Paper Mario Sticker Star ULTIMATE Analysis | Red Review 

I feel like I say this a lot, but sorry for the long wait on this one. We worked really hard on this one, I wanted this to be the best video I could make it. I could have gotten this out a lot sooner, but I wanted this to be the first video with the new assets, and those assets took awhile to make, on top of the amount of time went into the making the video itself. I hope the wait was worth it, this was a long time coming.

I think the reason people only bring up backtracking in ttyd is because it’s the only real problem people have with that game, but sticker star has so many other problems that the backtracking isn’t the first one you think of

They complain more about TTYD backtracking because it's the game that people ACTUALLY play and like doing it unlike this... thing.

People always say "Paper Mario fans just hate Sticker Star because it's different!!" and this video shows that it simply not the case. We dont hate sticker star because it's different. We hate it because it's a irredeemable game.

To be fair, if we could not enter the Thousand Year Door without Flavio to give us a boost up the ledge, it would be hilarious.

I feel the worst for the Intelligent Systems employees who felt passionate about Paper Mario, and were genuinely excited to come into work to design great characters and settings, brainstorm interesting ideas, iron out the plot, write great dialogue, etc. Only to find that they had to scrap the work they did so far on their new 3DS Paper Mario. And henceforth, their brains would be hogtied and they would never again be allowed to create interesting stuff. So sorry, Kawade-san.

I theorize the reason why people don't talk about sticker stars huge backtracking problem is because they blocked it out of their mind due to how terrible it is. I certainly did.

I have never seen a reviewer obliterate a game with such a calm demeanor such as yourself. Absolutely brilliant.

They didn't actually "add" unique Toads, they just missed some Toads when purging the previous team's work.

Kristi is such a big step down from Tippi from Super Paper Mario in every way.

The thing I hated most about this game wasn't even the battle system. It was how cryptic the puzzles were. I was stuck on this game for God knows how long. I had to look up what to do. Sticker Star is impossible to play without a guide.

Man explains why Sticker Star is godawful for almost 4 hours straight.

I'll always remember when this game was new, I got my wisdom teeth pulled so it was the perfect time to sit down and play a new game... This game was way more painful compared literally pulling teeth.

46:47 I agree completely. Some of my favorite Mario games were games that took bold risks. Games that weren’t too afraid to get weird. The Mario universe has sooooo much variety and potential for new ideas. This I believe is because Mario, like you mentioned before, is elevated by the environments he finds himself in. Mario is interesting because he can be incredibly flexible to unique and new styles and ideas and, when done right, can be some of the most new and exciting experiences ever for a video game franchise. Personally, I do have a soft spot for the classic style but games like Odyssey, Galaxy, and the Mario and Luigi series show just how much Nintendo can push a Mario games core ideas and are some of my favorite games because of this change. Mario can be in almost anything, and that’s why it works so well. I still have yet to try the Paper Mario series out for myself properly but I really want to try out TTYD. I am a bit more of a platformer guy than an RPG guy but I do enjoy the art style of the N64 Paper Mario and TTYD quite a bit. There’s just something about the chunky outlines and the characters designs and color that is just super unique to those games. The sticker star game and Origami King unfortunately are my only experiences with the Paper Mario series.

I have two theories reguarding Paper Mario. My first is that Super Paper Mario created two timelines, one good and one bad. We are currently going through the bad timeline, where Dimentio succeeded in ending all worlds and turning them all lifeless (aka Sticker Star)! Think the fallen hero timeline from Zelda, but it makes more sense because these stories after Super feel mor deliberately lifeless. My second theory is that instead of the two separate timelines, perhaps, Dimentio failed, however, he still had a small amount of power left, as hinted by his final bits of dialogue, to JUST curse Mario's dimension to become bare and stripped of all life and become paper, as one final act of revenge. This theory would make sense when you realize the curses in Thousand Year Door were about transforming Mario in the paper. These curses were unnatural and were treated as such, making this radical change all the more fitting. This paper dimension now is a desolate waste land that is stripped of life, and no one there remembers anything of their previous lives. I mean, they kinda rebooted the story from the first game in SS, like nothing from the first game even happened, but this time, everything went wrong. It's like a reset timeline, where everyone's memories have been cleansed of all previous event. So much so that Bowser even forgot to talk! When there are references to the past lives in Paper Mario, they are left in a garbage dump in 5-1! This is going to sound like a potential third theory, but maybe it caused a rift in dimensions, where there are now 2 Mario dimensions, as seen in Paper Jam. Whatever, that game is not cannon, so just ignore that theory. Anyways, when you take into account Sticker Star's implications and what came before it and etc., Sticker Star is actually a storytelling masterpiece, and it expertly displays its themes in its terrible gameplay and general structure!

I think the worst thing about Sticker Star is the potential. Imagine a PMSS where stickers were the new badges, Kersti started being nicer after you reunite in the pit, and Things didnt need to be Slinged. Just those small changes would make the game so much better

I Hate new Paper Mario- 🤓 I Hate old Paper Mario- 🤓 I respect and criticize all paper mario games without any bias- 🗿

If Sticker Star were the very first game in the series, I think its simplistic storytelling and mechanics would be somewhat more forgivable. But as you've comprehensively shown, even as a standalone game its flaws are too numerous and extensive, and it simply doesn't hold up well.

