Bethany Plays: PM Chapter 1 Part 1: Feel Warm and Fuzzy Inside

Chapter opening slides post-Prologue include Mario preparing for a fight, silhouettes of the Chapter Boss (no prizes for guessing who it's going to be this chapter!) and a silhouette of the Star Spirit you're going to rescue. If you linger on this screen long enough (less than a minute, really), you get a cute little remix jingle of the 1-1 theme.

Anyway, let's get going along Pleasant Path.

And a new enemy right away!

This is a Koopa Troopa. Everybody knows Koopa Troopas. They're Bowser's followers. Max HP: 4, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. Their shells are hard. If you can flip 'em over, their defense power will fall to 0 and it will become much easier for you to defeat 'em. You can flip 'em with a POW Block or a Jump attack.

Koopa Troopa (Lv. 6), like Goomba, is in everything, serving as the second-from-bottom ranked soldier of the Koopa Troop, as well as their eponymous grunt. Koopa Troopas appear in nearly every title in the series, although they've actually got an impressive record of being friendly NPCs as well as hostile enemies (did you notice Mario Odyssey has no enemy Koopa Troopas at all?). Koopas are known for multiple shell colours, with green and red being the major colours. In Paper Mario, all enemy Koopas have red shells.

Koopa Troopas are our first enemies with Defence stats- they have 1 point of Defence, so Jump attacks do nothing and Hammers do one damage. With that said, if you Jump on a Koopa and succeed at the Action Command, the second attack does hit the 0 Def. If a Koopa is flipped over, they will Struggle for their next action, and get up (without launching an attack) the turn after. I believe, if you jump on a flipped Troopa, their timer resets.

You can stun-lock Koopa Troopas. That's how we get a decent time not having to block every attack.

Although blocking these normal enemies will be defended against wholly.

First Strikes don't have Action Commands, sadly.

Dizzy Attack (2 BP) applies to Mario's Spin Dash- that move we've mostly been using to move faster. If you Spin Dash into an enemy with this Badge on, the first enemy in the formation (which will usually be the enemy you found on the field), will be rendered Dizzy for one turn, rendering it to be unable to perform any action. A cute side effect is that, if you land Dizzy Attack, you block the enemy's First Strike if they were otherwise entitled to it- yes, this does negate Chill Out as a Badge, why did you ask?

Key note: In TTYD, the Dizzy status was analogous to a traditional RPG's "Blind". In PM64, Dizzy negates your turn entirely. As far as I can tell, Dizzy taking away your actions is the normal behaviour in Mario RPGs, TTYD is the exception.

Free Fright Jar. I really don't like Fright Jars: they do have use as you get higher level, but I prefer getting Star Points.

Ah, hello, a POW Block! POW will knock Koopa Troopas on their backs- a key detail to keep in mind later. You may have an idea what I'm thinking of.

If there's just two, Mario and Goombario can stun-lock them on their own, but it'll be a little slow.

Switch in the tree.

The Chapter 1 of Paper Mario games usually has a bunch of creative means of making bridges appear. These cutscenes tend not to show up as often as the game progresses, but this element of the world expanded in prominence with the modern games.

...Can anyone see something funny about that block?

Hee hee, now who is the one ambushing?

...Oh.

Spiked Goombas are the only major enemy for a while that can still damage you if you time the block. This will be a standard and not an exception later.

Don't forget to consider whether a Partner attacking on the first turn will change the options Mario has, or vice versa. Come to think of it, the ability to freely choose your turn order on the fly combined with the formation-based targeting system gives this game a surprising amount of depth from a deceptively simple command. This is the essence of Mario.

Despite being Jumpman, a hero of a thousand leaps, there is an invisible wall here and Mario is not even allowed to attempt to jump over there for that Star Piece.

Sleepy Sheep behind the fence.

...Ew, this battle could get ugly.

Time to break out Hammer Throw. I had the free BP, why not have it? It's good for these exact situations: when there's a Spiky enemy you really want to deal with nestled in a formation with sturdy enemies in front of it.

