Players control a paper cutout version of Mario, usually with allies, on a quest to defeat the antagonist.

The first two games in the series, Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door, received critical acclaim, and were praised for their story, characters, and unique gameplay.

Each game divides the world into several explorable areas that contain puzzles and interactive elements, such as obstacles that Mario has to hit with his hammer,[1] that need to be completed to progress in the story.

Mario encounters multiple allies that join him on his journey, who can help complete tasks in the worlds and fight in combat, the latter of which is similar to other RPG games.

Gameplay centers around Mario and his allies solving puzzles, with many of the challenges designed around one of the characters' unique abilities.

[25] The game is set mainly in and around the hub town of Rogueport, where Mario and Peach discover a locked portal that is thought to lead to the riches of a lost kingdom.

Peach messages Mario about her kidnapping and informs him that he needs to search for the seven Crystal Stars to find the treasure.

Mario sets out to stop Count Bleck by collecting the eight Pure Hearts with the help of Peach, Luigi, Bowser, and a new ally named Tippi.

Unlike the previous games, Super Paper Mario features gameplay more closely related to platforming rather than role-playing.

[12] Instead of a turn-based combat system, battles take place in the overworld in real-time; upon victory, Mario is awarded XP.

[20][37] In Color Splash, Mario and Peach discover a color-drained Toad, prompting them to sail to Prism Island to investigate the oddity.

Square used experimental gameplay mechanics, such as timed button presses to deal more damage in combat, to try to ease fans into finding interest in the genre.

[55][56] The game had a playable demo at E3 2004, and was released worldwide later that year[55] as The Thousand-Year Door internationally and Paper Mario RPG in Japan.

Kensuke Tanabe, the supervisor of The Thousand-Year Door, and assistant producer Risa Tabata drew inspiration from Miyamoto to introduce different gameplay concepts to make the series more entertaining.

[16] He also asked to change the combat system from The Thousand-Year Door, and to remove most of the story elements due to early feedback from fans.

[36] AlphaDream wanted to use a third button to control a third character in their newest game, and felt Paper Mario would fit the role.

The artists made the graphics look like paper and craft materials, and the Wii U GamePad heavily influenced player combat as the developers found the motion controls fun to use.

[65] The game received negative reception afterwards, as fans were frustrated the series was following an action-adventure genre format like Sticker Star.

[20] Paper Jam was the last game in the Mario & Luigi series created by AlphaDream before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019.

[74] Despite the appearance some iconic characters from the mainline Mario series and the return of allies,[75] critics were still disappointed in their lack of role in the plot and other gameplay aspects.

He has since kept away from a complicated plot due to how it "led the game away from the Mario universe",[16] and instead created a story where different locales would be tied to specific memorable events.

It features remastered HD graphics, and retains the arts and crafts visual style that was established in Color Splash and The Origami King.

[26][104][105] The Thousand-Year Door won "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year" at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

[119] Upon its reveal, fans criticized Color Splash for continuing the trend of action-adventure installments, and a Change.org petition calling for its cancellation was created.

The Origami King re-added favored RPG elements and removed unwanted features, though it was still criticized for continuing the action-adventure format.

[128][130][133] Of these elements were hidden Toads, which reviewers commonly called fun and enjoyable, commending their humorous dialogue and interesting hiding spots.

[134] Reviewers gave the game's combat system a mixed reception; it was liked for its unique layer of strategy, but dreaded for being difficult and unrewarding.

Nicolas Lamarche, who is developing Born of Bread with Gabriel Bolduc Dufour, said that it retains core RPG gameplay concepts from the Paper Mario games.

[83] Similar to Paper Mario, The Thousand-Year Door was the top selling game in Japan in its first week,[144] and sold over 1.3 million copies since 2007.

[89] According to a whitepaper published by the Japanese Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, Color Splash had sold over 60,000 units in Japan and nearly 1.2 million copies worldwide by July 2020, making it one of the best-selling Wii U games.