I am unsure why youtube recommended me this 2 year old video, but I’m glad it did because this video was great, your channel deserves more attention

I think the book in Paper Jam is simply a written retelling of how Mario rescued Peach from Bowser. There's nothing implying that any of the 3 original Paper Mario games are actually a part of it. If that was the case then characters from those games should've actually come out of it, which they didn't. To me that's a clear implication those are different stories entierly. As for the 3 original Paper Mario games they are technically stories told by someone (an invisible narrator). Whether or not they are stories of stuff that actually happened, made up or just a legend that has changed over the years we don't know. Nor do we know who the reader is, or if it is anyone at all (The story teller technically doesn't have to be anyone).

Almost 4 Hours It’s hilarious to me that this is regarded as an incredibly simple game compared to what came before, yet you talk about it for an hour longer than super, half of which was really just the story; close to twice as long as ttyd, which is known to have the deepest combat; and nearly *three* times as long as the first game. You put your heart and soul into this video and it shows. Keep up the great work man! 👍

Basically 4 hours of FACTS. I feel exactly as you did. Sticker Star ultimately wasn't the worst game I ever played but man...it destroyed a franchise that meant the world to me. Ultimately the thing that helped me move past this franchise was Bug Fables. I think the game is absolutely fantastic, its a spiritual successor to Paper Mario and lowkey...I think its better than TTYD. And that's my favourite game. Excellent video man, keep up the good work.

I was once in the camp of "Thousand Year Door had way too much back tracking" but then I played Sticker Star, and Thousand Year Door was now my favorite, despite the back tracking

It was a blast working on this video with you and I feel this review clears up a lot of misconception and surface level lens from people of not just the fanbase, but many critics as a whole. ESPECIALLY in regards to articulating the linear vs non linear fallacy! Gamers nowadays have such a black and white perspective of this if its "nonlinear its good, if its linear its bad" as if being designed either way is the ONLY way a game should or shouldn't be designed, there are these people just speaking in absolutes, as if every single fundamental aspect must be design in a specific way, not everything needs to be nonlinear or 100% freedom to be good. Otherwise you're just wanting every game designed with the same clear ideologies in mind. It's how a game executes the uses of nonlinearity and linearity that determines weather or not the design is outright bad. Its like how people say Sonic Adventure is more "open" than Adventure 2 because you can spin dash jump, which basically requires the player to skip the level, which isn't nonlinear you're just not playing the level. Or than PM64 is "open" because of branching paths, ignoring how most of them just lead to designated areas and most are just connected by hallways anyway. But also I'm sick of the sudden apologists of this game who all of a sudden just decide this game is good (being it sudden reviews on RU-vid or an entire perception change within the PM community itself) just because the game happens to be "nonlinear" or entirely basing it on the perception of "its good because its not like TTYD" thing, when this game isn't hated or bad because its not like TTYD. (I also hate how much of a label that's being thrown around to the point the fanbase is downright insufferable with it) and even if I myself dislike sections like Twilight Town or General White I feel so much focus in the PM community nowadays is how much "TTYD is bad, or overrated" in the same vein as when Ocarina of Time was getting the same rep based on the perception Arin Hanson layed onto it, rather than having actual discussions, because its hard to have one when so many discussions are just endless echo chambers of someone complaining about TTYD. Outside of with you guys of course, because its always fun. lmao And admittedly there's still fun in going more indepth with the series. I'm not saying it doesn't have its issues, it does, but like there's a point where proving a game has flaws verges into just complaining to the point of repetition. The outright hostility this fandom has with discussions over any game (especially TTYD) anymore is insane, its honestly the worst fanbase as of 2021. Regardless I feel this review did what a lot of other reviews failed to do and that is a dissection as to why the image of this game is the way it is or why its so bad. Also nice touch on counteracting those "similarity "arguments (which get used a lot against TYD) in how a game can have similar design aspects, but how the game uses them can still form its own identity. Just because both chapter 1's are grassy areas that lead to castles doesn't mean one is ripped off from the other. As a side note, I'm not saying people can't like this game, whatever prerogative you have is your own, I'm just calling out the ones who just now 180 this game and just decide its a good game based on very surface level generalizations or observations. Being nonlinear fails for this game because the way its structured doesn't equate very well to the design at all. This is one of the worst video games I have ever played, even if I've played worse like Metroid NES, Megaman X7 and Anubis 2 the design of this game is just so inheritly bad that its awful to play. And its only the second worst RPG game I've ever played. Well done Red also to Horayn and IKG as well!

You made sticker star interesting. Not made me interested in wanting to play it, but interested in hearing about it. Your video might be the best thing to come of this game.

I always heard this game was bad, but never heard much elaboration beyond "It's different." And now I've been blessed with over 3 hours explaining exactly why a game I don't even have the console to play sucks.

How don’t you have more of a following? This is one the most comprehensible reviews I have seen. The editing, the writing. All of it screams quality. Keep up the incredible work. You’ve earned yourself a subscriber.

