Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Template:Justreleased Template:Infobox Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario MIX in Japan and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in Europe & Australia) is a game in the Mario & Luigi series for Nintendo 3DS that crosses over with the Paper Mario series. The game was released in Japan on December 3, 2015 and in Europe on December 4, 2015. It will be released in December 10, 2015 in Australia; and January 22, 2016 in North America.

Story

The story begins with Luigi and Toad entering the attic of Peach's Castle, looking for the source of a drought. They soon find a hole above a bookcase, and Luigi investigates. Suddenly, Toad gets chased by a Scaredy Rat, which entered the room through the hole, which eventually leads to Luigi accidentally knocking over a book found in the room, holding the Paper Mario world within. This ultimately releases the paper characters into the Mario & Luigi world, spreading across the Mushroom Kingdom. The two eventually meet Paper Peach, who introduce her to Mario, Peach, and Starlow. However, Bowser soon meets Paper Bowser, and despite some disagreements between one another at first, they decide to team up, combine their armies, and kidnap their respective Princess Peach. With the aid of Paper Mario, who helps Mario and Luigi after a fight with a group of Paper Goombas, the trio set off to rescue the Paper Toads. Soon after meeting Paper Mario, the trio learns of Bowsers' kidnapping of the Peachs. The Bowsers then arrive and send Petey Piranha on the bros. After the trio beats him they set off to rescue the remaining Paper Toads, both the princesses, defeat both Bowsers and send Paper Bowser and his army back to the Paper Mario world.

Gameplay

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 powerful shockwave that can destroy large blocks.

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 divide and conquer by targeting 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 called Trio Attacks can be performed with Paper Mario. These attacks will have all three members attack enemies with a giant cardboard hammer to flatten 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.

amiibo will be compatible with the game, each giving the player a special support card to use in battle.

Special attacks

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

Characters

Playable

General

• Mario
• Luigi
• Paper Mario

Papercraft Characters

• Papercraft Mario - Normal Papercraft with no advantages and middle range.
• Papercraft Luigi
• Papercraft Yoshi - Allow using its tongue to grab pile, 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 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

Non-playable

• Princess Peach
• Paper Peach
• Toads
• Paper Toads
• Toadette
• Kamek
• Paper Kamek
• Bowser
• Paper Bowser
• Bowser Jr.
• Paper Bowser Jr.
• Koopalings
• Starlow
• Nabbit
• Yellow Yoshi
• Lakitu
• Scaredy Rat
• Flutter

Enemies

Both series

• Goomba
• Koopa Troopa
• Dry Bones
• Hammer Bro
• Spiny
• Pokey
• Piranha Plant
• Shy Guy
• Ninji
• Bob-omb
• Scaredy Rat

Mario & Luigi series-only

• Fly Guy
• Sandmaargh
• Boomerang Bro
• Buzzy Beetle
• Biddybud
• Ant Trooper
• Horned Ant Troopers
• Spike
• Bully

Paper Mario series-only

• Shiny Koopa Troopa
• Koopa Paratroopa
• Spear Guy
• Swooper
• Sombrero Guy

Papercraft

• Goomba
• Spike
• Mechakoopa
• Dry Bones
• Bullet Bills

Bosses

Mario & Luigi series

• Petey Piranha
• Chargin' Chuck Brigade
• Big Pokey
• King Bob-omb
• Wiggler
• King Boo
• Kamek
• Ludwig
• Larry
• Wendy
• Roy
• Morton
• Iggy
• Lemmy
• Bowser Jr.
• Bowser
• Dry Bowser
• Shiny RoboBowser

Paper Mario series

• Tower Power Pokey
• Paper Petey Piranha
• Paper Kamek
• Paper Bowser Jr.
• Paper Bowser

Papercraft bosses

• Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba
• Papercraft Kamek
• Papercraft Bowser Jr.
• Papercraft King Boo
• Papercraft Bowser

Items

• Beans
• Coins
• Mushrooms
• Nuts
• Syrups
• Super Mushrooms
• Super Syrups
• ? Blocks
• M&L Blocks
• Copy Block
• Ultra Mushrooms
• Ultra Syrups
• Max Syrups
• Max Mushrooms

Locations

• Peach's Castle
• Sunbeam Plains
• Gloomy Woods
• Mount Brrr
• Doop Doop Dunes
• Doop Doop Grotto
• Twinsy Tropics
• Bowser's Castle
• Neo Bowser Castle
• A mysterious crystal cave

Ranks

• Mushroom Rank - Level 1 to 5
• Shell Rank - Level 6 to 11
• Boomerang Rank - Level 12 to 18
• Flower Rank - Level 19 to 26
• Leaf Rank - Level 27 to 35
• Star Rank - Level 36 to 45
• Rainbow Rank (theoretically) - Level 46 onwards

