Toad Town
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Toad Town (Japanese: キノコタウン Mushroom Town) is the capital city of the Mushroom Kingdom. Located at the doorstep of Princess Peach's Castle, the town first appeared in Paper Mario (shown to the right). Since then, Toad Town has become a recurrent location in the Mario series. However, much like Princess Peach's Castle, the appearance, design, and layout of the town has varied greatly each time it has reappeared, though it has always been depicted as a flourishing and cheery place.
HistoryBackground As of yet, the story of Toad Town's creation and development remains unexplored. Chronologically, the first appearance of the town occurred in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, just prior to the Shroob invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom. As the capital of the kingdom, Toad Town and Princess Peach's Castle were the aliens' first targets. They attacked with Shroob UFOs, neutralizing the area with their offensive weaponry. Ruthlessly, they assaulted both buildings, such as Princess Peach's Castle, and people, such as the Toads walking outside in the streets. The aliens weren't able to capture the young princess herself, however, as she had escaped into the future. E. Gadd's Time Machine brought the adult Princess Peach into the past instead - and into the aliens' grasps. The destruction of Toad Town was total: while not a single building was left unharmed, many remained their structural integrity. All but two of the residents fled to the surrounding area, where many of them were captured anyway; the wreckage of coaches in Toadwood Forest serves as evidence that many residents fled there through that form of travel, perhaps after using them in their everyday lives in the town. The two remaining citizens were Gramma Red and Gramma Green, the saleswomen of Gramma's Place. The only other inhabitants of Toad Town for the remainder of the invasion were hostile enemies, many of were not even related to the occupying Shroob forces. However, just as the adult Princess Peach had traveled through time, so did Mario and Luigi, who combined forces with their younger selves to battle the Shroobs. Their quest took them through Toad Town, where they battled enemies and looted the wreckage for useful items. They also met up with Gramma Red and Green, who gave them details as to what had passed and then tried to sell their wares. The four Mario brothers eventually made their way through the ruined city, and later into the Shroobified castle, where they defeated the aliens once and for all. Using the Hydrogush 4000, the future Professor Elvin Gadd then pumped artificial baby tears into the various Time Holes, removing the handiwork of the Shroobs and reviving the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. After that, details of Toad Town's reconstruction are also slim. The Mushroom Kingdom had recovered by the time Bowser invaded in Super Mario Bros., although there is no evidence against the kingdom having reconstructed years prior to the Koopa Clan's first invasion. Paper Mario seriesPaper Mario  In Paper Mario, Toad Town serves as the central hub through which all outlying areas can be accessed (in fact, most areas can only be reached by passing through Toad Town). The city is also the setting for the beginning and ending cutscenes. As the game commences, Princess Peach is throwing a party at her castle in Toad Town, to which many of the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest citizens, including Mario and Luigi, attend. However, the festivities are soon interrupted by Bowser, who uses the power of the stolen Star Rod to magically transport his castle underneath Princess Peach's; he then uses his castle to uproot hers and carry it up into space, capturing the governing body of the Mushroom Kingdom and setting the town below into disarray. The earthquake caused damage throughout Toad Town to the point where the southern portions of town, including the port and train station, were temporarily unreachable. Most of the residents were devastated by the loss of the castle, which had left a giant crater in the now destroyed section of the town beyond the castle gates. An organized attempt to undo the damage of the earthquake began over the next few days, after which Mario arrived in town on his latest quest to stop Bowser and his minions. As Mario fought throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, the citizens continued to rebuild. The majority of the damage was reverted by the time Mario returned from the Koopa Bros. Fortress, having rescued the first Star Spirit, Eldstar. Just as life was returning to normal, the Shy Guys of Shy Guy's Toy Box emerged and began an unorganized series of petty thefts and vandalism. Fortunately, Mario soon returned from Forever Forest and with the help of Lady Bow, he discovers the location of the Toy Box, enters it and stops the miscreants, returning the stolen things to their proper owners. Later, Mario and his partners go on to defeat Bowser (with some help from Peach and her Star Kid friend, Twink) and recover the Star Rod. Bowser's Castle explodes, sending the villains flying, however the Star Spirits protect Princess Peach's Castle and the heroes within it, and guide the building all back down to its rightful place in Toad Town, restoring peace to the area. Finally, in honor of Mario and his friends' heroic deeds, Princess Peach throws another party a few days later, complete with a parade led through Toad Town. Layout A massive sewer system called Toad Town Tunnels is