Paper Mario: Sticker Star
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Paper Mario: Sticker Star (known as Paper Mario: Super Seal in Japan and Paper Mario: Super Sticker in Hong Kong) is a RPG for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Intelligent Systems. As the fourth installment in the Paper Mario series, it is the first Paper Mario title to be released for a handheld console. StorylineThe story starts during the night of the annual holiday, the Sticker Fest, where the citizens come to witness the Sticker Comet fly by in the sky. It is said that the Sticker Comet will actually make wishes come true. Princess Peach, on stage, shows the audience (which consists of Mario and a myriad of Toads) the comet as it floats down to the scene. Suddenly, Bowser and his troops appear and crash the festivities. Out of want for the comet, Bowser decides to take it as his own, while Goombas and Koopa Troopas applaud. Three Toads attempt to pull Bowser away but inadvertently have him crash into the Sticker Comet, breaking it into six pieces and sprawling them across the Mushroom Kingdom. One of them happens to fall on Bowser’s head making him more powerful, and unleashing a tornado which scares away the Toads. A furious Mario tries to attack him, but is overpowered and later wakes up with the Sticker Fest in a disaster, Toads stuck to Bowser stickers, and Princess Peach missing. After regaining conciousness, Mario meets Kersti, a sticker fairy and the caretaker of the Royal Stickers. At first, she blames Mario for touching the Sticker Comet and causing the destruction of the Sticker Fest, as she tells him that a Sticker Comet must never, ever be touched. Mario tries to explain that it was Bowser who touched the comet, but Kersti takes this as a cowardly excuse of him at first. Mario then suggests that he'll help Kersti get the Royal Stickers back, and Kersti finally agrees with him. Mario starts by freeing the Toads affixed in tape placed by Bowser in the damaged festival. Once free, one of the Toads gives him a hammer. Mario then heads to the main town, Decalburg. After liberating the Toads, Mario heads towards the plaza east of town and discovers the area rolled up. The Toads together push to unroll the Plaza and bring it back to normal. As Mario leaves the town, he gets ambushed by a trio of Goombas but defeats them. Mario continues to travel through Warm Fuzzy Plains. As he comes to a bridge, Mario is encountered by Bowser Jr., whom he faces and defeats. Before leaving the scene, Bowser Jr. uses his magic to paperize the area, removing the bridge and throwing it on the ledge of a waterfall. Mario then goes back and gathers a group of Toads to the area. With their assistance, he recovers the bridge and uses Kersti to paperize and place it back to the scenery. Mario continues his way through the plains, when he comes across one of the pieces of the Sticker Comet. As he approaches the comet piece, Mario is once again ambushed by the Goomba trio. He manages to defeat them, and obtains the Comet Piece. Mario continues to traverse through the grasslands until he reaches Water's Edge Way. Mario continues his way through until he finds the next comet piece at the end, but not before having a first encounter by Kamek. After being defeated, Kamek uses his magic wand to remove the comet piece and send it away to another part of the area. Mario goes to retrieve the comet piece, places it back to its original position, and makes his way to Hither Thither Hill. After using a Fan on the Windmill and solving the puzzle inside, he uses a warp pipe leading to the underground. Upon reaching the exit, Mario gets ambushed by a Big Buzzy Beetle but takes it down in the process. Mario and Kersti eventually arrive at Goomba's Fortress, where the first Royal Sticker is held. Mario travels through the fortress, until reaching the top where he and Kersti confront Megasparkle Goomba and his Goomba minions. Mario defeats them and obtains the first Royal Sticker. Continuing into the desert, Mario finds the entrance blocked by a massive gateway that can be opened by applying the six stickers inscribed on the entrance. Continuing through the world, it is discovered at Drybake Stadium that the three tablet pieces must be obtained in order to advance. At the location of the piece hidden at Yoshi Sphinx, Mario faces Kamek again; this time, however, Kamek converts all of Mario's stickers into flip-flop stickers. The other tablet pieces are uncovered at Damp Oasis, where a Vacuum is used to remove the sandstorm, and Drybake Desert. After restoring Drybake Stadium, Mario faces Tower Power Pokey, the guardian of the second Royal Sticker, at the top. By defeating him, Mario and Kersti recover the second of the Royal Stickers. The next location is a forest. Here, however, a massive Wiggler is encountered, blocking the entrance, which is awakened by using the Trumpet. After Kersti asks why he is at the entrance of the forest, Wiggler states that he was looking for food, due to the entire forest being polluted by poison. Outraged, Kersti decides to help Wiggler, though as they advance deeper into the forest, Wiggler is snatched by a flashy-looking tentacle. When Mario and Kersti arrive at Wiggler's Tree House, they find that Wiggler has been reduced to a head; Wiggler reveals that he was broken into five segments, counting the head, by Kamek's magic. Mario and Kersti track down the other four segments, and after paperizing them back onto Wiggler, he decides to help Mario and Kersti by transporting them to a nearby island where the pollution is being caused. At this island, it is revealed that Gooper Blooper is the cause of the poison in the forest. After defeating the Blooper, the forest is reverted to its normal