Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (known as Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario MIX in Japanese and Korean, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in British English) is a game for the Nintendo 3DS which is a crossover between the Mario & Luigi and the Paper Mario series. As a result, the game uses the same graphics and engine as its predecessor and contains elements from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. The plot revolves around Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario trying to stop Bowser and Paper Bowser from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom using their combined armies. It is the second Mario & Luigi game for the Nintendo 3DS and the fifth game overall in the series.

Story
The story begins with Luigi and a Toad entering the attic of Peach's Castle, looking for the source of a draught. Luigi is spooked by a Scaredy Rat and ends up bumping a bookshelf, opening a book that contains the Paper Mario world. The Paper characters are released into the Mario & Luigi world, spreading across the Mushroom Kingdom. Paper Toads are seen landing near Toad Villages, while Bowser's minions begin to meet with their paper counterparts. Paper Peach remains at Peach's Castle with Princess Peach, while Paper Bowser, Paper Bowser Jr. and Paper Kamek meet and decide to team up with Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Kamek. Mario, Luigi and Starlow decide to help Paper Peach to find the Paper Toads spread across the Kingdom, as well as Paper Mario. They also meet up with Nabbit, who steals most of the Bros. Attacks that the Toads had prepared, and Toadette, who has taken interest in papercrafting and is inspired to make giant papercrafts with the help of the Paper Toads.

Mario and Luigi head to Sunbeam Plains, where they come across two Paper Goombas, whom they defeat and leave one with a crease. This Goomba returns with reinforcements, and form a Goomba Wheel that defeats the Bros. Shortly afterwards, Paper Mario arrives, defeats the Paper Goombas and saves Mario and Luigi, who team up with Paper Mario to rescue the Paper Toads. However, the Bowser duo arrive at Peach's Castle and kidnap Princess Peach and Paper Peach, leaving behind Petey Piranha to stop them. After his defeat, the Mario trio head to Bowser's Castle to rescue the Princesses, but the way to Doop Doop Dunes is blocked by a Papercraft Goomba. Toadette arrives with Papercraft Mario, which she built with the Paper Toads the Mario Trio rescued, to destroy the Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba blockade, allowing the trio to access Doop Doop Dunes. As they approach Bowser's Castle beyond the dunes, the Big Pokey Duo knock them off a bridge into the Doop Doop Dunes Grotto. After rescuing some more Paper Toads, they build a trampoline to reach the Pokeys and fight them to escape the grotto. The trio are blocked yet again by the Kamek duo and their Papercraft Kamek, at which point the trio are given Papercraft Luigi to destroy it with. However, right as they are about to reach the castle, they are knocked out by cannonballs that also take down the bridge to the castle. Wendy, Roy, Larry, and Ludwig arrive and order the Chargin' Chuck Corps to take them away to the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, and the Bowser Jr. duo arrive to collect the book that contained Paper Mario's world, which Luigi dropped after being hauled away. The trio escape their cell, and battle their Hammer Bro. wardens to retrieve their items and Command Blocks. The creased Goomba from earlier returns locked in a cell, and he gives the trio Battle Cards in exchange for freeing him. The trio find out the arrested Toads are being forced to mine Fire Ore by Bowser and Paper Bowser in order to make an "ultimate papercraft," and soon run into a gate with a round-shaped indent in the center, before proceeding to fight against Wendy and Roy to escape the dungeon. Meanwhile, the Bowser Jr. duo annoy the Kameks into giving them a vacation to Bowser's Villa on Mount Brrr and take the Princesses with them. They also try to tell the Bowser duo about the book containing the Paper Mario universe, but are ignored.

