Super Paper Mario

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. The game takes place in a strange 2D dimension. 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 "2.5D" sidescrolling video game.

The player must start out with Mario, as time moves on Princess Peach, Luigi, and even Bowser will be playable and switched at anytime via the (+) menu. The game also uses a lot of references from Super Mario Bros. For example, a certain power-up allows characters to turn into a huge pixelated 8-bit sprites of themselves to destroy virtually everything in their path. They look like they did in Super Mario Bros. when this happens.

The game was originally planned for the Nintendo GameCube, but Nintendo changed it to the Wii to accommodate the motion-sensing to control Tippi and the mini-games. Additionally, the game was originally going to be released in 2006, but was pushed back 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 was released in North America on April 9, 2007 and in Europe on September 14, 2007.

Story
The story opens with Mario and Luigi being informed by Toad about Princess Peach's latest kidnapping. Believing Bowser to be the culprit once again, the brothers immediately head off to his castle, only to find him preparing to attack. A new villain named Count Bleck then appears with his assistant, Nastasia and Princess Peach, who is his prisoner. He announces his plans to use Peach "to destroy all worlds", and renders Mario unconscious with his dark powers when the plumber tries to attack him. When Bowser demands Peach's release, Bleck decides to take the King of the Koopas as well, and sucks him, the gathered Koopa Troop, Luigi and Peach away, leaving only Mario behind.

Elsewhere, when Peach regains her own consciousness, she discovers that she and Bowser are both dressed in wedding outfits and standing at an altar, while Bowser's minions cheer on their ecstatic king. Count Bleck is officiating the wedding, and while Bowser agrees to take Peach as his wife, she tries to refuse, only to be forced into saying "I do" by Nastasia's powers of hypnosis. The marriage between the "furious monster king" and the "fair and lovely princess" calls forth the Chaos Heart, just as Count Bleck had planned. Luigi awakens in the crowd and tries to stop Bleck and save Peach, but he is too late. Fulfilling the prophesy he read in an ancient book known as the Dark Prognosticus, Bleck takes the Chaos Heart and uses it to open a dimensional rift known as The Void, which will swallow the universe.

Back at Bowser's Castle, Mario is awakened by a Pixl named Tippi, who brings him to the town of Flipside and introduces him to Merlon. He owns the benevolent counterpart of Bleck's book, the Light Prognosticus, and explains that his tome speaks of a hero fitting Mario's description who could stop the impending destruction of all the worlds. The Void is already visible in the sky above Flipside, and with no time to lose, Merlon gives Mario the first of eight Pure Hearts that he will need to counteract the Chaos Heart. Tippi then guides Mario to the first Heart Pillar found in Flipside, into which Mario puts his Pure Heart, causing a red door to appear on top of Flipside Tower leading straight to Lineland. Merlon also tells Mario that he must learn the "dimensional technique" from his friend Bestovius, without which he would not be able to find the rest of the Pure Hearts.

Meanwhile, in Castle Bleck, the Count and Nastasia meet with the other three minions, Dimentio, O'Chunks and the shape-shifting Mimi. They are all looking forward to the destruction of the "rotten worlds", at which point Count Bleck promises to make a new, perfect world where all his minions' dreams will come true. When Nastasia reports that there has been some "unapproved interdimensional activities" lately and suspects it's the hero of prophecy that's causing it, O'Chunks volunteers to take care of Bleck's enemy, and Dimentio agrees to tag along and watch the show.

Chapter 1: Lineland
By going through the red door, Mario starts of his adventure in Lineland, the first world. He manages to find the Flip wizard, Bestovius, and gains the ability to flip between dimensions, which proves quite handy in traversing Lineland. After climbing Mount Lineland, Mario and Tippi reach Yold Town, where they find another Pixl named Thoreau, who assists them as they cross the puzzle-filled Yold Desert. They encounter O'Chunks in the desert, but using Thoreau, they easily defeat him and proceeded onward to the Yold Ruins, within which the next Pure Heart is guarded by the robotic dragon, Fracktail. After checking his databases (causing his eyes to display the Wii Shop Channel loading symbol), he recognizes Mario as the legendary hero, but before he can let the plumber pass, Dimentio appears and corrupts the dragon's mind. Fracktail attacks Mario, but is eventually defeated, and with his dying words, beseeches the hero to save their world. Mario then enters the sanctum Fracktail was guarding, and is given a Pure Heart by Merlumina, one of the ancients who wrote the Light Prognosticus.

Meanwhile, O'Chunks reports back to Castle Bleck in shame, so the Count sends Mimi to deal with the hero, confident that the powers he has given her will bring her success. Nastasia then goes in the search of some of the "goons" who still aren't under the Bleck's control.
 * Interlude

Soon after, Peach (back in her usual pink dress) wakes up in Castle Bleck where she meets a couple of Bowser's minions. The Hammer Bro. who goes looking for Bowser is soon hypnotized by Nastasia, as is the Koopa Troopa when he and Peach are caught in a dead end during their search for an exit, however the princess is teleported out of the castle before she shares in their fate.

