Idea: Paper Mario & The Star Patrol

[Lord_Brand]

This is an idea I had for a "true" sequel to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. A Paper Mario more in line with the classic titles that we have missed for so long.

Just after Mario and Luigi wrap up yet another adventure to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, a space station crashes down on Bowser's castle, scattering Mario and his friends, and several shooting stars land in the far reaches of the planet. Mario finds the head of a robot who introduces herself as the leader of the Star Patrol, extraterrestrial robots dedicated to defending the cosmos, and explains that the shooting stars were in fact her comrades, who were scattered during a battle against an evil Empress to whom the space station belongs. Mario and the Star Patrol leader join forces to find his friends and her lost parts and comrades before the evil Empress can rebuild her space station with help from Bowser.

Paper Mario & The Star Patrol evolves the gameplay seen in the original two Paper Mario games. Mario gathers a party of partners who join him in battle, he equips badges to improve his combat abilities, and he seeks out seven star-themed characters that each grant an amazing power before facing the villain in a showdown. But this time, there are some new exciting twists:

• In addition to the traditional partner, Mario is joined in battle by the Star Patrol robot, who starts out with the ability to Scan foes (replacing the Tattle ability seen in the original two games) and acquires additional abilities as you help rebuild her and gather her comrades.
• Mario's Item Bag is now expanded into two bags, one for healing items and one for attack items. You can find two upgrades for each over the course of the game, expanding their respective capacity from 10 to 15 and finally to 20.
• Partner upgrades are now tied to their personal story arcs, which play out over multiple chapters.
• Mario can now perform Combo Specials with his partners.
• Badges can now be combined into Super Badges, which in turn can be combined into Ultra Badges. Super Badges and Ultra Badges cost a little less BP than the Badges combined to craft them.
• Mario's Clothing, Hammer, and Shoes are now equipment slots unto themselves, collectively known as Gear. Clothing affects defense, Hammers and Shoes affect offense, and each can offer secondary effects.
• Cooking returns, and this time, you can earn a Cooking License that allows you to cook anytime, anywhere. Bon appetit!
• In addition to regular bosses, you get to become the giant Ultra Mario and battle similarly gigantic "Ultra Bosses"!
• Peach and Luigi get in on the fun with their own vignettes.

Partner Ideas

Star Patrol Robot
The leader of the Star Patrol, a robot girl who's lost most of her body, reducing her to a floating head. At the outset, she can do little aside from scan locations, people, or enemies and give Mario info about them, but as the game progresses and she regains her missing parts, her capabilities expand to include grabbing distant items with her arms, giving Mario a lift up with her legs, and carrying Mario across gaps using her wings. In contrast to Mario's other partners who can be swapped out for one another, the SPR always accompanies him.

Sweet T.
A Toad girl who aspires to become a great chef like Tayce T., Zess T., and other inspirations. In battle, she fights using a frying pan and her skills are all related to cooking. Spice Up allows her to enhance and use a cooked item, adding a power up effect. All You Can Beat summons the audience themselves to storm the stage and trample foes in a frenzy to sample her now-renowned cooking.

Koopalee
A Koopa heroine who wears white and pink armor. She was formerly a member of the Power Troopas before they found a star-shaped crystal and were corrupted by its influence. She can protect Mario using her shell.

Goombalini
A Goomba acrobat from a circus. He rolls around on a ball that can be used to bounce high and cross water.

Kamiki
A female Magikoopa who can use her magic to conceal Mario.

Boomer
A Bob-omb experienced at spelunking and excavation. Obviously, his field skill is being able to blow stuff up.

Boss Ideas

The Power Troopas - A team of Koopa Troopas who used to be superheroes, but were corrupted by one of the Star Crystals, turning the white parts of their armor black. Their current members are Red Troopa, Blue Troopa, Green Troopa, and Yellow Troopa. Koopalee was formerly the Pink Troopa, and left the team rather than be corrupted. After defeating them in a direct battle, they call upon and pilot a mech named Megatroopa.

