Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (known as Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario MIX in Japan and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in Europe and Australia) is a game in the Mario & Luigi series for Nintendo 3DS that crosses over with the Paper Mario series. The game was released in Japan on December 3, 2015, in Europe on December 4, 2015, and in Australia on December 10, 2015. It will be released on January 22, 2016 in North America.

Story


The story begins with Luigi and a Toad entering the attic of Peach's Castle, looking for the source of a drought. They soon find a hole above a bookcase, and Luigi investigates. Suddenly, Toad gets chased by a Scaredy Rat, which entered the room through the hole, and Toad leads the Scaredy Rat to Luigi, causing him to get scared and fall to the floor. The dust on the floor causes Luigi to sneeze, knocking him backwards into the bookcase. This causes a book to get knocked over and open, releasing the Paper Mario world within. This ultimately releases the Paper characters into the Mario & Luigi world, spreading across the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi and Toad eventually meet Paper Peach, who introduces herself to Mario, Peach, and Starlow. Mario and Luigi agree to help Paper Peach seek out the Paper Toads spread across the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Bowser meets Paper Bowser, who (after some disagreements) team up together and kidnap Peach and Paper Peach, respectively. Paper Bowser Jr., however, becomes close friends with Bowser Jr., and Kamek and Paper Kamek insult each other throughout the entire game.

After leaving Peach's Castle, Mario and Luigi venture through Sunbeam Plains, where they come across several Goombas and Paper Goombas. They eventually get cornered by a large group of Paper Goombas, who defeat the Mario Bros. Paper Mario then arrives to defeat the Paper Goombas and save Mario and Luigi. After the battle, Mario and Luigi unite with Paper Mario, and the trio set off to find the Paper Toads.

Soon after meeting Paper Mario, the trio learns of Bowser and Paper Bowser's kidnapping of Peach and Paper Peach, respectively. The Bowsers then arrive and send Petey Piranha to attack the trio and slow them down. The trio defeats Petey Piranha, and eventually reach the exit of Sunbeam Plains, which Paper Kamek blocks using a Papercraft Goomba. Toadette arrives, and tells the trio that she can help them pass the Papercraft Goomba, given that the trio can find some more Paper Toads first. After enough Paper Toads are rescued, Toadette creates Papercraft Mario to destroy Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba blockade, allowing the trio to access Doop Doop Dunes.

In the Dunes, the trio spot Bowser's Castle in the distance, which they must cross the Dunes to reach. On the way to Bowser's Castle, their progress is put to a halt by two giant Pokeys - Tower Power Pokey and Mega Pokey. After regrouping and learning the Trio Hammer, they find that in order to progress they must jump really high to defeat them. They arrive at another Toad Village, and rescue more Paper Toads for Toadette's workshop to create a trampoline. After defeating the two Pokeys, the group prepares to proceed, but are again blocked by the Kamek duo and their latest papercraft, Papercraft Kamek. With the new Papercraft Luigi, the trio defeats the Kamek duo and proceeds.

As they approach Bowser's Castle, Bowser decides to blast them with cannonballs. The first shot misses, but breaks the bridge leading to the Castle, and the second knocks out the trio. Wendy, Roy, Larry, and Ludwig arrive to take them away to the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon. The Bowser Jrs. then arrive to collect the book that contained Paper Mario's world, which Luigi dropped after being hit with the cannonball.

After escaping their cell, they battle their Hammer Bro. wardens to retrieve their items. They then find out the arrested Toads are being forced to mine Fire Ore. Also, in the dungeon, they learn the Trio Grab and find the Goomba they fought in the tutorial and Paper Mario tutorial, who gives them Battle Cards in exchange for freeing him. Before they escape the dungeon, they face off against Wendy and Roy and notice a gate that can be opened with a Red Medallion.

Meanwhile, the Bowser Jrs. annoy the Kameks into giving them a vacation to the Mount Brrr villa. They take the caged Princess Peachs with them. They also try to tell Bowser about the book, but he ignores them.

The group, alongside the freed Toads find themselves stranded at Twinsy Tropics. After collecting a few Paper Toads, they build a boat with Paper Mario as the sail. After returning to Peach's Castle, a group of Toads tells them they saw the Princesses at Mount Brrr, which can be accessed through Gloomy Woods. Before heading out, they face off against Paper Petey Piranha, who blocks the way.

