Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Release date	May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024 May 23, 2024
Language(s)	English (United States) French (France) French (Canada) German Spanish (Spain) Spanish (Latin America) Italian Dutch Japanese Simplified Chinese Traditional Chinese Korean
Genre	RPG
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Seven years and older CERO: - Twelve years and older ACB: - Parental Guidance USK: - All ages ClassInd: - General audience SMECCV: - All ages GRAC: - All ages GSRR: - Six years and older FPB: - Thirteen years and older GCAM: - Seven years and older MRO: - Seven years and older
Mode(s)	Single player
Format	Nintendo Switch: Game Card Digital download
Input	Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Serial code(s)	TRA-HAC-A9QDA-JPN (Japan)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a Nintendo Switch remake of the 2004 Nintendo GameCube game of the same name, and the first remake in the Paper Mario series. It was first announced during the September 2023 Nintendo Direct, and released worldwide on May 23, 2024.

The title features visually enhanced and updated graphics along with new gameplay features. However, it remains faithful to the style of the original game: the characters still use their designs from the original release (for example, Princess Peach keeps her pre-Mario Party 4 dress design), rather than the updated designs used in the following Paper Mario games. Many voice clips from the original game are also reused, despite voice actor changes since the original game's release, including Charles Martinet, Jen Taylor, and Scott Burns, former voice actors of Mario, Peach, and Bowser respectively.

Changes from the original game

New content

General

• Like in Paper Mario: Color Splash and Paper Mario: The Origami King, a concept art gallery, the Art Gallery, is available. It can be viewed from the menu, with more pieces unlocking throughout the game. The gallery includes concept art from the original game and specific to the remake. Art galleries are sorted by the story's chapters' locations and are unlocked after collecting every Star Piece from that chapter's locations and taking the chapter's Crystal Star to the Thousand-Year Door.
• An in-game music player, the Sound Gallery, is added to the menu. Music tracks are sorted by the story's chapters' locations in which they play and are unlocked after collecting every Shine Sprite for that chapter and taking the chapter's Crystal Star to the Thousand-Year Door.
  • Equipping the Nostalgic Tunes badge allows the player to listen to the GameCube versions of the tracks in the Sound Gallery as they are unlocked. While the badge is equipped, tracks exclusive to the remake are disabled.
• A Notes tab has been added to the menu. This lists active Trouble Center requests and any of Merluvlee's predictions that are still relevant.
• A few new emails have been added, such as one from Professor Frankly informing Mario about the First Attack badge or one from the Toad Bros. Bazaar informing Mario when the Contact Lens have been restocked.
• A list of controls for the player's current controller can be found in the menu.
• A new music arrangement, new music tracks and sound effects were added.

Characters

• A Purple Toad called the Battle Master can be found around the world. When talked to, he allows Mario to practice his attacks, in a similar fashion to the Action Command Dojo and Battle Lab from previous games. During his battles, Mario fights cardboard Goombas called Goomboards.
• A Little Mouser named Ian Foomus appears in the Trouble Center, offering advice to help with different Troubles.

Glitz Pit

• There is an exhibition match option and an option to read the rules when reserving a match.
  • Exhibition matches allow Mario to select and fight any Glitz Pit team that he is currently ranked above (whenever or not he has fought them previously), and these battles do not have any battle conditions, nor do they affect Mario's ranking.
  • As a result, the player can easily obtain Tattle entries for enemies exclusive to the Glitz Pit if they failed to do so earlier.
  • The Wings of Night and The Destructors can only be fought through exhibition matches.
  • After Mario's rank is reset after clearing Chapter 3, he must rank up to access exhibition matches again. However, Prince Mush can be fought regardless of rank.

New bosses

• Two new bosses have been added:
  • Prince Mush can be challenged at the Glitz Pit. To unlock him, the player must complete Jolene's Trouble, "Help wanted!", and then wait some time to receive an email from her talking about new Exhibition Matches and that Mush is training. After waiting some more time, the player will receive another email, this time from Prince Mush himself, issuing a challenge. By heading back to the Glitz Pit and selecting Exhibition Match in any league, the player can challenge him to a fight. Mario will receive Prince Mush's Belt if he defeats him.
  • Whacka can be found in the Pit of 100 Trials and can be defeated to receive the Gold Whacka Bump. For him to appear, the player needs to have completed the entire Pit of 100 Trials by defeating Bonetail at floor 100 and hit Whacka in Keelhaul Key enough times to make him stop spawning there (he will exclaim "Whack-a-woooooooooooo..." when he disappears for the last time). After waiting around 30 minutes of in-game time, the player must return to Rogueport to receive an email called "RDM Extra Issue," which says a mystical creature has been seen deep in the pit. Whacka will appear at floor 100 after this email, and whacking him there will trigger his boss fight. Returning to the Pit and fighting Whacka subsequent times yields a regular Whacka Bump, meaning the item can now be obtained infinitely, unlike the limited amount in the original.

Recipes

• The Hottest Dog recipe has been added and can be made by mixing a Hot Dog with Hot Sauce. This is in reference to the Businessman's Trouble. In the original Japanese text, he discussed combining his Hot Sauce with Mr. Hoggle's Hot Dogs, but this resulted in a Mistake if attempted in the original game. In the original English localization, he referred to combining a "Fat Dog" (a nonexistent item) with Hot Sauce to create a "Tongue-Blistering Fat Dog", which the remake respectively changes to "Hot Dog" and "Hottest Dog" to allude to the new recipe.

Pit of 100 Trials

• Upon completion of the Pit of 100 Trials at least once, a Mover outside the entrance provides fast travel to the 50th floor for 300 coins.

Tattles

• There are ten more Tattle Log entries compared to the original game, bringing the total to 134. Amongst these include the Goomboard, the Fuzzy Horde in Shhwonk Fortress, the X-Naut horde in Lord Crump's second fight, and the two new bosses, Whacka and Prince Mush.
  • The second fights against Bowser, Doopliss, Beldam, and Marilyn and the second phase of the Shadow Queen now have separate Tattle Log entries. As a result, if they were Tattled in their first battles, their HP is not immediately shown in their rematches until they are Tattled again.

Creepy Steeple

• The Creepy Steeple Boo can be found in the storeroom after freeing the Boos trapped in the box under Creepy Steeple, where he will quiz Mario on various parts of the story. There are six quizzes, with the last quiz having 15 questions in total and only being available during the post-game.

Trophies

• Three trophy items have been added as rewards for Journal completion:
  • The Cooking Trophy for obtaining all recipes
  • The Badge Trophy for obtaining all badges.
  • The Tattle Trophy for completing the Tattle Log.

Badges

• The Nostalgic Tunes badge, resembling a Nintendo GameCube, can be bought from the Lovely Howz of Badges for one coin. Equipping it will revert the music to the original soundtrack. The game still plays tracks exclusive to the remake, however.
• Mario is awarded with a Gold Medal for obtaining all three trophies. It has the effect of visually turning him gold, and the effect will stack with the L Emblem and W Emblem.

Gameplay changes

Menus and controls

• The player's play time for their save file can no longer be seen in the game's menu.
• The player can no longer scroll through their list of items and badges using the and buttons, as they are used to scroll through the menu screens instead.
• Conversations can no longer be sped up, nor can the player view previous messages in the conversation. Text can only be sped up if an entire conversation has been seen before being played a second time.
• The Mailbox SP mail system has been reworked to function similarly to the notifications system from Paper Mario: The Origami King, where alerts no longer affect the player's ability to navigate in-game. Pressing while the notification is on-screen immediately opens the email.
• Like Paper Mario: The Origami King, the last saved point can be accessed from the Game Over screen and the current scene can also be played again, with any scene in which the player was last in capable of being played again. In some instances this option to play from the last scene loads a save from before the last Save Block was hit. In the original, this was limited to certain situations.
• Like with collectibles in Paper Mario: The Origami King, the map screen tracks the percentage of collected Star Pieces and Shine Sprites from each location.
• When leveling up, the player has to press a direction with the to select an option rather than HP being the default.
• If the player is wearing an FP Plus or HP Plus, increasing their FP or HP respectively, when leveling up, the higher numbers for increasing FP or HP will take into account the badges worn.
• All partners are fully healed upon leveling up rather than only the active one.
• The Nintendo Switch system keyboard is used when prompted to name the Yoshi Kid instead of an in-game one. However, all other text input prompts, such as the ones for inputing Doopliss' name and the access code in X-Naut Fortress, still use an in-game keyboard.

Field

• Mario can swing his Hammer forwards and backwards like in entries since Paper Mario: Sticker Star. In the original game, he could only swing his Hammer sideways.
• Bushes can no longer be interacted with when near them, but they can be crumpled with the Hammer for the same effect, as with Paper Mario: Color Splash. Incidentally, Bowser can still interact with bushes in the same manner as in the original game.
• Both Mario's partners and NPCs will react when hit with Mario's Hammer. NPCs will also react when Bowser breathes fire on them during his intermissions.
• Like in later entries, there is safeguarding on the edges of areas to prevent the player from accidentally falling off. If Mario approaches an edge, he will stop moving forward and teeter on the edge to give the player the ability to move back onto stable ground, only falling off if the player continues to move forward after the animation begins.
• and have new functions. Pressing now opens up the Partner Ring, which Mario can use to switch between partners, while makes a partner provide Partner Hints (whether or not they are active) to direct the player to their objective. The partner that gives the player the hint is usually Goombella, but it may vary depending on the situation or the area. In the original game, was only used to navigate menus.
• The Paper Plane mode stays at a fixed distance from the ground until it has transcended the horizontal width of the activation panel.
• The player can use the Hammer to locate flippable panels on the ground containing Star Pieces, although the Hammer still cannot flip them. In the original game, this is not possible with any Hammer, with the only way to locate panels being to use Spin Jumps.
• When using Koops's partner field ability, a green circle marker with an arrow appears where Mario launched Koops, with the arrow indicating the direction Koops's shell will launch.
• Breaking large blocks using the Super Hammer or the Ultra Hammer requires Mario to charge beyond the minimal amount.
• When riding on the Yoshi Kid, Mario has momentum-based physics that apply when riding off edges, making traveling down them slower than in the original game. The Yoshi Kid's flutter jump is also more continuative from walking and thus slightly different from the original.
• The player can open doors and talk to NPCs while riding on the Yoshi Kid, although Mario still dismounts off the Yoshi Kid to do either action.
• If Mario is riding the Yoshi Kid as he falls on a jump pad, he will stay on the Yoshi Kid after bouncing off, unlike in the original game.
• There is a prompt to check interactable elements in the scenery or to talk to characters, hinting at what the player can do with them.
• Enemies on the field have a shorter range of sight to spot and chase after Mario than in the original game.

Warp Pipes

• They are entered by pressing , with a prompt appearing above one to tell the player to do so. In the original game, entering Warp Pipes required tilting down on the and no hint appeared to do as such.
• They have new hitboxes.
• When emerging from one, Mario automatically jumps out and forward.
• There is a new Warp Pipe room, similar to the "One World, One Pipe" room in Musée Champignon from Paper Mario: The Origami King, replacing the original pair of Warp Pipe rooms across Rogueport Underground. When entering this room after taking a Crystal Star to the Thousand-Year Door, the Magical Map is held up in a similar fashion, unlocking a pipe leading to a locale for that Crystal Star's chapter. There are seven pipe slots instead of four, with a pipe leading from this room to Rogueport Plaza also able to be opened.The door leading to the room on the right side is also now hidden and requires Flurrie to reveal it.
  • Pipes 1, 2, and 6 lead to the second area of Petalburg, the outside of The Great Tree, and the fountain in Poshley Heights in the same spots as in the original game.
  • Pipe 3 leads to Glitzville, southeast of the juice shop.
  • Pipe 4 leads to the second area of Twilight Town.
  • Pipe 5 leads to the campsite of Keelhaul Key, instead of the jungle like in the original game.
  • Pipe 7 leads to the second area of Fahr Outpost.
• Several new ones were added:
  • One was added behind the Last Stand P badge in Hooktail Castle that takes the player back up without having to backtrack.
  • One was added from Creepy Steeple's basement to the right-most house of Twilight Town to cut backtracking in Chapter 4. It can be unlocked by heading right from the room with the parrot.
  • One was added in the Palace of Shadow leading from the Depths room before the Shadow Queen south of the save block back to the entrance of the palace at the bottom middle of the entrance room to cut backtracking. It appears after dying to the boss or clearing the game. If it does not appear, the player must restart the game and load the save. Mario's active partner will comment on the new pipe's appearance in the room.

Save and Recovery Blocks

• Just like Paper Mario: Color Splash onward, when hitting a Save Block, the game no longer asks whether to save or not.
  • This also applies when the game transitions to each character segment and when the game is completed.
• New Save Blocks have been added or relocated:
  • The one near the pedestal of The Thousand-Year Door is moved to the entrance of the Pit of 100 Trials.
  • The one in the first area of Boggly Woods is moved to the second area, allowing the player to save before the Three Shadows fight.
  • One appears in the third area of Twilight Trail, past the fallen tree.
  • The Save Block in Creepy Steeple's main room has been moved to the room with the spiral stairway.
  • One appears outside the derelict ship that houses a Black Chest in Pirate's Grotto.
  • One appears on Sublevel Two of the X-Naut Fortress, just east of the elevator doorway.
  • One appears in the Palace of Shadow in the round room, replacing the ? Block left of the Badge Block that originally contained only one coin.
• New recovery blocks have also been added:
  • One appears in the third floor of Hooktail Castle and costs 10 coins to use.
  • One appears at the entrance to the Pit of 100 Trials, next to the new Save Block.
  • One appears in a tall chamber in the Pirate's Grotto next to the Save Block.
  • One appears in the outdoor section of Riverside Station.
  • One appears at the easternmost part the Fire Bar section of the Palace of Shadow, costing 20 coins to use.
• The Save Block and recovery block in the Palace of Shadow's courtyard have switched spots, with the recovery block now on the west side of the canal and the Save Block now to the east of the canal.
• The cost to use the recovery block in the factory of X-Naut Fortress has increased from 10 coins to 20, matching the cost of the one at the front entrance.

Trouble Center

• The Newsletter... Trouble is only available after clearing Chapter 7 instead of after Chapter 4.
• For the Try to find me! Trouble, Koopook is found below the third floor in Hooktail Castle instead of on the fifth floor.
• For the Important thing! Trouble, Frankie's Wedding Ring is on top of the wall beside Frankly's house (where it is in the Japanese GameCube version) instead of on the ground near Garf's house.
• The amount of coins rewarded for several Troubles have been changed:
  • All Troubles that originally rewarded Mario with twenty coins (Need a key!, Safe delivery..., Competitor research!, Find this guy!, I can't speak!, and Roust these cads!) reward him with thirty coins instead.
  • After completing the Life Mushroom! Trouble, the Puni elder rewards Mario with fifty coins instead of sixty coins.

Skippable cutscenes

• Cutscenes that have already played out before can be skipped with . These scenes include:
  • Zess T.'s cooking sequences after the player's first recipe.
  • Resting sequences, although only if the player has previously rested at a particular spot.
  • The beginning of a Glitz Pit match the player has already competed in that is not special (like a first time rematch).
  • Boss cutscenes if the player had a Game Over from that fight.
  • Powering up with Merlon and Chet Rippo.
  • The effect of a charm spell in a battle.
  • Sailing the Black Skull.
  • The Excess Express starting and stopping.
  • Entering and leaving the Palace of Shadow through the Thousand-Year Door.
  • Most of the Game Over screen.

By location

Rogueport

• Hitting cockroaches with Mario's hammer or jumping on them awards one coin. In the original game, they were non-interactable.
• The garbage pail in Professor Frankly's house can be interacted with from the beginning of the game.
• One-time items sold in the Toad Bros. Bazaar, such as the Contact Lens, always replace the Fright Mask sold at the shop until they are purchased instead of the Mushroom.
• The Lovely Howz of Badges has a box at the end of the counter that stores badges sold at the shop that aren't currently on display on the counter. Mario can interact with the box to purchase these badges, but their prices are inflated compared to their display prices.

Rogueport Underground

• Merluvlee can provide her predictions as soon as Mario first enters Rogueport Underground without requiring the player to visit The Thousand-Year Door first.
• Dazzle is found on the opposite side of the fallen pillar outside of Merluvlee's house, although he will return to his location from the original game after the player visits The Thousand-Year Door.

Pianta Parlor

• The minigame machines have been changed from slot minigames to sliding minigames similar to the Spade Panel minigame from Super Mario Bros. 3.
• The player is no longer required to beat certain high-scores from the minigames, as they now keep track of the player's own high-scores instead of the defaults.
• Pianta tokens are no longer given or taken by Lahla at the Pianta Parlor.
• All but three of the Pianta token prices in the redeem shop have been changed: Refund and Super Appear costs 60 Piantas instead of 34, Power Jump and Power Smash cost 80 Piantas instead of 34, FP Plus and HP Plus cost 150 Piantas instead of 100, Multibounce costs 100 Piantas instead of 50, HP Plus P costs 160 Piantas instead of 200, Gold Bar x3 costs 600 Piantas instead of 234, Power Rush and Power Rush P cost 100 Piantas instead of 34, Hammer Throw costs 120 Piantas instead of 50, Tornado Jump and Quake Hammer cost 150 Piantas instead of 67, Jammin' Jelly and Ultra Mushroom cost 80 Piantas instead of 67, and Money Money costs 450 Piantas instead of 234.

