There is only one thing that really makes a game system great and that is great games! I don't care how powerful the Xbox 360 is or the PlayStation 3 is or the Nintendo Wii is. Great games have always been around since before any game systems were anywhere near as powerful as the ones we have today. So how does one make a great game? Well that really depends on the person you're making the game for but if you want a more solid answer I guess a much better question would be, "What are the characteristics of a great game?"

I've said it before and I'll say it again... you can tell a game is great when you can't seem to put down the controller. We're gonna take a look at Super Paper Mario for the Wii, The Red Star for the PS2 and Crackdown for the Xbox 360 and find out if these games really do have the ability to transform a videogame controller into crazy glue in this months issue of Press Start!

Although Super Paper Mario features the same famous mustachioed plumber as in other Paper Mario titles, this is not your typical action/adventure title. The graphics are actually a key part of the gameplay here.

Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii; Publisher: Nintendo; Developer: Intelligent Systems; Release Date: April 9, 2007; ESRB Rating: E for everyone; Genre: action/adventure; Players: 1; Support: Wii-mote only; Online: N/A

2D vs. 3D
I always say that gameplay should always come before graphics. I'd rather have a game that plays great and isn't all that flashy than a game that looks gorgeous with all the glitter and tinsel, but gets boring after five minutes. But the absolutely uncommon thing about Super Paper Mario is that the graphics themselves are actually a key part of the gameplay!

Super Paper Mario is not your typical action/adventure title. It does, however, follow in the same vein as its Nintendo 64 and GameCube predecessors. Like the other titles in the Paper Mario series, SPM stars Nintendo's famous mustachioed plumber, and every other character in the game, as flat 2D sprites. But, unlike the other Paper Mario titles in SPM, players can flip between 2D and 3D graphics at the push of a button. If you're confused already don't worry, we'll get through this, just be strong.

When Peach Met Bowser
Ok, so you can probably guess exactly what the storyline is in this game. Princess Peach gets kidnapped again and Mario has to save her. Although King Bowser is not the guy who kidnaps her, in fact the guy who kidnaps Peach has the cojones to actually kidnap Bowser as well. It's all part of an evil scheme to fulfill an ancient prophecy, which will lead to the same goal of any truly evil villain... the destruction of the universe!

At first the game looks like a 2D side-scroller that was rendered in a program like Flash or After Effects, but when the player flips worlds, the environments become 3D while the characters remain paper thin 2D sprites. For example, when Mario turns to walk in different directions he flips like if you were holding a sheet of paper and you flipped it to see the other side.

SPM's patient fans have been rewarded for their wait with the addition of a few extra Wii features that would have been impossible on the GameCube. All Super Mario Paper images © 2007 Nintendo/Intelligent Systems.

SPM was actually slated to be a GameCube game. But patient fans have been rewarded for their wait with the addition of a few extra Wii features that would have been impossible on the GameCube without some sort of attachment. Of course we got the basics; running, jumping, item usage, bopping enemies on the head, picking them up and throwing them, the works. There's also the ability to shake the motion sensitive Wii controller to make certain attacks more destructive to enemies. Players can also point the controller at the screen to view hidden items in the levels that cannot be seen with the naked eye or by flipping dimensions.

Along the way more characters join Mario in his quest including playable characters to which players can switch to at any time and in-game helpers known as "pixls" which grant the characters additional abilities.

Flipping dimensions is essential to progressing through the game and finding hidden secrets, but remaining in the 3D mode is timed. A timer appears when in the 3D mode -- when time runs out the character will begin to take damage so players can't stay in 3D for very long. It's kinda like holding your breath under water for too long.