At Gloomy Woods a few Toads tell Mario to stay on the east side of the forest, because the west side is haunted. They also meet a starving Wiggler who claims to be the guardian of the forest. Paper Kamek shows up to block the path with junk, which Wiggler considers littering. After feeding him a berry, he breaks some opening the way, but falls asleep short on food, blocking the way himself. After getting more berries from a Paper Paratroopa, Wiggler requests a Melon, which a nearby Yellow Yoshi has. After challenging the Yoshi to a race, they feed the melon to Wiggler. After breaking a couple of gates, with bombs and even hitting Nabbit for another Bros. Attack, the team encounters the Kameks. Kamek initially fights the group, but is overpowered with bombs. Paper Kamek, however, possesses Wiggler, and forces him to battle the team. After he is defeated and Wiggler is freed, Wiggler turns into Flutter and flies them to Mount Brrr.

At Mount Brrr, the Bros. watch as King Bob-omb, Iggy, Lemmy, and Morton shower the land with stronger enemies and new terrain. They learn the Trio Drill, and, with the help of Toadette, the Bros. make it to a Toad Village, where they prepare to build a Papercraft to combat the Bowser Jrs. and save the princesses. However, even after Papercraft Bowser Jr. is defeated by the new Papercraft Peach, the two Bowser Jrs. manage to escape with the Princesses and book unharmed. They accidentally leave behind a Red Medallion, which opens the gate in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon. In order to go there, they cross Doop Doop Dunes again.

Before leaving Doop Doop Dunes, they encounter Nabbit twice, learning two more attacks, and face off against the Chargin' Chuck Brigade that arrested them earlier. They then meet up with the Goomba they saved and travel to the dungeon. Here, the Goomba betrays them to the Fire Bros., who have taken over as wardens. After getting it back, they open the gate. Before they can go to Bowser's Castle, they fight Larry and Ludwig, who try to stop them.

At Bowser Castle, the group learns the Trio Aeroplane before encountering the two Kameks and the new Papercraft King Boo, piloted by Morton and Lemmy. Luckily, Toadette arrives on time with Papercraft Yoshi. After the Yoshi wins, Kamek kidnaps Toadette to prevent the production of Papercrafts, and prepares to build his own ultimate Papercraft Bowser with the help of his paper form. They rescue Toadette shortly afterward from a Fly Guy, and encounter the Bowser Jrs. on guard duty.

Meanwhile, the Princesses escape and greet the team, but are shortly caught by the two Bowser Jrs. They initially mean to fight, but realize they forgot to hide the book, so flee. Mario and co. chase them down, and they fork over a fake book. This fools the team long enough for them to recapture the Princesses, but are promptly beaten by Mario. In their last moments, Bowser Jr. reflects on the fun he had with Paper Bowser Jr. and realizing that it was his fault they lost because he refused to destroy the book. The two Bowsers come in and mourn their loss, and Mario's team escapes, forgetting the book.

The Koopas take their revenge by blowing up Peach's Castle, and flying their own castle on top of Mount Brrr with their new rockets made of the Fire Ore the Toads mined. Toadette then realizes she can build a staircase with the Paper Toads from the summit of the mountain. She promises to meet the Mario Bros. there.

The team begins to make their way through Gloomy Woods again to get to Mount Brrr, but end up on the haunted west side. Both Marios are kidnapped by Boos, leaving Luigi alone to find them. After facing off against various puzzles, he finds Mario in a field of shadowy clones. After finding the right one, they proceed to rescue Paper Mario. However, after hearing eerie laughter, they realize that the Paper Mario they rescued was King Boo in disguise. They proceed to battle him, but halfway through he threatens to tear up Paper Mario, having a Boo carry him in to prove his point. However, the Mario Bros. defeat the Boo, and the three of them finish King Boo off. After defeating Roy in his Clown Car in a minigame, they then meet up with Flutter, and fly back to Mount Brrr.

