On February 5, 2001, Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 was released in North America. With 1.37 million copies sold (accord to VGChartz), this phenomenal success started a franchise that continues on as the Paper Mario series. As of 2024, the series has released six original installments and one remake. If it wasn't for the original Paper Mario 64, we wouldn't have its acclaimed sequel, The Thousand-Year Door, which in turn recently got remade for the Nintendo Switch in May of this year. And with Switch 2 reportedly on the way, I feel it's about time for Nintendo to remake the game that started it all. With updated graphics, gameplay, narrative, and with additional content, a remake of Paper Mario 64 will introduce the game to a new generation of gamers that will enjoy a more definitively-enhanced version of the original N64 title.

I would love to see something new for this game that will make the experience far more superior. Aside from enhanced 3D graphics that would pale in comparison to the more dated polygonal textures in the original, I would love to see much more additional content that will attract more people to the classic:

1. Your partners become a lot more involved like in the Thousand-Year Door, e.g., all your party members get health bars. And as such, that will add partner-exclusive badges which would make the gameplay feel much more like the sequel, which is part of what gamers loved about TTYD.

2. You can now be given the opportunity to increase your HP, FP, and BP as in the sequel. In the original, you are maxed out at Level 27. But I think if Nintendo should consider remaking this game in the future, and with the technical capabilities far improved, we should allow Mario to increase his power.

3. Adding further to expanding beyond the technical limitations, I advocate that Nintendo add a Pit of 100 Trials in the Toad Town Tunnels to allow the player to challenge themselves, introduce themselves to tougher enemies, and with more valuable rewards. And at the 100th level, Mario will fight maybe a darker version of the Crystal King or something more diabolical.

4. More badges and items should be introduced in this remake. Bring back the Strange Sack! Allow Rowf to give the player more badges, including the partner exclusives!

5. Overhaul all the blue pipes so they're all compressed into one room in the Tunnels as in the remake to the sequel, and allow Mario to warp back to other places like Shy Guy's Toy Box and Starborn Valley.

6. I can't stress this enough. There should be a post-game for players to revisit the Mushroom Kingdom in order to 100% the game and not have to leave Bowser's Castle if they forgot to do something back on the surface.

Paper Mario 64 is one of my all-time favorite games. I remember playing  the demo a long time ago at my local Toys "R" Us and kind of pressured my mom to get me this game, and soon afterwards, this was the main attraction on my birthday. This was one of my go-to games as a kid. I've beaten the game hundreds of times. My friends had loads of fun playing it. But Paper Mario 64 not only had an impact on me; it helped launch a franchise for players all over the world that still play the series to this day, that is celebrated by millions of Mario fans! Many of the other Nintendo 64 classics: Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and even two of the other beloved Mario RPGs, like Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Paper Mario's sequel, The Thousand-Year Door, have gotten remade, so I think it's insulting that the original Paper Mario gets turned aside. I see potential in remaking this classic of the original Nintendo 64 game. Let's help make this a reality!