Star Piece (Paper Mario series)

"Isn't it pretty, the way it glitters in the sun?"

- Goombaria

Star Pieces are collectible items in the Paper Mario series. They are found in hidden locations throughout the games, and some are even found underground, in which case a Spin Jump or Mario's Ultra Hammer is used to collect them. They are also used as rewards for sidequests. Star Pieces can be used to trade for various badges. There are 160 in Paper Mario and 100 in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In Paper Mario, they are used for trading with Merlow for badges. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, they are used for trading with Dazzle in Rogueport Sewers. The fortune teller Merluvlee in both games can tell Mario where the star pieces are.

Paper Mario


In Paper Mario, Star Pieces are scattered throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, and collected by characters and used for trading too. Characters also give them to each other as thank-you gifts, usually for returning or giving an item wanted. Goombaria mentions that they are good-looking ("Look at the pretty glitter!"), which implies that characters collect them because they look good. Kolorado also mentions that when he found a Star Piece when searching Dry Dry Ruins he immediately picked it up. Mario can also collect them, but the only practical use in the game is to trade badges from Merlow. There are just enough collectible Star Pieces to buy all the badges Merlow offers. The player can check the numbers of Star Pieces collected so far on a board in Mario's House, and the number in possession on the pause menu.

In total, there are 160 Star Pieces collectible for Mario, among which:
 * 63 are scattered throughout the world and available in the field, though some of them need special partners or equipments to get;
 * 15 in total can be obtained by doing favors for Koopa Koot;
 * 3 can be purchased from Rip Cheato;
 * 64 are used as rewards for Chuck Quizmo's quizzes;
 * 4 are used as rewards for giving or returning items: Goombaria's Dolly, Russ T.'s Dictionary, the postmaster's Mailbag, and the Artifact for Kolorado.
 * 11 more are used as rewards for letter delivery. The characters who give a Star Piece when receiving a letter are Fice T., Goompa, Igor, Kolorado, Mayor Penguin, Merlon, Merlow, Minh T., Mort T., Russ T. and the Nomadimouse.

Some of the overworld Star Pieces are underground. These need at least Super Boots or Ultra Hammer to get. When performing a Spin Jump, Tornado Jump, or an Ultra Hammer smash around it, a square panel from the ground flips, and the Star Piece pops out. However, if jumped or smashed right above, the panel will only shake without popping out the Piece. These Star Pieces' existence is hinted by a Boo that appears in the room where Mario gets the Super Boots. They can be detected by the I Spy Badge.

Merluvlee, who lives in a house near Shooting Star Summit, can give predictions of the whereabouts of the Star Pieces. She can predict only the overworld 63.

If the player has not collected any Star Pieces yet, the menu description says, "Wondering what this is for? Secret!"

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door


In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, there are 100 collectible Star Pieces, among which 98 are overworld and two are owned by characters. Some of overworld ones are underground and require Super Boots to get. The difference is that in the sequel, the underground panels can no longer be flipped with the Ultra Hammer. The last two are owned by Chef Shimi and the Excess Express waitress, respectively, and will be given to Mario for fulfilling the corresponding requests. Mario can still use Star Pieces to trade for badges. All 100 Star Pieces are needed to get all of Dazzle's badges. Merluvlee can predict the locations of the Star Pieces for five coins, and Ms. Mowz can detect them for Mario using her field ability (by pressing ).

The number of Star Pieces Mario has collected is displayed on a notice board near the entrance of the Pit of 100 Trials.

Trivia

 * At the end of Paper Mario, when Mario is going to attend Princess Peach's party, all of the facilities in Toad Town are closed, meaning the player may no longer acquire items from them. However, the Star Pieces in Toad Town are still available, meaning they are the only items Mario can collect at this time.