Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is the fifth game in AlphaDream’s role-playing series and its second on Nintendo 3DS, after Dream Team. Nintendo revealed it at E3 in June 2015 with a spring 2016 window, then brought it forward: Japan got it first on 3 December 2015 as Mario & Luigi RPG Paper Mario MIX, Europe a day later as Paper Jam Bros., Australia on 10 December and North America on 22 January 2016.

The idea is right there in the title. Up in the attic of Peach’s Castle, a draught, a Scaredy Rat and a sneeze send Luigi stumbling into a bookshelf, and a book falls open. It holds the world of the Paper Mario games, and its flat inhabitants flutter out across the Mushroom Kingdom. Paper Peach moves in with Peach, hundreds of Paper Toads scatter to the four winds, and Paper Bowser, Paper Bowser Jr. and Paper Kamek find their opposite numbers in no time at all. Two Bowsers means twice the kidnapping.

So the brothers become a trio. Paper Mario joins on the Y Button, and everything is built for three: field moves performed together, battles where each hero takes a turn, and Trio Attacks that start with a hammer that flattens every enemy on screen into paper. Paper Mario makes copies of himself to hit harder, Battle Cards replace the badges of the last two games, and the giant battles of Bowser’s Inside Story and Dream Team become papercraft battles, real-time fights between enormous cardboard models carried by teams of Paper Toads.

Reviewers liked the battles more than the rest. The Metacritic average settled at 76, and the most common complaints were about pacing and the Paper Toad hunts that pad out the middle of the game. It was AlphaDream’s last new Mario & Luigi game: the studio made two 3DS remakes before it closed in 2019, and the series did not return until Brothership, on Nintendo Switch.

“We of course received advice and supervision from Intelligent Systems during production.”

AlphaDream (director Shunsuke Kobayashi), interviewed by Game Informer, 7 February 2016

Intelligent Systems makes the Paper Mario games; AlphaDream borrowed its hero, and its blessing.

The questions people ask most about Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, answered briefly here and in depth further down the page.

Paper Jam’s plot is simple and the cast is enormous. Almost everyone in it comes from the Mario games you already know; the twist is that most of them now have a paper double. Here is the whole adventure, spoilers and all.

The heroes’ job has three parts: track down Paper Mario and the Paper Toads scattered across the kingdom, rescue two Princess Peaches from two Bowsers, and get every paper visitor back into the book before the two worlds stay jammed together for good. The villains’ plan, once they get round to explaining it, involves an empty book and a match.

A sneeze in the attic

It starts with a draught. Luigi and a Toad climb into the attic of Peach’s Castle to find out where it is coming from; a Scaredy Rat startles Luigi, he sneezes, bumps a bookshelf, and a book falls open. Out of it pours the cast of the Paper Mario games, who flutter across the Mushroom Kingdom like loose pages. Paper Toads land near every Toad village.

Everyone soon meets their match. Paper Peach stays at the castle with Princess Peach. Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Kamek meet Paper Bowser, Paper Bowser Jr. and Paper Kamek, and after a squabble the two sets of villains join forces. Starlow sets off with Mario and Luigi to help Paper Peach round up the Paper Toads and find her world’s Mario.

Two characters cross their path on the way out. Nabbit makes off with most of the Bros. Attacks the Toads had been preparing, and Toadette, watching the Paper Toads, gets interested in papercraft and decides to build something big.

Sunbeam Plains: enter Paper Mario

In Sunbeam Plains the brothers squash two Paper Goombas, leaving one of them badly creased. It comes back with friends, the Paper Goombas roll themselves into a wheel, and Mario and Luigi are flattened. Then a flat figure leaps in to the rescue against a yellow burst of light: Paper Mario, who sees off the Goombas and joins the team.

Meanwhile both Bowsers raid Peach’s Castle and carry off both princesses, leaving Petey Piranha behind to deal with anyone who follows. Petey chases the trio and spits goop at them as he did in Super Mario Sunshine, and he is the first proper boss.

The road to the desert is then blocked by a giant cardboard Goomba. Toadette turns up with a giant cardboard Mario of her own, built by the Paper Toads the trio have already rescued, and the first papercraft battle knocks the Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba flat.

Doop Doop Dunes and a bridge too far

The trio head across the desert for Bowser’s Castle, chasing Nabbit and learning the Trio Hammer on the way. Near the bridge, Big Pokey and the paper Tower Power Pokey flip them off it into the Doop Doop Dunes Grotto below. Down there they rescue more Paper Toads, who build a trampoline back up, and the Pokey duo get what is coming to them.

Kamek and Paper Kamek block the road next with a papercraft of their own, backed by cardboard Goombas and Pokeys. Toadette delivers Papercraft Luigi, whose hammer jumps make short work of spiky things, and the trio cross the bridge at last.

They get as far as the castle. Then a volley of cannonballs knocks them out cold and smashes the bridge.

Twinsy Tropics Dungeon

Four Koopalings, Wendy, Roy, Larry and Ludwig, arrive on the scene and have the Chargin’ Chuck Corps haul the unconscious heroes off to a prison on an island, Twinsy Tropics Dungeon. The book, which Luigi drops, ends up with Bowser Jr. and his paper twin.

The trio break out of their cell, beat the Hammer Bro wardens to get their kit and Command Blocks back, and discover that the captive Toads are being made to mine Fire Ore for the Bowsers’ ultimate papercraft. In another cell sits the creased Paper Goomba from Sunbeam Plains, who offers Battle Cards in exchange for being let out. A gate with a round hollow in it bars one way on; Roy and Wendy bar the other, and lose.

Far away, the two Bowser Juniors badger the two Kameks into a holiday at Bowser’s Villa on Mount Brrr, bringing the princesses along. They try to tell their fathers about the book, and nobody listens. Stranded on the island with the freed Toads, the trio get a boat home from the Paper Toads, and a Toad at Peach’s Castle reveals where the princesses have gone: Mount Brrr, through Gloomy Woods.

Gloomy Woods and a hungry Wiggler

Paper scenery is now popping up all over the kingdom and changing the landscape, and on the way the trio have to see off Paper Petey Piranha. In Gloomy Woods they meet a starving Wiggler who says he guards the forest. Paper Kamek has blocked the path with junk, which Wiggler calls littering, but he is far too hungry to shift it.

So the trio feed him: eleven berries, then a Melon won from a Yellow Yoshi in a race. Wiggler charges through the blockades, until Paper Kamek puts a curse on him and makes him fight. Once he is beaten the spell breaks, and Wiggler turns into a Flutter, who flies the heroes up to Mount Brrr.

Mount Brrr and Bowser’s Villa

The paper scenery turns out to be coming from a base on the summit, where King Bob-omb, Iggy, Lemmy and Morton are firing it out of cannons. With Toadette’s help the trio reach a Toad village on the slopes and get Papercraft Peach ready for the cardboard Bowser Jr. guarding the villa.

Papercraft Bowser Jr. is torn apart, but the Bowser Jr. duo escape with the princesses and the book. In their hurry they drop a red medallion with a Bowser emblem on it, the very shape of the hollow in the dungeon gate, and the trio set off back across Doop Doop Dunes to use it.