Petal Meadows

• The pillars meant to contain the Sun Stone and the Moon Stone and the rock-covered Warp Pipe can be interacted with as soon as Mario and Goombella arrive in the area, with Goombella notifying Mario that the pillars look like something should be placed inside of their indentations and that the rock "kind of reminds me of a pipe."
• Higher hills have replaced invisible walls in the background to prevent Mario and his partner from moving off-screen.

Petalburg

• A red Toad who was originally positioned outside the shop is inside it and gives advice about POW Blocks on Mario's first visit.

Path to Shhwonk Fortress

• In the first area, there is a large bush from which a Koopa Troopa emerges, initiating an ambush battle that serves as a tutorial for audience thrown items in battle and stage props falling on party members or enemies. If the player equips a badge that affects battles, either one from Dazzle or the Pretty Lucky badge found in a hidden block in the Rogueport Underground, the game will softlock after this tutorial.
• Inside the mini fortresses, the player fights the Bald Clefts and Bristles by using the Hammer to knock them off their pedestals instead of interacting with the pedestals. The player can still interact with the pedestals, but doing so only leads to Goombella hinting that Mario should hit the pedestals with his Hammer to fight the enemies.
• The door in the room with the Bristles can be interacted with, contrary to the original game.

Shhwonk Fortress

• Mario receives his first email on the Mailbox SP immediately upon leaving the fortress instead of in Petalburg like in the original game. Goombella also provides the player with a tutorial on how emails work instead of a tutorial text box.

Hooktail Castle

• The Dull Bones horde push Mario out into the previous room instead of outside the entire castle.
• The ceiling spikes no longer kill Mario before the timer reaches 0.

Glitzville

• The hotdog cutout standee next to the Hot Dog Stand can be interacted with for photo ops. The photo can either be zoomed in on the standee, zoomed out to include the stand, or zoomed far enough out to include the stadium entrance. While Mario puts his head in the standee, his active partner can also appear and make an animation or a pose, with a total of three per partner.
• When chasing the jumping egg by the Hot Dog Stand, the camera locks into place rather than continuing to track Mario.

Glitz Pit

• Mario no longer goes down a rank if he loses a match unless he becomes the champion a second time and loses against Rawk Hawk in the rematch battle, where he'll then lose the champion status.
  • As a result, Mario can only fight the Wings of Night and The Destructors through exhibition matches.
• The hologram screen in the lobby functions as a menu, listing every fighter and their ranking in the Glitz Pit.
• After reserving a match, Mario can interact with the locker room doors to cause the Glitz Pit Security to immediately enter the locker room to take Mario to the match instead of the player having to wait for them to arrive like in the original game.
• The first cake gifted by Jolene no longer restores SP.
• Battle conditions are no longer given when battling Rawk Hawk. In the original game, Mario would always be given the condition of performing at least one Special Move.

Twilight Town

• Mario and his partner can now jump and walk into the pumpkin patch.
• During the search for General White in Chapter 7, Mario must talk to either Mayor Dour or the Twilighter standing near the Twilight Shop to advance the quest-line instead of talking to the Twilighter in front of the inn like in the original game.

Twilight Trail

• There is a large movable stone that blocks the entryway to the shed.
• When encountering Doopliss subsequent times after failing to guess his name the first time, an option is given to guess again or immediately escape.
• In the Japanese version, the in-game keyboard no longer has the option to switch between hiragana and katakana when the player is prompted to guess Doopliss' name, instead only having a katakana keyboard.

Creepy Steeple

• The Buzzy Beetles no longer attack the player immediately on entering the second room in the well.
• The blocks controlling the position of the stairs become inactive when hit until the other block is hit.
• Mario can jump all the way down the stairs below Doopliss's room instead of having to walk down them from top to bottom.

Keelhaul Key

• There is a switch at the top of a cliff that makes a jump pad appear as a shortcut for this area.
• The lost Wedding Ring produces a sparkly effect over the bush containing it, making its hiding spot more obvious.
• The Fuzzies in the third area remain present after clearing Chapter 5. In the original game, they disappeared from this area after clearing the chapter.
• The Flower Fuzzy on the ledge no longer gets stuck mid-air if it falls off the ledge.

Pirate's Grotto

• A new ambush battle occurs when the player reaches the Bill Blaster corridor room's eastern exit after obtaining the boat transformation.
• A Toad shopkeeper with orange spots on his cap is found at the end and can also be found just outside the shore before the fight with Lord Crump.
• After completing Chapter 5, the barrels in the area where Mario rescued shipwrecked Toads respawn, allowing the player to more easily access the other areas of the Grotto instead of having to backtrack to the entrance.

Excess Express

• The note that Beldam leaves is an inventory item called the Threatening Note.
• After clearing Chapter 6, when riding on the Excess Express, the player is given the option to either stop at Riverside Station or travel directly to the destination point (Poshley Heights or Rogueport). In the original game, the player was forced to stop at Riverside Station first.

Riverside Station

• The four turning colored platforms in the Machinery Room stop in a preset pattern. The pattern for which the player must use to cross them is as follows: yellow, green, pink, green, pink, blue.

Poshley Heights

• After obtaining the Garnet Star, the player no longer needs to exit the Poshley Sanctum to trigger the Peach intermission. It is instead triggered after the conversation with Pennington after emerging from the Warp Pipe from the painting.

X-Naut Fortress

• There are four Security Keys and card terminals for Sublevel Three instead of three like in the original game. A new purple Security Key replaces the blue one originally there, with the latter now appearing in the restroom of Sublevel Four.
  • The Elite X-Naut battle in the restroom is an ambush battle instead of a regular battle. It must be won to obtain the blue Security Key.

Palace of Shadow

• The camera pans over the edges of the first lake bridge, revealing items to the player.
• In the torch maze room, the torches on the left side can be lit, requiring the player to backtrack several times for the puzzle to be solved.
• The doors inside the Tower cannot be opened until the player inserts the Star Stone into the slot at the top of the tower.
• Solving the puzzles requiring Flurrie and Bobbery in their respective rooms in the Palace of Shadow Tower reveal blue ! Blocks to make the treasure chests containing Tower Keys appear. In the original game, solving the riddles just revealed the treasure chests.
• The block the Ultra Hammer is required to smash is more obviously hidden.

Pit of 100 Trials

• Should the player get a Game Over on any floor, they are given the option to repeat that floor rather than being forced to start from the beginning.

Intermissions

• When Peach dances with her hologram, the player must hold the indicated buttons instead of just pressing them. is also a possible button that appears.
• When Peach enters Grodus's room while disguised as an X-Naut, she is no longer able to roam freely around the room and Grodus is now standing by his chair instead of in the middle of the room.
• When pausing during Bowser intermissions that involve traversing a level, the player can pause gameplay or retry the level. Selecting retry restarts the level on the next life.

Item changes

• The player can hold fifteen items in their inventory by default instead of ten like in the original game. The Strange Sack item still increases the item capacity to twenty, however.
• The coin limit has increased from 999 coins to 9,999 coins. In turn, Hooktail now makes a false offer to grant Mario 10,000 coins instead of 1,000, and, when the Money Money badge is equipped, the max number of coins per battle has increased from 32 to 99. In addition, if Mario gives Lumpy the maximum amount of 300 coins prior to the end of Chapter 4, he will receive the full amount of 999 coins from Lumpy after the end of Chapter 6 even if he already has coins on hand, unless he already has over 9,000 coins on hand.
• Charlieton appears in Boggly Woods to sell his wares, including Mushrooms, Honey Syrups, Fire Flowers, Sleepy Sheep, POW Blocks, and Mini Mr. Minis.
• The player can use an item from the inventory or immediately use a new picked up item if picking up a new item when the inventory is full.
• Some badges' sell prices have changed.
• In the Happy Lucky Lottery, the top prize badges Lucky Day and Power Plus are switched.
• Item shops show the quantity of the player's consumable items and their shop points when talking to a shopkeeper.
  • Multiple items can be stored/withdrawn at once.
• Some of Charlieton's item prices in Rogueport have increased.
• Some of Charlieton's items in the Pit of 100 Trials have changed. He sells Ultra Mushrooms instead of Super Mushrooms and Jammin' Jelly instead of Maple Syrup.
• Any Zess T.-made items the player obtains outside Zess T.'s kitchen, such as Trouble rewards, are added to the Recipes list regardless of whether the player has already made them or not.
• To accommodate for the addition of the Warp Pipe Room, the Shine Sprite and the FP Plus badge from the original rooms are located behind a large yellow block and a large stone block respectively at the back of the Warp Pipe Room.
• The Trial Stew can be made by cooking a Thunder Bolt with a Thunder Rage in addition to cooking a Couple's Cake with a Poison Mushroom, matching the Japanese version of the original game.

Regular items

• The Life Mushroom revives Mario if he loses all of his HP on the field in addition to doing so in battles.
• The selection of items for the Mystery Box was changed to Mushroom, Honey Syrup, Stopwatch, Repel Cape, Fire Flower, Shooting Star and Thunder Rage. Later chapters replace Mushroom and Honey Syrup with their upgraded forms.
• The locations of some regular items on the field have changed:
  • Glitz Pit: The Ice Storm item in the major league locker room is hidden inside one of the western lockers instead of behind them.
  • Keelhaul Key: Keel Mangos can be obtained during Chapter 5 rather than only being obtainable after its completion, like in the Japanese GameCube version. However, they cannot be used to trade for the Chuckola Cola.
  • Riverside Station: The Dried Mushroom in the maze room is relocated from inside the bin on higher ground to inside the bin on the lowest ground near the jump pad.
• Regular items have been added on the field:
  • Glitz Pit: A Hot Dog, on top of a ladder in the back corridor.
  • Glitz Pit: A Power Punch, hidden inside one of the western lockers in the major league locker room.
  • Glitz Pit: A Dizzy Dial, hidden inside one of the western lockers in the minor league locker room.
  • Glitz Pit: Single coins, hidden inside three different lockers in the blue minor league locker room. They cannot be obtained after the player uses the toilet to leave the blue major league room.
  • Glitz Pit: A Life Mushroom, hidden inside one of the east lockers in the blue major league room. It cannot be obtained after the player uses the toilet to leave the blue major league room.
  • Twilight Town: A Fire Flower, from the lowest leftmost bush in the first scene.
  • Pirate's Grotto: A treasure chest containing a Super Mushroom, in the room with the Black Chest.
  • Riverside Station: An Ice Storm, hidden behind a blowable poster east of the entrance in the scene.
  • Riverside Station: In the maze area, a Super Mushroom is now inside the garbage bin on high ground, replacing the Dried Mushroom originally there.
  • Riverside Station: An Ice Storm, a Super Mushroom, a Spite Pouch, and a Thunder Rage, hidden behind blowable posters on the lower part of the Deck.
  • Poshley Sanctum: A Boo's Sheet, on the east side in the hidden area, at the highest level, on a Coin Block (breakable with a Spin Jump).
  • The Moon: An Ultra Mushroom, in a breakable rock in the northeast on the first screen right of the landing site.
  • The Moon: A Maple Syrup, in a breakable rock in the west on the second screen right of the landing site.
  • The Moon: A POW Block, in a breakable rock in the southwest on the screen with the X-Naut Fortress in the background.
  • The Moon: A Maple Syrup, in a breakable rock in the east on the second screen left of the landing site, replacing a Ruin Powder originally there.
  • X-Naut Fortress: An Ultra Mushroom, in the scene to the right of sublevel 3 on the right high platform.
  • Palace of Shadow: A Shooting Star, at the eastern end of the first bridge room.
  • Palace of Shadow: A ? Block containing an Ice Storm, in the third (non-collapsed) corridor to Gloomtail's lair. Becomes unobtainable after activating the orrery in the tower.
  • Palace of Shadow: A Thunder Rage and a Mr. Softener, behind the platforms in both the left and right corners of the room.

? Blocks

• Riverside Station: In the Deck with the sunshine, a lone ? Block that was previously empty and only served to reach a hidden block was given a single coin.
• Palace of Shadow: The ? Block containing a Repel Cape is now on the ground instead of originally being in the air.
• New ? Blocks have been added.
  • Shhwonk Fortress: Two ? Block containing a Mushroom and a Fire Flower, to the leftmost and rightmost areas, respectively.
  • Twilight Trail: Two ? Blocks containing a Mushroom and a Super Mushroom, in the second area.
  • Riverside Station: A ? Block containing an Ice Storm, above a gear in the gear room.
  • Riverside Station: A ? Block containing a Maple Syrup, near the bottom of the room with the sunset, before the hidden door.
  • Poshley Sanctum: Two ? Blocks containing a Thunder Rage and a Mystery, in the first room.
  • Poshley Sanctum: A ? Block containing one coin below the Boo's Sheet.
  • Palace of Shadow: Three ? Blocks containing containing a Fire Flower, an Ultra Mushroom, and a Jammin' Jelly, in the antechamber of the Palace of Shadow.
• The items inside some ? Blocks have been changed from the original game.
  • X-Naut Fortress: An Ultra Mushroom replaces the Super Mushroom in the ? Block in the Level One trap room.
  • Palace of Shadow: A Mr. Softener replaces the Shooting Star in the ? Block in the first descending stairway room.
  • Palace of Shadow: An Ice Storm replaces the Jammin' Jelly in the ? Block right of the red ? Block.
  • Palace of Shadow: Three ? Blocks containing a Gradual Syrup, a Shooting Star, and a Mystery, replace the two blocks containing an Ultra Mushroom and Jammin' Jelly in the secret room east of Gloomtail's lair.
  • Palace of Shadow: A ? Block containing a Power Punch replaces the Life Mushroom in Gear Room One.

Hidden Blocks

• New hidden blocks have been added:
  • Pirate's Grotto: A second support block east of the sluice gate controls, in the area with the Save and recovery blocks; used to create a two-block bridge with another hidden block for reaching an out of reach Shine Sprite.
  • Pirate's Grotto: One containing a Super Mushroom in the second lower stone platform near the Black Skull. This item becomes unobtainable after Cortez decides to help Mario and his friends fight the X-Nauts just after completing Chapter 5.
  • Riverside Station: One containing a Super Mushroom in the Records Room, at the end of the middle ledge on the right.
  • Rogueport Underground: Two on the top of Herb T.'s building: one containing a Power Plus P badge on the northeastern part of its roof and one containing an Ultra Mushroom on the northwestern corner of the roof.
  • Palace of Shadow: Two in the courtyard, at the tower's entryway: one containing a Jammin' Jelly on the left side of the tower's base and one containing an Ultra Mushroom on the right side of the tower's base.

Star Pieces

• Some Star Pieces were moved:
  • Rogueport: The one behind the pipe that leads to the Cheep Blimp was moved to the right, under a panel uncovered with a Spin Jump.
  • Creepy Steeple: The Star Piece in the back of the treasure room behind a hole to the north of the entrance was moved behind a barrel to the left.
  • Excess Express: The panel containing the Star Piece in cabin 004 was moved to the center.

Shine Sprites

• Some Shine Sprites were moved:
  • Pirate's Grotto: A Shine Sprite was moved since Mario can hammer directly towards the player's position. In the next room, coins were added on the boat panel.

X-Naut Fortress crane game

• and operate the crane controls, instead of the GameCube original’s and .
• Upon returning to the X-Naut Fortress in the post-game, there are four batches of items that randomly appear in the crane game. To make the next batch appear, the player must collect every item in the current batch, leave the X-Naut Fortress, and return to it.
  • The first batch contains a POW Block, Sleepy Sheep, Courage Shell, Mr. Softener, and five coins.
  • The second batch contains a Volt Mushroom, Dizzy Dial, Power Punch, Mini Mr. Mini, and five coins.
  • The third batch contains a Slow Mushroom, Super Mushroom, Maple Syrup, Gradual Syrup, and five coins.
  • The fourth batch contains a Ruin Powder, Stop Watch, Gold Bar, HP Drain, Spite Pouch, and four coins.

Badge changes

• The First Attack badge costs 0 BP to equip, down from 1 BP.
• The Hammer Throw badge does 2 piercing damage instead of dealing regular hammer damage. Its description was changed to match.

Text and localization changes

• The game has been translated into Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, and Korean. The original game was not available in these five languages since, at the time, Nintendo of Europe did not do Dutch localizations, Nintendo of America localized games into English only (not French or Spanish), Nintendo of Hong Kong did not exist yet, and the game was not among the 27 GameCube titles released in South Korea. Furthermore, even if the game had been released in South Korea, GameCube games in the region were generally only available in English.
• Text is vertically centered within text boxes. In the original game, text was aligned to the top of the box. Some text has also been reformatted due to the higher screen resolution allowing for more text per line.
• Some additional portions of dialogue incorporate icons on the right side, such as icons for Star Points and Professor Frankly.
• In the Italian version, chapters were called "Scena", or scenes; this is changed to "Capitolo", chapters. Additionally, the chapter numbers are written with Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals, and chapter 4's name is changed from "Per chi suona la campana" to "Per chi suina la campana" (both translate to "For Whom the Bell Tolls", but the latter contains a pun with "suona", tolls, and "suina", swine).
• Obtaining a new item now says "You got [item]", to avoid typos such as "You got a Super Boots".
• The "END OF CHAPTER" text that displays when collecting a Crystal Star has been replaced with "CLEARED!".
• Due to the addition of the Partner Hint system, several of Goombella's Field Tattles are rewritten to remove hints that are accessible through Partner Hints instead. For example, her tattles in Hooktail Castle no longer emphasize using Koops to overcome obstacles.
• Ages for characters are omitted from RDM e-mail messages in the English version.

