Super Paper Mario

SUPER PAPER MARIO

Ah, Super Paper Mario, probably the most divisive of the Paper Mario games. It seems to me that most people either hate it because it departed away from the standard RPG mechanics, opting for more of a platforming style instead, or they absolutely love it for the storytelling and characters being some of the best the Paper Mario series, and the Mario series as a whole, has ever seen. I am in the latter boat. I fricking love this game, and the characters within it.

In this game, you play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser as they work together to stop a mad count bent on erasing all of existence using a mystical dark heart and his book, the Dark Prognosticus. All four have a generally similar playstyle, being able to run and jump as most platformers do. Mario himself has the power to flip the playstyle from a 2D perspective to a 3D perspective, while Luigi can perform a super jump to launch himself onto high platforms. Peach can float long distances with her umbrella and protect herself with the same, while Bowser can breath fire and is generally the strongest of the four.

Sadly the game trades out your complex companions and opts instead for strange beings called Pixls, each of whom grant you a specific ability based on which one you have out. Tippi is the main Pixl and is always accompanying you. You can use her as a Tattle ability of sorts, as she will tell you about any enemies you are facing. She also has strong connections to the plot of the story. After her we have: Thoreau, who lets you grab and throw things; Boomer, a bomb basically; Slim, who lets you turn sideways to squeeze between gaps; Thudley, who lets you ground pound; Carrie, who acts as a platform across hazardous terrain; Fleep, who can flip things between dimensions to reveal secrets; Cudge, a hammer basically; Dottie, who will shrink you down; Barry, who will protect you in a barrier; Dashell, who gives you a speed boost; Piccolo, who plays healing music; and Tiptron, a replacement for Tippi, after she leaves you at the end of the game because plot reasons.

As for our other supporting characters, Merlon returns once again as a mentor figure, helping you on your quest. His family members Merlee, Merluvlee, and Merlumina both return as well in support capacities, as well as Merlon's alternate reality version Nolrem. Other supporting characters include Toads, a sage named Bestovius, an alien prince named Squirps who helps you fly through space and can shoot laser beams, a foolhardy explorer named Flint Cragley (between him, Kolorado, and Flavio, you'd think the game designers get a kick out of this kind of character), and finally Grambi (basically God), Queen Jaydes (basically Satan), and their daughter Luvbi.

Now, here's where the game really shines, in its villains. Count Bleck, or Blumiere, is the game's main villain, a shadow being who once fell in love with a human, but after she was seemingly killed, he went mad and sought to erase the entire world just to be free of his pain. He wields a powerful spellbook called the Dark Prognosticus and uses it to summon the Chaos Heart to destroy all worlds. In battle, he can trap you in a cage of light, protect himself with a distortion shield, trap you in a black hole, warp around, and throw black holes as projectiles.

He has four main followers, three of whom are loyal to him and act purely out of their respect and love for him and his cause. Nastasia is his right-hand woman and loyal advisor, who sadly does not have a boss fight, but simply uses her glasses to hypnotize other into working for him. O'Chunks is a hulking muscleman who favors brawn over brains. His battles feature him ground pounding, jumping high into the air, butt bashing, grabbing you to spin and throw you, spinning really fast, charging forward, throwing blocks, "chunking up" (a power boost), and launching himself into the sky with a fart. Mimi is a self-proclaimed beauty queen able to mimic others' appearance to trick her enemies. When that doesn't work, she can morph into a terrifying spider-like form that can crawl around on walls and ceilings, and uses mainly gems called rubees as weapons, launching them like missiles, dropping them from above, sending out a tidal wave of them, sending them out in a circle, and spinning through the air with four rubees acting as razor blades.

His one disloyal follower, and the true villain of the game, is Dimentio, a sadistic interdimensional clown seeking to destroy the universe because it's fun, and so he can recreate it in his own image. Dimentio has all kinds of tricky moves up his sleeve, including teleporting around everywhere, throwing these weird spiky magic things at you, creating multiples of himself, trapping people within boxes and then causing the box to explode, transporting his foes into a dimension all his own to fight them, and using seedlings to control people's minds. At the end of the game, he also becomes Super Dimentio, a giant mech based on Mr. L's brobot, which can shoot lasers and jump around to crush the enemy.