Bowser’s Castle takes off

On the way the Chargin’ Chuck Corps ambush the trio and are beaten. At the dungeon the creased Paper Goomba shows them the entrance, then sells them out to the new wardens, the Fire Bros., and runs off with the medallion. The trio get it back, open the gate to Bowser’s Castle and fight Larry and Ludwig.

Inside, the Kameks unveil Papercraft King Boo, floated over the lava by Boos and steered by Morton and Lemmy. Toadette answers with Papercraft Yoshi, and the cardboard ghost goes down, so Kamek kidnaps Toadette to stop the supply of papercrafts and sets about building an ultimate Papercraft Bowser with his paper twin. The trio rescue her.

The princesses escape and find the team, only for the Bowser Juniors to grab them again. When the boys wave the book at the heroes and realise the heroes did not even know it mattered, they run, and fool the chasing trio with a fake. At last they stand and fight, and lose. Enraged, the two Bowsers lift the whole castle into the sky as Neo Bowser Castle. The heroes escape but leave the book behind, and the flying fortress shells Peach’s Castle. Toadette has an idea: the Paper Toads could build a staircase to it from the top of Mount Brrr.

Luigi alone in the haunted woods

Paper scenery keeps the team out of the east side of Gloomy Woods, so they drop into the haunted west side instead, where King Boo and his Boos snatch both Mario and Paper Mario. For once it is Luigi who has to do the rescuing, on his own, with Starlow reminding him that he once had a whole year named after him.

He finds Mario, and then a Paper Mario, who turns out to be King Boo in disguise. The real Paper Mario is rescued, King Boo is beaten, and Flutter flies the reunited trio back to Mount Brrr.

A staircase of Paper Toads

Back on Mount Brrr the team rescue the last Paper Toads they need and climb to the Papercraft Base on the summit. King Bob-omb starts a self-destruct countdown, and the trio have to beat him before it runs out.

The staircase is still short, until a squadron of Lakitus floats in with a huge supply of Paper Toads. The finished stairs wind up into the clouds, and the trio climb aboard Neo Bowser Castle.

Neo Bowser Castle

Inside, Toadette has four papercrafts ready, Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi. The Kameks unleash Papercraft Bowser, and it burns the lot of them. Toadette mourns her work, then realises she can build with the castle’s own Fire Ore, and sends the trio to collect it. The result is Papercraft Fire Mario, and its fireballs bring the cardboard Bowser down.

The Bowsers and the Kameks pull the bridge apart to slow the heroes; while they rebuild it, Lemmy, Iggy and Morton start a countdown to fire the castle’s main cannon at what is left of Peach’s Castle, and the trio wreck the cannon in time. The Kamek duo fight next and lose, then bicker about it.

The final corridor is a gauntlet. The two Bowsers throw wave after wave at the trio, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Spinies, Ninjis, Hammer Bros., Spikes, Shy Guys and Broozers, and finally the Koopalings themselves.

Two Bowsers and a book

At the top, Bowser and Paper Bowser explain the plan: trap the brothers in the empty book and burn it. Each of them drops hints that he means to shut the other one in as well. After enough of a beating, Paper Bowser folds the entire paper army into a suit of armour for his real self, and the trio face Shiny RoboBowser.

When the armour fails, Bowser is knocked clean off Neo Bowser Castle and falls all the way to the ground. Paper Bowser lunges for the book, but Paper Mario gets there first, and the trio seal Paper Bowser inside.

Back at Peach’s Castle the princesses and Toads welcome everyone home. Toadette leads a papercraft parade around the kingdom that sweeps the paper scenery and paper enemies back into the book, and Mario, Luigi and Peach wave off Paper Mario, Paper Peach and the Paper Toads as they head home. The brothers, as ever, head straight off to stop Bowser’s next scheme.

Every area in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

The whole adventure takes place in the Mushroom Kingdom: eight main areas, two of them with a sub-area underneath. In Japanese, and in several other languages, the names of most areas play on doubles and look-alikes, a joke the English version mostly leaves out.

1. 
   Peach’s CastleHome base · Nabbit drops 3D Red Shell and Fire FlowerWhere Luigi’s sneeze opens the book. The Trio Attacks wait here once the Paper Toads have made them, and Neo Bowser Castle shells it late in the game.
2. 
   Sunbeam PlainsGrassland · Team Jump · Petey Piranha, Paper Petey Piranha, Papercraft Megacrinkle GoombaGrassland between the castle and the desert, visited three times: first Toad village, catapults, Spinny Flowers and, later, paths into the clouds.
3. 
   Doop Doop DunesDesert · Trio Hammer · Papercraft Kamek; Chargin’ Chuck CorpsSand slides, cacti, waterfalls and the wooden bridge to Bowser’s Castle. The Japanese name means roughly “50-50 Desert”.
4. 
   Doop Doop Dunes GrottoUnderground · Big Pokey and Paper Tower Power PokeyMoving platforms and waterfalls below the desert, where the bridge-flipping Pokeys drop the trio.
5. 
   Twinsy Tropics DungeonPrison · Trio Grab · Roy and Wendy; Larry and LudwigCaptive Toads mine Fire Ore here, and a Bowser emblem on the gate is the key to coming back.
6. 
   Twinsy TropicsIsland · the Paper Toads build a boatSand, purple rocks and yellow bridges on an island south of the kingdom, with a three-pearl statue puzzle. Japanese: “look-alike islands”.
7. 
   Gloomy WoodsForest · Rampaging Wiggler and Paper Kamek; King BooA jungly east side with Bomb Buds, a Yoshi race and a very hungry Wiggler, and a haunted west side ruled by King Boo.
8. 
   Mount BrrrSnowy mountain · Trio Drill · Papercraft Bowser Jr.; King Bob-ombIce, snow and drillable cliffs, with Bowser’s Villa and, at the summit, King Bob-omb’s papercraft base and the Paper Toad staircase.
9. 
   Bowser’s CastleFortress · Trio Glider · Papercraft King Boo; Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr.The usual lava and the usual Koopas, until the two Bowsers lift the whole thing into the sky.
10. 
    Neo Bowser CastleFlying fortress · Papercraft Bowser; Kamek duo; Koopalings; Bowser and Paper Bowser, Shiny RoboBowserBowser’s Castle reborn as a flying fortress, upgraded with crystals mined at Twinsy Tropics. Fire Ore for the last papercraft, a main cannon to wreck and a corridor full of troops.

Each area with a Toad village has a Lakitu Info Center, and every Info Center has a pipe down to the Arcade, home of the Boss Battle Ring, the Papercraft Battle Ring and the Attackathlon.

Paper Jam keeps the series’ foundations, where every attack and every dodge is a timed button press, and adds a third hero on a third button. Mario is A, Luigi is B and Paper Mario is Y, in the field and in battle alike, and most of the new ideas exist to give that third button something to do.

Three heroes in the field

The overworld is the Mushroom Kingdom itself, seen from above in the hand-drawn-sprites-on-3D-scenery style of Dream Team. The three heroes walk in a line and jump on their own buttons, and pressing X makes all three jump at once; hold it and they flutter for a moment. Paper Mario’s flatness opens up routes the brothers cannot take, slipping through narrow cracks into hidden corners.

