Riverside Station



Riverside Station is an old, deserted train station in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and the only known stop the Excess Express makes between Rogueport and Poshley Heights. Following its abandonment, a large swarm of Smorgs have taken up residence amid the station's dilapidated interior. During the events of The Thousand-Year Door, an unknown person (possibly the Smorgs) lifts the station's drawbridge, which the Excess Express needs to cross; a Riverside worker informs Mario of the dilemma and gives him a key, granting him access to the otherwise locked station. Using his newly acquired Ultra Boots, Mario must hit the switch inside the station to reactivate the drawbridge, allowing it to fall back into place so the Excess Express can continue its commute.

As aforementioned, the station seems all but abandoned (sans the many enemies inhabiting it) and without any signs of upkeep, despite having two known workers. There was once a river that flowed beneath the bridge here (hence the name "Riverside Station"), but it dried up at an undisclosed time before Mario's arrival and the area has since become a pasture. The station's decommission was quite possibly a result of the Smorg infestation or other enemies that invaded.

Enemies

 * Goomba
 * Poison Pokey
 * Spiked Parabuzzy
 * Spike Top
 * Ruff Puff
 * Beldam and Doopliss (beta version only)

Area Tattles

 * "This is Riverside Station. It's one of the places where the Excess Express stops. This place is famous for its scenic beauty... It's the sunsets, you know. Just one more of the many pleasures Excess Express passengers get to enjoy."
 * "We're inside Riverside Station. It's an old brick building with natural warmth. Its antique elevator is totally charming, too. I am in LOVE with that thing! You think it works, though? I'm not that fond of getting trapped in elevators..."
 * "We're inside Riverside Station. This place has been out of use for a while, I think. I love those solitary lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. It's so shabby chic."
 * "This is the other side of the big clock. Lots of endlessly moving gears... A lonely clock, counting out the endless progression of hours, heard by no one..."
 * "We're on the outer stairs. A door at the bottom leads to an underground office. But listen, Mario... Don't spend time worrying about posters that blow away in the wind. Let's just take in this killer sunset for a while before our next bad-guy appointment."
 * "This is the Riverside Station garbage dump. Talk about an annoying place to navigate! And it smells like rotting Goomnuts... It's amazing how much people throw away. There should be a door to the underground office somewhere down here."
 * "This is the Riverside Station office...but there doesn't seem to be anyone here. Hey, and now that I think of it, why would they put an office down here anyway? ...Or was I not supposed to bring that up?"
 * "This is the Riverside Station records room. They file all station business here. ...Or at least I think they do. Yup, these are probably files. Not to change the subject... But did you know you have to hit some switches a certain number of times? Yeah, that kind of came out of left field, but I was just wondering if you knew that..."

Trivia

 * The face of the station's clock tower is only visible during cutscenes, and displays the time based on that of the GameCube's internal clock.
 * The Excess Express only arrives at sunset regardless of what time the player visits the station.
 * The battles with Goombas may have been added as an afterthought, as the background used for these fights depicts a room upstairs where no battles occur in the final game; this background may have been a leftover beta element from Beldam and Doopliss' battle that was originally going to take place here.
 * Even after the player lowers the drawbridge, the train will always stop at Riverside Station en route to Poshley Heights.
 * Unused background music intended for Riverside Station can be found within the game's files.