Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, known in Europe and Australia as Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. and in Japan as Mario & Luigi RPG: Paper Mario MIX, is a 2015 role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS console. It is the fifth game in the Mario & Luigi series, following Dream Team (2013). The game combines elements from the Mario & Luigi series and the Paper Mario series, which is a cross-genre series created by Intelligent Systems.
In Paper Jam Bros., Luigi accidentally opens a book that contains a paper version of the Mushroom Kingdom. This causes the paper world to spread into the real Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi, with the help of Paper Mario, work together to rescue Princess Peach from both the real and paper versions of her world. Bowser, the main villain, has joined forces with his paper counterpart to cause trouble. Players control Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario at the same time as they travel through the game world to reach Bowser’s Castle. Along the way, they fight enemies in turn-based battles.
AlphaDream created Paper Jam Bros., while Intelligent Systems helped manage the game’s production. The idea to combine the two series came when AlphaDream wanted to add a third character to the game to change the usual gameplay. They believed the two series had similar gameplay features, making the crossover a good idea. The game was announced at E3 2015 and released internationally in December 2015, with a North American release the next month.
Most people who played the game liked the new ideas from the Paper Mario series, such as the combat system. However, some critics thought the story writing was uneven, and others felt the game did not fully use the crossover elements between the two series. Paper Jam was the last Mario & Luigi game made by AlphaDream. After that, two older games in the series were remade. In 2019, AlphaDream went out of business. Acquire took over development of the next Mario & Luigi game, Brothership, which was released on November 7, 2024, for the Nintendo Switch. Some former AlphaDream employees also worked on the game.
Gameplay
Paper Jam is a role-playing game that follows a similar format to previous games in the Mario & Luigi series, with some use of elements from the Paper Mario series. The player controls Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario, each from their own game series, and guides them through the Mushroom Kingdom to reach Bowser’s Castle. The goal is to rescue both versions of Princess Peach from their respective universes. Each character is controlled using a different button. In the overworld, players can speak with non-player characters (NPCs) and solve puzzles. Some puzzles are required to progress, and they may involve using specific abilities, such as Paper Mario’s thin body to squeeze through small spaces. As the story continues, the characters learn new special moves that help solve puzzles or explore secret areas.
Some puzzles are minigames that interrupt regular gameplay. During certain boss battles, the trio rides a large paper model of a character or enemy from the Mario franchise and fights another enemy on a paper model in an open arena. In other challenges, players return to earlier areas to find hidden Paper Toads, who provide rewards and advice.
When players encounter enemies in the overworld, a battle begins. Combat is turn-based, and players can choose actions for each character, such as attacking or using items to heal. To deal more damage, players must press buttons at the right time. Attacks can combine the abilities of multiple characters for greater effect. When enemies attack, players must press buttons to avoid taking damage. As the game progresses, players earn "Battle Cards" that add benefits during battles, such as increasing damage against certain enemies. Some Mario Amiibo figures can also be used for extra advantages.
Plot
Luigi and a Toad go into the attic of Princess Peach's Castle to find where air is moving through a crack. When Luigi accidentally hits a bookshelf and moves a book that contains a version of the book from another world, the book opens and sends its contents flying across the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach meets her paper version, Paper Peach, and both send Mario and Luigi to gather the citizens of the game. They are given the book to return the citizens to their original home. At the same time, Bowser finds his paper version, Paper Bowser, and the two combine their groups. Mario and Luigi meet Paper Mario and return to Peach's Castle, but they discover that the two princesses have been taken by both Bowsers. The trio begins a journey to Bowser's Castle to rescue them.
As the group travels through different places to reach their goal, they face enemies who have joined forces with their paper versions. Some of these enemies are the game's bosses. They also encounter large groups of enemies holding big paper models of enemies from the game. The trio fights these giant paper models using their own paper models, which Toadette creates. During their journey, they are stopped by Bowser Jr. and his paper version, who take the book from Luigi.
As the trio gets closer to Bowser's Castle, they are met again by the two Bowser Jrs., who kidnap Toadette to stop the creation of new paper models. Mario, Toadette, and Luigi fight the two Bowser Jrs. and recover the book. Angered, the Bowser Jrs. lift their castle into the sky to block the trio from entering, renaming it "Neo Bowser Castle."