Title screen

• The game's logo in international regions has been redesigned to more closely resemble the Japanese logo of the original game. Conversely, the Japanese logo is primarily written in English, matching the design conventions of the series's Japanese logos from Super Paper Mario onward.
  • The title screen and the shot of the boat in the ocean use a horizontal logo in international regions, similar to entries since Super Paper Mario.
  • By extension, the box art in international regions is based on the Japanese box art of the original game.
• New files are labeled as "From the beginning" rather than "New Game".

Names

• The Yoshi is referred to as Yoshi Kid in areas such as the name of his theme in the soundtrack.
• The number "3" in the name of the Traveling Sisters Three is written out rather than written as a number.
• The separate Latin American and Castilian Spanish translations mean some characters have different names between the two versions. For example, Swindell is named Fraudio in Latin American Spanish and Serrallonga in Castilian Spanish.
• Charlieton's Castilian Spanish name, Ahmed, has been changed to "M. Baucador" (a pun on embaucador, "trickster"), likely due to the negative implications behind giving a shady salesman character an Arabic name. His Italian name, Tel-arub, has also been changed to Rubicone.
• In the Castilian Spanish localization, Rawk Hawk is named "Halcomán" rather than "Hawk Hogan" (this also carries over to the new Latin American Spanish localization).
• Dupree's Castilian Spanish name has been changed from Afro to Rolfunk. His French name, Belvis, has also been changed to Zeking.
• The cannon in Fahr Outpost is named "Big Bob" rather than just the "big bomb cannon".
• Enemies originally written with abbreviations have their full names displayed at all times.
• The names of the Blooper's L. Tentacle and R. Tentacle have been swapped to match their positions from the viewer's perspective rather than that of the Blooper, and are now referred to in full as the "Left Tentacle" and "Right Tentacle".
• Any Shroom-based recipe has been renamed to use "Mushroom" instead of "Shroom".
• In the original game, items in some translations had abbreviated names due to character constraints, such as the Red Key in German, which is written as Schl. (rot) instead of Schlüssel (rot). In the remake, the full names are written out.
• In the Italian version, the name of the University of Goom is changed to accommodate its rename in Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

Grammar and style

• In the English version:
  • Most instances of excessive punctuation marks have been reduced and most heart and star icons in dialogue are no longer present.
  • All instances of two hyphens and semicolons, as well as some instances of commas and colons in dialogue, have been replaced with em dashes (—).
  • Every instance of "e-mail" has been changed to "email".
  • Several other words and phrases have had hyphens or commas removed or added.

Corrections

• Several translation errors, typos, and continuity errors from the original game have been fixed:
  • Kooskoos to Koopa Koot.
  • Mushville and Mushroom Town to Toad Town.
  • Goomstar Temple to Crystal Palace.
  • Bubu to Li'l Oinks.
  • The Spiny Eggs Sky-Blue Spinies come out of are correctly referred to as such instead of as "pipes".
  • The Tattle for Paragloomba correctly states it is a stronger version of a Paragoomba instead of a Parakoopa.
  • An instance of "Chomp Chomp" in the Tattle for Chain Chomp has been corrected.
  • The Tattle for Koopa Troopa includes its stats information ("Max HP is 4, Attack is 2 and Defense is 1."), which was missing in the original game.
  • In the North American localization of the GameCube original, the Tattle for Red Spike Top stated its Defense was 5 instead of 4 and the Tattle for Rawk Hawk stated his Attack was 3 and his Defense was 1 instead of 4 and 0 respectively. Both of these errors have been corrected in the remake's North American localization.
  • Any instance of Yoshi Kid calling Mario by his actual name instead of Gonzales before the ending has been corrected.
  • Ghost T.'s dialogue after completing his quest has been updated to "The wood paneling's so great." as opposed to "The wallpaper's so great.", which was likely a translation error given his cabin, like all cabins on the train, has wood paneling and not wallpaper.
  • Peach's emails have been slightly altered to better align with the actual story developments in her intermissions:
    • In her first email, Peach states that the X-Nauts "may be aware" that Mario has the map rather than that they "are already aware" and she does not encourage Mario to collect the Crystal Stars, as she has already learned that Mario collected the first.
    • In her third email, Peach states that the X-Nauts are seeking the Crystal Stars to claim the legendary treasure, as she had learned this from Grodus (she previously stated that she did not know what the Crystal Stars did).
    • In her fourth email, Peach states that the X-Nauts plan to "unseal" the demon's spirit held behind the Thousand-Year Door rather than "revive" it.
  • Lakitu's log description has "Spiny eggs" capitalized properly as "Spiny Eggs."
  • Hammer Bro's log description says "vicious and relentless hammer lobs" instead of "jobs."
  • The Iron Adonis Twins are correctly referred to by this name in all dialogue in English. In the original game, certain instances of dialogue incorrectly refer to them by their descriptor "The Armored Harriers".
  • The Goomba Bros. are consistently titled "the Meteorite Hardheads"; in the original game, they were mistakenly titled "the Hoppin' Hardheads" when first introduced.
  • Little Mousers are called by this name, rather than being called Squeeks like in the original game.
  • Gloomer is always referred to by his proper name instead of as "Freddy" when he is first met.
  • The "Special Final Issue!" section in the final regular RDM email is included in the English localization, which had been lost in translation in the original game.
  • Goombella's Tattle for the parrot in Creepy Steeple is now functional ("That's Doopliss's parrot. Seems like he's been abandoned down here... Poor little guy..."). In the original game, the text was present but unused, with Goombella instead continuing to give the Tattle for the room if the player used Tattle on the parrot.
  • In the German and Spanish versions, the translation error where Toadette was incorrectly referred to using the name of Vanna T. from the first Paper Mario (which was likely due to the two characters sharing the same name in Japanese) has been corrected.
  • In the original game's English localization, when the player decides whether or not to attack Grodus after he strikes Mario and his partner with lightning, Grodus's responses were erroneously switched: he said "WORM! You dare defy me?!?" if the player selected "Don't attack", and "Stop your blubbering!" if the player selected "Attack". This was corrected in the remake's English localization so that Grodus gives the appropriate responses to Mario's actions.

Descriptions

• The descriptions of many usable items and badges have been clarified or had false information removed.
  • In the original game, the descriptions of the Thunder Bolt and Thunder Rage falsely claimed that they could stun enemies. In the remake, this was fixed and changed to say that they deal 5 damage to enemies.
  • The description for the Shooting Star no longer says it can confuse enemies, with this being replaced with specifying how much damage it does.
  • The description for the Earth Quake says it can also hit enemies on ceilings and that it does 5 damage.
  • The Hot Sauce's description specifies what effect the item has when used.
  • The Cake Mix's description says that it can be consumed to restore FP.
  • The Icicle Pop's description correctly states that it can be consumed to heal 15 FP instead of 10 HP like in the original game.
  • The Zess Frappe's description correctly states that it can be consumed to heal 20 FP instead of 20 HP like in the original game.
  • The Fright Mask's description has been changed to mention that the item does not always succeed.
  • Any instances of "your" or "allies" referring to an item's effect has been changed to "a party member," since they apply to either Mario and his partner.
  • The wording of "Wearing two or more of these badges requires more FP for the Attack power." has been changed to "Wearing two or more of these badges increases the Attack power, but the move will require more FP." to be more clear.
  • Power Bounce lists how many recorded bounces in a row Mario has, rather than it being written on the sign outside the Pit of 100 Trials.
  • Tornado Jump's description is more specific, saying "can deal additional damage to all midair enemies" rather than "can damage all midair enemies."
  • The new descriptions specify when an effect is temporary.
  • The description for the Up Arrow says it should be given to "somebody... super" rather than merely "somebody", giving a clearer hint toward its purpose (that it should be given to Merlon to allow him to upgrade partners from Super Rank to Ultra Rank).
  • Badges have longer descriptions that appear in the Badge List.
• Yellow Blocks, Stone Blocks, and Metal Blocks are written in title case rather than sentence case. The bigger versions are now called Big Yellow Block and Big Stone Block.
• The ? Blocks that hold badges are now called Red ? Blocks.

Character dialogue and story

• Dupree and Cortez's dialogue in the English version incorporates a larger variety of French and Spanish words and phrases, respectively, often accompanied with their English translations, rather than just a few simple untranslated words and phrases. For example, instead of "Sacre bleu!", Dupree now says "Je suis blessé—I am wounded!", and instead of "You are foolish, amigo! For I do not live!", Cortez says "Estúpido! You are foolish indeed! For I do not live!".
  • The French and Spanish words in their dialogue now have their proper accents, such as Cortez saying "You rattle my bones, Senor Peacock!" being corrected to "You rattle my bones, Señor Peacock!".
  • Dupree's stereotypical mock French spellings of English words are changed to their proper English spellings.

Rogueport

• In the original game, when Mario enters the town square of Rogueport for the first time, Goombella states that she is merely a "Student at the University of Goom", while in the remake, she specifically states that she is a junior at the school.
• The line "To find the treasure of yore, take the seven Crystal Stars to the Thousand-Year Door" was said by Goombella in the original game, but in the remake, it is said by Professor Frankly instead.
• Professor Frankly no longer says "And you there! In front of the TV!" but instead "In front of the screen!" to account for the player possibly playing in handheld mode. In turn, Mario's partners' responses to this line also no longer mention the word "TV".
• When Swindell robs Mario of half of his coins, Goombella's dialogue is changed from "Mario! You gotta wake up! That guy just stole half your coins! That is SO lame! Ugh! I HATE this town!" to "The guy bumps into you and just runs off like that... Unbelievable! Some people are so RUDE!". Therefore, the only indication that Swindell has stolen from Mario is the decreasing visual of the coin counter. This change was likely made to align with Goombella's Tattle for Swindell, which claims that he's never actually been seen stealing from anyone despite having the reputation of being a thief.
• When Professor Frankly finishes his research on how to go to the Moon, Goombella notifies Mario of this.
• Ms. Mowz no longer describes her own abilities in her partner primer after she joins Mario's party, with the controls for her abilities being given by blue textboxes similar to those of other party members.
• Rather than Jerry being traumatized over seeing Luigi in a dress, he says that Luigi wore stilettoes and kept tripping over them and knocking people over, so he wants to prevent that from happening again.
• In both the original English and Japanese versions, Goom Goom describing that the girl he wants would be younger than him ("Petite, younger than me, and pretty, not drop-dead hot") which university student Goombella ends up meeting, has been omitted. He instead describes his criteria as "about my age, short like me, and Goomba-shaped".
• Peeka's Tattle was changed from "That's Peeka, a Boo that works at Westside Goods. She's so pretty... for a Boo. I think her sister's Lahla, the Boo who works at the Pianta Parlor." to "That's Peeka, a Boo that works at Westside Goods. She's so pretty... and surprisingly un-shy!".

Rogueport Underground

• A scene from both the original English and Japanese versions of the group of enemy Goombas encountered early cat-calling Goombella (saying "Wassup, baby? Why don't you hang with us for a while? We play real nice!", and her defending herself saying "guys like you make me feel like TOTALLY BARFING!"), has been omitted. The dialogue now instead has the enemy Goombas insult Mario for being from the surface.
• Wonky's tale "Z Button" has been completely removed, pursuant to the removal of being able to view previous dialogue messages. As a result, Wonky has one less tale than in the original game.
• Many of Merluvlee's predictions have been modified slightly to change how she refers to the place. For example, Fahr Outpost goes from "the cold village" to "the snowy outpost" and "the train-refueling depot" to "a midpoint station where a beautiful train frequently stops." Minor corrections have also been made, such as referring to an "archway of roses" instead of a "rose hedge" in Poshley Heights, or the "chests and barrels" instead of the "chests and boxes" in Hooktail Castle's treasure room.

Petal Meadows

• The ending text on the sign to Hooktail Castle's pipes has changed from "If ye are a Petalburg Koopa, huzzah! Your HOLD ability maketh this chore a snap!" to "This challenge is easyeth-peasyeth if ye use the skill of a Petalburg Koopa!".

Petalburg

• The Toad kid who plays the next Paper Mario game summarizes it with "if you're a Luigi fan...this game will only encourage you!" instead of "if you're a Luigi fan, do NOT miss out on this one!".
• The Koopa Troopa obsessed with Princess Peach tells Mario not to touch any of the one-of-a-kind collectables inside his house instead of talking about Hooktail and the rumors of treasure hidden within her castle. A different Koopa Troopa outside discusses these rumors instead.

Path to Shhwonk Fortress

• Goombella's statement on trying to open the doors in the Path to Shhwonk Fortress is removed.

Hooktail Castle

• Hooktail's weakness is stated to be frogs instead of crickets, like in the original Japanese script. As a result, the Attack FX R badge found in Hooktail Castle, used as a weakness for Hooktail when equipped, has been replaced with Attack FX G, which now makes frog noises.
  • Due to the changes in names, Attack FX P can be purchased from Charlieton for 120 coins and the sound of Mario's attack changes of Princess Peach giggling, and Attack FX R can be purchased from the Lovely Howz of Badges after Chapter 6 for 100 coins and it changes to the sound of Bowser growling.
• When Hooktail offers to let Mario smell her feet after defeating her first phase, she no longer states that "People pay good money to do this. I'm being completely honest right now. Really."
• When Koopley emerges from Hooktail's gut, he states Hooktail used the smell of her feet to stun him when she swallowed him instead of simply stating Hooktail played a trick on him.
• Koopook says "But... since you found me this time, I'll give you what I promised." instead of "But... since you found me this time, I'll give you a reward, like I promised.".

Boggly Woods

• When Flurrie's door is locked, Mario's partner makes a comment. Goombella and Koops both have extra lines suggesting Flurrie could be out of the house:
  • Goombella: "Oh, huh. Maybe the owner is out right now. Should we go back or what?" instead of "Call me crazy, but I think this place is totally deserted. Should we go back or what?".
  • Koops: "Hey, I don't think anyone's home. The owner must be out right now... Maybe we should take off." instead of "Hey, I don't think anyone's home. It's too quiet... Maybe we should take off.".

The Great Tree

• Goombella's Tattle on Magnus von Grapple has an extra comment: after she says, "The thing about this robot is I can't tell if it looks cool or really, REALLY stupid...", she adds, "And we're not even going to discuss the color.".

Glitz Pit

• King K's line about hot dogs has changed. In the original game, he says "Hey, man, check this: I heard the Hot Dog Stand outside's gettin' a new menu item. Yeah, sounds like it's some crazy Hot Dog made with an egg from a southern island. Some fool was even sayin' the Hot Dog'll help you win fights! You oughta snack out on one!". In the remake, he says "Hey, man, check this—I heard the hot-dog stand outside's gettin' a new menu item that uses a Mystic Egg! Did you know? Their Hot Dogs can restore your HP and FP during a match. That's some serious nutrish! I'm not sponsored—YET—just excited about some probably-amazing Hot Dogs! You oughta snack out on one!".
• King K's comment on seeing Jolene at the juice shop has been rewritten to be less flirty. In the original game, he says "Hey, you hear the latest, G-dog? My boys said they saw a STUNNIN' babe havin' a juice at the Fresh Juice Shop. King K could use a little shortie in his life, dig? Check her out for me, man!". In the remake, he says "Did you hear the latest, G-man? My boys said they saw a STUNNIN' babe havin' a juice at the fresh-juice shop. She likes juice... I like juice... We already have so much in common! Check her out for me, man!".
• In the Castilian Spanish localization, Rawk Hawk's line "¡Los aficionadillos deberían quedarse en casa jugando al 'Super Smash Bros. Melee'!" ("The weaklings should stay home playing Super Smash Bros. Melee!") is changed to "¡Los aficionadillos deberían quedarse en casa jugando al «Super Smash Bros.»!" ("The weaklings should stay home playing Super Smash Bros.!").
• In the Japanese script, Rawk Hawk's title has been changed from 「人間原子力はつでんしょ」 ("The Human Nuclear Reactor") to 「金色の　ぼうそうはつでんき」 ("The Golden Uncontrollable Generator"); this is likely due to nuclear power generation being a controversial topic in Japan after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Likewise in the English script, his title has been changed from "The Feral Nuclear Reactor" to "The Golden Grandstander".

Twilight Trail

• The Amazee Dayzee's tattle log entry has part of it changed from "Since it has such a high amount of HP, and because it's so quick to run away, this creature is almost impossible to beat." to "It has high HP and is quick to run away. Something good might happen if you can defeat it!".

Creepy Steeple

• Goombella has a new Field Tattle for the belfry following the completion of Chapter 4 ("This is the belfry of Creepy Steeple. Every time this bell rung, a villager would be turned into a pig...").

Keelhaul Key

• Lord Crump no longer says "And hey! You! Out there in front of the TV! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" but instead "And hey! You! Out there in front of the screen! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" to account for the player possibly playing in handheld mode. In turn, Mario's partners' responses to this line also no longer mention the word "TV".
• The last line in Goombella's Field Tattle for the jungle has been changed from "I think there's an invisible block here somewhere, so why don't you look for it?" to "Let's keep our eyes open as we explore this place! You never know what might pop out...".
• In the original game, when interacting with the rock in which the Skull Gem fits, a blue textbox appeared to explain that the rock has a hole that looks like something might fit inside before Mario's active partner wonders about what could fit in the hole. In the remake, Mario's active partner comments on the rock without the blue textbox appearing.

