Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Developer AlphaDream

Switch Entertainment Inc.

Digital Works Entertainment

Will Co., Ltd.

Sound Racer Ltd. Publisher Nintendo Platforms Nintendo 3DS Release date December 3, 2015

December 3, 2015

December 3, 2015

December 4, 2015

December 10, 2015

January 22, 2016

May 26, 2016

Genre Role-Playing Rating(s) ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages ACB: - General USK: - All ages Mode(s) Single player Media Nintendo 3DS: Game Card Game Card Digital download Digital download Input Nintendo 3DS: Control pad

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (known as Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario MIX in Japanese and Korean, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. in British English) is a game for the Nintendo 3DS which is a crossover between the Mario & Luigi and the Paper Mario series. As a result, the game uses the same graphics and engine as its predecessor and contains elements from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. The plot revolves around Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario trying to stop Bowser and Paper Bowser from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom using their combined armies. It is the second Mario & Luigi game for the Nintendo 3DS and the fifth game overall in the series.

Story

The story begins with Luigi and a Toad entering the attic of Peach's Castle, looking for the source of a draught. Luigi is spooked by a Scaredy Rat and ends up bumping a bookshelf, opening a book that contains the Paper Mario world. The Paper characters are released into the Mario & Luigi world, spreading across the Mushroom Kingdom. Paper Toads are seen landing near Toad Villages, while Bowser's minions begin to meet with their paper counterparts. Paper Peach remains at Peach's Castle with Princess Peach, while Paper Bowser, Paper Bowser Jr. and Paper Kamek meet and decide to team up with Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Kamek. Mario, Luigi and Starlow decide to help Paper Peach to find the Paper Toads spread across the Kingdom, as well as Paper Mario. They also meet up with Nabbit, who steals most of the Bros. Attacks that the Toads had prepared, and Toadette, who has taken interest in papercrafting and is inspired to make giant papercrafts with the help of the Paper Toads.

Mario and Luigi head to Sunbeam Plains, where they come across two Paper Goombas, whom they defeat and leave one with a crease. This Goomba returns with reinforcements, and form a Goomba Wheel that defeats the Bros. Shortly afterwards, Paper Mario arrives, defeats the Paper Goombas and saves Mario and Luigi, who team up with Paper Mario to rescue the Paper Toads. However, the Bowser duo arrive at Peach's Castle and kidnap Princess Peach and Paper Peach, leaving behind Petey Piranha to stop them. After his defeat, the Mario trio head to Bowser's Castle to rescue the Princesses, but the way to Doop Doop Dunes is blocked by a Papercraft Goomba. Toadette arrives with Papercraft Mario, which she built with the Paper Toads the Mario Trio rescued, to destroy the Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba blockade, allowing the trio to access Doop Doop Dunes. As they approach Bowser's Castle beyond the dunes, the Big Pokey Duo knock them off a bridge into the Doop Doop Dunes Grotto. After rescuing some more Paper Toads, they build a trampoline to reach the Pokeys and fight them to escape the grotto. The trio are blocked yet again by the Kamek duo and their Papercraft Kamek, at which point the trio are given Papercraft Luigi to destroy it with. However, right as they are about to reach the castle, they are knocked out by cannonballs that also take down the bridge to the castle. Wendy, Roy, Larry, and Ludwig arrive and order the Chargin' Chuck Corps to take them away to the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, and the Bowser Jr. duo arrive to collect the book that contained Paper Mario's world, which Luigi dropped after being hauled away.

The trio escape their cell, and battle their Hammer Bro. wardens to retrieve their items and Command Blocks. The creased Goomba from earlier returns locked in a cell, and he gives the trio Battle Cards in exchange for freeing him. The trio find out the arrested Toads are being forced to mine Fire Ore by Bowser and Paper Bowser in order to make an "ultimate papercraft," and soon run into a gate with a round-shaped indent in the center, before proceeding to fight against Wendy and Roy to escape the dungeon. Meanwhile, the Bowser Jr. duo annoy the Kameks into giving them a vacation to Bowser's Villa on Mount Brrr and take the Princesses with them. They also try to tell the Bowser duo about the book containing the Paper Mario universe, but are ignored.

