Paper Mario Sticker Star

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The fourth entry of the Paper Mario franchise, released in November 11, 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. This game marks the franchise's return to the series' RPG roots as opposed to Super Paper Mario's platforming-RPG hybrid approach, but with a twist: every attack is a consumable item, with said consumables also serving as solutions to certain puzzles. And these items are stickers, which tie into the overarching plot.

The story is a lot simpler than the previous two Paper Mario games, and has Bowser cause trouble by trying to hijack a wish upon the wish-granting Sticker Comet, causing it to shatter into pieces and scatter them as well as other powerful stickers throughout the land. Oh, and he kidnaps Princess Peach as well. Teaming up with an irate sticker fairy named Kersti, Mario sets out on an adventure to rescue Peach and recover the five Royal Stickers that open the way to Bowser.

Tropes used in Paper Mario Sticker Star include:


  • A Dog Named "Dog": Unlike with past Paper Mario games, all characters are referred to as their species name. All Goombas are named Goomba, all Snifits are named Snifit, and the one Wiggler (later Flutter) you meet is named Wiggler/Flutter.
  • An Ice Person: Mario can wield the power of ice if he uses Chillhammer, Ice Flower, Shaved Ice, Refrigerator, and Air Conditioner stickers. There are also a few enemies with ice powers such as the Snow Spikes, Ice Bros, and the Bowser Snow Statue.
  • Anti-Villain: Mizzter Blizzard. All he wanted was a body that could last forever, but the corrupting power of the Royal Stickers turned him violent and unruly.
  • Art Evolution: A mild case. Environments seem to be even more paper-y than usual, with the water appearing to be made out of construction paper with a watery flow to it, and a lot of the terrain and buildings being made of cardboard. The characters look pretty much the same, although several enemies have been updated to resemble their designs from New Super Mario Bros. and onwards.
    • The paper-y parts extend to gameplay: one of Mario's special attacks is Scissors.
    • The whole game reverts to the original's more story-book like presentation and combines it with Super Paper Mario 's graphical fidelity and platforming.
  • Artifact of Doom: The Royal Stickers, which empower their wearers while also turning them into complete maniacs.
  • Back From the Dead:
    • Fittingly, the haunted Enigmansion provides us an example in the Toad that ran White-Out Valley's ski lift. With a bit of paperization, a picture of him comes to life and runs the ski lift so you can finish world 4.
    • Kersti's Heroic Sacrifice is also short-lived when Mario wishes her back after defeating Bowser.
  • Balloon Belly: Petey Piranha's boss fight starts with him sporting a big ol' gut thanks to all the prey he's gorged himself on.
  • Batter Up: The Bat and Toy Bat Things send enemies flying like they're living baseballs. The Bat is also Tower Power Pokey's weakness, and sends all of his extra segments flying away for massive damage once they're all exposed.
  • Big Bad: Bowser, marking his return to this role after becoming a goofy side villain in the second game and one of the main heroes in the third.
  • Big Eater: Petey Piranha's got a huge appetite, which the end-of-chapter scene draws attention.
  • Boss Only Level: Surprisingly, Bowser's Castle is a really short stage where the only hazards are Kamek, Bowser, and a brief carpet ride over spikes in between.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Unlike in past games, the characters know that they're paper characters in a paper world. And they won't shut up about it.
  • The Bus Came Back: Ninjis and Bony Beetles make their first appearances in decades.
  • The Cameo: Despite original Paper Mario characters being Exiled From Continuity by order of an executive mandate, Goombella and Parakarry were snuck in via letters written by them that can be found in a pile of trash.
  • Catchphrase: "Stay perky" for Decalburg's Sling-a-Thing Toad.
  • Cheerful Child: Even when he's broken into pieces, Wiggler's a very happy-go-lucky kind of guy.
  • Cool Airship: Bowser's airships make their Paper Mario debut in this game! Specifically in level 6-1: Bowser Jr's Flotilla
  • Cool Shades: The Cooligans rock a pair, much like they did in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
  • Cute Giant: Wiggler is a lot bigger than most members of his species, and completely dwarfs Mario and Kersti. It doesn't stop him from being lovable and adorable, though!
  • Death of a Thousand Cuts: The Infinijump Stickers. They each deal a paltry 1 damage... but that 1 damage can stack a hundred times. With patience and proper timing, you can kill any miniboss and shave off a huge chunk of a boss's health with just one Infinijump.
  • Demoted to Extra: In the previous game, Luigi was one of the major protagonists, as well as the final boss thanks to Dimentio's shenanigans. Here, he's a background character... a literal one, too! You pluck him out of the background in stages you find him in, and he runs off before becoming part of the end credits parade.
  • Enemy Mine/My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Some stickers give Mario the ability to summon friendly mooks, like a Koopa to kick into enemies.
