Ranking ALL Paper Mario 64 Partners 

They forgot the most important part about Sushie. If you Tidal Wave too well, you crash the game

I love how in both rankings the character in the highest tier is the one that makes Mario attack twice

The other problem with Goombario is that Multibonk is bugged; the cap doesn't reset properly between uses, so it's not worth using more than once.

Bombette has the best first strike. That comes up a fair amount imo

Their expressions and what they're saying: Bow: (smug) "Ahaha, of course I was the best" Watt: "Hooray! I'm useful!" Sushi: "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve yet!" Kooper: "Best of the bros, woo!" Goombario: "It's not fair! I've only 3 attacks and they forgot to reset my multibonk cap..." Lakilester: "Phew, I'm not last... That's such a relief" Parakarry: "I HAVE OBJECTIONS" Bombette: "It's okay, I know the fans love me!" ... Mario: "Hmph. Pathetic."

I think what really elevates Bow up is that even as a kid with no online resources or anything, I discovered Bow and Sushi were the best partners. I didn't use Watt very much, but once I discovered the gimmick with Bow to just make you immune to damage the game did turn into a bit of a breeze since Mario can decimate the entire game by himself pretty much.

Let's not forget that Goombario has a glitched multibonk, it almost always instacaps if you use it a second time.

I never realized that Out of Sight basically gives Mario 2 turns of attacks. That just blew my mind. That is BROKEN!

Lady Bow has the multihit that was wild on Yoshi. Legend says that multihit moves with attack modulation clean house.

Bow's so badass of a partner she earned the only in-game cameo with dialogue and all in TTYD (Parakarry doesn't count, he only shows up in a cutscene)

Lady Bow on the top? These guys certainly know their stuff.

Boos are my favorite Mario enemy characters so of course Lady Bow stole my heart. I even have a fan made plushy of her.

Next, do the SPM Pixels tier list.

I’d be interested to see a Master Quest tier list cause I can tell you this list changes a lot

Hot Take: Bombette deserves a bit more credit for being the only partner that can use her Tier 2 ability for free (edit: on the field).

I think the discussion on bosses is a little off? The Nintendo intended strat is for you to use the partner you got that chapter for that chapter boss to 'counter' them. Chapter 1 - Bombette knocks down the stack Chapter 2 - Kerry can shell shot for higher damage Chapter 3 - Bow can dodge the massive damage on the heart Chapter 4 - Watt pierces the tanks defense Chapter 5 - Sushi does more damage to Lava Parana P2 Chapter 6 - You're SUPPOSED to use the charge strat because they give you the charge badge, and Lakilester is the most efficient way to clear the screen without spawning more puffs. Chapter 7 - You're SUPPOSED to use multiple partner, fire shell on grounded phase or Watt for more damage, spiny surge on the bits, air raid or tidal wave on the floating images and let Mario deal damage to the boss itself. Chapter 8 - ....Yeah Watt is just superior for all of Bowser because of his random AI. For the two that you get before hand - Goombario is super efficient at dealing with Koopa Troopa type enemies, which are largely seen in Prolog Kooper is super efficient at dealing with low HP swarm of enemies that are seen throughout most of Chapter 1 proper. For what it's worth, I actually think Watt is better than Bow overall and Kooper is better than Gombario. For most of the midbosses, they'll have at least some defense making Watt very efficient or he can semi-reliably just stop them dead in their tracks with power shock, and for most of the enemy packs throughout the game you can Power Shell your way to victory with some extra oomph from Mario. Bow only gets really better than Kooper whenever you play risky and are in danger/peril and can more efficiently use out of sight. And hot take, but Sushi isn't that good if you don't know the metagame of PM64, cycle mash strats had to be found by digging through the games code, where a fair good of people can see the power and value from a lot of the common badge set ups.

Yeah, people really seemed to gravitate towards the TTYD partner ranking video, which is great for you all. Really liked the discussion on Vivian. Nice to see you doing 64 as well!

