Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Developers Explain Why Paper Mario Was Included

So it wasn't everyone wanted a new Paper Mario game... Nintendo really don't care about us...

Sucks that Nintendo isn't planning to host another asks.......now we have to depend on interviews for information that's not anywhere as great as Iwata asks.....

@Tsurii You don't use all the buttons simultaneously. If you use the other buttons, you control the babies only and if you use the a and b, you use the bros. Same goes for Bowser's inside story.

@Socar Sometimes you separated from the babies for puzzles, but many of the Bros. attacks were performed with all four of the buttons representing each of the bros, and even some overworld puzzles were solved with all 4 of the Bros. simultaneously. You were very much playing with all four of them, for much of the game.

As good as the game might be, I am still waiting for a new Paper Mario. And please, keep Miyamoto as far away from the game as possible. Lock him in a closet and don't let him out until the game is released so he can see how much better it is than his Sticker Star.

It just feels silly to add an extra character just because they wanted the game to use an extra button.

@crimsontadpoles It's a cool extra character though.

@crimsontadpoles It's a cool extra character though.

oh if that was their reason i wish they used a bean, popple ftw!

This is more Sticker Stars than Dream Team.

I'm OK with this because I prefered Sticker Stars. But three characters on the screen when jumping around is to much.

@donniedarkenson Yeah it does happen but not too much. I mean, you only control them in battle if the bros are out of HP. For doing bonus attacks, yeah, its does do that but outside of battle, not much.

Some interesting things in the rest of the interview. Miyamoto definitely made a very good call on the dash mechanic, it was one of the best inclusions to speeding up exploring but if you had to press A-->B-->Y constantly it would have been annoying.

Otani: Some people who played the previous game commented that movement on the field felt a bit slow, and it was decided in an early development phase that we’d introduce dash instead of increasing the movement speed. Originally if you didn’t push the A, B and Y buttons with a good rhythm within a fixed time, you couldn’t dash and you’d stop soon if you couldn’t keep up with it. We created this system as we thought the continued input was interesting even though it was a bit complicated, but when we brought it to Miyamoto, he said: “That’s too much trouble, one button is fine.” (laughs)

Kobayashi: The X button [dash] is perhaps the most often pushed button on the field. We conducted a survey within our company and some people went as far as saying “you can’t live without dash” (laughs).

Do they even remember Partners in Time? You know, the game where you could control 4 different characters with the 4 different buttons.

Dash mechanic was one of the best additions to the series. I really want to see Wario & Waluigi featured in the next Mario & Luigi game.

Going with the "there's two of us" idea is pretty lazy, not the ingenious thing they like to pretend it is each time they do it.

I think what they mean is that with PiT there were technically 4 characters but all the system really did was complicate playing Mario & Luigi. Can't tell you how many times I got muddled with the order you're supposed to hit A & X (or B & Y) in for the basic attacks.

"Somebody had to occupy that Y button"

This makes the game not look like a labour of love, which it is. And given how mad the Paper Mario purists are at this game, it doesn't help.

I hope to be able to get this gem as soon as possible, but right now my top priority is the upcoming digital re-release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

@NintyMan
Same here. Heck, I'd be interested to see a whole Intelligent Systems interview for the game.

@gamerprince1999 Nintendo makes me very happy. Much happier than Squall ever was. What a mope.

This isn't paper Mario so this isn't what I will buy.

I've always wanted to see Mario and Luigi: Wario and Waluigi. Where Wario and Waluigi occupy X and Y. For the sake of platforming though, you probably would have to play with each set separately. It also could give Waluigi some much needed character development.

@Luffymcduck This is a much more interesting idea than adding Paper Mario, which I find uninspired.

@ikki5 So you only buy Paper Mario games? That's tragically (and oddly) limited.

X and Y were used in a much more clever way in the 2nd and 3rd games. At least they put an extra character.

I felt mixed at first about the three buttons, but I am glad Miyamoto told them to add the X button for use. I still want a new Paper Mario game that plays like the first two while bringing back some ideas from SPM and SS, but I guess Paper Jam will do for now. Still gotta wait for the 22nd, though.

@GoldenGamer88 I am still waiting for a new Paper Mario as well, hopefully playing like the first two titles while bringing back some of the ideas from SPM and SS (i.e. Recipe Disks and 9,999 coin capacity, to name the few)

@Dr_Lugae Nice! Thanks for the insight!