The Mario trio, alongside the freed Toads find themselves stranded at Twinsy Tropics. The Paper Toads build a boat for everyone to return to Sunbeam Plains, and the trio returns to Peach's Castle, where a Toad tells them the Princesses were taken to Mount Brrr, which can be accessed through Gloomy Woods. Getting to the woods, the trio find new papercraft terrain that covers and changes the landscape, and even fight a paper version of Petey Piranha. Arriving at the woods, they meet a starving Wiggler who claims to be the guardian of the forest. Paper Kamek soon appears to block the path with junk, which Wiggler considers littering. Feeding the Wiggler eleven berries and a Melon they win from a Yellow Yoshi in a race, the Mario trio use him to break the blockades. The Kamek duo tries to hinder them, with Paper Kamek cursing Wiggler and forcing him to battle the team. After he is defeated and Wiggler is freed, Wiggler turns into a Flutter and flies them to Mount Brrr. At Mount Brrr, the source of paper terrain is revealed to be a summit base, where King Bob-omb, Iggy, Lemmy, and Morton use the cannons to blast the land with papercraft. With the help of Toadette, the Mario trio make it to a Toad Village, where they prepare to build Papercraft Peach to combat Papercraft Bowser Jr. and save the princesses. However, after destroying Papercraft Bowser Jr., the Bowser Jr duo manage to escape with the Princesses and the book unharmed. They accidentally leave behind a Red Medallion, which opens the gate in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon. In order to go there, they cross Doop Doop Dunes again.

While crossing Doop Doop Dunes, they meet up with the Creased Goomba again and travel to the dungeon with him. Along the way, the Mario Trio are ambushed by the Chargin' Chuck Corps and defeat them. Upon reaching the dungeon, the Goomba betrays Mario and Co. to the Fire Bros, who have taken over as wardens; taking the Red Medallion with him. After getting the medallion back, they open the gate which leads to Bowser's Castle, and fight Ludwig and Larry, who try to stop them. Inside Bowser's Castle, the trio encounter the Kamek Duo and their new Papercraft King Boo, which Morton and Lemmy pilot. Luckily, Toadette arrives on time with Papercraft Yoshi. After the trio's Papercraft is victorious, Kamek kidnaps Toadette to prevent the production of more Papercrafts, and prepares to build his own ultimate Papercraft Bowser with the help of his paper form. The group begin searching for Toadette and rescue her shortly afterward. Meanwhile, the Princesses escape and greet the team, but are shortly caught by the Bowser Jr. duo. They initially mean to fight, but after showing the book to them, they realize that the trio had no idea they had the book, so they flee instead. The Mario trio chases them down, but are fooled with a fake book the Bowser Jr. duo uses to escape. After deciding to fight the trio, they are promptly beaten. The Bowser duo come in and, enraged by this, lift the castle into the sky, turning the castle into Neo Bowser Castle. Mario and co. escape the castle, leaving the book behind. As they head back to Peach's Castle the Bowser duo take their revenge by destroying Peach's Castle with cannonballs. Toadette realizes she can build a staircase with the Paper Toads from the summit of Mount Brrr to reach Neo Bowser Castle.

The team begins to make their way through Gloomy Woods to get to Mount Brrr, but due to paper terrain blocking certain paths, end up on the haunted west side. Both Mario and Paper Mario are promptly kidnapped by King Boo and his minions, leaving Luigi alone to find them. Luigi manages to find them, but he and Mario soon realize that "Paper Mario" is King Boo in disguise. QPaper Mario is rescued and King Boo is defeated, and the trio meet up with Flutter once again, who flies the trio back to Mount Brrr. At Mount Brrr, the group rescues all the remaining Paper Toads to build the staircase, and proceed to venture to the summit of the mountain. At the Papercraft Base, King Bob-omb appears and proceeds to start a self destruction sequence, whom the trio defeat before the timer runs out. Lakitus then arrive at the summit with a large delivery of Paper Toads to build a staircase to Neo Bowser Castle.

At the castle, they find Toadette, who is defending Papercraft Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi. However, the Kameks release their new Papercraft Bowser, which burns them all to a crisp. Toadette mourns the loss of her work, but then realizes that she could build a Papercraft out of the same material, Fire Ore, which she asks the trio to collect around the castle. The collected ore is used to assemble Papercraft Fire Mario, which then defeats Papercraft Bowser. The Bowsers and Kameks try to stall the Mario trio by dissassembling the bridge to the rest of the castle. As the Mario trio reassembles it, Lemmy, Iggy, and Morton activate a timer that charges up the castle's main cannon for a final blow to destroy any remains of Peach's Castle. The Mario trio manages to break the cannon before proceeding to the final area.

Before they can face the Bowsers, the Kamek Duo fights them, but are defeated. In the final corridor, the Bowser duo sends multiple waves of troops, including Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Spinies, Ninjis, Hammer Bros., Spikes, Shy Guys, Broozers, and finally the Koopalings to finish off the trio. They defeat them all and proceed to challenge Bowser and Paper Bowser themselves, who reveal they plan to trap the Bros. in the now empty book and burn it, both of them subtly hinting that they each wish to trap the other one in as well. After the Bowsers take enough damage, Paper Bowser merges with his entire paper army to create a suit of armor for Bowser; creating Shiny RoboBowser. However, this wasn't enough, and the trio successfully defeat the villianous duo. Bowser is sent flying off of Neo Bowser Castle, and plummets to the ground. Paper Bowser makes one last attempt to grab the book, but Paper Mario makes it there first, and the trio seal him in it once more.