Megatroopa - One of the game's early "Mega Bosses" that Mario faces in his new "Ultra Mario" form.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Lord_Brand

[PostZordem]

I love the idea you have for a new Paper Mario game. A return to form with the series is something that both I and many other Paper Mario fans would love to see. The gameplay gimmicks that have been implemented since Super Paper Mario have kind of ruined what made the first two so great (though I personally didn't mind SPM's real-time battle system with platforming akin to the mainline 2D Mario games). Doesn't help that the stories for the games after Super Paper Mario have been degrading in quality since they lack unique characters and a good plot (excluding Origami King somewhat because instead of making Bowser the main villan for the third time in a row, they give the role to King Olly, one of the better villans that the series has had, but not better than the likes of Count Bleck and his cronies, and the X-Nauts + the Shadow Queen. The plot was also pretty solid for a Paper Mario game that was released after Sticker Star and Color Splash. There are technically partners in TOK, but they aren't unique ones, they don't stick around for long, and they don't really offer much help in battles, though I will never forget Bobby the Bob-Bomb (*sniffle*))

Now in regards to the plot that you have created for this potential 7th Paper Mario game, I like most of what you've got, with the shooting stars to collect similar to how Mario collected the Crystal Stars in TTYD and the Star Spirits in PM64. I presume that these stars will work similarly to the first two games by giving Mario the ability to use a special move with the stars that can be used to either attack the enemy, heal Mario, or give him and his partner a buff for a little bit. Assuming enough of the Star meter is filled up for Mario to use said special move. Making Mario's main ally (the Star Patrol robot leader in this case) a playable ally that can evolve and get stronger as the game progresses is an awesome idea that could easily work out great, though I wonder if that may prevent the creation of new allies for Mario. (A tattle character like Goombario and Goombella would be out of the picture, since the Star Patrol robot can already do that with her scan ability). 

18 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

Mario and the Star Patrol leader join forces to find his friends and her lost parts and comrades before the evil Empress can rebuild her space station with help from Bowser.

 

This is the only thing from your plot part of the idea that I'm not too keen on. I assume that you plan to have Bowser as sort of a co-villan, helping the evil Empress take the shooting stars before Mario and Co. do. Kind of like how Bowser and Antasma worked in Mario and Luigi: Dream Team. I always liked the fact that Bowser was more of an anti-hero in most of the Mario RPGs outside of Paper Mario 64, Sticker Star, Color Splash, Dream Team, and Paper Jam. It differentiated his role from the mainline Mario games as the main villan, and he had more of a personality in the Mario RPGs to boot. I feel like Bowser should maintain his anti-hero status here, and instead of helping the evil Empress, begrudgingly choose to aid Mario in his battle against the Empress and take his castle (that was probably destroyed by the falling space station) back. 

Your twists to the game are all welcome improvements that would definitely be perfect for a new Paper Mario game. Though I have to wonder: How would the partner's personal story arc thing work? Would it work like a side quest that's optional but helps provide more backstory with the character and is the only way to improve them stat-wise? Or would it be included in the main story somehow?

Other than that, I have to ask: How does Luigi fit in all of this? Will he be at the Mario house lamenting the fact that Mario's on yet another adventure and he wasn't invited? Will he be going off on his own adventure with his own unique partners like in TTYD? (If it's this one, then there should totally be DLC for Luigi's adventure, I'd buy and play that in a heartbeat) Or will he be joining Mario in his quest like he did in SPM? If it's that last one, that I have an idea: Make Mario and Luigi switchable like the partners are in the first two Paper Mario games. It would add some strategy to battles (for instance, Mario and Luigi have different stats, with Mario having more HP + stronger attacks, and Luigi more FP + better defense) and give Luigi a chance to shine in the spotlight in the Paper Mario games, which would be great considering that he doesn't get much screen time in this series. 

Realistically speaking, I doubt that Nintendo's going to want to return to the older gameplay of the first two Paper Mario games, since they're more concerned with innovating with each new Paper Mario game by giving it a new gimmick every entry, and they made Mario and Luigi the series to prioritize RPG gameplay with, though that series is currently dead at the moment, so who knows? (I'm still hoping that Nintendo eventually releases another Mario and Luigi game in the future. Hopefully during the Switch's lifetime) I believe there's no problem with both Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi sharing the spot in the RPG genre, especially considering that Superstar Saga and Partners in Time were out by the time PM64 and TTYD released, and people liked both games in each series very well regardless of their similar gameplay styles (except for maybe Partners in Time). Though one can only hope that Paper Mario goes back to the original style of the first two games that made the series so great in the first place. 

[Lord_Brand]

7 hours ago, CyberZord said:

Now in regards to the plot that you have created for this potential 7th Paper Mario game, I like most of what you've got, with the shooting stars to collect similar to how Mario collected the Crystal Stars in TTYD and the Star Spirits in PM64. I presume that these stars will work similarly to the first two games by giving Mario the ability to use a special move with the stars that can be used to either attack the enemy, heal Mario, or give him and his partner a buff for a little bit. Assuming enough of the Star meter is filled up for Mario to use said special move. Making Mario's main ally (the Star Patrol robot leader in this case) a playable ally that can evolve and get stronger as the game progresses is an awesome idea that could easily work out great, though I wonder if that may prevent the creation of new allies for Mario. (A tattle character like Goombario and Goombella would be out of the picture, since the Star Patrol robot can already do that with her scan ability).