@StephenYap3 It doesn't have to be like PM1 and 2, honestly, but the characters just have to feel like in those two games (funny, wacky, unique), the story has to go deeper than just save Peach, more unique locations, not just Grassland -> Desert -> Snow Forest -> Beach -> Bowser's Castle, like it's the case in Sticker Star, Dream Team and Paper Jam, and return to the original art style from the first three Paper Marios. This style has always given the series a unique feel that seemed more cartoony and fit the story perfectly. It just screamed Paper Mario! I just wished the whole New Super Mario Bros. stylization would finally stop.

@Samuel-Flutter Definitely, having those two duos have to team up to battle hopefully something that is not Bowser would be really awesome and could lead to some funny scenarios.

People need to stop saying that this is a disappointing Paper Mario game. It could hardly be considered a crossover. Paper Mario is just a plot device for a MARIO & LUIGI game.

@GoldenGamer88 To be honest, in the second part of Paper Jam you don't really have to save Peach...
and the third Paper Mario has a graphical style much different from the first two, with many new characters having that polygon-based style!

What're Partners In Time and Bowser's Inside Story, chopped liver?

@GoldenGamer88

I wouldn't mind a Paper Mario game that tries a new idea either, and yes, stories don't have to involve Peach-saving and characters being quirky. As for locations, I personally want them to be a mix of old and new (I feel that Paper Mario 64 was perfect with it). I don't mind the NSMB-style locations for one bit, but I'd rather 50 or more % of that be new locations (how about a feudal Japanese village?).

However, the one thing that I always expect about the Paper Mario series (and is always important to any game for me) is the gameplay. To me, the first two's battle systems made battles fun and one of the highlights of the series. I never cared for SPM's gameplay and RPG elements and I enjoyed Sticker Star's battle system, aside from the lack of incentive to battles and cryptic puzzles. Again, I don't mind a Paper Mario game (or any game) that tries something new in the gameplay department, but a gameplay that is not fun or satisfying will severely limit the fun factor for me. Besides, despite enjoying SPM and SS, I wanted the series to return to its roots already since I missed the classic formula for 11 years.

@Mister_Wu Yes, the SPM had a pretty different art style but the classic Mario enemies still looked like the first two PMs. And both art styles, the one from the first two games and the one from SPM, just make the game feel more unique, outside of gameplay, of course. That's why I'd love to see Nintendo experiment and like make a spin-off Mario game with a completely different, more cartoony art style - not realistic looking!

@StephenYap3 I did enjoy the batle system of PM1 and 2 more, too, but at this point, I'd take another SPM, too, mainly because the three things I personally need were there, too.

I've grown bored of the Mario & Luigi games. Probably going to pass on this, but I might reconsider if Fawful/Paper Fawful is in the game and has a big role.

Edit: Doesn't look Paper Fawful is in the game. A shame, Fawful is the best original character in the series..

After seeing the ending of this game, I think this game is a setup for the next Paper Mario game. (I count this as Paper Mario 5 by the way, it's a choice since this is a crossover game. I'll continue to call this game Mario & Luigi 5 and Paper Mario 5 unless Nintendo officially releases a Paper Mario game and says it Paper Mario 5). Anyway, I think in the next Paper Mario game, they will reference being in the Mario & Luigi Universe at some point. I just hope this new Paper Mario is like the first 3.

Also, my recommendations/reviews on Paper Jam:
I highly recommend this game. This game has really good pacing, keeps things fresh, great OST, battle system is at it's best, and this game may not have Original Characters, but it really fleshes out everything it has. The Paper Mario callbacks are amazing, the TTYD curses, (too much stuff from Sticker Star in my opinion, and you will even catch some Paper Mario 64 stuff in there too (No Super Paper Mario, unfortunately, but I guess that's because it'd be hard to put some callbacks from the Paper Mario game that took place in different dimensions, was in 2D, and was a platformer in a 3D, turn-based RPG Mario & Luigi crossover.) The charm of this game is irresistible. Sure this isn't the Paper Mario game people were hoping for, but this game is sure to give you an above satisfying feeling. This should satisfy a lot of people's hunger for a new Paper Mario game until this Paper Mario game comes out. I'd say this game is a must-have for a Mario & Luigi fan, a must-have for a Mario RPG fan, and a high recommendation for the Paper Mario fans.