A storm is brewing and the castle is shooting out flames. We go inside and it's dark and quiet, except for the storm. There's a door at the end of the hallway. Behind it is Kamek. He's impressed that we eventually made it. We shall fight until one of us falls. Once again, he changes our stickers into Flip-flops. This time, we can't easily tell which stickers are shiny. I recommend sorting out your stickers, placing all the ones you don't mind losing on one or two pages and use those. Worn-out stickers here might be best. He then clones himself twice. The clones don't have much HP. He can also make stickers from the album disappear entirely. After a tedious battle, it's clear to him that it was no accident that we've been successful in gathering the Royal Stickers. He says the sticker Bowser has is infinitely stronger than the others. He turns into dust that is blown away.
Through the door is another quiet hallway. In the middle is a red carpet over spikes that starts rolling up while you walk on it. It is ripped and has holes, so pay attention where you walk. Once you make it to the end of the carpet, the rest of the hallway lights up and the carpet carries you to the other side of the gap, then falls. We walk up to a large Bowser symbol on the floor. Someone says, "Mario!" It's Peach, stuck to a chain by Bowser tape. Kersti says we should save her while Bowser isn't around, but that's not the case. Bowser drops in.
Kersti says we're not afraid of him and are going to peel the Royal Sticker from his forehead. Bowser sends Peach down a long hallway. The battle starts, and other enemies appear from windows in the walls. This is the time to break out your most powerful Thing stickers, but start with the small ones first. Bowser has 400 HP. Crumpling or soaking Bowser works well. Bowser will jump, breathe fire, and slide into Mario with his shell. Don't jump on him. After his HP drops below 350, he'll move on and hide behind a large Whomp. Your attacks will only do 1 damage to him, even your Thing stickers. There's a Scissors symbol on his back, which is his weakness. It's very difficult to hit him with scissors that do more than 1 damage, so I just used an Infinijump. He needs to be knocked over with an Eekhammer for the Scissors to work. Once you defeat him, attack Bowser. After a few hits, he'll move on, where the walls will disappear, revealing lava. Once he has 10 HP left, he'll move on after sending Podoboos to attack you.
He runs to the back wall where Peach is. He'll heal and a Chomp will join him. The Chomp will attack you and Bowser will also throw it. He'll also heal more frequently. After a while, Bowser will fall off the cliff and the battle will end. Kersti's upset because he took the Royal Sticker with him. We can't free Peach, so we approach Kersti, when Bowser's giant sparkly arms reach up. He's made of thicker corrugated cardboard. Another battle starts.
Bowser has 500 HP and we have barely any stickers left. He'll smack Mario around the way Mario smacks enemies with the Slaphammer. Kersti says our stickers are useless against the last Royal Sticker and there's only one thing to do: use Kersti as a sticker. The only thing that can match the last Royal Sticker's power is sparkling power originating from the same Sticker Star. With Mario and Kersti's powers combined, they can strike Bowser with the power of a thousand stickers. She goes into the album, warning us she'll never forgive us if we try to sell her in a shop. Her description says, "Sacrifices herself to give Mario all her power, leaving everything to him." No! Kersti, don't go like this!
We don't have much of a choice but to use her. She says, "Thanks for sticking me up, Mario. I give to you all my shine. You must win! Looking back, I realize I kind of forced you to come on this adventure with me. I'm sorry...We went through a lot... but it was fun. And now... Good-bye!" Kersti, Mario would've gone on the adventure regardless, to save Peach. She turns into a Battle Spinner with her face in different expressions. We match all three and get to use 5 stickers, plus get healed some. I set up my best remaining stickers: Lightbulb, Thumbtack, Big Shiny Clone Jump, Megaflash Jump, and Big Shiny Infinijump. The Infinijump finishes off Bowser's left arm. He breathes fire into the album, destroying the stickers on the current page. We still have 5 sticker slots. I ran out of stickers before I could defeat him, so I changed my strategy to use the smaller Thing stickers in the first part of the battle. This led to victory.
Bowser floats in the air and, with an explosion, the sparkle and shine of the Royal Sticker leaves him. The last Royal Sticker appears and lands in the center of the album cover. Bowser lies flat on the ground. We peel the Bowser tape off Peach and she gently floats down a short distance to the ground. She says, "Thank you, Mario. I knew I could count on you, as always. Now that the Royal Stickers's been peeled off, Bowser should come to his senses... eventually. He's been beaten flat, but that's nothing new, so I don't think we need to worry about him. He'll be OK. So this all came about because of the six Royal Stickers that rode in on the comet the night of the Sticker Fest. The power to grant wishes can bring disaster if used without wisdom, huh?" Mario pulls out the album and shows them to her. "Ah, so those are the Royal Sticker.... I bet it was hard gathering all six. But thanks to your hard work, my wish for peace in the kingdom... No wait! It was the wish of everyone throughout the land. And it came true. Now please, use the power of those Royal Stickers to grant your own wish. Mario, what is your wish?" Mario makes his wish and the album gleams with light.
We return to Decalburg on the Sticker Fest grounds with Peach. The comet is in place. The Toads are cheering. The Toad, master of the Enigmansion, is sitting on a bench. The Toad from the Damp Oasis is on another. Peach says, "Citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom! Tonight, at long last, that symbol of peace, the Sticker Fest, has finally been revived. But this glad day did not come to pass through the power of the Sticker Comet. No, it was bought with the bravery of Mario, who returned the Royal Stickers to us... And it was paid for with the power of all you, who wished so fervently for Sticker Fest to return."
Bowser approaches the Sticker Comet, but Kersti tells him off, saying, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Please tell me you aren't trying to touch the Sticker Comet again! You know what I think? I think you're a troublemaker! And your troublemaking made trouble for everyone! Hmm... Being brought back to life by Mario's wish was definitely nice, but... If it's like this every year at the Sticker Fest, I may have to seriously reconsider my career path." We saved Sticker Fest and wished Kersti back to life. I think we've done a good job here. Roll credits!
Luigi gets to lead the parade. The parade shows places we've been, like the windmill and Goomba Fortress. Wiggler, the Toads from the Enigmansion, and Birdo appear. The shiny bosses also make a reappearance. Bowser and Bowser Jr. also appear during the parade. As we completed the tasks on the Sticker Fest flags on the Sticker Fest grounds, Toads carry them during the parade. Mario, Peach, and Kersti appear on a float with the Sticker Comet. At the end, the book closes on this tale and the light goes out. A message tells us a new Toad has appeared on the festival grounds and that we should say hello. It's the Purple Toad from the Enigmansion. Apparently, he helped plan the parade. Talk to him if you want to watch it again.
And with that, we finish Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I had a fun time playing this game. Stay tuned for the next game I cover.
During the Bowser battle, when the chain chomp appears, if you use a Tail sticker and successfully defend against the chain chomps attack, he will ricochet off Mario's tail and hit Bowser sending him off the cliff. You can do this at the beginning of the battle, much faster then waiting for him for fall off on his own. Good stuff!
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