Yep. That's right. We're going full old-school with this game and subdividing each Chapter (or perhaps World) into four pieces, like one would see in the original Super Mario Bros. If you leave a Chapter early with the Return Pipe, you start from X-1, and must walk through each level to get to where you were.
Your first time entering a chapter begins with the game drawing it.
I will give the game credit for this, every Chapter is visually distinct in such a way that this is a treat to watch each new artstyle.
Welcome to Lineland, a world with World 1's aesthetic and a ton of mathematical formulae in the background. All of which are foolish, fairly sure, even if they weren't using Mario iconography instead of numbers.
Nice of the doors to put us far away from the Pure Hearts we're being sent to find, by the way.
Again, we're putting a lot of faith in the Light Prognosticus to assume he's even here.
Tippi is the game's equivalent to Goombella, in that she can Tattle enemies. Or, you know, anything you can click on.
And by that, I mean that quite literally. This is a Wii game, and that meant justifying that shiny new remote with some good old-fashioned motion controls! I mean that quite literally, and I'm not just saying that because it's really tricky for me to get the movement done on emulator.
Tippi is about as useful as Goombella, positively and negatively.
Incidentally, attempting to use Tippi on yourself will give you a clue about how to proceed. As if Merluvlee wasn't useless enough.
Each chapter segment has an area name that pops up in the corner when you get control.
Our first enemy! Was it any surprise? In this game, kinda.
It's a Goomba, one of Bowser's minions... Max HP is 1 and Attack is 1. It really puts the "under" back in "underlings"... It has no remarkable traits... They are pretty much the lowest of the low... But I hear Goombas do have their fans, so what can you do...
Goomba has, somehow, been nerfed tremendously from the RPGs. Lost a point in HP, and its offensive presence is significantly reduced- it can't Headbonk any more. So what does it do instead?
...Get stomped. It will deal 1 damage to you if you touch it, but they're easy to squish and mostly exist for free resources. For now, Mario does 1 damage per bonk on the head.
Mario seems to be unable to open the game with anything other than this exact formation of blocks. Always contains the same things, too.
Complete with a normal Mushroom to start us off. It spins around as it slides, so forgive the visibility.
This heal will be instantaneous, and grant you Points.
...1000 points? Why would you bother with the Star Medal?
There's a door in the middle of some solid blocks here. Can't do anything about that.
This is a Squiglet... It's a small little creature that scurries around on its many legs... Max HP is 2 and Attack is 1. There isn't much else to say about Squiglets... When it spots an enemy, it gets excited and hops up and down...
Squiglets are the first brand new enemy here in Super Paper Mario, and for the most part, we're either seeing brand new stuff or classic enemies, with few enemies returning from the previous Paper Mario games.
The Squiglet requires two jumps to take out, so a showcase of a mechanic that I'll be using sometimes: When Mario bounces off an enemy, you can shake the Wiimote to perform a Stylish command for some bonus points. These aren't the most valuable of bonuses, and another thing to watch out for is that they make you stay in the air longer than you would otherwise: While this can be the correct play, sometimes it can also be very wrong. Annoyingly, how long you spend in the air varies- possibly based on how vigourously you shake the Wiimote, but that's not something I can control.
I believe the figures that appear on the borders of the screen are the only places to see Toads and Shy Guys regularly- the latter at all.
The screen ends with a house we can enter, a Save Block, and seemingly no way forward.
If you hop on top of the Save Block, you can jump on top of the house and find a secret.
It's a Catch Card! Every enemy in the game has a Catch Card, as well as various other characters like NPCs and even party members.
Awww... look at that adorable little Squiglet. So adorable under your foot.
Squiglet Card description. These can get charming (and/or dark), so I'd like to cover them, but the way they handle these things might make that tricky to keep on top of.
Collecting an enemy's Catch Card will double your damage, and collecting multiple increases the damage by increasing the multiplier rather than doubling every blow. A handful of enemies, like Squiglet, have freebie cards like this one to collect. Most require you to source them through other means. You're probably not going to like those other means.
Enter the house and... the room is empty!?
This is one of the weirdest things in the game, and is part of a plethora of evidence that Super Paper Mario started life as a Gamecube game before being ported to Wii and having motion controls tacked on in post. There are a lot of rooms in the game that have absolutely nothing in them except something that only Tippi's power of Pointing can make usable. As a matter of fact, there's very few instances of Tippi's power applying in rooms where there is something else- all such instances being in Flipside.
(Other hints include the textbox not stretching to the sides of the screen and a few random cases of the game trying to hide something just off-screen that the new widescreen reveals.)
Clicking on an invisible object not only makes it visible, but tangible. You must use Tippi's powers to progress.
As opposed to looking at the door, nodding, and leaving. We are stuck.
...
Well, he's certainly new. It's like a combination of a Shaman and a Lakitu. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be a descendant of the Ancients, like Merlon, but he's definitely not part of the same tribe. He doesn't have the right name.
