Thousand-Year Door

Unlock the door with seven Crystal Stars to save Peach from the Shadow Queen.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a 2004 role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. As the second entry in the Paper Mario series, it follows Mario on an adventure to find a mystic treasure while Princess Peach has been kidnapped by the X-Nauts, an alien group led by Grodus. The story revolves around retrieving seven Crystal Stars to unlock the Thousand-Year Door, located in the ruins of Rogueport. This door guards a demon sealed away one thousand years ago; the cataclysm was caused by the Shadow Queen's defeat and sealing, not directly by her actions before sealing. Released globally in late 2004 after its announcement at E3 2003, the game is celebrated for its turn-based combat, drawing-based art style, and unique party mechanics.

Quick Facts

First appearance: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Key requirement: Seven Crystal Stars

Lore & Background

The Thousand-Year Door stands in the ruins of a seaside town that sank into the earth following a cataclysm one thousand years ago. Built atop these depths, the door serves as a seal for the Shadow Queen, a demon whose dark magic once engulfed the world. The narrative begins when Princess Peach purchases a magical treasure map rumored to lead to fortunes behind this door in Rogueport. After her kidnapping by the X-Nauts, Mario must collect seven Crystal Stars scattered across unique locations like the floating arena of Glitzville. These stars are not mere artifacts; they are the only mechanism capable of unlocking the door's wards. The antagonist Grodus intends to use Peach as a vessel for the Shadow Queen once the door is opened, revealing that the "treasure" is actually this ancient evil rather than gold.

Reader's Guide

The game features a turn-based battle system where timing button presses enhances attacks like jumps and hammers. Players control Mario alongside one partner chosen from seven permanent characters, each with specialized skills for puzzles, such as activating switches or removing barriers. Badges found in the environment or bought from NPCs can be equipped to enhance skills or grant new abilities, consuming Badge Points (BP). Health is managed via Heart Points (HP), while special attacks require Flower Points (FP) and Star Power, which grows with audience size up to 200 members.

Winning battles awards Star Points; every 100 points level the player up, increasing HP, FP, or BP. Between chapters, players control Peach in the X-Naut Fortress or Bowser in side-scrolling levels based on Super Mario Bros. The game was released July 22, 2004, in Japan, with worldwide releases following later that year.

Did You Know?

The game was announced at E3 2003 and released in Japan on July 22, 2004.
Vivian is often cited as a popular LGBTQ+ character, though her transgender status was removed from the initial English and German releases.
During battles, the audience can grow up to 200 members and may throw healing items or damage-causing objects based on performance.