New abilities come as Trio Moves (Trio Actions in the British English version), all but one of them dreamed up by Paper Mario. The Team Jump is learned in Sunbeam Plains, the Trio Hammer (A, B, Y in quick succession for a shockwave that breaks big blocks) in Doop Doop Dunes, the Trio Grab (Luigi’s idea: the three stack up to reach distant objects and throw them) in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, the Trio Drill on Mount Brrr and the Trio Glider, a nod to Paper Mario’s plane mode in The Thousand-Year Door, in Bowser’s Castle. Select the icon with L, R or the Touch Screen and tap the three buttons in order.

Dash Socks let the trio charge into enemies on the map to start a battle with a free hit, and drill spots hide beans and, for the only time in the series, other items too. There are no Save Blocks: you save at any time from the SAVE button on the Touch Screen. Unusually, the brothers never get a Spin Jump in the field.

How battles work

Battles are turn-based, and all three heroes act each turn, a first for the series: each picks Jump, Hammer, an item or a special attack from the familiar Command Blocks, and good timing earns a Great or an Excellent. Mario and Luigi play much as they did in Dream Team. When an enemy winds up, an optional crosshair shows who it is aiming at, and the target braces in its own animation.

Paper Mario is the newcomer and plays differently. His Copy Block makes six copies of himself (eight or ten with Rank-Up Bonuses); he jumps once for every copy, and his hammer splits the copies across every enemy at once. Each blow he takes knocks off a copy, and he can top them up on his turn before attacking. When dodging he can flutter to stay in the air longer than the brothers. He hits hard and fast like Mario but has less HP, stands awkwardly in the line-up and is weak to fire.

Defence got a safety net. Press X just before a hit lands and the hero throws up a guard: the Emergency Block, an idea borrowed from the Paper Mario games that stayed for the later remakes and Brothership.

Tutorials can be skipped, which they could not be in Dream Team, and the game also passes over explanations of things you have already shown you can do. There is an Easy Mode too.

Bros. Attacks and Trio Attacks

Special attacks cost Bros. Points (BP). There are ten Bros. Attacks, five started by Mario and five by Luigi. Instead of hunting Attack Pieces as in earlier games, you win most of them back from Nabbit, who steals them right at the start: the first two are dropped by Nabbit in Peach’s Castle, the rest come from catching him or beating his missions, and Toad Trail is the prize for defeating King Bob-omb. Two of them, Bomb Derby and Dropchopper, return from Dream Team, and the Mega Thwonk brings back the Giant Luigi model from its giant battles.

The five Trio Attacks are Paper Mario’s. Every one begins with the Trio Attack Hammer, which the three swing together to flatten every enemy into paper before the minigame starts; the enemies pop back when it ends. Paper Mario leads all of them except the Trio Racquet, so the first press is usually Y. They are made by the Paper Toads you rescue and brought out by the Delivery Toad: the Racquet arrives with the hammer, the Kite and Whirligig reward clearing every Paper Toad mission in Doop Doop Dunes and on Mount Brrr, the Shuriken comes after the fight with the two Bowser Juniors, and the Meteor waits for the very last Paper Toad. They are expensive, and if either brother is knocked out they are off the menu. All fifteen attacks are listed below.

Battle Cards

Badges are gone. In their place are Battle Cards, introduced by a creased Paper Goomba in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon. You build a deck of exactly ten (you can store three decks), and up to three cards are dealt face up at a time during a fight. Playing one costs Star Points, which you earn by attacking well: a fraction of a point for ordinary hits, more for Greats and Excellents and the most for Bros. and Trio Attacks. The pool holds 20 SP, or 30 with a Rank-Up Bonus, and the deck reshuffles once all ten have been used.

Cards heal the party, revive fallen heroes, raise POW, DEF or Speed, hurt every enemy at once, lower enemy stats, turn enemies into Goombas or Mushrooms, or multiply the experience and coins you win. Twelve come from the Paper Goomba, 53 are sold in Card Shops and 18 are prizes from the Lakitu Info Centers. Shiny enemies drop shiny cards that do the same job for half the SP, 71 of them, for 154 in all; tilt the 3DS while one is on screen and the sparkle moves, as shiny stickers did in Sticker Star.

Six amiibo add Character Cards: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad and Bowser. Each scan turns a ? Card into a random card for that character, and each figure can be used once per battle. Scan a different character when the game says “Now’s Your Chance!” and you get a Duo card; scan two figures of the same character and you get a shiny Sparkle card, once a day.

Papercraft battles

Five times in the story Bowser’s side wheels out a giant papercraft, and Toadette answers with one of her own, built by Paper Toads and carried into battle by them, with the trio riding on top. These fights are real time. You steer around an arena, turn on the spot with R, swing the camera with L, dash with B and jump with A.

Power is everything. Press Y in time with the music and the Paper Toads underneath dance, filling the Toad Meter; each hero model has its own charging tune. Ram an enemy papercraft to stun it, then press A to jump and come down on top of it while it is dazed. Enemy models never stop to charge, so you are at your most vulnerable while you build up power.

Each model has a trick. Papercraft Mario is the all-rounder; Papercraft Luigi leaps hammer first and can come down on spiky enemies; Papercraft Peach floats on her parasol and blocks projectiles; Papercraft Yoshi grabs things with his tongue and stuns enemies with a ground pound; and Papercraft Fire Mario throws fireballs. Each battle ends with a boss model, wins prizes the way the giant battles did, and can be refought in the Papercraft Battle Ring. The battles were made by Will Co., Ltd., and the developers have said they were inspired by the shrines of Japanese festivals.

Paper Toad missions, quizzes and the Arcade

Every Toad village has a cloud-shaped Lakitu Info Center. The Lakitu on the right hands out missions, most of them about rounding up Paper Toads: finding them hidden around Sunbeam Plains, herding them into a corral, catching them as they flutter down in Twinsy Tropics, prising them off walls on Mount Brrr or finding them before they freeze. Some missions are needed to move the story on, because the rescued Paper Toads are the workforce that builds boats, trampolines, staircases and papercrafts. The Lakitu on the left lets you replay cleared missions, some of them in Hard Mode, and Medals won along the way unlock exclusive Battle Cards.

A pipe beside each centre leads to the Arcade, where Lakitea restores everyone for 20 coins and you can enter the Boss Battle Ring, the Papercraft Battle Ring and the Attackathlon, an extended, scored version of each Trio Attack. Five Toad scholars around the kingdom run a Toad Quiz on the story so far: three right out of five wins beans.

Levels, ranks and gear

Experience raises levels as usual, but for the first time in the series there are no bonus points to put into a stat when you level up; the Lakitus who used to hand them out run the Paper Toad missions instead. Stats grow through levels, beans and gear: boots, hammers, gloves, wear and brooches, many of them dropped by bosses.

Levels also bring ranks, seven of them, more than any earlier game: Mushroom (levels 1 to 5), Shell (6 to 11), Boomerang (12 to 18), Flower (19 to 26), Leaf (27 to 35), Star (36 to 45) and Rainbow (46 to 100). Boomerang and Leaf are new. Each rank-up offers a choice of bonus, such as more copies for Paper Mario, a bigger Star Point pool or cheaper cards, and Rainbow Rank adds an extra pick.

Bros. Attacks, Trio Attacks and papercrafts

All ten Bros. Attacks and all five Trio Attacks with their BP costs and how you get them, the Trio Attack Hammer, the Dash Socks and the five papercrafts Toadette builds.

