The pipe room is now easily accessed from Rogueport (after you find the room), and the pipes themselves are clearly marked for your town-hopping needs.

Partner Ring

When you’re outside a battle, you can use the Partner Ring to swap out partners without hopping into the Party menu (all it takes is a quick tap of the L Button). Considering you’ll need to use different partner abilities while you travel around, this makes for more seamless adventuring.

Gameplay hints

Have you lost track of where you need to go? Tap the ZL Button while exploring for a quick hint to point yourself in the right direction!

Ian Foomus

This guy puts the “mouse” in “infamous”…infamouse…err, never mind. He will hand out helpful info at the Trouble Center in Rogueport—for a few in-game coins, of course.

Battle Master

This helpful Toad can be found here and there throughout the game. As the name suggests, he can’t wait to give you some battling tips.

Art and sound galleries

This one is for you collectors of culture. Find Star Pieces and Shine Sprites to unlock galleries where you can view concept art and listen to music.

OK, that’s all for now. It’s possible that there are a couple more surprises to find, but we’ll leave that in your capable hands! Once again, the game comes out 23rd May—if you’d like to pre-order the game, please visit the link below.

*Note: We can’t 100% verify if cave dwellers wrote “7 new details” lists on cave walls. But let’s just go with it for now.