The Mario trio, alongside the freed Toads find themselves stranded at Twinsy Tropics. The Paper Toads build a boat for everyone to return to Sunbeam Plains, and the trio returns to Peach's Castle, where a Toad tells them the Princesses were taken to Mount Brrr, which can be accessed through Gloomy Woods. Getting to the woods, the trio find new papercraft terrain that covers and changes the landscape, and even fight a paper version of Petey Piranha. Arriving at the woods, they meet a starving Wiggler who claims to be the guardian of the forest. Paper Kamek soon appears to block the path with junk, which Wiggler considers littering. Feeding the Wiggler eleven berries and a Melon they win from a Yellow Yoshi in a race, the Mario trio use him to break the blockades. The Kamek duo tries to hinder them, with Paper Kamek cursing Wiggler and forcing him to battle the team. After he is defeated and Wiggler is freed, Wiggler turns into a Flutter and flies them to Mount Brrr. At Mount Brrr, the source of paper terrain is revealed to be a summit base, where King Bob-omb, Iggy, Lemmy, and Morton use the cannons to blast the land with papercraft. With the help of Toadette, the Mario trio make it to a Toad Village, where they prepare to build Papercraft Peach to combat Papercraft Bowser Jr. and save the princesses. However, after destroying Papercraft Bowser Jr., the Bowser Jr duo manage to escape with the Princesses and the 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.

While crossing Doop Doop Dunes, they meet up with the Creased Goomba again and travel to the dungeon with him. Along the way, the Mario Trio are ambushed by the Chargin' Chuck Corps and defeat them. Upon reaching the dungeon, the Goomba betrays Mario and Co. to the Fire Bros, who have taken over as wardens; taking the Red Medallion with him. After getting the medallion back, they open the gate which leads to Bowser's Castle, and fight Ludwig and Larry, who try to stop them. Inside Bowser's Castle, the trio encounter the Kamek Duo and their new Papercraft King Boo, which Morton and Lemmy pilot. Luckily, Toadette arrives on time with Papercraft Yoshi. After the trio's Papercraft is victorious, Kamek kidnaps Toadette to prevent the production of more Papercrafts, and prepares to build his own ultimate Papercraft Bowser with the help of his paper form. The group begin searching for Toadette and rescue her shortly afterward. Meanwhile, the Princesses escape and greet the team, but are shortly caught by the Bowser Jr. duo. They initially mean to fight, but after showing the book to them, they realize that the trio had no idea they had the book, so they flee instead. The Mario trio chases them down, but are fooled with a fake book the Bowser Jr. duo uses to escape. After deciding to fight the trio, they are promptly beaten. The Bowser duo come in and, enraged by this, lift the castle into the sky, turning the castle into Neo Bowser Castle. Mario and co. escape the castle, leaving the book behind. As they head back to Peach's Castle the Bowser duo take their revenge by destroying Peach's Castle with cannonballs. Toadette realizes she can build a staircase with the Paper Toads from the summit of Mount Brrr to reach Neo Bowser Castle.

The team begins to make their way through Gloomy Woods to get to Mount Brrr, but due to paper terrain blocking certain paths, end up on the haunted west side. Both Mario and Paper Mario are promptly kidnapped by King Boo and his minions, leaving Luigi alone to find them. Luigi manages to find them, but he and Mario soon realize that "Paper Mario" is King Boo in disguise. Paper Mario is rescued and King Boo is defeated, and the trio meet up with Flutter once again, who flies the trio 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 of the mountain. At the Papercraft Base, King Bob-omb appears and proceeds to start a self destruction sequence, whom the trio defeat before the timer runs out. Lakitus then arrive at the summit with a large delivery of Paper Toads to build a staircase to Neo Bowser Castle.

At the castle, they find Toadette, who is defending Papercraft Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi. However, the Kameks release their 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, which she asks the trio to collect around the castle. The collected ore is used to assemble Papercraft Fire Mario, which then defeats Papercraft Bowser. The Bowsers and Kameks try to stall the Mario trio by dissassembling the bridge to the rest of the castle. As the Mario trio reassembles it, Lemmy, Iggy, and Morton activate a timer that charges up the castle's main cannon for a final blow to destroy any remains of Peach's Castle. The Mario trio manages to break the cannon before proceeding to the final area.