• 
  3D Red ShellBros. Attack, Mario. 3 BP. The brothers kick a shell back and forth into a grounded enemy. Dropped by Nabbit in Peach’s Castle.
• 
  Rocket BlastBros. Attack, Mario. 5 BP. A rocket carries the pair up for a string of stomps, finished with a piledriver. Prize for the Catch Nabbit! mission.
• 
  Bomb DerbyBros. Attack, Mario. 7 BP. Bat thrown bombs into the enemies, then a giant one. Throw a Bomb Bud at Nabbit in Gloomy Woods. Returns from Dream Team.
• 
  Cannonball ChuckBros. Attack, Mario. 9 BP. A cannonball you can steer and angle to topple tall enemies. Prize for Nabbit Multiplication.
• 
  Toad TrailBros. Attack, Mario. 11 BP. Roll along a path of Paper Toads, jump the gaps and steer into the enemies. Earned by beating King Bob-omb atop Mount Brrr.
• 
  Fire FlowerBros. Attack, Luigi. 3 BP. Fireballs of changing size, with a button-mashing bonus if you keep the throws coming. Dropped by Nabbit in Peach’s Castle.
• 
  Drill ShellBros. Attack, Luigi. 5 BP. Launch, drill down onto the target and mash B. From catching Nabbit for the first time in Doop Doop Dunes.
• 
  DropchopperBros. Attack, Luigi. 7 BP. Fly the copter onto an enemy and slam down with a shockwave. Trio Drill dash into Nabbit in Doop Doop Dunes. Returns from Dream Team.
• 
  Balloon BlastBros. Attack, Luigi. 9 BP. Time presses at the top of each jump to blow up a balloon, then let it fly. Prize for Skyjinks.
• 
  Mega ThwonkBros. Attack, Luigi. 12 BP. Luigi eats a Mega Mushroom and charges as a giant, with B timed to his footsteps; A swings his hammer, then keeps Mario bouncing on the enemy. Prize for Bad Nabbit.
• 
  Trio RacquetTrio Attack. 6 BP. Rally a ball against the wall, each hero on his own button, then finish with a smash. Comes with the Trio Attack Hammer.
• 
  Trio KiteTrio Attack. 8 BP. Mash to fly the kite while Paper Mario copies stack up, then press Y to bring it down. Clear every Paper Toad mission in Doop Doop Dunes.
• 
  Trio WhirligigTrio Attack. 11 BP. Spiral down through rings and enemies and punch through the platforms at the bottom. Clear every Paper Toad mission on Mount Brrr.
• 
  Trio ShurikenTrio Attack. 13 BP. Lock on to falling enemies and time Y presses to throw and strike with Paper Mario folded into a throwing star. After the fight with Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr.
• 
  Trio MeteorTrio Attack. 15 BP. Steer meteors so their wind sweeps the enemies into a crater, then leap clear at the last moment. For rescuing every Paper Toad.
• 
  Trio Attack HammerMade by the Paper Toads and handed over by the Delivery Toad after the first rescue. Every Trio Attack starts with it.
• 
  Dash SocksLet the trio dash into enemies on the field for a first strike.
• 
  Papercraft MarioThe all-rounder, first used against the Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba.
• 
  Papercraft LuigiHammer jumps that can land on spiky foes. First used against Papercraft Kamek in Doop Doop Dunes.
• 
  Papercraft PeachFloats on her parasol, blocks projectiles and adds damage from above. First used against Papercraft Bowser Jr. on Mount Brrr.
• 
  Papercraft YoshiThe tongue latches on to poles, coins and enemies in mid-air, and the ground pound stuns. First used against Papercraft King Boo in Bowser’s Castle.
• 
  Papercraft Fire MarioFireballs on X, built from Fire Ore. The last papercraft, made to beat Papercraft Bowser.

Nintendo promoted Paper Jam with a web series for children and some cut-out-and-keep papercraft, and pieces of it have turned up in several games since.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam – Kids at PlayPlay Nintendo web series · YouTubeA series of videos on Play Nintendo’s YouTube channel, alongside Play Nintendo features on the game’s Bros. and Trio Attacks, its battles and a developer Q&A.

Papercraft printablesNintendo Kids Space · Nintendo’s LINE accountNintendo Kids Space offered print-and-fold versions of Papercraft Mario, Papercraft Luigi and a papercraft Goomba, and Nintendo’s LINE account a papercraft Kinopio-kun.

Instagram photosNintendo of AmericaNintendo of America’s Instagram account ran promotional photos for the game.

Double pack with Mario Kart 7JapanJapan also sold the game in a two-game pack with Mario Kart 7.

Super Mario MakerWii U · Mystery Mushroom costumeMario can wear a Mystery Mushroom costume based on Paper Jam.

Paper Mario: Color SplashWii URoy hints in Paper Jam that the Koopalings might get paper versions of their own; in Color Splash they do. Stacked enemies return too.

Superstar Saga + Bowser’s MinionsNintendo 3DS · 2017The remake keeps Paper Jam’s Emergency Guard, assist features and Easy Mode, hides some Battle Cards in the suitcase on its pause menu and arranges the “Do It Now!” theme for a minigame.

Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s JourneyNintendo 3DS · 2018One of its Bowser Jr. artworks is reused from Paper Jam.

Super Smash Bros. UltimateNintendo Switch · music and spiritsThree tracks, “Time’s Running Out!”, “Mixed-Up Scramble” and “Attack and Run!”, are on the soundtrack, Papercraft Mario is a spirit, and in Palutena’s Guidance for Piranha Plant, Viridi name-checks Paper Fire Piranha and Paper Petey Piranha.

Mario & Luigi: BrothershipNintendo SwitchBomb Buds return, the brothers can flutter like Paper Mario with one Battle Plug, and a character asks whether either brother can flatten himself to slide through a gap.

Paper Jam has almost no brand-new characters; Shiny RoboBowser, a fusion of two old ones, is about the only candidate. Instead it doubles the old ones. Heroes first, then the paper visitors, then two of every villain.

