Paper Mario Ending: Party at Peach's Place

Next we see of Mario, he's at home, recounting all the exciting things for his brother, who missed the whole thing.

"And once again, I am not a part of it."

Through rain, sleet, snow, and Bowser getting invincibility, Mario will always win. It's amazing they have any tension.

...The game's not over yet. What do you mean, there's been days? I guess it makes sense, but we just walked off from that?

So what are the partners up to now the adventure's over? They've had... enough time to establish themselves, but not that much.

For example, Goombario has gone back home to be a child again.

And Parakarry has returned to his job as mailman. Possibly as a competent one, we did do a little mail delivery in our time.

That's probably the best reaction to having a mailman friend. I wonder if real mailmen have to deal with this joke. Probably less in an era when mailmen don't personally deliver letters to their recipients- we have postboxes now.

Another letter, duly delivered. A postman's job is never done.

...Do I get a Star Piece for this?

It's anyone guess, but I'd have to say it has something to do with the heroic deed you helped perform.

Parakarry: "It is not my job to read your mail. Why my postmaster does it is his business."

He may be an avid reader, but he is not that fast.

And that would explain the timeskip. They actually took the time to prepare this- it wasn't whipped together as soon as the castle slotted back into the ground.

Goombario's scene is one of two that has dialogue- we just drop in each place and see everyone briefly. Bombette is in front of Kooper's house, for some reason. I don't think Kooper is getting that place back.

And Kolorado's wife shows up to deliver a message to Parakarry verbally.

Lady Bow is too rich to get her mail from the postman.

Cute letter reading animation, though.

Watt seems to be friends with the Shy Guys. No sign of her mother yet. It must be hard to get places when you can only run around the walls.

Sushie is doing her best to read her letter while babysitting the Yoshi Kids. This scene is in Jade Jungle, which is a sign the kids have been getting looser restrictions while Sushie is supervising. I don't think any enemies spawn in the areas you can visit without riding Sushie's back, so they'll be just fine. As long as they don't jump in the flower that eats you.

And also Spike and Lakilulu. Nothing special here.

Kooper, meanwhile, can be found in Shiver City.

Kolorado has kept his promise, and has invited Kooper on an expedition alongside him.

And not only that, but Kooper is a valuable member of the team- Kooper has already been to the Crystal Palace, and he knows all the traps. He's not just tagging along because Kolorado said he could.

He may or may not also be the only one with Fire Shell, I don't think all Koopa Troopas have that ability.

Fortunately for Peach, Parakarry makes it before Kooper gets too far in. The adventure has definitely improved Parakarry's mailman skills- the old Parakarry would have arrived here too late and with the letter stuck in a tree in Forever Forest.

Although it wears him down to the slivers of his wings.

Once again, we see a cute animation of a partner reading mail. Now I say it, I kinda wish they put this in the main adventure for the letters to partners. Bombette, Watt, Spike and Parakarry himself don't have such animations, and I suspect Watt is the reason this didn't happen. That is, assuming these letter animations for Goombario, Bow, Sushie and Kooper weren't made specifically for the ending.

Well, that's definitely a compelling thing to do instead of this.

With that said, this is an expedition with Kooper's hero, and no way he's missing that, either.

Kolorado is on team "you should go ahead to the party".

To be fair, judging by his skill at archaeology, it'll be a long time before he's ever considered to be allowed at a party without being considered a risk to the princess's safety.

Ah, who am I kidding, Toads think everyone is a risk to Peach's safety. Except maybe Mario.

...He Fire Shelled Dry Bones, you may be overselling things somewhat. With Bombette squatting in his house, I can't even feel comfortable saying he's the hero of Koopa Village. That's the only reason, though.

Well, that's Kooper out of the scene.

Which is fortunate for his unshaken faith in the professor, because he is not about to leave this conversation with what little remains of his dignity.

I can only assume Kolorado's wife gave explicit instructions that Parakarry scream this in his best impression of a woman scorned.

I can only wonder how Kooper idolises this man when he grew up with this woman in his neighbourhood.

She didn't look too angry when we saw her earlier, but that may just be because vocal-only anger doesn't really look like such without dialogue in Paper Mario.

Not that Paper Mario is incapable of being emotive, but it must do so deliberately, and Kolorado's wife didn't seem to have the extra effort put in.