Goombario deals with the Paragoomba, in a bit of a short-sighted action. If I hit the Koopa, I'd keep it stunlocked, I can just block the Paragoomba, and win next turn. It'll take slightly longer because the Koopa gets up, but it's less danger of me taking one damage.

Found a flower pickup.

Hm... This feels suspicious...

Disregard, this one is a Coin Block, there is no secret block.

Noted. Merlon told us to stop in Koopa Village, first.

Oh, by the way, this Candy Cane will turn to face you. Run around it in circles, and it'll start throwing Heart pickups at you while playing the series traditional Starman theme.

Another item on the wrong side of a chasm with an invisible wall! Main series Mario wouldn't even bat an eye! Our Mario has to go do a sidequest. Wouldn't want to get soggy.

Love how it's just me they're keeping out.

Backtracking over to the Candy Canes and then going south, this is the entrance of Koopa Village. These three blocks are hinted at by a Russ T. clue, but he doesn't actually specify what you have to do with them, only that there is a point to them. The solution, obviously, is that hitting them in the correct order spawns a treasure. The problem? I can never actually remember the order myself. There are six combinations, and I do know the last block is the back one (and it's likely that you'll guess those two combinations first), but the first two?

Lucky guess.

Attack FX B (0 BP) gives you a different sound effect to A. If you equip multiple, the sound effect that plays is randomly selected- for a Jump attack, each hit has a different effect.

All right, let's head into town and see what Merlon's on about.

The Koopas are in peril themselves, although it may not look it at first.

And let's be honest, the theme only mostly sells problems.

I think, in motion, you might catch one, but just the one.

From what I can tell, this is the second appearance of Fuzzies in series history- and of course, their first plot role, too, since all they were doing back in Super Mario World was sliding along tracks. They weren't even autonomous yet!

Apparently, there's a reason they got kept on rails. They're too hyper to be allowed on their own.

To prove his point, a Fuzzy drops from the sky and steals this Koopa's shell. Koopas are well known for their shells becoming objects you can kick around, but Beach Koopas- the name given to a Koopa that is currently shell-less- are also relatively uncommon. They got introduced in World, and did appear in Mario 64 as well. They're relatively rare- mostly because the games have no need for them. They get in the way when you kick them out of their shells, and their main use is in the 3D games where they can reward you handsomely for finishing the job before they run away.

The Fuzzy will run around with the shell at the entrance, and you can catch it with your hammer for the warm fuzzies.

...Too soon?

In Paper Mario, Koopas put their shells back on by throwing them in the air and then the shell lands on them in clothing form. Mad respect to the cut of their jib.

Beach Koopas are not considered naked, but they do consider it taboo.

...You gotta admire the courage of IS to go for this joke.

Over here, we have a Koopa who had his shell put on top of a Brick Block.

Shell stuck in a tree.

...I'm too used to Koopa Troopa's classic design, I couldn't tell you.

Hidden in the bushes around here are Koopa Leaves, which are Koopa Village's equivalent to the Goomnut. Even heals 3 FP, same as the Goomnut.

While this business is going down, there are Fuzzies jumping around the village as ambience. It turns out it is possible to catch one and jump on it, and I managed to get both of two here in a single leap.

There is absolutely no reward for saving every single Koopa from immodesty here. I'd prove it myself, but I'm afraid that won't be possible for me. To catch this one, you've got to walk slowly up to it. I, er... can't walk. Walking requires tilting the analog stick very slightly, and all I got are these binary arrow keys.

This block requires you push one of these blue blocks over to reach it. The game will use these later, and I think this is the only real tutorial. Maybe Russ T. has something to say closer to when it's mandatory.

Also I can jump high.

Cunning. I guess this explains the Koopas that retreat into their shells when jumped on in the main games. In games without Beach Koopas, the Troopa is still inside the shell, waiting to come back out whenever it is least convenient to you.

To progress the story, all you need to do is head to the shaking house with a blue-shelled roof on the second screen.

