The Gritty Corner of the Mushroom Kingdom: Rogueport

BT writes: Ever since I started this series, I’ve been looking over individual levels from games that range from first-person shooters to platformers and explaining why I believe them to be great stages both in the context of the game in question and from an objective standpoint, removed from the game. There are many levels that stand above the others in a game in such a way and deserve to be celebrated for it. However, I want to try something a little different for some of my next few articles. To show how consistently good levels in a game can build on one another while still standing strong on their own merits, I’d like to write an article about each of the levels in a game I find to be a wonderful example of level design at its best. In that spirit, and due to the fact that another sequel is coming out within the next week, I’m going to start a comprehensive series of articles looking over all nine areas in one of my personal favorite games: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. To begin this run-through, we’ll start at the hub for the game: Rogueport.