Oh joy, it's another mustachioed man who thinks his mustache makes him the coolest thing on the street.
They at least justify the first Tippi room again. Since that particular room also has a hidden item in it, I imagine this room was still hidden on the Gamecube, but I'm not sure how it would've been done. Maybe getting on top of the house?
The upside of being famous: People recognise you and stop asking questions!
...I notice a lack of a full stop...
Too many Mario cosplayers, apparently. Why don't we see more of those in the Mushroom Kingdom? Remembers all the red/green sibling pairs maybe that's not as much of a coincidence as it seems...
At least we look like one.
But no, we really are who we claim to be.
Fortunately, we can use Merlon to help assert our legitimacy.
He respects Merlon's word enough to take ours.
Which is important, because this "dimensional flipping" power is something Mario is going to need.
...Uh, dude?
I mean... you're literally gambling the fate of the world. For profit.
He has an excellent point, but considering the stakes, I'm not sure if I'm willing to let him walk float away with that. At least tell us what these expenditures are if you expect to be allowed to get away with that.
OK, while I can probably get 10000 coins over the course of the game, my wallet actually only goes up to 999...
Quite the discount, but from his perspective, a pretty reasonable step down. Still getting as much money as he can to recoup these mystery costs, but not impeding our progress. Well, OK, he's making any future financial decisions harder, but we can at least move on from this point in the game. Could you imagine farming money being fun gameplay?
I consider the fact I only have 6 coins to my name, and decide you know what, he can keep 'em. Let's just say the economy in this game is pretty garbage and we'll have more issues spending our money than acquiring it.
Still you refuse?! So be it. Though it makes me ill, I will waive the nominal fee and teach you for free. Do you agree to this?
You can get it for free, if you hate the cut of his jib that much. This is a one time offer, though. If you deny it, he'll turn you away, and if you come back, you have to bargain him down from 100,000 coins. If you try and say yes to either offer, he will take everything in your wallet without asking.
Magical powers go!
We have now acquired a brand new ability! ...Still not 100% clear on what it does, though. Very special animation that won't be seen anywhere else while attaining it, though!
"Stuck in 2D? Have fun in 3D!" That's the marketing tagline that stuck in my head from the ad I saw as a kid, and this fairly interesting idea led to a large miscommunication on the nature of this game. If you saw one of those ads and judged the game accordingly, you're probably expecting a platformer in line with New Super Mario Bros. (which had been released by this point) with a Miyamoto-esque trick like F.L.U.D.D. or the Star Spin from Galaxy.
You have probably been scared away from the story you've already seen, let alone the story yet to come. No wonder nobody liked it.
...
...
We're questioning this now?
There are some things you really don't have to acknowledge, as funny as it might be when they do.
And also avoid enemies, find mandatory paths, and in general we're going to be using this ability a lot. Kinda to the game's detriment at times: They do kinda lose the cleverness of the mechanic as the game progresses, mainly because this is a story and not a game dedicated to making 3D flip puzzles. I hope there is an indie game that is what this game's marketing thinks this game is.
This is true, but it's a relatively minor note and has other implications.
That's Bestovius. He's a powerful dimensional sage. And he knows it... He may think a little highly of himself, but he is quite wise and powerful... He is a descendant of the Tribe of Ancients, like Merlon in Flipside...
I admittedly forgot to Tattle him in-game, so I was surprised to find out that Tippi does confirm his Ancient heritage. Intriguing. I guess the SPM tribe isn't so picky.
Well, let's start by looking at what 3D is like! Flipping into 3D will flip the camera to a static position, not caring about what might be in its way. Some items and most enemies only exist in one or the other of 3D and 2D: Anything that exists in both will collide with you if you flip while on the same Z-Axis.
That rainbow meter underneath the HP is our Flip Gauge. At roughly one tick per second, you will lose Flip Gauge for being in 3D, and at more or less the same rate you'll get it back while in 2D. If it empties, you take one damage, get hit with some recoil, and the gauge instantly refills. The gauge will also refill if you heal your HP through any method.
Freebie Shell Shock and Shroom Shake for showing off our new party trick!
And a Fire Burst in the fakeout room. Who knows, maybe this was originally just going to be in Bestovius's room too.
And, of course, more 3D-only blocks out here.
Two coins, but we do have a new item in this middle one.
Pal Pills are... pretty overrated, honestly. You'd think they'd be really cool shields, or at least just really cool because they're 8-bit copies of Mario running around mimicking his movements and jumps, but that "shield" thing can often be wasted on enemies that were no danger, their Jump doesn't match Mario's as far as the physics are concerned, and they can't do things the protagonist can that often sees them being left behind. You pick them up, and honestly, you don't care what they do unless they get in your way or kill one specific enemy type.
If you flip and the other dimension doesn't have ground where you happen to be- applies both in 3D and in 2D- you will be given a short grace period where you can press 2 to get a free jump to use to get somewhere safe. If you don't, you'll fall straight down. Yes, this can be abused by speedrunners, but the major method of doing so requires something you get later.