Fun Fact: Petey actually DOES have a specific Sticker weakness the game doesn't even come close to hinting at POW Blocks (both the actual Sticker and effect from the Battle Spinner) instantly flip him over and expose his weak point Sticker Star Is A Very Weird Game

I remember when everyone was saying the world was gonna end on december 21st back in 2012 so i spent all day and night playing sticker star because i got it the day before as an early christmas gift and i was determined to play through it. The fact that this game could have been the last game i ever played before the entire human race went extinct upsets me

Only 3000 subs? Wow. This is on par with every 1M+ review channel. I loved this and you definitely just summed up everything that I've wanted to scream from the rooftops about this game for a while. Can't wait to see your channel get huge once the algorithm starts actually working and recommends everyone your videos! Great job, king. As someone who some of my favorite games of ALL TIME are Paper Mario and TTYD, I'm still salty and probably always will be about what they did to this franchise. Modern Paper Mario games ARE better than Sticker Star, but really, that's not saying much. The fact that Nintendo will, with every amount of odds, just ignore the original Paper Mario and TTYD style and never-ever return to it us extremely frustrating and sad. All in the name of money, harmonization with the new "modern" two-dimensional boring ass version of Mario that they're pushing now, compared to games as beautiful and well-written as the first two Paper games. What is perhaps more frustrating and sad is that even if fans banded together to make a non-for-profit Paper Mario game - one that is actually faithful to the original titles, they'd gleefully DESTROY the developer's entire lives with lawsuits and debt. God forbid somebody spends months on their lives working on a passion project to try and faithfully follow up the original games. I guess the way Nintendo sees it, every person who enjoys playing a Paper Mario game faithful to the original on an emulator technically loses them a nanospeck of money that people should (in their opinion) be going to their bastardized new Paper Mario games instead, so therefore, they must be obliterated. I understand their savage tactics if people are blatantly stealing their game/assets for profit, but when it comes to people working together to create a not-for-profit passion project/recreating game franchises and concepts that Nintendo refuses to touch anyway, and they come at them full-force and try and obliterate their entire lives... It really busts my balls. I just want SOMEBODY to make a faithful Paper Mario game again. I'm not saying this because I looooove undermining Nintendo, but they AREN'T DOING IT THEMSELVES. In their mind, I suppose, they couldn't care less, since there's the possibility of losing money (however microscopic an amount) by doing so, since money (and good PR, in turn resulting in more money) is the only thing that matters. This video was extremely cathartic for me, and I was loving every second of it. Hats off to you and the other writers for this massive undertaking. It summarizes everything that's been bubbling under the surface about this game that I haven't put into words before. It's so validating to see other people have the same (100% accurate) view on this sad ending for the original franchise. Can't wait to see your channel get bigger, bro. Great job :)

The Enigmansion's books of tutorials on playing the game, the lore of the Sticker Fest, and how it connects with Decalburg with the secret door make me think the Enigmansion was supposed to be in World 1, and not World 4. It would explain why some of the Paperization puzzles were kind of basic and why the tutorial books and lore are there.

I'll never forgive Sticker Star to be the last game me and my friend looked forward to together before he passed away.

2:08:37 As a kid, this level stumped me and was one of the two levels I was never able to complete (the other being the temple that needed this level to be completed in order to access it). As an Australian, I didn't recognize that it was a plug outlet as outlets down under have three pin holes, not two. So I couldn't understand what the game wanted me to do and even the hint to check the harbor made no sense as it didn't click a vacuum of all things could stop the sandstorm, silly me. Keep in mind I didn't have access to internet in my house at the time so a year later, in frustration, I threw every thing sticker I could at it until I used the vacuum, which I was absolutely gobsmacked at. Then, to top it off, years later when I replayed the game, I FORGOT the solution to the puzzle because it never made sense as a kid, to which I used a guide to remember the idiocy that was 'puzzle solving' in this game.

Ya wanna know another problem with Paper Jam? It not only only uses Sticker Star for Paper Mario, but because of how clean and sanitized Sticker Star is, it sanitized Mario and Luigi too. None of the characters or environments from the other four M&L games appear. That game, while still good, in my opinion symbolizes everything wrong with the late 2000s-2010s era of Mario. Where everything is sanitized and basically just New Soup in RPG form. Where the few new things are for *one* game only. Thankfully with Mario Wonder and the TTYD remake it seems like we’re going back to actual unique things in Mario from before New Soup Wii.

Another issue that was pointed out to me about the thing sticker puzzles is that your partner will only give you hints on a puzzle if you have ALREADY found the thing you need to solve the puzzle once before. So say you didn't know the vacuum existed in the harbor because you never went there and you ask Kersti for help she won't even give you a hint on the way to clear the level and will just say. "Boy the weather here stinks doesn't it."

Regarding the first strike defeat, I feel TTYD had that down pat with the First Strike badge. Instead of having your base attack being higher than the opponents being the catalyst (which would be pointless since your base attack only goes up with the Super and Ultra boots and hammer), its instead based on your level. The higher your level it, the less star points you get from weaker enemies, to discourage grinding, and when the number of star points you get from an enemy is 0, then the First Strike badge kills the enemy on the field. This is much simpler than whatever the hell Sticker Star tried to do, and its much more useful since you can still use the First Strike badge even in later areas since, again, they give less EXP as you level up.

I think the reason you got another flashy sticker from that paperization box is because flashy is the highest tier of sticker, at least for that type. The mechanic still blows though

I want to ROM hack this monstrosity of a game. Make it playable, allow you to jump and hammer by default, change the story to something more... EPIC.

I always hate it when people make the argument "If you judge the game on its own merits, instead of always comparing it to the previous games...." I mean the game sucks anyway but...even if it didn't, that's still a horrible argument. You're right when you say that if it didn't WANT the comparison, it shouldn't have called itself Paper Mario, but I wanted to go further than that. Companies BENEFIT when they use brand names like that. Paper Mario is a brand, and there is some brand recognition/loyalty of some kind (well...not so much after this game, but hey, people didn't know this game sucked when it first came out, did they? Especially if they got it at launch!) I don't think it's fair to let companies gain sales by slapping a brand name on their game and then try to argue that we shouldn't judge games by the brand names put on them. They chose to set expectations by saying it's Paper Mario, they didn't HAVE to do that. They USED those expectations to make more money, they deserve to be JUDGED by them, too.

