Remakes of classic games are great for two reasons. One is allowing newer generations to experience classic titles they potentially missed out on. The other is for giving longtime fans an update on a game they loved from their past. Sometimes, however, remakes change aspects a bit too much, which can be frustrating.
Thankfully, with the newly released Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake for Switch, Nintendo has given fans the option to restore the original soundtrack in-game. While some may opt to reexperience this classic RPG with the new tunes, others won’t be able to adjust and would prefer to have the GameCube soundtrack going (such as myself). In a nice touch, the option is integrated into the game in the most Nintendo way possible.
The “Nostalgic Tunes” badge!
How to acquire the “Nostalgic Tunes” badge
There aren’t many steps for nabbing yourself the “Nostalgic Tunes” badge as it’s available almost immediately after finishing the prologue. You will need to play roughly 20-ish minutes into The Thousand-Year Door, completing the Rogueport sewers segment and interacting with the titular door for the first time, but once Professor Frankly explains how to equip badges, you can head west and buy yourself this music-altering badge.
From Frankly’s home, head west into central Rogueport, then enter the inn on the upper right of the screen. Ascend the stairs on the left side of the screen, and once you’re on the second floor, exit out the door on the left. From there, cross the small bridge and enter the “Lovely Howz of Badges.” You’ll see a GameCube badge on the far left that is selling for one coin. Buy it, equip it, and you’re all set.
What does the “Nostalgic Tunes” badge do?
As should be obvious from the intro to this mini-guide, the “Nostalgic Tunes” badge swaps all of the rearranged music in The Thousand-Year Door’s remake to the original GameCube OST. I vastly prefer the compositions from the GameCube original, so I sought this out pretty quickly. Other than that, it does nothing else to alter the experience.
In an amazing touch, this badge won’t require any BP to wear and is freely swappable at any time when not in combat. If you’d like to hear a different set of songs after getting stuck in a dungeon for too long, either equip or unequip this badge and change things up. The choice is yours and yours alone.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