The idea is that Mario now operates with a team of three at a time: himself, the S.P.R., and whichever traditional Partner is active at the moment. In battle, the S.P.R. hovers above and between Mario and his other partner, forming a triangle of sorts.

Yes, the other Star Patrol Robots are this game's equivalent of Star Spirits or Crystal Stars, complete with super moves being unlocked each time you acquire one. Originally, they were simply different parts of the one robot's armor, and each contained a Star Crystal (no, not a Crystal Star; the game would poke fun at the confusion), but I later decided to turn the armor parts into other robots, revisiting the original Paper Mario's concept of the seven stars having sentience. Thus, they combine Voltron-style.

The traditional Tattle role of the Goomba would be moved to the S.P.R., yes, but that doesn't mean there couldn't still be a Goomba partner. Admittedly, it is tempting to give the majority of the utility roles to the S.P.R., but my intention is that she'd only gain four through her torso, arms, legs, and wings. The reason I shifted the Tattle ability and some others onto her is to spare players the annoyance of having to constantly switch partners to Tattle things, cross gaps, find hidden objects, etc. The Tattle ability is the biggest improvement, as you no longer have to switch to the Goomba partner every time you want to tattle something; now your Tattler is a full-time member of the party.

I still intend for the field partners to have utility functions of their own. One example is the junior chef Sweet T., who is a playable counterpart to past chefs Tayce T. and Zess T. Upon attaining her Cooking License, Sweet T. can cook items anytime, anywhere outside of battle. The Goomba partner this time could function as a springboard of sorts, allowing Mario to jump higher. The Koopa Troopa partner could use her shell to protect Mario from hazards. There's a cloaking partner in the vein of Bow and Vivian, perhaps a Ninji or just another Boo.

UPDATE: I fleshed out a good number of partner ideas in the first post.

7 hours ago, CyberZord said:

This is the only thing from your plot part of the idea that I'm not too keen on. I assume that you plan to have Bowser as sort of a co-villan, helping the evil Empress take the shooting stars before Mario and Co. do. Kind of like how Bowser and Antasma worked in Mario and Luigi: Dream Team. I always liked the fact that Bowser was more of an anti-hero in most of the Mario RPGs outside of Paper Mario 64, Sticker Star, Color Splash, Dream Team, and Paper Jam. It differentiated his role from the mainline Mario games as the main villan, and he had more of a personality in the Mario RPGs to boot. I feel like Bowser should maintain his anti-hero status here, and instead of helping the evil Empress, begrudgingly choose to aid Mario in his battle against the Empress and take his castle (that was probably destroyed by the falling space station) back. 

Here's the general plot outline I have in mind:

At the start of the game, Mario and Luigi are wrapping up yet another of their "save Peach from Bowser" adventures. During their journey, they just so happened to have met some nondescript Toads along the way who joined them as partners (yes, this game takes jabs at SS, CS, and even TOK). While they fight their way through Bowser's lair, a different battle rages in the stars above as the Star Patrol, combined into a singular mech, engage the Empress' forces, including her space station which is preparing to fire upon the planet. While the Mario Bros. and their nameless Toad companions give Bowser his usual beatdown, the Star Patrol narrowly stop the space station from firing, causing it to explode and sending its Star Crystals falling down towards the planet below. Unfortunately, the Star Patrol are also broken apart by the blast, and they too fall to the planet.

Mario, Luigi, and Toads defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach. They prepare to go home while the credits roll and shooting stars fall from the sky. But, the space station crashes through the credits and lands right on Bowser's castle, demolishing it and sending our heroes flying to distant lands. When Mario recovers from his own trip, he finds the head of a female robot partly buried in the ground, and after inspecting her, she regains consciousness and takes stock of her situation. After briefly freaking out over the loss of her comrades and body parts, she explains the situation to Mario, and learns from him that the space station's crash landing scattered him and his friends. She proposes that the two of them work together to find their friends, her missing parts, and to bring the Empress to justice before she can rebuild her space station. Mario can handle the fighting while the S.P.R. provides intel using her database. Mario agrees, and a new friendship forms.

