Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam -- Part 11: Snow Drill

The bros find themselves on Mount Brrr. There are patches of ice the bros will spin across. There are Buzzy Beetles here. You can't hurt them when they're in their shell. Climb up the stairs to find a gap in the rocks. Send in Paper Mario for some items. Try to go east and the bros will hear something loud. Go east. When you try to cross a patch of dirt, the ground rumbles again. Starlow thinks it's coming from above.

On the summit, Big Bob-omb, along with Morton Koopa Jr., Iggy Koopa and Lemmy Koopa, tells minions to fire something. It's a cannon launching cardboard platforms. Another cannon launches paper minions. Some of the cardboard nearly lands on the bros. Unfortunately, the way ahead is now blocked. Paper Mario is inspired by some nearby cardboard. Press (A), (B), then (Y) to use the Trio Drill. Use it to tunnel underground. You can also tunnel under spots marked with "X" to get items like beans without having to pop up each time. Hold (Y) to do a Drill Dash. Use it on the rock under a cardboard platform to destroy it. Starlow notices the question mark on the platform the bros just Drill Dashed under. Trio Drill into it from above to get Heart Boots. Use the Trio Hammer so you can go east into a cave.

Inside the cave are more Buzzy Beetles. There are dirt walls in the cave, so use Drill Dash to climb them. Drill Dash repeatedly into cracked rocks to destroy them. Beware of the saws on the walls. Drill Dash to exit the walls. Higher up is a puzzle. There are spikes in the gaps between the walls to avoid. Move them around by Drill Dashing into the pink ! Block on the wall. There's a crack in the wall near it. Destroy it and move the pink ! Block to the lower position to move forward. There's another crack in the wall on the left side. Cross over to that side and go west.

The bros find themselves outside again. Someone says "Whoooooa." It's Bowser Jr., and he's higher up on the mountain. Paper Bowser Jr. is playing with the papercraft. Bowser Jr. leaves to play with it. Toadette appears, saying she knew there was a new one already. She says they need a new papercraft as well. She's got plenty of ideas, but not as many Paper Toads. She also needs a safe place to work. That cave to the east probably won't work. Luigi says there's no such thing as a safe place in this terrifying world. Toadette says she's heard of a Toad Village to the west, but it's much farther away than the bros anticipated. The path is also a puzzle. Once it is solved (and it can be solved), the bros will have a clear path to the village. Hop in the nearby pipe and hit the ! Block so you can return easily.

Drill up the wall and start breaking through the cracks. Toadette calls to them when they approach a puzzle, saying the bros are about halfway to the summit. Fiddle around with the puzzle contraptions to find a path to the village. The sign says to push the blue crescent and pink target stones into the corresponding slots. The stones can only move on the tracks. The blue crescent is close by. Drill Dash to move it up, left, up, left, down, right, then up. This makes corresponding platforms appear out of the mountain. Drop down to Toadette's level and go west. You'll find Bullies and Paper Sombrero Guys here. To reach the top of the middle area, go to the left and climb using the orange springs. Trio Grab to the other side. Go back east.

Hit the ! Block to make the rocks between the puzzles disappear, then go up to the puzzle. Move the pink target stone up, right, down, right, down, left, up, and left. This makes the corresponding platforms appear from the mountain. Go back east into the cave for a puzzle involving dodging saws in the walls. You'll find beans in the walls and get a Paper Speed Bracelet if you clear it. Back outside, take the dirt path as high as you can go to cross to the Toad. Go west into the Toad Village. A Toad welcomes them to the village. Starlow says they need a way to climb the mountain and deal with Bowser Jr., so they'll need to save more Paper Toads.  

Paper Mario: Sticker Star -- 2-5 Drybake Stadium

It's very quiet here for a stadium. Not much to see besides a door drawn on the rock. The Secret Door leads to a room with a Flashy Eekhammer, Flashy Spike Helmet, and Flashy Hurlhammer. There's something green behind the wall to the right. At the top of the stairs, something large and square is missing. This is where the three tablet pieces go. It looks like the letter "U" or "V" when put together. The sky turns dark and clouds roll in. The tablet pieces glow. It then unfolds to reveal a tall tower. The marking on the tablet is the arch of the doorway.

Kersti mentions that only someone with the power of a Royal Sticker could remove such a tower. Inside are Egyptian-style hieroglyphics, with Toads. There are stickers on the wall and Spikes and Paratroopas in the hallways. We need to place two stickers on the back wall. We place two Worn-Out Hammers and they are rejected. There's a curious laugh coming from the other side. On the right and left walls, there's a Toad holding an item. So left panel shoe, right panel hammer. It words and we hear Toad say, "Yeah!" The door opens. Get the Shiny Hammer and Shiny Jump, then hop on the platform to raise it.

