Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (known as Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario MIX in Japan and South Korea, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in Europe and Oceania) 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 a Toad entering the attic of Peach's Castle, looking for the source of a draught. Luigi appears and agrees to help. They find an odd-looking hole in the wall, which the Toad suspects to contain the draught. Luigi investigates but is startled by a Scaredy Rat, causing him to fall off the bookshelf. A cloud of dust emerges, causing Luigi to sneeze and slam into the bookshelf, resulting in a book to fall off its shelf and open, releasing all Paper characters within it, spreading them throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Paper Toads are seen landing near Toad Villages, while Bowser's minions begin to encounter their paper counterparts.

Paper Peach, however, stays at the castle and is taken to Princess Peach. This leads to another awkward conversation which involves both princesses, Mario, Luigi, and Starlow. Suddenly, a Toad rushes in, announcing the unexpected arrival of the Paper characters. In the lobby, several Toads are attempting to find Paper Toads which are hiding. Mario and Luigi help find the Paper Toads, who reveal that all the Toads they with were captured by Bowser's minions, but they managed to escape. Paper Peach then realizes that the Bowser from her world is now in their world, along with all of his minions. Mario, Luigi, and Starlow then set off on yet another adventure.

Before leaving the castle, however, they have a run-in with Nabbit, who has stolen several Bros. Attacks from Toads, leaving Mario and Luigi with currently only two to use during battle. They also run into Toadette, who mentions her plans to build a life-size Papercraft for the bros. and wishes them good luck. They are also given a Copy Block by some Paper Toads, who team up with Toadette for their next project. They finally begin to explore Sunbeam Plains, where they are immediately confronted by two Paper Goombas, whom they both defeat.

Meanwhile, in Bowser's Castle, Kamek is seen giving an unsatisfactory status report to Bowser. Just then, Paper Bowser appears, and both Bowsers quickly get into a feud, each arguing that they are the true Bowser. Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. are also introduced to each other, and after some bickering, they quickly form a connection.

Shortly after, Mario and Luigi are cornered by a large group of Paper Goombas, one of which is a creased Goomba. They turn into a wheel which quickly defeats Mario and Luigi. They almost leave to tell Bowser the good news, but are stopped by Paper Mario, who appears after fluttering down from the sky. They attempt to defeat him but are defeated themselves, and the Goomba runs away, vowing to return. Paper Mario then officially joins them on their quest.

After venturing further into the plains, they receive a delivery from a Paper Toad that had been rescued at Peach's Castle, which contains their first Trio Attack. Later after that, another Toad arrives to inform them that the castle had been invaded by both Bowsers, and that the princesses had been kidnapped yet again. At that moment, Bowser and Paper Bowser arrive in their Koopa Clown Cars with the princesses and inform the trio that they have joined forces. Bowser attempts to slow them down by summoning Petey Piranha, but is unsuccessful, as he is defeated.

Just as the three brothers are about to leave Sunbeam Plains, they are interrupted by Paper Kamek and a group of Goombas, who hinder them by blocking the exit with a large Papercraft Goomba. Toadette appears and is inspired to make a bigger, better papercraft, and requests a number of Paper Toads to do the job, which they find at a nearby Toad Village, and are then transported to the castle by Lakitu. They head back to the papercraft obstructing their exit, when the Goombas come back with reinforcements. Fortunately, Toadette shows up with Papercraft Mario, which they use to defeat the papercrafts. This allows the trio to progress.

After entering Doop Doop Dunes, they spot Bowser's Castle in the distance, where several minions and paper minions are seen rallying. Meanwhile, Bowser Jr. and his paper counterpart comment about being bored, and plan to find and destory the book so that they will not have to be separated. As they are distracted, Peach and Paper Peach plan their way out. Paper Peach is able to slip through the bars of the cage, which gives them an idea.

In the meantime, Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario spot Nabbit nearby and chase after him in an effort to recover Bros. Attacks as well as their hammers, which he had stolen. They find a Bros. Attack, Rocket Blast, and attempt to recover more, but are stopped by a duo of Pokeys, which also prevent them from crossing a bridge.

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 with block enemy projectile.
 * Papercraft Fire Mario - Allows the player to shoot Fireballs.

Supporting

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

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
 * Fake Bowser
 * Antasma
 * Blooper

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 and objects

 * Beans
 * Coins
 * Mushrooms
 * Candy
 * Nuts
 * Syrup Jars
 * Super Candy
 * Super Mushrooms
 * Supersyrup Jars
 * ? Blocks
 * M Blocks
 * L Blocks
 * P Blocks
 * Copy Block
 * 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

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.
 * This is the first game in the series to be released before its corresponding Paper Mario game (being released before Paper Mario: Color Splash).
 * Paper Mario was released before Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was released before Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.
 * Super Paper Mario was released before Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
 * Paper Mario: Sticker Star was released before Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
 * Command Blocks are slightly larger than the previous game, and the Bros. stand slightly more apart.
 * This is the first time in the series where the game's main antagonist (or in this case, antagonists) is/are fought in only one battle (Bowser and Paper Bowser, the main antagonists of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, are only fought once in Neo Bowser Castle), with previous installments having main antagonists fought multiple times each (in the main stories).
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: Cackletta is fought the first time in Woohoo Hooniversity and the second time as Bowletta in Bowser's Castle.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: Elder Princess Shroob is fought in Shroob Castle and later in the present Peach's Castle as a spirit above Shrowser.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: Fawful is fought in his dark form and as the Dark Star Core (the latter inside Dark Bowser), both in Peach's Castle.
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: Bowser is fought alongside Antasma in Dream's Deep, later by himself as a giant in Dreamy Neo Bowser Castle, then as Dreamy Bowser in Neo Bowser Castle.

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.
 * Super Smash Bros. series: There is a mission in Neo Bowser Castle that goes under the name Final Smash.
 * 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 Wendy 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.