If he hurries, he might be able to get out of a year's time in the doghouse. Suffice it to say he's already bought himself a month.

The remaining archaeologists, in the absence of a good reason to head to Crystal Palace on their own, decide not to. Kolorado and Kooper were the keystones of this expedition: Kolorado had the goals, and Kooper had the knowledge of how to keep out of danger. Either they're heading home or they're heading to Shiver City's tavern or similar.

With the partners done, it's back to Mario.

Parakarry also delivered it to our mailbox, too. I guess they didn't want unequal representation among the partners on that front?

...You mean the party is starting now? Maybe Parakarry isn't as fast as we thought. He did have to go to every corner of the world...

And, once again, Mario and Luigi set off for Toad Town.

Unlike the first scene, the player does have the slightest bit of control in this walk. If you press Down while Mario is on this pipe, you enter the pipe instead of Mario, and the game immediately sends you to Toad Town.

Skipping the scene's ending where Luigi follows behind you, and also the bit in Toad Town where he jumps out after you.

Which is unbelievably rude to poor Luigi on multiple levels whatsoever- half the speedrunning rules call time when Mario holds the Star Rod over his head after beating Bowser, meaning this speedrunning trick is only to be mean to Luigi.

On a brighter note, Luigi has some business to attend to, and he gets to keep it a secret from Mario. Fair's fair, bro.

We now have control of Mario, and can explore the first three maps of Toad Town to find various NPCs, some which normally live here, and others that do not. All loading zones out of these areas are blocked.

...For some reason, I have never considered the fact the pipe back to Mario's House is not.

When I looked up at the sky tonight I saw a shooting star racing across the sky toward Peach's Castle. I made a wish to the Stars right away, but I wonder if it will really be granted... What I wished was............... I can't write it even though this is a secret diary. Aargh! You can see it even though I erased it! (My wish is to sleep in the top bunk bed.)

I heard that my brother finally saved Princess Peach! Bowser increased his power with the Star Rod but my brilliant brother beat him anyway! I guess he'll be coming back home pretty soon. I'm looking forward to listening to the story of his adventure. Anyway, I'm going to finish this diary for now. I have to seal this room off before he notices that I remodeled without telling him. Now I'm going to prepare a dinner to celebrate Mario's return!

And Luigi's Diary goes up to page 12. Damn, his wish is just for the top bunk? ...And he's not allowed to keep his secret room? I think this has gone a step past bullying.

Russ T. is not in his house.

Well, someone on the writing team was proud of their accomplishments.

"...Why is everybody walking to the castle? We should be celebrating!"

Meanwhile, this Toad family's disrupted status quo is now being restored, to the mixed feelings of its members.

I presume there are bills to pay, but maybe he might consider retraining? Or maybe work-from-home, just in case.

...This lot may be the only people here in town who are upset I saved the world. I guess the restoring of wishes will help out.

And this kid's back to his aspirations of scrapping. And/or possibly wants to spend more time with his pop.

As for the two lovebirds?

Somehow, this feels like a better end for them than what Goombario was hinting.

As mentioned, a few NPCs have come to Toad Town alongside the classics, although this is mostly outside the castle. There's a few scattered in the business district, though.

I forget where Goompa shows up.

It's Peach, you'll be fine. Besides, you're Goombario's mum.

Thank goodness Goompa is, too.

...I think this is the grocer and Harry? I don't have Goombario, so I can't exactly check.

I dunno, Tayce T. might need some extra mushrooms.

Don't worry, "just wishing" did more than enough.

...Weren't you retiring?

Shame they can't assume you got that far.

The only place where Vanna T. can be directly interacted with, and we don't have Goombario to Tattle her. This is her only line of "dialogue", and as much as it would separate her from Toadette to come, I wonder if that means she's actually mute. We know she's still got a personality to speak of, since she wrote Mario a letter, but she's not vocalising anything of the sort.

The Master is a harsh taskmaster indeed.

But at least reasonable. If these parties are common for Mario saving Peach, I wonder if it's reasonable to say it's too common to use as a public holiday.

...So that's what it's like to be these guys. Hopefully they're learning something.

Just in time!

...Well, and that. Hopefully they get to enjoy it, at least.

You are easily satisfied.

"It's happened so many times I feel like I'm going through the motions".