Far away, Mario returns to Flipside (where the Void has slightly increased in size) and brings the Pure Heart to Merlon's house, where they are soon interrupted by a citizen panicking about a girl falling from the sky. They investigate and discover that the girl is actually Princess Peach. On Merlon's orders, Mario fetches some Spicy Soup from the local chef, Saffron, which revives the princess. She insists on joining Mario on his quest, as she feels that she and Bowser are at fault for the Void's existence, so Merlon sends them both on their way, telling them that he belives the next Pure Heart is with Merlee, the charmer. Peach helps Mario find the next Heart Pillar and the orange door to Gloam Valley appears.

Chapter 2: Gloam Valley
Mario and Peach cross Gloam Valley to reach Merlee's Mansion, meeting an explosive Pixl named Boomer on the way. At the mansion, Mimi is waiting in disguise as Merlee's maid, and uses traps to stall the heroes, but they soon make their way farther into the mansion, inadvertently freeing Merlee's pet Gnaw, who chases after Mimi. She quickly returns, however, and when the heroes accidentally break a vase, she claims it is worth one million rubees and forces them to work off their dept in the mansion's power plant, where many more prisoners are labouring away. With some more exploring, the heroes find a new Pixl called Slim, and using his abilities, they find a secret room which had been spoken of by some of the other prisoners. Inside is one million rubees, and when they present the vase payment to Mimi, she explodes in rage. The heroes head to the basement where a spectral Merlee appears and warns them to be careful as they search for her, but the connection is soon lost. They soon find who appears to be Merlee, but soon discover that it is really Mimi in disguise, enraging the shape-shifting girl, who reverts into her "true" form: a spider-like creature. With Mimi in pursuit, Mario, Peach and the Pixls eventually track down the real Merlee hiding in a bathroom. Mimi turns back into Merlee to try and fool the heroes, who are then forced to ask each "Merlee" questions in a quiz show overseen by the InterNed to try and discern the real one from the imposter. After being outed once more, Mimi attacks the heroes in her true form once again, but she is weakened by Merlee's magical cheering and they defeat her. Once Mimi flees, Merlee offers the Third Pure Heart to Mario and Peach, and tells them that there is actually a total of four heroes are mentioned in the Light Prognosticus.

With Mimi defeated by the hero, Count Bleck decides to send his third minion, Dimentio, to go after the hero of prophecy. Nastasia resumes her hunt for non-hypnotized "goons" around the castle. Meanwhile, Luigi wakes up and is greeted by two Goombas, who trick him into finding them an exit out of the castle, although they eventually find themselves trapped in a dead-end by Nastasia. One Goombas is hypnotized and the other Goomba one joins the winning team, and they restrain Luigi so that Nastasia can hypnotize him as well.
 * Interlude

The Void is still getting bigger over Flipside when Mario, Peach and their Pixl friends return. After finding the third Heart Pillar, a yellow door to The Bitlands appears on the tower.

Chapter 3: The Bitlands
After going through the third door to the pixelated Bitlands, Tippi is kidnapped by the geeky chameleon Francis, who then disappears. Another Pixl named Barry witnessed the scene from behind a bush and tells the heroes how to reach Fort Francis, and while he's sceptical about their chances, he says they should come back and tell him if they do manage to save Tippi. After passing through an underground area just like level 1-2 in Super Mario Bros. (and passing through above-ground areas with remixed versions of the original game's background music), Mario and Peach come across some castles guarded by Koopas, Hammer Bros. and Bullet Bills. They use Boomer to blow up the main fortress, out of which flies Bowser, who angrily attacks Mario for destroying his new lair (after knocking Peach away with a shockwave and calling up a barrier to prevent her from fighting). After Bowser is defeated, he explains that he was locked up in Bleck's castle and doesn't know how he suddenly appeared in the Bitlands. Peach asks him to help her and Mario collect the Pure Hearts and save Tippi; when Bowser refuses, Mario points out that he can never rule the world if Bleck destroys it, changing his mind.

The three continue on together, swimming across the Tile Pool (which also borrows much of its design from Super Mario Bros.). Underwater, they meet a new Pixl, Thudley, who gives them the ability to Ground Pound, and defeat the monstrous Big Blooper. The heroes then start climbing The Dotwood Tree to use the winds at its top to float across the gorge separating them from Fort Francis, as Barry had instructed them to do. On their way up the tree, they battle Dimentio, who brushes off his defeat as a mere amusement. In reality, he was testing the heroes' strength: after he has left them, he muses that he has to make sure the heroes become strong enough to defeat Count Bleck when the time comes.

Unaware of Dimentio's plotting, Mario, Peach and Bowser head off to Fort Francis, where they navigate many puzzles, come across a lot of nerdy memorabilia, and even find another trapped Pixl named Carrie. When the heroes reach him, Francis becomes instantly infatuated with Peach and uses a flirty chat interface called Swoon.exe to try and talk to her, but she quickly gets angry and blows up the communicator with Boomer. The heroes then defeat Francis in battle and free Tippi from the cage he had been keeping her in, and her feelings of happiness and trust towards the heroes calls forth the next Pure Heart.