Before they can face the Bowsers, the Kamek Duo fights them, but are defeated. In the final corridor, the Bowser duo sends multiple waves of troops, including Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Spinies, Ninjis, Hammer Bros., Spikes, Shy Guys, Broozers, and finally the Koopalings to finish off the trio. They defeat them all and proceed to challenge Bowser and Paper Bowser themselves, who reveal they plan to trap the Bros. in the now empty book and burn it, both of them subtly hinting that they each wish to trap the other one in as well. After the Bowsers take enough damage, Paper Bowser merges with his entire paper army to create a suit of armor for Bowser; creating Shiny RoboBowser. However, this wasn't enough, and the trio successfully defeat the villianous duo. Bowser is sent flying off of Neo Bowser Castle, and plummets to the ground. Paper Bowser makes one last attempt to grab the book, but Paper Mario makes it there first, and the trio seal him in it once more.

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 the terrain and enemies back to the Paper World. Afterward, Peach, Mario and Luigi say goodbye to Paper Mario, Paper Peach and the Paper Toads who return to their world. The game ends with Mario and Luigi going off to stop Bowser's plans once again.

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 Glider, 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 10 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 are compatible with the game, each giving the player a special set of support cards 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 - Levels 46 to 100

General

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Paper Mario

Papercraft Characters

 * Papercraft Mario - Normal Papercraft with no advantages and middle range.
 * Papercraft Luigi - Allows the player to use a Flying Hammer Attack, that can damage spiky enemies, such as Papercraft Pokeys.
 * Papercraft Yoshi - Allows the player to use its tongue to grab poles, 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 the air, and ground pound on other papercraft, with a long range of attack. Dashing will block enemy projectiles.
 * Papercraft Fire Mario - Allows the player to shoot Fireballs.

Supporting

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

Antagonists

 * Kamek
 * Paper Kamek
 * Bowser
 * Paper Bowser
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Paper Bowser Jr.
 * Koopalings
 * Scaredy Rat
 * Nabbit
 * Paper Goomba
 * Crinkle Goomba

Cameos on Battle Cards

 * Baby Mario
 * Baby Luigi
 * Luiginoids
 * Baby Peach
 * Princess Daisy
 * Rosalina
 * Luma
 * Captain Toad
 * Yellow Toad
 * Blue Toad
 * Bubble Baby Yoshi
 * Tail Bowser
 * Antasma
 * Blooper

Paper Mario series
S Indicates enemies which appear in stacks.

Papercraft

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

Papercraft Bosses

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

Items

 * Beans
 * Coins
 * Mushrooms
 * Candy
 * Nuts
 * Syrup Jars
 * Super Candy
 * Super Mushrooms
 * Supersyrup Jars
 * Ultra Candy
 * Ultra Mushrooms
 * Ultrasyrup Jars
 * Max Candy
 * Max Syrup Jars
 * Max Mushrooms
 * Refreshing Herbs
 * 1-Up Mushrooms
 * Double 1-Up Mushrooms
 * 1-Up DXs
 * Dash Socks
 * Boo Biscuit

Objects

 * ? Blocks
 * M Blocks
 * L Blocks
 * P Blocks
 * Copy Block

Status Aliments

 * Trip
 * Poison
 * Dizzy
 * Burn/Char
 * POW-Up
 * POW-Down
 * DEF-Up
 * DEF-Down
 * SPD-Up
 * SPD-Down
 * Crumpled (Paper characters only)
 * Creased (Paper Mario only)

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

Lakitu Info Center
The Lakitu Info Center 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 whose 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 Center 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, Gloomy Woods, and Mount 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 Center 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