Just like we knew he would, Mario defeated Bowser and rescued our dear princess. Bowser was badly beaten and will likely never return. We're sure of it. Almost positive. Peach's Castle has been perfectly restored to its original position, and it even sports fresh paint! A grand party celebrating the victory is planned at the castle, with everyone who's anyone in attendance. Hooray for Mario! Hooray for our hero!! From all the reporters, with many thanks! We owe you one, Mario!!

Of course, there's a commemorative notice on the noticeboard. But there's one quote I feel like should be framed on the wall...

Come back after Super Mario Sunshine and print that again.

Hurrah for Princess Peach! Hurrah for Mario!! Mario was as strong as legend said he was! He fought beside Goombario, Kooper, Parakarry, Bombette, Lady Boo, Watt, Lakilester and Sushie! We're gonna party like there's no tomorrow! Come on!

Legend and the fact I live here.

Not even Europe caught that unfortunate typo on Bow's name, though.

This time, he's actually out of the house.

Truly a reason to talk to every Toad.

...Are you the Dryites who made that joke earlier, during the Quick Change sidequest?

At least you're honest.

And set up the same scheme again? We don't meet them in TTYD, so wherever they are, they clearly don't want Mario coming back to see them.

...

As your best customer, might I ask why?

Not what you want to hear from someone you suspect is shady. He's not necessarily shady, but still. He's clearly in something of a hurry to get moving.

The kid is off being a kid.

I'm kinda amazed Rowf and Rhuff don't actually acknowledge Koopa Koot's presence. The way they start off looking at him, you'd think they'd be trying to get him to move on.

...Those giant, bulbous noses of the Doogans wouldn't happen to be close enough to doorknobs, would they?

...I was not prepared for that kind of party.

If you try to leave, you'll usually be stopped by whoever the nearest Toad is.

Thanks for the help, Wise Wisterwood!

...I can see why Petunia is annoyed about not being able to move.

Best to get those nerves out of the way now.

The musician from the desert's here, too.

It'll be fine. She's a good cook, not a good singer, she'll be fine with a good performance instead of a great one.

This is the guy who keeps us out of Flower Fields, I'm fairly sure.

...Have you managed to talk to her at all, or are you still in your mooning phase?

He's normally well behaved. He's just never going to give up this kidnapping thing.

Well, yeah, but you closed the day-off house.

I have to wonder if this guy is Koover.

Because this guy is definitely Bruce. Seriously, dude, she's not into you. Get lost.

Yes, I can believe it. He told me he was planning on heading to the Crystal Palace. I was not expecting him to jump at it as soon as I stopped using Kooper.

At this point, I think this might be a make-or-break for your marriage. Kolorado can't get away with doing that again, you're just seeking different things out of this relationship at this point.

Please, Kolorado, do some self-reflection.

No. No I don't. I've been there. It was cool, but it wasn't that cool.

Do you lot have object permanence?

And this is why you don't keep your read mail in the post office, but take it home.

He was able to carry me over small, level gaps I couldn't jump over.

Up here, the cast has been greatly expanded to include people from all over the world.

Herringway plans on writing this particular edition of Mario's autobiography. I wonder, perhaps, if the fact Herringway was the only intelligent character in the part of the story he appeared in might just be authorial license?

Yes, ha ha, hilarious, but this is a joke that is far, far funnier in Japanese. Not because the joke was mistranslated or anything, but because the Japanese title of this game is "Mario Story", and thus this penguin's line is changed to match.

Let me reiterate: Herringway plans to write a book about Mario's adventure titled "Mario Story".

This Yoshi Kid, and explicitly just this one, got to come along. I assume he is going to lord this over his friends when he gets home.

That is, assuming they don't figure out how to accomplish that.

This NPC is explicit evidence to a point that otherwise has no explicit evidence one way or the other: All the people in Bowser's Castle that were unaccounted for when it blew up are fine. How this happened is a question best left to people with far more time on their hands than I, but there are several solutions I would be satisfied by.

The Yoshis not all coming along is a question with an answer, although this does mean that there are lucky ones.

They don't actually show Bow in a new dress- as if she ever had one. Perhaps Boo fashion is visible only to Boos. Or maybe "all her finery" is what Bow was wearing when she came along for the adventure.