That looks like a blue shell and a uniquely designed Troopa.

Kooper here is an aspiring adventurer, and he's happy to bump into Mario.

Don't worry, not all the partners will be fans of the brand name.

Of course, he needs a favour. It shouldn't be too hard to guess what.

This setup kinda leans to shells being clothes, but considering how important shells are to Koopa Troopas, perhaps they are more important than our shirts.

It will keep him in the house. In an era before the Internet, this really sucks for them.

...So what do we really have over him? Spin Dash, probably, but that makes us sound like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Kooper also has a bowing animation that's just used here.

As opposed to letting him run around without pants?

...On the outside? Have you thought this plan through?

As soon as we walk in, the Fuzzy runs away behind the house.

Time for a rapid pursuit!

At the end of this path is our little puzzle to get Kooper's shell back.

A shell game, pun hopefully intended.

They jump between the four trees, and which one they end up in is, in fact, random.

You've got to do it three times, too.

And the third time, things get really fast. I'm told that suggestions this was even faster in JP are false ones, but this is a genuinely difficult thing if he leaps rapidly between the same two bushes over and over.

He didn't do that for me, thankfully.

Now give us that poor boy's shirt!

What a confrontation.

Kooper, having realised he had no idea what he was planning on doing standing guard in his house, volunteers to lend a hand in the fight against the Fuzzies.

...Considering the abilities (or lack thereof) of Beach Koopas, I'm not sure how, but the gesture was there.

Don't worry, that won't be necessary.

We now have our blue-shelled Koopa friend. Koopa Troopas with blue shells are the most common of the unusual shell colours, first appearing in Mario World to give Yoshi the ability to fly. Whenever the devs want "a third Koopa Troopa colour", they'll usually pick blue, but they're rather fond of sticking with green and red- yellow-shelled Koopas are even rarer.

...That's a reaction.

...We're not going to mention the Merlon thing, are we? I think that's exclusively a gameplay clue.

Kooper talks about Professor Kolorado. He'll be important later, but suffice it to say he's an actual character and not just a backstory element for Kooper.

~~So, a tomb raider?~~

I'm sure we'll gladly help him out later.

...Mario Eggs can perceive the world? I suddenly have a lot of questions about how Yoshis work...

Kooper would like to come along with us because he's a massive dork about his idol, we need someone who has his unusual abilities.

Everybody wins.

We may have to hold you to that one.

And with that, we now have our second party member, Kooper!

Kooper's shell can be kicked a short distance forward, ignorant of the terrain underneath him (he will stop if he hits a wall), and he can collect items and trigger switches in his path (if there's a line of such things, he'll only pick up the closest one).

Kooper's primary ability, Shell Toss, is basically a copy of Mario's Hammer, but with some slight property changes that only come into play against a few enemies. Power Shell is our first real Partner FP move, however- for 3 FP, Kooper will hit Shell Toss against all grounded enemies in the battle.

You can't do this from the pause screen, you have to use the shortcut. But yes, we can switch our current party member freely on the field, using whichever abilities we think suit the situation best.

I switched to Goombario, because the Fuzzies aren't done with me yet.

This is a Fuzzy. Why do Fuzzies always jump up and down? They need to chill out! Max HP: 3, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 0. The problem with Fuzzies is their quickness. It's really tough to time their attacks. If they latch on to you, watch out! They'll absorb your HP.

Fuzzies (Lv. 6) are incredibly remote enemies, as it happens. The only opportunity we have to fight them is right now (they all disappear after we fight these four) and one optional encounter in a later chapter I have no intentions of even being able to trigger. They have recolours later, at least. Fuzzies will latch onto your face and have an incredibly difficult attack to counter, leeching 1 point of HP and healing themselves. This does not resemble their behaviour in the main series at all, and I wonder why Fuzzies.

I decide I'm having none of those shenanigans.

