Paper Mario

Paper Mario is a video game for the Nintendo 64 released in 2001.

Storyline

• WARNING! POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

The game begins at Mario's house. A Paratroopa delivers some mail and Luigi reads it. Princess Peach has invited Mario and Luigi to Toad Town Castle for a party. Mario and Luigi go to the castle, but King Bowser and Kammy Koopa use their own castle to steal Toad Town Castle! The two castles are taken up into the air. Mario fights King Bowser, but he uses the Star Rod (which he stole from Star Haven) to make himself invincible. Mario flies out of the window and lands in Goomba Village.

At Goomba Village, a family of Goombas rescue Mario. A star in his dream tells him to go to Shooting Star Summit. Goombario, one of the Goomba family, decides to go with Mario on his adventure. Mario and Goombario travel to Shooting Star Summit, and Eldstar tells him to rescue the 7 Star Spirits, who are trapped in various places throughout the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario and Goombario go to Koopa Bros. Fortress, where the first spirit is trapped. On the way, they find Koopa Village, and meet a Koopa Troopa named Kooper, who joins them.

In Koopa Bros. Fortress, they find a Bob-omb named Bombette trapped in jail. She explodes and makes an escape route and together the three defeat the Koopa Bros. and get the first Star Spirit.

Back in Toad Town Castle, Princess Peach finds a star kid named Twink, who helps her. Together they find out the locations of the Star Spirits after each chapter.

Twink comes and tells Mario that the second Star Spirit is in Dry Dry Ruins. Mario goes through the Dry Dry Desert to Dry Dry Ruins, where they find Tutankoopa and his Chain Chomps. After defeating him, they get the second star spirit. On the way, they find a mail-delivering Paratroopa named Parakarry, who joins their party.

The third star spirit is in Boo's Mansion. Bootler appears in Forever Forest and tells Mario how to get through the forest. When Mario reaches Boo's Mansion, he finds that Bow, Princess of the Boos, has trapped the third Star Spirit. She won't let him go until Mario helps Bow defeat the evil Tubba Blubba of Gusty Gulch. Mario and Bow go to Gusty Gulch and defeat him. Bow gives back the star spirit and decides to go with Mario on his quest.

The fourth star spirit is in Shy Guy's Toybox. Shy Guys have invaded Toad Town, so Mario follows one of them into the secret location of Shy Guy's Toybox. They defeat the Big Lantern Ghost and inside his lantern they find a Lil' Sparky named Watt. He thanks Mario for rescuing him and joins the party. They find General Guy, the leader of the Shy Guys, using Watt's light power. They defeat him for the star spirit.

The fifth star spirit is in Lavalava Island. They can't reach it, but then a whale comes and asks Mario to get rid of the Fuzzipede inside his stomach. Mario defeats Fuzzipede and the whale takes him to Lavalava Island. He goes to Yoshi Village and finds the volcano, but he can't reach it. When he returns to the village, everyone is panicking because 5 Yoshis have gone missing. Mario helps Sushie, a friendly Cheep Cheep, find them. After they find the Yoshis, Mario and Sushie go to the volcano and defeat Lava Pirahna for the fifth star spirit.

The sixth star spirit is in Flower Fields. After Mario finds the 4 Bub-Ulb Seeds, he opens the portal to Flower Fields. He meets a Lakitu named Lakilester, who joins him and together they go to Cloudy Climb and defeat the evil cloud Huff 'N' Puff for the sixth star spirit.

The seventh and final star spirit is in Crystal Palace. Mario does a lot of puzzles involving Duplighosts and mirrors and they reach the Crystal King. Mario defeats him for the final star spirit.

With the help of the 7 Star Spirits, Mario goes to Star Haven and uses the power of the Star Spirits to travel to Bowser's Castle. After going through the castle, he finally finds Princess Peach, King Bowser and Kammy Koopa. He defeats them, and even when Kammy Koopa uses her Star Rod to make King Bowser huge, he still loses. Mario rescues Princess Peach, the end.

• END SPOILER WARNING*

Battle System

Paper Mario introduced a new battle system. Mario and one partner of your choice fight against the enemies. Mario has HP and BP, while all characters share FP. FP is used for special moves, HP is Mario's life force and BP affects the types of Badges Mario can wear.

Each attack has its own "Action Command", which increases the damage if performed correctly. For example, for "Jump", you must press A just as you hit the enemy, and for Hammer, you must hold left and release at the right time. You can also decrease enemy damage by 1 by pressing A just as they hit you.

When Mario levels up, you can choose to increase HP by 5, FP by 5 or BP by 3. The best idea is to upgrade BP with the occasional HP/FP boost until his BP is at maximum (30), then upgrade HP and FP.

Mario's Partners

Goombario - Can use Tattle to see enemies' stats

Kooper - Can inflict a variety of status effects on enemies

Bombette - Is good at inflicting damage

Parakarry - Is good at doing huge damage for a lot of FP

Bow - Is good at protecting Mario from damage

Watt - Can penetrate enemies' defense

Sushie - Is good against fire enemies

Lakilester - Is good at attacking all enemies