One last villain we have to cover is Mr. L. Early on in the game, Luigi finds himself captured by Bleck's forces and hypnotized by Nastasia. He then dons a new costume and a mask and proclaims himself Mr. L, fighting against Mario. While his normal fighting strategy is pretty basic, pretty much just jumping on you, most of his fights take place in the Brobot fighting mech, which will fire missiles from its mouth, shoot eye lasers, suck you in, and use disconnected hands and feet against you. He'd probably work best as an echo if implemented.

As the above characters make up the majority of the game's boss fights, we only have a few other bosses to cover. The first is Fracktail, a robotic dragon in the same vein as Hooktail, that will fly around and burrow through sand to try to eat you. We also have Francis, a chameleon super-nerd who captures Tippi to add to his collection. Francis can change color and turn invisible, flash you with his camera, flick his sticky tongue at you, and has an army of cat robots dressed as french maids to serve him and can explode on command. He also uses a program called Swoon.exe to try and flirt with Peach, so there's that too. We also have King Croacus IV, a giant flower that attacks you with spinning petals, vines, and heavy buds, and Bonechill, a demonic creature besieging the Overthere (heaven), who attacks with freezing breath, icicles, and an ice block.

Returning enemies include: Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Piranha Plants, Bloopers, Thwomps, Clefts, Buzzy Beetles, Swoopers, Boos, Magikoopas, Hammer Bros, Cheep Cheeps, Crazee Dayzees, Chain Chomps, Lakitus, Fuzzies, Pokeys, Clubbas, Spike Tops, Dry Bones, Puffs, Spanias, Mr. I, Koopatrols, and the Underchomp (basically a Chain Chomp version of Cerberus). Brand new enemies include: Squiglets, little pig things; Sproing-Oings, living springs; Jawbus, a rock dinosaur thing; Cherbils that spit bubbles; Shlurps, vacuum things that suck things up; Cursyas that curse you; Bittacuda and Tiloids that inhabit a pixelated world; Francis's Meowbots; Jelliens, basically space jellyfish; Fotons orbited by particles; Warpids that warp around; Longators that extend their necks; Boomboxers with speakers for heads; Choppas, basically dragonflies; Hooligons that are basically space Flame Chomps; Pigarithms, spinning multi-headed pigs; Barribads that create barriers; Floro Sapiens, living flowers that serve King Croacus; Muths, basically mammoths; Sammer Guys, who inhabit a world dedicated to martial arts and wield swords, maces, and clubs; Skellobits, who fly with spears; and Magiblots that throw little dark blots.

Most of the game's hubworld is a terminal between worlds known as Flipside, where Merlon lives, and its opposite version, Flopside. Each chapter takes you to a different world and hearkens to famous books and movies. The first chapter is pretty basic and takes you through a basic grassland called Lineland, and on to Yold Desert. The second takes you to find Merlee in her mansion, only to find Mimi has taken her place and enslaved those livng there. The third takes you to the Bitlands, a world of 8-bit, where Francis takes Tippi hostage and you have to follow him to Fort Francis. The fourth chapter to Outer Space and the Whoa Zone, where you help Prince Squirps take back his throne. The fifth chapter takes place in a prehistoric caveman setting where the friendly Cragnons are being enslaved by the more advanced Floro Sapiens. The sixth world is Sammer's Kingdom, where you have to fight your way through a series of martial arts challenges, only for Bleck's black hole to swallow up the world halfway through and leave it a barren white husk of a world. In the next world, Dimentio straight up murders the heroes and sends them all to the Underwhere (hardy-har) and they have to work their way up to the Overthere, Dante's Divine Comedy style. The final world is Castle Bleck, a world of black and white where you face all of Bleck's minions, Bleck himself, and Dimentio, one more time.