At 54:19 you're right, these toads might as well be Board characters from super mario galaxy 1 and 2. Even they have names. I wouldn't mind to have billboard signs everywhere world map. Except the main town and docking area because needed some real people there.

This is my first time learning about how that Toad in the windmill level has his garden re-destroyed after you beat the stage and come back. Poor guy... The game he's in sucks, but he didn't do anything wrong. Little man just wants to grow some flowers and have something nice, and the world just says 'lol no.' I feel kind of bad for him. That is, by a wide margin, the *most* emotion I've ever felt about ANYTHING relating to Sticker Star.

One small detail I like is when the Pokey boss fight starts, instead of saying "FIGHT!", it says "PLAY BALL!".

This is exactly what I wanted. A full on major analysis of Paper Mario Sticker Star that actually goes in depth with the problems of the game, that isn’t screaming rants on Twitter and a actual coherent arguments, and even highlights the positives of the game that no one is willing to do so. I played this game three times and 100% it each time so I know a lot more then the average person does and even then this review surprised me in new information I never knew, like the rock that is a outlet in the desert oasis level. I thought that was a rock with eyes like how every hill in Mario has eyes. That said there are a few things you didn’t mention. The cheep cheep boss actually has a second thing weakness. It’s the pushpin thing which you get in one of the secret doors in world one. When the cheep cheep is out of the water and fully inflated, the pushpin thing will pop it and kill it in an instant. Also the First phase of the Bowers fight, you can use staples as well as pushpins to block the enemy spawn doors. Also the thing Turkey sticker animation is really good and I’m sad it didn’t get attention. One more thing is the super flags that require lots of battles and spending money. While you say the poor battle system encourages you to avoid battles but it don’t think that’s the intention of the devs to make a battle system that is intentional bad that you WANT to avoid it. I believe they do want you to fight, use up lots of stickers and earn lots of coins in battles. It just that the whole system is so poorly designed that running away seems to be the more desirable option. The super flags that require lots of grinding to get can actually be gotten within the main game. As long as, in every world you beat every enemy, use the battle spinner to spend 18 coins to guarantee two attacks so you can better get perfect bonuses and Jackpots, and spend the huge amount of money you get from the end of level comet bonuses, then by the time you beat bowser you should have all the super flags done or at least, you only need to grind a little for the 10,000 coin one. Which isn’t too bad if you repeat Snow Rise over and over, beating every enemy there and collecting the huge coin bonus at the end. But of course, if you don’t enjoy the battle system or don’t want to spend time slowly beating every enemy then these super flags are not worth doing. But they do show that the devs want you to engage the battle system, despite how awful it was.

For 20+ years of my life, I've played so many games, I can count on one hand the ones I regret buying the most. Sticker Star was one of them. I curse this game for what it's done to a series I loved so fucking much since I first played Paper Mario 64. I haven't bought a Paper Mario game since. Being wary, I looked at what other Paper Mariotubers thought of the rest of the later games and concluded that I would move on, but maybe one day, hope and see evidence of a game series I love come back.

I feel like the games sticker consumable combat could've been so much better, so fuck it, here's my idea on what the stickers should have been. Another thing that would've been interesting to use stickers as is to scrap the entire thing of just spamming stickers, and instead keep your base action commands with a hammer and jump but instead have the stickers act as sort of a boost or a new ability, now this would remove most of the sticker variants but it'll make more sense later. For now lets look at the types of stickers you will use. Offensive Stickers: these will be your main source of damage providing special abilities to your stock jump and hammer Defensive Stickers: these will increase Mario's defensive stats and sometimes provide special traits Status: These will inflict statuses on both you or the enemy depending on what you use. Partners: these will replace the normal enemy item stickers and instead bring a temporary partner into the fight with their own hp and unique attacks (ie boomerang give you a boomerang bro) Healing: Will heal Mario and apply special buffs on you and your partner if one is active. Things: No longer have action commands and instead act like star-power with more powerful ones requiring more TP to use, things also only require you to find and fling them ONCE, they are separate to your stickers and have their own menu. Stickers can now be stacked in pairs of 3 for the entire time. This can be upgraded later but that'll be soon. For now lets go into how this all works. At the start of a battle it will look the same as sticker star, only with 1 difference. Your stickers are completely optional and you can freely use a hammer and jump. However, due to this, the game will be a tad harder. To attack you'll select the hammer or jump, then you'll have the option to choose a sticker to give that attack a certain buff. Stickers like the jump and hammer are no longer used for attacking, instead you can add 1 to boost your damage, do a specific hammer attack, or inflict a certain status onto an enemy. However, you can also choose not to attack and instead use the defend option. this will let you use a Healing, Status, Defensive, or Partner sticker on Mario but prevent him from attacking until the next turn. Action commands are now more diverse than just pressing the a button, especially for higher tier stickers. Partner stickers will summon an enemy based on the sticker to aid you in battle, each one has their own set of attacks and HP/DEF, but cannot use stickers like Mario, however if you choose the partner command instead of defend, attack or run. you can apply a buff of status sticker to a partner. Since the partners are also enemies certain de-buff stickers will actually help a specific partner, if your partner is a blooper, a poison mushroom will actually raise the amount of turns their poison is applied for depending on the rarity. After a battle you will gain EXP, when you level up you can choose to increase your sticker count size by 1, increase your TP or, increase your SP, Health Defense and base attack power is increased after each world you beat to balance with difficulty spikes. SP replaces higher tier sticker types by making them a permanent upgrade. SP can be used to upgrade your stickers to permanent higher tiers. If you upgrade a shiny sticker to a flashy, all stickers of that kind will be flashy. Sticker tiers will all be the same and are ranked in this order Worn Out Normal Shiny Flashy Big Shiny Mega Flash Finally, running from battles is a 100% chance but, will inflict you with a unique status that aggro enemies to you for a moment, creating a risk vs reward system, that lets you escape unwanted fights, but makes another encounter more probable. this is just an idea, but its far better than anything this shitty game that's came up with.

