PM Chapter 1 Part 2: Teenage Masked Ninja Koopas

That is a big castle. I'm informed the Koopa Bros. are squatters.

Here's Koopa Bros. Fortress. This used to be ruined, but I guess the Koopa Bros. rebuilt it. It looks pretty huge, huh? And solid, too. This fortress was originally built around the same time the Bob-ombs took up residence on Pleasant Path.

On the plus side, it sounds like we've caught them on the back foot.

The Koopa Bros. Fortress theme isn't the Fortress theme from SMB3, although it does call on the riffs from time to time.

This is a Bob-omb. Bob-ombs are pretty temperamental, and they get steaming mad when you attack 'em. Max HP: 3, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 0. You'd better not jump on 'em when they're angry or they'll blow up in your face. In fact, stay away entirely. Attack 'em from a distance with items like Hammers. Or you could send in other things, like shells. If they attack when angry, they'll charge in and explode. So you'd better take care of them before they blow!

Bob-omb (Lv. 6) first appeared in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, the licensed game that eventually became Super Mario Bros. 2 in the west, and of all the enemies from that game that made it into the main series, Bob-omb was by far the fastest and most prolific. These days, Bob-omb is as recognisable as Goomba and Koopa Troopa, if not more than some other SMB1 classics we'll meet later. In this game, their 3 HP is a bit pointless- hit them once and they get angry, and then they'll explode either when you hit them or they hit you, instantly removing them from the fight. You want Bob-omb to explode on your attacks, but that can be difficult to set up if they're not the closest enemy in the formation.

Fortunately, if you don't anger them, they won't damage you if you Guard.

Don't worry, a single Jump won't get the Bob-Omb to explode under your feet. It will explode on the next attack, even though its HP is going to 0.

Also, an angry Bob-omb has heightened resistance, if not outright immunity, to status ailments a peaceful one does not. If you've angered a Bob-omb, it's too late to play the trickster.

Mario's Hammer and Kooper's Shell Toss will blow up a Bob-omb without damaging the attacker.

That first enemy also had a key on their person. Yoink.

Keys function exactly as you'd expect, but they're expressed as "what item would you like to give to this lock?" I believe it is impossible to possess more than one Key at a time in glitchless/unmodified play.

It's Hammer time!

The most sensible call this turn is to use the "Do Nothing" strategy. It blows up next turn regardless of what I do, but it does a weaker attack this turn if I don't attack it now.

That is a weird lump over there. Surely it'll be important later.

Green has just finished up locking a key in a jail cell. An interesting thing about Paper Mario is that they use barred prisons often, despite the fact that paper characters should logically slip right through the bars. Notice, however, that there is a bottom bar at ankle height- the original trilogy is good at putting horizontal bars on their jails. I think the modern trilogy, since the fact everyone is made of paper is super relevant, simply doesn't bother with the barred prisons because of exactly this.

Clearly, we use whatever you lot use to get past your own locked doors.

Oh, by the way, hi, Green. Kooper, Shell Toss!

They are such cowards.

This is the Koopa we're fighting, but there's no cutscene of him jumping us. He's just a normal enemy.

Huh, someone's locked that Koopa up with a Badge. Something to keep in mind when we-

...How did you get out?

It looks like that's genuinely a hole in the wall and not slipping through bars without an ankle guard. Shame.

Power Bounce (2 BP) is a 3 FP attack that allows you to hit one enemy repeatedly with your Jump. Your first hit will do the normal damage of a single bounce, and each subsequent hit will do one less point of damage (bottoming out at 1 damage). This is the favourite Badge of basically everyone, from speedrunners to casual players alike, but I'll be honest, not mine. Against bosses, you get arbitrarily capped, and the last thing Paper Mario needs is not knowing your damage output. As a result, I will not be using Power Bounce in either game. I'll have to make up my damage in other ways.

Over here is another key in a jail cell.

...And this is a fight I want no part of.