Character	Who they are	In this game	Abilities & notes
MarioThe A Button	The original, and the hero both worlds agree on.	Leads the trio through the kingdom and the battles. He meets his paper self in Sunbeam Plains and is kidnapped by King Boo in the haunted woods.	Strong attack and speed Bros. Attacks: 3D Red Shell, Rocket Blast, Bomb Derby, Cannonball Chuck, Toad Trail
LuigiThe B Button	The younger brother, whose sneeze starts the whole thing.	The first character you control, in the attic. He fights and explores beside Mario, invents the Trio Grab, and has to rescue both Marios alone in Gloomy Woods. Since Dream Team, Bowser knows his name: no more “Green Stache”.	Bros. Attacks: Fire Flower, Drill Shell, Dropchopper, Balloon Blast, Mega Thwonk Walk cycle based on Luigi’s Mansion
Paper MarioThe Y Button	Mario from the Paper Mario games: flat, brave and, true to his series, silent.	Rescues the brothers from the Paper Goomba wheel in Sunbeam Plains and joins to find his world’s Peach and Toads. Squeezes through cracks, invents most of the Trio Moves and seals Paper Bowser back in the book at the end.	Copy Block: 6 copies (8 or 10 with Rank-Up Bonuses) Leads the Trio Attacks Less HP than Mario; weak to fire
StarlowStar Sprite and travelling commentator	The Star Sprite from Bowser’s Inside Story and Dream Team.	Travels with the trio and does the talking. She cheers Luigi on in the haunted woods by reminding him of the Year of Luigi.	Not playable
Princess PeachKidnapped, twice over	Ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.	Snatched with Paper Peach from her own castle by the two Bowsers, kept at Bowser’s Villa on Mount Brrr and in Bowser’s Castle, where the princesses escape once and are recaptured.	Not playable; Papercraft Peach is her cardboard likeness
Paper PeachThe guest princess	Princess Peach from the paper world.	Moves in with Peach, asks the brothers to find her world’s Mario and Toads, and is kidnapped alongside her. She considers a ponytail, which Peach thinks would suit sport.	Not playable
ToadettePapercraft engineer	A Toad with a knack for building, and a treasure-tracking past.	Takes up papercraft after seeing the Paper Toads and builds all five hero models. Kamek kidnaps her in Bowser’s Castle; she has the Fire Ore idea in Neo Bowser Castle and leads the closing parade.	Builds Papercraft Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Fire Mario
Paper ToadsThe workforce	The paper world’s Toads, scattered across the kingdom by Luigi’s sneeze.	Rescued in the Lakitu missions, they build a trampoline, a boat, the Trio Attack Hammer, the Trio Attacks and the staircase to Neo Bowser Castle, and carry the papercrafts into battle.	Dance to charge the papercrafts’ Toad Meter
LakituMission control	Cloud-riders who, in earlier games, handed out level-up bonuses.	Run the Lakitu Info Centers and their Paper Toad missions, and at the end arrive with a cloudful of Paper Toads to finish the staircase.	Missions, medals and 18 exclusive Battle Cards
Delivery ToadSpecial delivery	A Toad with a parcel.	Brings the Trio Attack Hammer and each new Trio Attack once the Paper Toads have finished it.	Not playable
Paper GoombaThe creased one	A paper Goomba with a crumpled face and a grudge.	Creased in the first fight, he brings the reinforcements that flatten the brothers. Later, jailed in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, he trades Battle Cards for his freedom, and later still he betrays the trio to the Fire Bros.	Gives the first 12 Battle Cards
NabbitThief	A quick-footed thief with a sack.	Steals the Bros. Attacks at the start and spends the game being chased, caught and out-thought for them in a run of missions ending with Bad Nabbit.	Holds 9 of the 10 Bros. Attacks
BowserKing of the Koopas	The usual villain.	Teams up with Paper Bowser, takes both princesses, lifts his castle into the sky as Neo Bowser Castle and is the final boss alongside his double, then inside the Shiny RoboBowser armour.	Final battle level 38; as Shiny RoboBowser level 40, 2,145 HP plus 650 for the armour
Paper BowserKing of the paper Koopas	Bowser from the Paper Mario games.	Bowser’s partner and rival. He schemes to trap the brothers in the book and burn it, quietly plans the same for Bowser, turns his paper army into armour for the final round and ends up sealed in the book himself.	Final battle level 38
Bowser Jr.The prince	Bowser’s son.	With his paper double he grabs the book, takes the princesses on holiday to Bowser’s Villa, fields Papercraft Bowser Jr. and tries in vain to make the grown-ups listen.	Boss in Bowser’s Castle: level 27, 979 HP
Paper Bowser Jr.The paper prince	Bowser Jr. from the paper world.	Bowser Jr.’s inseparable partner in mischief and in battle.	Boss in Bowser’s Castle: level 27, 1,068 HP
KamekMagikoopa	Bowser’s spell-casting adviser.	Works with Paper Kamek on every papercraft scheme, kidnaps Toadette and builds Papercraft Bowser. The Kamek duo fight the trio in Neo Bowser Castle and argue afterwards.	Boss: level 36, 1,853 HP
Paper KamekPaper Magikoopa	Kamek from the paper world.	Litters Gloomy Woods with junk to block the path and curses Wiggler into fighting the heroes.	With Wiggler: level 16, 440 HP; with Kamek: 1,853 HP
The KoopalingsSeven siblings, five boss fights	Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy and Ludwig.	Roy and Wendy jail the trio and fight them twice; Larry and Ludwig likewise; Iggy, Lemmy and Morton fire paper scenery from Mount Brrr and fight together in Neo Bowser Castle, and Lemmy and Morton pilot Papercraft King Boo. Roy calls in the Chargin’ Chucks, and Iggy brings his pet Chain Chomp.	No paper versions, though Roy wonders about it
King BooMaster of disguise	The king of the Boos.	Haunts the west side of Gloomy Woods, kidnaps both Marios and impersonates Paper Mario to fool Luigi.	Boss: level 29, 1,421 HP

Bosses & enemies

Every boss in story order, with level and HP, then the Battle Ring’s exclusive boss, then every regular enemy: first the Mario & Luigi side, then the paper side, then the papercrafts. Where a species turns up twice, both HP figures are given. After Twinsy Tropics, most paper enemies also come in a shiny version that is tougher and can drop a shiny Battle Card.