Berserker mario saying "thank you" is the most cursed thing I've heard in my life.

I've actually started a new Paper Mario 64 playthrough after watching this (I wanted to do it for some time but this video got me back into the mood) and been applying some of the arguments put forward. I'm at Tubba Blubba's Castle as I'm typing this: Mario and Super Ranked Kooper absolutely destroy Chapter 2, and while Bombette has a pretty useful First Strike against some enemies, like the Clefts, Parakarry puts in a lot of work. That Tutankoopa strat is ridiculous.

It’s definitely between Watt and Lady Bow. I think Watt is more consistently useful since she can attack pretty much every enemy and ignores defense. While Lady bow can be better or worse than watt depending on who you fight and how you builded your mario.

I didn‘t expect Bow as the best partner… She‘s one of my favorites but I never thought about the things you said and I have problems with her attacks (I have a broken controller). But my favorite partner is still Watt anyway. I really love to use her^^

I gotta say, the music choices are inspired. The Mario Bros. theme for Kooper, Bomb Rush Blush for Bombette, March to Deliverance for Parakarry the deliveryman, and probably some other clever jokes I didn't catch. Well done!

homie has GOT to let the other homie talk. it was a bit stressful to listen to someone continuously be cut ofd

One thing I didn't see mentioned is who to upgrade to next rank first and who to upgrade to final rank first. I remember upgrading Goombario to next rank first, but Bow took priority for final rank first. Bow's awesome, but Goombario had some time to shine.

The real partners were the badges we found along the way.

I'm currently on a Lucky Star-less run, it's really wild how challenge runs can completely shake up viability for various things! If anyone's curious, Parakarry is the best for such a run, hands-down, because Shell Shot retains its all-or-nothing damage output even without the Lucky Star. Air Raid comes in handy too, even if it does drop down to 2 damage. 4 damage on Sky Dive without hitting the action command is really good too. I still get a lot of mileage out of Bombette for first strikes, Bow for Power/Mega Rush synergy, and Lakilester for free Spiny Flip damage, and I never ever use Kooper for his amazing ability to softlock the game with 3/4 of his attacks! Fun stuff.

I can't be the only one who hoarded stone caps and just charged a million turns with Goombario and the 1 shot the boss with miltiboink right?

Let’s goooo!! The video we have been waiting for, can’t wait to watch an hour long video on PM 64 partners, I unfortunately have basically only used Bombette and Bow qwq

lady bow was more involved in her story so she get a big buff on that alone to the point it feels like the other partners were just added after the writing was done

I feel like we're forgetting somebody... a certain... beetle... Goompa! No... Twink! No... Lakilulu...? Huh don't know. Jokes aside doing randomized runs has truly showed me the value of them especially bow. I still wish the ninji would be added as a partner in a mod lol. The don's son.

As someone who only played PM64 in 2022 (Nintendo Switch Edition) I can see lots of reasons for your choices on the rankings and honestly have nothing to disagree with *cough* (manly because I only played this game twice so I haven’t truly experimented a lot) But yeah I can hugely respect this rankings of these partners and can see all of your reasonings My Ranking: 1. Bow 2.Goombario 3.Sushi 4.Kooper 5.Watt 6.ParraKarry 7.Lakiluster 8.Bombette One how often I used them: 1.Goombario 2.Bow 3.Watt 4.Sushi 5.Kooper 6.Bombette 7.ParraKarry 8.Lakiluster

Try not to mention BP only challenge (IMPOSSIBLE) Poor Kappy got interrupted so many times LOL

The editing when sushi is introduced is the best!!! You do such a good job with all these small bits you do Legit you are my favorite youtuber

Solid video, I can't wait for the TTYD badge tier list, that will be over 3 hours long, featuring guest appearances from Jdaster & Lenny.