 * The battle ring is different: there are no turn limits, bosses don't have a different color palette, and there is no fee to play.
 * 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 where the Bros. can help rescue the Paper Toads when needed.
 * The tutorials are optional.
 * The first battle in the game is not against a boss, and Luigi is also playable.
 * No new characters or enemies are introduced to the franchise (with the sole possible exception of Shiny RoboBowser, although he is a fusion of two characters rather than a completely new character).
 * Toadsworth is completely absent from the game.
 * 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 is 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. It also does not list key items or provide descriptions for them.
 * This is the first game in the series to have the three main playable characters all take a turn in battle.
 * Players can block attacks, similarly to the Paper Mario series.
 * 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 Dash Socks.
 * The game's Japanese title is not followed by a number.
 * Mario and Luigi do not gain the Spin Jump ability outside of battle, as it is replaced with the Trio Grab.
 * This is the first game to have items other than beans underground.
 * Unlike the previous two installments, in this game, the Bros. perform a fancy spin before landing the second jump in battle.
 * Luigi is not referred to as Green Stache, due to Bowser finally learning his name at the end of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
 * This is the only game in the series which doesn't feature the Beanish species at all.
 * There are no Save Blocks or Save Albums of any kind. Players must save through the menu.
 * There are no special locations where the bros can go depending on their rank.
 * Command Blocks are slightly larger than the previous game, and the Bros. stand slightly more apart.

Staff
The game is produced by Akira Otani, Toshiharu Izuno, and Yoshihiko Maekawa and directed by Shunsuke Kobayashi and Hiroyuki Kubota. The music for this game is by Yoko Shimomura with Will Co., Ltd providing the Papercraft battles.

Development
In the past, the Mario & Luigi games primarily used two buttons, but the developers wanted to break new ground by making a third button active in combat. Characters were brainstormed until the developers thought of a second Mario, where the Paper Mario character would fit the third character role neatly. This implementation has then turn the idea of a crossover. Though Paper Luigi was considered to be the fourth character, the developers thought that adding a fourth button for a fourth character will be too difficult and complicated to enjoy the game. According to Kobayashi, the trickiest thing to implement in a crossover was to make Paper Mario, a main character, stand out.

Though the first draft of the story involved the characters going back and forth between the Mushroom Kingdom and the paper world with many twists to the narrative, the developers thought it was too complex and that no one will enjoy it, so that it was rewritten many times to be simplified, where greater emphasis was placed on the character interactions between each other. Though emphasis has been placed on Paper Mario to make him stand out, the developers wanted equal attention to all characters, where they mention that it was a "big job" to balance everything. The developers also mentioned interest in adding original characters to the plot, but decided against it since they already have many characters to work with, and it would be too challenging to fit them at an appropriate appearance in the story.

When asked about the gameplay, battle designer Jun Iwasaki emphasized on narrowing the focus. His first thought was making use of three buttons, which were promptly brainstormed with lots of ideas on paper, until the developers chose the one that looked the best and tested them with a prototype. Hiroshi Ohata, the battle programmer, explained that battles are first created without animations and other visual effects. He has stated that they always make sure the gameplay is very responsive at a basic level, so they perform many experiments to test the gameplay elements. What works and what doesn't is based on people who playtest the game during development.

Yoko Shimomura, the composer for the game's music, felt that since Paper Mario is joining the battle, she opted for a lighter, more upbeat tune to the game's soundtrack. When asked which music is her favorite, she stated that her songs are "like her children" and is unable to choose one, though she did say that Mountaintop Secrets, the background music for Mount Brrr, "has a certain fantastical atmosphere that isn't usually found in the Mario world, and having the opportunity to put a song with that kind of feel into a Mario game is something that's quite unique to the Mario & Luigi series, I think."

Natsuko Kemi, the game's graphics designer, emphasized on the details of the animations and graphics on the characters. For example, Luigi's walk cycles is based off his walk cycles in Luigi's Mansion.