Fahr Outpost

• The Bob-ombs no longer incorporate "Da" into their explosion catchphrases, possibly in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the time of the game's release.

Palace of Shadow

• The unique messages from the plaques in the Palace of Shadow Tower have been changed in the English version. After all Tower Keys have been used, the messages are then shown on the screen, arranged in a poem: "The stars up in the heavens shone; Carrying the lore of the sky; Carrying secrets from on high; By skill and might, engraved in stone. Stones to rival the celestial spheres; The seven hewn by a fell hand; Feared far and wide across the land; Master of shadow, queen of fear."
  • The messages now appear on the top line of text on the plaques instead of being in the center line in the original game. The messages are also colored in light blue text instead of dark blue.
• When Bowser picks a fight with Mario in the Palace of Shadow, he declares that he will take the Crystal Stars instead of the treasure.
• Grodus has a new line before reviving the Shadow Queen stating that the Crystal Stars will undo the seal placed on her coffin. His final line has been changed such that he is struck down by the Shadow Queen mid-sentence: "Or I will send you back to the depths—"

Epilogue

• On the ride back home, Peach says "Maybe I shouldn't wander off by myself quite so often." instead of "Maybe I should listen to Toadsworth and behave more like a princess from now on..."
• In the ending cutscene, when Goombella visits Vivian, the text was changed from "Vivian's gone back to hang out with her sisters. Family is important after all..." to "Vivian's gone back to hang out with her sisters. She wants to give them another chance.".

Intermissions

• Certain dialogue was altered in the Chapter 5 intermission. When Peach is made invisible, TEC-XX states that her dress still being visible is a "tactical error". Unlike in the original game, he does not explicitly ask for Peach to remove her dress. Because of this, Peach does not object to being forced to undress and instead does so by her own volition.

Email

• Koopook refers to himself as The Hide-'n'-Seek Koopa instead of the The Hide 'n' Seek Koopa in his email to Mario.
• Zip Toad's email is sent from "Zip Toad (Verified)" rather than "The Real Zip Toad", and the subject line is "What's up!" rather than "!".

Trivia Quiz-Off

• The 65th Super Fun Quirk Quiz is renamed to the 65th Trivia Quiz-Off, matching the 64th Trivia Quiz-Off from Paper Mario. Likewise, the 66th Annual Quirk Quiz is renamed to the 66th Trivia Quiz-Off.
• For the first question of the 65th Trivia Quiz-Off, the answer "Stone Keys" has been changed to "Sun and Moon Stones." to accomodate their new names.
• For the second question of the 65th Trivia Quiz-Off, the Thwomp asks how much a Mushroom and Fire Flower cost total at Petalburg instead of a Mr. Softener and Fire Flower, matching the original script.

Terms and insults

The term "Airhead"

• Uses of the term "airhead" in the original have been replaced.
  • Lord Crump's insult to Goombella in the prologue has been changed from "Oh come off it, you airhead!" to "Oh come off it! I know you're a nosy book nerd[...]".
  • The insult Bowser uses to address Kammy Koopa is changed from "AIRHEAD!!!" to "LUNKHEAD!" during his intermission after completing Chapter 1.

The term "Dork"

• Uses of the term "dork" in the original have been replaced.
  • When the player talks to Goom Goom with the Yoshi Kid as the active partner for the Looking for a gal! Trouble, the Yoshi Kid now calls Goom Goom a bozo instead of a dork.
  • When first meeting Dupree in Petalburg in Chapter 1, Goombella refers to him as "Bozo the Chump" instead of "Bozo the Dork."
  • If Koops is Mario's active partner when meeting Ms. Mowz in the Glitz Pit storeroom, Koops now states "Too bad I sound like such a nerd whenever I talk to her." after Ms. Mowz leaves instead of "Too bad I sound like such a dork whenever I talk to her."
  • When Lord Crump throws the Superbombomb at Bowser and his army during the post-Chapter 5 Bowser intermission, he now states "Eat this, turtle dolts!" instead of "Eat this, turtle dorks!".

The term "Spook"

• Some uses of the term "spook" have been replaced. This is likely due to the word's alternative use as an Ethnic slur.
  • Grubba no longer says "What in the hey?!? Dang ceilin' is spookin' me!"
  • Ghost T's email replaces "Long time, no spook! It is I, the spirit from the Excess Express!" with "Your inbox is now haunted by me, the spirit you met on the Excess Express!"
  • However, Bowser still says Twilight Town is "spooking [him] out," and the word "spooky" is always left intact.

Goombella's comments regarding Ms. Mowz

• When meeting Ms. Mowz in Chapter 1 in Hooktail Castle, Goombella originally saying "You little flirt!" and "What a flirt! Who acts so disgusting like that?" has been omitted. She instead says "Stop that smooching!" and "There's no way you'd fall for all that flirting, right, Mario?".
• Goombella no longer calls Ms. Mowz a "floozy", likely due to to its sexual and gendered nature.
  • When encountered in Chapter 2 in The Great Tree, Goombella previously said "Who do you think you are, you total floozy?". She now says "This flirting is out of control!".
  • When using Tattle in the encounter room, Goombella previously said "Ms. Mowz was here before, but I think she took the next train to Floozyville". She now says "Ms. Mowz was here before, but I think she took the next train to Flirtsville".
  • When encountered in Chapter 3 in the Glitz Pit, Goombella previously said "Are you, like, the biggest floozy or what?". She now says "Are you trying to set a world record for flirting or what?".

Body weight

• Nearly all original dialogue referring to body weight has been rewritten.
  • The Black Chest Curse in Hooktail Castle that gives Mario Paper Mode originally said "Eat a sandwich, skinny!". It now says "You'll try to jump or move and you'll probably just wobble there!".
  • The Thwomp running the first quiz calls Mario a "blockhead" instead of a "fathead" if he fails too many questions.
  • Bowser originally insulting his minion saying "I order you to do some sit-ups, Tubby", now says "I order you to do some sit-ups. And don't stop until even your hammer has abs!".
  • During Flurrie's tutorial, the line "She can also do a Body Slam in battle, squashing enemies with her...stage presence." was changed to "She can also squash enemies in battle with a Body Slam or blow them all away with Gale Force!".
  • Goombella's tattle on Macho Grubba, where she is surprised at his transformation, says "he was just regular ol' Grubba a moment ago" instead of "he used to be that chubby Grubba."
  • In the original, when Grubba expressed disbelief at his loss, he said, "Noooo... How'd this happen? How could a perfect bod like mine lose to such a chub?" In the remake, he instead says, "Noooo... How'd this happen? How could a perfect bod like mine lose to such a schlub?".
  • Issue 4 of Rogueport Today describes the Healthy Salad as "Perfect for your next gathering of herbivores," rather than "Great for dieters!".
  • The Twilighter that says he wants to be "a big ol' FAT one" rather than "a skinny pig" if he becomes a pig now simply says he wants to be "a big one" rather than "a pipsqueak pig".
  • When confronting Heff T. about the missing soup, he says "Oh, I get it! Food gets stolen and you blame ME right away with no evidence! NOT NICE!" rather than "Oh, I get it! Food gets stolen and you blame the chubby guy! NOT NICE!!!".
  • After falling through the floor in the Palace of Shadow, Bowser blames it on "Crummy ancient-tower construction" rather than suggesting he put on weight ("Have I put on weight?"). Kammy Koopa then refers to him as "His Impactfulness" rather than "His Chunkiness" in the original game.

Mental states

• Nearly all dialogue referring to mental states in the original has been rewritten. In particular, most instances of "lunatic", "psycho", "crazy", "insane", "nuts" and similar terms used as insults and/or intensifiers are replaced with non-mental alternatives. "Lame", which has been used in recent years as a slur for disabled people, was also replaced.
  • Goombella's insults to Lord Crump and the X-Nauts in the prologue have been changed from "Like I'd go anywhere with smelly lunatics like you!" and "What a bunch of loons!" to "Like I'd go anywhere with smelly losers like you!" and "What a bunch of bozos!", respectively.
  • When Goombella hears that Peach sent Mario the treasure map, she exclaims "This is wild!" instead of "This is crazy!".
  • One of the Bandits hiding out in Rogueport says his spot is perfect because "this garbage attracts flies and huge roaches by the dozen" instead of "this garbage attracts flies and huge roaches like crazy.".
  • When the Magical Map is updated for the first time, Goombella asks "And what was with all those strange lights?" instead of "And what was with all those crazy lights?".
  • During the tutorial for using Paper Mode, if the player stopped holding the button, the black chest would say "You idiot! Press and hold ! Press and hold and be ashamed!". In the remake, this line is "What are you doing?! Press and hold and be ashamed!".
  • The Toad kid in Petalburg has been playing The Thousand-Year Door "a lot" instead of "like crazy.".
  • When tattling a Bub-ulb in Petalburg, Goombella now says that he "makes more sense than than these other quirky Petalburgers" rather than "crazy Petalburgers.".
  • Goombella's tattle on the Fuzzy Horde now says "The fuzz is abuzz!" instead of "It's crazy!".
  • A sentence in Goombella's Tattle of Shhwonk Fortress has changed from "It looks pretty decent, but this place is actually insanely old, did you know that?" to "It looks pretty decent, but this place is actually suuuper old, did you know that?".
  • Koopook now refers to the day he found his calling playing hide-and-seek as a "big day" rather than a "crazy day.".
  • A sentence in Goombella's Tattle of The Great Tree has changed from "That's insane..." to "That's unbelievable...".
  • In the Great Tree, one of Goombella's area tattles has changed to refer to the X-Naut technology as "intense" instead of "insane.".
  • When recruiting Jabble, Koops now says "This might sound silly, but... Do you think he might be hoping to join us?" instead of "This might sound crazy, but... Do you think he might be hoping to join us?".
  • If Mario asks the Puni elder to summon the Punies while they are trapped in the cages, the elder asks if Mario is "funny in the head" rather than "crazy in the head.".
  • In the Great Tree, Goombella says, "Did you feel that? That intense shaking?" instead of "Did you feel that? That crazy shaking?".
  • Inside The Great Tree during Chapter 2, Lord Crump's insult to the Puni elder has been changed from "What?!? Are you nuts?" to "What?! Are you for real?".
  • A Toad kid in Glitzville complaining about not getting a hot dog now says "so UNFAIR!" rather than "so LAME!".
  • One of the Glitz Pit NPCs says "This is a bit out of the blue, but I really wouldn't mind being the strongest guy alive." instead of "This'll sound crazy, but I really wouldn't mind being the strongest guy alive.".
  • An NPC who was betting on Mario's Glitz Pit matches says "Are you kiddin'? I've always been a Gonzales man!" instead of "Are you crazy? I've always been a Gonzales man!".
  • In Chapter 3, after Mario defeats Bowser, Grubba's commentary, "Hoo! That's our Gonzales! He don't even bat an eye when some nut ambushes him!" was changed to "Hoo! That's our Gonzales! He don't even bat an eye when some fool ambushes him!".
  • When Mario is told by the communicator that his match privileges are revoked, Yoshi Kid says "Hey, what's going on here?! Did X do this too?" instead of "What's this crazy talk, huh? Did X do this, too?".
  • When Yoshi Kid sees Jolene leaving, he says "You see that?! That was Jolene! This is craziness! What is going ON in here?" instead of "You see that?!? That was Jolene! This is craziness! What is going ON in here?".
  • Spiky Joe says "There's no way a mustache is better than a spike! I mean, that's just nonsense!" instead of "There's no way a mustache is better than a spike! I mean, that's just crazy-talk!".
  • Goombella's tattle for Macho Grubba was changed to say "Then he powers himself up with all sorts of wild, power-uppy moves." instead of "Then he powers himself up with all sorts of crazy, power-uppy moves.". She also says "the wildest thing" instead of "the craziest thing".
  • Goombella's tattle for Hyper Goombas says "but if this guy goes BIZZ-ZOW and charges up" instead of "but if this nut goes BIZZ-ZOW and charges up".
  • One of Goombella's tattles for the pigs in Twilight Town says "He seems like a happy guy...even as a pig. Some people are just like that, I guess!" instead of "Do you think that this guy was so gloomy that he's even a gloomy pig? ...That's crazy!".
  • A sentence in Goombella's Tattle on the connecting passage between the bottom of Creepy Steeple's well and the steeple itself has changed from "This place is totally crazy." to "Sneaky, sneaky...".
  • When Vivian hears that Mario's name was stolen, she says "That's... Well... I'm not sure what to call that kind of problem! Which fits, I guess." In the original game, she says "That's absolutely crazy!".
  • Before the start of Chapter 5, Frankly explains that the Crystal Stars are unable to tell for what purpose they are being used, whether it is good or evil. If Koops is active, he says, "I dunno, maybe we oughta just shatter those things.". In the original game, he says "Call me crazy, but maybe we oughta just shatter those things.".
  • During Chapter 5, the lines "Flavio, what are you talking about? That's crazy!" was changed to "Flavio, what are you talking about? There's no way that'll work!".
  • When Bobbery thinks he has died, Goombella says, "You're still alive, you zany old coot!" rather than "You're still alive, you crazy old coot!".
  • Frankie calls Francesca a "dizzy dame" rather than a "crazy dame" before saying "I love you" 100 times; similarly, Don Pianta calls Francesca and Frankie "lovebirds" rather than "crazy kids" when the duo return to Rogueport before Chapter 6.
  • When Frankly suggests that Mario talk to Don Pianta to get train tickets, Yoshi Kid says "Whaaat?" instead of "Are you crazy?!?". He also says that Don Pianta "sounds intense" rather than "sounds like a loon.".
  • In Chapter 6, after Mario picks up the Threatening Note, Goombella's, the Yoshi Kid's, and Vivian's responses were changed.
    • Goombella's final textbox was changed from "Ooh, I HATE threats! Let's get this nutjob before they try anything!" to "Ooh, I HATE threats! Let's get this sneak before they try anything!".
    • Part of the Yoshi Kid's response was changed from "Whoever this psycho is, you gotta figure they're on this train, right? We gotta get this nut! Before anything bad goes down on this train!" to "Whoever this creep is, you gotta figure they're on this train, right? We gotta get this guy! Before anything bad goes down on this train!".
    • Vivian's final textbox was changed from "We have to find who's responsible before anything crazy happens!" to "We have to find who's responsible before anything bad happens!".
  • On the Excess Express, Zip Toad's line "So... lame..." was changed to "So... uncool...".
  • The conductor says "I know it was a wild ride, sir" instead of "I know it was a crazy ride, sir.".
  • When Toadia mistakes Luigi for an impostor, he exclaims "But...I'm pretty sure I'm me!" instead of "Th-That's crazy!".
  • When the Fahr Outpost mayor denies there being a cannon in the area, Yoshi Kid now says "What?! No way, man!" instead of "What?!? You're crazy, man!"
  • A sentence in Goombella's Tattle on the connecting passage between the moon and X-Naut Fortress has changed from "It's kind of crazy, actually." to "It's almost unbelievable, actually.".
  • When the Shadow Queen and Grodus are arguing, Koops says "Ummm... Mario? Do you know what's happening right now?" In the original game, he says "Ummmm... This is crazy! Mario...". If Yoshi Kid is out for this scene, he says "This is wild..." instead of "This is nuts...".
  • When Mario returns home, Luigi says "Oh wow—that's wild, Bro!" instead of "...Oh, wow, that's crazy, Bro!".
  • When Mario declines to buy a badge from Dazzle, he says "Awww... come ON!" instead of "So... LAME!!!".
  • Goombella's Tattle description regarding Wonky has been changed from "looking nuts" to "looking a bit iffy".
  • When tattling Luigi in west Rogueport, Goombella describes his adventure as "offbeat" rather than "crazy."
  • Luigi introduces his story with "It was pretty intense, Bro." rather than "It was pretty crazy, Bro.".
  • During his Hatesong Tower story, Luigi says "this part is just wild" instead of "this part is just crazy.".
  • Gob's letter includes "which is not...great..." instead of "Which is pretty lame...".
  • Goombella's comments on Magikoopa, Poison Puffs, and Red Chomps have been changed to remove "lame", replacing it with "annoying".
  • The Yoshi Kid's reaction to Bonetail was changed from "Whoa! What a psycho!" to "Whoa! What a monster!".
  • Strangely, a Doogan who asks if Mario knows any jobs with "insane pay" was left unmodified, along with uses of the words "craziness" and "maniac." Yoshi Kid's line "That was the craziest thing I've ever seen!" when a Twilighter turns into a pig was also unchanged.