At Mount Brrr, the group rescues all the remaining Paper Toads to build the staircase, and proceed to venture to the summit. They meet many Lakitus investigating the falling Paper and Paper enemies, before reaching the fortress. Four Goombas and two Hammer Bros. corner them, but King Bob-omb stops them from defeating the team. He states that even if they are defeated, word would still spread, and no one can know of his operation. He then proceeds to start the timer to self destruction, which would wipe out everyone who could spread the word. The enemies all flee, while Mario and co. challenge him and defeat him before he explodes. The Paper Toads then arrive at the summit, and build a staircase to the newly dubbed Neo Bowser Castle. The extra Paper Toads then join as Mario's new Bros. Attack, the Toad Trail. The group then ascends while dodging more cannonballs towards Neo Bowser Castle.

When they arrive, Iggy taunts them and signals the rest of the Koopalings that they have arrived. The group then encounters Nabbit for the final time, who is wanted for robbing Bowser. They engage in a chase, where the Mario Bros. can chase and fight Nabbit for coins, but also work with him to fight the Shy Guys, Chain Chomps, and Broozers chasing him. Afterwards, Nabbit leaves them with the remaining Bros. Attacks as thanks. They then find Toadette, who is defending Papercraft Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi. However, the Kameks release the new Papercraft Bowser, which burns them all to a crisp. Toadette mourns the loss of her work, but then realizes that she could build a Papercraft out of the same material, Fire Ore.

The first Fire Ore is already in Toadette's possession. The second is guarded by Bowser, Wendy, and Iggy who are in their Clown Cars. They are knocked out of the sky with Bombs by the bros. In a last ditch effort, Morton attempts to blast down the final ore with cannonballs, which are deflect back at him. The ore is used to assemble Papercraft Fire Mario, which then defeats Papercraft Bowser. In anger, both Bowsers and Kameks destroy the bridge to the rest of the castle, forcing the Mario Bros. to reassemble it. However, before they cross the reassembled bridge, Lemmy, Iggy, and Morton activate a timer that allows the castle's biggest cannon to charge up for a powerful final blow to destroy any remains of Peach's Castle, which the Princesses are reassembling. The Mario Bros. quickly break the cannon before proceeding.

Before they can face Bowser, however, they fight the Kameks one final time. Despite their best efforts, the Mario Bros. defeat them. As they lay dying, Kamek compliments his Paper counterpart, who shares his sentiments. He then states that he reminded himself as an brother, albeit uglier, causing the two to engage in an insult match, before Mario and Luigi silence them. The Bowsers then command the Koopalings to finish off the Mario Bros. Wendy and Roy attack first, but are beaten, followed by Larry and Ludwig, and then finally Iggy, Lemmy, and Morton. They proceed to challenge Bowser and Paper Bowser themselves, who reveal they plan to trap the Bros. in the now empty book, whose contents became the Paper terrain that was shot across the land, leaving them in an empty abyss, which they plan to burn. However, both of them hint that they wish to trap the other one in with them. After a lengthy battle, Paper Bowser merges with his entire paper army to create a suit of armor for Bowser, creating Shiny RoboBowser. However, even this wasn't enough, as after the battle, Bowser is flung off Neo Bowser Castle, and sent plummeting to the ground. Paper Bowser makes one last attempt to grab the book, but Paper Mario makes it there first, and the trio lock him in it.

Back at Peach's Castle, with the Princesses and Toads gathered at the entrance, the group reunites with their friends. Toadette orchestrates a Papercraft parade, where they tour the lands bringing back the terrain and enemies to the Paper World, and Nabbit steals Melons from the Yoshis in the audience. Afterward, Mario and Luigi say goodbye to Paper Mario, Paper Peach and the Paper Toads who return to their world. However, Bowser falls from the sky and starts causing trouble again, and the game ends with Mario and Luigi going off to fight him.

Gameplay
The overall gameplay is mostly similar to the previous Mario & Luigi games, though with the addition of a new party member alongside Mario and Luigi, Paper Mario. Players control Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario simultaneously (Paper Mario using ). Because the player now has two characters following after Mario, all three characters can be made to jump simultaneously with the button, which also causes the three to flutter in the air briefly when held. By continuing to hold the button after jumping simultaneously, players can charge up a dash. All three characters also possess hammers. By using all three hammers in quick succession (,, and then ), the trio will unleash a Trio Hammer, or powerful shockwave, that can destroy large blocks. Other moves include the Trio Drill, a reworked version of the Drill Bros; the Trio Aeroplane, that acts like Mario's Paper Airplane from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and the Trio Grab, which can reach far distanced things and throw them.

