Jaquette 3DS de Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam : Mario et Luigi en 3D aux côtés de leurs doubles en papier

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam: the three-hero crossover

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GameMario & LuigiPaper Mario

Two Bowsers, two Peaches, and a Paper Mario escaped from a book. Developed by AlphaDream and released in Europe on 4 December 2015 on 3DS under the title Paper Jam Bros., this fifth installment makes the two series live side by side. This guide covers the playable trio, its brand-new attacks, the Papercraft battles and the role of amiibo.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, released in Europe under the title Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. (simply “Paper Jam” in North America), is an RPG from AlphaDream released on Nintendo 3DS.

Its wild premise fits into a single sentence: Paper Mario bursts out of a magic book and lands in the two brothers' three-dimensional world, forming a trio of heroes the series had never seen before.

Contents

A fifth installment that shakes up the series

Released in Europe on 4 December 2015 (from 3 December 2015 in Japan, then 22 January 2016 in North America), the game is developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo on Nintendo 3DS.

It is the fifth installment of the Mario & Luigi series, following directly on from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (Dream Team Bros. in Europe, 2013).

Its originality hits you straight away: rather than another standalone adventure, it stages the meeting of two Nintendo sagas, that of the plumber brothers and that of Paper Mario, brought together for the first time in a single game.

The crossover: Paper Mario springs out of a book

It all starts when Luigi clumsily opens a mysterious book tucked away in Peach's Castle, unwittingly unleashing the entire paper universe into the 3D world.

That is how Paper Mario, but also the paper Toads, Bowser and Peach, find themselves thrown in alongside their “3D” counterparts.

The story therefore rests on a collision of two worlds: on one side the rounded, textured characters of the Mario & Luigi series, on the other the flat, folded silhouettes straight out of Paper Mario, forced to work together to set everything right again.

A playable trio and brand-new attacks

The big gameplay novelty is the shift from a duo to a playable trio: Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario are controlled together, each one mapped to his own button.

To the traditional Bros. Attacks are added the Trio Attacks, spectacular moves that send all three heroes into action at once and unlock as the adventure goes on.

  • The battle system drops the badges of the previous installments in favour of battle cards (Battle Cards), played in the heat of the fight to earn bonuses.
  • Outside of battle, a small revolution for the series: the characters can now run on the field, making exploration far smoother.
  • The trio has to learn to synchronise its jumps and hammer blows to solve the field puzzles that punctuate the journey.
Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario united as a playable trio
The trio demands a three-button juggling act never seen before in the series.

Two Bowsers, two Peaches and amiibo

On the villain side, the crossover serves up a killer duo: Bowser and Paper Bowser end up joining forces to spread chaos together.

True to form, the two tyrants take the chance to kidnap both princesses at once, Peach and Paper Peach, which gives the trio a double rescue mission.

The game also rides the trend of the moment: the amiibo figures are compatible and let you generate special cards that can be reused in battle to trigger powerful effects.

Bowser facing his paper double in Paper Jam
The crossover doubles everything: two Bowsers, two Peaches, and two battle logics.

Papercraft battles and paper Toad rescues

The game introduces Papercraft battles, giant paper models piloted by the trio, which replace and extend the giant battles of the two previous installments.

It is Toadette, a paper-crafting enthusiast, who builds these articulated colossi with the help of the paper Toads scattered across the kingdom.

Tracking down these little Toads becomes, in fact, a recurring side activity: every group you rescue upgrades the Papercraft and unlocks new Trio Attacks, tying exploration and battle power tightly together.

An installment designed by AlphaDream, Paper Jam remains the last original entry in the series imagined by the studio before it turned to remakes and then shut its doors for good in 2019.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam at a glance

European title Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros.
North American title Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Platform Nintendo 3DS
Developer AlphaDream
Publisher Nintendo
European release 4 December 2015
Japanese release 3 December 2015
Place in the series 5th installment (after Dream Team)

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FAQ

  • Which console was Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam released on?
    The game was released exclusively on Nintendo 3DS, available in Europe on 4 December 2015.
  • Why is the European title Paper Jam Bros.?
    In Europe and Australia, the game was sold under the name Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros., while in North America it is simply called Paper Jam.
  • What is the idea behind the crossover?
    Luigi accidentally opens a magic book that releases the Paper Mario universe into the brothers' 3D world, bringing the characters of both sagas together.
  • How many characters do you control?
    You play as a trio made up of Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario, with the classic Bros. Attacks and the new Trio Attacks.
  • Are amiibo really useful in the game?
    Yes, compatible amiibo figures let you create special cards that you play during battles to trigger bonus effects.
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