Back at Castle Bleck, Dimentio recounts his loss to the other villains and wonders if the heroes are strong enough to defy the prophesy, although Count Bleck is confident that the Light Prognosticus is false, and that the Dark Prognosticus holds all the answers he needs. He tells Nastasia to send "him" to deal with the heroes and then dismisses his minions, although Nastasia lingers behind. She tells Count that he still has time to "change his mind", but he feels that they have come too far to stop, although he says Nastasia can leave if she wants to. She insists she will stay by Bleck's side until her game ends (i.e. until she dies), saying her life has belonged to the Count since the day he saved it. After they have both left, Dimentio reappears, having eavesdropped on their conversation. He wonders what the Count is "playing at", but decides not to worry about it, since he has his own "projects" to attend to.
 * Interlude

When the heroes return to Flipside, Merlon explains that the castle now owned by Francis used to belong to the Tribe of Ancients, who had sealed the Pure Heart within it for safe keeping. He also decides that Bowser is the third hero of prophesy, but the news is not all good, as the Void is continuing to expand in the background. Merlon goes to look for something important in the Light Prognosticus, while the heroes return to The Bitlands; Barry is amazed that they defeated Francis, and decides to tag along with them on their quest.

Chapter 4: Outer Space
They used the next Pure Heart to open the green door to 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 citizens 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 irradiate 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 familiar to the others, as his attacks were of that of someone else they knew very well. The trio triumphed over Mr. 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 lay.

Back at Castle Bleck, Nastasia introduces Mr. L to O'Chunks, Mimi and Dimentio. The 3 of them argue after Mr. L says he is unimpressed with them. Once Count Bleck says that the "man in green" (which the minions see as Mr. L) is the one who brings darkness to all, O'Chunks can't believe it and goes mad. Count Bleck settles O'Chunks by sending him on a mission to eliminate the heroes. Mimi is upset that she can't do anything, while Dimentio appears to leave, and Mr. L goes to the "repair shop" to upgrade Brobot. Nastasia then says to Count Bleck that his 4 minions can't stop the hero, and that he may come to him. Count Bleck silences Nastasia when she says that the count wants to destroy the universe, when he once cherished it. Once Nastasia sadly says that if she could have been "that girl", things would be different. Count Bleck tells Nastasia she can't be replaced, and leaves the room.
 * Interlude

The Void is still growing. 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 reveal the next door (and find Nolrem). They go back to Flipside, get Tippi, and enter the next world.

Chapter 5: Land of the Cragnons
They drop in (literally) to Downtown of Crag, where they are given the job of finding the missing citizens who are being taken away by Floro Sapiens. As the gang tracks down some Floro Sapiens with Cragnons, they end up fighting O'Chunks again (with the assistance of Dimentio's Dimension D). They beat him, and then find another Pixl, Cudge, who helps 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 of the 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, and this led to everyone fighting O'Chunks again. This time though, Dimentio put a Floro Sprout on the Scotsman's head, making him look, feel, and sound dumber than he already was. They beat him in Dimension 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. Only afterwards did they find out that it was the Cragnons who were doing the wrong-doing by polluting the waters with their garbage, which had driven Croacus mad. After the apologies, Mario and Co. were awarded the next Pure Heart that Croacus had. The Void is now very large.

Back at Castle Bleck, Nastasia is punishing O'Chunks by forcing him to sing a song about Count Bleck 1000 times. Mimi is so bored since she hasn't fought yet, while Mr. L appears. After Mr. L and Mimi's argument with Nastasia, Dimentio appears and silently coaxes Mimi and Mr. L to advance to the heroes (by telling them that they get rewarded if they win). Mimi then says she has something to do (obviously sneaking out of the castle to attack), and that Mr. L has to "deflavorize the Brobot's flavorizer", obviously sneaking out to attack too.
 * Interlude

Meanwhile, after Mario uses his 2 new Pixl's to unlock the next door to the next world, is told by Nolrem that if he doesn't pass the "ultimate duels" (referring to the duels in Sammer's Kingdom), The Void will defeat all, and their games will end.

Chapter 6: Sammer's Kingdom
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. Unfortunately, when they reach the 20th gate and defeat Rolling Thwomp, Count Bleck appears announcing the imminent destruction of the Sammer Kingdom. After Tippi has a brief 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 decides that they should have the Pure Heart now instead of later, and shows that it's in the chest on the 26th gate. The gang opens it up to reveal not a Pure Heart, but a bomb that blows up in their face, but nobody is harmed. The king is upset at this, and reveals himself to be Mimi. She fights the crew in her normal form, but gets trashed again. She doesn'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 kingdom, and everything in it.

Thankfully, the gang manages to get back to Flipside, unharmed with Tippi's help. They see the door to the Sammer Kingdom still there, and decide to go back in. What they find is nothing but a large, white land mass. The Void left the Sammer Kingdom totally blank, leaving only small outlines of the palace, and a really long line for the gang to walk on. Mario and Co. continue to go through the dead world, until they come across the Pure Heart, or what was left of it, as it looked to be nothing more than a dull, heart-shaped rock. But before they could claim it, Mr. L appears and takes it for himself. The gang battles him, and his new Brobot L-Type, and emerge victorious again. They get the Pure Heart from Mr. L, and before leaving, the three heroes can't shake the feeling they've seen Mr. L before.

After Mario, Peach and Bowser leave with the stone-like Pure Heart, Dimentio appears and intentionally kills Mr. L saying that he will grant him his wish; not having too show his face to Bleck after failing the battle.
 * Interlude

Meanwhile, at Castle Bleck, Nastasia fills Count Bleck in of Mimi and Mr. L's hero-fighting. After Nastasia leaves, Count Bleck wonders if the Pixl he saw in Sammer's Kindom was really "Timpani". Count Bleck remembers it can't be her, and that the prophecy is now in motion; and it can't be stopped, by anyone. Not even Count Bleck can stop it.