There's a lot of places to flip into 3D and find some coins hidden behind the scenery. Part of the reason coins are so much more plentiful in SPM than they are in the RPGs is because the platformer part of it likes to reward you with coin caches, something the RPGs are much more sparing with.
First tick of damage in 3D. I don't care about these until I do.
Already we've lost a Pal Pill to weird jumping physics differences.
To add insult to injury, that pit doesn't actually exist in 3D. Oh well. We can slip our way in front of the door in 3D, progress at last.
...There's a brick block behind the very first coin block. For, uh, some reason.
In we go. You'll be set to 2D on entering doors and in general most other states. If something's specifically in 3D, they might make an exception, but this is limited to talking to 3D-only NPCs and such (and won't count against the Flip Gauge).
Ah, they formally tutorialise that. For some reason, they do it now. Oh well, it had to happen at some point.
The fact that "Next Level" is directly underneath "Score" will probably indicate it to anyone who cares to look why level ups happen. Unlike the RPGs, you are not given a choice to specialise in one stat or another: You will always gain stats in the order HP -> Atk -> HP -> Atk -> HP etc. Every additional point of damage that you deal decreases the number of times you need to attack an enemy to kill it, which helps SPM become an easy game: Lategame bosses are very vulnerable to even slightly overlevelling.
The Important Things contains our key items. There are surprisingly few that we'll keep forever, but this is how you access your Return Pipe.
Cards is where you can see all the Catch Cards you've picked up. 1 down, 255 to go!
There's also this screen, which you can access from the Pause screen, but also from the Quick Access menu by pressing 1 and 2 at the same time. It's where we can find our inventory items, and it looks like there's space in the middle there for a third option, but this first option has some... interesting implications. Not only does this imply we can play as "not-Mario", but it also sounds like Mario is the only one who can flip...
This is a Koopa Troopa. It may be slow, but it is well defended inside its shell... Max HP is 1, Attack is 1, and Defense is 1. If you leap on it, it'll pull its head and limbs in. You can then kick the shell. From what I hear, Goombas have a long-held fear of Koopa Troopas...
Koopa Troopa can't be killed by jumping on it: You'll always send it into its shell by jumping on it, and then you can kick it to send it sailing into enemies like in the old-school games. If you can get one to kill multiple enemies, it'll even combo to rack up your score! There's very few opportunities to do that, however.
This one worked. Pal Pills can kill Koopa Troopas, but this one managed to go flying without running into my Pills.
Stuck in 2D?
Not in 3D! Chapter 1 gets lots of mileage out of flipping.
Goomba's Catch Card! Not that this helps us practically: we were already oneshotting them.
This lowly goon is always getting stepped on. It isn't easy being a soft, mushroomy minion.
Occupational hazard of being a tutorial enemy.
Proof of concept: Healing restores your Flip Gauge. It's usually not a good use of healing, and happens more incidentally than by design, but it can be done.
Yeah, that abyss was killing my Pills no matter what I did.
Well, that's new. I assume it won't let me start throwing fireballs around.
Well, this is charming. This short minigame is more for entertainment than a good way of getting money. Interestingly, while it doesn't interrupt the music that plays in the level, there is unused music that hints it was supposed to.
It's a really short track, but this feels like it goes on longer than the song does. Maybe they drop from higher up than it seems.
Mario is having everything he ever thought he knew about the 2D world in which he lived torn out from under him.
The mountains are still tangible in 2D, but you can only jump on them in 3D.
Ah, this pitfall, a symbol of game design everywhere. Although it's missing its little brother, the same staircase but with no abyss in the middle. Oh well, Mario's jump is so high that you're in no danger of falling.
(Incidentally, the penalty for falling into a pit is losing 1 HP and being reset to wherever you jumped from.)
It's a Squig... Think of these creatures as tougher Squiglets... Max HP is 4 and Attack is 1. They have a nasty habit of spitting rocks... Thankfully, the rocks are slow and easy to avoid...
Squigs are probably the most annoying enemies we'll have to deal with for a while, getting 4HKOed and having those rocks to spit. You can grind for points by continually jumping on its rocks, but I'm not sure that's really something you can be expected to do.
It's a Sproing-Oing... For some reason, this creature lives to hop endlessly... Max HP is 4 and Attack is 1. If you hurt it, it will split into many Mini-Sproings... I wonder if breaking up is hard to do, even for these creatures... But if you can do enough damage in one hit, you can beat them before they split...
Sproing-Oings can be tricky to land the bonk on because of their jump pattern, but they spend enough time on the ground to get the upper hand against.
One bounce is enough to turn them into these Mini-Sproings. If your first jump would kill the Sproing-Oing, though, it'll go down immediately. Both Sproing-Oing and Mini-Sproing are covered by the same Catch Card, although this is the first one we won't be able to find for free.
Nice combo chance.
..."Jump Platform". That's what we're calling Springs? I'm refusing to justify that name. But yeah, Springs. They work the way you expect them too. I don't think TTYD's Springs had the same bounce mechanic.