state and the poison is removed. Mario and Kersti, cannot continue on, however, because to reach the other continent requires a boat. At Surfshine Harbor they find a boat, but it is broken. Inside the warehouse, they find the ship's wheel, and must use the scissors to cut the rope connecting it to the dock. However, even after this, they still cannot set sail, as a massive Cheep-Cheep attacks the ship. After defeating this creature, Mario is able to use the boat to sail to the next area. The world they arrive at next is a snow-covered area. In this world, they come across The Enigmansion, with the proprietor sulking outside. Talking to him, Mario and Kersti discover that the mansion has been overtaken by Boos. By sealing all the Boos inside within the Book of Sealing and placing it to rest again, Kamek once again shows up. Revealing that he had originally unsealed the book, he frees the Boos once again, this time merging into a single Big Boo. After defeating this Boo, all the Boos are finally laid to rest in the book. Additionally, they also encounter a message in one of the books in the mansion, stating in ancient Stickerish, "When the Royal Stickers are found and the five lights illuminate the wall only then shall the truth be revealed.". Later, Mario and Kersti reach the attraction-like Bowser's Snow Fort. Here, Mario faces the Bowser Snow Statue, which during the battle is revealed to be a Mr. Blizzard named Mizzter Blizzard. After defeating him, Mizzter Blizzard reveals that all he really wanted was a body that wouldn't melt, granted by the Royal Sticker he obtained, before melting away, allowing Mario to obtain the fourth Royal Sticker. However, by leaving the area, Mario is intercepted by Bowser Jr., who notices that he once again has rare stickers and wishes to face him again. By defeating him again, Jr. retreats once more, returning to his father's castle. At the next world, Mario and Kersti travel through a forested area, followed by a more volcanic area. At Rumble Volcano, it is discovered that the guardian of the next Royal Sticker is Petey Piranha, who eats Kersti. After reaching and defeating Petey, Mario is able to both free Kersti and retrieve the fifth Royal Sticker. By arriving at the Gate Cliff, the five Royal Stickers that Mario and Kersti have collected begin to react. By placing them on the wall, the prophecy stated in the book at the Enigmansion comes true, as Mario is able to paperize the wall and flip it, revealing Bowser's castle. However, the castle immediately flies into the air, out of Mario's reach. With no way to fly, Mario and Kersti are forced to return to the mainland. However, upon hearing mention of a creature flying over the forest and by heading to Wiggler's house, it is revealed that Wiggler has grown up into Flutter. Wanting to repay Mario and Kersti for restoring the forest, Wiggler flies the pair up to Bowser Jr.'s Flotilla. Here, Mario defeats Bowser Jr. for the final time, and is able to reach Bowser's Sky Castle. At the castle, Mario again faces and defeats Kamek, who uses the same tactic that he does at the sphinx. With him out of the way, Mario is able to continue on to Bowser. At the final area of the castle, Mario and Kersti find Princess Peach, taped to a chain, though Bowser appears before they are able to free her. During their final showdown, Bowser is defeated, and he falls down into a pit with the Royal Sticker. However, he emerges seconds later as a massive cardboard version of himself. With any attack dealing little damage to him, Kersti powers-up Mario to face him by sacrificing herself, apologizing for all the hassle she has caused him. With this power boost, Mario defeats Bowser, thus releasing him from the Royal Sticker's control and incapacitating him. Mario frees Peach, who says that the stickers are meant to be used for good and not evil. Mario uses the Royal Stickers to return everything to normal. After Peach congratulates Mario and the rest of the kingdom for their success, Bowser attempts to steal the Royal Stickers again, only for a revived Kersti to intervene. She jokes that she wants to change her career, and Mario, Peach, and Bowser laugh. GameplayAfter forgoing the classic battle system in favor of a sidescrolling platformer-style system in Super Paper Mario, Paper Mario: Sticker Star returns to the turn-based system from the first two installments. However, players have to gather stickers, which are necessary both for solving puzzles and gaining battle commands. Stickers are a major part of the gameplay and storyline. Some real-world objects (called Things) appear in the form of stickers, and they also have the ability to be used to attack and overcome obstacles. Instead of levelling up from experience points as in the previous installments, Mario must find HP-Up Hearts, which each increase his current HP by 5. Stickers replace Badges from the first two installments of the series. A new feature is the "Battle Spinner" slot machine which allows Mario to attack with multiple stickers in one turn, gain coins, or cause a different event to occur, depending on the combination received.[5]. In addition, the gameplay places a lot more emphasis on the "paper" aspect than the previous games, containing status elements directly related to paper materials such as "soggy," "clipped," or "tacked;" additionally, the enemies sometimes transform themselves to better reflect the papery nature of their designs (eg, a Goomba occasionally becoming a cone Goomba), transform as part of an attack (eg, the Koopa Troopas), or simply resemble paper to begin with (eg, the Big Boo fought in World 4-3). Many characters actively refer to themselves as existing within a paper world, most notably Kersti. The world's environments also resemble craft materials like cardboard. Although the player grows stronger as the game progresses, there isn't an explicit level up gameplay mechanic, unlike the other RPG games or even Super Paper Mario. In addition, beyond a certain point, the player can also effectively skip battles by jumping on or hammering enemies of a certain HP range (like Goombas by World 3), instantly defeating them. Stickers