I will say that Goombario has a case of opportunity cost. He's only good at bosses, but by using him you're costing yourself other options. Investing in him is bad because investing in bow or watt gets you a better alternative, and if you invest in kooper you'll have an easier time with enemies and less party members compete in that field. I dont think he's the worst but i think he's second. He's one of the only party members that are completely outclased in a niche.

Bombette may be B tier but she's S-tier in my heart.

One aspect to bomberette that wasnt mentioned is that you can use her explosion in the overworld to get a first strike bomb that doesn't use any FP. So she can be a good lead in to fights where you can get that first strike

Bow would be even better, though, if she were a light shade of pink.

Bow and Goombella supremacy. Both the best partners mechanically and personality-wise

The two of you bounce off each other really well, I can tell you're good friends. Nice to listen to.

goombario is a partner i super early because having a 2 power jump prior to dry dry ruins is actually quite good, but then i delay ultra ranking him because by the time you get to chap 5 you have much better partners competing for power blocks.

I'll be honest, I was deadass expecting either Parakarry or Lakilester to be at the bottom even though I like them both, but I'm glad they're not.

Hoping for that badge tier list in the future for 64 and TTYD; would be interesting to see your updated, definitive opinions on them in one concise video. I'd imagine a lot more disagreement there, which would be very funny to watch. Maybe even a quick special moves tier list to cover almost everything.

Great video! Very fun to watch and entertaining! I would love to see a badge tier list, one for 64 and TTYD! That would be awesome! 😃

53:10 1st: Lady Bow who is a Boo in Boo's Mansion (Chapter 3) 2nd: Watt who is a Lil' Spark in Shy Guy's Toy Box (Chapter 4) 3rd: Sushie who is a Cheep Cheep in Yoshi's Village at Mt. Lavalava (Chapter 5) 4th: Kooper who is a Koopa Troopa in Koopa Village (Chapter 1) 5th: Goombario who is a Goomba in Goomba Village (Prologue) 6th: Lakilester who is a Lakitu in Flower Fields (Chapter 6) 7th: Parakarry who is a Paratroopa in Mt. Rugged (Chapter 2) 8th: Bombette who is a Bob-omb in Koopa Bros Fortress (Chapter 1)

Honestly, very few surprises. I'm glad Watt is ranked so highly in both high-level and casual, because then my comment on the other video doesn't make me look like a dumb (which reinforces my thought that Mowz's badness is an overcompensation for Watt). I also always upgrade Kooper first for the chapter 2 Quake Hammer+Power Shell combo!

Can’t wait for the Origami King partner tierlist.

I'll just sit here waiting for a NPC tier list

I always liked equipping Group Focus in my playthroughs just so that the partners all had an extra command available to them. It's just a shame it isn't buffed by Deep Focus, since it'd actually be a useful badge then. This is such an interesting discussion because yeah, they have really small intricate differences that make them slightly better/worse in some areas. Like Parakarry interestingly has Sky Dive deal 4 damage at Ultra Rank if you fail the action command, compared to most characters' 3.

I do really like Dizzy Shell in the context of rando and romhacks a lot because it's usually your cheapest fp route to no damaging an encounter, especially for 3+ enemy ones, it's accessable super early, and it's consistently effective regardless of how much power Mario has or any enemy hp modifiers. But in vanilla it's definitely a lot less necessary

Thanks guys this was an excellent discussion

Looking forward to that badges list

Love this kind of content. The first 2 ppm games were my favorite.

Imo S tier - Watt, Bow, Sushie A tier - Parakarry, Kooper B tier - Goombario C tier - Bombette, Lakilester

I would put bow #2, if she was a light shade of pink she'd be #1

Had to check the date, thank god it is April 2nd.

lets not forget that goombario's multibonk is bugged (its cap doesnt reset so if you do 2 multibonks without switching out goombario. he will only do 2 bonks on the next multibonk)