Meanwhile, Bowser regains consciousness and discovers his castle has been crushed to rubble by the space station, and angrily demands to know who's responsible. After interrogating a few of the Empress' henchmen, he meets the boss lady herself, who apologizes for the damage and explains to Bowser that her plans were thwarted by some goody-two shoes meddlers, causing her space station to crash onto his magnificent castle. She in turn proposes a partnership to Bowser; they can work together to find the Star Crystals that have been scattered across the planet and rebuild her space station as well as his castle. Bowser accepts the Empress' offer and they deploy their respective elites, the Koopalings and the Star Knights, to seek the Star Crystals. If they happen to encounter Mario or the Star Patrol, their orders are to eliminate them at all costs. Between chapters, the Koopalings and the Star Knights get little skits showing off their personality quirks as they seek the Star Crystals in a comedic parallel to Mario and the S.P.R.'s quest.

Over the course of the game, the Empress develops a crush on Bowser, mirroring his own crush on Princess Peach. This proves to be the loose thread that leads to their partnership ultimately unraveling by story's end, as not only does Bowser basically friendzone the Empress when he finds out about her feelings for him (making her extremely envious of Peach), he outright calls off their alliance when he finds out the Empress intends to destroy his home planet with her space station (even though she's offering to let him govern one of the many other planets under her rule as a reward for his services to her).

So, Bowser does end up turning against the main villain, just not right away. Heck, he might even end up lending a hand in the final battle. In the meantime though, I think it'd be neat if the Empress had a co-villain to bounce off of. I even just brainstormed a little exchange where she's having tea with Bowser and telling him a story about one of her more memorable moments...

Empress: "...and then I told her 'No, I am your mother.' Oh, you should have seen the look on her face! Priceless! Of course, she quickly figured out that was impossible, but her reaction was SO worth it!"

Bowser: "GAHAHAH! Classic!"

7 hours ago, CyberZord said:

Your twists to the game are all welcome improvements that would definitely be perfect for a new Paper Mario game. Though I have to wonder: How would the partner's personal story arc thing work? Would it work like a side quest that's optional but helps provide more backstory with the character and is the only way to improve them stat-wise? Or would it be included in the main story somehow?

Side quest would be more ideal. Perhaps something you can do between chapters? Say you recruit Sweet T. in Chapter 1; after clearing Chapter 3, the second part of her arc becomes available, allowing you to unlock her second combat skill (and perhaps the ability to mix two items together, assuming she doesn't learn that sooner). Then once Chapter 5 is complete, you can play through the final part of her story, allowing you to unlock her fourth and final skill. By the time Chapter 7 concludes, all of the partners' arc finales will be available.

7 hours ago, CyberZord said:

Other than that, I have to ask: How does Luigi fit in all of this? Will he be at the Mario house lamenting the fact that Mario's on yet another adventure and he wasn't invited? Will he be going off on his own adventure with his own unique partners like in TTYD? (If it's this one, then there should totally be DLC for Luigi's adventure, I'd buy and play that in a heartbeat) Or will he be joining Mario in his quest like he did in SPM? If it's that last one, that I have an idea: Make Mario and Luigi switchable like the partners are in the first two Paper Mario games. It would add some strategy to battles (for instance, Mario and Luigi have different stats, with Mario having more HP + stronger attacks, and Luigi more FP + better defense) and give Luigi a chance to shine in the spotlight in the Paper Mario games, which would be great considering that he doesn't get much screen time in this series. 

Much like the Koopalings and Star Knights, Luigi and Peach get their own vignettes in the game where the player takes control of them, and oftentimes they end up helping Mario out, either intentionally (mostly on Peach's part) or by complete accident (mostly Luigi, of course). Peach contacts Mario using her Mushroom smartphone and feeds him info on the location of the other members of the Star Patrol (as well as the movements of Bowser and the Empress' forces), though of course she gets captured again after Chapter 7 (but manages to help out during the finale, similar to Paper Mario 64). Luigi wanders into one misadventure after another, usually while just trying to find some food or a ride. His Mushroom phone broke thanks to his crash landing, so he's unable to contact Mario directly for most of the adventure (though he does perhaps get to send him mail delivered by a rather familiar Paratroopa postman). He finally gets a replacement and reunites with Mario between Chapters 7 and 8.