Stickers are the only methods of attacks in Sticker Star. They serve as attacks, items to solve puzzles, and the like. Types of StickersThere are many types of stickers, but the two main types are Jump stickers and Hammer stickers. Jump stickers include Jump, Hopslipper, Line Jump, and Iron Jump. Most Jump stickers can attack all enemies that are not spiked or have some other hazard on top of them. Hammer stickers include Hammer, Eekhammer, Slaphammer, and Hurlhammer. Most of them can hit all enemies except ones that wield wings, Spear Guys when holding their spear horizontally, or some other type of flying device, such as Kamek's broom. There are also stickers that support Mario in battle, such as Spike Helmets that give Mario a helmet that damages all enemies that attack him from above. Also in this category are Mushrooms that heal Mario and Leaf stickers that execute all action commands perfectly for one turn. Other types of attack stickers include Fire Flower and Ice Flower stickers that burn and freeze enemies, respectively. Certain enemies also occasionally drop stickers that represent their weapons - for example, Sombrero Guys occasionally drop Sombrero stickers, and Bob-ombs drop Bomb stickers. There are 2 special stickers that only appear in battle and then disappear when the battle is finished. Kamek turns all of Mario's stickers into Flip-flop stickers during the Kamek battles in World 2-2 and 6-3. Flip-flop stickers are similar to Eekhammers because they strike multiple times in a hammer-like fashion. Flip-flop stickers also retain their power status, i.e. a Shiny Jump sticker is a Shiny Flip-flop, a Megaflash Slaphammer is a Megaflash Flip-flop, etc. Flip-flops of the same size will appear the same, even if it is Shiny or Flashy. Once Flip-flops are used, they are gone from the sticker book, so the player should memorize the placement of their stickers so they don't waste a valueble sticker by mistake. The second sticker of this kind is none other than Kersti, who will enter Mario's sticker book during the final stage of the Bowser battle. She will activate the Battle Spinner and will automatically give Mario a whopping five slots for stickers per turn. Even though Kersti will disappear from the sticker book once used, Mario wishes her to be alive again, so he can still Paperize and talk to Kersti after the battle. Although neither sticker can be tossed or sold in shops, selling Kersti is mentioned twice in the game: entering Decalburg's shop for the first time, and right before Kersti enters Mario's sticker book when battling Bowser. Also, if Mario is able to overpower Bowser without using the Kersti sticker, he is able to toss Kersti away. However, this action does not alter the storyline. Finally, there are Secret Door stickers that Mario is able to paste onto the enviroment via the Paperize ability. These doors reveal secret underground rooms containing rare stickers and/or Things that are usually not used for storyline purposes, such as a Thumbtack and a Squirt Gun. Sticker TraitsEvery single sticker except Thing stickers sometimes have special traits applied to them, such as "Shiny", "Flashy", and "Big". These stickers usually sparkle in Mario's Sticker Album and do more damage than usual to enemies. Stickers that have traits like "Big" and "Megaflash" take up more space in the album, not unlike Secret Door and certain Thing stickers. Typically, stickers wielding special traits are rarer than normal stickers. Battle Stickers and Thing Stickers come in three sizes: Small (4 Spaces), Medium (9 Spaces), and Large (16 Spaces). CharactersProtagonistsAllies
FollowersThese allies temporarily join Mario's party and follow him around until they are taken to a certain location, where they perform an action or advance the storyline. In the Wiggler Segment's case, they must tire out before they join Mario and go back to Wiggler's Tree House.
EnemiesObstaclesBosses (in order)Highlights signify world bosses.
LocationsUnlike previous installments, the game has a level progression system. Each level course is unlocked after collecting a Comet Piece in the preceding area. The map is reminiscent of the one used in Super Mario RPG, though it is more open-ended and not linear. Many levels contain alternate exits that lead to other levels, and the goal of entering a level is not always to "finish" it by touching the Comet Stickers.
Nintendo eShop DescriptionWhen an accident scatters stickers across the land, Mario sets off on an adventure to repair a torn world. Searching Forests, Deserts and Mountains, Mario collects stickers to solve puzzles and battle monsters. In a first for the series, there are no experience points, so finding power-ups to improve Mario's abilities is more important than ever. Mixing sticker-based gameplay elements with the traditional action-battle system of the Paper Mario series delivers a new twist on a classic franchise. Flatten-out characters, roll out towns, and walk through living, breathing dioramas in a brand-new Paper Mario adventure on the Nintendo 3DS system! Similarities to other Paper Mario games
Differences from other Paper Mario games
References to Other Games
References in Later Games
Gallery
Glitches
Beta elements
Staff
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Names in Other Languages
Trivia
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