I recently replayed this game a few weeks ago for the first time since childhood in the switch VC and here are my personal thoughts #1: Lady Bow: obviously for pretty much all the reasons you stated, it's easy to make good use of her even against multiple enemies. #2: Kooper: For most of the game cheap multi-target damage against grounded enemies is very relevant. Chances are he's going to be out most of the time in every chapter once you get to the parts where you fight 3 or 4 enemies at a time because it's easy to make Mario deal enough AoE damage for him to clean up. Normal battles is all you're doing in this game and most bosses have a clean cut solution, so Kooper is going to be out most of the game. #3 Parakary: He has the highest and cheapest single target damage for a long time that can hit any kind of target. Similarly Air Raid is Strong consistent 6 damage to every single target with nothing that can resist or avoid it. #4 Sushie: Same as Parakary in pretty much every metric, except Squirt is water type and Tidal wave has potentially more damage if you do the inputs fast enough. She highlights a lot in the chapter where she joins, as is to be expected, although I found tidal wave to be the same as Air Raid so I preferred Parakary because his inputs are much easier. They're in practice pretty much the same in my experience. #5 Watt: A lot more situational, she's really strong against enemies with defense and her Turbo Charge help Mario push power bounce higher, but it surprisingly didn't come to play as often. Much like you said the paralysis is nice, but I found status effects to be inconsistent when oneshotting battles was super viable all through the game and bosses often were immune to status effects. #6 Bombette: Shines a lot early game and has a very important trait not mentioned in the video: She's can get free 3 SP bombs by blowing up in the overworld which you can exploit. Sadly I felt she completely falls off after chapter 3, but has the highlight of being able to wipe the entire forest completely clean *laughs in maple syrup*. #7 Lakilester: What the hell does this guy even does? Like his only two damaging attacks are s pretty basic normal and his AoE is a lukewarm All Enemies that's functionally more expensive Shell Shot or a weaker Air Raid. You get him so late that it's hard to think of using him instead of other partners #8: Goombario: Tattlebot, all he really does is jump and he's vulnerable to everything. The only claim to fame he has is discount Power Bounce alll the way until chapter 5. at a point where uncharged and unboosted powerbounces starting at 5 damage are lack luster and charging it consumes more FP than the effort is worth.

I watched this video for one reason and I was not disappointed. So happy to see my favorite, green ghost girl at the top spot! Bow is the best, it’s a shame speedruns skip her since she’s such an amazing partner. Definitely my favorite PM girl!

Never thought about how good outta sight was. I always just liked using her for smack and fan smack but it really is just like rally wink for this game lol

I put this video in my playlist for my drive home and that SUUUP almost made me crash because of how much it startled me. It was hilarious

I feel like the ability to exploit outta sight on Bow was an oversight. Which explains why they massively nerfed it in ttyd.

i really feel like yall are underrating goombario multibonk charge strats. yes it takes turns, but you offset this with the sheer amount of damage capable, goombario and Mario both using charge multi strats can end a boss quickly, and when you arent trying to use just AOE kills goombario keeps up with mario for dealing with enemies quickly. even base multibonk can out damage bosses on average compared to most other partners abilities. if not for the capped multibonk i'd say all. also glad im not the only one who realizes goombario super rank chapter 2 is massively slept on and super good.

going to make my guess ahead of time and predict that the top to bottom order is Bow > Watt > Sushie > Parakarry > Kooper > Lakilester > Goombario aaaaand maybe i'll edit to comment further afterwards, if I do it'll be under the cut.

Also it’s really really funny to see the contrast from you guys down talking Vivan’s veil and Ms. Mowz’s love slap to now praising Bow as the best when she really just has improved versions of these moves.

For every complaint about something stopping you from getting into danger quickly, I have been YELLING about *Chet Rippo*

Why is bombette more useful in the randomizer? Fatguy got cut off when he was going to explain that.