Excellent video. One thing I miss is how much work was put into the hub world's of the first three games. Rogueport is my favorite. You can lose yourself in the sewers, it's very mysterious and eerie with the music.

Regarding the Paper Jam confusion. I don't think the Paper Mario stories are contained within a book, seperate from the "real" Mario and Luigi. I interpret Paper Mario as just a storybook facsimile/retelling of an actual adventure done by Mario. Like, Mario's life got documented and the illustrations are the Paper Mario characters. Those characters just happened to be brought into the real world by Luigi in Paper Jam. So like, the Mario that went to Rogueport and Flipside is the Mario in Mario and Luigi. The Paper Mario is just like... a clone with all his memories.

Just watched a nearly 4 hour Video about one of my favorite Rpg franchise and its worst entry.. LOVED EVERY SECOND :D Sub earned!

The world-building Paper Mario did still remains after Paper Jam, because the book is a paralel world, which means everything from inside the book happaned in the real world, just with slight differences, specifically some paper jokes and mechanics. The Paper Mario world-building is referenced numerous times outside of the Paper Mario games in the rest of the franchise, so it still all happened in the real world and is still all canon.

Wow, I can't believe I watched an almost 4 hour video about Sticker Star of all things. Really cool video, good job analyzing on these flaws the game had in a critical view! I always think back to how this game was shown in E3 2010 and how we were so close to a true successor to TTYD/64 before they changed everything by 2011.

I'd go on a limb to say that TTYD bosses did actually use the Crystal Stars, to an extent, mainly with Hooktail, Cortez, Doopliss, and (obviously) Grubba, though there are some parallels with the others (this is from TV Tropes BTW): Hooktail has the Diamond Star, which grants you power over the earth. Hooktail will use an earthquake move similar to the one you gain from beating her. It also explains how she can fly despite the tiny wings - with Gloomtail and Bonetail confined to a thousand-year-old palace and a miles-deep prison, there's no reason to assume they even can fly, as the dragons look much too heavy. Using the Diamond Star's power would remove that limitation. The Emerald Star is received after stopping a boss who employed a timed bomb. As a reward, you get to use a bomb that stops time. Although, this is unrelated to Crump himself. It could be that it has something to do with the Great Boggly Tree, no doubt hundreds of years old, maybe thousands. When Mario obtains the Gold Star, he's able to use Power Lift to boost his attack and defense. That (obviously) explains why Grubba was able to increase his own attack and defense. In a similar vein, in the confines of his own chapter, Doopliss can monitor the whole area, morph people into pigs, break through reality to ambush you, and remove an actual letter from your phonetic capabilities, that is to say, your character-entering screen. Why? The power of the Ruby Star is art. This gives it near-limitless power in a game where everything from the environments to the inhabitants are paper. Notably, the next time you fight him, he doesn't take advantage of such power, because he's been separated from the Ruby Star. Cortez possesses the Sapphire Star, which grants you Sweet Feast. The reason he's impossible to beat isn't because he's a ghost, that's just why he won't die. The reason he won't stay down despite having a meager 20 health is because he keeps replenishing it throughout the fight. The Garnet Star, though lacking a boss, grants you Showstopper, which lets you end some fights without even trying. Garnet is often thought of or mistaken as a ruby, relating to the fake-and-switch nature of the Sanctum's scenario. Since the Star lets you blow away the easier fights, you're getting rid of them as they're "not a real challenge". The boss of Chapter 6 is Smorg, so there is a boss associated with the Garnet Star. However, it's not really associated; Smorg lives in Riverside Station and hitched a ride on the Excess Express to pick a fight with Mario in retaliation for him smacking it around like it was nothing (you don't even battle it in the station, you just beat the blobs off of a lever). the Smorgs have no connection to Poshley Sanctum. Finally, the Crystal Star in the X-nauts' base gives Mario the ability to deal massive damage in a huge explosion, similar to the one that almost takes out their base upon Crump's defeat, as well as the way Mario and co arrive to the base (via a large Ba-Bomb cannon).

This video is extremely well made for such a small channel, and I couldn't agree more with your points. Keep up the content, I hope you can get more subscribers soon!

I'm now subscribed because this is phenomenal content, and you put so much effort into this video.

The most mysterious part of this game is how anyone actually defends it's problems.

