The most recent Iwata Asks has some of the major players from the development team answering questions regarding the development of Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Plenty was said, and there was a lot of insight into how the final product came to be. But one thing is for sure. If Miyamoto doesn’t like it, it will change. Read the full interview in the links below and check out some of the greater details that came from the interview below!

Iwata Asks – Paper Mario: Sticker Star

• The original Paper Mario was titled “Mario RPG 64” in its early stages of development.
• A prototype of Mario RPG 64 showed off a graphical style with 3D polygons and a 3D paper-thin background.

• Work on Sticker Star began at the end of 2009.
• After playing the E3 2010 build, Miyamoto said it was simply a port of the GameCube title.
• Stickers were originally going to be used for solving puzzles and on the the overall map.
• Development on Donkey Kong Country Returns slowed down the development on Sticker Star.
• A second prototype of the game was presented to Miyamoto in the Spring of 2011. Miyamoto believed it was better than the first one, but it  too needed changing.

• Miyamoto asked for two main things for the development of the title:
• “It’s fine without a story, so do we really need one?”
• “As much as possible, complete it with only characters from the Super Mario world.”

• According to a Club Nintendo poll on Super Paper Mario, less than 1% said the story was interesting.
• Being able to flip between 2D and 3D was apparently much more interesting than the story.
• There was a preference for little stories and ideas instead of an overarching story.
• The Toads were the only “good” characters that could be used, so Kudo says that the Toads have unique personalities that make them different.
• The color of the Toads had to be used sparingly.

• Partners were taken out in favor of stickers to help set apart the game from previous installments.
• The concept of experience points and leveling up was thrown out. Instead, you face tougher enemies and collect stronger stickers.
• The idea that a character didn’t develop was adopted from Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland.
• The game is called a “sticker battle adventure.”
• The concept for Things came from within a separate group at IS that were experimenting on the Wii. A program was used to throw 3D objects against a wall to have them turn into a picture.
• The murals in World 2-5 were made in a way to better fit in the Super Mario world.

• The time it takes to peel off a sticker was cut down in individual frames to perfect the action.
• Things stickers can be understood to take the place of magic.
• The Sticker Museum gives the player to juggle whether they want to use the sticker right away or see it in action in a battle.

• This Paper Mario has the greatest focus on paper.
• For battles, ideas came from how you can damage paper (fold, wet, burn, tape, rip).
• Goats are known to eat paper, so it would be natural for paper to fear goats.
• Adding Birdo into the game was inspired by an anime.
• The idea that a Toad has a bent head was an idea that Tanabe wanted to have added into the series for the last 15 years.
• Kudo hopes Sticker Star will become the new standard for future Paper Mario titles.