Not actually an existent platform!
Huh. Nothing but more Pal Pills in here.
Oh wow, the first level up I get is from picking up a pickup. This game doesn't do any funny business like depriving you of level ups except from the "approved" sources: You level up as soon as you do whatever got you over the threshold, not when the score counter ticks up to that number. You are given your new upgrade automatically, fully healed, and returned to the game with all the momentum you had before. That's nice for making it a more streamlined platformer, although the game does like to hang a little closer to its RPG roots on occasion. Or often.
...You're kidding me. (It doesn't give more Pills than 8 max.)
And this is a fun little setup. This might be a good place to get a good jump combo going for some serious extra points- even moreso if you forewent the Squiglet Catch Card earlier, or don't have Pal Pills to kill them for you. Jump combos, like kicking a Koopa Shell, have the same effect of getting your score to go up, but something I never fully appreciated until this run is that, if you kill something and then start bouncing off something else's head, even the non-lethal blows grant score. Which can rack up fast.
Ooh, Fire Burst drop.
...May as well show it off. Most attacking items have an Action Command associated with them, many of which involve motion controls. Necessary? No. Do they add anything? No.
...
There is nothing further to add to that thought.
BURN! No combo points for killing multiple enemies, but it is satisfying.
Flagpole! Pal Pill falling down below.
This is a notorious Piranha Plant. It is a monstrous flower that lives in pipes... Max HP is 2 and Attack is 1. This strange weed will stay low if you cozy up to the side of its pipe...
Just in time to hide from this enemy it would be very useful for, Piranha Plant. These guys are Spiked, and it won't be for a while until we find something that can kill them, let alone well. Pal Pills do a pretty good job of it, though, and it's one of the few things I use them for.
You can totally avoid this in 3D. No idea why I didn't.
One of the last things we see in this level is another pickup, this one appearing very rarely- there's only 6 stages with one in them, and only one with more than one.
That's because this one dramatically alters the gameplay.
Every time you touch a Mega Star, you get this cool, if perhaps slightly overlong, animation of Mario's original design from Super Mario Bros. 1 being drawn before you're set loose. How overly long? The song that plays when you touch the Mega Star starts immediately, but despite clearly having a warmup section, the main loop that's supposed to accompany the ensuing destruction starts halfway through the drawing.
Much like New Super Mario Bros.'s Mega Mushroom, the Mega Star sees this 8-bit colossus rampaging through a section of the level, destroying everything in his path, until the powerup wears off. Much like with items, enemies you kill don't get comboed, but they do get oneshot. Annoyingly, some later sections will require you to backtrack through the part of the level you just rampaged through, without refilling it with anything interesting.
That's a Star Block... Hit it from below to end this section...
This is the end of the level, going a bit more Super Mario Bros. 3, but without the card drawing. Or indeed, any special minigame. Beats having to jump on a flagpole for the millionth time, though.
There's a secret past the exit here. This is not a trick they repeat often, if at all, but happening the first time gets you checking. I really feel like there should be more Catch Cards available for free, if only to fill the levels with secrets. But I suppose that would mean more flipping...
Koopa Troopa's card is hiding in a chest back here.
Koopa Troopas have always been causing trouble. When they get attacked, they retreat into their shells. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from kicking it.
Except that it would be very mean.
...Don't forget the comboes!
There's a big dramatic flourish when you finish a chapter, but it is nowhere near as dramatic, or as long, as an RPG's End of Chapter. They save that for when you get the Pure Heart. The jingle is appropriately short.
You also get a free save in between each chapter.
And so Mario came to learn the stupendous ability of flipping between dimensions. But there was no time to celebrate: Mario still had a Pure Heart to find.
The trail ahead was overrun with savage beasts. "Follow me," Tippi said, as she flew toward the mountain that loomed ahead. The Pure Heart was hidden somewhere on the other side.
The interludes between chapters do kinda take on connecting story tissue, but, like, the sort of stuff a true platformer can yadda yadda over.
And yes, I will be packaging these things. Some of them can get long, but only if there's actual story going on in them. Chapter 1, not so much.
I know how Mario works, Tippi. It's the one thing I do know.
1-2 starts off with the "second world is a desert" early. As a matter of fact, most of the rest of the world is going to have a desert theming, with 1-2 being the rocky mountains and 1-3 having all the sand. I guess it's slightly original?
...Well, that was fast. Remember that Catch Cards double your Atk power.
...Hey, that was an enemy I wanted to Tattle!
Anyway, quick side note, but this level introduces us to Red Koopa Troopas as well as Green- a first for the Paper Mario series, which has never had hostile Greens before. They retain their AI from the platformers: Green ones will happily jump off any cliff they come to, while Red ones will turn around at the lip of any ledge (even if a fall will be safe).
Thankfully, that enemy we saw before is around here in 3D.