  • Escort Mission: One level in World 1 forces you to walk a Green Toad back to Decalburg, and if you two get separated or he gets attacked by an enemy, he'll book it back to where you found him. You also have to escort Wiggler's missing segments back to his tree house in World 3, but thankfully they'll stick with you no matter if you're attacked or separated from them... though it comes at the cost of them booking it for another level once you beat the one you found them in.
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Bowser's attempt at touching the Sticker Star again is met with what's basically an "Oh, you!" from Kersti, followed by this trope.
  • Flunky Boss: Until your each the final phase of Bowser's fight, he'll fight you with a lot of his minions backing him up: the first phase has you deal with hordes of random respawning enemies, the second has him hide behind a Whomp for protection, the third has him send a swarm of Podoboos/Lava Bubbles flying your way, and the fourth has him fight alongside a small Chain Chomp. Tower Power Pokey can also summon smaller Pokey flunkies, while the Dry Bones' Petey Piranha periodically barfs up can also help him out.
  • Gotta Catch Em All: To beat the Enigmansion, you'll have to hunt down all 100 Boos that escaped from the steward's special book. Thankfully a huge chunk of them will be captured all at once, but you still have to look through every nook and cranny in pursuit of the escaped Boos.
  • Green Hill Zone: World 1, shockingly enough.
  • Guide Dang It: Oh yeah. There are so many frustrating and obtuse mechanics that this could easily be called "Guide Dang It: The Game". Not helping matters is Kersti doing dick-all to help if you consult her for advice.
    • In general, Things are this. Certain puzzles and pretty much every boss requires you to use a specific Thing against them. You'll have to figure out what that Thing even is, where you can find it, and in the case of bosses, when to use it. Use the wrong Thing or even use it at the wrong time? Too bad! You've wasted it, so you'll need to track it down/buy it back, and paperize it all over again!
    • If you're trying to find everything in World 1, your progress will come to a screeching halt when you find yourself unable to get into 1-5. That is, however, unless you think to jump into a certain waterfall... when every body of water you've found so far won't let you jump in.
    • To unlock Drybake Stadium, the boss level of World 2, you'll need to find three treasure chest envelopes that contain a tablet piece serving as a key to the stadium. Said chests are scattered through the world, and hidden fairly well at that. Are you given any hints as to where they might be? Nope! Happy hunting!
    • In Bowser's Snow Fort, you'll find yourself trapped in an infinite loop during the trolley section if you don't realize that you can place a sticker on the Shy Guy's side of the tracks, which will force his trolley to stop and make him drop the Scrap you'll need to proceed. Problem is even if you think to try it, you'll have to activate Paperization on a very specific part of the track, or else you won't see the cut-out spot you can place a sticker at, which can mislead you into thinking that you're pursuing the wrong train of thought.
  • Hate Sink: Kamek's supposed to be this, since he regularly meddles in your attempts to get the Royal Stickers and causes all kinds of trouble, up to and including breaking the friendly, child-like Wiggler into pieces and scattering his segments around the world. He's also a smug jerk, and Kersti makes no bones about how much she hates him. But it's very unlikely that the player will feel the same, because his effective villainy and humorous personality make him a godsend in a game with mostly paper-thin characterization.
  • Heart Container: Because you can't level up like in traditional RPG's, you get more health by finding HP-Up Hearts through the game.
  • The Heavy: Bowser is the main villain, but Kamek is the one running around and causing trouble on his behalf.
  • Jerkass: Kersti's first scene is her unfairly blaming Mario for the destruction of the Sticker Comet, and when he explains that it was Bowser's doing, she accuses him of ducking responsibility and passing the blame onto others. She gets a little better later on, but is still very snarky and snippy for the most part.
  • Jungle Japes: World 5 starts like this, but eventually transitions into more of a Lethal Lava Land/Death Mountain setting.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Downplayed with Kamek. Kersti constantly calling him a hipster and him forcing you to fight him with flip-flops are definitely silly, but he's also the only one of the three main villains to lack any comedic traits. He's played (relatively) seriously during his encounters, and his death scene is surprisingly creepy.
  • Last Lousy Point: As fun as the Enigmansion is, it can be frustrating to find the last Boo or two you're missing, because you will overlook one. The question is, which will it be?
  • Lethal Lava Land: Late into world 5, it goes from a tropical jungle to more of a volcanic setting.
  • Lighter and Softer: The second and third Paper Mario games had darker stories that culminated in a demon possessing Peach and the attempted destruction of reality itself. This game's a lot more light-hearted and has more of a typical "save Peach from Bowser" kind of plot.
  • Logical Weakness: Maybe not at first, but most of the boss's weaknesses make a surprising amount of sense when you think about it.
    • Megasparkle Goomba is ultimately a giant sheet of Paper Goombas bunched together. By using the Scissors, you cut them into individual pieces and focus down the single Goomba controlling them. Alternatively, the fan lets you blow them all away.
    • Tower Power Pokey is fought in an ancient baseball field, and all of his body segments are perfectly spherical. ergo, treat him like a bunch of overgrown baseballs and bat his segments away.