Paper Jam sucks even more from the perspective of someone who is both a Paper Mario and M&L fan. Not even the M&L side has anything from the series except Starlow. Even though Bowser is last seen with the Elite Trio in Dream Team and up till then the games were fairly consistent with continuity with each other, and would often bring back old characters especially in Dream Team. Heck even the later REMAKES did this, with the side modes featuring characters who were introduced in later games to give extra history for them. And yet... Paper Jam exists in its own sterile bubble. AlphaDream is better than this game. They showed it with Dream Team and even the remakes that they weren't gonna suck-up to the modern Mario "IP integrity" mandates. Except of course, the mandates won where it mattered the most, the game that was Paper Mario's last chance to bring back its own characters by being in the hands of a dev who cares about keeping RPG characters around beyond the main cast. Paper Jam in concept, combining my two favorite series ever, could have been my favorite game of all time, but in execution it's one of my least favorites of all time. That.... stings so hard 😢

2:53:39 I hate to be that guy... but um... actually, the toad outside the decalburg shop who's jumping up and down and freaking out mentions that he "saw something flying over the forest" and THAT'S your only hint to go visit Wiggler again

It's weird to think that I found this channel through your twitter reply to one person asking about Sticker Star. It's quickly become one of my favorites.

3:07:50 I missed the fish hook right next to the cheep cheep boss. On the bright side not finding the Thing made me so frustrated I stopped playing so in the end I'm thankful

Great video. This is the most detailed look at Sticker Star I’ve ever seen and why it’s as bad as it is. I had no idea the whomp in the final boss was actually weak to anything while on the ground, as I always attacked it with scissors. I’m really sad with how the series has fallen and even though it has gotten better in recent years, there’s still a long way to go. I can tell they are still set on the paper mechanic unfortunately. The recent trailer for the original Paper Mario game on the Nintendo Switch Online service just HAD to put in paper puns for a game that almost had NOTHING to do with paper. I mean the game’s name in Japan is Mario’s Story!

I was one of those weird players who actually battled almost every enemy even though there was little incentive, and despite the game being a guilty pleasure, I still absolutely hated the achievement banners. Combining the lack of a post game and the fact that you'll have a lot of stickers prepared for the final boss, grinding during the late game for those achievements extends the already indefinite tedium to a whole nother dimension, and you'll have a heck of a time preparing for the boss again. It might genuinely be less painful to get through SPM 2-3 without opening the safe.

Sticker star’s save system is actually glitched and allowed for arbitrary code execution. One of the main ways of modding a 3DS at one point was through Sticker Star. Though Pokémon picross ended up taking the prize later cause it shared the same issues and was free to download.

I vehemently REFUSE to play any game after Sticker Star. I don’t give a single solitary (Insert your favorite Swear Word here) about what positives people may have to say about “”Paper Mario”” The OK. I Will Not play that game, or any like it, for what they did to my Beloved Paper Mario. I already talked about how Sticker Star was the Last Game me and my now deceased Friend were waiting for together before he passed away. We were friends at a young age, didn’t hang out for like 10 Years or so, and then we somehow got in contact again. What did we do? We played Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door together. It was the first game I ever played from beginning to end together with a friend. We had a blast. Our Friendship came back once more around this game. It is one of my life’s all time most precious memories. May he Rest in Piece. I miss you, Daniel. Not only do I have one of the worst things that have happened to me in my life tied to this game, but I also blame this game for the Death of one of my All Time Favorite Game Franchises ever. Because of this game, we will never get another proper Paper Mario ever again. I own Multiple Copies of each of the three games, both Physical and Digital, just because I love them all so much. Sticker Star forever changed what Nintendo will allow the franchise to do due to its misunderstood success. People didn’t buy it as much as they did because it was as good as the proper Paper Mario games, but because everyone thought that we would get something like TTYD2, or at least SPM2. That is not what we got at all. What we got was a complete soulless mess of incoherently smushed together mechanics that wore the skin suit of our beloved Paper Mario. I can’t put it into as clean and concise words as you could perhaps, but sit down and talk to me and you won’t hear the end of it. If I could go back in time, I would un-purchase this game. Only reason why I have not thrown this game in the trash is simply because I can’t make myself do that to a video game, no matter how bad it is. I know for a fact that I am not the only one who feels like this. Your paper shredder of a review proves as much. This is also how Arlo because as prominent as he is. He got his most important subscriber boost ever thanks to his video about how Paper Mario is now Dead. Because so many of us believe the exact same thing, and were clearly affected by the loss of the franchise. Which is also why I Love Bug Fables as much as I do. It took everything I Love about Paper Mario, and went above and beyond. It is what a Proper Paper Mario Game deserves to be. If only we could get a game like it with the manpower and resources that only a company like Nintendo can provide. But seeing how Nintendo handles everything that isn’t Mainline Mario and a few exceptions, I do not think that we will ever get it, at least until something drastically changes. Very nice review you guys. Well done tearing this Failed Art Project to absolute shreds. It deserves nothing less than the worst.

Just watched this whole series of reviews so far in a row and I'm extremely impressed (as well as surprised they aren't getting more attention). Super high quality work, and I love how thorough you cover everything about these games. Consider me a fan, very much looking forward to the Color Splash video!

You forgot that bowser can crumple you therefore making you unable to move so you will have no way to heal or damage him and when you are crumpled you get 2x damage, so if you get hit and the 50% chance you get crumpled, instant death. Complete garbage.

1:33:32 it’s funny, I’ve been saying for a while now that Color Splash could have been alright if they structured combat like a deck building game, I didn’t even think of the possibility that Sticker Star also could’ve been better if it had some deck building aspect to it.

Not sure why the RU-vid algorithm led me to you and this video one whole year after upload, but God I am so happy it did. I haven't even played this game (but I love the Paper Mario franchise, at least the first three games), but I was enthralled listening to you go off for almost 4 hours.

