Super Paper Mario (Nintendo Wii, 2007)

Super Paper Mario is what happens when Intelligent Systems decided turn-based battles were for quitters and gave Mario a dimension-flipping superpower instead. Released in 2007 for the Nintendo Wii, this cult favorite smashes RPG storytelling into platforming chaos — and somehow makes it work so well that even Bowser looks confused.

You’ll hop, flip, and pun your way through worlds that literally bend reality, swapping between 2D and 3D at will. The writing? Peak Nintendo weirdness — sarcastic, self-aware, and occasionally existential in that “wait, is this game actually deep?” kind of way. It’s the rare Mario title that hits you with a joke about love, loss, and pixelated despair… right after you stomp a Goomba into the fourth dimension.

Gameplay mixes classic Mario platforming with light RPG elements — you still level up, but you’re doing it while saving dimensions and yelling at Tippi for interrupting your flow. The art style nails that papercraft charm, the soundtrack goes hard in unexpected ways, and the story is pure Nintendo insanity from start to finish.

If you want a Mario game that feels like it escaped from an art student’s fever dream — but somehow still plays flawlessly — this is it. Buy retro games on Retro Games eXchange and flip between worlds, because saving the multiverse has never been this flat.