Highlights

  • The remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will include some new gameplay features.
  • The 2023 Super Mario RPG remake suggests that things like a new inventory system, autosave, and endgame content could all be on the cards for the Switch version of The Thousand-Year Door.
  • The Paper Mario: TTYD remake releases May 23.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will offer some new gameplay features on the Switch, Nintendo has confirmed. It did so as part of a wider announcement that also saw it reveal the remake of the second entry in the Paper Mario series will be out this spring.

The Switch version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was officially unveiled in September 2023. Nintendo described the title as a remake of the GameCube original with completely redone animations and HD graphics. But the company mentioned nothing in the way of gameplay changes on that occasion.

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Six months later, Nintendo attached a release date to The Thousand-Year Door remake, revealing that the new version of the iconic game will hit the store shelves on May 23 as part of its Mario Day 2024 celebrations. The move was accompanied by a press release, which states that "this revamped version features enhanced graphics as well as new gameplay features," albeit without elaborating on the matter.

Paper Mario: TTYD Remake Could Take a Page Out of Super Mario RPG's Book

The footage that Nintendo has shared to date does not reveal anything in the way of such gameplay novelties. But if the changes introduced in the 2023 Switch remake of Super Mario RPG are any indication, a new inventory system and autosave could be on the cards for the reimagined version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Ditto for some extra endgame content, as Super Mario RPG included a New Game Plus boss rush mode that was never present in the original.

This revamped version [of Paper Mario: TTYD] features enhanced graphics as well as new gameplay features.

The reveal of Paper Mario: TTYD's release date coincided with the start of its pre-order period. However, the game's freshly updated eShop page makes no mention of the new gameplay features promised in Nintendo's announcement. The Japanese gaming giant's marketing efforts have so far also avoided highlighting the fact that Paper Mario: TTYD for the Switch boasts redone music, even though that seems fairly obvious from its trailers.

The new version of the cult-classic GameCube RPG is scheduled to hit the market some two months ahead of the original's 20th anniversary. Nintendo has recently been promoting Paper Mario TTYD as one of the biggest Switch exclusives of 2024. While the company's recent remakes didn't really receive this much marketing attention, the increased focus on this project might have something to do with the fact that Nintendo's hybrid console is currently in its twilight years; given the group's widely reported plan to launch the Switch 2 in or around March 2025, some industry watchers expect Nintendo to make 2024 the year of Switch remakes as it saves its upcoming AAA releases for the next system.