Back at Flipside, the 3 heroes and Merlon are stressed with why the Pure Heart is stone. After Merlon announces that placing it in a Heart Pillar can't help, it becomes apparent that they are, literally, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Dimentio appears, and in the same way as he did to Mr. L, kills the 3 heroes, leaving Merlon and Tippi in total shock.

Chapter 7: The Underwhere
Mario wakes up to find himself in The Underwhere- the video game Underworld. Mario looks around trying to find a way out of the place. He comes across a strange fairy-like girl who doesn't seem to like him, then makes his way to Queen Jaydes' palace. Here, he meets Jaydes, who finds herself in a predicament. King Grambi of The Overthere wishes to have his daughter Luvbi back immediately. Jaydes asks Mario to find Luvbi for her, and for doing so, will revive the stone Pure Heart. Mario's search for Luvbi ends up in him finding his own brother Luigi. With Luigi's special jump ability, the Mario Bros. find Luvbi, who goes back to Jaydes after being found again. The brothers return to Jaydes, who is happy to have Luvbi back. She gives back at restored Pure Heart, and sends them back to Flipside.

The brothers head back to Merlon's to get the Pixls, then head to Flipside to activate the next door. The door ironically takes them back to the Underwhere, where Jaydes gives them a new task of escorting Luvbi to the Overthere. They make their way past Underwhere Road, where they find Bowser and get past three Door Guardians (Dorguys the First, Second, and Third), including fighting a ravenous Underchomp. Then they make their way through Overthere Stair where they manage to get Peach back by waking her up from a deep sleep with a repulsive fruit. Finally, when they reach The Overthere, they end up freeing Nimbis, fighting all sorts of skeletons, and beating up the frozen cannon creature, Bonechill, who was attacking the Overthere. It was later revealed that Luvbi was a Pure Heart, and after a fierce argument with her parents, Luvbi decided to transform back to her Pure Heart form, and was given to Mario and the gang. The Void is now almost full size.

Back at Castle Bleck, Count Bleck is very surprised to know the heroes are still alive. Dimentio confirms it, and once O'Chunks and Mimi hear about it, they flee to the parts of Castle Bleck, ready to fight. Before Dimentio leaves, he reminds the Count of the name "Blumiere". Count Bleck demands to know how Dimentio knows this, but he all he says is that it is Mario's Pixl (Tippi), and there's no need to pay attention to one's rambling. He leaves then. Nastasia then tells Bleck that if that Pixl IS Timpani, then he can stop the Dark Prognosticus. After Nastasia loudly exclaims Count Bleck's former name, Lord Blumiere, Count Bleck assures her that "the man known as Blumiere died long ago". Count Bleck refuses to let the Dark Prophecy stop, and exclaims that the man named Blumiere died long ago.
 * Interlude

Chapter 8: Castle Bleck
They went back to Flipside. They had to travel to Flopside Tower, since there was no remaining doors in Flipside (after they found the last Heart Pillar. After being sent off with the best of luck by Merlon and Nolrem, they advance past the final door (a huge purple-dark door on Flopside Tower).

Castle Bleck is, quite unfortunately, a relentlessly huge castle filled with enemies and overall simple puzzles (excluding the final one in Chapter 8-4). After traveling through hundreds of white enemies (Moth, Cursya, Squig and more minions of Count Bleck's Army), a large amount of Bowser's brainwashed minions (Boomerang Bros., Fire Bro's, Koopatrol's and more), they get into the final room of Castle Bleck Entry. They are confronted by O'Chunks. Bowser commands Mario, Luigi and Peach to let him fight the stronger O'Chunks on his own. After defeating the upgraded O'Chunks, Super O'Chunks, the ceiling collapses; only for O'Chunks to hold it up to save the 4. O'Chunks gives the heroes the right to pass and commands them to pass; but Bowser holds up the ceiling along with O'Chunks. After Bowser commands the 4 to leave, O'Chunks and Bowser command each other to leave; but then, the screen skips, leaving no trace of either of them. After Luigi, Mario and Peach can't get past the door to the battleground, they hesitatingly move on without Bowser.

After passing more enemies and puzzles in Castle Bleck Foyer, and after being tricked by Mimi a few times (with the possibility of counter-tricking her), the 3 remaining heroes meet Mimi once and for all. After being scolded for deceiving the three heroes (by pretending to be Merlon and Merlee) by Peach, Mimi says that she likes getting what she wants, and uses whatever means necessary to get them. Mimi insults Peach by telling her she has a "big mouth while around her boyfriends". Peach, outraged, and just like Bowser, commands Mario and Luigi to let her defeat Mimi on her own. After Mimi becomes "True Mimi", she engages Peach; who successfully defeats her. The whole castle shakes, and Mario and Luigi tell Peach to move on to the next room -- but Peach stays to help Mimi. After the room makes an intenser shake, Mario and Luigi can't re-enter the room; and Peach is holding onto Mimi on a dangerous cliff. Peach tells Mimi she can't leave Mimi to die, because she is a Princess. Mimi and Peach both fall, with no info on where they are.

