Mario & Luigi – Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, known in Europe and Australia as Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros., is a 2015 role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS console. It is the fifth installment in the Mario & Luigi series, and serves as a crossover between the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series, the latter being a cross-genre series developed by Intelligent Systems. In Paper Jam, Luigi accidentally opens a book containing the Paper Mario universe, causing all of its contents to spread into the Mushroom Kingdom; Mario and Luigi, with the help of the befriended Paper Mario, venture to save both Princess Peach universe variants from Bowser, who has teamed up with his paper counterpart as well.

In the game, the player controls the trio simultaneously through an overworld to reach Bowser’s Castle, and fights enemies in turn-based combat along the way. Paper Jam is a role-playing game that follows a similar format of previous games in the Mario & Luigi series, with some additional reliance on elements from the Paper Mario series as well. The player simultaneously controls Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario from his respective series, and travels the Mushroom Kingdom overworld to reach Bowser’s Castle to save both Princess Peach variants from both Bowser variants from their respective universes. Each of the three uses a different button to control them. 

In the overworld, the player can talk to non-player characters (NPCs) and solve puzzles, some of which are required to be solved in order to progress. Some puzzles involve using character-specific actions; for example, Paper Mario can use his paper-thin body to squeeze through small gaps to reach areas inaccessible by Mario and Luigi. In other cases, the three learn additional special moves as the main storyline continues, which can be used in the overworld to solve puzzles that hinder progression or other secret areas. Luigi and a Toad enter the attic of Princess Peach’s Castle to find the source of a wind draft.

When Luigi accidentally bumps into a bookshelf and knocks open a book containing the Paper Mario universe inside it, the book opens up and shoots its contents across the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach and her counterpart Paper Peach meet, and send Mario and Luigi to round up the citizens of the Paper Mario universe, equipped with the book to return them to their original home. Meanwhile, Bowser discovers his paper counterpart, Paper Bowser, and the two merge their armies. Mario and Luigi meet Paper Mario and return to Peach’s Castle, only to find that the two princesses have been kidnapped by both Bowsers; they begin their quest towards Bowser’s Castle to save them.