What's New in the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Remake?

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's remake is finally coming to a Nintendo Switch near you this May. While the game didn't start the Paper Mario franchise, it's often lauded as the fan-favorite amongst die-hard supporters. Because the game is so beloved, many fans have been wondering if Nintendo is planning to make any major or minor changes to it. While we don't know everything new coming to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo has revealed a few key details.,

Nintendo's round-up of changes leaves something to be desired. In its write-up, the developer says the Switch remake will have "revamped graphics and a suite of additional changes that make the game easier than ever to enjoy." That's not a lot to go on, but fans have combed through the trailers to piece together some of the more notable changes Nintendo has made, particularly when it comes to graphics.

Notably, the footage Nintendo has provided players thus far shows a sharp uptick in resolution, textures, and lighting. With this being a remake of a Nintendo GameCube game, that's to be expected. It's most noticeable when you look at what the team has done to some of the models, allowing them to make the game look like moving paper. For example, if you pay attention to trees in the background of outside shots, you'll notice how much more they look like 3-D paper objects compared to the relatively flat trees in the original.

That's all exciting, of course, but most of that is standard for a remake of this scope. What fans really want to know is if there will be any new content. Again, Nintendo is keeping that information close to its vest, but some fans have spotted at least one potential new piece of content that could have some intriguing possibilities.

Does Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Have New Content? 

Several months ago, it was spotted in one of the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door trailers that there's a new Toad design. This brand-new NPC features Toad in a purple outfit with some kind of hat on top of his mushroom head. Fans are split on whether this is simply something Nintendo added for fun or if there will be new content centered around this new Toad. It's possible that this Toad NPC could be a way for Nintendo to include amiibo support or it might be a new quest to give veteran players an extra reason to hop into the remake. Either way, it's unlikely that Nintendo will pull back the curtain ahead of time to let fans know exactly what's coming. Instead, expect the developers to hold this back as one last surprise.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door launches on Nintendo Switch on May 23rd.