Now, Luigi/Mario must travel through the 2nd last level in the game and one filled with tons of enemies, platforming challenges, and much more. After finishing all the tough puzzles, challenges and weird Dimentio sprites, they meet up with Dimentio; who immeadietly makes them chase Dimentio around every thing from the game; they go through the simpleness of Lineland, the Slim-requiring area of Merlee's Mansion in Mimi's bank, the Tide Pool within The Bitlands, the little gravity in Outer Space, the Land of Cragnons, the long and boring area of the Destroyed Sammer's Kingdom, and then they must go through a darkened area of The Underwhere; without using Bowser to light torches. They finally return to Dimentio in the castle. After Dimentio and Luigi converse, Dimentio admits a shocking secret; he was helping the heroes all throughout the game. He teleported Peach to Flipside so she could unite with the heroes and be saved from brainwashing, and possibly sent Bowser from Bleck's Castle to The Bitlands to unite him with the heroes; he also sent Luigi and Mario to The Underwhere to unite with each other and restore the broken Pure Heart. He did this so that he could let the heroes unite and get all Pure Hearts to defeat Count Bleck - because Dimentio said he was betrayed by him, and didn't have the strength to defeat him on his own. Dimentio requests Mario and Luigi to return the favor by defeating Count Bleck and fighting by his side; but Tippi warns them not to (and if the player bothers to agree to help him, Dimentio will brainwash the heroes and result in a Game Over). Afterwards, Dimentio insults Luigi and coaxes him to battle - without the Pixl's and Tippi. Luigi beats Dimentio; but after that, Dimentio kills both himself and Luigi!

Mario finally makes it to the castle's inner sanctum, all alone, through the final and hardest puzzle in the game; after getting past it, he and Tippi are greeted by Bleck himself, and Nastasia. After his assistant leaves, Bleck attacks Mario with the power of the Chaos Heart, while Mario continuously jumps on him, having no effects. Eventually, Bleck gets bored with Mario and prepares a major attack that will end him. At that moment, Bowser (falling through the floor before the ceiling collasped), Peach (falling through the floor and landing on Bowser), and Luigi (not even knowning what happened to him, but being found out-cold by Peach; all come in to help. It looks like they survived whatever happened to them, and, just like Merlee said in Chapter 2, the "4 Heroes unite, their hope brings Light to shatter the walls of blight". Bleck's Chaos Heart shield is destroyed, letting the real battle begin. The 4 heroes, just like always, triumph over their enemy.

As Bleck pleads for death and Tippi pleads for Bleck to live, Dimentio emerges, seemingly murders Nastasia (who saved Count Bleck), and takes control of the Chaos Heart, and Luigi. He fuses them together to create Super Dimentio. Dimentio then sends Bleck, Nastasia, and Tippi to Dimension D, planning to deal with them later, and combines his power with his jester abomination to make Super Dimentio invincible. Super Dimentio reveals that he's invincible to the heroes and begins to destroy all worlds. As all hope seems lost along with existence itself, Bleck and Tippi argue about the heroes' predicament, until Mimi and O'Chunks come with their support, teleporting to Dimension D with Mimi's help, having received a hint about the location from Nastasia. It is revealed that before Tippi was turned into a Pixl, she was really Timpani, the love of Count Bleck, and that when Timpani vanished, Count Bleck thought the world was meaningless without her and used the Chaos Heart to try to destroy it. Now reunited, their hope makes the Pure Hearts reactivate. Tippi decides to bring the Pure Hearts to Mario and Co. and they teleport her back to Castle Bleck. Tippi gives the Pure Hearts to Mario and the gang, and uses them to render Super Dimentio vulnerable (as well as fully healing Mario and Co.). After an intense battle, Super Dimentio's body explodes leaving only his head. Barely clinging to life, Dimentio has one last trick up his sleeve. He leaves a portion of his power to stay behind even after death to continue controlling the Chaos Heart and wipe out all existence. Uttering his final "Ciao" (representing his psychopathic nature even in the tensest situation), Dimentio explodes and sinks into the ground and obliteration. There is a Youtube rumor that Dimentio may have escaped safely and was not seen exiting because either he teleported or was moving too fast, but this has not been proven. Luigi is released unharmed, but the Chaos Heart's power continues and the worlds continue to decay. As the worlds begin to deform under the humongous Void, the reformed Bleck and his minions lead Mario and other three heroes to a door that Bleck summons. It's the chapel where Bleck married Bowser and Peach and the Chaos Heart is still on the altar here. Bleck and Tippi come to the podium, where they marry themselves. The Pure Hearts also unite on the altar and counteract the Chaos Heart, using the power of the love between Tippi and Count Bleck. This was enough to get rid of the Chaos Heart and the Void.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Nastasia, O'Chunks, Mimi, and the Pixls return to Flipside, where they are greeted once more by Merlon. They are all curious to what happened to Bleck and Tippi, now known to be Blumiere and Timpani. Until then, they all participate in a victory dinner that Saffron made for them. Mario and the others were sent back to their own dimension after that.

At the end of the credits, two shadowy figures, implied to be Timpani and Blumiere, are seen on top of a hill in a paradise dimension (possibly The Overthere).

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. Also, upon completing the final chapter of Castle Bleck, since Tippi ended her game marrying Count Bleck, she is unavailable to use, instead Tiptron can be bought from Francis as a replacment. O'Chunks also appears near the first Flipside Heart Pillar, Nastasia appears near the first Flopside Heart Pillar, and Mimi goes back to Merlee's Mansion.

