@choperman:
I'm glad someone agrees with me! I absolutely loved the first two games, I love the gameplay the style and especially the allies! I'm always hoping that some of the allies will pop up in games outside of the paper mario series but alas it never happens :(
Given the vastly different art style for characters in Super Paper Mario, I'm not surprised there were no partner cameos, though I wouldn't mind some of the other games' character cameos in traditional Paper Mario style, such as Francis and O'Chunks. But I want NOTHING to do with Sticker Star or Color Splash's lackluster characters. At best you could utilize some of the elements from those games (A blooper partner who shoots ink/paint to color things, maybe) and maybe find a way to work in the Thing card/sticker gimmick. But I want a return of Star Points and proper leveling, Flower Points, constant and switchable partners with you at all times, and the ! Blocks in an area staying cleared once they've been hit.
@Green_vs_Red:
I'd raise my hand but I didn't really hate the Partners in 64 just how static they felt in combat. Plus I still have yet to play TTYD so I can't comment on the partners there.
Though I'd be surprised if anyone didn't retroactively hate any and all things Toad related given how overexposed they would become.
That's why TTYD is better, partners have their own HP and much more personality and distinctive appearances. But if you hate how overexposed Toads are, there's a part where there's a Titanic-full of them that you may find off-putting. But they too have more distinct appearances; there's a fat one, a movie star one, and all in every color under the sun.