10 Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2020

The last two chapters in the Paper Mario book (discounting an appendix in the form of Mario & Luigi crossover Paper Jam) have been, well, a little flat, to say the least.

2012's Sticker Star was a fundamentally flawed aberration, hamstrung by an inexplicable battle system which encouraged the player to avoid it, and having its personality peeled off by a bizarre Nintendo edict banning alterations to existing characters. The Wii U follow-up, Color Splash, was at least permitted a story, but the similarly pointless battles persisted.

Frustratingly, Origami King fails to fix this particular tear, but otherwise unfolds as the series' best outing since the beloved Thousand Year Door. Alongside Home Circuit and LABO, the game proves once more that Nintendo know how to do right by cardboard, as it's easily amongst the Switch's most visually stunning titles. And the world doesn't just look sharper than a paper cut; it's a craft set of goodies just waiting to be cut-out (though not, thankfully, in the same poorly implemented way of the predecessor).

But it's the script where Origami King really leaps off the page. The tired inanity of Sticker Star is a thing of the past, replaced with an endearing cast that finally quells the cries over Goombell-exit. One poignant papery moment might just have you reaching for the paper towels. Break out the confetti: Paper Mario is (almost) back to its best.