Super Paper Mario

For more uses, see Paper Mario (disambiguation).

Super Paper Mario is a RPG-type platformer for the Wii, in the vein of the classic Mario titles, but with the aesthetic qualities of the Paper Mario series. However, it's not just a 2D side-scroller. The game fuses elements of 2D and 3D gameplay together, shifting back and forth between dimensions. As Nintendo Power magazine describes it, the game is the first "5D" sidescrolling videogame.

The player must start out with is Mario, as time moves on Princess Peach, Bowser, and even Luigi will be playable and switched at anytime via the + menu. The characters in the game are able to transform into humongous 8-Bit sprite versions of themselves, and plow through enemies and bricks with reckless abandon. Interesting to note is that the giant characters are actually versions of the original Super Mario Bros. sprites, blown up to epic proportions.

The game was originally planned for the Nintendo Gamecube, but Nintendo changed it to the Wii. Additionally, the game was originally going to be released in 2006, but the year has been changed to 2007. All of the graphics in the game also seem to have pixelated effects, including small squares to make up colors of objects and backgrounds; however, they are visible and share a style with Mario's Super Picross. Super Paper Mario has recently been released in North America on April 9, 2007.

Story
As so many stories start, Princess Peach has been kidnapped and, upon hearing this news, Mario and Luigi set off to Bowser's Castle to save her from Bowser, whom they suspect to be the kidnapper. However, it is not true. Once they arrive and confront the Koopa King, he says that he was just about to do that. That's when the evil Count Bleck, a mastermind who refers to himself and others in third person, appears, along with Peach. He uses his control of black holes to render Mario unconsious, then takes Bowser, the Koopa Troop, Luigi, and Peach to Castle Bleck, which is in another dimention. Mario is the only one left in the keep, still out-cold. Bleck has possession of a book named Dark Prognosticus which tells of a marriage of a powerful king, and a pure-hearted princess, that will open a dimensional rift ("The Void") that will swallow the whole universe.



Later on, Peach regains her own consiousness to find herself and Bowser in wedding outfits. It's a wedding that's been aranged by Count Bleck, where Peach is about to get married to Bowser! Bleck, acting as the preist, asks both of them if thay will "take each other as their lawfully wedded husband/wife until their games are over". Bowser joyfully says yes, but Peach refuses. She is then put into hypnosis by Bleck's assistant, Nastasia and forced her to say "I do". Luigi, also in the area, wakes and tries to stop Bleck. But it's too late-because of the the bonding of Bowser and Peach, the Chaos Heart has appeared. Bleck begins laughing evily and flees the scene with the Heart.

Meanwhile, Mario is awakened by a Pixl named Tippi, who brings him to the town of Flipside (where a small hole, the Void, is found in the sky). Here Mario meets Merlon. Merlon has the opposite of Bleck's book called the Light Prognosticus, and he explains to Mario that the book tells of a hero to stop Bleck, which exactly describes Mario. But before he can do anything, he must find the eight Pure Hearts, one of which Merlon has.

Using the Pure Heart, Mario gains access to Lineland, the first world. He manages to find the Flip wizard, Bestovius, and gains the ability to filp between dimentions. He uses this ability quite often, for it helped him proceed to Mount Lineland and Yold Town, where he found another Pixl, Thoreau. This Pixl proved to be very handy later on when Mario got to the Yold Desert. Here, Mario was greeted by O' Chunks, a minion of Count Bleck with a Scottish accent who attacks him. Mario used Throeau to beat the thug easily, and procceded onward to the Yold Ruins. There, Mario went through some ticky traps and puzzles, until he made to the top of the ruins, where he was greeted by Fracktail. The robotic dragon was about to let Mario pass, until another minion of Bleck, Dimentio, comes and corrupteds him. He fights Mario, but was soon defeated. Mario then enters the sanctum Fracktail was guarding, and was given a Pure Heart by Merlumina.

He returns to Flipside, where his finds Peach unconcious and, revives her with some Spicy Soup. After picking up Peach, they head to Gloam Valley, where a Bob-omb-like Pixl, Boomer, joins them. The group finally reaches Merlee's Mansion, where the next Pure Heart was said to be at. They meet Merlee's maid, Mimi, who makes them do slave labor after breaking her vase worth 1 million Rubees, and Slim, a Pixl who helps out by giving them the ability Mario got back at Hooktail Castle. Later on, Mimi reveals herself as a shapeshifter who serves Count Bleck, and chases them around the basement in the form or a huge spider. Mario and Co. eventually finds Merlee, who uses her magic to render Mimi un-invincible. The gang squashes the shapeshifter like a bug, and is awarded the next Pure Heart from Merlee.

