PM Chapter 2 Part 1: Clumsy Koopas

That is certainly of a boss design. That thing in front of him is a Chain Chomp, and it's gnashing its teeth here, I just caught an off-frame.

And with that, we have now alighted at the destination.

Shoutouts to the train that stops before a mountain and asks its passengers to go mountaineering and desert-trawling to reach the major populated area. I get that it's not easy to put a rail through a mountain, but doesn't this train pride itself on safety and ease of use?

Despite being forever rich, I'm still picking up coins. For, uh, some reason.

Also an Egg in this bush. The Egg is a cooking ingredient first and foremost, although it does heal as much as an uncooked Mushroom. It cooks into the Fried Egg (10 HP), and has two more recipes later.

Whacka is not an enemy, but it is a cute.

Hm, another one of these. Hopefully we can smash 'em soon.

Somebody's lost something up here.

PM Post-Chapter 1 Part 2: Electrifying Cooking

This shot leaving Toad Town was too good not to use as an opener.

I rarely use this path, so I was hoping to see if the Goomba Bros. came back to say hi. No, doesn't look like it.

Still getting some EXP from the stuff here, though.

Hey, Goompapa fixed the gate! Good for him!

That's about all he has to say, though. These guys depreciated in value pretty quick after their plot role is done. That, or they just didn't really think you'd stick around here in Chapter 1, specifically.

We're here for Goompa.

PM Post-Chapter 1 Part 1: Being Unkind

Time to have another look in on what Peach is up to.

This might seem a bit unreasonable, but honestly, 95% of Marios die in the first world. I wonder if Peach is aware of how many rookie gamers play Mario games.

This very instant! I think. Not that what time this is matters.

That sets Peach's spirits at ease.

Now then... how do you prison break from your own bedroom?

Well, impossible for a normal person to escape through the window. I would not be surprised if Peach's parasol worked. The real problem would be avoiding any Magikoopas that notice her on the way down.

Also, escaping out the window would be good for her, but it wouldn't do very much for anyone else. If she finds anyone, Bowser can just hunt her down (or even wish her back), while staying in the castle potentially allows her to get everyone else out of trouble.

Fortunately, like any good princess, there's a secret path out of her bedroom.

Less good, she doesn't know where it is.

And with that, we can now play as Princess Peach. The Peach intermissions may be an excuse to dump some more Peach and Bowser lore on us, but they're not just text dumps.

Paper Mario Chapter 1: Storming the Koopa Bros. Fortress

Chapter 1 is the first real exposure to Paper Mario's signature gameplay loop- doing Action Commands to take on Koopa Troopas and dealing with tricky enemies like Bob-ombs, culminating in a dramatic showdown with an awesome crew. So how's the setup?

First off, we have Koopa Village, and... you know, they do a surprisingly good job of burying the lede here. First of all, the Fuzzies aren't actually combat encounters- probably for the best, Fuzzies aren't actually that fun to fight with their esoteric block command. Second, although there's a lot of mini-puzzles (most of them aren't even puzzles), there's no reward for helping the Koopa Troopas get their shells back. And then third, the Town Story culminates in a shell game- an annoyingly difficult one if the Fuzzy gets too tricksy. There is a boss at the end, but it's more of a demonstration of Kooper in action than a boss. Also- did you notice the Fuzzies didn't have anything to do with anything? The fact Merlon had to send us this way might've been a clue the setup wasn't as cool as they thought.

After picking up Kooper, it's a straight shot to the Koopa Bros. Fortress- Paper Mario isn't really a long or involved game, and it's often one Town Story, some more gameplay, and then leading right to the big dungeon. Koopa Bros. Fortress is a Zelda dungeon that got lost on the way to Ocarina of Time, or perhaps one of the handheld games. The place has some neat setpieces with the Koopa Bros and a cool idea regarding the Bob-ombs being used for maintenance, but because we're more focused on gameplay at this juncture, there's just no execution on it. The Koopa Bros. sell themselves entirely on their spectacle as the Teenage Masked Ninjakoopas, and they do it well, but they're hardly winning any villain-of-the-year awards. Honestly, I'd have taken them appearing as reforming NPCs in Koopa Village after the fact.

Mechanically, Chapter 1 does a good amount to soothe the issues of the Prologue. It puts you in lots of fights where your new Action Commands have utility, it gives you new partners to play with to expand your options with your second turn, and it introduces the puzzle elements that make the partner system stand out so well. Combat hasn't really taken its final shape yet- we're going to need a few more and varied Badges before we can really say that, plus we haven't yet seen all of the game's mechanics in action. Nevertheless, if you played the Prologue and didn't have fun, I think the extra stuff Chapter 1 adds will make a convincing enough argument. Now why they put themselves in that position in the first place...

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.

PM Chapter 1 Part 1: Feel Warm and Fuzzy Inside

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

Anyway, let's get going along Pleasant Path.

And a new enemy right away!

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

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

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

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

Although blocking these normal enemies will be defended against wholly.

First Strikes don't have Action Commands, sadly.