under the town and has blue Warp Pipes to all areas in the game. Badges, Super Blocks, and enemies lurk in the damp darkness. Toad Town's main entrance square contains an item shop, the Toad Town Dojo on the second floor of a two-story building (the first floor of which is inaccessible) and multiple houses, including Russ T.'s library-like home. There is a Warp Pipe that goes to Mario's House. Rowf and Rhuff's badge stand, a Toad House, the home of Merlon the fortune-teller and the Post Office are near the gate to Peach's Castle at the north end of town. Minh T.'s flower garden is also here, and serves as gateway to Flower Fields. South of here the player can find Tayce T.'s house, the entrance to Toad Town Tunnels and the path leading to Forever Forest. In an otherwise abandoned house in the southwest part of town is the Shy Guy's Toy Box, where Muskular, one of the Star Spirits, was being held. Also here is a second item shop. The southern-most area is where the train station is located, from here, the K64 train frequently departs to Mt. Rugged. The Li'l Oink farm is also found in this area, as well as the Playroom. Finally, the western-most area of Toad Town has a harbor and a single building in which a lively bar is housed. Items Found
Mario & Luigi seriesMario & Luigi: Superstar SagaMario walks around Toad Town plaza in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to learn the basic skills of the game and departs to the Beanbean Kingdom from here as well. If Mario assists certain citizens, he'll get extra Mushrooms for his journey as well as a suitcase and some Coins from Toadsworth. Mario only visits Toad Town at the very beginning of this game. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time   For more information, see Background. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the Mario Bros. and their baby selves travel to a Toad Town of the past, which was almost completely destroyed by the Shroobs, and was covered in their handiwork. Only Gramma Red and Gramma Green remained there, and they sold their wares to Mario and Luigi. A Time Hole and a path to Star Hill are at the south end of the town. The town was filled with enemies as well, and most of the building were either destroyed or falling apart, but most contained items and coins that Mario and company could use. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story   Toad Town once again reappears in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. It is where all the Toads reside in the game. It can be found just south of Peach's Castle. The citizens live in the northern part of the town, where they reside happily. At least until the Blorbs epidemic broke out and many of the citizens became infected and swelled like a balloon. The main part of the living area holds a fountain, with blocks that can only be reached using Shell Mario, which can be learned on the outskirts of town. In the southern part of town is Toad Town Mall, which has been newly opened when Mario & Luigi arrive back from Bowser's Body. It holds all the shops in the town, as well as the Clinic used to find the Star Cures to unite as the Miracle Cure and heal all the Blorb-infected toads. Beneath the town is the Toad Town Caves, which is where the Dark Star was sequestered in ancient times. That is until Fawful invades Toad Town and steals the dark entity for himself. There are also many pipes in the underground section of Toad Town that will lead into different sections of Toad Town and Toad Town Mall. Mario Party seriesMario Party DSToad Town is briefly seen in the game's intro. During the intro, what appears to be shooting stars cross over the night sky in Toad Town. These were actually Sky Crystals, and Mario was lucky enough to obtain one. All in all, Bowser stole Mario's crystal and shrunk them down. The miniature crew traveled across Toad Town and its surrounding areas to get the other pieces. The first two Party boards were located in Toad Town itself. Wiggler's Garden is shown located in the town square, and Toadette's Music Room is located near the Town's coast. Super Mario seriesSuper Mario Galaxy Toad Town's design in this game greatly differed from its appearance in Mario & Luigi Partners in Time, and looked more like the way it did in Mario Kart Wii. The houses looked more like real-world houses, as opposed to the colonial-styled brick houses it had in Partners in Time. Although Toad Town's appearance was brief in the opening, it can be further explored in Grand Finale Galaxy, where Toad Town is the main setting. As well as the Toads, other characters previously only found in galaxies such as Gearmos, Star Bunnies and Penguins, which did not appear in the opening are also found celebrating the Star Festival, and may have even taken up residence in the town.
Super Mario Galaxy 2In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Toad Town appears only briefly. After Peach invites Mario to her castle to share some cake, Mario passes through Toad Town, which is already under attack by a giant Bowser. Bowser wrecks havoc throughout the town, causing meteors to crash into town. Later, during the credits, Toad Town re-appears briefly, during the scene where Mario, Lubba, the Toad Brigade and some other Toads are sharing a giant cake, possibly baked by Peach. The appearance of this town was similar to the design in Super Mario Galaxy. Places in Toad Town
EnemiesPaper Mario
Mario & Luigi: Partners in TimeMario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside StoryArea Tattles (from Paper Mario)
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