Counting sheep, counting sheep... Sleep has a 95% chance of working on Fuzzies, and no alterations on the timer. By default, an enemy put to sleep will doze for 3 turns, but some enemies have tweaks that make them either sleep longer (if they're meant to be weak to it) or shorter (if the game doesn't want you trivialising them). Most statuses have a similar proviso.

Right, Kooper, your turn. Both Mario and the Partner have access to the Strategy "Change Partner", but it consumes the turn of whoever uses it.

As mentioned, Power Shell has a 3 FP cost associated with it. This is the norm for Partner abilities- Goombario's Tattle is the only freebie.

Similarly to Fire Emblem, Paper Mario's Sleep is permanent until it wears off, and there's no such thing as "being woken up". TTYD would add that mechanic.

Both Shell Toss and Power Shell use the same Action Command as Mario's Hammer, although the lights take longer to line up when you're using Power Shell.

Star Points acquired.

Say goodbye to the Fuzzies.

...So what the hell was the deal with the Fuzzies? No idea. They probably just wanted something to help Kooper with before he joins the party.

On the way back to Koopa Village, you can find our first instance of using Kooper's Shell Toss to collect a distant item: It is impossible to collect this Badge any other way. Koopa Shells don't behave this way in the main series- in fact, Mario 35 made shells disobey the laws of physics to drop to the ground faster.

HP Plus (3 BP) is an interesting Badge. You might notice "5 HP" is the amount of HP we get from a level up, and same with the 3 BP cost to wear it. The HP Plus Badge is, in essence, a way to temporarily "turn a BP level up into an HP level up". This makes BP levels more favourable, because in situations where HP is more valuable, you can use your BP for the job and then change your mind later. Worth keeping in mind. (And yes, there are FP Plus Badges later.)

If you're wondering, putting on a HP Plus Badge does not give you the HP it allows you to have- you'll have to heal up through a Heart Block, an item or pickups.

Returning to Koopa Village, all the Koopas have regathered their shells, and this puzzle has been switched to a Star Piece. They really want you to try pushing a blue block around.

I'm sure we could come to an arrangement. The Fuzzy playground is still there.

...The Koopas seem to have another mind of the matter.

Somewhat.

...Mario's not really that interested in helping the Koopas and the Fuzzies achieve peace, he's got a star with a moustache to save!

Once I yoink this, of course.

Kolorado is currently out doing an archaeology, so we can't say hello.

As Kooper mentioned, Kooper and Kolorado are neighbours, so Kolorado lives in this house behind the textbox when he's not busy. So, basically never.

We can bump into Kolorado's long-suffering wife, who recognises Kooper and seems to be on first-name terms. Albeit from a young age.

The third house on this screen is owned by another significant character, one whom we will be well acquainted with as the game progresses.

Koopa Koot, a very flattering name for the old guy, claims to be the "elder" (so, authority) of Koopa Village, but most everyone in the story seems to consider him more of a crackpot.

And also a sponge. Koopa Koot has a host of Favours he'll ask from Mario- 20 in all. Each favour will involve either running a quick errand or supplying him with an inventory item. The favours don't all unlock at once, though: You start with the first two, and then three more unlock after every Chapter. (You might notice there's no new favours after Chapter 7. That's fine.)

Most people who know him know him for his penchant for asking for favours. Oh well.

He'd like to acquire a book from Kolorado- and so the player can do this now and not later, Kolorado left it at home.

Wouldn't be too hard to go and do. Kooper doesn't seem to have made it into the house- this happens sometimes, with partners not getting through the door in time and trying their hardest to path-find through a solid wall. It's more common in Paper Mario, especially since they don't keep pace with Spin Dash well.

If Kolorado left it at home, he probably doesn't need it that badly.

Kolorado's wife also hits us with a bit more about Koot himself- there's a few NPCs who talk about him, but this is the first clue for someone who missed all of them.

She actually goes into the back to go digging around the mess of bookshelves back there.

We weren't finding it on our own and I don't doubt it. I wonder how often Kolorado needs his wife's help finding his reading material.

Huh. A normal turtle on the cover.