    • The Giant Cheep Cheep is a fish. Fishing hooks are used to catch fish. Any questions?
    • Since Big Boo turns invisible in the candlelight, snuff it out with a watery or windy Thing.
    • The Bowser Snow Statue is... well, a Bowser statue made out of snow. Melt him down with Fire Stickers. The same applies for his true form: Mizzter Blizzard.
  • Marathon Boss: If you don't want to use a boss's weakness (or don't even know what it is), you're in for a slog. Save for Megasparkle Goomba's respectable 90 HP, they've got ridiculous triple digit health pools to eat through, and will half or even quarter all damage dealt to them. They're just as much an exercise in patience as they are in skill.
    • This goes triple for Bowser. His boss fight is a five stage gauntlet, each one requiring you to take off a hundred or so health before he restores a bit and kicks off the next phase. For the final phase he has 500 HP. Kersti's sacrifice and some clever Thing usage allow you to do tons of damage and even the odds, but still!
  • The Monolith: One gameplay segment shows a giant paper electric fan slowly rise up and blow away a large stack of goombas as a Suspiciously Similar Song version of Also Sprach Zarathustra plays.
  • Mythology Gag: Gooper Blooper's gotten a bit of a makeover in this game, with darker purple-colored skin and yellow eyes. It's a subtle nod to how he appeared in the beta version of Super Mario Sunshine, where he was a dark navy color with yellow eyes instead of a more traditional Blooper color scheme.
  • Puzzle Boss: Boss fights are ultimately this. To defeat them quickly and cleanly, you need to figure out what sticker they're weak to, which is usually one of the weird and powerful Thing stickers.
  • Ruins for Ruins' Sake: The desert world has a few, most prominently Drybake Stadium.
  • Scenery Porn: It's Paper Mario in 3D. This is inevitable.
  • Shifting Sand Land: World 2 is as typical as a desert gets, complete with ancient ruins, sphynxes, and an oasis. The ruins being an ancient baseball stadium is fairly unique, though.
  • Silent Antagonist: Bowser. What's really weird about this treatment is that he was chatty as all hell in previous games and responsible for a lot of their funniest dialogue.
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World: World 4's about as standard as it gets when it comes to ice levels in a Mario game.
  • Smarmy Host: The host of Snifit or Whiffit, a very sleazy Snifit who's happy to have Mario fight for his life by choking on poison gas while answering trivia questions and bashing his unpaid interns on the head. He is, however, a Graceful Loser and takes it surprisingly well when Mario survives his grueling game show.
  • Smug Snake: World 1 has several encounters with Goombas that are empowered by stickers, and they can't resist trash-talking Mario before trying to overwhelm him with their newfound power. Too bad they get their asses kicked with little effort on his part.
  • Spiders Are Scary: The Scuttlebugs are played up for mild horror when Mario and Kersti are trapped in their den: they strip you of your gear, and Kersti is tangled up in one of their webs, freaking out and mildly traumatized by it. However, they're every bit as goofy-looking and cartoonish as other Mario enemies, so you're not going to be afraid of them.
  • Support Party Member: Mariachi Shy Guys, which will play music to empower or heal enemies. If they're the last guys standing, they'll forfeit and make a break for it.
  • Third Is 3D: Depending on whether you consider Super Paper Mario part of the main series or a Spin-Off.
  • Tragic Villain: Mizzter Blizzard. The poor guy just wanted a body that wouldn't melt, but the Royal Sticker drove him insane and made him attack Mario when he met him.
  • Unique Enemy:
    • The Accordion Guy and Maraca Guy variants of the Mariachi Shy Guys appear exactly once, and that's in a skippable group encounter atop the Yoshi Sphynx.
    • Mural Koopas and Mural Goombas, which are unique-looking Heiroglyphic enemies that you only fight in a single floor of Drybake Stadium, and in a single trio for either enemy.
    • The Enigmansion is home to a single sparkling golden Boo, found hiding in the mansion's safe. His stats are exactly the same as other Boos, but his appearance makes him stand out from the rest.
    • Finally there are the Broozers: you only fight two of them, and it's in one of the last levels of the game.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: Unlike in past Paper Mario games, friendly NPC's will crumple up when you smack them with your hammer. One of the missing Toads at the beginning of the game is also hiding under a mat, and will scream in pain if you hammer him.
  • Wake Up Call Boss: Megasparkle Goomba. The first bosses in the first two Paper Mario games had 20 HP. This guy? 90, and your attacks do half their total damage against him. If you don't want to burn through most of your stickers fighting him, you'll need his weakness (the Fan or Scissors) to cut through most of his health. This is the ideal strategy for every boss, and they only get harder from here.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Kersti is especially disgusted with Kamek when he attacks Wiggler and scatters his segments all around World 3, leaving him a helpless head.
  • You Dirty Rat: Scaredy Rats, red-eyed skull-like rats that roam the Enigmansion. They're quick on their feet and like to appear in cramped hallways that make them hard to avoid, and they're more than happy to try and steal your stickers in battle.
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