This'll bite me in the butt later, I'm sure.

Also worth mentioning, but the Koopa Troopa took 3 damage too. All item attacks will ignore enemy Defence. That is not to say all items will always do the damage printed, but any immunities or bonus damage will be elemental effects.

Although Koopa Troopas introduce Defence to the player and encourage them to keep them on their backs, it is perfectly possible to hit them while righted using normal attacks, too. You do less damage, but when he only has 1 HP left...

Defeating that guy was necessary to spawn a switch!

...And hey, this staircase isn't going anywhere.

...Let me rephrase that.

It looks like they've turned this large chamber into a prison cell.

A prison for Bob-ombs stands on the right-hand side of the basement.

Another crack in the wall. The Koopa Bros. Fortress is clearly going to be a Zelda-like dungeon of finding the key item required to progress, and then backtracking through the map to find all the ways to use it. This is the only dungeon in the game to do this in a very Zelda-y way. There's a few more dungeons scattered around that have overworld techniques, but the backtracking element is downplayed.

Over on the left...

We get trapped in this room because the doors have literally jumped away. Try not to think about the spacial implications.

There are three overworld enemies to fight, all Koopa Troopas or Paratroopas, and you have to defeat them all to escape. Again, a very Zelda-y setup that the game doesn't really persist using. Probably for the better.

Fire Bars first appeared in SMB1, but were not present in SMB3 or SMW in favour of their own stationary obstacles (Roto Discs and Spinners, respectively). Fire Bars proved to be the most resilient, and while you'll find the occasional Spinner, the devs like to stick with Fire Bar. And why wouldn't they? The Fire Bar is a chain of fireballs that rotates around a central pivot- as opposed to Roto Discs, which are a single obstacle circling a pivot, and Spinners, which are single obstacles following a track. In 2D, you have to hide in its shadow as you circle around. In 3D, the solution is usually to jump over it- although Galaxy adapted the 2D technique to the third dimension.

Paper Mario predates Galaxy by seven years, and even encourages you to jump by making each Fire Bar a short skipping rope game. Jump over it ten times and it turns into ten coins.

That was a considerable detour for a single key.

Enter the next room and we see Yellow Ninjakoopa preparing... something to do with this platform.

Even he doesn't seem entirely sure on what his plan is.

How can he see me from there? He's a real coward for running from that far away, though.

There's a south exit to that room in the bottom. It's just a Save Block. Sure, I guess.

Also down the bottom here is another cracked wall. Imagine finding the way to get past these later and having to come back here.

Attempting to proceed greets you with a locked door.

Time to make Yellow feel better about his pathetic plan.

And get into another fight with gravity. I will conquer my nemesis one day...

What did you expect, you locked the door!

One of these days, I will construct an actual map of Koopa Bros. Fortress and figure out if all the rooms are actually properly stacked. I'm fairly sure the spiral tower we fell from is directly above the prison, but they do this again later and I'm less sure that room is correctly positioned.

What do we look like from her perspective? Clearly, we're being viewed from a side angle and thus our shape is obfuscated. Another instance of the paper design leaning into the way the world is perceived in-universe.

...I'd rather not think about what that would've looked like if the world were not paper.

Even Bombette's heard of us, although she mostly just happens to know who we are.

Bombette, in addition to colour, has a unique fuse and turnkey. Her Bob-omb Buddies over there go without their fuse, though.

We are, for some reason, thrown out of the conversation to go wander around and commiserate with our fellow explosives.

She's named Bombette. That pink is adorable! She does seem to be pretty strong-willed. Her future boyfriend might be in for some trouble.

Goombario, time out corner. Wow, that is uncomfortable. Probably sounded a lot better in their heads.

While the topic of Bombette's love life does come up later, there is no explicitly defined character that is Bombette's boyfriend, named or otherwise. It's certainly not going to be Goombario at this rate!

