Paper Mario has always been one of Nintendo's more unique sub-franchises featuring the titular plumber. The series features an extremely recognizable art style, giving the appearance of using tactile materials to create a unique-feeling world. While the games are undoubtedly made digitally, one dedicated fan decided to bring Paper Mario to life in an impressive stop-motion animation.
Nintendo's long-running Paper Mario franchise recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in North America. The official Nintendo of America Twitter account marked the occasion by posting the original Nintendo 64 title's box art, and had the comments section filled with thousands of gamer's favorite memories of the series over the past two decades.
Located on the subreddit r/Mario, a user with the handle of u/Alexito_xd posted their impressive stop-motion animation video showing Mario interacting with a Goomba. While the clip is very short, clocking in at just four seconds, the production is at a near-professional quality. The clip begins with Mario walking into the frame, matching his usual walking animation perfectly, including the dust plumes kicked up by his shoes. Once next to the Goomba, he then performs a basic jump attack, with the Goomba not only crumpling, but also the included star effect.
I tried to recreate the paper mario star effects in stop motion and I think it looks decent from Mario
Although the video is on the short side, Reddit users have been quick to commend and compliment the stop-motion animator, with comments like "that's SUPER impressive" and "brilliant." The video features crumpling and star effects, which suggests they may have taken inspiration from the series' latest entry Paper Mario: The Origami King. Gamers have remained somewhat divided on the title, with some lauding its reinventive aspects and others wishing the series would return to its more traditional RPG roots a la Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.
While the stop-motion animation video is surely impressive, it's not the only creative thing fans have been doing with Paper Mario. One fan recently went viral for their inventive proof-of-concept video showing what it would look like if Mario Kart received the Paper Mario treatment. The video includes its own game intro, character selection screen, and more. The race footage, while only showing Mario on the track, expertly emulates what the racing title would look like utilizing Paper Mario's visual assets.
With all the attention the Paper Mario stop-motion animation video is getting, fans are hoping it will lead to more of them. While the original Paper Mario title has been "trapped" on its original console, that recently all changed. Thanks to Nintendo Switch Online's recently announced expansion, gamers can play the original Paper Mario on the service in addition to a whole host of other classics.