Star Power: Difference between revisions

'''Star Power''', sometimes also referred to as '''SP''' or '''Star Energy''', is a special form of energy featured in the first two installments of the [[Paper Mario (series)|''Paper Mario'' series]]. In both games, Star Power is used to fuel [[Special Move]]s, 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 Stars|Crystal Star]].

Breaking from the tradition of the series, Star Power is no longer prominent in the third installment of the series, ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'', and 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.

[[File:StarPowerPM.png|left|thumb|Star Power in ''[[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.  

|A recovery technique that restores both five [[Heart Point]]s and [[Flower Point]]s.

|Affects all enemies and has a chance to put them to sleep.

|Summons a rain of stars dealing damage of seven points to each enemy, much like a [[Shooting Star (item)|Shooting Star]].

|Decreases the attack power of all enemies by three points.

|A recovery move which regenerates twenty of Mario's Heart Points.

|Affects all enemies and immobilizes them, similar to a [[Stop Watch]].

|align="center"|[[Up and Away]]

|Has a chance to instantly defeat all enemies in battle.

|align="center"|[[Star Beam]]/[[Peach Beam]]

|align="center"|All (including Twink for the Peach Beam)

|An attack that pierces and nullifies [[Bowser]]'s invincibility casted upon him by the [[Star Rod (Paper Mario)|Star Rod]]. The attack is later upgraded by [[Twink]] and becomes the Peach Beam.

In ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', Mario gains access to Star Power after the [[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door#Prologue: A Rogue Welcome|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.

In this game, Star Power is still gained automatically at the beginning of a turn, but it is now tied directly to the [[audience]], and many options are available for both Mario and his [[partners]] to excite the audience and gain more SP. The most dedicated method is the new ability to [[Appeal]] to the audience, which serves a similar function to the previous game's Focus action in taking a turn to charge SP. Successfully executed [[Action Command]]s also attract SP from the audience, but of particular note are the newly introduced [[Stylish move]]s, normally hidden action commands which allow the playable characters to perform stunts during moves that drive the crowd wild, making them a great source of SP. SP recovery can be augmented greatly by wearing certain [[Badge]]s; the rate of regeneration from attacks is also boosted when Mario or his partner is in Danger or Peril, or after a [[Trial Stew]] has been used.

Due to being tied to the audience, the amount of SP that can be gained at a given time by these methods is affected by the size and composition of the audience - as a result of this, events that take away audience members (such as the attacks of certain bosses, or the behavior of certain members of the audience) impede the party's ability to build SP, while gaining a larger audience size with stage upgrades as Mario's star rank increases with his [[Level up|level]] will allow SP to build quicker.

There are a few methods of gaining Star Power which are not tied to the audience: SP will always be fully recovered in-battle by successfully getting either three [[Star]]s or [[Shine Sprite]]s (the latter of which also fully restores [[HP]] and [[Flower Points]] on top of gaining a full audience) in the [[Bingo!]] wheel. Eating a Trial Stew also fully restores SP in addition to giving a boosted recovery rate, albeit at the cost of lowering the party's HP to 1 and FP to 0. Outside of battle, SP can also be restored fully by staying at an inn.<ref>http://ml.techyoshi.com/index.php/topic,142.0.html</ref>

|A weak technique that slightly restores [[Heart Point]]s and [[Flower Point]]s.

|An attack using shock waves that deals up to six points of damage to all enemies.

|Produces a huge time bomb that immobilizes its targets and affects either Mario's team, the enemy group, or the audience.

|Increases the attack and defense stats of Mario and his current partner.

|Summons a small cursor and lets the player circle around the enemies. Each complete circle causes up to three points of damage to the enclosed enemies.

|A recovery move resembling Sweet treat, though it's more powerful and can restore more Heart Points and Flower Points.

|Has a chance to instantly defeat all enemies in battle.

|Deals up to fifteen points of damage to each enemy on the battlefield.

|Chi=星之能量<ref>[[iQue]]'s ''Paper Mario'' instruction booklet, [http://tieba.baidu.com/photo/p?kw=ique&tid=3438595808&pic_id=573d550fd9f9d72aae600b5fd72a2834359bbbd9 page 22.]</ref>

|ChiR=Xīng zhī Néngliàng

|ChiM=Star Power

|Fra=Energie Etoile

|FraM=Star Energy