Nothing peaceful, at least. Most games, this one included, are of the opinion that Bob-ombs do not die when they explode (although this does bring up the question of whether or not the the things we're fighting are being killed or merely subdued), although Origami King would later adopt the other position.

Kammy is the one who vouched for them? You'd think it'd be Bowser, he's all about that aimless bravado!

Eh... I wouldn't say "corrupted". For multiple reasons. The Koopa Bros. seem to be exactly the same people as they were before- have a drive to be evil and confidence that far outstrips their competence.

This place is pretty huge. Before the Koopa Bros. came here, this place used to be filled with Bob-ombs. I don't think the Bob-ombs built it, but they became its caretakers. Of course, they explode all the time, so you can see why there are so many cracked walls.

The Tattle for the spiral pillar room. The Bob-omb lore seems pretty cool, but the Bob-ombs seem to prefer Koopa Village to retaking the fortress.

Good idea.

I feel that, mate. Granted, my head is never going to literally explode, but it really does feel like it sometimes.

...This one might be able to break down the walls without exploding.

25 hour work days and enough spare time to complain about it in the slammer. Wow, they're working you to the gunpowder.

...What work are you doing?

BOOM! Workers' rights and all that, not sure how relevant it is when this is slave labour and a hostile takeover.

...On the other hand, that might make it more relevant.

Own your menace-hood, Bombette! (All you need to do is talk to her again.)

Lot of telling in the Paper Mario narrative. Prepare to see that- or not see that- as we go along.

They lock up all the bombs that explode out of line.

...And this strikes no one as a bad idea.

I'll be honest, though, I don't think that ends well for the Bob-ombs. Sure, their detonations flip over Koopas, but they only get one detonation.

I've heard longer.

All right, how are an army of bombs going to get out of a stone prison...

Another party member in one chapter! Don't get used to it, this is the only time in the original pair of games it happens. Bombette is a party member that is incredibly good in her element... but she's defined by what she can't do in comparison to, say, Kooper or her suspiciously similar substitute in TTYD.

Now that's a dynamic drawing. Bombette will spawn at your feet, walk forward for a bit, and then explode. That last part about "activate switches" can come in handy for the odd timed switch, but it's never really a factor.

And this is the point where Bombette loses 75% of her appeal in combat. Her neutral attack is Body Slam, which is an inferior version of Kooper's Shell Toss since it does contact damage.

Bomb is locked to her FP move- and it's a costly one, too, taking 3 FP a detonation. Bomb is an incredibly powerful move, able to deal up to 5 damage when the Action Command is done right, but are you really willing to spend 3FP on that?

Time to start taking this escape plan seriously- or less seriously, as the case may be.

Bombette decides now's a good time to go into tutorial mode. Partners in this game don't usually have dedicated tutorials for their field ability: There's only one other partner that will, and she does something cool with it anyway.

Bombette notices an excellent crack in the wall to use as a demonstration.

You're required to trigger the detonation yourself. Proof of concept, you won't actually take damage from Bombette's detonation, despite her earlier suggestion to "take cover".

I can think of a number of walls I would like to blow up.

Bombette, now that her tutorial brain has disengaged, has re-entered the real world and noticed that this crack in the wall was there the whole time.

I swear to kaboom, none of you thought to try this?

We have established a way out now, though.

Goombario and Kooper are following us to take in the grand ol' adventure, but Bombette is, ostensibly, only here to deal with the Koopa Bros. This is the game, ahead of time, arranging for her to stick around after the fact and continue to be our portable dynamite gal.

Bombette has a key role to play in the boss fight against the Koopa Bros., and it's worth considering bringing her along.

...You're hopeless.

Somehow, you're even moreso.

FREEDOM!

Oh yeah, the guards. Maybe it's for the best the Bob-ombs waited until they had a clear direction before making their escape.

You really have to wonder what sort of emergencies would require explosions. Normally, when your castle is exploding, you're in trouble.

Clearly no one told this guy the Koopa Bros. caught us in a trap.