Upstairs, Koopas and Goombas are part of the hieroglyphics and there's quicksand and spikes. Go to the right and sink partway into the quicksand so you can go under the wall and find the Stone Entry, which goes into "Scraps". Once we go back, we notice the Goombas on the wall start moving, then jump off the wall and battle us. These are Mural Goombas. They each have 13 HP. Likewise, the Mural Koopas jump off the wall. They have 13 HP as well. There are Spikes on the other side of the quicksand throwing spike balls at you. On the other side is a spot where the Stone Entry is supposed to be. Beware of the Buzzy Beetle in the doorway.

Take the platform up to the next level. Same puzzle as the first floor. Right panel shoe, middle spike helmet, left hammer. The platform takes us to a room with Buzzy Beetles. We leave the room, walk to the left, and go outside. In one of the windows, we see what looks like the back of Luigi's head. I was wondering when he'd show up. Sombrero Guy is nearby. Paperize and Luigi will look through the window. Peel him out of the window and a tiny Luigi will run off. What just happened? Go back inside and go over the sand and through the hole in the wall. Go to the left to return to part of the hallway. There's a huge pile of sand in front of the door. Go outside again and take the green pipe to the first part. It's the pipe behind the wall. Go back through the pipe and walk around the corner. There's a door that's not quite right, so paperize, peel it off, and replace it. Sand flows out the door.

We can now go through the door. The elevator takes us to a floor with another sticker puzzle, with multiple sticker images, but only two slots. This is a tricky puzzle. Check out the Toad where you're supposed to put the stickers. Which way do the head and feet face? Find the other two Toads holding items whose head and feet face the same way that Toad does. This opens the door to a Save Block and a Heart Block.

The elevator takes us up to an arena, where Kersti notices another Royal Sticker. The mural pictures are the audience. Someone says, "SHEEBYDEEBY..." There's a rumble under the Royal Sticker. "SHEENY SHOOBY SHINY SHLOO... SHINE-A-ROONEY!" A sparkly Pokey appears. It looks possessed. I fail the Battle Spin. We are told to PLAY BALL. I probably should've made the Bat into a sticker. We're up against the Tower Power Pokey, with 300 HP. He can spin in front of us to do multiple attacks. I try again after getting the Bat and get two stickers in the Battle Spin. The Bat does 30 damage. Not nearly enough. He can summon green Pokeys and fall on top of you. Try to crumple him with POW Blocks, then hit him with Thing Stickers for extra damage. I got 70 damage out of the Bat and 26 out of the Fan this way. Shiny Hopslippers also work well. He'll periodically grow segments, which will increase his defense. If he takes enough damage, the segments will go away. Use Jump attacks as you can't get close enough to use the hammer when he has two or more segments. Periodically, he can sprout a flower from his head to heal 10 HP. Lots of shiny stickers will slowly chip away at him. Oddly enough, if you get poisoned from the Battle Spin and jump on him, the poison may transfer to him for a turn (you'll still have it, though). After a long and tedious battle, we defeat him. Kersti notes that we still used a lot of stickers. Am I supposed to use only Thing Stickers in boss battles? The defeated Pokey says, "SHUH... SHI...NY... OW?" and disappears, leaving only the orange Royal Sticker. Kersti is impressed with its power. I want to use it in the fight against Bowser.

The mini story says that the Pokey picked up the Royal Sticker and Kamek made the tower disappear. He probably also gave the Royal Sticker to the Pokey. A new page is added to the album. We have 28 stickers left after the battle. Not bad.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star -- 2-3 Sandshifter Ruins

In Decalburg, a Toad tells us that there's a legend of a staff resting in Sandshifter Ruins. Let's see if the legend is true! The first area has Pokeys, a Sombrero Guy, and Spikes throwing spike balls. At the end of the area is a Heart Block and stairs leading down.

The stairs lead to a 2D underground area. The rising pillars of quicksand lead outside to the first area. The planks of wood that allow you to cross over the gaps will fall after you step on them. There's a door to the bottom left which leads into a room with coffins and a Dry Bones. One of the item blocks has three Hammer stickers: Baahammer, Burnhammer, and Chillhammer. We open the coffin and find what looks like a mummy. In the left coffin, it's actually a 10-Coin. The middle left one has a heart. The middle right one has a Sombrero Guy. The right one has a POW Block. There is a door to the right that leads to a room with more enemies and stickers. The door leads to another room with coffins. The left one has a Hopslipper, the middle left has a heart, the middle right has an HP-Up Heart, and the right has an Eekhammer. The item block in the middle of the room has an invisible block under it on the floor so you can reach it. The door leads back to the 2D maze.