This is the line that confused the hell out of me. Combined with his Boo buddy commenting on Bow's appearance (and particularly her fashion sense), it really feels like this Boo is talking about Bow's wedding- although to whom, I don't know, and that's part of why it was so shocking. This line is about Victoria's wedding, and this Boo will say it regardless of whether you got the dialogue that demonstrates its existence.

This NPC's only job is to have somebody close enough to the Shooting Star Summit exit to tell Mario not to use it. Although this is an entirely different map from the normal one, why not just not have this exit work?

You'll be working off that debt until the end of time, when the copyright on the Mario IP finally expires.

Mayor Penguin has returned for another party in Peach's Castle, and accepts the premise that it won't get any worse.

Still dangerous to Bowser. The one time Bumpties were used as enemies outside Yoshi's Island, though, they turned out to be pretty weak to Mario's powerups- especially the Fire Flower.

Of course the Village Chief is here.

And he's the one who explained why there are Yoshis here at all. Now, is the whale going to continue this? I don't know, but I suspect he was unable to carry every Yoshi in Yoshi village. He may be a whale, but we took up a lot of his back as Kolorado, Mario and Partner. Assuming this is a good basis of the whale's carrying capacity, three Yoshis (one of whom is a Baby) and a Cheep Cheep seems like a reasonable weight limit to enforce. At least Sushie can swim- although I don't think we ever see her do it in salt water.

I think we have boats for that.

Hi, Moustafa! Surprised to see you here.

Moustafa happily assisted us purely in relation to Dry Dry Ruins, and had, at most, a passing interest in what we did next. The fact that our deeds only grew grander came as a pleasant surprise, and further proof of what Moustafa already recognised.

...Little Mouser, or just a generic Nomadimouse? I wish I had Goombario.

Thankfully we didn't forget that little town.

Beats the usual nerves you get in this line of work.

Entering Peach's Castle represenst the ending of the game. We are dropped directly into the game's ending.

You have an excellent sense of timing, Toadsworth.

When Peach comes out to deliver this speech, a remix of Mario's iconic "Peach is rescued" theme plays. It took me a while to pin this one down, but it turns out it's a song that originally appeared in Lost Levels- the original didn't quite have enough memory for it. In the platformers, it traditionally appears at the exact moment Peach is freed.

You're welcome, stars.

Peach offers her thanks directly to not just Mario, but the Partners, too. Ah, there's Goompa.

She also extends the same thanks to the sages, Russ T., Tayce T., and anyone who counts as this but doesn't happen to be in frame. Some may have been more helpful than others, but we thank them all just the same.

...At least the Gamecube games were fond of putting Mario and Peach in danger outside the Mushroom Kingdom? Even the main series platformer for the console took place on another landmass.

I know it was inevitable, but it's hard to feel like restoring the power of wishes did anything if this wish doesn't actually bestow more than five years of peace. Perhaps forever was an overshoot.

And that's the end of the dialogue and gameplay segment.

Time to roll credits with a proud Mario RPG -> Paper Mario tradition... of sorts. Luigi leads the parade in Mario's honour. And in honour of the game that we just played.

The first float is all our partners on the Star Ship. Many of whom are using brand new animations just for this.

Considering the number of female Toads running around, I'm fairly sure the rich Toad girls decided to spend their money on funding this, at least in part.

Next up, Chuck Quizmo, and please try not to think too hard about how characters slide along the ground when not moving.

I didn't even notice it when I caught it, but Vanna T. waves here and only here. I'm not sure if she's waving at the Koopa Bros. or just to whoever's behind her.

The Koopa Bros. get their dues from the Bob-ombs from the back of a float crafted out of the remainder of Bowser???. I don't think I've ever seen Bob-ombs depicted with arms outside the King Bob-Omb character. They do not need them.

Kolorado and his wife say hi from the back of the whale. Hopefully this means they've got something arranged.

Rowf and Rhuff walk on by during the parade, saying hello to Moustafa on the way. If Moustafa's giving them the time of day, they're probably legit.

Tutankoopa is still being chased by Chain Chomp.

Before he manages to escape by using Paper Mode.

He's free!

Buzzar turns out to have had babies. Hey, didn't we get Eggs as inventory items out of Mt. Rugged? Best not to wonder too much about that.

...Can't catch a break, can he?

