Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Might Release Sooner Than Expected

In September, Nintendo announced a remastered version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the second Paper Mario game to ever be released and one that many consider to be their favorite Paper Mario game of all time. A the time of that announcement, only a broad release window of 2024 was given for the Nintendo Switch version of the game. Based on a new finding, however, it appears that there's a chance the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remaster might actually be releasing a bit sooner than anticipated.

That doesn't mean that it'll be releasing sooner than the 2024 release window, but it could be that Nintendo opts to release it quite early in 2024 as opposed to any other time further into the year. This speculation comes as a result of the game getting rated already by at least one ratings committee.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Remaster Rated

The rating in question was spotted on the Brazilian ratings board with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door with a rating noticed in Korea around the same time. Twitter user Andrew Marmo who often reports on ratings like these as well as newly discovered patents shared evidence of the ratings on social media 

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has been rated in Brazil.

The game currently has a release year of 2024 with no specific date attached to it. This could indicate the game is coming sooner than we expected.#NintendoSwitch #Nintendo pic.twitter.com/AazRHLoFDY

— Andrew Marmo (@the_marmolade) October 25, 2023

So, what does this mean for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door? Again, it's not like Nintendo's going to bump this game up into 2023 if it already gave it a 2024 release window, but ratings like these typically only happen closer to a game's release date as opposed to further out, so we could very well be looking at a release window of sometime within the first three months of 2024. Nintendo already has the remake of the Super Mario RPG as well as the Apollo Justice Ace Attorney Trilogy planned for January, the new version of Mario vs. Donkey Kong in February, and will be putting out Princess Peach: Showtime! on the Nintendo Switch in March, so those months admittedly look at bit crowded right now as far as Nintendo Switch exclusives go.

From what we know about the remastered version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door so far, it's known to have updated graphics compared to what people saw in the game way back 2004 when it released on the Nintendo GameCube. As far as any other modernizations go, Nintendo hasn't said much about those plans, but having the game playable on the Nintendo Switch is all Paper Mario fans have been asking for anyway.

"The Nintendo GameCube game returns with updated graphics," Nintendo said about the remaster when it was first announced. "Turn the page and join Mario and friends in an RPG adventure to discover the legendary treasure behind the ancient Thousand-Year Door. Will Mario complete his papery quest, or will he crumple under the pressure? Find out when Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door unfolds on Nintendo Switch in 2024."