In battle, players control all three members of the group. Paper Mario, in a first for the series, fights alongside but independently from Mario and Luigi, unlike the Baby Bros. in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the only other installment to feature characters fighting alongside the Mario Bros. This allows the trio to take three actions in one turn. While Mario and Luigi control similarly to the way they did in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Paper Mario's abilities set him apart from the other two. Paper Mario is able to create copies of himself as a battle command, which increase the damage he can do in his attacks: He can land as many jumps as he has copies, and when he uses his hammer, the copies will split and target all enemies on the field. Paper Mario loses a copy for each hit he takes, but can replenish them on his turn before using another battle command. His jump dodge allows him to flutter, letting him briefly stay in the air longer than Mario and Luigi can.

Players are able to use Bros. Attacks with Mario and Luigi, working like they did in previous games. In addition, a new variation of special attacks called Trio Attacks can be performed with Paper Mario. These attacks will have all three members attack enemies with a giant cardboard hammer to paperize them before executing the attacks.

At certain points, the trio will take part in Papercraft battles, which are the equivalent to the giant battles from the previous two games. Each time, they'll control different Papercraft characters, each with their own unique abilities, and each of the five battles will end with a Papercraft Boss.

Another new addition are Battle Cards, replacing the badge system, also from the previous two games. The player creates a deck of Ten Battle Cards, one of which will be played each turn. These range from boosting stats, dealing damage, or lowering an enemies stats or level. Each one needs a different amount of Star Points to use. amiibo will be compatible with the game, each giving the player a special support card to use in battle. The cards will reset once they've all been played.

Bros. Attacks

 * Mario
 * 3D Red Shell
 * Rocket Blast
 * Bomb Derby
 * Cannonball Chuck
 * Toad Trail


 * Luigi
 * Fire Flower
 * Drill Shell
 * Dropchopper
 * Balloon Blast
 * Mega Thwonk

Trio Attacks

 * Trio Racquet
 * Trio Kite
 * Trio Whirligig
 * Trio Shuriken
 * Trio Meteor

Ranks

 * Mushroom Rank - Levels 1 to 5
 * Shell Rank - Levels 6 to 11
 * Boomerang Rank - Levels 12 to 18
 * Flower Rank - Levels 19 to 26
 * Leaf Rank - Levels 27 to 35
 * Star Rank - Levels 36 to 45
 * Rainbow Rank - Level 46 onwards

General

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Paper Mario

Papercraft Characters

 * Papercraft Mario - Normal Papercraft with no advantages and middle range.
 * Papercraft Luigi - Allow to use a Flying Hammer Attack, that can damage spiky enemies, such as Papercraft Pokeys.
 * Papercraft Yoshi - Allow using its tongue to grab pile, coins and floating enemies. The ground pound made by Papercraft Yoshi can stun enemies nearby and push buttons, but has a short range of attacking.
 * Papercraft Peach - Allows for a long hover in air, and ground pound on other papercraft, with a long range of attack. Dashing with block enemy projectile.
 * Papercraft Fire Mario - Allows the player to shoot Fireballs

Supporting

 * Princess Peach
 * Paper Peach
 * Toads
 * Paper Toads
 * Toadette
 * Flutter
 * Starlow
 * Yoshis
 * Lakitu
 * Paper Luigi

Antagonist

 * Kamek
 * Paper Kamek
 * Bowser
 * Paper Bowser
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Paper Bowser Jr.
 * Koopalings
 * Scaredy Rat
 * Nabbit
 * The Sunbeam Plains Paper Goomba

Both series

 * Goomba
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Dry Bones
 * Hammer Bro
 * Boomerang Bro
 * Fire Bro
 * Spiny
 * Pokey
 * Piranha Plant
 * Shy Guy
 * Ninji
 * Bob-omb
 * Spike
 * Broozer
 * Boo
 * Chain Chomp