Just an ordinary fight- I've seen this one before, in fact.

Starting off with Body Slam, it's basically the same Action Command as Shell Toss, but you press the A Button instead of tilting the Control Stick. A fitting Command for a Shell Toss clone.

Bomb, on the other hand, requires button mashing. I'm told it can do up to 5 damage, but I'm not actually sure where that number is coming from and how to test what it should be. I usually just expect it to be a big number in the context of what I'm fighting.

Proof of concept, Bombette's Body Slam does contact damage, and thus she will take damage if she detonates a Bob-omb.

Right, let's grab this key.

And take out my anger on this wall, for some reason.

Down here, we have the Badge Refund (1 BP). When you use an item in battle, you will receive 75% of the item's standard sale price in coins. This is a really good filler Badge, especially early on when items will be a cornerstone of our strategy. Later on, we're not going to bother.

(For some reason, Refund's ability to give Coins is capped, and thus the game's most expensive item- which sells for 200 Coins- will give 113 Coins if Refunded, rather than the expected 150. At the point of the game you're considering using one, that won't matter at all.)

Anyway, now that we've opened our locked door and begin proceeding on, time for my least favourite puzzle in the Fortress.

Shell Toss to the switch and all these platforms shoot out.

Shell Toss to the switch again and they retract.

You've gotta do this four times, sitting through the animation each time. Worse, this is the animation that reveals the secret passage to Power Bounce isn't walking through bars, but a hole in the wall.

Moving on, we can't even get on this staircase!

...I wish I still had that Fire Flower.

Now seemed a good time for Power Shell.

And showing the Bob-Omb exploding in my face. This takes them out of the battle, but it stings.

Right, lower the staircase.

And we're finally getting on top of this block. To avoid that Kooper puzzle we just did, it is possible to jump on the bottom stair here, despite the fact there's no need to jump down except to Save.

This is the Key Green locked away from us way back when. Funny to think it's the last Key we wind up grabbing.

Oh, by the way, peculiarity, the bombable wall hasn't been broken on this side.

Back in the foyer room, and another switch to change the staircase elevation.

Disturbing these hapless bathing Koopas!

They will panickedly file down the staircase before resuming their roles as regular enemies and attempting to First Strike.

Climbing up this spiral tower, you see a door, and then a way further up.

It might be tempting to assume "up" is progress, but no, this time it's the secret way.

Spare Fire Flower! I think I can use that.

Smash Charge (1 BP) will increase the power of Mario's next Hammer attack by 2 points at a cost of 2 FP. You are allowed to perform non-Hammer techniques between setting up Smash Charge and firing it, and it works even on attacks other than the basic Hammer. It is good early on against enemies with Defence, but basically worthless at some point in Chapter 2. Charging moves have an uphill battle to compete with using two attacks- Smash Charge is only good on enemies with Defence now because one 3 Atk hit is better than 1+1 from two normal Hammers.

Exiting through the door leads to the outside section of the Fortress.

And the Koopa Bros. have one more trick up their sleeve.

Poor guys suffered from being the first boss and having no time to prepare.

If you will do that, why bother with the tricks?

THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US!

While the cannons are operational, this map plays this remix of the SMB3 Airship theme. It's a real bopper.

Anyway, ignoring that completely, treasure! A Maple Syrup to restore 10 FP, that'll make excellent emergency rations.

...Let me eat this Mushroom first, though.

This is a Bullet Bill, a kamikaze attacker. If you don't beat Bullet Bills quickly, they'll slam into you and explode. Max HP: 2, Attack Power: 2, Defense Power: 0. I'm serious, Mario. These guys will really make us pay if they manage to hit us! We have to beat 'em before they get the chance to strike us.

Bullet Bill (Lv. 5) has one trick: Ram into you, deal 2 damage, and then disappear immediately. If we get hit by a Bullet Bill, we get First Struck as a matter of course, and these guys aren't even worth money to defeat. Bullet Bill first appeared in SMB1 and has a pretty spotless record since, all things told. Not much for the sports games, though- what do you think it's going to do in baseball?