This is a Paratroopa. It's like a Koopa Troopa, but it can fly... Its movement may vary slightly, depending on the color of its shell... Max HP is 1, Attack is 1, and Defense is 1. Stomp it to remove its wings... A Koopa without wings is a very sad Koopa...
Hey, Koopa Troopas seem plenty chill on the ground! Paratroopa, much like the RPGs and platformers alike, can be clipped of its wings with a bounce, and then treated like any other Koopa Troopa subsequently. Their numbers mostly matter for non-Jump damage sources, of which a number exist and most of which we'll get at a point in the game where we don't care about his Def. (Honestly, now would probably count, too.)
Green-shelled Paratroopas usually bounce forward, turning around only if they happen to touch a wall, while Red ones tend to patrol a set flight pattern without even touching the ground. Their grounded habits match their winged ones nicely.
We can't climb this mountain unless we're in 2D.
At which point we get to something that World 1 seems to love, and I hate.
These "creative" little segments where, if that rotating rectangle scoops you up out of the red square, will take you through every single other rectangle until you get control back in the other red square. And every single rotation, there's this obnoxious whooping sound associated with the spinning. It's boring, it's dull game design, and thankfully they stop using it when we get more elaborate platforming tricks.
I feel like this block does something beyond just being a way not to hit the switch unless you flip. Maybe with a later ability.
That draws us some more mountains to climb. Although I'm not sure where to.
Almost... but not quite...
Oh. More of these segments. Did they have to turn a corner?
Make sure not to fall too far down hitting these... coin blocks. Just... single coin blocks.
That don't even exist in both dimensions.
Anyway, there's a section here in the skies with some Paratroopas to kick around...
But down below, there's a door with no entrance. This is an exit door to a secret area I missed. I do find out how to get in later, and trust me, we'll be using this door a lot.
The blocks with secret vines in them have been turned into ladders. Mario also climbs them fairly slowly and you can't ladder jump. You can really see the frustrating seams that stop this being a full-on Mario platformer experience even beyond the story tone.
Although flipping into 3D reveals another of those ladders up here, in the Paratroopa section.
You can only climb it in 2D. There are ladders that can be climbed in 3D, but no ladders that can be climbed in both: One or the other. Although if Mario were to climb a 2D ladder in 3D, he has the appropriate animation at the ready.
Up here is a row of clouds with coins, and a reprieve from half the obstacle course down there.
This Spiny Tromp loves to roll down hills and over unlucky pedestrians... You can't beat it... You can only avoid it... It rolls down the hill fast, but I know Mario can find a way to avoid it...
Speaking of those obstacles, Spiny Tromp is one of the handful of returning enemies from the RPGs. You remember Spiny Tromp, right? There were two of them in Mt. Lavalava! They show up twice in this game, and here they repeatedly roll down this hill.
The main series has seen (some) use for Tromp-like enemies (funnily enough, all three appearing primarily in desert levels). These are Spindel, from Mario 64, Rhomp, from Galaxy 2, and Grrrol, from New Super Mario Bros. U. Grrrol seems to be the one they like best so far, seeing as that's the one that made it into... well, a second game.
Despite Tippi's assertion, Mario's iconic Jump is no match for them.
But they are the skinniest of all the rolling pins. This is usually one of the benefits of 3D that gets in the ads, but honestly, it's only somewhat cool as a solution.
Don't duck, you slide down the mountain.
...Huh. OK, I backtracked all the way to the start of the level just to figure out where that secret path was now. I guess it really bugged me. I wouldn't blame my past self.
Yay! I think.
This Koopa Troopa breezed through flight school. A quick stomp to the head will ground it. Forever.
...Well, way to make me feel guilty about it, game.
On top of getting you that Catch Card, this is also a shortcut through all the tedious mountain "climbing".
Once you start a flipping animation, you are completely invincible, no matter whether something moving towards you would otherwise have hit you.
Anyway, we've made it to the next area...
An inhabited one!
Well, let's see why.
Going into the background has a lot more things you can do compared to TTYD. Tippi still works here, but flipping to 3D does not.
Right, so where's the Bridgemaster?
If we point Tippi over between the sweat and the bed, Tippi's triangles start glowing as if there's something to Tattle here. Tippi is good for looking for suspicious things like that.
That's Red, the guardian of the bridge into Yold Town... He's a red-loving patriot who keeps the town safe. The mayor trusts him... He has a brother named Green. He hopes they can get along one day...
Yes, clicking on him gives his Tattle.
This is also when I show off clicking on ourselves for a clue, although Tippi's particular choice in hint is absolutely ridiculous and counterintuitive. The next puzzle requires flipping, why teach us not to flip?
No tugging the lever on our own.
Here's Red. You can absolutely tell he'd have a little bro called Green later.
Clear as crystal.
Occupational hazard of occupying the third dimension.
Here's Bestovius charging out the nose for it, and Average Joe does it just by waking up slightly wrong. I'm starting to think we got scammed.
There's a surprising number of NPCs that hang out in the third dimension, considering the sheer horror in this line. None of them live here, though.