Back at Peach's Castle, with the Princesses and Toads gathered at the entrance, the group reunites with their friends. Toadette orchestrates a Papercraft parade, where they tour the lands bringing the terrain and enemies back to the Paper World. Afterward, Peach, Mario and Luigi say goodbye to Paper Mario, Paper Peach and the Paper Toads who return to their world. The game ends with Mario and Luigi going off to stop Bowser's plans once again.

Gameplay

The 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 Trio Hammer, or powerful shockwave, that can destroy large blocks. Other moves include the Trio Drill, a reworked version of the Drill Bros.; the Trio Glider, that acts like Mario's Paper Airplane from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and the Trio Grab, which can reach far distanced things and throw them.

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 split and target 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 of special attacks called Trio Attacks can be performed with Paper Mario. These attacks will have all three members attack enemies with a giant cardboard hammer to paperize 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. Each time, they'll control different Papercraft characters, each with their own unique abilities, and each of the five battles will end with a Papercraft Boss.

Another new addition are Battle Cards, replacing the badge system, also from the previous two games. The player creates a deck of 10 Battle Cards, one of which will be played each turn. These range from boosting stats, dealing damage, or lowering an enemies stats or level. Each one needs a different amount of Star Points to use. amiibo are compatible with the game, each giving the player a special set of support cards to use in battle. The cards will reset once they've all been played.

Special attacks

Bros. Attacks

Mario

Luigi

Trio Attacks

Ranks

Mushroom Rank - Levels 1 to 5

Shell Rank - Levels 6 to 11

Boomerang Rank - Levels 12 to 18

Flower Rank - Levels 19 to 26

Leaf Rank - Levels 27 to 35

Star Rank - Levels 36 to 45

Rainbow Rank - Levels 46 to 100

Characters

Playable

General

Papercraft Characters

Papercraft Mario - Normal Papercraft with no advantages and middle range.

Papercraft Luigi - Allows the player to use a Flying Hammer Attack, that can damage spiky enemies, such as Papercraft Pokeys.

Papercraft Yoshi - Allows the player to use its tongue to grab poles, 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 the air, and ground pound on other papercraft, with a long range of attack. Dashing will block enemy projectiles.

Papercraft Fire Mario - Allows the player to shoot Fireballs.

Supporting

Antagonists

Cameos on Battle Cards

Enemies

Mario & Luigi series

Paper Mario series

S Indicates enemies which appear in stacks.

Regular

Shiny

Papercraft

Bosses

Normal Bosses

Boss Battle Ring Bosses

Papercraft Bosses

Items

Objects

Status Aliments

Locations

Sidequests

Lakitu Info Center

Main article: Lakitu Info Center

Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario talking to a Lakitu in a Lakitu Info Center.

The Lakitu Info Center plays an important role in this game. It is a cloud-shaped building found in the various Toad Towns. The player can talk to two Lakitus: the one on the right offers to play new missions whose goals are catching Paper Toads. The player must obtain a certain number of them to progress through the story. The one on the left lets the player replay already cleared missions (but also minigames like Toad Quizzes) and also try Hard Mode of some of them (which make a mission harder by doing things like adding or reducing timers). By clearing a mission for the first time (Hard Mode included) the player can earn Medals. Obtaining a set number of Medals gives an exclusive Battle Card. A pipe on the left of each building, which passage is freed once the player reaches the second Lakitu Center in Sunbeam Plains, leads to the Arcade. Here, the player can buy Lakitea for 20 Coins (which fully heals the party) and play in the Boss Battle Ring, the Papercraft Battle Ring and the Attackathlon, which, respectively, lets the player face harder variants of the game's bosses, replay Papercraft battles and play extended, more complex versions of the Trio Attack, and also get rated by their performance.

Toad Quiz

Five Toad scolars, found in Sunbeam Plains, Doop Doop Dunes, Twinsy Tropics, Gloomy Woods, and Mount Brrr, host quizzes with trivial questions mainly about the game's story and characters. To earn a one-time prize (3 Beans of a certain kind) the player must answer 3 questions out of 5 correctly—however, there is not a time limit. If the player keeps giving right answers, they will also gain some Coins. The questions are picked randomly from a pool and their wrong answers may vary. From the afromentioned Lakitu Center the player can also play Hard Mode versions of the Toad Quizzes. While the answers are unchanged, the player must correctly answer to all 8 asked questions. To further increase the difficulty, the player must also face a 10 second timer for each question.[1]

Differences from other Mario & Luigi games

Pre-release and unused content

Glitches

Staff

The game is produced by Akira Otani, Toshiharu Izuno, and Yoshihiko Maekawa and directed by Shunsuke Kobayashi and Hiroyuki Kubota. The music for this game is by Yoko Shimomura with Will Co., Ltd providing the Papercraft battles.

