Paper Mario - Reception

Paper Mario received a positive reaction from the media. IGN's Matt Casamassina praised the game's accessibility, commenting that "it serves as the perfect introductory game to any person hoping to explore the genre". Despite this, other reviewers complained about the "brain-dead easy" puzzles and bosses requiring "basic strategy at best". The game's nostalgic value was lauded, with reviewers noting the sense of familiarity with the Mario series present in the game's settings and characters. The game has often been compared to the previous Mario RPG title, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell judged that "Paper Mario is a vastly superior game to SMRPG", while IGN compared the game's simple plot unfavourably with the SNES game and RPGFan claimed that some of Paper Mario's story was copied from it. RPGFan also questioned the name of Paper Mario, as there were, in their opinion, insufficient gameplay features or aspects which used the paper theme to justify the name.

Critics lauded the game's blend of RPG and platforming aspects. GameSpot noted the "exciting and somewhat strategic" battle system, which requires the player exploit the enemies' weak points. The "refreshing" action command features was praised in particular for adding originality to a battle formula that was present in many games of the same genre. Despite this, enemy design itself was bemoaned for being "corny and generic", with notable exceptions to some of the Paper Mario's original boss characters. Eurogamer noted how "Of the various characters you meet, none is of less importance than any other", welcoming the partner characters and their relating puzzles. GameSpot praised the game's use of humour and side quests, with references to the control of Peach in particular.

The reaction to the game's visuals was generally positive. IGN noted some paper-based visual effects such as when Mario folds in a bed to sleep, but complained about character zoom-ins, which revealed "a pixelated mass of colors". Although reviewers claimed that the novel graphical style was initially confusing, most welcomed the style eventually, with GameSpot claiming that it was "extremely well done". The audio was also mainly praised, although reviewers criticised the lack of voice acting and character-specific sound effects. RPGFan were particularly critical of the game's "generic filler music", despite enjoying use of multiple songs simultaneously. The game was also well received in general upon release for the Virtual Console, with IGN's Lucas M. Thomas stating "it's held up very well even placed into context against its GameCube and Wii era sequels, and it's an RPG for goodness sakes". Paper Mario proved popular on the Virtual Console, reaching a high of 'Second most downloaded game' in the US in August 2007.

Paper Mario was the top selling game in Japan on the week of its release, selling more than 276,000 copies. It was also the eighth best selling game from January to June 2001 in the US. It was voted one of the top 100 games of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly. Paper Mario was rated the 63rd best game made on a Nintendo system in Nintendo Power's "Top 200 Games" list, and the 13th greatest Nintendo 64 game of all time by the same magazine.