Mario & Luigi series

 * Cheep-Cheep
 * Fly Guy
 * Sandmaargh
 * Buzzy Beetle
 * Biddybud
 * Ant Trooper
 * Horned Ant Troopers
 * Bully
 * Urchin
 * Mecha-Koopa
 * Big Tail Goomba
 * Monty Mole

Paper Mario series

 * Koopa Paratroopa
 * Paragoomba
 * Shiny Koopa Troopa
 * Shiny Shy Guy
 * Shiny Goomba
 * Shiny Fire Bro
 * Shiny Boomerang Bro
 * Shiny Broozer
 * Spear Guy
 * Swooper
 * Sombrero Guy
 * Shiny Sombrero Guy
 * Fuzzy

Papercraft

 * Goomba
 * Pokey
 * Spike
 * Mechakoopa
 * Spiked Ball
 * Koopa Shell
 * Bob-omb
 * Dry Bones
 * Boo
 * Bullet Bill
 * Whomp
 * Airship

Normal Bosses

 * Petey Piranha
 * Big Pokey and Paper Tower Power Pokey
 * Wendy and Roy (1st time)
 * Paper Petey Piranha
 * Paper Kamek (1st time) and Wiggler
 * Chargin' Chuck Brigade
 * Larry and Ludwig (1st time)
 * Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr.
 * King Boo
 * King Bob-omb
 * Paper Kamek (2nd time) and Kamek
 * Wendy and Roy (2nd time)
 * Larry and Ludwig (2nd time)
 * Lemmy, Morton, and Iggy
 * Bowser and Paper Bowser
 * Shiny RoboBowser
 * Dry Bowser

Papercraft Bosses

 * Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba
 * Papercraft Kamek
 * Papercraft Bowser Jr.
 * Papercraft King Boo
 * Papercraft Bowser

Items

 * Beans
 * Coins
 * Mushrooms
 * Candy
 * Nuts
 * Syrups
 * Super Candy
 * Super Mushrooms
 * Super Syrups
 * ? Blocks
 * M Blocks
 * L Blocks
 * Copy Block
 * Ultra Candy
 * Ultra Mushrooms
 * Ultra Syrups
 * Max Candy
 * Max Syrups
 * Max Mushrooms
 * Refreshing Herbs
 * 1-Up Mushrooms
 * Double 1-Up Mushrooms
 * 1-Up DXs
 * Dashing Socks
 * Boo Biscuit

Locations

 * Peach's Castle
 * Sunbeam Plains
 * Gloomy Woods
 * Mount Brrr
 * Doop Doop Dunes
 * Doop Doop Dunes Grotto
 * Twinsy Tropics
 * Twinsy Tropics Dungeon
 * Bowser's Castle
 * Neo Bowser Castle

Attackathon
Similar to the Mad Skillathon in the previous game, the Attackathon is a series of Bros Attack endurance mini games. Unlike in Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team however, there are no prizes to be gained from the mini games themselves. Instead, the game's Expert Challenges system has challenges set for getting A and S ranks in each of the Attackathon mini games, with the points being used to buy gear from the Expert Challenges/points shop.

Note: Mega Thwonk is listed before Toad Trail in the Challenges list, but after it in the Attackathon select menu. There is also a C ranking (if you get between 0 and 999 points) and a B ranking (between 1000 and 1999 points), but neither give you Challenge points.

Lakitu Centre


The Lakitu Centre plays an important role in this game. It is a cloud-shaped building found in the various Toad Towns. The player can talk to two Lakitus: the one on the right offers to play new missions which goals are catching Paper Toads. The player must obtain a certain number of them to progress through the story. The one on the left lets the player replay already cleared missions (but also minigames like Toad Quizzes) and also try Hard Mode of some of them (which make a mission harder by doing things like adding or reducing timers). By clearing a mission for the first time (Hard Mode included) the player can earn Medals. Obtaining a set number of Medals gives an exclusive Battle Card. A pipe on the left of each building, which passage is freed once the player reaches the second Lakitu Centre in Sunbeam Plains, leads to the Arcade. Here, the player can buy Lakitea for 20 Coins (which fully heals the party) and play in the Boss Battle Ring, the Papercraft Battle Ring and the Attackathlon, which, respectively, lets the player face harder variants of the game's bosses, replay Papercraft battles and play extended, more complex versions of the Trio Attack, and also get rated by their performance.

