Catch Card

Catch Cards are cards that Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi can collect in the game Super Paper Mario. There are different types of Catch Cards, and they all have a certain character's picture, stats and such.

Owning a Catch Card for an enemy will double all damage done to that enemy. The multiplication increases by one for each card collected. For example, owning two Squiglet cards multiplies damage done to Squiglets by three, owning three multiplies it by four, and so on. The maximum number of Catch Cards that of each type that can be held is 99, multiplying the damage done to that enemy by 100.

Catch Cards can be bought blank, which appears to be a simple blue card, or as a Caught Card. When it is a blank card, the heroes can carry it with them and use it to capture any enemy, provided the Catch Card succeeds in capturing the enemy. The enemy then turns into a collectible card.

In the Card Shops, one can also buy Caught Cards, cards that already have enemies on them, reducing the need to trek through the various worlds capturing enemies. The downside is that the Caught Cards are either random or more expensive than buying a blank Catch Card, depending on which Card Shop the Caught Card is bought from.

There are two Card Shops in the game, one each on the first floor of Flipside and Flopside. Flipside's shop, Catch a Dream, sells Catch Cards for 20 Coins each, as well as random Caught Cards for 10 Coins each. The player chooses one of eight Card Bags that contains the card. The exact card the player gets is a mystery until the money is paid.

Flopside's shop, Fondest Hopes, sells Catch Card SPs, which almost always work, except on bosses. They are a red palette swap of the original Catch Card and cost 100 Coins each. Their selection of Caught Cards changes frequently and allows the player to choose which card he or she wishes to buy, as long as it is in stock. The cards are expensive, however, and often exceed fifty or even 100 Coins.

Catch Cards do not always have enemies on them. Important characters such as Merlon, Bestovius, the Pixls, and even Mario's partners from Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door have their own cards as well. Since Catch Cards do not work on them, their cards must either be found or purchased in a Card Shop. Collecting these cards have no effect other than bragging rights. (However, there is an exception; if the player obtains Mario's card, the Flip Meter will never count down).

Catch Cards are also valued based on their rarity. Normal enemy cards are bronze and have one star on the Card Collection screen. Most bosses and character cards are known as Super Cards. They are silver and have two stars. Exceedingly rare cards, such as the Amazy Dayzee and the Pixls, are referred to as Special Cards. Their design is gold and they boast three stars on the Card Collection screen. The rarer the card, typically the more coins it is worth when one buys or sells it.

If the player desires, he or she can opt to sell cards back to the shops, with each shop paying the same amount. As may logically be expected, rarer cards sell for more coins. However, even if the player sells a card, its entry is not erased. In addition, the player always has the option of buying the card back, if the card was a rare card that had only one instance throughout the entire game, although they must pay twice as many coins to buy the card back as they had received for selling the card in the first place.

There are a total of 256 Catch Cards in the game.

Trivia

 * Despite being a Super Card, Mr. L's Catch Card is only worth 20 coins if bought at a card shop, and only 10 if sold.
 * Bowser is the only enemy with multiple Catch Cards. Owning the first card (the one obtained by completing the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials twice and beating Shadoo) will double damage against him; the other ones will not.
 * In the item description for Catch Cards, it is said that it captures the enemy's soul if it works. Despite this, many Catch Cards exist for main characters in the game, with some having multiple cards (i.e. Peach has three).