Genders

• Hooktail is consistently referred to with feminine pronouns. Up until the battle with Gloomtail in the original game, Hooktail is referred to with masculine or neutral pronouns. Additionally, she is no longer referred to as a "cad" during her battle, as by definition only men can be cads, and Koops calls her a "gal" instead of a "guy".
• Bonetail is female in the English version as with other localizations.
• The Shadow Sirens have been renamed to the "Three Shadows," a more accurate translation of their Japanese name, the Shadow Trio. Also, Vivian accidentally refers to the group as the "Shadow Sisters" instead of "Shadow Beauties" like in the original game. This is also a more accurate translation of the Japanese text. After this occurs, Beldam states "RELATION WITHHELD".
• Vivian's portrayal as a transgender woman is more overt, with the Japanese version adding in dialogue where she says 「体は　オトコのコだけど ココロは　カワイイ　オンナのコなの」 ("I have a boy's body, but my heart is a cute girl's!"). Her party member description is changed from 「オンナのコのようで　ホントは　オトコのコ」 ("She looks like a girl, but she's really a boy,") to 「体は　オトコのコで　ココロは　オンナのコ」 ("She has a boy's body, but the heart of a girl."). This portrayal is also reflected in the remake's English localization, whereas the English release of the GameCube version omitted all references to the subject.
  • The Japanese script removes lines that refer to Vivian as male; for example, Beldam's line 「どこが　三姉妹だよ！あんた　オトコじゃないかい！」 ("Where do you see three sisters?! Aren't you a man?!") is replaced with 「三姉妹じゃなく　三人組だって　いつも　いってるじゃないかい！」 ("I always tell you we're a trio, not three sisters!"). Goombella's Tattle about Vivian also removes any mention of her gender. This means that she is not stated to be transgender until the moment that she reveals it to Mario.
• The game's few instances of "he or she" have been changed:
  • Peach's explanation of love says "When you love someone, you will do anything to help when that person in trouble" instead of "When you love someone, you will do anything to help when he or she is in trouble".
  • When Bobbery reads the Threatening Note, he says "Let's roust this swine before they have the chance to cause mischief!". In the original game, he says "Let's roust this swine before he or she has the chance to cause mischief!".
  • Strangely, Goombella's Twilighter tattle that includes the line "I have no idea if he or she's gloomy or jolly or what" was left unmodified.

Important Items

• Several Important Items have been renamed:
  • The Dubious Paper has been renamed to Dubious Documents.
  • The Orange Potion in the X-Naut Fortress has been renamed to Yellow Potion.
  • Card Keys have been renamed to Security Keys, each having a different symbol in their name.
  • Palace Keys obtained in the Palace of Shadow Tower are called Tower Keys.
  • The Goldbob Guide has been renamed to Goldbob's Pass.
  • The Lottery Pick has been renamed to Lottery Ticket.
  • The two Elevator Keys in the X-Naut Fortress now have color distinguishers in their names.
  • The Wrestling Mag has been renamed to Wrestling Magazine.
• The Attack FX B badge is now referred to as the Elusive Badge prior to completing the Elusive badge! Trouble.
• The Chuckola Cola is now magenta-colored in the Japanese version like it is in all other regions.
• The names of the Castle Keys now reflect their changed colors.
• The Station Key obtained by a Toad NPC in Riverside Station has been renamed to Entrance Key.
• The Star Key has been renamed to Star Stone.

Locations

• Some locations have been given more descriptive names.
  • Rogueport Sewers has been renamed to Rogueport Underground.
  • The areas between Petalburg and Shhwonk Fortress are collectively called Path to Shhwonk Fortress, instead of Petal Meadows.
  • The path between the Warp Pipe to Rogueport Underground and Fahr Outpost has been called Path to Fahr Outpost.
  • The rooms in the Palace of Shadow are named the Courtyard, Palace of Shadow Tower, Concealed Path (One, Two, Three, Four), Gear Room (One, Two, Three), Antechamber, Throne Room, Depths, and Coffin Hall.
• Level numbers in the X-Naut Fortress are spelled out instead of written numerically.

Trouble Center

• A few of the Trouble Center requests have been renamed or have different descriptions:
  • Troubles with title case names have been changed to sentence case.
  • "Price Adjustment" to "Competitor research!"
  • "Order me an item!" to "Help me restock!"
  • "Emergency Shroom!" to "Life Mushroom!"
  • "Play with me!" to "Come over and play!"
  • "I must have that book." to "I need my magazine."
  • "Get these ingredients!" had part of the description changed from "savages the tonsils" to "ravishes the senses," and the formatting on the list of ingredients is different.
  • Troubles that reward Pianta Parlor cards say so in their description, whereas the reward went unmentioned in the original.
  • "Help wanted!" specifies that Mario needs to talk to Jolene in the promoter's room, rather than just "in the Glitz Pit."
  • The description for "I need my magazine." states where Toodles is in Poshley Heights.

Move descriptions

• Some move descriptions have been changed:
  • "Spin-Jump" has been changed to "Spin Jump" whenever used.
  • Super Hammer and Ultra Hammer was changed from "Strike an enemy, knocking it into the enemy behind it." to "Strike an enemy, knocking it into all enemies positioned behind it.".
  • Rally Wink was changed from "Wink at Mario to give him the courage for an extra attack." to "Wink at Mario to give him the courage for an extra action.".
  • Shell Toss was changed from "Throw a shell at one enemy on the ground." to "Ram Koops's shell into an enemy on the ground while he hides inside it.".
  • Power Shell was changed from "Throw a shell at all enemies on the ground." to "Ram Koops's shell through all enemies on the ground while he hides inside it.".
  • Shell Slam was changed from "piercing their defenses." to "piercing their Defense".
  • Gulp was changed from "Inhale an enemy and spit it out at another enemy." to "Inhale an enemy and spit it out at another enemy on the ground.".
  • Veil was changed from "Hide in the shadows with Mario to avoid attacks." to "Hide in the shadows with Mario to avoid attacks for one turn.".
  • Bomb Squad was changed from "Throw three time bombs that will explode one turn later." to "Throw three time bombs at foes that will explode when the next turn ends.".
  • Love Slap was changed from "Ms. Mowz smacks an enemy, piercing defense." to "Ms. Mowz smacks an enemy, piercing Defense.".

Graphical changes

General

• The entire game has a higher screen resolution and a more detailed look, using a more realistic crafted style similar to entries starting from Paper Mario: Sticker Star onward. For example, characters have a thicker paper texture more similar to cardstock, which resembles—but is not identical to—the white outlines seen on characters in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and Paper Mario: The Origami King. 3D objects such as pigs have visible construction seams on them, more objects are 3D models, and surface textures are generally more reflective. To go alongside these changes, dynamic lighting is present extensively in many areas. As another example, the Crystal Stars have a more realistic shiny texture than the original game.
• The game runs at 30 frames per second, which is half of the 60 frames per second that the original game runs at.
• The curtains open to reveal the title screen, which does not happen in the original game. They also remain closed when accessing the file select screen.
• Menus have a 3D, cardboard-cutout appearance rather than being flat like in the original game.
• Due to the widescreen resolution, the HUD elements, transitions, and some interiors have been redesigned to accommodate the extra horizontal space. Framing in several cutscenes and some background scenery has also been readjusted to go alongside these changes.
• A loading icon appears in the bottom-right corner of the screen when loading scenes depicting miniature icons of the Crystal Stars arranged in a ring similar to the Big Paint Star ring used in the loading icon for Paper Mario: Color Splash and the streamer ring for Paper Mario: The Origami King.
• Locations, and sub-locations thereof, have their names shown on the bottom-right corner of the screen, such as "Rogueport Sublevel One" or "Creepy Steeple Sublevel Two". In the Japanese version, Levels are listed numerically.
• The transitions when going through Warp Pipes depict the paper rotating before traveling into the pipe.
• Whenever Mario enters or exists a house, more individual pieces of the house are shown to fold in or out than in the original game.
• After dying, the screen fades into the Game Over screen through a silhouette of Mario's face, rather than simply fading to black.
• Star Points no longer have a spinning animation.
• Buckets can be entered by both Mario and companions.
• The chapter medals are now 3D instead of flat, and the chapter text has a new animation.
• When Mario stands on top of a plane panel or boat panel, the panel flashes instead of being constantly lit up like in the original game and a prompt with the button to press to activate it appears.
• Some walls, including the ones in the X-Naut Fortress, are reflective.

Characters

• Mario's front-facing head uses its appearance from Paper Mario: The Origami King, rather than its appearance from the original game and all subsequent entries up to Color Splash.
• Mario no longer salutes when speaking to other characters. Two new animations replace the salute, with both appearing in different contexts; he may either give a thumbs-up or hold his hands out with his palms facing upward.
• Characters are generally more expressive, having new animations for additional expressions and movements. Some examples include the more shocked expressions from participants during the kitchen mystery on the Excess Express, the Rogueport merchant's cloak billowing when Princess Peach opens the chest containing the Magical Map, and enemies laughing at Mario and partners when hit with ceiling debris during battles.
  • The black chest faces are more expressive as well, being able to smile and grimace.
  • Mario shrugs his shoulders when unable to push heavy objects or missing in the crane game in the X-Naut Fortress.
• Koops has four digits for his open hand sprites instead of erroneously having five in the original game.
• TEC-XX has a red eye in all regions rather than only in Japan.
• More characters can be seen from behind, such as Mario's partners, unlike in the original, where they are shown in a frontal profile regardless of the camera angle.
• The character artwork in transitions is now shaded. The transitions themselves also go by much faster compared to the original game.
• More visual aids for points of interest have been implemented, such as a sign that displays an icon with tacked papers above the door to the Trouble Center building, and the pipe leading to Petal Meadows resting on a grassy platform.
• Ghostly characters possess a unique speech bubble when they speak. The bubble appears to be in an indigo-blue colorization with swirly and asymmetrical textures. This is used for Boos, Ghost T., and Cortez (prior to him stating that he isn't a ghost).
• Doopliss's Mario disguise has his hat tipped forward, with the brim covering the upper half of his eyes.
• Pa-Patch's eyepatch always appears over his left eye, while in the original, it would appear on the right eye if he was facing right.
• Bowser has a rainbow effect instead of flashing yellow when becoming gigantic in his levels.
• If Mario is wearing the L Emblem and/or the W Emblem when Doopliss copies him, the copy of Mario will reflect his appearance. The dialogue of the Twilight Town residents will also change to accompany this.
• Mario takes three minutes to fall asleep when idle.
• Silhouettes of Mario and his partners appear when they're behind something, such as them being outside the windows in Hooktail Castle.

Areas

• Areas with a dotted background, such as the backgrounds surrounding partners when they join Mario's party and the area where the black chest faces reside are now fully 3D environments rather than static backgrounds. These areas also differ in color, with the background surrounding a partner joining Mario's party being pink instead of white and the background of the area surrounding a black chest face being slightly lighter in color than it was in the original game.
• In the primers for each partner's field abilities, the player must actually press the indicated buttons as part of the tutorial.
• When in paper boat mode, a screen indication appears when the player can "Unboat" themselves.

Battles

• Goombella's Tattles show a picture of the Tattled enemy on a blue-white grid background rather than a picture of the enemy on a torn-out page of a book. The HP, Attack, Defense, and encounter location(s) of each Tattled enemy are also visually shown on a calendar alongside the photo for the entirety of the Tattle.
• Paragoombas show their defeated animation in mid-air instead of falling to the ground before disappearing.
• Every condition has a new icon, several of which are in colored speech bubbles instead of white ones.

Badges

• The Peekaboo badge has a slightly different design, with yellow lines in its pattern instead of dark green.

Items

• Star Pieces no longer have a flashing animation.
• Items emerging from blocks no longer bounce all over the place, instead jumping out vertically and ending up directly at Mario's feet.
• The Point Swap is colored light red and orange to match with the HP and FP HUD bars instead of green and red in the original game.
• The Mailbox SP icon is no longer present in the mail section of Gear.
• The Shine Sprite icon is now shaded.

By location

Rogueport

• The pictures on the wall in Frankly's house are more detailed, with one of them depicting him standing in front of the K64.
• Admiral Bobbery falls asleep during Luigi's stories like the rest of Mario's partners.
• Flavio has a new singing animation and doesn't stop singing when Mario approaches him.
• Trash and puddles of water, which can be splashed with the Hammer, appear around Rogueport. Scraps of paper can also now be seen floating in the wind throughout Rogueport.
• The noose of the Rogueport gallows slightly sways in the wind and moves when Mario jumps into it from underneath.
• The picture of the Koopa Troopa wearing a cowboy hat on the wanted posters throughout Rogueport has been redrawn and is more clearly visible and detailed.
• When transitioning from the center of Rogueport to the back alley, the camera briefly fades to black as the camera rotates before fading back in in the back alley rather than showing the full 180° turn through the environment like in the original game.
• Graffiti in Rogueport's back alley was changed, with the large circled "N" designs being changed to two circled diagonal lines.
• Don Pianta, when lying down in the Chapter 5 interlude, is paper-flat, as with King K and Bandy Andy in Chapter 3.
• Flies in the Bandit house behind Podley's Place were removed.
• The player can see through the windows of Merlon's house, showing the purple background. The Shine Sprite symbol above Merlon's door also now has a purple background.
• A picture of Professor Frankly appears above the door to his residence to make its location clearer to the player.
• The door to the Trouble Center has a piece of paper tacked on to it in addition to a new sign with an icon of tacked on papers above it to help make its location clearer to the player.
• Signs were edited or added to the doors in east Rogueport.
• When Swindell robs half of Mario's coins, the decreasing coin counter appears on screen during the robbery instead of after Mario and Goombella's conversation like in the original game.
• Zess T.'s residence has a lamp hanging from the ceiling, although the room's overall lighting is darker than in the original game. Mario can also interact with several items in her residence, such as the ceiling lamp, the utensils on the counter, and the utensils hanging on the wall, by either jumping into them or hitting them with the Hammer.
• When going upstairs at Rogueport Inn, the camera shifts upwards only when the player reaches the top, not hiding Mario any longer.
• In west Rogueport, in the top floor of the green house, the potted plant is bigger and a chandelier was added, while in the pink house, a potted plant was added and the Koopa Troopa is facing the opposite direction. The fountain is more papery and spins around at the top.
• At the train station, a billboard was added in place of a railroad crossing bar and the bench was moved next to it from its original position on the far right of the station.
• The Cheep Blimp has red stars on the boarding section.
• The House Key has a square-shaped handle.
• The Hot Dog has yellow sauce to distinguish it from the Hottest Dog.
• The Hot Sauce has been redesigned to now depict a hot pepper icon with yellow labels instead of green ones.
• The stem on the Courage Meal is no longer present.
• The Spaghetti shares a similar design to the Spicy Pasta.

Pianta Parlor

• The upper set of "Pianta" boards seen in the background of the Paper Airplane minigame at the Pianta Parlor have been moved downwards from the logo next to the other set of boards.
• Lahla and Peeka wear cat ears in the Japanese version like in all other regions, rather than bunny ears like in the original in that region.
• The machine that sells coins is holding two bucket of coins instead of one and the coins are now blue. It's also closed when not operating and has a picture of a coin on the front.
• Lahla no longer appears next to Mario to give him coins on finishing a minigame or to take his coins upon leaving.
• In the alley to Don Pianta's house one barrel was removed and one was placed on top of the remaining three.
• Flowers in west Rogueport change differently from the original game.

Rogueport Underground

• When Mario enters Rogueport Underground after Professor Frankly identifies the location of the Emerald Star, Punio can be visibly seen traveling through Warp Pipes, enabling the player to more easily locate him.
• The panels for the secret passage revealed by Punio no longer disappear but instead remain barely visible on the ground.

Thousand-Year Door

• Rogueport Underground, Shhwonk Fortress, the Excess Express, Riverside Station, and the Palace of Shadow (represented by the Thousand-Year Door) are added to the map.
  • In the Palace of Shadow's case, the Thousand-Year Door radiates with energy until the game is completed.
• The Thousand-Year Door and the pedestal display colored silhouettes representing the Crystal Stars the player has brought to the latter. In the original game, star outlines would appear on the Thousand-Year Door once the player breaks its seal with every Crystal Star.

Petal Meadows

• All Candy Pops, not just the large one, now blink, and blink more frequently, instead of just staring.
• Instead of going underground, the Candy Pop that spawns a Horsetail after being hit with the Hammer ten times wobbles and shuts its eyes.
• When hit by the Hammer, raised blades of grass are smashed down.
• The background hills are visibly covered with pine trees instead of small, green ovals like in the original game.
• There are fewer hills in the far background behind Mario heading towards Hooktail Castle than there are in the original game.
• The sky has fewer clouds in the air than there are in the original game.
• When activating the Sun and Moon Stone pedestals, the camera stays in a fixed position instead of following Mario and his partner to provide the player with a better view of both blue switches, enabling the player to more easily activate them.

Petalburg

• General White has more saddened-looking expressions and sighs in speech bubbles when not being talked to.
• The bridges have raised railings so Mario can't fall into the water unless he jumps over them.
• The bush near the rightmost house in the first screen of town is passable instead of being an obstacle between the two houses.
• More items of Princess Peach were added to the house of the Koopa Troopa obsessed with her. He also becomes upset if the player hammers his belongings.
• The wooden fence on the south border of town can now be jumped over.
• The pictures in Kroop's, Toce T.'s, and Koops's houses are more detailed. In Kroop's house, the pictures show a younger Kroop and his late wife. Meanwhile, in Toce T.'s house, the pictures show a blue Toad and a house. Finally, in Koops's house, the three pictures show Hooktail Castle, a Candy Pop, and Koopley respectively. If the player returns to Koops's house after beating Hooktail, the picture of Koopley is replaced with a picture of Koops and Koopley together.
• The Petalburg Inn has a lamp hanging from the ceiling. Moreover, the three pictures inside the inn are more detailed and depict a Candy Pop, a red Toad, and a house respectively.
• The Sun Stone and the Moon Stone have simpler textures. Both also no longer have different sprites when placed on the rock pedestals, instead using their item sprites when being placed.

Path to Shhwonk Fortress

• Instead of having Goombella just comment on the doors being closed, Mario visibly tries to open them by pulling on them.
• The doors in the room with the Bristles have light shining through them.