I think that people overrate bow because out of site is all she can do and she can only hit 1 foe

I was really hoping for a comedy routine like... So, tell me, what is the best partner? Correct. What? Yes, Watt is the best partner. That's what I wanna know, what is the best partner. Certainly. What is! Yes, Watt! I'm asking you! And I'm telling you! It's Watt! No, that's a question! I want the answer! Watt! What? Yes, Watt! That's my question! What is the best partner! You wanna know what the best partner is? Yes, that's all I wanna know! It's Watt! THAT'S WHAT I WANNA KNOW! .... Look... you have a favourite partner, right? Yes. And it's not Goombario. Right. And it's not Parakarry. That's correct. Then who is it? Watt. The best partner? Watt. Best partner from Paper Mario! Watt! From the first game in the series! Watt! Out of all the 8 first partners! Watt! THE PARTNERS IN PAPER MARIO ON THE N64! WATT! WATT IS MY FAVOURITE PARTNER! THAT'S WHAT I WANNA KNOW! [audience goes wild]

The background is Game Guy's Lucky 7 from Mario Party 3 which is also a 2001 game for Nintendo 64.

Origami King partners next? :o

I just watched your Black Pit episode 31 video and at 16:30 JDaster called Bow mid tier and Fatguy followed up with "C-tier at best".

Coincidentally I love both Bow and Goombella personality wise 🔥

I find it interesting, that in the game where the partners have a pretty linear power scale, you used a tier list to rank them and in the game, where the partners are more tiered in what they do, effectively being 'Bow, damage with utility buff, generic damage' you use a linear display.

To go a little more in-depth on Outta Sight vs Veil: if Mario still had an action when you used Veil, he’ll still have an action when he returns to the field. If he didn’t have an action left when you used Veil, he won’t have an action when he returns, so that turn will just end. So it’s like the move delays the rest of Mario’s turn. Outta Sight gives Mario an action when he returns no matter what. I don’t know what could be done to make that type of move balanced, since the only logical change makes it mostly worthless instead of busted. Maybe if Vivian got a turn (that she couldn’t use on Veil) when they returned?

just finished my first run through of 64 like last week and did the entire last dungeons with lakilester and watt, never even tried bow

i think bombette is a lot better than given credit for, yes she drains FP but you can solo loadouts with powerbomb for a while alternating refresh and focus making her less FP cost than powershell and quakehammer in effect

Lakilester helped me against both the chapter 7 boss and the master(true final form) with the aid of spiny surge and cloud nine respectively(best defensive move other than water block and chill out. Basically just out of sight with multiple turns and keeping the partner's next turn but only about 50% evasion) albeit I used a crazy badge build and maxed out my hp and bp with a good amount of fp although his ultrarank ability is just spook, you would expect something really good but nope. Kooler is average. Solid aoe damage, ultrarank is really good against ice but weak single target damage and somewhat outclassed by quake. Bow, watt, and lakilester have the best revular attacks as lakilester's cannot be dodged, watt's ignores defense and slap and fan smack which is just better slap has the best 0 defense single target damage out of all of the party members. Watt and bow are good due to their normal moves, watts charge, and smack. The fish can boost defense and does good damage to fire enemies. I have rarely used parrakarry because besides shell shot, and air raid, which is similar to other moves, his attacks aren't that good. You have inconsistent single target spook and the normal attack with the most uncomfortable timing though shell shot is decent. Goombario is good when you don't have peekaboo or the badge spaces for it in bosses but not much else. Bombette explodes but her focus on ground enemies and lack of support for me not to use it. Mario is clearly the best though lets be real.

It's so sad knowing how outclassed Bombette truly is....

Top 8 Paper Mario partners 1. Watts 2. Bow 3. Sushie 4. Bombette 5. Kooper 6. Goombario 7. Parakarry 8. Lakilester (Spike)

TTYD partners ranked on design/personality please?

Parakarry was robbed! He's clearly better than 7th because his input is easier for people with broken 64 controllers to pull off!

I'll be real with you here. If every partner does the same exact thing, then the unique partners should rank higher. Goombario 4th so you can tattle enemies instead of skipping the partner turn, just to laugh at them. No other partner roasts the enemies

imagine if goombario had something like 'encourage: increases mario's power by 2' so like he gives the 'charge' to mario, would he be way better that way?

