Summary
The fact thatPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doornow has a remake on the Switch is a dream come true for many. Similarly to theSuper Mario RPGremake that came before it, many people were willing to settle for a port to a new console and nothing too fancy, just as long as thefan-favoriteMario RPGwasn’t forgotten or left abandoned on the SNES and GameCube. Fortunately, both games are now on Switch, and are fully remade with every part of their original charm in-tact.
Nearly every inch of the newPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorremake has something new about it for fans to enjoy. Alongside the new music, character expressions, and amazing visuals, one new feature exists for those who want to make the game feel a bit more like its 2004 version: the Nostalgic Tunes badge.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s Nostalgic Tunes Badge Brings Back the Original Soundtrack
The Nostalgic Tunes badge is a brand-new badge added to the Switch version ofTTYDto balance out how the entire soundtrack was redone for the remake. While the new soundtrack is incredible and even adds some new songs to make battles and emotional events more important, it seems thatIntelligent Systemswanted to give players a way to play the game how they want. Having the ability to switch soundtracks through a badge is an excellent way to do that, as just a quick search through Mario’s badge collection can help fans decide what they want to listen to at a given moment - even switch soundtracks depending on what’s happening if they prefer.
There’s nothing wrong withpreferring the GameCubesoundtrack over the new one for the remake. In fact, it seems as if the original tracks were musically remastered in their own right, as they sound better than they have previously, though that may have to do with audio quality getting better in games in the last 20 years. Players won’t get to hear these possibly remastered tracks for themselves without the badge. It’s recommended that players change between soundtracks regularly just to see how they sound in their own right.
How and When Players Can Get the Nostalgic Tunes Badge in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Nostalgic Tunes badge is in a rather interesting place, and it’s one fans might not realize they can go to as early as the prologue - the Lovely Howz of Badges. All that players need to access the shop inPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Dooris to get their first badgefrom Professor Frankly, then they can head back to the inn and follow the door to the right upstairs to get to the shop across a small walkway.
The Thousand-Year Doorplayersare clearly encouraged to pick up this badge since it’s only sold for one coin, which is easy to justify with Mario’s starting 100 coins, or just 50 if fans haven’t reclaimed their coins yet. Once players have the badge, all they need to do is turn it on and off just like any other badge, then close the menu to have it immediately take effect, changing both the music and most of the sound effects back to what they were in 2004.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)
WHERE TO PLAY
Join Mario and friends on an epic paper adventure: A classic story unfolds on the Nintendo Switch system.Collect the Crystal Stars before the bad guys do: The X-Nauts are after the treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door! With a map from Princess Peach—and the help of a few locals—Mario must journey through a colorful world made of paper to find it first.Surprises abound in this deep and engaging tale, where everyone’s got something to say and it’s often not what you’d expect! Here are just a few of the colorful characters you’ll encounter along the way.Master your badges and timing-based attacks to impress the audience in a theatrical twist on turn-based RPG combat. Make use of all the abilities that come with being cursed—er, conveniently made of paper—like folding into a plane to cross big gaps or turning sideways to slip through narrow openings.