A door to the lower right leads to a room with Bowser tape on the wall. There are invisible blocks below it so we can peel the tape. There's a Frog Suit and other stickers behind the wall. Up the stairs is a drawing of a door. The Secret Door leads to the Lighter. The path leads back to the maze, where our only option is to take the pillar of sand outside. Once back in the maze, I go to the right and through a door on the second lower level. It leads to a room with coffins. The right one has a Dry Bones and the middle right has a heart and leads somewhere. It leads to a small room where we find the Magnifying Glass. This must be the staff Toad was talking about. Towards the left side of the maze, there's a steep drop. This leads to the Jackhammer. The sand pillar takes us outside again. There's a door at the bottom guarded by a Hammer Bro. There's a room with coffins and spikes. One of the coffins has something skinnier than the "mummies" wrapped up. It's the Bat. We can reach the other side of the spikes by climbing over the coffins. The next room is filled with quicksand and Dry Bones will drop in overhead. Fortunately, at the end is a comet piece. This opens the path to 2-5. I think there's something in a door we missed in the maze.

I made it down to the middle door by taking the following falls of sand: right, right, left, left. The door leads to a room with stairs, spikes, and stickers. The comet piece is at the top, but we can't quite reach it. The coffin at the top has a Dry Bones. Drop down on the left side to find a passage in a coffin. It leads to the right side of the room. Drop down the other coffin to a part with three coffins. The left one has a passage, the middle has POW Block, and the right has a Dry Bones. The passage leads up and to the left, near the coffin with the first passage. Go to the right, behind the wall, to drop down. Something's coming out of the other coffin. There's lots of sand, which moves the comet piece to where we can reach it and safely covers up some of the spikes. If you want the other item block, paperize and place a sticker you don't want in the red box. This will make an item block appear so you can reach the top of the item block. Jump to get the Flashy Clone Jump in an invisible block overhead. The block you're standing on has a Shiny Jump. We get the comet piece, which opens the path to 2-4.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star -- 2-2 Yoshi Sphinx

I couldn't find the secret goal to 2-1, so I decided to move on. Aside from some stickers and Spinies, there's not much in the first area, besides the green pipe, which takes you directly to the Sphinx. There's something gold and shiny on the Sphinx's tongue. Above where we arrive, there are three Sombrero guys with different instruments. The Sphinx is covered in stickers. Around back is an HP-Up Heart we can't quite reach. There's also a door drawn on the back. The Secret Door leads to the Paper Fan. We go inside through doorway in the back. In here are a Dry Bones and two Hammer Bros. There are stickers on the floor. There's nowhere else to go, so we go back outside.

We walk up the steps to the door under the head of the Sphinx. The first room is empty, with only a pile of bones. Hit the unlit torch to light it and the bones assemble into a Dry Bones. The next room is completely empty. Hitting the torches to extinguish them reveals light coming through the back wall. Hit the wall to make a doorway appear. This leads to a room with enemies and stickers. The room to the right has two doors to the outside. They both lead to stairs, one of which deceptively appears to lead to the comet piece. Peel the Bowser tape in the room to reveal a Heart Block. Two rooms to the left is a Sombrero Guy on a balcony where you found the Hammer Bros. Back in the room with the green Pokey, go to the back wall and through the door on the right. This leads to a dark path where there's a door at the top of the stairs. This is the door in the Spinx's tail and leads outside.

Once outside, someone says, "Target acquired..." Not good. Mario looks up to the sky and sees three Paratroopas overhead. One says, "Repeat, target acquired. Shell Shock One has visual. Over." Another says we appear well fortified. The third wants to light us up. They dive-bomb Mario to start the battle. They each have 14 HP. Aside from a flying attack, they're not too difficult to deal with. Peeling the Bowser tape on the Spinx's back will finish the stairs to the comet piece. Going outside to where the stairs are, we drop down to where the Sombrero Guys are. We walk up to them to engage them in battle.