Bootler floats by, completely undisturbed by flying Tubba Blubba.

Oh. I thought you lot said you were going to knock this off.

The Goomba King, from all the way back in the prologue, has finally been tracked down. He's been stuck in this tree the whole time.

Fortunately, they got him down. Not sure where he goes from here. I thought Bowser gave him his gigantism- is he just stuck with that now?

Next up, a float representing Mt. Lavalava, with the Yoshis chilling out. Raphael the Raven jumps in out of frame from that position as the float goes by.

And Lava Piranha does the same from behind Mt. Lavalava.

The Yoshi Kids, who managed to come along after all, stop to admire the next guy along- Huff.

They all try to extend their tongues out at him, shrinking him.

Seems the clouds didn't agree with their tummies.

Gourmet Guy has other ideas.

Next up, the Crystal King.

And his Duplighost buddies.

The Crystal King always knows.

Except when it's not even the Crystal King. Even he can see right through your disguises.

...Although the Crystal Bits have other ideas. Where was this insubordination when I was there?

Jr. and Kammy Koopa have engaged in a magic duel. This seems a bit more suited for Jr.'s talents: Kammy was a bit useless in the end, and Jr.'s still a kid. The young vs the elderly, but this time Peach won't be tipping the scales.

And off they go while we see the Bowser section of the parade. The Hammer Bros. juggling their mallets is cool, but who invited them?

Oh hey, there's some Koopatrol banner bearers in the back. They look pretty cool.

What looks less cool is Bowser landing in the middle of this duel between Kammy and Jr.

He is not pleased. Fire beats magic, apparently. Except when Mario uses it.

After that, the parade cuts to a night version, presumably because they had to clean up after the stupid decision to invite Bowser, Kammy and Jr. Ironically, Bowser seems to have been the least problematic of the three.

Bumpty skating! Not sure on what, though. That feels like a good way to ruin a good pair of skates.

Mayor Penguin and his wife waddle by, nothing particularly special. Also no Herringway, I don't think. Seems a bit weird an inclusion.

The composer and his fabulous stage of a harp float while Toads play instruments on the side. I can see why Pop Diva felt nervous: Imagine not selling this.

Amazy Dayzees, plural! You wouldn't be able to fight multiple until TTYD, and that's probably for the best.

The sages, including the not-iced-in Madam Merlar, hang out with a float of Wise Wisterwood. The other flowers didn't get to come. Once again, I'm starting to see why they have some grudges to get out of their system.

Also, not sure what the sun is doing, if it's still nightime with her around.

The Shy Guys brought the Toy Box for a float, with General Guy leading a killer march theme. If you can read the writing on the wall behind him, that word is "Heiho"- the Japanese name of the Shy Guy. Obviously, the English team didn't want to redo the texture, but this still kinda works as the series progressed- when the series added consistent voice grunts, Shy Guys came to use "Heiho!" as their own, so English speakers can consider this less of their name and more of their war cry.

Once again, this Shy Guy can't seem to manage staying in lock step with his squad. On the other hand, it's not like there's a missing gap he should be filling. Both the jokes in the main story involved this guy failing to keep up with disorganised fleeing, so it's not clear whether he was part of the group he should've been.

These Toads demonstrate an unusual ability for the series: the spots on their caps can apparently light up at night. Considering they're based on a dark-loving kind of flora (well, OK, mushrooms aren't plants), maybe they could wind up using this more often?

Mario and Peach are the last float we see, as the name of the late Hiroshi Yamauchi passes by.

Twink comes to say hello, and both give him a friendly wave.

Before deciding this is their stop and they're not going to continue the parade.

There's more people in the parade afterwards, but they're going to keep going off in their own direction.

Mario and Peach head to Mario's House to watch the fireworks.

From this point on, the game will play this theme. It's a song that very definitely suits the mood they wanted for this ending.

We have reached the Ending. I don't think Peach kisses Mario in this one, but I will admit I tend to stare at the fireworks more than them.

At this point, your console is now soft-locked, and the only way to leave is to reset. This is a fairly common setting for the time, but nowadays games do have a way to kick you back to the title screen, since this tends to be confusing on the player end. Incidentally, there is no save at any point in the ending- if you reopen your file, you're back at wherever your last save was, with no special indicator you're on a completed file. This game doesn't track that.