I picked up paper jam, played it and put it down. I had no clue about sticker star, so the strange gimmicks and thing about paper mario being in a book I thought must've been the Mario & Luigi creative team not understanding the source material. But the fact it was the source material not understanding itself... ouch. It was too infuriating to get through, I really thought I was gonna get fun references and maybe a really cool silly crossover. Silly me lol

Chariii5 managed to fall through the floor in world 2, and it is possible to crash the game with an excellent hit on Gooper Blooper. So technically this game does not meet Nintendo’s standards of quality.

1:19:52 this edit is _way_ underappreciated

It’s a really streamline paper Mario game for on the go! They filtered out all the things that make the game “slow” like EXP, party members, other playable characters, a post game, a plot, the fun…

19:53 had a heart attack praying the video wasn't gonna get taken down till I heard the redubbing of the clip and then I looked at how long ago it was uploaded right after and realized, "oh ok I'm just stupid"

As someone who personally does not hate sticker star in fact I have replayed it a couple of times yeah you’re pretty much right and all of your points. I don’t hate it but I completely see why everyone else does. Although I do love color splash and I just know once you review that game you’re really gonna rip into it. Which is fine. Color splash is not perfect and I’m not gonna pretend it is but it’s still going to hurt my soul a little bit😂. Anyway It sucks that you put so much time and effort into this video and it really doesn’t have as many views as it should. You’re super underrated

This one was a great video really, maybe to heavy for one sitting (in my case i saw it between days), but all the references (edited memes), opinions, an extra stuff shows all the care you put in a review of something you hate so much. I can't imagine a review of something you love, would be perfect ! Im glad i found your channel

I LOVE KING OF CARDS I LOVE HOW YOU RANDOMLY BROUGHT IT UP LOL

I love Paper Mario. And youtube discussion videos like this are a guilty pleasure of mine on long drives. 2 days ago I decided I'd see if anyone thought to merge the two things I love and I found your channel. I think I'm 8 hours into your content now and I'm a fast fan; next up is your Luigis mansion saga and I can't wait for it. I've subbed and hit the bell in anticipation of the eventual color splash and origami king videos! Thank you for the time you put into this channel

If I may add. Alot and I mean ALOT of these problems were fixed in the beta, let me list them (idk if anybody will read this but I just want to document this as a fyi) -decalberg was going to be far more alive, with more houses, toads, and more maps in general, hell, it even had a cut sewer system -obviously the battle system with the partners. Some being mario enemies like the chain chomp and "the gold galoomba", and some being original charecters like kirsti and "mr slit" -more unuiqe levels such as the famous card area and a "rotating warehouse" -bosses not only had original designs like the king mander and king mole, but it is very likely they didn't need the use of things either - there would've been a butt load of more original charecter, including some I've mentioned before like king mole, king mander and the entire mander race (those koopa snake guys from the one screenshot) mr slit, gold galoomba, and even the toad from the enigmansion used to be old and had a mustache, with bowser, birdo and most enemies without dialogue in retail having fully fledged talking animations. -alot of the thing stickers might've (and this is speculation fyi) just been cut, atkeast for out of battle use, as they might very been partner abilities Instead. -a few of the bosses were better in terms of story in the beta, for some reason they cut mr blizzerds entire reason why he needed to be stopped, even though it was fully implemented in beta screenshots, as he was supposed to bring apon a snow storm apon the land for all the levels (like that one from enigmansion) and king mander (likely unused world 1 boss) likely being brought back to life (as code implies his boss would've started with him being a skeleton) -peach interludes were in the beta -final note is that, there would've been an extra chapter, as seen in a trailer depicting 7 Royal crowns instead of 6, likely being that the lava and jungle world were separated, making both better in the long run. Hope you enjoyed reading this wall of dumb sticker star trivia, it's tumps me why some of this stuff was cut as some (not all) of it was practically almost finished and just made the game 10 times better, I joke to myself that they accidentally released a early prototype of the game, but hey, if you have any more questions let me know since I have researched this game for more time then I'd like to admit lmao

PHENOMENAL, absolutely phenomenal. Nearly four hours and never a dull moment. This video deserves more than 32k views, it deserves 32 million.

I'm legit stunned there's 3 games of this style now and they still haven't given us a good reason to fight normal enemies.

I honestly see Paper Mario Sticker Star as a reboot of the Paper Mario series, and the original series timeline ended with Super Paper Mario. So only Sticker Star is only in that book in Paper Jam.

Since Chuggaaconroy's Stickers Star critique has stopped for now I'm watching this one, and man this game just sucks, so many baffling decisions.

Honestly I love seeing someone willing to drag this game through hell where it should’ve stayed.

Games like this make me hate the Sonic 06 hatedom even more , at least there was passion in that game

Now everytime some kid asks why i hate Sticker Star with burning passion, i'll send them this video. Thanks

The interesting thing is that Super actually pulls off the character arc that Sticker Star tried to do with Kersti with the character of Luvbi across only one chapter. Yes, Super Star managed to pull off that character arc in a single chapter of its game that Sticker Star failed to do across its entire game. Boy the writing in this game is pathetic.

I now remember frustratingly filling out the museum was the only thing keeping me going when I played the game. Its hurt so good

The catharsis about how Paper Jam messed up how the original 3 Paper Mario games affected the potential and importance per se of them to the Mario franchise - I so agree hehe. Like I get they had to have a way to crossover the two spin-offs, but it just emphasized how "paper" it is. I really didn't realize it's implications until I saw what Paper Mario has become. I would have to think Alphadream asked if Mario in Paper Mario was different when it was pitched but I assume the current staff saw that universe as different. Anyway, at best you can say Paper Jam is non-canon as it is the last new game in the M&L franchise (sadly) and it didn't get referenced in TOK.