The game still has a number of items, though without the RPG elements, they work a bit differently. Your main attacking items include a Fire Burst, Ghost Shroom, Ice Storm, POW Block, Shell Shock, Thunder Rage, and Volt Shroom. Other items include several different types of food and mushrooms to boost your HP and stats, and random important items related to specific quests.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:
Mario: jumping, fireballs, punch, hammer, koopa shells
Paper Mario: jump, hammer, companions, Star Spirits, badges, items like Fire Flowers and Sleepy Sheep, turn sideways, paper airplane, paper boat, roll up, Crystal Star powers, flip between 2D and 3D, items
Luigi: various adventures, Mr. L, run, jump, super jump
Mr. L: jump, pilot Brobot
Princess Peach: therapy, group hug, sleepy time, mute, come back, psych bomb, slap, parasol, fan, frying pan, Sneaky Parasol, Twink, turn invisible, parasol float, parasol shield
Bowser: Terrorize, Crusher, Bowser Crush, Poison Gas, throw Chain Chomp, drill glove, throw Mario, stomp, breathe fire, claw, Klown Kar, Star Rod, lightning, shockwave, bite, grow giant
Mallow: Thunderbolt, HP Rain, Psychopath, Shocker, Snowy, Star Rain, cymbals, froggie stick
Geno: Geno Beam, Geno Boost, Geno Whirl, Geno Flash, Geno Blast, pellets, shooting stars, rocket fists
Pixls: Tippi, Thoreau, Boomer, Slim, Thudley, Carrie, Fleep, Cudge, Dottie, Barry, Dashell, Tiptron
Kammy Koopa: fly on broom, summon block, throw lightning
Yoshi: race, Ground Pound, Gulp, Mini-Egg, Stampede
Toad
Toadsworth
Toadette
Pianta
Star Spirits: Refresh, Lullaby, Star Storm, Chill Out, Smooch, Time Out, Up and Away, Focus, Star Beam, Peach Beam, Star Rod, lightning, shockwave
Merlon (and family): cast spell, lightning, tell future, divine secrets, trade, raise into the air, level up, light prognosticus
Smithy: sledgehammer, meteor shower, drain, smelter, Tank Head, Magic Head, Treasure Head, Mask Head, build machines
Count Bleck: chaos heart, dark prognosticus, light cage, distortion shield, black hole, throw black hole, warp
Sir Grodus: cast lightning, blue fire, stomp time, X-Yux, shield
Lord Crump: butt bash, X-Naut horde, stack, ball, hang from ceiling, Magnus von Grapple, battleship
Nastasia: hypnotize
Dimentio: teleport, magic things, multiples, trap in box, explosion, D Dimension, seedlings, Super Dimentio
Axem Rangers: axes, bombs, petal blast, heal, freeze, electrify, mute, body slam, The Blade, breaker beam
Smithy Gang: Mack (fire), Bowyer (arrows, electricity), Yaridovich (spear, spells), Punchinello? (bombs)
O'Chunks: ground pound, butt bash, jump, spin and throw, spin, charge, throw blocks, chunk up, fart
Mimi: mimic, spider form, missile, drop from above, tidal wave, circle, line, razor blades
Jr. Troopa: tackle, hide in shell, wings, head spike, spell, transform
Croco: steal, run away, bite, bombs, weird mushrooms
Booster: toy train, toy minions, card tricks, throwing knives, bouncing on a ball, killer Bundt cake
Birdo: shoot eggs
X-Naut: tackle, drink potion, throw potion
Johnny: trident, boost HP, drain, minions with spears, starfish, crabs, treasure chest, springs to get out of water, King Calamari
Valentina and Dodo: fly, peck, cancel moves, Petal Blast, Diamond Saw, Blizzard, Water Blast, Aurora Flash, Light Beam, Solidify
Francis: tongue, invisible, flash with camera, Meowbots, Swoon.exe
Culex: Shredder, Dark Star, Flame Stone, Meteor Blast, fire crystal, water crystal, earth crystal, wind crystal
Koopa (Kooper/Parakarry/Koops): Shell Toss, Power Shell, Dizzy Shell, Fire Shell, Sky Dive, Shell Shot, Air Lift, Air Raid, Shell Shield, Shell Slam
Goomba (Goombario/Goombella): Headbonk, Tattle, Charge, Multibonk, Rally Wink
Spiny
Lakitu (Lakilester): Spiny Flip, Spiny Surge, Cloud Nine, Hurricane
Hammer Bro
Shy Guy: Groove Guy, Sky Guy, Medi Guy, Spy Guy, Gourmet Guy, Pyro Guy, Spear Guy, General Guy
Cheep Cheep (Sushie): Belly Flop, Squirt, Water Block, Tidal Wave
Boo (Lady Bow): Smack, Outta Sight, Spook, Fan Smack
Piranha Plant
Bob-Omb (Bombette/Bobbery): Body Slam, Bomb, Power Bomb, Mega Bomb, Bomb Squad, Hold Fast, Bob-Ombast
Chain Chomp
Dry Bones
Blooper
Lil Sparky (Watt): Electro Dash, Power Shock, Turbo Charge, Mega Shock
Pokey
Monty Mole
Bandit
Tiny Mouser (Ms. Mowz): Love Slap, Kiss Thief, Tease, Smooch
Buzzy Beetle
Spike: clubs, butt bash, eat ghosts, heart, butt bash, punch, back flip, power up
Koopatrol
Duplighost (Doopliss): shape shift, turn into pigs
Flurrie: Body Slam, Gale Force, Lip Lock, Dodgy Fog
Vivian/Shadow Sirens: Shade Fist, Veil, Fiery Jinx, Infatuate, slap, punch, boost, electricity, icy wind
Shadow Queen: shadow hands, steal energy, spread darkness, possess Peach, disintegrating blast
Rawk Hawk: sliding kick, double flip, superman slam, prop drop, drop shroom, drop stomp, cheat