I got one, but let the other one attack me so I could Tattle. Sue me.

It's harder than you expect to dodge these.

But they hurt if you don't.

Right, heal up right beforehand.

I have a cunning plan to deal with these.

Bombette can land a First Strike with her Bomb technique. Doing this won't cost FP, and the game will treat the attack as if you hit the Action Command.

That took out the first Blaster in a single stroke!

This is a Bill Blaster. Bill Blasters are the cannons that shoot out Bullet Bills. Max HP: 4, Attack Power: 0, Defense Power: 1. They won't attack us directly, but they'll keep shooting out Bullet Bills as long as they can. It's efficient to attack 'em all at once, but you can also beat 'em one at a time.

Bill Blaster (Lv. 10) is the skull-emblazoned cannon that shoots Bullet Bills indefinitely. In this game, shot Bullet Bills become enemies, but in the platformers, Mario & Luigi, and in general, Bullet Bill's only purpose is to keep going until it has hit the target or gone off-screen after being shot out of a Blaster. Bill Blaster basically appears in all the same games at Bullet Bill, although Bills do not always appear alongside Blasters in the levels themselves- they are perfectly capable of being shot from off-screen. And sometimes, in the 3D games especially, being shot from cannons that aren't Bill Blasters.

POW! The POW Block, when it appears, often has the weakness of only affecting things that are on the ground. Interestingly, this is not the case in Paper Mario 64: Bullet Bill got hurt just the same. This was a cool demonstration of such, but in hindsight, I think I would have preferred to keep the POW Block and use the Fire Flower instead. When I planned this attack, I hadn't actually decided on tackling the Koopa Bros. the way I ultimately did so, and this would have been optimal had I stuck to the plan I had at the time.

In addition to making my life against the Koopa Bros. harder, I have to chew through more of these Bill Blaster's HP.

Bombette, you take the last one.

With the Bill Blasters defeated, I get a level up, and I decide the time is ripe for FP. Early on in Chapter 2, I will be rather FP-hungry, and this is in preparation for that. Any help it gives to the Koopa Bros. themselves is appreciated.

Healed, saved, switched to Goombario in the lead, let's go.

Time to see the Koopa Bros. ultimate attack.

...Any time you're ready, man.

I wonder what Mario is seeing. He's looking at them, and the only reason we can't see this is because we're looking at the scene from a rather peculiar angle.

Always. Win or lose, it's always about looking cool.

...

Red's right, Yellow. This doesn't look cool at all.

If this was actually Bowser, this would be a pretty demoralising encounter and a swift defeat. Made all the more painful by the fact Bowser would probably say exactly this too.

This boss plays the "Trojan Bowser" theme, a remix of Bowser's theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Switch Palace theme from SMW, I'm told. These Koopa Bros. love them some SMB3.

The Koopa Bros. demonstrate their powerful attack by, uh... waving their arm around.

Bowser...? But he looks kind of... lame. I mean, he's lame anyway, but... Max HP: 10, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. Does Bowser really look like this? I always imagined him looking, well, a lot scarier.

Even the game isn't dignifying them with a name that just has one question mark. Bowser??? (Lv. 1) is actually more dangerous than the fact this is clearly a joke would have you believe, almost entirely down to that point of Defence. At this point in the game, we don't have a lot of solutions to that that don't cost valuable resources, and there will be an actual fight after this.

The Thunder Bolt is basically made for this. It's pretty easy to keep in reserve, it's useless in the proper fight, and it'll knock out half his HP in a single strike.

This, er... "claw" attack may only do one damage, but it's a pain to time and again, we'll have to deal with a proper fight with actually dangerous attacks later.

Bowser has the Star Rod, but these guys don't.

Although in any other game, I'd certainly be feeling pretty futile right about now.

