There are no free actions in Sticker Star, and just taking a single swing at a Koopa or hopping on a Shy Guy’s head requires a sticker.
In the shape of classic Mario power-ups, the titular stickers simplify combat to choosing from a list of collectable, consumable items and slapping them on your enemy. With most of the game’s RPG elements trimmed away Mario lives and dies by the number of tiny reflective squares in his Sticker Book. Thankfully the simple action of peeling them, accompanied by an intensely rewarding “pop!”, is always satisfying, and also life-saving. They turn up about twice as frequently as the word “sticker” appears in this review: on blocks, on walls, on the ground, dropped by enemies, as pieces of puzzles. These stickers pretty much end up all over the place. It’s up to a silent Mario-not even an “It’s a-me!” to be heard-and his mouthy living sticker sidekick Kersti to do the usual rounds of saving the day by collecting the stickers (specifically the sparkling crown-shaped Royal Stickers). Bowser arrives at the Mushroom Kingdom’s Sticker Fest-an event I quietly mocked until I remembered my town spends a weekend celebrating Marshmallow Fluff-and grabs the Sticker Comet, scattering stickers both magical and plain all over the place and nabbing Princess Peach in the process. This commitment to Sticker Star taking place in a pliable reality lets developer Intelligent Systems free their imaginations to fold, tear and, of course, sticker the game into a collage of fresh visuals, platforming and puzzles.īefore we get to anything new, though, we have to sit through the setup for a Mario story as old as time. The game’s Mushroom Kingdom is rendered in construction paper and cardboard, its inhabitants constantly discussing their papery nature. While previous Paper Mario games used the newsprint nature of Nintendo’s mascot largely to justify flat, 2D sprites in a boxy 3D world, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is origami to its core. Paper Mario: Sticker Star really, seriously, is all about paper and stickers.
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