Bosses:
Belome
Exor
Smithy
Mega Smilax
Czar Dragon
Etc.
Goomboss
Koopa Bros.
Tutankoopa
Tubba Blubba
General Guy
Lava Piranha
Huff N. Puff
Crystal King
Hooktail
Cortez
Macho Grubba
Bonetail
Gloomtail
Shadow Queen
Fracktail
King Croacus
Bonechill

Stages:
Mushroom Kingdom
Tadpole Pond
Forest Maze
Yo'ster Island
Mole Mountains
Booster Tower
Sea Side
Star Hill
Sunken Ship
Land's End
Nimbus Land
Barrel Volcano
Bowser's Keep
Smithy's Factory
Peach's Castle
Toad Town
Star Sanctuary
Bowser's Castle
Goomba Village
Koopa Village
Mt. Rugged
Dry Dry Desert
Forever Forest
Boo's Mansion
Gusty Gulch
Shy Guy's Toy Box
Lavalava Island
Flower Fields
Cloudy Climb
Shiver Mountain
Crystal Palace
Rogueport
Petal Meadows
Hooktail Castle
Boggly Woods
Glitz Pit
Twilight Town
Church Steeple
Keelhaul Key
Excess Express
Poshley Sanctum
Fahr Outpost
The Moon
X-Naut Base
Thousand-Year Door
Shadow Palace
Flipside
Flopside
Lineland
Yold Desert
Merlee's Mansion
Bitlands
Fort Francis
Outer Space
Whoa Zone
Downtown of Crag
Floro Caverns
Sammer's Kingdom
Underwhere
Overthere
Castle Bleck

Items:
Badges
Mushrooms
Lots of Food
Fire Flower
Sleepy Sheep
Thunderbolt
Snowman Doll
Stop Watch
Fire Burst
Ghost Shroom
Ice Storm
POW Block
Shell Shock
Thunder Rage
Volt Shroom
Too many to list

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's get started on the first real departure from the series, Paper Mario: Sticker Star!