The scans from the latest issue of Famitsu have just come out and this time they contain
new screenshots and information on Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
These pages detail some of the new aspects of the game, which is actually being released
in Japan before the end of the year.
But of course, it’s time to bring out the old Analysis Machine to see what secrets and
hidden details we can find.
And right away, the first page provides an overview of Paper Jam’s story.
Based on our translation, it seems that Luigi accidentally knocks over a book containing
the world of Paper Mario.
The people of the book fall out and spread all over the Mushroom Kingdom.
It’s now up to Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario to work together and send Paper Bowser’s
army back into the book.
But despite some disagreements, it looks like Paper Bowser has teamed up with Bowser, combining
their armies.
It seems to be a tenuous relationship at best with the two Bowsers looking like they’re
ready to fight in the artwork and even Kamek and Paper Kamek look ready to fight.
Interestingly, only Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr. look like they’re even remotely interested
in working together.
But at any rate, it seems as if the Bowsers are the main villains of the game; something
that’s actually confirmed by the map screenshot.
In it we can see all the main locations listed including Peach’s Castle, the Plains, the
Forest, Snowy Mountains, the Desert, some Islands, and Bowser’s Castle.
We believe that this is the entire map as well since Mario and Luigi have a large amount
of health and over a thousand coins.
But we do have a few questions.
For one, what does the 10 40 in the upper left corner mean?
As we’ll see soon, there are Toad rescue missions available so maybe the player has
only found 10 of 40 Toads in the Plains?
After all, a blue arrow does show that’s where the brothers are currently.
The odd thing about that theory though is that there’s no backslash between the 10
and 40 so it could be something completely different.
We also wonder if Peach’s Castle will feature actual gameplay or will simply act as the
game’s hub.
If it is the hub then that means there are only six areas in the game.
There’s been no indication that the inner locations that expanded past Mario & Luigi
world maps will return in Paper Jam.
You know, like the 2D sections of Luigi’s dreams in Dream Team or Bowser’s body in
Bowser’s Inside Story.
But one way the gameplay may be expanded is with the new Lakitu House.
Here, players can take on extra challenges in areas that have already been cleared.
It seems like this mainly takes the form of Toad Rescue where Paper Toads must be saved.
There are screenshots of these missions as well.
Here we see that one involves sneaking past Fly Guys in order to save the Toads, which
was part of the E3 demo.
But new ones include intercepting Toads that are sliding down a sandy incline.
However, bombs are sliding with them and must be avoided.
If Mario is hit by 3 bombs before he rescues the three Toads, it’s likely game over.
The final screenshot shows the brothers running around a large group of Toads.
Does this one require them to be wrangled in some way?
It’s not really clear.
So what’s the reward for completing these missions?
Well it looks like the rescued Toads will help the brothers along the way such as with
Papercraft Mario.
After all, it is carried by a group of Toads.
So maybe the more that are rescued, the faster and more powerful it will be.
Even more curious is that the artwork of Toadette shows her holding a normal-sized papercraft
Mario and instructions on how to make them.
It makes us wonder, could she be a mechanic or advisor of sorts for Papercraft Mario?
And speaking of these fights, the screenshots show the brothers facing off against a boss
which is a giant Goomba.
However, its crown is very similar to King Goomba’s from Paper Mario.
Unfortunately, we don’t think it’s him.
While we can’t see his clothes to say for sure, we can see that his eyes aren’t crossed
and this crown has silver trim rather than his gold.
This actually makes him closer in appearance to the Megasparkle Goomba from Sticker Star.
Alright, we’re almost done here, but the screenshots also show off a few more of the
brothers abilities in the game.
For one we can see that along with the Flutter Jump and Paper Mario’s ability to slip through
cracks, the hammers can work together to fix bridges, Paper Mario can extend his body to
help Mario and Luigi cross gaps between special posts, and they can even dig underground.
Paper Mario will also get stronger in different ways from Mario and Luigi.
We saw at E3 that he could create copies of himself.
According to the article, the maximum amount will eventually be ten which could be downright
devastating.
A new Trio attack is also shown where the enemy is folded into a kite and the brothers
work together to get it high in the sky before slamming it the ground and hitting it with
a hammer.
But in addition to the Trio attack, Bro Attacks return as well.
These will only feature Mario and Luigi while Paper Mario cheers from behind.
Returning ones include the Bro Shell and Bro Fire Flower as well as a new Rocket attack
and a kind of drill attack.
While we still don’t know when Paper Jam will come to the west, the Japanese release
is quickly approaching.
And that means even more details are sure to come out.
And you can be sure we’ll be following its paper trail.
Of course, let us know if we missed anything in the comments.
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