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  Paper Goomba stack (boss)Sunbeam PlainsThe creased Paper Goomba’s reinforcements roll into a wheel and beat the brothers, setting up Paper Mario’s entrance.
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  Petey Piranha (boss)Sunbeam PlainsLevel 4, 143 HP. Drops Picnic Boots and the first ? Cards.
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  Papercraft Megacrinkle Goomba (papercraft boss)Sunbeam PlainsThe first papercraft battle, with Papercraft Mario. No tricks; small Papercraft Goombas swarm alongside.
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  Big Pokey and Paper Tower Power Pokey (boss)Doop Doop Dunes GrottoLevel 8, 144 HP each plus 16 per body segment.
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  Papercraft Kamek (papercraft boss)Doop Doop DunesIts shield blocks rushes; Papercraft Pokeys back it up. Fought with Papercraft Luigi.
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  Roy and Wendy (boss)Twinsy Tropics DungeonLevel 10; Roy 343 HP, Wendy 294.
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  Paper Petey Piranha (boss)Sunbeam PlainsLevel 13, 384 HP, with 34-HP copies of himself.
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  Rampaging Wiggler and Paper Kamek (boss)Gloomy WoodsLevel 16; Wiggler 660 HP, Paper Kamek 440.
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  Papercraft Bowser Jr. (papercraft boss)Mount BrrrSpiked shell, high speed, three phases; brings Papercraft Spikes, Mechakoopas and Bob-ombs. Fought with Papercraft Peach.
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  Chargin’ Chuck Corps (boss)Doop Doop DunesLevel 20; three Chucks of 105 HP each.
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  Larry and Ludwig (boss)Twinsy Tropics DungeonLevel 24; Ludwig 975 HP, Larry 825.
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  Papercraft King Boo (papercraft boss)Bowser’s CastleCarried over lava by Boos, with Papercraft Dry Bones and Boos. Fought with Papercraft Yoshi.
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  Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. (boss)Bowser’s CastleLevel 27; Bowser Jr. 979 HP, Paper Bowser Jr. 1,068.
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  King Boo (boss)Gloomy Woods (west)Level 29, 1,421 HP. Opens the fight disguised as Paper Mario.
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  King Bob-omb (boss)Mount Brrr summitLevel 32, 1,744 HP, against a self-destruct timer.
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  Papercraft Bowser (papercraft boss)Neo Bowser CastleSpiked shell and several attacks, with Papercraft Whomps, an Airship and Bullet Bills. Fought with Papercraft Fire Mario.
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  Kamek and Paper Kamek (boss)Neo Bowser CastleLevel 36, 1,853 HP each.
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  Roy and Wendy, rematch (boss)Neo Bowser CastleLevel 35; Roy 1,573 HP, Wendy 1,452.
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  Larry and Ludwig, rematch (boss)Neo Bowser CastleLevel 36; Ludwig 1,482 HP, Larry 1,359.
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  Lemmy, Morton and Iggy (boss)Neo Bowser CastleLevel 36; Lemmy 692 HP, Morton 865, Iggy 790. Character Cards are barred, and Morton turns every card in your deck into his tinkered one.
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  Bowser and Paper Bowser (final boss)Neo Bowser CastleLevel 38. Each is listed at 9,999 HP; the battle moves on once they have taken enough damage.
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  Shiny RoboBowser (final boss)Neo Bowser CastleLevel 40; 2,145 HP, plus 650 for the paper armour.
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  Dry Bowser (Battle Ring boss)Boss Battle RingLevel 48, 2,880 HP. Found only in the Arcade’s Boss Battle Ring, after tougher rematches with nine story bosses.
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  GoombaSunbeam Plains; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 2, 8 HP.
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  BiddybudSunbeam Plains; Mount BrrrStack up to attack. 7 HP; 79 on Mount Brrr.
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  SpinyDoop Doop Dunes and GrottoLevel 5, 18 HP. Do not jump on it.
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  SandmaarghDoop Doop DunesLevel 6, 39 HP. A sand monster that also menaces Paper Toads.
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  Fly GuyMissions only23 HP at first, up to 187 in late missions.
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  Hammer BroTwinsy Tropics Dungeon; Sunbeam PlainsThe dungeon wardens. 32 HP; 169 later on.
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  Cheep CheepTwinsy Tropics49 HP; 131 on the return visit.
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  UrchinTwinsy Tropics25 HP; 57 later.
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  Koopa TroopaTwinsy Tropics; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 10, 49 HP.
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  Monty MoleSunbeam Plains; Gloomy Woods55 HP; 195 in the woods.
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  NinjiGloomy Woods; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 13, 70 HP.
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  Fire Piranha PlantGloomy WoodsLevel 15, 104 HP.
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  BullyMount BrrrLevel 17, 131 HP. Designed as in Super Mario 3D World.
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  Buzzy BeetleMount BrrrLevel 16, 53 HP.
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  SpikeDoop Doop Dunes; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 18, 119 HP.
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  PokeyDoop Doop DunesLevel 19, 99 HP.
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  Fire BroTwinsy Tropics DungeonThe second set of wardens. Level 21, 152 HP.
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  Horned Ant TrooperTwinsy Tropics DungeonLevel 22, 88 HP.
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  Boomerang BroBowser’s Castle; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 24, 180 HP.
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  Big Tail GoombaBowser’s Castle; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 26, 277 HP.
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  Shy GuyMount Brrr; Neo Bowser Castle200 HP; 327 in the castle.
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  BroozerNeo Bowser CastleLevel 33, 280 HP.
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  MechakoopaNeo Bowser CastleLevel 34, 176 HP.
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  Chain ChompNeo Bowser CastleLevel 35, 484 HP.
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  Paper GoombaSunbeam Plains; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 2, 8 HP. Shiny version 11 HP.
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  Paper ParatroopaSunbeam PlainsComes in stacks. 2 HP each.
• Paper SpinyDoop Doop Dunes and GrottoLevel 5, 18 HP.
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  Paper Bob-ombDoop Doop Dunes; Sunbeam PlainsStacks. 7 HP; 14 later.
• Paper Hammer BroTwinsy Tropics Dungeon; Sunbeam Plains29 HP; 169 later.
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  Paper Scaredy RatTwinsy Tropics DungeonStacks. Level 9, 10 HP.
• Paper Koopa TroopaTwinsy Tropics; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 10, 49 HP.
• Paper NinjiGloomy Woods; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 13, 70 HP.
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  Paper Spear GuyGloomy WoodsStacks. Level 14, 25 HP.
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  Paper Sombrero GuyMount Brrr; Neo Bowser CastleStacks. 35 HP; 78 later.
• Paper SpikeDoop Doop Dunes; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 18, 119 HP.
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  Paper FuzzyMissions only194 HP; 436 in the Final Smash mission.
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  Paper Fire Piranha PlantTwinsy TropicsStacks. Level 21, 46 HP.
• Paper Fire BroTwinsy Tropics DungeonLevel 21, 89 HP.
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  Paper SwoopTwinsy Tropics DungeonStacks. Level 23, 29 HP.
• Paper Boomerang BroBowser’s Castle; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 24, 120 HP.
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  Paper Dry BonesBowser’s Castle; Neo Bowser CastleStacks. Level 25, 57 HP.
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  Paper ParagoombaSunbeam PlainsLevel 27, 196 HP.
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  Paper BooGloomy Woods (west)Stacks. Level 28, 68 HP.
• Paper Shy GuyMount Brrr; Neo Bowser CastleLevel 30, 158 HP.
• Paper BroozerNeo Bowser CastleLevel 33, 258 HP.
• Paper Chain ChompNeo Bowser CastleLevel 35, 557 HP.
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  Papercraft GoombaPapercraft battlesRams you; jump on it once it is stunned.
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  Papercraft PokeyPapercraft battlesSpiky, so dashing into it hurts.
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  Papercraft SpikePapercraft battlesThrows spiked balls.
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  Papercraft MechakoopaPapercraft battlesRams much faster than the rest.
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  Papercraft Bob-ombPapercraft battlesSits still until you dash into it, then explodes.
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  Papercraft Dry BonesPapercraft battlesCrowds Papercraft Yoshi; easy to finish off when it falls in the lava.
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  Papercraft BooPapercraft battlesHas to be caught with Papercraft Yoshi’s tongue.
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  Papercraft WhompPapercraft battlesFalls on you; takes two hits.
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  Papercraft AirshipPapercraft battlesFires Bullet Bills until a fireball stops it; takes two hits.
• Papercraft Koopa Shell, Spiked Ball and Bullet BillPapercraft battlesProjectiles: shells from Papercraft Bowser Jr. bounce off the walls, and the Airship’s Bullet Bills home in.

Key staff

From the game’s credits and the developer interviews of 2015 and 2016.

There was no Iwata Asks for Paper Jam. What we know comes from interviews the developers gave in the months around launch: Nintendo Dream (reported in English by Nintendo Life), a developer “Miiting” on Miiverse, Game Informer and The Verge.

A third button, and a third hero

The game began with a controller, not a story. Producer Akira Otani told Nintendo Dream that the team had to rethink how the buttons were used: the series had always been about A for Mario and B for Luigi, and this time they decided to add a third. Y was the obvious candidate, the easiest button to reach after A and B, so they went looking for a character to put on it.

