Shane Bettenhausen of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" called "Super Paper Mario" a "must-play for any Wii owner" and praised its creativity, gameplay, puzzles, and script but criticized the "undercooked" RPG elements. "Eurogamer" reviewer John Walker also expressed criticism towards elements of the gameplay, calling it "slightly weaker" than most "Mario" platformers, but lauded its writing as "consistently hilarious, and toward the end, even impressively touching". Ricardo Torres of "GameSpot" said the game was "not quite on par with some of the other entries in the series" but praised its gameplay, writing, length, and side quests. Michael Cole of "Nintendo World Report" criticized some "tedious puzzles" and backtracking, and praised the writing, visuals, and gameplay and called it a "peculiar, unexpected love-letter to Nintendo fans". Several reviewers at "RPGamer" praised the writing and comedic dialogue.