That's a lot of question marks for bragging.

Goombario needs to switch out for Bombette. Bombette can actually do some damage, and I'll need her once Bowser??? breaks.

...Are you doing OK in there, guys?

I have no idea what you're talking about, voice I apparently don't hear.

Have a bonk anyway.

With a concerted effort, you can win before this line, I just wanted to have him say it. A cute little fourth-wall break, but unfortunately, Bowser never really gets to claim as much limelight in any future Paper Mario game as he does in this one. Super Paper Mario, probably.

In motion, it's a lot more obvious that Bowser??? is taking a massive beating the lower on HP it is, but these shots show the little puffs of smoke all the same. This won't affect his point in Atk or Def, but the Koopa Bros. should maybe worry about this a little more...

On beating the costume, one of the Bros. says this line, which makes me assume this was, in fact, the ultimate technique the Koopa Bros. showed Bowser up in Peach's Castle. They put in a lot of effort to assemble and disassemble it up there. I wonder if that's part of the reason it's so shoddy here.

Bowser??? explodes, and you get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of a framed Peach portrait set in the shell. I'd joke the real Bowser has this, too, but Bowser's Inside Story outright confirms that Bowser's brain is run by a memory of Peach. (And defended by memories of Mario and Luigi, but that's a dynamic for another pair of brothers.)

Time for the Koopa Bros. to fight us Koopa to plumber.

All Chapter Bosses in Paper Mario get unique themes, and there's no beat that suits the Koopa Bros. better than "Attack of the Koopa Bros."- although funnily enough, it's actually a remix of the Hammer Bros. fight sequence track from SMB3.

The Koopa Bros. real ultimate technique, as mentioned in Peach's Castle, is the power of teamwork. They can form a stack and deal some real damage while in the stack. Earlier, I suggested that we couldn't topple them at the start of Chapter 1 if they went straight to this. I was actually mistaken: we can, just. But I think I'd rather have Kooper and Bombette anyway.

The Koopa Bros. have formed a tall Koopa tower! Max HP: ?, Attack Power: ?, Defense Power: ?. I'm not sure about this... They do a spinning attack with the whole gang piled high atop one another. Hit 'em with a Hammer or something to make 'em unstable. After that, any attack should knock 'em down. If you use an explosion, you can make 'em fall down at once. If you flip 'em over, the battle will nearly be ours! Beat 'em one by one!

Obviously, they were planning on having a free turn to demonstrate their prowess, but since we beat Bowser??? with Mario and left Bombette's turn free, she gets to go first. The Koopa Bros. Stack (Lv. 1) deals as many points of damage as there are Koopa Bros. in it- so, four.

You can destabilise the tower with Hammer, Shell Toss or Body Slam, and then knock them over with any attack. Crucially for our hypothetical pre-Chapter 1 selves, Goombario's Headbonk can do the second step, even if it can't do the first one.

Bomb, meanwhile, can knock them over in one move. A critical advantage, since if the Koopa Bros. get a turn while destabilised, they will right themselves without losing their chance to attack- you must knock over the tower in one turn.

This is Red Ninjakoopa. He's the Koopa Bros. leader. He's pretty much just a normal Koopa Troopa, though. Max HP: 5, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. He has a little bit of defense power, but you can flip him over by jumping on him, just like a normal Koopa Troopa. Let's flip him over quick! Otherwise, the Bros. may form a tower and do their famous spinning attack!

This is Black Ninjakoopa. Black is pretty fashionable... Max HP: 5, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. He has a little bit of defense power, but you can flip him over by jumping on him, just like a normal Koopa Troopa. Let's flip him over quick! Otherwise, the Bros. may form a tower and do their famous spinning attack!

This is Yellow Ninjakoopa. Yellow reminds me of curry. Isn't that a weird thing to think of in the middle of a battle? Max HP: 5, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. He has a little bit of defense power, but you can flip him over by jumping on him, just like a normal Koopa Troopa. Let's flip him over quick! Otherwise, the Bros. may form a tower and do their famous spinning attack!

