The Bitlands
| Level | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Bitlands | |||
| |||
| Level code | 3-1 | ||
| Game | Super Paper Mario | ||
| Boss | Bowser Big Blooper Dimentio Francis | ||
| Music track | The Open Plane | ||
| |||
| << Directory of levels >> | |||
The Bitlands is a dimension located beyond Flipside Tower's yellow door in Super Paper Mario. It has a unique art style that makes the world look as if it was drawn on a grid, like pixel art. The overworld music in this world is an arrangement of the classic Ground Theme from Super Mario Bros. According to The InterNed, said overworld theme is titled "The Open Plane", while the music in the underground area beneath the two red pipes is titled "Nostalgic Underground", due to it being an arrangement of the Underground Theme from Super Mario Bros.
Chapters/Locations
| Level | Preview | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Bitlands (Chapter 3-1: When Geeks Attack) |
|
This pixelated grassland 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. References to Nintendo products and pop culture abound. Francis is the Chapter boss, and Carrie is found here. |
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 a nerdy-looking chameleon, who claims it has caught a "super rare pixelated butterfly". Before Mario and Peach can help her, the chameleon disappears. Mario and Peach hear a voice coming from a bush and find 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 the red wind. After giving them those tips, Barry asks them to come back to see him if they somehow defeat Francis, hinting at how to recruit this Pixl.
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 is gone. They pretend to be upset that he is leaving, but secretly plan to party. The three heroes leave to go rescue Tippi.
Enemies
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 Super Mario games
The Bitlands (especially Chapter 3-4) holds many references and similarities to older Mario games, or to 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.
- 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 certain TV shows, whose names are filled with references to characters from the Paper Mario series, such as The Blubbening, which apparently involves Tubba Blubba (this way making Super Paper Mario the third Paper Mario game in a row to at least mention a giant Spike in their corresponding third Chapters), Starship X-Naut, seemingly focusing on the X-Nauts, and The Grodus Chronicles, which seems to feature Sir Grodus.
- The underground cavern in Chapter 3-1 is an almost exact replica of World 1-2 in the original Super Mario Bros. The only differences are that some of the power-ups have been changed, and that a small area has been removed.
- The overworld music has several interludes, in which segments of the Super Mario Bros. theme can be heard clearly.
- The player must take the second Warp Pipe in the Warp Zone look-alike area to progress through the level, which may be a reference to Super Mario Bros., as Mario or Luigi must take the second pipe in the Warp Zone if they wish to take a shortcut to World 3. The Bitlands happens to be the third world Mario and co. visit.
- Fort Francis has a few bars of music similar to those of Paper Mario, specifically, the music resembles the Shiver Mountain music track.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ピクセランド (dimension)[?] Pikuserando |
Pixeland; a portmanteau of "pixel" and "land" | |
| カクカク平原 (stage)[?] Kakukaku Heigen |
Jagged Plain | ||
| French | Pays Rétro[?] | Retro Country | |
| German | Die Bitlande[?] | The Bitlands | |
| Italian | Bittonia[?] | Bittony | |
| Korean | 도트도트랜드[?] Doteu-doteu Raendeu |
Dot Dot Land; "dot" is an alternative word for "pixel". | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Bitania[1] | Derived from "bit" and "-ia" (a common suffix used for forming place names) |
- When Geeks Attack
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | アンナさらわれる[?] Anna Sarawareru |
Tippi Kidnapped | |
| French | L'attaque de l'otaku[?] | The otaku's attack | |
| German | Wenn Nerds angreifen[?] | When Nerds attack | |
| Italian | Quando i Nerd attaccano[?] | When Nerds attack | |
| Korean | 안나 납치되다![?] Anna nabchidoeda! |
Tippi is kidnapped! | |
| Spanish (NOE) | El ataque de los friquis[1] | When nerds attack/The 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 where this is the case.
- 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).