Shhwonk Fortress

• The rooms containing the Sun and Moon Stones each have a raised platform on which their respective stones sit as opposed to the stones laying directly on the ground like in the original game.
• The Gold Fuzzy jumps out of the Fuzzy Horde, making it visible throughout the fight.

Trivia Quiz-Offs

• The Thwomp no longer stares directly in front of him when talking before the quiz, instead looking directly at Mario and his partner.
• Mario and his partners stand taller on the quiz booth so they're more visible instead of being covered by the front part of the booth.
• When they appear inside the quiz booth, Mario and his partner briefly look around in confusion instead of immediately standing still like in the original game.
• When the Thwomp asks if Mario and his partner are sure about the answer, Mario assumes a thinking pose.
• The winning celebration shot shows Mario and his partner celebrating instead of immediately concentrating on the Thwomp.
• The camera transitions to behind the Thwomp while showing Mario and his partner continuing to celebrate before dramatically zooming into the Thowmp's face and transitioning out of the quiz arena.

Hooktail Castle

• The castle has more of a papery look from the outside than a scribbled one.
• The sunlight in the entrance room is brighter through the windows, meaning the player can no longer see the sky and clouds through them.
• There is a layer of fog under the bridge.
• The cobwebs are more prominent throughout the castle.
• The Castle Keys are now distinguished by color.
• The up and down arrow blocks are made out of construction paper instead of looking like solid blocks, with the smaller blocks being completely made out of paper and the larger blocks having paper around the edges and the triangle arrow. The ball and chain in the castle also has a more paper-like appearance compared to its design in the original game, with the ball having a shinier appearance in the sunlight.
• In the room with the up and down arrow blocks, the camera is positioned slightly lower when climbing up the stairs, meaning that Koops's shell and the lower blocks remain visible and enabling the player to better control using Koops's shell to hit the blocks.
• The spikes in the room before the Up Arrow are 3-D rather than 2-D like in the original game.
• The chains in the ceiling spike room can be interacted with, wobbling and rattling in response to being hit with the Hammer.
• The animation of the bridge appearing on a higher floor in the castle is different, with the paper covering the bridge being ripped away with jagged tears that leave behind damage on the bridge rather than the bridge appearing through clean tears of paper that leave no lasting damage on the bridge.
• In the room where Mario meets Ms. Mowz for the first time, a second green vase was added and an extra crate holding cannonballs was added to the right side of the room.
• The arches at the top of the castle are wider and are the same color as the castle walls instead of being gold like in the original game.
• Individual tree-covered hills are now visible in the background beneath the bridge leading to Hooktail's lair.
• As Mario progresses up the tower, the sky and environment get darker around him.
• Giant clouds cover the windows of Hooktail's lair before her fight, meaning that the player can't see into her lair. In the original game, the windows were uncovered and, despite Hooktail already being present inside her lair, she couldn't be seen until Mario entered the room.

Boggly Woods

• The picture of Mario's face during the Three Shadows' introduction has been redrawn and is more closely based on Mario's left-facing sprite from the first Paper Mario.
• The vine patterns on the ground in Boggly Woods have an iridescent sheen rather than the gradient of colors used in the original game. The sky also has a golden hue and glow compared to its beige gradient from the original game.
• Flowers fly out from the circular flower patches if Mario runs through them, hits them with his Hammer, or jumps within them, whereas they would only appear if he jumped within them in the original game.
• The first triangular flower pattern is flipped.
• The pavement underneath the panel in Flurrie's house that contains the Star Piece is correctly black like all other Star Piece panels.
• Mario can make ripples on the rug in Flurrie's house by walking on it.
• Mario averts his eyes when Flurrie grabs the Necklace.
• The flowerpots in Flurrie's house are moved from near the stairs to near the door.
• The trees in the room with the plane panel to Flurrie's House are more vibrant and visible instead of all black and have white patterns on them.
• Petals fall from the trees all over the screen.

The Great Tree

• Like Hooktail Castle, The Great Tree has more of a papery look from the outside than a scribbled one.
• The Puni Orb pedestal has an indentation in the shape of the orb to place it in instead of a rectangular indentation.
• There is always a panel that shows where to place the Punies instead of the panel only being in some locations. An indentation to indicate where Mario should stand to blow the Punies is also added.
• An indicator of how many Punies are needed to activate the trap pedestal was added.
• One Jabbi entering the small hive room brings the Blue Key with it, instead of entering empty handed.
• In the maze room, an arrow pointing down towards Pungent's Great Tree Shop was added.
• Hitting the water in the bubble room with the Hammer causes bubbles to be created.
• When the Punies fight against the Jabbies, their antennae become glowing red when they attack, similar to Pikmin using an Ultra-Spicy Spray.
• After the fights with the Jabbies, the pieces of the destroyed Jabbi hives appear broken on the ground instead of disappearing, sirens included.
• The Puni Orb falls off the trap pedestal once the cage is lowered on Mario and the Punies.
• The locks to the cells containing the Punies are color coded to the cells instead of being generic locks.
• The Puni counter is positioned on the upper-left corner of the screen instead of the lower-left, colored yellow instead of white, and now flashes when Mario is separated from the Punies.
• Lily pads move when Mario and his partner stand on them.
• The water in the background of the roots of The Great Tree is more ribbon-like and animated.

Glitzville

• The Hot Dog Stand has pictures of hotdogs on its attached signs and actual hotdogs on display. The player can also see steam emerging from the area where the hotdogs are being cooked. A second, red wire is also connected to the ice cream cone outside the stand. The truck also looks like a fake truck instead of being an actual truck like in the original game.
• The balloons throughout the area wave in the wind and look drawn on instead of being actual balloons.
• Flashing lights appear around the posters of the fighters.
• Words were added to Rawk Hawk's poster as well as to the poster of Shellshock and the additional poster of Rawk Hawk in the background.
• The Storage Key found in the phone booth is colored gold with an inverse triangular shape.

Glitz Pit

• The Glitz Pit match conditions show up onscreen throughout the entire duration of the battle and indicate whether they have been met or not.
• There are more lights hanging above the Glitz Pit stage, which are arranged in a box around the entire stage rather than just a single bar. Spotlights also shine down on the stage from a higher area.
• The jumbotron screen is no longer an interlaced screen but is made up of lines of dotted LED lights.
• Spotlights are present on the stage for Glitz Pit battles.
• The crowd increases in size over the course of each match until it becomes fully packed during the Rawk Hawk fight.
• The Game Boy Advance in the major league locker room is see-through instead of solid.
• In the storage room, the light is turned on and more books are on the shelf.
• When drained, King K and Bandy Andy no longer have flies hovering over their bodies and the camera is positioned directly above Mario and his active partner looking at their drained bodies. Both King K and Bandy Andy also have more stunned expressions when found drained compared to their more neutral expressions in the original game.
• The text in the Wrestling Magazine has been replaced with a more stylized interpretation resembling text.
• The Storage Key found behind one of the posters in the lobby is colored blue with an inverse triangular shape.
• The lighting in the locked storeroom is darkened, with fewer lights being switched on.
• The Champ's Belt sprite is fully modeled with a three-dimensional appearance.
• The photo on the Dubious Documents depicts the Gold Star and is no longer attached with a paperclip. Another sprite for the documents is now also seen.
• The audience reacts with fear when Bowser enters the ring.
• In the hidden room to the toilet, moths fly around the light. The objects on the table and the calendar on the wall can also now be hit with the Hammer.
• The toilet door has a picture of a toilet instead of a gender sign.
• In the toilet room, the refresher is green instead of yellow and floor mats were added.
• The beam that Rawk Hawk hangs from during the battle against him is metal instead of wooden.
• In the champion's room:
  • Mario can make ripples on the rug by walking on it.
  • The poster above the bed was changed from Mario in a normal pose to Mario in his victory pose showing a thumbs up.
  • The grapes on the vines are more vibrant, pink, and bigger.
  • Multiple items in the room, such as the box of letters, can be interacted with by hitting them with Mario's Hammer or having Flurrie blow on them.
• For the fight against Grubba, the arena lights are all off, with the only light coming from the Jumbotron. Grubba is also initially facing away from Mario instead of immediately facing towards him like in the original game.
  • The light energy on Grubba's machine matches the color of the Gold Star.

Twilight Town

• The town residents transformed into pigs look more like paper pigs.
• The table in Mayor Dour's home is moved to the left and has a lamp on it.
• Every house has a light hanging from the ceiling.
• The bushes in the town can be temporarily flattened by hitting them with the Hammer.
• The inn sign is lying at an angle instead of being straight.
• The Fire Flower sign for the shop has a unique appearance for the town.
• The Superbombomb has a new sprite in its broken state.

Twilight Trail

• The background looks similar in both areas of the trail instead of having only one layer of dead trees in the background in the second area.
• The tree leaves are lifted up and thinner, making it easier to see the ? Block that requires Paper Mode to access.

Creepy Steeple

• A padlock was added to the gate's chain.
• The environmental graphics of the areas have a distinct painted style in contrast to the rest of the areas in the game.
• The objects in the storeroom are all more spaced out than they were in the original game. The three cobwebs are also smaller than they were in the original game, with the cobweb that was on the couch in the original game being moved to the ceiling above the couch.
• The grass in the back is less thick to make it the path to the tree with the Golden Leaf hidden in it more obvious.
• The white Steeple Key shares the same design as the purple one.
• The Letter "p"'s design is a coral-colored "p" from the Seurat font rather than the classic Paper Mario series typeface. It also appears red instead of black in the on-screen keyboard.
• The blocks controlling the position of the stairs will change to gray when hit instead of remaining red like in the original game.
• Marks were added to where the stairs move when the blocks are hit to better indicate the stairs' three possible positions.
• Windows were added in the stairs to Doopliss' room.
• Doopliss's bathtub is more clearly filled with water. Mario and his partner now make splashes when moving around inside the bathtub and stand inside it at a slightly lower level so they no longer look like they are standing on top of the water.
• Doopliss's TV changes color instead of staying just one color and the light beams are slightly more animated.

Keehaul Key

• While Frankie says "I love you" 100 times to Francesca, Mario and his partner fall asleep while Frankie becomes gradually tired.
• The Gate Handle has a red handle instead of a brown one.
• When Flavio gives Mario the Chuckola Cola, he now pulls out the Skull Gem by mistake before pulling out the cola.
• The Wedding Ring is rendered in a small variation whenever it is on the field.

Pirate's Grotto

• The Grotto Key features the Skull Gem as its handle shape instead of a normal oval-shaped handle.

Excess Express

• The Galley Pot is gold-colored instead of silver.
• The Gold Ring no longer has a red gem on it.

Riverside Station

• The Station Key used to enter the station is colored tan instead of green to be distinguished from the second Station Key.
• The Elevator Key has a red gem instead of an orange one.
• Pictures of the K64 can be seen on several of the walls inside the station.

Poshley Heights

• There is a picture of the K64 in the purple house containing a model of the K64 on a shelf.
  • The K64 model has additional detailing, such as the headlight.

Fahr Outpost

• When jumping on General White during both Chapter 7 and in the Delivery, please! Trouble, he gets more crumpled with every jump.

The Moon

• While traversing the Moon's surface, there is vignetting on the edges of the screen, which was not present in the original game.

X-Naut Fortress

• The elevator is no longer whited out, with its interior now visible.
• The light above the door to TEC-XX is a bar light like the other X-Nauts door instead of a generic light.
• In Peach's room, the light is turned on.
• The toilet seat in Peach's bathroom is down instead of up, and the mirror has a reflection.
• In the changing room, the top row lockers have doors on them instead of being open.
• Mario's 8-bit sprites when he comes out of the shower in X-Naut Fortress sport a slightly different design compared to the original game.
• The Security Keys have a different symbol on them, their graphics have changed, and their reader pedestals have the symbols as well.
• Pursuant to the Orange Potion's rename, it is colored yellow instead of orange.

Palace of Shadow

• When surrounded by Dry Bones in the room in which the Dark Bones is fought, a dark portal is created that Mario and his partner can sink into and get a Game Over.
• The Star Stone has a shiny, metallic texture instead of a rocky one.
• The three Palace Keys are colored purple, gray, and pink. In the original game, they are all gray. They also all sport a crown-shaped handle with a diamond gem on it.
• The Tower Keys have a star shape to be distinguishable from the Palace Keys.
• The Palace of Shadow Tower has glistening star patterns on the ground. The eight doors have yellow star patterns above them that change to blue when the player obtains Tower Keys from their rooms. An animation has been added when the player passes through a wall in the "Stone Have Power of Stars" room.
• The Shadow Queen's design has minor changes. Her star-filled body and hair are coated in a darker purplish hue with her crown now bearing a shiny, glossy light reflection.
• The dark flames from the Coffin Hall's candles have glowing white tips instead of having an all-dark purple coloration.

Intermissions

• The order of the heads appearing before and between chapter and intermission is Peach, Bowser and Mario, to better show who the player is going to control next.
• The screen used by Grodus to talk to his minions is projected by his chair instead of just standing in midair.
• During the first Peach intermission, Lord Crump does the X-Nauts' arm-cross salute before he leaves. In the original, he simply turns around and walks away.
• When Peach dances with her hologram, a spotlight appears over her.
• During the Bowser intermission levels, a list of controls for Bowser is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen.
• At the end of the Bowser stages, fireworks are fired in all versions; this was only present in the Japanese version of the original game.
  • The castles at the end of the stages more closely resemble those of New Super Mario Bros..
• When Bowser interacts with the bush in The Great Tree during the post-Chapter 2 intermission, he bends down towards it. The Puni elder also grows bigger than in the original game and has an angered expression rather than her expression remaining neutral.
• In the underwater Bowser level, the Koopa Koopa Clown Car looks sad instead of a mix of angry and happy. The water is also a lot more detailed and has more elements in it, such as additional coral and rock formations.
• In the post-Chapter 5 intermission, when Peach goes back to drink the potion to turn visible again, she changes back into her clothes just before drinking the potion, instead of after hearing the instructions.

Battle changes

• Mario and partners no longer walk in place when selecting an enemy to attack. Instead, they have a fighting stance.
• Mario no longer drops coins when running away from regular battles.
• After winning a battle, the enemy's dropped coins appear in a smaller, more circular area rather than being spread out.
• There is an option on the bottom right corner of the screen known as "Tattle Check" that is accessed with . Tattle Check allows the player to view Tattle entries for enemies in the current battle that have been previously Tattled and does not waste the player's turn doing so.
• Getting hit by enemy projectiles in the field no longer initiates a battle, instead damaging Mario on the spot like in entries since Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Likewise, getting hit by enemy projectiles while equipped with the Bump Attack badge does not defeat enemies, either. The damage received takes most badges into account, but not Last Stand, Chill Out, or P Down, D Up.
• Party members cannot have 0 HP outside of battle. They are automatically raised to 1 HP.
• Party members react to Mario losing all of his HP and getting a Game Over.
• It is easier to jump on a Pider or Arantula for a First Strike.
• In some FP-costing attacks, the player can see the FP drained from the FP meter just before doing the attack.
• Opening the Special Menu in a battle before the player has enough SP to perform an attack shows it is unable to be performed, even if they gain SP with the menu open until they close and re-open it.
• Enemies now initiate their turn after any Star Power accumulation from the player's turn is finished. In the original game, the enemies' turn begins during this.
• The game interrupts battle inputs when an audience member tries to throw an object at Mario and his active partner, making it more obvious that an action is needed.
• Hammer Bros. in the audience throw hammers in situations aside from "Mario failed a Hammer action command".
• Mario and his partner visibly take a defensive posture during the frames an attempted Guard or Superguard is active.
• The frame window for Power Bounce and Multibonk is changed to make it harder to make big combos with them. The frames to hit it now is 7, 7, 6, 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, etc. Even Simplifier does not change the frame perfect 4th hit window which is hard-locked to 1.
• It is possible to skip the cutscene before a boss fight after losing once and returning to the boss room.
• Some enemy attacks have new animations and/or visuals to increase clarity of block timing. For example, Magnus von Grapple's earthquake stomp has a larger stomp at the end and Crayzee Dayzees have an extra music note that collides directly with the target.
• Sweet Treat only spawns one to two Poison Mushrooms, down from three in the original.
• If the player performs Earth Tremor while their partner is afflicted with the Sleep status effect, or Koops is flipped, a Shy Guy stage hand carries the partner off the stage for the duration of the attack.
• Power Lift requires four panels matched for each point of attack or defense increase, down from five in the original.
• The game distinguishes between two different types of "no damage". If an attack did no damage but could have if it were stronger, it is shown to deal "0" damage. If an attack did no damage and nothing could have allowed it to, there are no damage stars at all, combined with a white sparks effect. In the original game, a small star graphic was shown for both situations.
• When using an attack that the target is elementally immune to, such as a fire-element attack on Clefts, an icon with that element crossed out now appears over the enemy.
• Status effect applications are shown by having its icon appear on the subject. If a status is attempted but failed, the icon visibly bounces off.
• When a character charges more than once, the number shown in the arrow is the new total charge power, rather than only the charge of the current usage.
• Current HP numbers for enemies are now center-aligned beneath their health bars instead of being aligned to the right.
• Upon the start of non-First Strike battles, enemies that enter the stage now steel themselves for battle.
• Upon the start of non-First Strike battles, the entire backdrop of the stage has either fold-in or popup animations rather than only specific parts of the backdrop having these animations in the original game.
• The Attack Up icon is an arrow with a fist, while the Defense Up icon is an arrow with a Courage Shell. Both contain an extra number showing the magnitude of the boost. There is also a new icon for Merlee's boosts, visible during the brief time after she takes effect before the attack is used.
• The Allergic icon shows a green figure inside a green-tinted bubble instead of a speech bubble with a flashing general prohibition sign.
• The player can no longer hold A for a faster battle ending theme.
• If Mario jumps on a Bristle in battle, his tears are more visible, and his mouth is closed instead of opened.
• Ms. Mowz's non-damaging slaps while performing Love Slap no longer displease audience members, which could cause loss of Star Power in the original game.
• Ms. Mowz walks backwards after performing Love Slap rather than walking forward in the original game.
• Ms. Mowz no longer turns completely red when in the process of performing Love Slap like in the original game.
• When an attack, stage hazard or audience member causes the effect of an item to a battle member, the icon of that item appears briefly in the animation to better indicate the change (i.e. Boo's Sheet when a Boo becomes invisible).
• Boss fights begin with a slow motion shot before the curtain drops instead of the curtain dropping immediately following the end of the pre-battle cutscene dialogue.
• At the end of boss fights, the winning hit goes into slow-motion and the screen flashes white.
• Coins are shown to rain down on Mario and his partner after completing battles that award coins, such as boss battles or battles in the Pit of 100 Trials.
• Asleep enemies no longer have a chance to wake up from the player's attacks.
• Unsuperguardable attacks visibly show being super guarded, instead of appearing as not guarded like the original, but the player still takes damage.