They are Maraca Guy, Sombrero Guy, and Accordion Guy, each with 15 HP. They can play their instruments, then fling their sombreros at you simultaneously for 15 damage. Accordion Guy can heal his teammates. After the battle, we go onto the back of the Sphinx and drop down to reach the HP-Up Heart. Ignoring the comet piece, we go through the doorway on the Sphinx's neck. The room has a couple of Dry Bones and a couple of normal torches. One of them is suspicious, so we hit it from below and get the Lightbulb. Go upstairs and keep going right. Hit the left wall to knock it over, then hit the panel on the left wall that has light coming through it. These panels lead you out of the eyes and onto the nose. Slide down to the tongue for the treasure. Unfortunately, Kamek is there as well.

Kamek wants us to leave, but we're not going to. He starts the battle and, to spice things up, uses magic on the album and turns stickers into flip-flops. I get triple coins from the Battle Spin. The information on each sticker asks what was the sticker originally? I can't quite remember where I had things, but I have quite a few shiny and flashy stickers. I pick three stickers that aren't shiny. Kamek has 20 HP. Mario slaps Kamek with the sandals multiple times. Kamek can only be slapped when he's low to the ground. I had to use a few shiny stickers, but I beat him. He is impressed with our power and acknowledges that Kersti helps us considerably. He looks forward to meeting us again. Goody. Our stickers return to normal. The chest contains a Tablet Piece, which goes into "Scraps". The tongue retracts and the jaw closes. Now we get the comet piece. The path to 2-3 opens.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star -- 2-1 Drybake Desert

With the extra page in our album, we have plenty of room to sling things. So we sling all of them. Oddly enough, the Trumpet is a small sticker. The Toad manning the stand says that something good will appear back there, probably meaning near the Thing shop. Back on the Sticker Fest grounds, Yellow Toad has set up some flags to honor accomplishments, like using the Battle Spinner 50 times. I haven't done that yet, so the flag will probably open when I do.

The next logical place to go is 2-1, so we head out. It doesn't initially look like a desert, but it's not long before you reach a giant door with pictures on it. Paperizing reveals that we need to stick stickers here, specifically, 2 Mushrooms, a Jump, a Hammer, a Spike Helmet, and a Flower. One of them must be a Poison Mushroom (it's eyes look a little evil). The doors open. This area has bats and Buzzy Beetles. We approach a hollow stump and jump through it to a lower level with coins and a Shiny Jump. Walk up the slope and jump at the top. The piece of the floor will allow you to hit the item block for three stickers. Outside to the right, you'll see a Heart Block, a Save Block, and a Shy Guy wearing a sombrero and playing the guitar. He'll run away in battle, so get the first strike. He'll also jump into battle and double all enemies' attack, so take him out when he's alone. This area has Paragoombas and Spinies. Sombrero Guys may appear in battle and drop Sombrero stickers. In the background is a Yoshi Sphinx and Parakoopas carrying Shy Guys. Up ahead are Paragoombas carrying a Toad. The Paragoombas want 25 coins to let him go. We decide to challenge all five of them.

They get into formation and form a wheel and have 40 HP. They are called the 5-Fold Paragoomba. They crumple easily, so you can do extra damage. Red Toad thanks us for saving him again. He wanted to see the pyramid and the sphinx, but traveling in the desert has been difficult. He gives us a Shiny Mushroom as thanks. He also mentions crazy music that never stops. He then leaves. The next area has a ton of quicksand and Pokeys. Beware of battling in the quicksand as you'll slowly sink. Don't sink into the quicksand. There are also green Pokeys in the area, which can crumple you in battle. At the top of the hill is some Bowser tape, which reveals a small room with coins. In the right patch of quicksand, under a ledge, is a Flashy Slaphammer. It's kind of dangerous to get. The item block near by has a Hammer, a Shiny Hammer, and a Flashy Hammer.

The next area has a slide of quicksand. The Pokeys quickly disappear at the bottom of the hill, so this should be quite a challenge. At the top of the hill, there will be two stickers. Walk towards the rocks to reach a hidden area with coins and a Big 1-Up sticker. The quicksand will slope downward to the right. Towards the back, on solid ground, you'll find something red sticking out of the sand. It's the Soda, which goes in "Things".

The next area is a pyramid with a comet piece near the top. There's an HP-Up Heart on a ledge that we can't quite reach. Around the back of the pyramid are lots of coins. You'll have to wander around almost the entire pyramid to reach the top. You can slide down to the left to get the HP-Up Heart. There's a door drawn behind the Sombrero Guy, but it's tricky to reach him to beat him. The Secret Door leads to the Car Battery. When facing the front of the pyramid, on the higher level where you can walk to the back, go to the back, go right around the corner, and drop to the level below, where you'll be able to hop up the blocks to reach him. We get tons of coins from collecting the comet piece. The path to 2-2 opens up.