Meanwhile, Luigi attempts to escape from Castle Bleck, but is captured by Goombas and Koopas under Nastasia's control, and receives a terrible fate offscreen. Mario and Peach use the next Pure Heart to enter the Bitlands, where Tippi is kidnapped by Francis, the nerdy chameleon. They meet the Pixle Barry, who gives them advice for on their way to Francis' home, then returns to his hiding place in a bush. While they are going through the Bitlands, Mario and Peach come across Bowser, and after getting a good beating, and some talking into, enlists his help to find the Pure Hearts with them. The three manage to get to the next area, the Tile Pool. Here, they meet the Pixl Thudley, who helps them escape the 8-bit waters (but not until after they beat up the gargantuan squid, Big Blooper, that is). Afterwards, the scale the giant Dot Wood Tree, and confront Dimentio (again in Mario's case). They defeat him, and ride the pixlated red wind to the end of that area. At last, they reached Fort Francis, where they freed yet another Pixl, Carrie. With her help, Mario and Co. managed to get around the fort to get the secret passwords to Francis' room. Unfortunately, the cat-like door shot lasers at Mario and Bowser, so only Peach could enter. Alone, she faced Francis, who got a bad case of infatuation, and used a dating simulator to win her over. He failed miserably, resulting in his program going up in smoke. But when he finds out that she's after Tippi (whom he called Francine), he quickly retaliates. Mario and Bowser come in to aid her, and the trio toppled the geeky chamelion, and rescued Tippi. Tippi was so grateful that a Pure Heart came out of nowhere!

They used the next Pure Heart to enter Outer Space, but found out they could not breathe here (even though they could in the last game) So they went back and got a helmet from one of the citziens back at Flipside, then went back to Outer Space. Here, they met Squirps, who served as their guide and ray gun to attack the space creatures. They made a pit stop on Planet Blobule so that Squirps could go to the bathroom. They found an outhouse, but had to irradicate the Pixl Fleep out of there first by giving some "toilet" paper first. Fleep thanked the gang by joining their party. After Squirps was done with his business, they went back onward into the Outer Limits. After that, they made their arrival to the Whoa Zone, where the Pure Heart was said to be here (or so said Squirps). After going through all the weirdness of the zone, they found the final path to the Pure Heart being blocked by another one of Bleck's flunkies, Mr. L. He seemed to more fore familliar to the others, as his attacks were of that of someone else they knew very well. The trio tromped L, but that just made him call for backup-his weird space machine, Brobot. Using Squirps, Brobot toppled, and Mr. L ran off. Squirps then led the gang to a statue of his mother, where the Pure Heart lied.

Upon returning to Flipside, Tippi faints, leaving her at Merlon's and the gang finding the way into the next world themselves. Luckily, Fleep revealed a way into the alter-ego of Flipside, Flopside. Here, they manage to find they manage to reveal the next door. They go back to Flipside, get Tippi, and enters the next world.

They drop in (literally) to Downtown of Crag, where they are given the job of finding the missing citizen who are being taken away by Floro Sapiens. As the gang tracks down some Floro Sapiens with Cragnons, they end up fighting O'Chuncks again (with the assistance of Dimentio's Demention D). They beat him, and then find another Pixl, Thudley, who help them enter the Floro Caverns. There, they helped Flint Cragley find his cameramen, and use the key he had to enter into the deeper parts o fthe Floro Caverns. Eventually, they found out that the Floros have been brainwashing Cragnons with Floro Sprouts to do their bidding. Mario and Co. wandered around the area, until they found another Pixl Dottie. She used her powers to shrink the gang when needed to, and this led to everyone fighting O'Chunks again. This time though, Dimentio put a Floro Sprout on the Irishman's head, making him look, feel, and sound more dumber than he already was. They beat him in Dimention D again, and got the Sprout he dropped off. The Sprout helped Mario get inside the main hall of the Floro Sapien ruler, King Croacus. They met the king himself, then gave him a good beating. It was only afterwards did they find out that it was the Cragnons who were doing the wrong-doing by polluting the waters with their junk. After the apologies, Mario and Co. were awarded the next Pure Heart the Croacus had.

They used the next Pure Heart to open a doorway leading to the Sammer's Kingdom, where the Void is almost at full size. They were "welcomed" by one of the Sammer Guys, Jade Blooper. They fight, and beat him. That's when King Sammer comes with his 99 other Sammer Guys, and explians the rules of his land. Beating all 100 of his men will earn them his treasure: another Pure Heart. So, the gang starts fighting their way though the gates of Sammer Guys. Unfortunatley, when they reach the 20th gate and defeats Rolling Thwomp, Count Bleck appears announcing the imminent destruction the Sammer Kingdom. After Tippi has a breif chat with him, Bleck leaves. Mario and Co. go past the next five Sammer Guys, who are too weak to fight, until they meet up with the king again. he deicides that they should have the Pure Heart now instead of later, and shows that its in the chest on the 26th gate. The gang opens it up to reval not a Pure Heart, but a Boomer bomb that blows up in their face, but nobody is harmed. The king is upset at this, and reveals himself to be Mimi. She fight the crew in her normal look, but gets trashed again. She dosn't care, because she was only trying to stall them. Mimi leaves, and the gang continues to rush to the 100th gate. But by the 30th, they are too late. The Void devours the entire kngdom, and everything in it!