Yes, in the Japanese version, this book was far more scandalous than that, how could you tell? Exercises for your shells... are they clothes or not?

Kooper clearly doesn't want any part in this side of his hero's private life. We can make a good lad of him yet.

On a lighter note, this line is also a localisation edit. In the original version, Koopa Koot has very tame responses to the completion of a favour. However, the localisers expanded this to a whopping fourty possible responses, each themed after something from the game (...well, except "My stars!"). A number of these things include Paper Mario original enemies we'll meet later in the game, so I'm not that interested in listing them all, but it's worth mentioning.

Curiously, one of those Paper Mario original enemies is an enemy we'll meet in Chapter 7. Remember how I said you can finish up Koopa Koot's favours before heading that direction?

I do not need to know that.

Most people who complain about Koopa Koot mention he usually only gives a single Coin for completing his favours. And that's true. 13 of the 20 favours only give a single coin as a reward. There are good prizes on offer, and unfortunately, since the favours and prizes are only available in the same order, we will have to do all the junk favours to get the good prizes.

The first two favours are pretty quick and easy to do, and the first good reward is after the second favour, so might as well.

He wants a Sleepy Sheep. He also advises you to buy one, which is probably a clue this favour won't end with just a coin, since that's a pure sunk cost otherwise.

I had a spare freebie anyway.

Aw, I got the boring one.

Nighty night.

The prize for this one is an additional prize on top of the Coin. There's two like this, while the other ones are instead of the Coins.

He's talking about a casino hiding in Toad Town. Sadly, we can't access it yet- it's on the wrong side of the roadblock.

We could access it whenever, but we can't play the minigames without a Credit. Koopa Koot is the only source of Credits in the game.

That is the last favour available. Moving on.

Anyway, what's on sale at the shop?

Dizzy Dial (10 Coins): Attempts to inflict the Dizzy status on all enemies. The Dizzy Dial's Dizzy goes for 3 turns, and because Dizzy is so much better in this game, this is a surprisingly valuable purchase. TTYD nerfing Dizzy makes it look less so, but then again, it's not like Sleepy Sheeps are in every inventory despite being nearly the same item.
Volt Shroom (15 Coins): Applies the Electrified status to Mario for a few turns when consumed. This item is more valuable for another purpose later, but it's not worth buying and keeping on hand now.

Did you notice the Honey Syrup hiding behind this Candy Cane earlier?

Kooper does all his damge in one hit, like a Hammer. Much like with Goombario's Tattle, this is the norm for Partners: Only one other partner hits an enemy multiple times for a basic attack, and even that doesn't work like Jump.

We'll also need Kooper's help to knock this down.

The Thunder Bolt will hit a single enemy of your choice for 5 damage, unaffected by Defence. The Thunder Rage is a strictly superior item, but if you're only worried about one enemy, you can always use this.

You can also use Shell Toss as a First Strike. Do be careful, though- Mario jumps on Kooper's shell as part of the animation, and that jump does count as a potential Jump First Strike. And since you're probably using Shell Toss on something spiky...

...Wish I had that Power Shell. FP might be more valuable in the earlygame than I remembered.

With Kooper's Shell Toss in hand, the bridge to the Koopa Bros. Fortress has unfurled.

This is a Paratroopa. No surprise here- Paratroopas are Koopa Troopas with wings. Max HP: 4, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. When you jump on 'em or use a POW Block, their wings fall off and they become normal Koopa Troopas. It's easy to beat 'em once they're normal Koopa Troopas. Give 'em another Jump attack! They think they're pretty cool because they wear sunglasses, but they're not that tough.

Koopa Paratroopa (Lv. 6) has been around just as long as Koopa Troopa- even Paragoomba had to wait a few games to show up. With that said, any game with purely friendly Koopa Troopas will rarely have Paratroopas- I think SMRPG is one of the few examples. Paratroopas will have their wings clipped with a single Jump, but you need to hit them a second time to subsequently flip them over- this means a single properly-performed Jump attack will do zero damage.