The trio goes to a nearby mountain to reach Neo Bowser Castle from above. As they enter the castle, the Bowser duo sends waves of enemy and boss pairs, but all are defeated. The trio faces the Bowsers, who explain their plan: they intended to trap the three heroes in the book and burn it. Each Bowser secretly wanted to trap the other in the book as well. The heroes defeat Bowser and trap Paper Bowser in the book. Toadette holds a celebration with paper models, and the paper versions say goodbye before entering the book. The game ends with Bowser attacking the Mushroom Kingdom again, forcing Mario and Luigi to stop him.
Development and release
Paper Jam was developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo. Intelligent Systems, the company that created the Paper Mario series, helped create the game and gave advice when needed. Akira Otani was the game's producer, and Shunsuke Kobayashi and Jun Iwasaki were the directors. The game was announced at E3 2015 and was planned to release in spring 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS. However, it was released earlier than expected through a Nintendo Direct. It became available in Japan and Europe on December 3 and 4, 2016, and in North America on January 22, 2017. In Europe and Australia, the game is called Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros.
Before deciding to make a Paper Mario crossover, the developers discussed ways to change Mario & Luigi gameplay. They decided to use a third button to control a third character alongside Mario and Luigi, as explained by producer Akira Otani. They first thought about using a character from the Mario franchise, like Bowser, but later chose another version of Mario, leading them to use Paper Mario for the role. They believed combining the two series would work well because both use adventure and role-playing game elements and include humorous dialogue and situations. They also used the paper theme for gameplay, allowing Paper Mario to perform tasks that Mario and Luigi could not. Ideas from Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the most recent Paper Mario game at the time, influenced the game's design.
One major challenge during development was keeping the game's core idea of creating a role-playing game that was easy for many players to enjoy. An early version of the game required players to rapidly press three buttons to perform a move. When producer Akira Otani showed this idea to Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, he rejected it and asked the team to make the action simpler. The developers also considered adding Paper Luigi as a fourth character, but this idea was removed because it was too complicated to control. The large papercraft battles were designed to make the game lively, like a carnival. These models were inspired by shrines found at Japanese festivals.
The developers tried many ideas for the game's story. Two early ideas included the Mushroom Kingdom from the Mario & Luigi universe turning into paper or having the characters move between the two worlds. Instead, they chose to add elements from the Paper Mario universe onto the Mario & Luigi world, focusing more on the interactions between characters from both series. The developers received feedback that their previous game had too many tutorials for small actions. To improve this, AlphaDream added a feature that lets players skip content they already know. The game also detects a player's skill level and skips some parts automatically, except for new content.
Reception
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam received mostly good reviews from Metacritic, scoring 76 out of 100 based on 76 reviews. Another review site, OpenCritic, said that 54% of critics recommended the game. In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 33 out of 40. The game sold 49,000 copies in Japan during its first week, which is about half the number sold by the previous game, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. As of 2022, the game has sold 1.08 million copies worldwide.
Many critics praised the game’s combat system, which included new ideas from Paper Mario to keep battles exciting. Alex Jones from GamesRadar+ said the combat felt fresh, especially for fans of the series. Kyle Hilliard from Game Informer thought having a third character in battles sometimes made things harder, but battles were still fair. Miguel Concepcion from GameSpot said the combat was well-designed and that new paper enemies made each fight unique. Jared Petty from IGN described the battle system as detailed and said the variety of elements kept the game from feeling too complicated. Janine Hawkins from Polygon liked the special attacks from the three characters but found some controls too hard to remember. Both Jones and Conor McMahon from Nintendo Life said using Amiibo figures was helpful, though McMahon warned that players would need them often. Hilliard appreciated the collectible cards, which had useful abilities in battles, and McMahon compared the card system to similar features in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Opinions about the game’s writing and humor were mixed. Some critics said the game did not use Paper Mario ideas fully. Petty and McMahon thought the paper characters were creative but sometimes predictable, and the story about two worlds colliding was not used well. Concepcion said the game was a good starting point for new players but did not take full advantage of the crossover. Hilliard found the story less exciting but enjoyed the interactions between the two versions of Bowser, who often did not get along. Jones said the main story was too long and slow but was helped by fun minigames. GameSpot praised how the writing from both games blended well but said the jokes were not funny enough, partly because the writers were too careful.
Concepcion said the game’s world was creative and encouraged exploration, but he did not feel a need to collect items because they were common. Petty called the environments colorful but not very different from other Mario games, and he thought the Toad Hunts minigames disrupted the story’s pace. Nintendo Life called Toad Hunts a fun activity. Jones said the Papercraft battles were not the game’s strongest part but were still interesting. Hawkins liked the unique moments, such as Papercraft battles, but sometimes found them too slow or confusing.