Development

In the past, the Mario & Luigi games primarily used two buttons, but the developers wanted to break new ground by making a third button active in combat. Characters were brainstormed until the developers thought of a second Mario, where the Paper Mario character would fit the third character role neatly. This implementation has then turn the idea of a crossover.[2] Though Paper Luigi was considered to be the fourth character, the developers thought that adding a fourth button for a fourth character will be too difficult and complicated to enjoy the game.[2] According to Kobayashi, the trickiest thing to implement in a crossover was to make Paper Mario, a main character, stand out.

Though the first draft of the story involved the characters going back and forth between the Mushroom Kingdom and the paper world with many twists to the narrative, the developers thought it was too complex and that no one will enjoy it, so that it was rewritten many times to be simplified, where greater emphasis was placed on the character interactions between each other.[2] Though emphasis has been placed on Paper Mario to make him stand out, the developers wanted equal attention to all characters, where they mention that it was a "big job" to balance everything. The developers also mentioned interest in adding original characters to the plot, but decided against it since they already have many characters to work with, and it would be too challenging to fit them at an appropriate appearance in the story.[2]

When asked about the gameplay, battle designer Jun Iwasaki emphasized on narrowing the focus. His first thought was making use of three buttons, which were promptly brainstormed with lots of ideas on paper, until the developers chose the one that looked the best and tested them with a prototype.[2] Hiroshi Ohata, the battle programmer, explained that battles are first created without animations and other visual effects. He has stated that they always make sure the gameplay is very responsive at a basic level, so they perform many experiments to test the gameplay elements. What works and what doesn't is based on people who playtest the game during development.

Yoko Shimomura, the composer for the game's music, felt that since Paper Mario is joining the battle, she opted for a lighter, more upbeat tune to the game's soundtrack. When asked which music is her favorite, she stated that her songs are "like her children" and is unable to choose one, though she did say that Mountaintop Secrets, the background music for Mount Brrr, "has a certain fantastical atmosphere that isn't usually found in the Mario world, and having the opportunity to put a song with that kind of feel into a Mario game is something that's quite unique to the Mario & Luigi series, I think."[2]

Natsuko Kemi, the game's graphics designer, emphasized on the details of the animations and graphics on the characters. For example, Luigi's walk cycles is based off his walk cycles in Luigi's Mansion.[2]

Reception

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has received generally positive reviews from professional critics, scoring a 76 based on 65 critics in Metacritic[3] and a 76.70% based on 44 reviews in GameRankings.[4] 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 humour though stated that the game was too simple for hardcore JRPG fans and the amiibo implementation was superfluous.[5] 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.[6] On a more critical note, Mark Brown of Pocket Gamer UK 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.[7]

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 Jared Petty, IGN 5.9/10 "Creases mar what should have been a beautiful origami of a game." Nintendo 3DS Miguel Concepcion, GameSpot 6/10 "As a crossover that is already intriguing based on concept alone, it’s hard to blame Nintendo for playing it safe and predictable in its execution: undeniably adorable but bereft of genuine surprises or innovation." 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 76 GameRankings 76.70%

References to other games

References to other media

Super Mario Adventures: How Roy summons the Charging Chucks is a reference to the same thing Wendy does in this comic.

References in later games

Quotes

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

Media

It has been suggested that audio and/or video file(s) related to this section be uploaded.

Please upload all related music, sound effects, voice clips, or any videos for this section. See the help page for information on how to get started.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Japanese マリオ＆ルイージRPG ペーパーマリオMIX

Mario ando Ruīji Ārupījī Pēpā Mario Mix Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario Mix Spanish (NOA) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam - Spanish (NOE) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - French (NOA) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam - French (NOE) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - Dutch Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - German Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - Italian Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - Portuguese (NOE) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - Russian Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. - Korean 마리오&루이지 RPG 페이퍼 마리오 MIX

Mario aendeu Ruiji Areupiji Peipeo Mario Mikseu Same as Japanese title

Trivia

This is the first Mario game where dialogue between the Koopalings can be seen, the first Mario game published by Nintendo since the Mario's Early Years! series to give spoken dialogue to the Koopalings and the first one since Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to call them "Koopalings" instead of "Bowser's Minions" in the British English version of the game.

game where dialogue between the Koopalings can be seen, the first game published by Nintendo since the series to give spoken dialogue to the Koopalings and the first one since to call them "Koopalings" instead of "Bowser's Minions" in the British English version of the game. The top of the North American box art has a Paper Goomba in place of the fourth Paper Toad shown on the other international box art.

Somewhat ironically, the non-Paper characters and enemies use two-dimensional sprites, while the Paper characters use models. This is to allow them to be able to twist and fall flat, among other things.

References