Lucky we came along, then. It'll probably be the end of the world by the time someone else did.
He figures it's either this, or try and do whatever he did to get in to get out. Which... may not even work even if he can figure this out.
This character, who does not understand what the hell is going on, suddenly spells out the exact solution to the puzzle. Did we really need the help?
On the other hand, I think this is the only time this puzzle happens in the game. For the record, this is relevant elsewhere, but only mechanically and the way it works functions differently.
There's a reason cosmic horror is "looking too deep into the abyss". Some minds just were not designed to accept the existence of more dimensions than they normally perceive.
...Most minds are. You ever given any thought to the fourth dimension recently?
You could open the bridge?
Tippi actually volunteers that information. Tippi is going to contribute, a lot, to the plot, sometimes as her own character, and other times, like this case, as just "someone to talk for Team Mario". In the latter instance, this is more relevant later, but for now, she talks because we've got no one else who can speak.
Spoilers, he's never going to take this bridge back down again. I mean, not that we'd care if he did, but you know...
...I'm not 100% sure why they pay you to stand here. Maybe to keep "the enemies" out of town, but there are a lot of Paratroopas around...
Fortunately for our "can't actually cross that gap ourselves" selves, Red is indebted to Mario and decides he'll lend a hand.
If we can answer a question. Someone is really having fun mocking the rewards for RPG heroism.
...He does realise the answer is blue, right? It's fairly obvious what the answer he wants to hear is, but if you guess wrong, you are punished:
...GREEN?! You're out of your mind! There's no way I can let a crazy like you pass!
What?! ...BOTH?! We can't have any wishy-washy types like you hanging around town!
By being literally thrown out of his house.
Fortunately, we happen to be wearing red, so our pandering to his tastes passes muster.
Next time we should just figure out how to jimmy the switch ourselves.
Again, he somehow manages to close this bridge when not in use. Presumably by just pulling out the eraser tool. That sort of thing is a lot easier in computer animation than papercraft.
Crossing the bridge gets us into a proper town, with facilities and such! Well, just a shop.
A town that comes a good chunk into a level? Yeah, this is going to have implications later...
I'm not sure if this is a sign we are too famous to be unrecognisable, if even the generic NPCs can call us the hero. Either that, or he just asks this of everyone.
He's aware his only mechanical function is really to tell us how to progress, so he wants to make sure we get that pointer.
...With that said, I think "Flip into 3D if things seem the slightest bit weird" is a lesson that has been hammered in by now.
Thank you, Mr...
That's Chaz. He's a very self-assured young man... He's a friend of Red's, and they often play cards together... Chaz always wins... He might want to lose on purpose once in a while...
Ah, yes, all the NPCs still have names. Same for the Flipside people, although good luck telling any of them apart. Before tattling them, I was fairly sure these Yold citizens were women. The hats really look like beehive dos.
Say hello to Howzit, who has popped up here in Yold Town like some kind of asexually reproducing facet of life. The spread of capitalism is so hard to quell.
Only three of these items are new. One thing to keep in mind is that, if you are willing to hoof it all the way out here, the prices on some of the shared merchandise are so much lower than those in Flipside itself. It costs less to by a Shroom Shake and a Fire Burst here than it does to buy just a Fire Burst in Flipside. This specific example will be highly relevant later.
- POW Block: Damages all enemies on the screen. The attacking items aren't the biggest on variety.
- Mighty Tonic: Doubles your current damage for 25-40 seconds. Doubling your damage is an insane buff and will make bosses chumps.
- Volt Shroom: Makes you electrified for 25-40 seconds. Electrification makes it so any enemy that attempts to touch you is paralysed and will not damage you, as well as being open for a counterattack. Electrification is a powerful effect this time around.
Instead of an Inn, we just have a Mushroom.
More plain gushing about the flipping ability. This game really does its best to pretend it's an indie game with flipping as the signature gimmick instead of a story-heavy game, were it not for the opening.
"But I'm not the hero, so I don't. I don't even know why I suggested it."
OK, we're not recognisable to the common citizen.
This is Sipsi. She's known as the town gossip... She's always the first to know about anything juicy that happens in town...
Yup, there's a pipe back there. They love hiding pipes behind foreground objects.
"Thousands of years ago, there was a super advanced civilisation". One of these days we really should deconstruct that trope, I'm getting annoyed by it. What's the lesson supposed to be? Don't advance too fast or hubris will destroy you?
At least we finally know who's building all these tunnels.
This is Juppi. He loves to read, and has learned all about the Tribe of Ancients... Everyone seems to like him...
Everyone in town, maybe.
Handy suggestion, but we'll find plenty in the wild.
That, though, we'll be using a lot of. Especially if we want those recipes.
That's Babs, a young village girl who loves to shop. She's also very helpful. Who knows what the mayor would do without her...
Apparently this lady is Yold Town's one braincell.
Nothing in here. Except a pipe you can see behind those curtains.
That's Old Man Watchitt. He's the crotchety mayor of Yold Town... He is a descendant of the Tribe of Ancients... He also talks to his beard and cane and stays current with the latest gadgets...