Text

• There is a "GUARD" or "SUPERGUARD" text pop-up that appears when the player successfully performs a Guard or Superguard. Doing so against unblockable attacks will show the text appearing but being knocked away. The original game displayed the standard "NICE" or "GREAT" text instead.
• The message for the Star Points earned after winning a battle is shortened to "Got Star Points!" ("Got a Star Point!" when earning a single Star Point) with the amount earned separated in its own graphic to the right of the Star Points. In the original game, the message reads, "You got [X] Star Point(s)!"
• The "Excellent" rating is yellow colored rather than gold and silver.
• "Nice" ratings that are weakened by Simplifier are progressively greyed out, rather than progressively smaller.
• The Allergic status effect's description has been changed from "Status hasn't changed!" to "Can't be affected by status changes!", which more accurately describes its effect.
• Enemy tattles list the first place they were tattled on rather than their natural habitats.

Specific battles

Normal enemies

• Bob-ombs, Bulky Bob-ombs, and Bob-ulks no longer drop Star Points if they are defeated by a chain reaction.
• Chain Chomps stop bouncing around when targeted by a jump-like attack, making the timing more predictable.
• Like the first Paper Mario, Frost Piranhas can use an ice breath attack to freeze Mario's party. They can no longer freeze the party with their bite.
• Swoopulas can use the swoop attack like Swoopers instead of only being able to use a drain attack like in the original game.
• The Buzzy Beetle family is immune to explosions even when flipped upside-down.
• Dark Bristles can no longer be hit by a First Strike with the Super or Ultra Hammer.
• Dark Craws clench their fist and no longer have splayed fingers for their sprites.
• If Mario defeats a Big Bandit before it can run away after it has stolen an item, the item will now be recovered. In the original game, the only way to recover stolen items from Big Bandits was to have Ms. Mowz use Kiss Thief on them, as Big Bandits are only fought in the Glitz Pit, meaning that the stolen items could not be dropped and picked up following the end of the battle.
• Paratroopas and Parabuzzies get knocked down on their back during Power Bounce, Multibounce and Ground Pound and have 0 defense from the third bounce onward.
• Flower Fuzzies only attack Mario.

Blooper

• During the fight, the water in the background is animated instead of standing still.
• Upon its defeat, the Blooper's shaking causes visible splashing water and its eyes are now crossed from dizziness.

Hooktail

• When Hooktail uses her fire breath attack, Mario and his partner are completely engulfed in flames instead of appearing as black outlines in the fire.
• Hooktail lowers her head into a more convenient position when targeted by a jump-like attack, making the timing more predictable.
• The last part of the battle is fought in front of the seats instead of in the middle of them. Because of this, the camera is pulled back further, meaning that the walls surrounding the stage are now visible during the battle. The clock on the left wall is also visible during the battle instead of only being visible after the battle ends.
• When Hooktail is defeated, her tail can still be seen extending onto the stage instead of her body being completely absent from the stage like in the original game.

Macho Grubba

• His double attack multiplier icon was changed from a x2 to a speed up icon.
• He briefly glows gold when powered up instead of white like in the original game.

Doopliss

• The positions of the furniture in the battle background are flipped to better resemble the appearance of his room in the cutscene prior to the start of the battle.
• He can damage Mario during the battle that occurs in the shed area of Twilight Trail. Mario still cannot damage him, however.
• When running away from him during an encounter on Twilight Trail, the run away meter starts from a more filled position than it did in the original game, making it easier for the player to successfully run away from the battle.
• The first time he takes damage in the second battle, he will have a shocked expression and comment on it.
• The animation when he scans Mario or his partner is a ring with square effects instead of a straight line.
• If he is defeated during the second battle before Vivian joins mid-fight, he uses a Life Mushroom to revive himself.
• During the second fight, badges that affect Mario's partner function as normal, unlike in the original where they are disabled.

Cortez

• At the beginning of the battle, he drops onto the stage from above instead of already being on stage when the battle starts like in the original game.

Gloomtail

• Gloomtail lowers his head into a more convenient position when targeted by a jump-like attack, making the timing more predictable.

Shadow Queen

• The body of her true form and her Dead Hands have a puddle of darkness and black smoke beneath them. In the original game, it is only black smoke.
• Her spells are no longer shadowy or black in coloration as they are in the original game.
  • Her lightning spells are yellow instead of black and pink.
  • Her strongest attack no longer makes the area darken as a sphere of purple energy manifests from her body instead. The waves produced afterwards glow purple instead of appearing all black.
• When charging up for her strongest attack, only Peach has the rainbow color overlay, when in the original game the Shadow Queen's body has it as well.
• Her breath attacks glow and have more curving patterns.
• When defeated, she turns into a large cloud of black smoke that disappears from the stage. In the original game, only the body of her true form disappears, leaving the possessed Peach intact.

Bonetail

• Bonetail lowers her head into a more convenient position when targeted by a jump-like attack, making the timing more predictable.

Battle rewards

• Bosses award the player coins after being defeated.
  • Blooper, Atomic Boo, Smorg, Gloomtail, Sir Grodus, and Bowser with Kammy Koopa reward 50.
  • Hooktail, Magnus Von Grapple, Macho Grubba, Doopliss (both fights in Creepy Steeple), Cortez, Magnus Von Grapple 2.0, and Whacka reward 100.
  • The Shadow Queen rewards 200.
  • Bonetail rewards 999.
• The player earns coins for winning battles in the Pit of 100 Trials.
• The Shadow Queen no longer rewards the player with a single Star Point.

Stage hazards

• Stage Hazards pierce Defense.
• The visuals for whether a stage hazard only affects one side of battle are much clearer.
• Falling objects are briefly visible before they actually fall, giving more time to react.
• Fog covers the entire height of the stage, rather than simply the bottom.
• Depending on the move used and its target, fog may only be removed from one side of the stage at a time.
• Nozzles no longer fall down and stay down. Instead, they fall down only when they are about to fire, and are reset by Black Shy Guy stagehands afterward.
• When a stage hazard hits Mario or his partner, the enemy has a new animation mocking them.

Cutscene changes

Intro

• The storybook intro sequence is animated. If all four save files currently are empty, the intro also comes after the title screen after starting a new save file rather than before it.
• During the scene where Peach buys the treasure chest containing the Magical Map from the Rogueport merchant, the text has to be advanced manually instead of auto-advancing like it did in the original game.
• In the opening shot of Mario's house, Parakarry has his arms raised to the mailbox as he delivers Peach's letter, as opposed to the mailbox just rattling with him next to it.
• The Mario Bros.' House has a group picture of Mario's partners from the first Paper Mario, and during the ending cutscene, the group picture of Mario's partners from The Thousand-Year Door, as a call-forward to Super Paper Mario featuring said pictures. The map inside the house has also been changed to the world map from Paper Mario, and the exterior of the bedroom was sectioned to match its design from that game.
• When Peach's letter is being read in the opening cutscene, it is displayed over a black background before cutting to the first view of Rogueport, where the letter itself no longer becomes visible at the bottom of the screen.
• On the logo screen, the camera pulls back and down from the Sun, which is itself much higher in the sky, and the boat transporting Mario to Rogueport is much closer to the camera. The boat also no longer stops in the center of the screen until the player presses the A button, instead continuing across the screen and auto-advancing to the next scene.
• When Mario opens his eyes to see Rogueport in front of him for the first time, the transition from the black screen is in an elliptical shape instead of a barn-door wipe.

Rogueport

• After the boat drops Mario off in Rogueport for the first time, Mario is initially facing towards the left instead of towards the right like in the original game.
• After the prologue fight, Lord Crump appears on the right side of the platoon of X-Nauts instead of in the center of them.
• After escaping from Lord Crump and the X-Nauts in the prologue, Mario and Goombella turn around to acknowledge the fight between Tony/Vinny and Gus/Garf.
• Just before the start of Chapter 5, the X-Naut reporting the infiltration is no longer standing behind a wall but behind the barrels behind the ship.
• The whole party is visible while riding the Cheep Blimp instead of just Mario.
• In the scene where Lucky gets angry to Mario for cheating, Mario's partner freaks out with Mario instead of standing still.

Black chests

• When a black chest face curses Mario, he gets struck by lightning, while in the original, the screen flashes white while Mario is cursed.

Thousand-Year Door

• All of Mario's partners are present each time he holds the Magical Map before the Thousand-Year Door.
• The Magical Map starts off in a sepia tone, with each location filling in with color as its corresponding Crystal Star is located by holding it aloft before the Thousand-Year Door. New details that are added to the map also unfold like a pop-up book. The corresponding Crystal Star appears next to its location on the map in a bright white flash, no longer continuously sparkles, and is immediately stationary on the map instead of appearing from a star-shaped sparkle, continuously sparkling, and spinning in 3D briefly in front of its location on the map before becoming stationary.
• The order of the stars lit up on the Door differs.
• The effect of the entire screen segmenting and rippling outwards from the Magical Map after a new Crystal Star location is recorded is no longer present.

Petal Meadows

• When exiting the pipe to Petal Meadows, Goombella no longer stays on the pipe but jumps down. The camera also stops zooming in further away from her and Mario.
• Mario and Goombella now look directly upwards when Hooktail flies overhead.
• Hooktail is seen flying towards her castle from behind as the camera moves down to ground level rather than from the side as the camera pans horizontally like in the original game.
• In the cutscene where Koopie Koo is worried about Koops leaving with Mario, she has a worried expression on her face instead of her normal smiling expression like in the original game. She is also visibly angry before attacking them and the appearance of her back sprite when she turns has been corrected.

Hooktail Castle

• In the cutscene prior to her battle with Mario, Hooktail emerges from the shadows into the light. The sunlight streaming through the windows into her lair is much brighter than in the original game.

Bowser's Castle

• In Bowser's Castle's, the candles on the chandeliers and the torches by the door are now lit.

Boggly Woods

• Flurrie's introduction cutscene is different, as the camera pans up from below and she sends the rose petals surrounding her towards Mario with a kiss. The cutscene is also one of the few pre-rendered cutscenes in the game.

The Great Tree

• The cutscene where the X-Naut gets knocked down by Ms. Mowz happens when the player enters the room, instead of before entering the room with the cells holding the Punies.
• The Puni Elder grows much bigger in her confrontation with Lord Crump. She also has an angered expression rather than her expression remaining neutral.
• The Emerald Star appears in front of Mario at the front of the room instead of behind him in front of the Puni Orb pillar. In turn, Lord Crump steals the Emerald Star from the front of the room instead of from behind the Puni Orb pillar.
• Lord Crump's remote is black with a yellow button instead of white with a red button.
• If the timer runs out while talking to Lord Crump, all characters have a freak out animation just before the bomb goes off.
• The yellow horns on Magnus von Grapple's dome are visible prior to its battle with Mario.
• Instead of walking into Mario and his partner to start the battle, Magnus von Grapple jumps into them.
• Beldam holds the wanted poster of Mario that was previously unused in the original game.

Glitz Pit

• Mario reacts to Grubba's question after the first fight against The Goomba Bros. with an animation, which differs between each answer.
• When one of Mario's partner eats the poisoned cake, a new animation (unique for each of them) is used instead of them just collapsing on the floor.
• Grubba visibly hands Mario the Champ's Belt after the Rawk Hawk match. Mario is visibly wearing the Champ's Belt during the rest of the cutscene.
• After defeating Macho Grubba, Grubba wobbles on his feet while speaking before falling down after finishing his dialogue rather than immediately lying down after his defeat like in the original game.
• Prince Mush no longer just flies out of the machine and stands on the stage looking fine, instead initially appearing in a spirit form before falling to the stage, lying on the ground, and standing up on one knee like he is in pain before standing with a tired expression.
• In the cutscene after completing Chapter 3, Prince Mush is present and posters of Mario are seen on the walls.

Twilight Trail

• The first secret hole in the last area is off center to make navigation easier.

Creepy Steeple

• Doopliss is seen rocking in his chair upon his introduction at the Creepy Steeple instead of simply sitting in the chair like in the original game.
• The bell at the top of Creepy Steeple rings just before each fight with Doopliss there.
• Prior to beginning the battle with Doopliss after correctly guessing his name, Vivian now visibly cries and turns around before teleporting away after realizing she was unknowingly helping Mario rather than remaining behind Mario like in the original game.
• The way Doopliss and Mario's transformations are undone is different from the original game, with Doopliss appearing to have two pieces of paper ripped off of him rather than just spinning and reverting to normal and Mario's shadow form appearing to be peeled off of him like a sticker rather than just Mario returning to normal.

Keehaul Key

• In the beginning cutscene of Chapter 5, when the S.S. Flavion is surrounded by Embers, the Embers now attack the ship by pushing it, causing Four-Eyes and Admiral Bobbery to be thrown overboard, followed by the ship being turned over on its side. In the original game, Four-Eyes abandons ship and the S.S. Flavion eventually sinks.

Pirate's Grotto

• The whirlwind from which Cortez emerges shows visible coins and gemstones being blown around within it.
• Instead of remaining stationary, Cortez's head opens its mouth and lunges toward Mario and his partner to start the battle

Excess Express

• When reading Ghost T.'s diary, the scene has a black-and-white grain filter applied on it and now fades to black slowly rather than spinning around.
• The magenta Smorgs are not visible in the cutscene before the battle.
• When the Excess Express arrives at Riverside Station, Doopliss (in his Zip Toad disguise) is shown being tied up in ropes before breaking free.

Fahr Outpost

• The moon is seen when Mario and his party are launched from the cannon in Fahr Outpost.

X-Naut Fortress

• TEC-XX no longer scans the whole fortress before focusing on Peach in the first Peach intermission, possibly to avoid spoiling the facility's location (in the original, one shot showed stars and the Moon's surface).
• In Princess Peach's post-Chapter 3 intermission, the conversation between Sir Grodus and the disguised Peach plays out as a cutscene, whereas in the original game, Peach had to walk up to Grodus to talk to him.
• The entire post-Chapter 7 ending sequence in the X-Naut Fortress is significantly modified:
  • During TEC-XX's last speech to Mario, his dialogue gradually begins to tremble (at first just the ellipses, and then the entirety of the text).
  • Rather than the standard X-Naut Fortress music, the cutscene is at first silent. When TEC-XX mentions that he will cease to function, a somber arrangement of Peach's theme begins playing. This somber arrangement continues to play as Mario makes his way to the teleporter room.
  • The line "TEC system failure reported," has been removed. Instead, when TEC-XX shuts down, the red hazard lights immediately turn on with an accompanying sound effect.
  • The elevators no longer say "Choose your destination" after TEC-XX shuts down, instead simply showing the floor prompt with no dialogue attached.
  • After Mario takes the teleporter, the lights in the fortress shut down, followed by an alarm, signaling the fortress's impending destruction.
  • TEC-XX's line "Peach...Goodbye..." is no longer displayed in a text box, and instead appears in the center of the screen. The somber arrangement of Peach's theme plays one last time over this scene, instead of ambient sound effects as in the original game.

Palace of Shadow

• When the flames of the candles change color, the color of the rug changes to blue instead of remaining red like in the original game.
• Hand-like shadows cover the world when the Shadow Queen awakens instead of regular shadows, in a similar vein to the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment from the Disney film Fantasia.
• In all regions, the bad ending shown when Mario accepts the Shadow Queen's offer reflects the Japanese version of the original game. Mario takes on the appearance of Doopliss's copy (retaining the Emblems he has equipped), rather than simply having an angry expression. Additionally, the music fades out and the ending text in this scene takes up the whole screen, rather than being confined to a text box.
• Several characters are added to most areas during the scene where they encourage Mario through the Crystal Stars in his battle with the Shadow Queen:
  • Rogueport: Flavio, Don Pianta, Frankie, Francesca, Zess T., Mousimilian, Charlieton, Podley, Ishnail, Gus, Goose, Plenn T., Swindell, Vinny, Tony, Goomther, Luigi, and Toadsworth.
  • Petalburg: Bub-ulber.
  • The Great Tree: Jabble (only if he was recruited during Chapter 2).
  • Glitzville: Prince Mush, The Koopinator, Sir Swoop, Mr. Hoggle, Podler, Bandy Andy, and the Businessman. An error from the original game is also corrected, where Shellshock appeared in this cutscene speaking like King K. In the remake, King K himself appears in Shellshock's place.
  • Twilight Town: The shopkeepers.
  • Keelhaul Key: The Traveling Sisters Three, Thriff T., and Dupree.
  • Poshley Heights: The Excess Express conductor, Excess Express engineer, Excess Express waitress, and Chef Shimi.
• General White is in the center of the Bob-omb crowd encouraging Mario through the Crystal Star instead of being behind them in front of the door to his house like in the original game.
• The speech bubbles that appear to cheer on Mario and co. look different. The one from Pennington is all written in one bubble, rather than requiring several.
• Mario goes first to check on Peach after the Shadow Queen is defeated instead of his partner.
• After the final battle, Frankly is shown having just entered the Palace of Shadow instead of simply being in one of the palace's rooms.