This is Green Ninjakoopa. He looks exactly the same as a normal Koopa Troopa. Max HP: 5, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 1. He has a little bit of defense power, but you can flip him over by jumping on him, just like a normal Koopa Troopa. Let's flip him over quick! Otherwise, the Bros. may form a tower and do their famous spinning attack!

Red, Black (Lv. 17) Yellow and Green Ninjakoopa (Lv. 16) are down and helpless for the count, and this is your chance to make an impact. You may have noticed Bowser??? doesn't give Star Points- the game is actually surprisingly nice and treats this battle as having the 1.3x multiplier for having four enemies in it, despite the fact the fight began with only one.

Look closely at their stats. 5 HP, 1 Atk, 1 Def? These guys are just Koopa Troopas! The game has sold them as Koopa Troopas that took Bowser's approval and went too far, winning fights only through trickery and teamwork, and they stuck to it. On their own, being a Ninjakoopa only gives you 1 HP.

And this is the point where I start to commit to my less-than-optimal plan. I take a whole turn just to Tattle on one. My plan is to Tattle all five- again, the game's not tracking this, I just want to.

The Koopa Bros. get back up. They won't do anything else, but on their next turn, any Ninjakoopa standing up will reform the Koopa Stack and launch an attack immediately.

Sit back down, I'm not done with you yet.

Goombario Tattles another one.

Next turn, Mario defeats one and Goombario Tattles the third.

Now we're in trouble, though. They're on their feet and here I am without a POW Block. I have a Fire Flower, but if I use that, the Koopa Bros. die- the usual strat for dealing with the Koopa Bros after they're knocked over is to POW Block -> Fire Flower -> win immediately, and that's actually what I prepared for.

...Honestly, though, I think it was probably for the best I didn't use any attack item this turn.

I still needed to get them to reform a stack. Note how, although I haven't finished Yellow yet, I have put him on his back and he won't be rejoining the stack. I'm not sure what happens when he gets up, though.

2 damage. Much more manageable.

Right, that's Yellow out of the way.

And Goombario Tattles the tower for good measure!

You can block the Koopa stack.

Right, back to basics.

Although I do ultimately go for the "tip the tower over" strat. I only learned of the fact Goombario can topple the tower after the fact, so switching to Bombette is actually because I need her Body Slam.

This doesn't make as much sense when they're making a 2 stack compared to the four stack.

Time to do what I was prepared to do about five turns ago.

And don't come back!

The Koopa Bros fall off this platform-

And land in their jail cell. I believe this room was intended to be positioned correctly, but I wouldn't be surprised if the boss room's a little too far to the left. Again, I've never built the mental map to confirm.

(Also, somebody's gone and boarded up the hole in the wall. It turns out that, despite looking far weaker, that is bomb-proof.)

Red screams this vaguely. The other Koopa Bros. will wander around vaguely, but I tend to notice Yellow stopping and staring at the portrait of Peach in the shell. Most people tend to assume this is what Red was saying was "not cool", despite the fact Bowser??? is not particularly threatening. I guess it is a marvellous bit of machinery, though.

And the Bowser Card they were guarding has appeared.

You have to walk up and touch it- and funnily enough, the game usually will let you not bother, but we will need to do so eventually.

Eldstar has been freed from his captivity!

Chapter 1 clear!

And so Mario and friends beat the Koopa Bros. at their fortress and rescued the first Star Spirit. Still, six Star Spirits remain imprisoned, and they must save them as quickly as they can. The future of the Mushroom Kingdom, Star Haven and, of course, Princess Peach... lies in the hands of Mario... and his new friends. Their adventure has just begun.

Following every Chapter, you get a short summary. They don't usually get too meaty, but they're there.

And don't forget the save prompt to really confirm it.

Next time: A lot of post-chapter maintenance.