Playable Characters
The game has four playable characters, not counting the Pixl's.
 * Mario - The main character of the game, and the primary/main Hero of Light. He is playable right from the start of game. His purpose is to use his Dimension Flip, learned very early in the game by Bestovius, in order to flip to 3D.
 * Princess Peach - Princess Peach is the 2nd hero in the game, recruited after Chapter 1. After being held captive in Castle Bleck, an unknown force teleported her out. She ends up hurt in Flipside, and after being given some Spicy Soup from Mario, joins him. Her purpose in the overworld is to use her Parasol to not necessarily fly, but to glide and also duck.
 * Bowser - Bowser is the third hero in the game, and is recruited after beating him and arguing with him in The Bitlands. Bowser was quite reluctant to travel with Mario, but Princess Peach convinced him to come. Bowser's purpose in the overworld is to use his trademark Fire Breath to burn enemies (some of which are immune to it).
 * Luigi - Luigi is the last hero recruited, and is recruited deep into the game (Chapter 7). Prior to Chapter 2's interlude, he spends his time in Castle Bleck. Then, until Chapter 7, he is Mr. L, who fights Mario twice. After finding Luigi in the The Land of Ended Games, Luigi pridefully joined Mario. His purpose in the overworld is to use his Super Jump against enemies and to reach high places.

Audience
The Audience is a group of generic creatures who will appear whenever Mario, Peach, Bowser or Luigi 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", "Good", "Great", "Wonderful", and "Excellent". This approval of the Crowd gives the player a higher score than if they had just jumped on the enemy. The audience in this game consists of Toads, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Shy Guys, only has a handful of species from the previous game. By doing this, the player can get more points faster.

Boss Battles (in order)
Bold signifies Chapter Bosses.
 * Chapter 1-3 Yold Desert: O'Chunks
 * Chapter 1-4 Yold Ruins: Fracktail
 * Chapter 2-4 Merlee's Basement: Mimi
 * Chapter 3-1 The Bitlands: Mega Koopa (optional), Bowser
 * Chapter 3-2 Tile Pool: Big Blooper
 * Chapter 3-3 Dot Wood Tree: Dimentio
 * Chapter 3-4 Fort Francis: Francis
 * Chapter 4-4 Whoa Zone: Mr. L & Brobot
 * Chapter 5-2 Gap of Crag: O'Chunks
 * Chapter 5-4 Floro Caverns: O'Chunks, King Croacus
 * Chapter 6-2 Sammer's Early Duels: Mimi
 * Chapter 6-1 World of Nothing: Brobot L-Type controlled by Mr. L
 * Chapter 7-2 Underwhere Road: Bowser, Underchomp
 * Chapter 7-4 The Overthere: Bonechill
 * Chapter 8-1 Castle Bleck Entry: O'Chunks
 * Chapter 8-2 Castle Bleck Foyer: Mimi, Francis (optional)
 * Chapter 8-3 Castle Bleck Interior: Dimentio
 * Chapter 8-4 Castle Bleck Inner Sanctum: Count Bleck, Super Dimentio (final boss)
 * Flipside Pit of 100 Trials (optional boss): Wracktail
 * Flopside Pit of 100 Trials (optional boss): Shadoo

Items
'''Attack Items
 * Bone-In Cut - Temporarily doubles the player's Attack.
 * Fire Burst - Broils enemies with searing flames.
 * Ghost Shroom - Summons a Ghost Shroom to damage enemies.
 * Hot Sauce - Temporarily doubles the player's Attack.
 * Ice Storm - Pelts enemies with frigid shards of ice and freezes them.
 * Mighty Tonic - Briefly doubles the player's attack.
 * Pow Block - Rattles enemies on the ground and ceiling.
 * Shell Shock - Rams into enemies when the player kicks 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.

'''Damaging Items
 * Poison Shroom - Poisons the player and makes them lose HP, so the item should be sold rather than used.

'''Defense Items
 * Block Block - Makes the player invincible temporarily.
 * Courage Shell - Temporarily reduces the damage the player takes by half.
 * Turtley Leaf - Reduces all damage 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.
 * 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.
 * Mild Cocoa Bean - Restores 5 HP and cures poison.
 * Mushroom - Restores 10 HP when touched.
 * 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 Shroom - Restores 20 HP when touched.
 * Super Shroom Shake - Restores 20 HP and cures poison.
 * Ultra Shroom - Restores 50 HP when touched.
 * 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
 * Catch Card - Catches an enemy's soul (if it 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.
 * 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 Disk - Unlocks a page of the Dining Specializer. (There are seven Cooking Disks in all.)
 * Crystal Ball - The player needs to deliver this item to Merlee in the Piccolo side quest.
 * Diet Book - The player would return this to Hagra in Chapter 7-2.
 * Floro Sprout - A disguise the player will 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.

Pixls
Pixls are new creatures in the game that give Mario and crew new abilities. There are thirteen in total, four are optional. However, only twelve can be carried, since Tiptron is only available after Tippi disappears. They replace the partners from the previous Paper Mario games, and set the record for the most allies in the series. Also, an odd ladder pixl was seen in beta versions of the game, but was cut out from the final version for unknown reasons.

The Flipside Arcade

 * Forget Me Not - A card matching game with familiar characters from the game. Missing three times in one round is a game over.
 * Mansion Patrol - A shooting game that involves the character shooting boos to get points. This game marks one of the only appearances of Toads in the entire game.
 * Tilt Island - The player uses the Wii Remote to tilt a small "island" of sorts while collecting food items and dodging enemies. The more items collected, the higher the player's score is.
 * Hammer Whacker (Unlockable with Golden Card) -The player holds a large hammer and whacks giant shells back at the Koopa Striker, who hits the shells towards the player.