Reception
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has received generally positive reviews from professional critics, scoring a 76 based on 65 critics in Metacritic and a 76.70% based on 44 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

 * Donkey Kong: One of the bros. upgrades upon leveling up to the higher ranks is known as Jumpman, which could be a nod to this game as Mario's alternate name was Jumpman in the arcade version.
 * 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. Parts of the title and credits theme sound similar to the first eight notes of "Happy Adventure, Delightful Adventure". A Battle Card has the effect of possibly turning enemies into mushrooms, similarly to how some enemies could do the same exact thing in this game, although turning them into mushrooms makes them eatable items rather than being a status effect.
 * 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. Whenever a paper enemy gets defeated, it spins around and then explodes, like the enemies did in this game. 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 called Mixed Up Scramble, when Paper Mario joins the party. Also, when Mario is about to talk to the two Peaches at the start of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Luigi will occasionally jump and can be talked to, referencing him in Toad Town Square. HP recovery blocks from the Japanese version return. One of the attacks used by the Kamek duo is similar to the Border Jump from this game.
 * 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. The way the trio gains Star Points by perfoming the attacks as good as possible is similar to how Paper Mario and his partners had to "appeal" to the audience to refill the special meter, by also performing the moves as good as possible and by posing stylishly. The stage where the characters stand when they gain EXP after a battle is similar to the one from the battles in this game, down to the yellow stripes on the border of the curtains when they level up.
 * 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 catchphrase. The puzzle involving the three pearl statues in Twinsy Tropics is similar to the puzzle involving the four Dry Bones statues in Gritzy Desert.
 * Super Paper Mario: Paper Bowser's artwork seen at the end is from this game. Additionally, one of the Expert Challenges is called "Super Paper Mario!", referencing the title of this game.
 * Super Smash Bros. series: There is a mission in Neo Bowser Castle that goes under the name Final Smash.
 * Mario Kart Wii: Some of Toadette and King Boo's voice clips are reused.
 * 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. Some of King Boo's attacks are revisions of the Dark Star. His multiplying move resembles that of the Dark Star and his fire breathing attack resembles the Dark Satellmite's beam attack. 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. Also, the invincibility theme is reused in the Papercraft Yoshi segment.
 * 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 this game. 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 this game. Whenever a paper enemy is defeated, it turns gray, similar to how the enemies did if Paper Mario kept attacking them after their HP had reached 0 in this game. Cardboard coins return from the Paper Mario universe as they are dropped from defeated paper enemies. Moving the system around whenever a shiny Battle Card is present on the lower screen will cause the sparkle effect to move, depending on the angle the 3DS is held, the same exact thing that can be done with shiny stickers in this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: The game runs on the same engine used in this game. As such, many of the game's graphics are reused, although some characters have received new animations. All of Mario and Luigi's battle animations are reused with the exception of new jumping in battle 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 cover of his theme from this game, which in turn is an arrangement of the same theme from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Bullies and Chargin' Chucks retain their design from this game.
 * Mario Kart series: Character emblems from these games were used for Papercraft characters and Toads. Some of the Koopalings' voice clips are reused from Mario Kart 8.
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: Toadette often references her adventures in this game in her dialogue, even outright saying the game's title. Also, some of her quotes have been reused.

References to other media

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

References in later games

 * Paper Mario: Color Splash: The Koopalings get paper counterparts as foreshadowed by Roy Koopa. The characters retain their paper outlines in this game, and stacked enemies appear like in this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions: This game's minigame music is remade for the Star 'Stache Smash minigame. The Emergency Guard, Assist, and Easy Mode all return in this game each functioning the same.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey: One of Bowser Jr.'s artwork is reused from this game.

Trivia

 * This is the first Mario game where dialogue between the Koopalings can be seen, the first Mario game published by Nintendo since the Mario's Early Years! series 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 the British English version of the game.
 * The top of the North American box art has a Paper Goomba in place of the fourth Paper Toad shown on the other international box art.
 * Somewhat ironically, the non-Paper characters and enemies use two-dimensional sprites, while the Paper characters use models. This is to allow them to be able to twist and fall flat, among other things.