Toad Quiz
Five Toad scolars, found in Sunbeam Plains, Doop Doop Dunes, Twinsy Tropics and Mt Brrr, host quizzes with trivial questions mainly about the game's story and characters. To earn a one-time prize (3 Beans of a certain kind) the player must answer 3 questions out of 5 correctly: however, there is not a time limit. If the player keeps giving right answers, they will also gain some Coins. The questions are picked randomly from a pool and their wrong answers may vary. From the afromentioned Lakitu Centre the player can also play Hard Mode versions of the Toad Quizzes. While the answers are unchanged, the player must correctly answer to all 8 asked questions. To further increase the difficulty, the player must also face a 10 second timer for each question.

Differences from other Mario & Luigi games

 * Mario and Luigi can use Bros. Attacks and Hammers in the very first battle.
 * Badges are replaced by Battle Cards.
 * Luigi is the first playable character in this game.
 * This game keeps the same graphics as its predecessor.
 * Bonus points can no longer be applied to stats upon leveling up.
 * Lakitu's role is changed in this game. Instead of adding bonus points to stats (upon leveling up), he now gives the trio quests they can do to help rescue Paper Toads when needed.
 * The tutorials are optional.
 * Toadsworth is absent.
 * Bros. Attacks are obtained from Nabbit instead of Attack Pieces.
 * There are seven ranks, more than Bowser's Inside Story ' s six and Dream Team ' s five. New ranks include the Boomerang Rank and the Leaf Rank.
 * There are optional crosshairs under the Bros. when an enemy is attacking, as well as a peculiar animation of the character to be attacked preparing to defend himself. This most likely due to three characters being on the battlefield at once.
 * This is the first game in the series to have Items under categories in the player's bag.
 * This is the first game in the series to have the three main playable characters all take a turn in battle.
 * This is the second game in the series that the final boss has two phases. (The first one is Elder Princess Shroob in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.)
 * Players can block attacks.
 * In addition to jumping on enemies or pounding them with a hammer to deal early damage at the start of a battle like in past games, Mario and co. can also dash into battle due to the effects of the Dashing Socks.
 * The game's Japanese title is not followed by a number.
 * There is no mini-quest to build an important item (such as the Beanstar, Miracle Cure, and Ultibed).
 * Mario and Luigi do not gain the Spin Jump ability outside of battle, as it is replaced with the Trio Aeroplane.
 * This is the first game to have items other than beans underground.
 * This is the second game in the series to have a scene after the credits. (The first one is in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where Bowser receives a cake from Princess Peach.)
 * Unlike the previous two installments, in this game, the Bros. perform a fancy spin before landing the second jump in battle.

Pre-release and unused content
In the Nintendo Direct, the Kamek boss fight took place in Sunbeam Plains instead of Neo Bowser Castle.

At E3, Battle Cards could seemingly be used as early as the Petey Piranha boss fight, where in the final game they are first used against Wendy and Roy. Also, the number over the cards (which shows the number of Star Points needed to use it) is written in a different color than in the final (orange as opposed to yellow) and is about twice as smaller.