According to Otani’s account to The Verge, as summarised by Wikipedia, the team considered someone from elsewhere in the Mario world, Bowser among them, before deciding that a second Mario would be more fun. Paper Mario fitted twice over: both series mix adventure, RPG battles and comic dialogue, and a hero made of paper offered contrasts to play with, flat against solid, light against heavy. Wikipedia names Paper Mario: Sticker Star as the main model for the paper side.

Shigeru Miyamoto had a say too. An early version had the trio dash with a quick press of all three buttons; Otani recalled Miyamoto telling the team it was too much bother and one button would do. So the X Button, which Kobayashi reckons is the most-pressed button in the field, does the job for all three.

Two studios, one hero

Paper Mario belongs to Intelligent Systems, and Paper Jam is not one of their games. AlphaDream told Game Informer it worked with the other studio’s advice and supervision throughout, and was candid that a Paper Mario game of its own would have come out not quite right, because that series is designed in Intelligent Systems’ particular style. Intelligent Systems appears among the companies in the credits.

Otani added a rule the crossover had to obey: the Paper Mario series is silent. Rather than fight it, the team treated the silence as one more contrast, a way of showing off what is distinctive about each series.

Four bros., story drafts and a crowded cast

At one point all four brothers were going to travel together, Paper Luigi included. The team dropped him because a fourth button would have made the controls too complicated, so Paper Luigi stayed on the sidelines.

The plot went through several drafts. Ideas reported from the Miiverse Miiting include the Mushroom Kingdom slowly turning into paper and the cast shuttling back and forth between the paper world and the real one. Each was judged too complicated, and the final version simply drops the paper characters into the Mario & Luigi world and lets them meet their doubles.

That choice explains the cast list. Director Shunsuke Kobayashi said that making Paper Mario stand out without short-changing anyone else was the hardest part, and with every character already doubled, original newcomers were considered and left out because there was no room for them in the story.

Festival floats and tutorials

The papercraft battles were meant to make the game feel lively, like a carnival. Nintendo Life’s summary of the Miiting says the team drew on the shrines of Japanese festivals, and wanted something like the giant battles of the last two games but more hands-on and full of action. They were built outside AlphaDream, by Will Co., Ltd., under papercraft battle director Satoru Imamura.

Dream Team had been criticised for its tutorials, and the team listened. AlphaDream told Game Informer it had not removed the tutorials at all: there are guides for every action and battle system, but the detailed ones stay hidden from players who show they are good at action games, while those for new systems such as Trio Attacks and Battle Cards appear for everyone.

Music and animation

Yoko Shimomura, who had scored the earlier Mario & Luigi games, wrote a lighter, more upbeat score because Paper Mario joins the battles, and singled out the Mount Brrr theme as having a fantastical feel unusual for a Mario game. She described her songs as being like her children. Graphics designer Natsuko Kemi concentrated on the small details of animation; Luigi’s walk is based on the way he walks in Luigi’s Mansion.

The look carries straight on from Dream Team: hand-drawn sprites on 3D scenery. Battle programmer Hiroshi Ohata said fights are first built without animation or effects so the team can experiment with how responsive they feel, and playtesting decides what stays.

Announcement and release

Nintendo unveiled Paper Jam at E3 in June 2015, promising a spring 2016 release, and showed Paper Mario slipping through cracks, copying himself and folding up, plus a giant papercraft charged by dancing. A Nintendo Direct in November 2015 then set North America’s date at 22 January 2016, ahead of that window.

Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan got the game on 3 December 2015, Europe on 4 December as Paper Jam Bros., Australia on 10 December and South Korea on 26 May 2016.

What Paper Jam did first for the Mario & Luigi series, checked against the four games before it.

Secrets, unlockables and tips for getting the most out of Paper Jam.

The Arcade under every Lakitu Info Center

Take the pipe on the left of any Lakitu Info Center (it opens once you reach the second centre, in Sunbeam Plains) for the Arcade. Lakitea fully heals the party for 20 coins, and the three challenge modes live here: the Boss Battle Ring, the Papercraft Battle Ring and the Attackathlon.

Boss Battle Ring and Dry Bowser

Nine story bosses come back at higher levels: Petey Piranha returns at level 15 with 920 HP, King Bob-omb at level 42 with 2,312. Unlike Dream Team’s ring there is no turn limit and no entry fee. The last opponent is Dry Bowser, level 48 and 2,880 HP, a boss you meet nowhere else in the game.

All five Trio Attacks

The Trio Racquet comes with the Trio Attack Hammer; the Trio Kite and Trio Whirligig are rewards for clearing every Paper Toad mission in Doop Doop Dunes and on Mount Brrr; the Trio Shuriken follows the fight with the two Bowser Juniors; and the Trio Meteor is yours only when every last Paper Toad has been rescued.

Every Bros. Attack back from Nabbit

3D Red Shell and Fire Flower drop in Peach’s Castle. After that: catch Nabbit in Doop Doop Dunes (Drill Shell), Trio Drill dash into him there (Dropchopper), hit him with a Bomb Bud in Gloomy Woods (Bomb Derby), and clear Catch Nabbit! (Rocket Blast), Nabbit Multiplication (Cannonball Chuck), Skyjinks (Balloon Blast) and Bad Nabbit (Mega Thwonk). Toad Trail is the King Bob-omb prize.

Shiny cards for half price

Once you have been to Twinsy Tropics, shiny paper enemies start appearing. They can drop shiny Battle Cards that do exactly what the normal ones do for half the Star Points (rounded up), and they are never sold in shops.

amiibo Character Cards

Petey Piranha drops the first ? Cards; more cost 200 coins (level 1) or 800 (level 2) from Toads in Card Shops, who buy them back at the same price. Mario and Luigi have 26 cards each, Peach, Yoshi, Toad and Bowser 23 each, and finishing one character’s set unlocks a powerful secret card. Character Cards cannot be used in the tutorial or against Lemmy, Morton and Iggy.

Medals and Hard Mode missions

Every mission cleared for the first time, Hard Mode versions included, earns Medals at the Lakitu Info Center, and enough Medals unlock exclusive Battle Cards. Hard Mode adds or tightens timers and forbids getting hit in some missions.

Toad Quiz

Five Toad scholars in Sunbeam Plains, Doop Doop Dunes, Twinsy Tropics, Gloomy Woods and Mount Brrr quiz you on the story. Get three of five right for a one-time prize of three beans, with coins for answering several correctly in a row. The Hard Mode version wants all eight answers right, ten seconds each.

Dash into battle

With the Dash Socks you can charge enemies on the field and start the fight with damage already done, on top of the usual first-strike jump or hammer.

Rank-Up Bonuses worth taking

Rank-ups can give Paper Mario eight and then ten copies, raise the Star Point pool from 20 to 30, or knock one SP off every card. One of the bonuses is called Jump Man, after one of Mario’s early names.

Two well-documented glitches. Neither is needed to finish the game, and the first can ruin a save file.

Paper Mario on his own

In the part of Sunbeam Plains only Paper Mario can enter, walking down and left into the wall at the right angle clips him out of bounds. Walk back to the main map and he can roam the kingdom alone: fighting, shopping, collecting and using pipes, though not getting through cutscenes or using Trio Moves. Talk twice to the Toad who sells ? Cards and the game locks up, because Mario is not there to say “Oh yeah!”, and saving in an area Paper Mario cannot leave by himself leaves the file stuck for good.