More later...

Between chapters, an all-dialogue narrative takes place, concerning the story of two lovers named Blumiere and Timpani, which becomes increasingly relevant to the main story of the game.

Playable Characters
Playable characters are
 * Mario – He has the ability to view the two dimensional world from the side, making a three-dimensional path that would normally be impassible. However, this uses up power from his ability meter, then his health, and at the same time restoring the power gauge.
 * Princess Peach – She can use her parasol to float long distances and deflect damage. Playable after Chapter 1, she at first starts out in Castle Bleck, then ends up at Flipside. After this, she joins Mario in his adventure. She becomes unplayable in two points however; from after Chapter 6 to the middle of Chapter 7-3, and from the end of Chapter 8-2 to the middle of the fight with Count Bleck.
 * Bowser – He is able to breathe fire, a far more powerful attack than other attacks, and his jumps deal double the damage. Playable from Chapter 3 onwards except from two points; from after Chapter 6 to the middle of Chapter 7-2, and from the end of Chapter 8-1 to the middle of the fight with Count Bleck.
 * Luigi – He has a higher jump than the others, allowing him to reach places otherwise inaccessible. First playable after Chapter 2, he begins in Castle Bleck. Afterwards, he does not become playable again until Chapter 7 onwards, when he joins Mario's party. There are two more instances where he is not playable: from the end of Chapter 8-3 to the middle of the fight with Count Bleck, and the entire fight with Super Dimentio.

Audience
The Audience is a group of generic creatures who will appear whenever Mario, Peach, or Bowser attacks an enemy and does a stylish move, which is done by shaking the Wii Remote when stomping on an enemy. They appear on the sides of the screen and say "Nice", "Great", "Wonderful", and "Excellent". This approval of the Crowd gives the player a higher score than if they had just jumped on and enemy. The audience in this game only has a handful of species from the previous game, taking out most of the species.

Items
Attack Items


 * Fire Burst – Broils enemies with searing flames.
 * Ghost Shroom – Summons a Ghost Shroom to damage enemies.
 * Ice Storm – Pelts enemies with frigid shards of ice.
 * Pow Block – Rattles enemies on the ground and ceiling.
 * Shell Shock – Rams into enemies when you kick the shell.
 * Shooting Star – Showers enemies with a flurry of shooting stars.
 * Thunder Rage – Strikes enemies with lightning.
 * Volt Shroom – Briefly paralyzes enemies the player touches.

Defense Items


 * Block Block – Makes the player invincible temporarily.
 * Courage Shell – Temporarily reduces the damage the player takes by half.

Recovery Items


 * Big Egg – Restores 12 HP and cures poison.
 * Black Apple – Restores 1 HP and cures poison.
 * Blue Apple – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Cake Mix – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Dayzee Tear – Restores 3 HP and cures poison.
 * Dried Shroom – Restores 1 HP and cures poison.
 * Fresh Pasta Bunch – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Fresh Veggie – Restores 10 HP and cures poison.
 * Golden Leaf – Restores 1 HP and cures poison.
 * Honey Jar – Restores 10 HP and cures poison.
 * Horsetail – Restores 7 HP and cures poison.
 * Hot Sauce – Temporarily doubles your Attack.
 * Inky Sauce – Restores 3 HP and cures poison.
 * Keel Mango – Restores 7 HP and cures poison.
 * Life Shroom – Automatically restores 5 HP if the player falls in battle.
 * Long-Last Shake – Regenerates the player's HP over time.
 * Mighty Tonic – Briefly doubles the player's attack.
 * Mild Cocoa Bean – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Mushroom – Restores 10 HP.
 * Peachy Peach – Restores 10 HP and cures poison.
 * Pink Apple – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Power Steak – Restores 15 HP and cures poison.
 * Primordial Fruit – Restores 15 HP and cures poison.
 * Red Apple – Restores 5 HP and cures poison. Give to Cyrrus to get to Door O.
 * Sap Soup – Restores 3 HP and cures poison.
 * Shroom Shake – Restores 10 HP and cures poison.
 * Slimy Shroom – Restores 10 HP and cures poison.
 * Smelly Herb – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Super Mega Ultra Shroom – Restores ? HP and possibly a lie made up by Mimi.
 * Super Shroom – Restores 20 HP.
 * Super Shroom Shake – Restores 20 HP and cures poison.
 * Turtley Leaf – Reduces all damage by half.
 * Ultra Shroom – Restores 50 HP.
 * Ultra Shroom Shake – Restores 50 HP and cures poison.
 * Whacka Bump – Restores 30 HP and cures poison.
 * Yellow Apple – Restores 5 HP and cures poison.