The Pits of 100 Trials

 * Flipside Pit of 100 Trials
 * Flopside Pit of 100 Trials

Duel of 100

 * After the player beats the game, they can also do the Duel of 100, this time being able to do the entire 100 gates, without the kingdom being destroyed again.

Similarities to Previous Paper Mario Games
As with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, this game contained many similarities and reused elements from the previous games, such as:
 * All three intros in the Paper Mario series began at at the Mario brothers' house.
 * All three games featured interludes where the player had to maneveur Peach through the enemy base.
 * Both games feature interludes in which the player can control a character who was captured by the main villain in the beginning of the game. However, in Super Paper Mario, there are only two such interludes, instead of one after every chapter and the characters in the interludes later become playable, unlike in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where the interlude characters could only be played during the interludes.
 * All three games had a small town within Chapter 1.
 * A red palm tree was seen in the desert, just as it was in the first Paper Mario. As with that one, something had to be done near it in order to trigger something.
 * This game, too, had its own versions of Merlon, Merlee, and Merluvlee.
 * As with Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario also featured a partner that was used to blow up cracks in walls and reveal hidden areas.
 * This game also contained a partner with the power to evade enemy attacks, as well as getting pass floors with rising spikes.
 * Super Paper Mario also contained a partner that could get Mario over spikes and other dangerous terrain.
 * In both Paper Mario and Super Paper Mario, the boss of Chapter 2 is chased by a creature with dog-like qualities. In Paper Mario, Tutankoopa is chased by a Chain Chomp. In Super Paper Mario, Mimi is chased by a Gnaw.
 * In both Paper Mario and Super Paper Mario, Mario has to run away from a chapter boss who chases him because they are invincible and cannot be defeated until the end of the chapter. In Paper Mario, Mario has to run away from Tubba Blubba. In Super Paper Mario, Mario and Peach has to run away from Mimi in her spider form.
 * Also, all three games have a chapter boss that is invincible until the end of the chapter. Paper Mario being Tubba Blubba, Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door being Doopliss, and Super Paper Mario being Mimi. However, unlike Tubba Blubba and Mimi, Doopliss never actually chases the player, although they must run away from him in battle if they guess his name wrong when he asks them.
 * This game featured a plant boss at the end of Chapter 5, just as the first Paper Mario did.
 * Lady Bow and Parakarry made cameos in this game, just as they did in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
 * As with the first and second Paper Mario games, Mario had an ally that knows how to use the Tattle ability.
 * As with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, this game, too, contained a main villain that was being used as a pawn the entire time, and an ally to get possessed by the game's final boss.
 * Super Paper Mario, just like the first game, featured a cutscene where an enemy asked questions about Mario and company's weakpoints, and the kinds of things they hate.
 * Super Paper Mario has a childish shapeshifting character, just like the previous game.
 * As with Paper Mario, this game had its own Jr. Troopa (meaning the most frequently fought boss).
 * Bowser is fought twice in all three Paper Mario games.
 * All three Paper Mario games had at least one party member that had to be fought first before they become playable.
 * The first chapter of all three Paper Mario games took place in a fortress/dungeon-like setting. And just like in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a large dragon was a boss that was fought at the end.
 * Super Paper Mario contains a Pit of 100 Trials, as well; and just as it is in the second game, it is entirely optional, and contains a boss that is supposedly more difficult than this game's final boss, but, in the case of the Flipside pit, is very similar to the first boss.
 * In Chapter 8-2, Mario and company are lured into a trap by Mimi, where she tricks them into hitting a blue ! Block, similar to how Yellow Ninjakoopa set a trap for Mario, where he would hit a fake ? Block that caused him to fall through a trap door, as well as the trap that Lord Crump set in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, which was activated by placing the Puni Orb in a fake pedestal.
 * The final stages of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario also both involve a shapeshifting villain masquerading as a familiar character who had guided the player throughout the game: Doopliss impersonates Professor Frankly at the Shadow Palace entrance and Mimi mimics Merlon acually within Castle Bleck.
 * The final battles of all three Paper Mario games involve a villain becoming invincible, where the items that were collected throughout the game have to be used against them to remove their invincibility barriers.
 * The final bosses of both Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario offered Mario and his allies a chance to join them, and if "yes" is chosen, then the player's game will be over.
 * Although Chapter 7 didn't take place in a snowy region like it did in the first two Paper Mario games, it did, however, contain a boss with power over the ice element, just like the first Paper Mario.
 * Like the other two Paper Mario games, one of Mario's party members is a Koopa.
 * As with the previous game, Super Paper Mario had an ordinary enemy by the name of "Johnson", as well.
 * Super Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door both have legends involving four heroes.
 * All three Paper Mario titles involve battling a giant Blooper at some point in the game.
 * All three chapter 5 bosses have more than 1 form.