Reception
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has received generally positive reviews from professional critics, scoring a 79 based on 22 critics in Metacritic and a 78.33% based on 9 reviews in GameRankings. General praise has been given out to the battle system, gameplay, and the humor, as well as removing the amount of tutorials present in the game's predecessor, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, though it has been criticized for the simple story and playing too safe for the franchise. Lee Garbutt from God is a Geek, writer of one of the more positive reviews, giving the game a 9/10, praised the game's battle combat and the humour though stated that the game was too simple for hardcore JRPG fans and the amiibo implementation was superfluous. Daan Koopman of Nintendo World report gave the game a 7.5/10. He called the game "cute" and praised the interactions between the characters, but criticized the pacing in the review, highlighting the Toad Rescue missions being the primary problem of being too excessive. On a more critical note, Mark Brown of Pocket Gamer UK gave the game a 6/10, criticizing the game for being too safe and also lamenting the lack of a diverse cast of characters, and failing to live up to the standards set by preceding games, though he notes how some charm is left and that the gameplay is fun.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros. 3: A portion of the music for the battle against Bowser and Paper Bowser is taken from the Airship theme in this game.
 * Mario sports games: At one point, Paper Peach thinks about changing her hair into a pony tail, with Peach stating it is more fitting for sports, referencing her design in most sports games.
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: The game ends with a parade of the characters going through the Mushroom Kingdom.
 * Paper Mario: The block ability originated from this game can be used as a "last resort" when counter-attacking in battles. The game utilizes Star Points for the Battle Card system, and these are similar in design to the ones found in Paper Mario. A melon is given to the bros. and Paper Mario by a Yellow Yoshi, which is a reference to what happens in Lavalava Island. One of the Expert Challenges is called "Lucky Star" which is a reference to this game's item of the same name. Bowser's Castle rising out of the lava because of a platform underneath is very similar to when Bowser's Castle lifts Peach's Castle into the sky in this game. The record player that Paper Luigi listens to in the Music Player looks similar to the one found in Boo's Mansion, and the music notes it produces are similar to the ones Paper Luigi produced when he sang at Mario's House.
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: A cover of the battle theme from this game can be heard when Mario and Luigi are fighting. It's later replaced by a new battle theme, when Paper Mario joins the party. HP recovery blocks from the Japanese version return as well.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: During the chase sequence with Petey Piranha, he uses an attack featuring the Goop from this game. Some of Wiggler's voice clips from this game are re-used during Petey Piranha's boss battle.
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door: Both the Paper Airplane and Paper abilities return from this game. The first time Paper Mario meets Mario, he performs a Spring Jump. Paper Mario's blocking and KO'd animations are the same as from this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: A cover of the tutorial theme from this game can be heard, which in turn is an arrangement of the Super Mario Bros. theme. The energy beams which unlocks pipes return. The cloud platforms return as well. In Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, Starlow breaks the fourth wall saying to the player, "Back to the adventure", referencing Stuffwell's catchprase.
 * Super Paper Mario: One of the Expert Challenges is called Super Paper Mario, a nod to this game. Also, Paper Bowser's artwork seen at the end is from this game.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: The Life Mushroom appears as an item.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: A cover of Peach's Castle's theme from this game can be heard, which in turn is an arrangement of the same theme from Super Mario 64. King Boo's multiplying move resembles that of the Dark Star. When Roy and Wendy are fought, one of the moves they perform resembles the Koopa Corps special attack from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Iggy's pet Chain Chomp returns when fighting the Koopalings.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: A rank appears based on the Boomerang Flower, as well as one based off of the Super Leaf's redesign from this game.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star: Many of the elements from this game return. Thus, many graphics and enemies from this game and most of this game's background system is reused. When Paper Mario shows up for the first time, he jumps in the air and gets a yellow and white background, along with everything around him stopping for a second, similar to how characters are introduced in Sticker Star. One of the Toads in the Toad Village of Sunbeam Plains talks about wanting to become a traveling Toad, similarly to the disaster-prone one encountered in Sticker Star.
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: Many of the game's graphics are reused, although some characters have received new animations. One of the new Bros. Attacks, known as Mega Thwonk, features Luigi as a giant, using the same model from the Giant Battles in this game. There are also two returning Bros. Attacks originally from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Similar to giant battles, Papercraft battles allow players to win 4 items. The name Neo Bowser Castle is re-used. Bowser's theme in Paper Jam is a remix of his theme from this game.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Bullies retain their design from this game.
 * Mario Kart 8: Some of the Koopalings' voice clips are reused from this game.
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: Toadette often references her adventures in this game in her dialogue, even outright saying the game's title.

References to other media

 * Super Mario Adventures: How Wendy summons the Charging Chucks is a reference to the same thing Wendy did in this comic.

Trivia

 * Starlow references the Year of Luigi after Luigi is left alone in Gloomy Woods.
 * This is the first official Mario game to give spoken dialogue to the Koopalings and the first one since Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to call them "Koopalings" instead of "Bowser's Minions" in a PAL version of the game.
 * If counted as a Paper Mario game, this game continues with the tradition of having a book at the game's opening, starting with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In this case, the book contains the Paper Mario universe.
 * This is the only Mario RPG in which no new and original characters are introduced to the franchise.