I love Sticker Star. (Which is kinda weird considering I think color splash is worse having played it earlier this year for the first time, if you really want to know I think every other game is better than these 2 with super on top) But I can acknowledge it’s flaws. The battle system is basically shit, the bosses are basically shit, characters and character designs are shit, and I can never EVER support stripping your rpg game series of everything that made it special. I can see where every single one of your points come from and honestly agree with most of em. I definitely agree that this game has an extreme lack of coverage on it, negative and positive, and honestly I might make one in the future and this video has kind of inspired me to do so. Point is this is an amazing video which was to be expected considering all your other videos (: It’s a very big achievement for you and I hope you continue to grow as a channel!

Does anybody legitimately like this game. It's like that kid in class that knows the answer, but chooses the wrong one out of spite

This game makes YIIK look like a masterpiece by comparison.

The part about the boss weakness... using the weakness is not even the fastest option sometimes. Like you can take out gooper blooper and the giant pokey in 1 or 2 turns with the boom box to double your attack power and the squirt gun item to take out most of it's health and finish it off with whatever other attack based thing items. Although Kirsti STILL goes on the "you used too many stickers" speech despite the solution the game wants you to do can only be pulled off effectively in 4 or 5 turns. But at least it isn't Color Splash where the game treats the player like an idiot by having the kooplings have an instant death attack that they do when you don't have the weakness... even though they could've instantly killed Mario turn 1 but decide not to????

Perfectly explains why I had severe buyers remorse after trading in Metroid prime 3 for this game thinking it was like the others that I liked watching chuggaconroy play

I played this game when I was around 10. Never truly realized just how abysmal it was.

I’ve stated before that I have a decent amount of experience when it comes to character building, and just story writing in general. But that didn’t come just out of the blue one day. I take inspiration from the media I consume; we all do, whether we see it or not. I like reading stories; I like seeing what plot twists games can conjure up to throw me off. Making a creative and original story isn’t trying to make a brand new thing that’s never been seen before, since that’s impossible. In my eyes, it’s taking the ideas that you have and mixing and matching them together until you have something that’s a fresh take on the key idea. To clarify, it’s not to just plagiarize the popular stories, it’s to offer a new spin on the existing idea, usually another idea in and of itself. Do games need a story? Well, yes. It doesn’t have to be very complex or original, but it needs to have a good one; something to keep the player engaged to the end. People love Banjo-Kazooie, and I wouldn’t exactly say that game’s story is very complex: Grunty kidnaps Tooty, Banjo and Kazooie go off to rescue her. That’s really it. But it’s still fun and charming, and something that almost anyone can enjoy. The characters actually have personalities and interact in different ways to each other. The main cast isn’t very big, just Banjo, Kazooie, Grunty, Bottles, Mumbo, and Tooty. But they’re fun and memorable, genuinely feeling real sometimes. My point is, games don’t have to have deep plots to be good. But this game? This is a disgrace to the writing community as a whole. The story is practically nothing, giving you next to no context as to why you’re doing anything. And the characters? Yeah, they suck; I’m looking at you, Kersti. But hang on. Kazooie is Banjo’s counterpart, and like Kersti, is irritable, rude, and impulsive. What’s the difference? LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE. Sure, Kazooie might have a sharp beak, constantly insulting almost everyone and not shy to say she hates something, but she’s actually likeable. Her outbursts tend to be hilarious and creative, and her being sassy to others is just as funny. Not to mention, gameplay wise, Kazooie is incredibly useful, the Talon Trot and Rat-a-Tat Rap being amazing in gameplay. Kersti? Yeah, she’s got none of that. Never once was Kazooie angry at Banjo (though there were times Banjo got angry at her), but Kersti just has no one else to vent her spleen on aside from Mario, which obviously doesn’t work here since Mario has the depth and character of a tennis ball. If they were going for a Kazooie-style character (not that I think they were), they failed miserably. This game had twelve writers-TWELVE-and this is what they came up with for story and characters!?

Paper mario sticker star was the first non mariokart game i ever played, and as a kid with no game experience outside of animal crossing, it was the first game i ever rage quit on. I never even made it to the desert Pookie boss… Though keeping in mind i had no access to the internet besides through a parentally locked ds, and the games general lack of hints towards what you’re actually supposed to do was infuriating. But now, Im here trying to find my 3ds copy of the game which i bought full price to replay it out of spite. I will find it and complete it so 10 year old me can find peace.

It's crazy that we went from this, to slightly better Sticker Star (which I liked) to Origami King which even a year later I'm shocked most people actually liked. I couldn't play this game due to my eye condition but based on all the bad things I've heard about this game I was ready to hate the sequel only to enjoy it despite it's issues.

Yeah this is cool and all, but why is color splash not finished yet?

snifit or whiffit was the only thing i remembered about this game after nearly 9 years since i last played this game. also the name in the pal version is "hit it or snifit" which is a less charming name imo idk why the pal version has a bunch of minor script changes though.

Now that The Thousand Year Door is getting a remake there just might be hope for Paper Mario's future.

I played Paper Mario 64, and loved it. I saw that Super was pretty different, played it, and adored it still. I played Thousand Year Door because I heard that it was great, and it was instantly my 3rd favorite game. I tried Sticker Star, hated it, and couldn't even finish the stupid game.

I have a quick tip for color splash, MAKE SURE you turn on “basic + buttons” in the settings, it removes pretty much all of the “new” problems in the battle system