Thousand-Year Door

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.

In Their Own Story

In Rogueport, Mario receives the map from Peach and sets out against the X-Nauts to find her. He learns that collecting seven Crystal Stars is required to open the Thousand-Year Door. While Mario gathers stars and recruits a party including Goombella, Koops, Madame Flurrie, Vivian, Admiral Bobbery, Ms. Mowz, and a player-named Yoshi, Peach remains captive on the Moon. She communicates with Mario via email after making a deal with the X-Nauts' AI, TEC, who falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Bowser comically trails Mario to steal the stars for world domination. After securing all seven stars, Mario reaches the X-Nauts' base only to find Peach transported behind the door. Upon opening it, Grodus reveals his plan to resurrect the Shadow Queen using Peach's body. Though Grodus is defeated, the demon awakens within Peach. With the help of the Crystal Stars and the audience's cheers replenishing Star Power, Mario defeats the Shadow Queen, preventing her magic from destroying the world.

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.