I like using bombette to first strike the ancient chomps in chapter 2. Instant win.

My only disaggreement is bombette first strike. when she first strikes on enemies she does the max level bomb without fp. So she can his all enemies and do the dmg free. But if u fail...then u have bombette out and now u need to swap to koops, watt... or bow. I never use paracarry... or lacka whatever... and gombario i am a completionist so i tattle everything... and sushi... well why would i use sushi over watt or bow? but yeah agreed with teh list except that one use case of bombette. she is pretty terrible in fp and dmg other than first strike.

I mainly found myself using Fire Shell on Shiver Mountain.

in my personal opinion, watts my absolute fave partner in this game. her first attack costing no fp and can get over defense is kinda nuts tbh. though i still liked kooper and sushi a lot as well. i used them quite a few times in my first playthrough last year. bow, didnt use much as i first thought she was...not useless...but underwhelming for the most part. might reply paper mario sometime and give her another shot.

A hack where you get all partners from the beggining would be interesting

Bows power is the reason vivian was prematurely nerfed

I only subbed for the pape content This is why im here.

Lakilester should be on the bottom tier. His basic move deals 4 damage, his crowd control attack move deals 4 damage, and his 2 utility abilities have the same use cases as Bow's who is just way more generally useful. If Lakilester showed up in chapter 2 or 3 instead of the end of chapter 6 then Spiny Surge would have some legitimate uses, but by that point 4 damage is nothing. Even if it costs more FP you can just use any of the other crowd control moves that are more likely to finish off low HP foes completely in a single attack with Mario around for cleanup. Bzzaps in chapter 6 and Swoopulas in chapter 7 are perhaps the main argument for Lakilester being useful, but even that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Bzzaps are one of the only late game enemies Lakilester can kill outright, but once you get him you are unlikely to encounter any more since chapter 6 is nearly done. And due to his ability to hit Swoopulas on the ceiling you might think he has some niche uses in certain rooms of Crystal Palace, but Bombette can reduce them to 1 HP with Mega Bomb which allows Zap Tap to finish them off and frees up Mario to focus on the Duplighosts, and Sushi can just kill them straight up if you're good with Tidal Wave. Pretty much every other enemy isn't even worth considering using him since his damage is so low and lacks special properties like fire or piercing. If Cloud 9 stacked with the evasion badges granting you near 100% dodge then I could see him actually moving up very high in the rankings, but it doesn't. So if you need to dodge a move you just use Bow instead of gambling. Either showing up earlier or not having overlap in utility with the best partner in the game would help fix Lakilester, but both those factors together make him worthless, moreso than any other partner

0/10 tier list without Goompa

Or better idea, rank the chapters in paper Mario 64

Bombette is happy to be included

dude your vids are hilarious

I disagree with only 1 thing on this list, Goombario's placement. Lakiluster can hit all foes or raise Mario's evasion. Parakarry can 1-shot single targets or hit all enemies. Bombette can do 7 damage on all enemies. All target damage is generally enough to ensure Mario can finish an foe or combined with Mario doing all target damage to finish the battle. When it comes to boss fights Goombario can sort of out pace them but Multibonk is bugged stopping that and Bow.

Fat guy: sushi is a clear 3 Phantom A’s sushi only run: the only partner that can solo the game (except for the lantern ghost, the fuzziped and bowser fights) effectively in battle, beating both watt and bow in terms of battle capabilities. Fat guy: bow is number 1 Phantom A’s bow only run: loses heavily to any foe with any defense. Gets second to last in terms of battle capabilities. The only one worse then her is kooper and thats because in the prologue is impossible for him to do damage in.

My playthrough primarily consist of Sushie, Parakarry and Bombette I consider Kooper the bottom because he's so limited later in the game. So many flying enemies completely negate his usefulness.

thank you