The Bitlands
| Level | |
|---|---|
| The Bitlands | |
| |
| Level code | 3-1 |
| Game | Super Paper Mario |
| Boss | Bowser |
| << Directory of levels >> | |
The Bitlands is a dimension located beyond the yellow door in Super Paper Mario, with a unique art style that makes the world look as if it was drawn on a grid, making it look like pixel art. According to The InterNed, the overworld music of The Bitlands is titled "The Open Plane", and the music in the underground area beneath the two red pipes is titled "Nostalgic Underground", due to it being an altered version of the classic Underground Theme from Super Mario Bros.
Chapters/Locations
| Level | Preview | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Bitlands (Chapter 3-1: When Geeks Attack) |
|
The basic setting of the world. This area contains many references to Super Mario Bros. Bowser is fought and recruited here. |
| The Tile Pool (Chapter 3-2: Bloops Ahoy) |
|
A large sea inhabited by many underwater creatures, as well as Big Blooper. Thudley is found here. |
| The Dotwood Tree (Chapter 3-3: Up, Up, and a Tree) |
|
An enormous tree with three areas, one outside, one inside, and one at the top. Dimentio is battled here for the first time. |
| Fort Francis (Chapter 3-4: The Battle of Fort Francis) |
|
Francis's castle. It is filled with many cat robots, some of which attack the player. Many references to Nintendo and pop culture can be seen here. Francis is the Chapter Boss. |
Chapter 3-1: When Geeks Attack
Storyline text
Mario and his new friends opened the door, unsure of what they would find.
All the while, Merlee's words about finding the "other two heroes" rang in their minds.
Were these other heroes somewhere in this new world? If not, where?
Meanwhile, the creeping void grew larger in the skies above Flipside.
The hopes of all worlds rested on the heroes finding the next Pure Heart...
Mario, Peach and the Pixls have just entered the door to The Bitlands when Tippi is snatched up by an enormous chameleon, which claims it has caught a "super rare pixelated butterfly". Before Mario and Peach can help, the chameleon disappears. Mario and Peach hear a voice coming from a bush and finds a Pixl named Barry in it. Barry tells Mario and Peach that Tippi was kidnapped by Francis, the "nerd to end all nerds," who also has a liking for butterflies. He has taken her to his castle, which has been known to be locked up tight. Barry discourages trying to get Tippi back, but Mario's persistence wins out and Barry agrees to help. He gives Mario and Peach three tips. First, he tells Mario and Peach that "a bunch of no-class jerks" are hiding out in a group of old fortresses. However, the fortresses are so old and worn out, they could be taken out easily with an explosion. Next, he tells Mario and Peach about an ocean just past the fortresses. There, they will have to fight a monster, but it can be dispatched by attacking its red tentacle. His last tip is to watch for an enormous tree. There's a large gorge on the other side of it and to get past it, Mario and Peach must ride red wind. After giving Mario and Peach the tips, Barry tells them that if he somehow defeats Francis, come back and tell him about it, hinting at how to recruit Barry.
The first area consists of a small mountain, patrolled by several Koopa Troopas (who, notably, are not wearing sunglasses, as these have not been brainwashed into Count Bleck's army). There is a pipe on either side of the mountain, with a Piranha Plant in one. Beyond the mountain is a huge pipe bypassed by Flipping. On the other side is a flip block that can be used to get on top of the pipe. There is a Save Block and then a large chasm with a red pipe on either side. Across the chasm is several vertical lines of colored blocks. Flipping reveals these blocks to actually be in different patterns, such as a humanoid figure or castle turret. This area has some Magikoopas and a Back Cursya. If Mario or Peach are able to get on top of the colored blocks, they may find a floating platform with a Piranha Plant Card. At the end of this area is a pipe leading into the background, where a pipe leading underground is found. In the underground room is a Thunder Rage and a Blomeba. Defeating the Blomeba reveals a pipe leading back up. An Ice Storm can be found at the edge of the background area.
Back across the red pipes, the player should get on top of the tall pipe and jump, revealing an invisible block with a ladder inside that can be climbed to a floating platform with a door on it. To the left of this new area is two pipes, a short one and a tall one, and a Sproing-Oing. There is a Piranha Plant in the right pipe. Peach's parasol can be used to get on top of the tall pipe, which leads into the background where a Catch Card SP is found. To the right is a ? Block containing a Mega Star, which can be used to get through the following area to another door. The next area consists of many sets of blocks and the door opens in midair. When the player lands, a Koopa Troopa sees them and runs away, hitting a ? Block in the process and collecting a Mega Star, becoming Mega Koopa. The ideal way of defeating Mega Koopa is to run to the left and collect a Mega Star. To the far right of this area is a sign that, when read backwards, reads: "fall in between the red pipes".
