Highlights
- The highly anticipated Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2024, after being trapped on the GameCube for nearly two decades.
- Fans have been hopeful for a Switch port of the game, especially with Nintendo reviving other GameCube classics, and the announcement has brought excitement to the community.
- The Switch version of The Thousand-Year Door will maintain the authenticity of the GameCube original, while offering enhanced graphics in HD.
Beloved turn-based RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2024. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is often hailed as the best entry in the fan favorite Paper Mario franchise, but it has been trapped on the Nintendo GameCube for nearly two decades.
Since Nintendo started reviving beloved GameCube classics on the Switch, there has always been hope from the community that Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door would be part of that movement. Many Nintendo Directs have come and gone with no Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door announcement, which has made some fans lose hope that they would ever see the game made playable on Nintendo's newest console. Ballooning prices for used copies of the GameCube version have only made this sting more, but now there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
To cap off its latest Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo officially announced Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Switch, with plans on releasing the game at some point in 2024. Based on what's shown in the trailer, it seems that the Switch version of The Thousand-Year Door will be authentic to the GameCube original, even retaining its more controversial elements, like the noose that can be seen in one of the game's areas. The only real difference will be enhanced graphics, as the Switch version of The Thousand-Year Door will be presented in HD.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has a vague 2024 release date, but it's probable that it will be out within the first half of the year. After all, Nintendo said that the Nintendo Direct would be focused mostly on new Switch games coming out this winter. It's possible Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will be an early 2024 release for the Switch, but a spring or summer launch seems more likely.
Nintendo is expected to reveal the Switch successor console next year, and it may even launch the new system in 2024 as well. If that's the case, one would imagine Nintendo would start to shift its focus on its new platform. Considering this, it's quite possible that Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door may very well be one of the last major releases for the Switch.
In the meantime, Paper Mario fans have some other games to check out on the Switch while they wait to get their hands on The Thousand-Year Door. The original Paper Mario is available to play through the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, while the latest entry in the series, Paper Mario: The Origami King, is readily available for purchase on the Switch.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door launches for the Nintendo Switch in 2024.