So let's talk to the mayor before we start plundering those pipes. Another non-shaman descendant? Mayhaps this whole "descendants of the Ancients" claim doesn't mean that much.
This guy is old man Watchitt, and he's far, far more crotchety than old man Kroop from the last game. He just seemed like he was a bit too far into his autumn years to keep the job anymore.
Watchitt seems more aware of what's going on.
Although he hasn't spotted that we're the legendary hero, so we're not going to be passing anytime soon.
...Uh... huh... is that a threat? Do I want to take it as a threat?
Mario tells him we're the ones they're guarding the treasure for and hopes for the best.
No dice, although red text is telling me that's a "you can fix this problem" lack of dice.
All right, all right, I get it.
...After saving the world? If all goes according to plan, I go back home and never set foot in this dimension again.
A sign with instructions on what the hero needs to do to get out of here and into the desert? Or just a sign to improve tourism in the middle of the desert? Those bridgekeepers aren't exactly letting too many passersby in.
That's Bozzo... He's a local village boy who's full of energy... He's curious, and often finds himself in all sorts of strange mishaps... He's Watchitt's grandson, so maybe he'll be mayor too, someday...
I can see how we got to Watchitt. This is where nepotism gets you.
All these houses are 2D, so keep to 2D when platforming across them.
...Haven't seen one of those yet. They'll be in the next level.
This music maven will assault you with bowel-busting bass! What's with the face it makes when it rocks out?
This face is not depicted on the card, so we'll have to see what they're on about once we find the guy.
Into this pipe first, since it's the more obvious one and sounds more secret-y.
16 coins? Not much of a secret.
48 coins, on the other hand...
(By the way, despite all evidence to the contrary, I believe you do only get 16 coins unless you flip into 3D first and prove the fact they're all really three coins stacked on top of each other. I'm fairly sure that's not how physics work, but who knows how it works in this dimension.
This pipe it is.
That's a Thwomp, a huge stone monster that lives to squish... You can't beat it... You can only avoid it... It may look impossible to avoid, but I'm sure Mario could find a way...
Sure, send a guy into a cave filled with five fast-moving Thwomps. I can tell when I'm not wanted. But this is the only appearance of Thwomp in its traditional role in the entire Paper Mario series, counting the modern games... and it keeps on squishing so fast that there is absolutely zero expectation that you make it past them by playing their rules. I don't think they kill you if they squish you, though.
They are completely 2D, so this entire thing can be passed by without a second glance. Another shot for the marketing.
Another completely gratuitous Tippi room. Add one to the counter.
...You would be forgiven for assuming the Yold Town people wanted to kill us. As far as I can tell, this trap is completely independent from them.
It seems mostly to be a way to facilitate some good old-fashioned new ability puzzle solving.
...OK, now flipping into 3D doesn't solve our problem. Let's see what's inside the big chest.
It's that Pixl that's shaped like a hand Watchitt was looking for.
...Pixl?
SPM takes a very... lassiez-faire approach to partners, and technically, this is part of it.
To add to that atmosphere, the theme that plays when a Pixl is introducing themselves is titled "Strange Company" and sounds exactly like you'd expect such a song to sound.
It's a little difficult to tell through text, but apparently this Pixl is supposed to be a bit upper-class in his mannerisms. This line, "I expressed some concern" seems to be the most solid attempt to express that.
And as such, he is named after one of the great philosophers of a begone age, although I'm not entirely sure Henry David Thoreau was the sort of upper-class twit the accent is intended to mimic.
Thoreau, as the first Pixl we get, is the only one to really contribute to the plot in a meaningful way. OK, a few later Pixls have something, but Thoreau is speaking to the broader narrative in pointing out the difference between Tippi and Thoreau to the player, and suggesting it is unusual.
Fortunately, he doesn't press the matter, because if he actually did give it a solid effort, he could probably squeeze some later reveals out of her a few chapters early. For now, the takeaway is that Tippi may not be a Pixl the same way Thoreau is. Why is this relevant? ...Honestly, they kinda brush over what Pixls are just enough that you don't realise that's important until it happens.
All the Pixls have spent 1500 years waiting to join our adventure, and most of them have gone absolutely insane in the meantime. Mostly because they haven't had any sort of stimulation in their environment.
We have now added our first Pixl to the team. Yes, I said first. Tippi does not count as your "Active Pixl", and you can always use Tippi. Unless you can't.
Thoreau is, surprisingly, a bit of a reference to Kooper and Koops, except acknowledging the Shell Toss is a pretty stupid ability in a platforming environment, so they've adopted it into this throwing move that's almost entirely unrecognisable as Shell Toss.
All Pixls other than Tippi use the 1 Button, Tippi uses the pointer.
...Oh, Bestovius already did this joke.
Both of them are sufficiently insane that their ability to perceive us is comprehensible.