References to Other Games

 * Game & Watch - The Flopside Pit of 100 Trials design is based on the design of Game & Watch games.
 * Super Mario Bros. - When Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser or a Koopa Troopa gets a Mega Star they grow big and look identical to how they do in this game. World 1-1 has been recreated in Chapter 1-1, World 1-2 has been recreated in Chapter 3-1, World 2-1 was recreated in Chapter 5-3, and World 2-2 was recreated in Chapter 3-2. Also, whenever Piccolo is in use, she causes the characters to have the exact same sound effects that were in this game. Also, the Koopa Shell item sprite, as well as the ? Block sprites, are both from this game. Also, one of the Sammer Guys says to them, 'Sorry, but your prize is in another castle,' referring what the Toads say at the end of most Castles. Also, Bowser's base in The Bitlands is a Castle, similar to the castles in Super Mario Bros. Underground rooms filled completely with coins (called coin rooms by some) also reappear. Part of the main theme is remixed into Chapter 1-1's music. Finally, when Mario is sent to the Underwhere, there is a reference to the Minus World.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2 - Francis's to buy list includes something called Cyborg Wart a reference to Wart, the final boss of this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3 - Larry Koopa was mentioned in a video game on Francis' things to buy list, which was called, "Larry Koopa: Zombie Heartbreaker". Also, the theme song that plays when the Blooper mini-boss appears in Chapter 3-2 is a remix of the underwater background music that plays in this game. Also, this game has Boos, Boomerang Bros., and Fire Bros., which originated from this game.
 * Super Mario World - When the player hits the blue switch at Chapter 1-2, it shows the first part of Yoshi's Island 3. Part of the main theme is remixed into Chapter 1-1's music.
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - The Mine Cart theme is re-used during a mine cart scene in Chapter 5-3.
 * Paper Mario - Every partner in this game returns as a Catch Card. Francis also has posters of Lady Bow and Bootler. Tubba Blubba was also mentioned by Francis, stating that there's a TV show called "The Blubbening", which stars him. Also, Mimi makes two direct references to this game. The first part is when she shapeshifts into Bowser and yells at Dimentio for reading her diary (which was a reference to Peach and Twink reading Bowser's diary), and the second part is when Mimi shapeshifts into Merlee, asking Mario and company about their weakpoints, just as Bowser and Kammy did to Peach. Also, at the beginning of the game, Mario has a picture with all eight partners from both this game and its sequel. Also, the noise that plays when an enemy is defeated (when it disappears) is the noise that plays in Paper Mario when an enemy disappears, only sped up.
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Every partner in this game returns as a Catch Card. Francis also has plush toys of the Yoshi Kid, Vivian, Bobbery, and Pennington, along with a poster of Petuni. Sir Grodus and the X-Nauts are also referenced by him when he mentioned the TV shows, "The Grodus Chronicles" and "Starship X-Naut". On Francis' things to buy list, he wants a Ms. Mowz doll with "real smooching action", as well as the DVD, "From Bedrawk: The Rawk Hawk Story". A Magnus von Grapple action figure was also on that list. Additionally, Fracktail and Wracktail are homages to Hooktail and Bonetail. Also, at the beginning of the game, Mario has a picture of all seven partners from this game (with Flurrie being the most noticeable), as well as the partners from the first game. One of the Sammer Guys is nicknamed "Thousand-Year Roar".
 * Luigi's Mansion - The Mini-Game Mansion Patrol takes place in the foyer of the mansion from this game.
 * Wii Shop Channel - When Fracktail searches information about Mario (event before Dimentio "hacked" his technology), his pupil changes into the ring-formed loading icon from the Wii Shop Channel, and making the same sounds as well. When done searching, the loading sound stopped, and Fracktail got his previous pupil back.

References in Later Games

 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl - The trophies, Paper Mario, Paper Luigi, Paper Bowser, Paper Peach, Wedding Bowser, Wedding Peach and Fracktail all reference the story of this game in the description. Count Bleck, Tippi, and O'Chunks also appear as Stickers.

Possible Theatrical Adaption
Seth Gordon, director of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, has considered adapting Super Paper Mario into a film. The movie, he feels, would play off of the popularity of 3D film, using three-dimensional segments to represent flipping. Despite his enthusiasm and experience, however, it is unknown if Gordon, who last mentioned the idea in late 2007, was ever able to contact Nintendo on the possibility. On the subject of an animated Mario in general, Charles Martinet doubts such a project would be greenlighted, although he would support any possibility.

Trivia

 * This is the first Paper Mario game where the cutscene before the title sequence chronologically occurs later in the game. In this case, the cutscene is what had happened after Count Bleck invaded Bowser's Castle and took off with Peach, Luigi, and Bowser.
 * Unlike the prequels, Stars do not play a major role in the game, and are instead replaced by Hearts.
 * There was one change in the game's script between the two English localizations of Super Paper Mario: in North America, Dimentio insults Luigi by calling his mustache a "shag", but as this doubles as a vulgar slang-term in Britain, it was changed to "Pushover" in the PAL region.
 * At the beginning, in Mario's house, pictures of Mario's partners from the previous two Paper Mario titles can be seen.
 * Mario's partners are all final bosses in the Paper Mario games: Bowser in Paper Mario, Peach in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (possessed by the Shadow Queen) and Luigi in Super Paper Mario (combined with Dimentio).
 * A Gold Fuzzy made an appearance on the back of the guidebook, but no Gold Fuzzies appear in-game.
 * Even though Luigi is a playable character, he is not mentioned on the back of the case or in the instruction manual.

Links

 * Official Site (USA)
 * Official Site (Japan)
 * Official Site (Europe)