By jumping into the pit between the red pipes in the first area, the player can access an area very similar to World 1-2 of Super Mario Bros.. After this area is an area where the player must deal with many Koopa Strikers before getting to the old fortress Barry spoke of. Mario and Peach find the Koopa Troop holed up inside. They must get through the fortresses, dodging enemies, until they get to a red X on the side of the last fortress. Using Boomer near the X destroys the fortress and reveals Bowser. Bowser sees Mario and flies into a rage about having his castle destroyed yet again. He separates Peach from Mario and duels him. Mario wins using Boomer and is reunited with Peach. After a humorous argument, Bowser joins the team as a playable character. He tells the Koopa Troop to hold down the fort while he's gone. They pretend to be upset that he's leaving, but secretly plan to party. The three heroes leave to go find Tippi.
Enemies
Bowser (boss)
Menu description
- "Francis kidnapped Tippi from these beautiful Bitlands. Bowser battled Mario here too, but Mario prevailed. Once Peach charmed him, he agreed to join the group."
References to other Mario games
The Bitlands (especially Chapter 3-4) holds many references and similarities to older Mario games or other Nintendo-related things. These include:
- Francis has a Famicom, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a Virtual Boy, a Nintendo 64, a Nintendo GameCube, a Game Boy, and (if the player flips into 3-D) a Wii.
- Francis has a huge amount of posters showing Lady Bow and Bootler (this marks Lady Bow's second cameo appearance in Super Paper Mario), Petuni, Princess Peach, and other, less identifiable characters.
- Mega Koopa is identical to a Koopa Troopa from Super Mario Bros. on the NES.
- Big Blooper is a mini-boss in The Tile Pool; Bloopers have had at least a mini-boss role in every Paper Mario game to date.
- Bowser declares that there will be no more sequels; many Mario games have at least one sequel, and Bowser gets defeated in all Paper Mario sequels.
- Francis is a big fan of Mario reference-filled TV shows, one of which involves Tubba Blubba (making almost all Paper Mario game to date have a giant Spike at least mentioned in their corresponding Chapter 3s); another involves X-Nauts, and yet another involves Sir Grodus.
- The underground cavern in 3-1 is an almost exact replica of World 1-2 in the original Super Mario Bros. The only differences are some of the power-ups have been changed, and a small area has been removed.
- The overworld music has several interludes in which segments of the Super Mario Bros. theme may be heard clearly.
- The player must take the second Warp Pipe in the Warp Zone look-alike area to continue the sub-chapter, which may be a reference to Super Mario Bros. when Mario or Luigi must take the second pipe in the Warp Zone to go to World 3, which is the world Bitlands is.
- Fort Francis has a few bars of music similar to those of Paper Mario, specifically, the music is similar to the Shiver Mountain music.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ピクセランド Pikuserando カクカク平原 Kakukaku Heigen[?] |
Dimension: "Pixeland", a portmanteau of "pixel" and "land" Stage: "Square-y Plain", likely from「角」(kaku, square) |
|
| German | Die Bitlande[?] | The Bitlands | |
| Italian | Bittonia[?] | Bittony | |
| Korean | 도트도트랜드[?] Doteu-doteu Raendeu |
Dot Dot Land, Dot is alternative word for pixel. | |
| Spanish | Bitania[?] | Combination of "bit" and the suffix "-ia", commonly used to form placenames |
- When Geeks Attack
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | アンナさらわれる[?] Anna Sarawareru |
Tippi Kidnapped | |
| Italian | Quando i Nerd attaccano[?] | When Nerds attack |
Trivia
- The Bitlands is also one of only two worlds where there is at least one boss in each section (Bowser in 3-1, who joins Mario's party after being defeated, Big Blooper in 3-2, Dimentio in 3-3, and Francis in 3-4), with Castle Bleck being the other world.
- Furthermore, including the optional Pixls, Barry and Tiptron, the player gets four Pixls in The Bitlands, which is more than in any other world in Super Paper Mario.
- On the fortress that requires blowing up on a red X, there are some enemies that aren't normally attackable due to the fortress being too tall to jump on. These enemies don't require items to defeat though, as one can use Thoreau to grab the Bullet Bill Blaster's Bullet Bills and throw them back. One can also use Dashell, if obtained before chapter 3, to jump off the fortress before it and use Princess Peach's Parasol to get on the fortress. This allows access to the other side of it that is normally otherwise inaccessible, and the ? Block that is normally destroyed with it can be hit (it gives a single coin).
