Star Power

Star Power, sometimes also referred to as SP, is a special form of energy featured in the first two installments of the Paper Mario series. In both games, Star Power is used to fuel Special Moves, a set of unique combat techniques that require Mario to use a special power taught by an entity like a Star Spirit or a Crystal Star. Star Power becomes usable after a certain point in both games and Mario always starts with one Star Power unit. Every time Mario rescues a Star Spirit or collects another Crystal Star, his maximum Star Power goes up by one.

Breaking from the tradition of the series, Star Power is no longer prominent in the third installment of the series, Super Paper Mario, on onward. The lack of Star Power in the subsequent games disables some of the features known from its predecessors, namely the possibility to perform Special Moves.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, Mario receives the ability to gather Star Power after he rescues Eldstar from the Koopa Bros., and he also learns his first Special Move from him. After that, another unit of Star Power is added to Mario's disposal for every Star Spirit he rescues. Along with each Star Spirit, Mario also learns new Special Moves for each Star Spirit which consume one to three SP when used. Mario's amount of Star Power is represented by colorful bars at the top of the screen. When the gauge is not completely full it will slightly refill during battle. It takes eight turns to fully recharge one SP bar. However, the player can also speed up this process by using the Focus-Command, letting Mario regain half of an SP bar in exchange for one turn.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario gains access to Star Power after the prologue by holding aloft the Magical Map in front of the Thousand-Year Door. Like in the previous game, Mario's Star Power will increase with every Crystal Star he obtains and he will also learn new Special Moves. Unlike before, the Star Power gauge is now composed of up to eight dots, each representing one unit of Star Power. It can be recharged during a battle by the audience when Mario performs successful attacks or appeals to the audience. Outside battle it can be restored fully by staying at an inn. SP recovery can be augmented greatly by executing at least one Stylish Move, getting a BINGO or wearing certain Badges; the rate of regeneration on attacks is also boosted when Mario or his partner is in Danger or Peril, or a Trial Stew has been used. It is also possible to get an SP Boost by using the Appeal-Command. In each case the amount of restored SP differs depending on the size and composition of the audience.