Paper Mario: Sticker Star Critic Reviews

Overall, Sticker Star is as far removed from Super Paper Mario as that was from The Thousand Year Door. While you might lament the departure the series has taken from its original RPG roots, this hybrid of adventure and action found in Sticker Star stands out as one of the best entries in the series.

Another fantastic entry in its series, and easily one of the best 3DS releases of the year. The game retains the charm and wit of previous Paper Mario titles, and its new sticker mechanic makes combat even more engaging than before.

One of the best 3DS games to date, Paper Mario: Sticker Star updates an already great series for handhelds by expertly cutting the fat to make for a digestible portable adventure. RPG lovers might balk at the changes, but after the first few hours they'll realize that this is just the next evolution in a series that was always quietly innovating its genre.

The experience is high on satisfaction and low on frustration, making it an undeniably perfect fit for the company's mobile console. It's not entirely flawless, but as Mario games go, it's one of the best.

Sticker Star is absolutely worthy of the Paper Mario name.

Paper Mario debuts in Nintendo 3DS with a very original game, which changes its traditional gameplay adding stickers to the RPG system. The result is a game as funny and humorous as in past titles, but more innovative.

Sticker Star is not exactly what many expected. It's not a return to the origins in full rule, in that the RPG elements are sacrificed, but not even a real distortion. The substance is that of a Paper Mario, however, it has a setting that some may not accept, and some of the limitations in the structure. But if you will understand the nature, you will see exciting ideas in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, you will realize that, behind an experience sometimes fragmentary, it hides one of the best adventures of this year.

Paper Mario's flat sticker world makes for an enjoyable 3D game.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star does have some flaws, but the good does mostly out-weight the bad. The puzzles can be challenging, as well as the boss fights, but the normal battles as mostly there to suck up your stickers.

The game's infectious spirit and sense of humour is irresistible, and it's big, too – you're not beating this one in a weekend. It's just a shame that putting stickers at the heart of the game didn't turn out to be the master-stroke it so readily could have been.

Like a pack of footy stickers, you'll find bits you want and bits you don't. Perhaps not the shiny Nintendo gem we'd hoped for, but a fun return to form.

A rollicking good time.

In the final analysis, Sticker Star is no Thousand Year Door, but don't let that turn you off – it's still a really good game, even if its RPG elements have been toned down.

A colourful, entertaining Paper Mario game with a clever battle mechanical and some smart 3D effects. Be prepared for the occasional frustrating moment and spot of aimless backtracking, though.

From the wealth of stickers to the challenging levels and creatures, it's one of the 3DS' more enjoyable RPGs, with adorable characters, catchy music and subtle yet effective 3D graphics. Our advice? "Stick" with it.

Often funny, thoroughly charming and a joy to play, but it is also just as often a touch too familiar, seemingly unwilling to really go out on a limb and do something crazy even if the potential to do so is immense.

A fun, charming game that is befitting of the series' unique sense of gameplay. While an unfortunate amount of backtracking and a lackluster story halt the game from being flawless, these are just minor grievances in an otherwise fantastic game.

Though it looks like something that might run on the GameCube or the Wii, Sticker Star plays a lot more like something from the 8- or 16-bit era than most recent Nintendo adventure titles, which is a large part of why it's one of my new favorite 3DS games.

And it's an especially welcome addition to a library mostly starved for quality RPGs.

If you can get past the repetitive combat and possibly even enjoy the grind towards the final boss, there's a lot to love in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. It doesn't hold up against the compelling experiences Fall 2012 is rife with, but it's another worthy entry to the ever-expanding 3DS software library.