The previous Paper Marios are excellent, but SPM is also fun. I'm not saying it's better, but it's not worse. It's hardly a Paper Mario at all, but it is still fucking fun as hell. Being able to play as Bowser and burn everything in my wake makes me giggle.
I will say it is worse but qualify that as personal preference rather than on technical reasons. I do like playing as Bowser but I'd rather have more RPG and less Super Mario Bros., meaning the NES one. I also miss the battle screen. What works for FFXII does not work for Paper Mario.
Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
The battle screen was getting old on the other ones until I got the badge that let me bypass menial battles. Maybe I'm just not in a turn-based point in my life right now. I will stop defending SPM's honor now.