Everyone says the Gamecube is dead, and they’re pretty much right. There are only a few more notable titles coming out on the system this holiday season, and after those arrive it’s pretty much lights out for Nintendo’s little purple box. Super Paper Mario happens to be one of those games, and it seems to be shaping up to become a must have title for fans of the portly mustachioed plumber. However, unlike previous Paper Mario titles, Super Paper Mario sheds it’s RPG love-handles and takes us back to Mario’s side-scrolling roots, only this time he brings along his paper-thin tricks to get from place to place.

All of the classic Mario sidescrolling elements will make an appearance. Running from one side of the screen to the other, players will stomp on enemies and break blocks. Mario will also make use of power-ups, though not in the traditional ways. Mushrooms will refill Mario’s life meter instead of increasing his size. Mario can also get stars, but instead of creating the blinking invincible state players are used to, Mario will instead grow so large he fills the screen and change appearance to resemble his original 8-bit form. When in this mammoth and invincible form, he’ll steamroll enemies and smash through obstacles in the level like he was able to in New Super Mario Bros.

There’s also a new type of attack, which players can use by pressing X, but the details on this are shaky at best. Apparently it not only attacks enemies, but also allows players to grab items that are farther away, at which point the grabbed item becomes a projectile weapon. This sounds similar to the attack used in Namco’s Klonoa series, and could add some unforeseen depth.

The biggest innovation is the ability to rotate Mario’s 2D world by ninety-degrees by pressing R. This ability allows for some creative level design, as it shifts the game from 2D to 3D. For instance if there are tall pipes in the way that can’t be cleared by jumping, rotating to 3D allows the player to simply walk around the obstacle. One stage has a chasm that is impossible to jump across, but by rotating the stage players will find the mountain in the background serves as a type of bridge in 3D. This ability will be limited, however, because if one stays in 3D too long, their energy will start to drain.

Mario isn’t flying solo in this adventure, so players are able to switch between Princess Peach and Bowser at any point, as both characters are also playable. Peach is able to use her umbrella for floating and other attacks, and Bowser will have his own, still unrevealed unique abilities as well.

It’s difficult not to get jazzed up about Super Paper Mario. The game is dripping with style at this point, and should be a proper send off for the ’Cube. Mixing 2D and 3D elements could have been a total mess, but thus far it seems like it’s going to be a home run when it launches this fall.