Differences from other Mario & Luigi games

• Mario and Luigi can use special attacks and hammers in the very first battle.
• Badges are replaced by Battle Cards.
• Luigi is the first playable character in this game.
• This is the only Mario & Luigi game to keep the same graphics as its predecessor.
• No additional points given when level up.
• Unlike previous entries into the series, Lakitu's role seems to be as an assistant of sorts to Mario and co.
• Unlike previous entries, the tutorials are now optional.
• This is the first game in the series that doesn't have Toadsworth.
• This is the first Mario & Luigi game to introduce no new characters to the franchise.
• Attack items are obtained from Nabbit instead of attack pieces.
• There are 7 ranks, more than Bowser's Inside Story's 6 and Dream Team's 5. New ranks including Boomerang rank and Leaf rank.
• This is the first game in the series to feature circles under the bros when an enemy is attacking. This most likely due to 3 characters on the battle field at once.

Reception

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has received generally positive reviews from professional critics, scoring an 80 based on 20 critics in Metacritic and a 79.38% based on 8 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 humor 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 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.

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Nintendo 3DS	Daan Koopman, Nintendo World Report	7.5/10	"A very cute game, but pacing problems prevent the game from achieving excellence."
Nintendo 3DS	José Manuel Bringas, IGN Spain (Spanish)	8/10	"One of the craziest crossovers ever seen in a videogame. Constantly changing the rhythm and showing new gameplay methods and with a hilarious plot. One of the best in their series. "
Nintendo 3DS	Lee Garbutt, God is a Geek	9/10	"This game is in no way a revolution of what’s come before, but that doesn’t matter one bit – the mechanics are still as solid as they always were, the humour still makes my face ache from smiling, and not once did it ever outstay its welcome."
Nintendo 3DS	Alex Seedhouse, Nintendo Insider	9/10	"With unwavering charm, this resoundingly action-packed quest for the superstar trio succeeds on all fronts. There's little to criticise in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros., an epic collision that results in a Mushroom Kingdom mash-up of near perfection."
Nintendo 3DS	Conor McMahon, Nintendo Life	8/10	"Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. totally succeeds as an accessible, entertaining and lengthy crossover for fans and newcomers alike. It introduces a solid list of worthy new mechanics, particularly building upon the battle system in some exciting new ways, and breaking exploration up with random quests. It's more of a mini RPG than ever, but doesn't quite nail it when it comes to environmental design and storytelling. In the end it's Paper Jam's simplicity that makes it a great starting point and an easy recommendation, but also holds it back from taking full advantage of more dimensions than ever before."
Nintendo 3DS	Mark Brown, Pocket Gamer UK	6/10	"When you're in battle, Paper Jam Bros reminds us why we've spent countless hours with both Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games. But everything else feels like a pale imitation of two, once great games."
Nintendo 3DS	Dave Irwin, TheSixthAxis	7/10	"Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. sadly falls flat on its face at the final hurdle, but is a light-hearted and hugely enjoyable romp up until that point. There are great nods to both Mario & Luigi RPG and Paper Mario franchises, and the three protagonists make a great team in this 3DS RPG. Questionable decisions around the use of Amiibo and the mini-game side-quests can’t be ignored, but the charm of Paper Jam Bros. can’t be understated."
Nintendo 3DS	Alex Jones, GamesRadar+	4/5	"If you’ve never played a Mario & Luigi game, this is the perfect on-boarding point. It’s got a hilarious script, near-flawless battling, and bucketfuls of charm."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		80
GameRankings		79.38%

Mean: 78.438%

References to other games

• 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.
• Paper Mario: 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.
• Luigi's Mansion: During the game, Mario and Paper Mario get kidnapped by King Boo referencing this game's plot.
• 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, when Paper Mario joins the party. HP recovery blocks from the Japanese version return as well.
• 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.
• 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. The multiplying move of King Boo resembles that of the Dark Star.
• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: Many of the game's graphics are reused, although some characters have received new animations. One of the new Bros. Attacks, known as Mega Thwonk, features Luigi as a giant, similar to his appearance during the Giant Battles in this game. Luigi even uses the same model from those sequences. There are also 2 returning bros. attacks originally from Dream Team. Like that of giant battles, papercraft battles allows you to get 4 items after winning.
• Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door: Both the Paper Airplane and Paper abilities return from this game.
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star: Many of the elements from this game return.
• Mario Kart 8: Some of the Koopalings' voice clips are reused from this game.

Gallery

• Mario Luigi Paper Mario and Starlow.jpg

  The main characters.

• 

  The two versions of Princess Peach

• Bowser and Paper Bowser - Paper Jam.jpg

  The two versions of Bowser

• 

  The two versions of Bowser Jr.

• 

  American logo

• 

  European and Australian logo

• 

  Japanese logo

Trivia

• Starlow references the Year of Luigi after Luigi is left alone in Gloomy Woods.
• This is the first game in the series to have the three main playable characters all take a turn in battle.

External links

• Official Japanese website