As an aside, I was considering giving the extraterrestrial beings like the Star Patrol, the Empress, and the Star Knights 3D forms in contrast to the 2D planetary natives like Mario, Luigi, and Peach, to emphasize the former as otherworldly. Not unlike how the origami beings are 3D in TOK, but more in the cel-shaded style of TTYD like in the case of Hooktail, Magnus Von Grapple, and Cortez.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Lord_Brand

[vanguard333]

This could be interesting. The question though would be how to make it clear to audiences that it is a return to classic Paper Mario and not another papercraft-gimmick game; I don't think they will want to stop making the papercraft-gimmick games after Origami King somehow managed to be a success, so there would have to be something to make it clear without having to play the game or even watch a trailer to see that this isn't another papercraft-gimmick game. Perhaps calling it Mario Story instead of Paper Mario would do that.

 

My idea for how a Paper Mario game could be made that's in line with the classic Paper Mario games would be to not make a Paper Mario game, but to instead make Paper Zelda. The use of the Zelda world and characters would be a good excuse to go back to actually having storytelling.

[Lord_Brand]

The most obvious tell would be showcasing the partners that fans have long missed. In a prospective trailer, they could also show off Badges, Cooking, and the various Star Patrol robots who each have a star theme, making it loud and clear that this is the "true" sequel to TTYD. Everything you loved from the first two Paper Mario games is back, and better than ever!

Additionally, the game could take digs at the "bad" Paper Mario games; for example, the nondescript Toads accompanying Mario and Luigi at the start of the game are a shot at Sticker Star and Color Splash for replacing the diverse cast of NPCs from the first two games with a bunch of generic, boring Toads. I was also thinking there could be collectible stickers that the game assures us aren't necessary for combat or to complete the game. Maybe a Toad NPC at one point grumbles about having to constantly color things and clean up confetti. Things could make cameos as objects in trash cans.

If nothing else, the fact that the subtitle isn't referencing some kind of paper gimmick should be a sign that this isn't one of those Paper Mario games.

A Paper Zelda does also sound quite fun, though Nintendo doesn't seem the sort to apply a particular theme to more than one of their series. The closest we've gotten is Kirby's Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Woolly World both having an "arts and crafts" aesthetic. But for what it's worth, I have suggested elsewhere a Zelda game themed on storybook fairy tales like Cinderella and Rapunzel, which could have a similar kind of aesthetic.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Lord_Brand

[vanguard333]

On 5/2/2022 at 2:08 PM, Lord_Brand said:

The most obvious tell would be showcasing the partners that fans have long missed. In a prospective trailer, they could also show off Badges, Cooking, and the various Star Patrol robots who each have a star theme, making it loud and clear that this is the "true" sequel to TTYD. Everything you loved from the first two Paper Mario games is back, and better than ever!

Additionally, the game could take digs at the "bad" Paper Mario games; for example, the nondescript Toads accompanying Mario and Luigi at the start of the game are a shot at Sticker Star and Color Splash for replacing the diverse cast of NPCs from the first two games with a bunch of generic, boring Toads. I was also thinking there could be collectible stickers that the game assures us aren't necessary for combat or to complete the game. Maybe a Toad NPC at one point grumbles about having to constantly color things and clean up confetti. Things could make cameos as objects in trash cans.

If nothing else, the fact that the subtitle isn't referencing some kind of paper gimmick should be a sign that this isn't one of those Paper Mario games.

Those definitely would be good tells, especially the last one. Still, I suspect that there are some who would argue that it being called "Paper Mario" would invite confusion, as it's been so long since a TTYD-like Paper Mario game that a lot of people probably associate the name more with the new games than the old games (especially after Origami King managed to be a surprise hit thanks to good timing & marketing).

 

On 5/2/2022 at 2:08 PM, Lord_Brand said:

A Paper Zelda does also sound quite fun, though Nintendo doesn't seem the sort to apply a particular theme to more than one of their series. The closest we've gotten is Kirby's Epic Yarn and Yoshi's Woolly World both having an "arts and crafts" aesthetic.

True; they are not ones to apply a particular theme to more than one of their series. That said, it's not like they're using the original storybook-like theming from the first two Paper Mario games anymore; the shift in Paper Mario games completely changed the theming from "storybook" to "papercraft", with the original titles having been called Mario Story in Japan, so that original storybook theming is available for one of their other series to use.

[Lord_Brand]

16 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

Those definitely would be good tells, especially the last one. Still, I suspect that there are some who would argue that it being called "Paper Mario" would invite confusion, as it's been so long since a TTYD-like Paper Mario game that a lot of people probably associate the name more with the new games than the old games (especially after Origami King managed to be a surprise hit thanks to good timing & marketing).

A re-release of TTYD would help. They did bring the original Paper Mario back on the NSOEP (for what that's worth), so that's a start.