A funny idea would be that these CGI characters acknowledge their CG developer, but Mario, who lives in a world of ink and paper, does not understand computer instructions. This is probably a bit too clever for what amounts to a cheap fourth-wall joke, though.
It takes a surprising amount of time, if ever, for you to be forced to drop whatever you're holding, even if it's the odd boss. However, you can't take it out of the room you're in.
And this room has something for you to throw around as you please to learn the subtleties and finesses of throwing around a metal cube.
That's Thoreau. He's a Pixl that can help you pick up and throw things... Thoreau was stuffed in a box 1,500 years ago, but now he has been released. He sounds posh and upper class, but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty...
All the Pixls have Tattle text if you click on them with Tippi. This was, technically speaking, not an option for Goombario or Goombella.
You can lift and hurl this block. You will need a Pixl that can throw, though...
And as an item, he can grab this metal block. These blocks will appear very rarely, most of the time we'll have to "source" our own "ammunition". By which I mean use enemies.
Surprisingly for a tutorial puzzle, this block is very frustrating to hit because it's ceiling mounted. You have to have a precise plan for the angles in mind.
Gotcha.
Freedom! With that, Thoreau will never say another word for the rest of the game. The Pixls may be the successors to the partners from the RPG games, but they are anything but the replacements for their narrative purpose. I'm honestly amazed Thoreau got to speak after we got gameplay.
...OK, let's cut them a little slack, it's not like 64's Partners were the most chatty people around. But still. You can now basically treat Thoreau as an item.
You can try to pick up the Thwomps, but they're too heavy for Thoreau to put in your hands. They'd probably hit you with their spikes anyway.
You can also leave this room without flipping into 3D by stepping out from behind the curtain.
NPCs prove a little more resistant to being thrown around. I can only wonder what their AI would do if placed anywhere but the spots where they were initially standing. Also, throwing people is bad.
So anyway, let's all give Thoreau a big hand for being necessary to advance to the next objective. If you're a speedrunner and can make it by without doing this, the game will actually have Thoreau come out of nowhere and join your party. Somewhat coincidentally, the Pixls that have messages for appearing out of nowhere are the exact set of Pixls that speedrunners have discovered skips for.
I'll believe it when I see it.
I think it says quite a lot about how accustomed RPGs are to swords and sorcery as a setting that the fact Watchitt pulls out a mobile phone is a punchline unto itself. Remember Earthbound? Most games still seem fine not intruding on its setting ideas.
This is even a step back from TTYD having email. Yes, the villains were high-tech, but the email thing was completely unrelated.
Then again, this is still the early days of telephone communications. We're a long way from the days where a phone is a miniature computer and can stream video of multiple conversation partners from around the world.
It would take Watchitt like ten minutes to walk to where Green is, even accounting for his limited locomotion. This "bad signal" joke is speaking to some really awful signals. The kind deserts are likely to provide, of course.
Even Green seems to think we'd rather not go to a desert because our shoes will get all dirty?
...Eh, fair play, that's an unpleasant part of coming back from the desert. Assuming we get out alive.
...I don't know if this ever gets explained. Looking through their respective lines, I don't think anything that fits the bill comes up later. This is probably them noticing O'Chunks and Dimentio up ahead, but they reckon it's not their problem to tell us about it. We'll find out on our own.
Luckily, Green's house is also on the west side of the bridge. Why does one brother get to live on the inside and the other has to stay outside?
...Well, I assume your village still needs to be governed. But yes, your job as an NPC in this video game is over.
"Nasty beasts"? I assume he means the enemies. For once, I don't think we're meant to assume anyone on team Bleck put them there.
Green, to be specific, lives in this house behind Bozzo.
That's Green, the guard who watches over the bridge out of Yold Town... His brother, Red, is the other bridge guard. They don't get along very well... He loves the color green and keeping the peace from the comfort of his bed...
...Any similarities to any other brothers, living or playable, is completely circumstantial.
Unlike Red, there's no futzing around with anything we personally have to do for Green, he'll obey the orders from the top the first time he hears them.
And if that isn't a bridge to brag about. Suspension cables seem like a concerning idea out in the desert, though. Maybe I'm just not an architect.
...Oh, we are going to ask this. Well, I know how to get out of this with-
...I must have that L Emblem Badge somewhere in my pocket...
RED?! Get out of here with your ugly red cap! I said GET OUT!
Wh-What?! Both of 'em?! Grow a spine! And when you do, you can use it to get out of my house!
There is no answer you can provide that will please Green.
Fortunately, this happens to be exactly where we want to be. Why couldn't Red have punched us out of his house after raising the bridge?
That explains why it's so fancy. Don't mind if I do!
By the way, as a fun fact, Red's modest bridge works in 3D, while Green's showmanship only exists in 2D. One can spend a shockingly long time delving into how this reflects upon both of their personalities, characters and experiences (remember which one of them knows the third dimension exists). I'm just saying why do you spend time in 3D if you're not looking for secrets anyway?
The end of that chapter was just beyond town.
Next time: We go treasure hunting.
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