Miscellaneous Items


 * Bone-In Cut – Temporarily doubles the player's Attack.
 * Catch Card – Catches an enemy's soul (rarely works).
 * Catch Card SP – Catches an enemy's soul (almost always works).
 * Gold Bar – A bar worth around 100 coins.
 * Gold Bar x3 – A trio of gold bars; worth around 300 coins.
 * Gold Medal – A medal worth 10,000 points.
 * HP Plus – Raises HP by 5 permanently.
 * Mega Star – Makes the player huge and invincible for a short time.
 * Mystery Box – Becomes a random item when used.
 * Pal Pill – Summons little buddies to surround and defend the player.
 * Poison Shroom – Poisons and damages the player.
 * Power Plus – Raises Attack by 1 permanently.
 * Sleepy Sheep – Briefly puts enemies to sleep.
 * Slow Flower – Temporarily slows down time; triples value of coins and points.
 * Speed Flower – Temporarily speeds up time; triples value of coins and points.
 * Star Medal – A medal worth 1,000 points.
 * Stop Watch – Stop enemies in their tracks.

Important Items


 * Ancient Clue – Serves as toilet paper for Fleep in Chapter 4-2.
 * Autograph – In the Piccolo side quest, Paper transforms into this item once Merlumina signs it.
 * Card Key – Opens the door to the processing center in Chapter 5-4.
 * Cooking Disks – Unlocks a page of the Dining Specializer. (There are seven Cooking Disks in all.)
 * Crystal Ball – You must deliver this item to Merlee in the Piccolo side quest.
 * Diet Book – Return this to Hagra in Chapter 7-2.
 * Floro Sprout – A disguise you'll get from O'Chunks in Chapter 5-4.
 * Elemental Tablets – Needed to obtain Cudge in Chapter 5-2; there are three Tablets-Stone, Fire, and Water.
 * Golden Card – Unlocks the Hammer Whacker arcade game.
 * Goldfish Bowl – The player can get this from Pook in Flipside; it becomes the Helmet.
 * Helmet – A breathing apparatus the player needs in Chapter 4-1; the Goldfish Bowl becomes this item.
 * Keys – Opens doors in various areas; keys come in several varieties.
 * Orbs – Needed to create a bridge in Chapter 7-4; there are three Orbs-Yellow, Red, and Blue.
 * Paper – The player receive this item from Watchitt in the Piccolo side quest.
 * Return Pipe – Returns the player to Flipside from most chapters.
 * Training Machine – An exercise machine that the player must deliver to Merluvlee in the Piccolo side quest.
 * You-Know-What – A mysterious item that the player must deliver to Bestovius in the Piccolo side quest.

Bosses



 * Chapter 1-3: O'Chunks
 * Chapter 1-4: Fracktail
 * Chapter 2-4: Mimi
 * Chapter 3-1: Bowser
 * Chapter 3-2: Big Blooper
 * Chapter 3-3: Dimentio
 * Chapter 3-4: Francis
 * Chapter 4-4: Mr. L, Brobot
 * Chapter 5-2: O'Chunks
 * Chapter 5-4: O'Chunks, King Croacus IV
 * Chapter 6-2: Mimi
 * Chapter 6-1 (Post-Destruction): Brobot L-Type
 * Chapter 7-2: The Underchomp
 * Chapter 7-4: Bonechill
 * Chapter 8-1: O'Chunks
 * Chapter 8-2: Francis (Optional), Mimi
 * Chapter 8-3: Dimentio
 * Chapter 8-4: Count Bleck, Super Dimentio
 * Flipside Pit of 100 Trials: Wracktail
 * Flopside Pit of 100 Trials: Shadoo

Pixls
Pixls are new creatures in the game that give Mario and crew new abilities. There are twelve in total, three are optional.

Trivia

 * In Chapter 3, there is an area that is a recreation of Super Mario Bros's 1-2.


 * Parts of chapter 1-1 are like Super Mario Bros. 1-1, and Chapter 5-3 has a nearly perfect recreation of Super Mario Bros. 2-1, complete with coin heaven. (Even though the level is underground)
 * Before fighting Fracktail, when he checks his database for Mario, the Wii Shop Channel loading logo is displayed in his eyes complete with chimes.
 * The game has a noticeably darker theme to it than any previous Mario game, with scenes like Mimi cracking her neck and transforming, King Sammer's Kingdom being obliterated into a white void, Bowser seemingly dying, and quite a few others.

Links
Official Site