Stuck Papercraft Bowser

Knock Papercraft Bowser over too close to the edge of the arena and he can wedge into the wall. His followers cannot lift him, he cannot move, and the trio can pound him without taking a scratch.

Nintendo UK’s overview trailer for Paper Jam Bros., and the longer Japanese overview trailer as uploaded by GameXplain.

• The Japanese title is Mario & Luigi RPG Paper Mario MIX, and the Chinese and Korean versions say the same. Europe and Australia add a word to the English title: Paper Jam Bros.
• The English title is a double pun: a paper jam is what happens when a printer chokes, and being in a jam means being in trouble.
• The Japanese area names are all about doubles. Doop Doop Dunes is roughly “50-50 Desert”, Twinsy Tropics “look-alike islands”, Mount Brrr “look-alike mountains” and Gloomy Woods a stretched-out word for “overlapped”. In French, Mount Brrr is Mont Faipâcho, from “it’s not hot”.
• Apart from Shiny RoboBowser, a fusion of two Bowsers, the game introduces no new characters or enemies. Almost the whole cast comes from the main Super Mario games.
• It is the first Mario & Luigi game without Toadsworth, and the first without any Beanish characters.
• Toadette nods to her own adventure: she has tracked a few treasures in her day, a nod to Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
• When the princesses turn out to be up on Mount Brrr, the game cannot resist telling you that the princess is in another prison, after Super Mario Bros.
• A Rank-Up Bonus named Jump Man nods to one of Mario’s early names.
• Paper Mario’s entrance copies Sticker Star’s character introductions: he leaps in, a yellow and white backdrop appears and everything freezes for a moment. Defeated paper enemies turn grey, as in Sticker Star, and drop cardboard coins.
• The Megacrinkle Goomba is a nod to Sticker Star’s Megasparkle Goomba, and the Paper Tower Power Pokey is a redesigned version of Sticker Star’s Tower Power Pokey.
• Some Battle Cards show characters who never appear in the game itself, including Baby Mario, Rosalina, Captain Toad, Tail Bowser and Antasma from Dream Team.

• 

  In the E3 2015 build, Battle Cards were available straight after the Petey Piranha fight and had orange numbers. In the finished game they arrive after Roy and Wendy, with yellow numbers.
• Starlow quotes Stuffwell from Partners in Time with a fourth-wall-breaking “Back to the adventure” in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, and a three-pearl statue puzzle on Twinsy Tropics echoes the Dry Bones statues of Gritzy Desert.
• The music borrows widely: an arrangement of Superstar Saga’s “Let’s Go!” plays before Paper Mario joins, “Double Bowsers!” quotes Super Mario Bros. 3’s airship theme, and “Mixed-Up Scramble”, the battle theme that plays once Paper Mario has joined, briefly works in Super Mario RPG’s “Goodbye Geno”.
• Iggy’s pet Chain Chomp from New Super Mario Bros. Wii comes back for the Koopaling fights, and the Bullies and Chargin’ Chucks keep their Super Mario 3D World designs.
• A mission in Neo Bowser Castle is called Final Smash, after the Super Smash Bros. move.
• The papercrafts and Toads wear character emblems from the Mario Kart games.

• 

  There are 154 Battle Cards in all: 12 from the Paper Goomba, 53 from Card Shops, 18 from the Lakitus and 71 shiny versions. The amiibo add 144 Character Cards more.
• Mario and Luigi’s second jump changed: instead of landing and backflipping off, they now spin before coming down.

Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario lead the charge on every cover. Europe and Australia carry the Paper Jam Bros. logo, Japan and Korea the Paper Mario MIX one.

More from the Mushroom Kingdom, paper and otherwise.

Official artwork, logos and promotional pieces.

Paper Jam has had no ports or remakes; it remains a Nintendo 3DS game. Its influence shows in the three Mario & Luigi games that followed, all of which kept some of its changes.

Releases

• E3 2015 June 2015Revealed with a spring 2016 release window.
• Nintendo Direct November 2015North American release set for 22 January 2016.
• Nintendo 3DS, Japan 3 December 2015As Mario & Luigi RPG Paper Mario MIX; also Hong Kong and Taiwan.
• Nintendo 3DS, Europe 4 December 2015As Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros.
• Nintendo 3DS, Australia 10 December 2015As Paper Jam Bros.
• Nintendo 3DS, North America 22 January 2016As Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
• Nintendo 3DS, South Korea 26 May 2016Korean-language release.

What came next

AlphaDream followed Paper Jam with two 3DS remakes, Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions in 2017 and Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey in 2018, both of which kept its Emergency Block and optional tutorials. The studio also worked on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 before filing for bankruptcy on 1 October 2019.

The Paper Mario series moved on to Paper Mario: Color Splash, where the Koopalings finally got paper selves. Mario & Luigi came back with Brothership on Nintendo Switch, with Bomb Buds, Paper Mario-style flutter jumps and a joke about flattening yourself to slip through gaps.

Where it turned up later

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate includes three of Yoko Shimomura’s Paper Jam tracks and a Papercraft Mario spirit, and Super Mario Maker has a Mystery Mushroom costume based on the game.

Sales figures

Paper Jam opened in Japan at number two. Media Create’s chart, as reported by Nintendo Life on 9 December 2015, gave it 49,266 copies in its first week, behind Monster Hunter X, a little under half of what Dream Team had managed in its first week. Nintendo Life called it an underwhelming debut.

Paper Jam is not among the ten titles on Nintendo’s own list of best-selling 3DS games (as of 31 March 2026), so there is no current Nintendo figure. The worldwide total usually quoted is 1.08 million, from the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association’s 2022 Games White Paper, as cited by Wikipedia.

• 49,266first week in Japan, Media Create (via Nintendo Life, 9 Dec 2015)
• 1.08mworldwide, CESA Games White Paper 2022 (via Wikipedia)
• 76Metacritic
• 76.70%GameRankings, 44 reviews
• 33/40Famitsu

Reception and review scores

Metacritic’s average is 76, which it labels generally favourable, and GameRankings closed on 76.70 per cent. Scores below are as listed in Wikipedia’s reception table, with reviewers named where known.

Almost everyone liked the fighting. GamesRadar+ felt Paper Mario freshened up the combat, especially for series veterans, and GameSpot called it a good gateway into the series; Game Informer found the third hero occasionally awkward to manage but never unfair, and enjoyed collecting cards; IGN, for all its low score, called the battles in-depth. Polygon liked the Trio Attacks but found their button sequences hard work and too reliant on memorisation. Nintendo Life compared the card system favourably with The Thousand-Year Door and praised the amiibo, while warning you would lean on them a lot.

The writing split opinion. Most reviewers felt the collision of two worlds was not exploited as fully as it could have been: IGN and Nintendo Life found the paper doubles fun but predictable, GameSpot thought the script played it too safe to raise a real laugh, and Game Informer was more taken with the two Bowsers’ bickering than with the plot. Pacing was the common complaint. IGN called the environments colourful but uninspired and the Paper Toad hunts a drag, where Nintendo Life saw them as a fun diversion; GamesRadar+ ranked the papercraft battles among the weaker parts but welcomed the change of pace, and Polygon found them repetitive.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has yet to receive a community review on Super Luigi Bros.

If you’ve played Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and would like to submit a review, please get in touch.

Every fact on this page was checked against the 46 sources listed here.