Ending

• In the epilogue after the final boss, a curtain no longer descends before showing Flurrie in the "Paper Mario" stage play.
• Instead of the camera zooming towards Mario in the ending cutscene, a snapshot of the scene is shown, which then transitions into an illustration of a page in the storybook seen in the opening cutscene. The storybook then closes and the desk lamp the book was next to shuts off, like in the ending of Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

Audio changes

• Because the boat carrying Mario to Rogueport for the first time no longer stops in the center of the logo screen until the player presses the A button, with the scene auto-advancing instead, the music that plays if the player remains on the logo screen without pressing the A button no longer plays.
• Tying into the revamped email mechanics, the jingle for receiving an email (based on the theme that plays after defeating a Koopaling in Super Mario World) is much shorter and faster, now being a simple trill rather than the entire theme.
• When approaching Hooktail Castle in the background, menacing ambience sounds fade in rather than the standard Petal Meadows theme continuing to play like in the original game.
• The "reunion" music plays at the end of Chapter 1, when Koops announces his intention to join Mario after rescuing his father, rather than the standard Petalburg music.
• After completing Chapter 2, the interior of the Great Tree continues to play its standard theme. In the original game, the Punis' theme played inside the Great Tree after completing Chapter 2.
• The eerie howling sound that periodically played in Creepy Steeple and the choir voices in the Palace of Shadow are both no longer present.
• Lord Crump's theme plays when he is talked to during the post-Chapter 5 Bowser segment and in the epilogue scene with the X-Nauts. In the original game, his theme only played during two cutscenes in Chapter 2.
• Pennington's theme plays when he confronts Bowser in Poshley Sanctum.
• Princess Peach's theme no longer plays when Mario explores the western rooms of Sublevel Four of the X-Naut Fortress.
• The second theme of the Palace of Shadow now plays in the corridors leading to Gloomtail's lair even if the orrery in the Palace of Shadow Tower has not yet been activated.
• The Chapter 8 introduction theme is replaced by continuing the current theme for the Thousand-Year Door room.
• There is no music after Grodus escapes from his battle.

Music arrangement

• The game's music has been rearranged with new instrumentation and a similar style to later entries in the Paper Mario series. Furthermore, several songs are extended with new melodies. The original soundtrack can still be played via equipping the Nostalgic Tunes badge.
  • Much of the remake's soundtrack is recorded with live players, including a big band, an orchestra and choir, and world music instruments, rather than being entirely synthesized as in the original game. As a result, the rearranged soundtrack incorporates more elements of jazz, rock, and orchestral music compared to the original game's techno and chiptune influences.
  • Several areas have more dynamic music. Each level of Rogueport Underground now has its own variant of the standard theme music, as does the X-Naut Fortress.
  • Similar to Paper Mario: Color Splash and Paper Mario: The Origami King, the main battle theme changes to different arrangements specific to each area. Also like in the final areas of both games, the field theme continues playing during battles in the Palace of Shadow (except inside the Tower).
  • Similar to Paper Mario: Color Splash and Paper Mario: The Origami King, each battle theme has its own unique victory theme to go along with it. However, the unique version of the victory theme that plays when Mario's current partner has run out of HP has been removed and does not play even with the Nostalgic Tunes badge equipped.
  • Like the first Paper Mario, as well as all games since Paper Mario: Sticker Star, each battle theme's intro changes depending on whether the player or the enemy gets the first strike.
  • Like in Paper Mario: The Origami King, each battle theme now changes to a quieter "thinking" variant if no action is made for some time.
  • The regular battle theme begins with the opening Ground Theme motif from Super Mario Bros..
  • Bowser's theme incorporates parts of "Bowser's Castle" from Paper Mario: The Origami King.
  • The "reunion" music features a unique arrangement for each chapter it plays in.
  • The track that plays in the room where the Thousand-Year Door dwells has variations in which different instruments join each time a Crystal Star has been collected, similar to the world map in Paper Mario: Color Splash and Toad Town in Paper Mario: The Origami King.
  • When Peach waltzes with TEC-XX, there are various different versions of the music that can play. If Peach messes up her steps and performs worse, the music becomes off-key, and eventually a metronome is added to make the rhythm easier to follow.

New music tracks

• New music tracks have been added.
  • When Parakarry delivers the Magical Map to the Mario Bros.' House and when talking to Lady Bow in the post-game, an arrangement of the title theme from Paper Mario can be heard.
  • As Luigi reads Princess Peach's letter at the beginning of the game, an arrangement of "Inside the Castle Walls" from Super Mario 64 plays instead of the theme of the Mario Bros.' House continuing to play over the letter.
  • A new ambient theme plays while lingering on the chapter introduction screen.
  • All of the partners, as well as several other characters—such as Kroop, Koopie Koo, Goldbob, and Flavio—have their own themes that play when they are being focused on.
  • New battle themes have been given to several of the game's bosses, with certain bosses that originally shared themes, such as Magnus von Grapple 2.0, Gloomtail and Bonetail, receiving new renditions of their original themes and Atomic Boo receiving its own unique theme. Bowser's first battle in the Glitz Pit also uses a new theme instead of his overworld theme.
  • The Peach intermissions have more unique music, such as a "stealth" theme when she is sneaking around in the Chapter 3 and Chapter 5 intermissions and a "tense" theme in certain moments that had no music in the original.
  • Rogueport's theme features new arrangements for when Mario is within a shop, Podley's Place, or (after completing chapter 5) the harbor. The ending montage with Goombella also features a unique arrangement of Rogueport's theme.
  • A new tense theme plays as Cortez's ship blasts out of its cave and starts to engage the X-Naut ship, instead of Cortez's boss theme as in the original.
  • When leveling up, there's a new jingle every ten levels corresponding to Mario's Rank improving.
  • A melancholy theme was added to the scene where Koopie Koo she is worried about Koops leaving with Mario.
  • A sentimental version of Koops's new theme plays when he reads the letter in Hooktail Castle.
  • The terminals in the Glitz Pit that resemble the Game Boy Advance now make the sound of an actual GBA turning on when activated.
  • Music plays when Mario and his partner lose to the Iron Clefts in the Glitz Pit.
  • When Mario needs to find his way to the ring for the Rawk Hawk fight, a new dramatic theme was added.
  • When Mario is reduced to a shadow during Chapter 4, three new, eerie ambient tracks play in place of the standard Twilight Town, Twilight Trail and Creepy Steeple themes.
  • When talking to Professor Frankly at the end of Chapter 4, a new dramatic theme plays instead of Frankly's theme continuing to play like in the original game.
  • When reading Ghost T.'s diary, a new horror track plays alongside it.
  • The intro portion of Doopliss's theme music plays when he removes his Zip Toad disguise.
  • A new track plays when exploring the back entrance and underground portions of Riverside Station. In the original game, the Riverside Station theme played in the former and no music played in the latter.
  • A new variation of Bowser's theme plays when he swims back to Rogueport and during the post-Chapter 6 Bowser intermission, with the new theme being interrupted after Bowser breathes fire at Kammy Koopa and being replaced by Bowser's regular theme afterwards.
  • During the ending sequence, the ringtone that plays when Mario receives Goombella's email is an arrangement of her new theme rather than the generic theme.
  • The ending montage with Goombella features each partner's new theme rather than the standard music of each location.
  • The credits theme has been replaced with an entirely new one incorporating leitmotifs from various tracks throughout the game.

Sound effects

• Sound effects are of a higher quantity and more characters have voice acting.
  • Sound effects, particularly those of the Shadow Queen, are not as synthesized as they were in the original game.
  • In place of the sounds of message balloons appearing and disappearing, characters are now given unique talking sounds during dialogue, similar to the Mario & Luigi series and the Paper Mario series from Sticker Star onward. Notably, pre-established characters like Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and some Toad NPCs (including Toadsworth and Toadette) have talking sounds sampled from their voices. Yoshi Kid and Kammy Koopa use talking sounds sampled from Yoshi and Kamek's current voices, respectively.
    • NPCs of other species that are standard to the Super Mario franchise use vocal effects from other games in which they appear. For example, Koopa Troopas (including Koops), Thwomps, and Bob-ombs (including Admiral Bobbery) speak with the vocal effects used for them since Super Mario 64. Piantas' vocal effects are taken from those in Super Mario Sunshine, and Boos' vocal effects are taken from those in New Super Mario Bros. Dull Bones also now use the standard vocal effects for Dry Bones, although only when they are audience members.
    • Characters of the same species can have variants in their speaking pitch. For example, Francesca speaks in a higher pitch than other Piantas, and Admiral Bobbery speaks in a lower pitch than most Bob-ombs.
  • Audience members use voice clips of their respective species. Consequently, the audience's screams when leaving the theater in panic or when attacked by certain bosses are a lot quieter and barely audible.
  • Mario's Hammer makes different sounds when hitting different surfaces, such as grass or paved paths. Objects reacting to Mario's hammer also create unique sounds, such as a crystalline chime from hitting the trees in Boggly Woods or organ music from hitting the organ in the storeroom of Creepy Steeple.
  • When the Boos escape the box in Creepy Steeple, they can now be heard laughing.
  • Chain Chomps use their signature barking sound when they lunge at Mario on the overworld. Likewise, the "talking" Red Chomp of Chomp Country now uses a portion of said bark as its talking sound.
  • Atomic Boo uses King Boo's voice samples for its sound effects.
  • Certain enemies and bosses—such as Bowser, Boos and Atomic Boo—make vocal sounds when they take damage in battle, similar to Magikoopas and the Koopalings in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions.
  • Flavio's "singing" during Chapter 5 is audible (performed by a kazoo). This kazoo sound effect is also added to the standard Keelhaul Key theme when Flavio briefly accompanies Mario in Chapter 5.
  • Princess Peach's scream when being possessed by the Shadow Queen is audible.
  • Mario makes no vocal sounds while he is a shadow during Chapter 4.
  • Mario whistles in his sleep, similar to Paper Mario: The Origami King.
• The sounds of the waves around Rogueport when reading Peach's letter in the intro are no longer present.
• There is a sound effect when the player presses A to start a chapter.
• When Mario stands on top of a plane panel or boat panel, a sound effect reminiscent of Magic Circles from Paper Mario: The Origami King can now be heard.
• There is now a sound effect when Mario uses Paper Mode to squeeze between two walls.
• The sound effect when enemies are defeated is now reminiscent of the one heard in Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash.
• The healing sound effect is the same as the one from Paper Mario: Sticker Star onwards.
• The sounds the coins make when collected are the same sound from Super Mario 3D Land, just like in Paper Mario: The Origami King.
• The spiked damage sound effect is the same as the one from Paper Mario: The Origami King.
• There is a creaking sound effect when Mario hits the noose on the gallows in Rogueport from underneath.
• The Ground Theme and the Family Computer Disk System startup jingle are reused from the original console, rather than being rearranged like the original game.
• There are new sound effects for both moving on the field while riding on the Yoshi Kid and for using the Yoshi Kid's flutter jump on the field.
• The Three Shadows have a new sound effect for fading into or emerging from the shadows. Vivian's Veil also has a different sound effect when used to hide Mario in the field or in battle.
• When Peach is undressed during the Chapter 5 intermission, the sound of bare feet on tile can now be heard as she walks. In the original game, a quieter shuffling sound effect was used instead.
• The Excess Express's chime is a variant of its theme.
• Sound effects and chimes that were borrowed from stock sounds in the original game are original sounds.
• When activating a timed switch, such as the switches to enter Hooktail Castle, a timer sound effect was added in addition to the switches flashing.
• In the Path to Shhwonk Fortress, if Mario tries to open the closed doors, a rattling sound effect is now heard.
• When a fighter is rolled down on a stretcher outside of the minor league locker room in the Glitz Pit, the sound of rolling wheels was added.
• A sound effect was added when Mario tries to enter the Twilight Town pipe and it refuses his entry.

Miscellaneous

General

• A settings page is available in the menu list, allowing the ability to adjust the rumble and brightness settings and to exit to the title screen.
• The game's European and Japanese age ratings have been raised to PEGI 7 and CERO B, up from PEGI 3 and CERO A, respectively.

Title screen

• Only Mario is present when the game is started for the first time. Mario's partners will each be added to the title screen when they join him, including Vivian, Admiral Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz, who were not present on the title screen of the original game.
  • The color of the Yoshi Kid on the title screen matches the color of the Yoshi Kid obtained by the player rather than always depicting the Yoshi Kid as being colored green like in the original game.
  • After Goombella joins the party, the curtains open earlier on the title screen.
  • Peach, Bowser, and Kammy Koopa appear on the title screen after clearing their intermissions in Chapter 1.
  • Purchasing and reading all of the Super Luigi books now results in Luigi appearing on the far left of the title screen.
  • Confetti gets launched over the title screen after completing the game.
• The characters and the hills on the background are also animated.
• Like in Paper Mario: The Origami King, any button can be used to start the game, whereas, in the original, only was used.

Save Files

• Save files can no longer be named, much like entries from Paper Mario: Sticker Star onward.
• On the file select screen, the player uses to copy files and to erase them. File 1 and 4's colors have also been swapped, with 1 being blue and 4 being yellow.
• Save files depict Mario (including his alternate colors) and his current partner on the right of them and the date and time the game was last saved below it.
• Completing the game results in a medal appearing on the top left of the save file.

Credits

• The credits have been overhauled to be modeled after a curtain call of a stage play, with the carousel of character silhouettes being replaced with the characters walking on the battle stage alongside various skits that occur during it. The credits end with a wide group shot of the major characters and the audience.
  • Parakarry is the first character to appear in the credits rather than Luigi, who is an audience member instead.
• Copyright information is not present at the end of the credits.

Controls

Overworld

• — Move
• — Bring up Partner Ring
• — Bring up stats
• — Get a hint from partner
• — Turn into Paper Mode
• — Select / Jump
• — Cancel / Hammer
• — Use partner ability
• — Turn into airplane or boat
• — Pause, skip cutscenes (if already seen)
• — Shortcut to partner menu
• — Shortcut to items menu
• — Shortcut to badges menu
• — Shortcut to journal menu

Battle

• — Move cursor / Action Commands
• — Select / Action Commands / Guard
• — Cancel / Action Commands / Superguard
• — Tattle Check
• — Attack audience member / Action Commands
• — Change attack order / Action Commands
• / — Action Commands

Bowser intermissions

• — Move/Swim
• — Jump
  • + — Ground Pound
• — Fire Breath

Promotion

The battle stage diorama from the European My Nintendo Store

By pre-ordering the game through the My Nintendo Store in Europe, customers would receive Mario, Goombella, and Yoshi Kid keychains. A bundle containing the game and a buildable diorama of the battle stage including several enemies and characters from the game was also made available on the store.

In Australia, an A5 magnet sheet and a set of foldable Mario paper planes were included as pre-order bonuses for the game from EB Games and JB Hi-Fi, respectively.

In GameStop Canada, a slipcover for the Nintendo Switch case depicting the original GameCube cover is included as a pre-order bonus.

Prior to the game's release, Nintendo of Europe e-mailed a survey about the role-playing games of the Super Mario franchise to a select number of newsletter subscribers. The survey asks participants to state their opinions on topics such as the gameplay and characters of the Paper Mario series, the Mario & Luigi series, and Super Mario RPG. A different survey was temporarily released by Nintendo of America via the Qualtrics website, which asked participants about their general gaming experience as well as featuring questions specifically on the subject of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch.

On May 26, 2024, Nintendo of America issued a printable paper airplane template with a design featuring elements from the game. As well, they published a video tutorial wherein John "ThePaperAirplaneGuy" Collins, holder of the Guinness World Records title for the farthest flying paper airplane from 2012 to 2022, explains how to fold the template. On May 30, 2024, Nintendo of America promoted the game with yet another paper plane–related product in the form of a Snapchat Lens that folds a user's photograph into an AR paper plane in a fashion reminiscent of the game's Plane Mode.

Descriptions

North American Nintendo eShop

Join Mario on an epic paper-adventure to collect the Crystal Stars before the X-Nauts do!

The nefarious X-Nauts are after the treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door! With a map from Princess Peach, and the help of a few locals, Mario journeys through a colorful world made of paper to find them first. To prevail in this quest, you’ll have to level up Mario and his friends, master timing-based attacks and badges to impress the audience on the stage of combat, and make use of all the abilities that come with being cursed—er, conveniently made of paper—like folding into a plane to cross big gaps or turning sideways to slip through narrow openings.

Leaf through a storybook world with charming characters in every fold

Surprises abound in this deep and engaging tale, where everyone’s got something to say and it’s often not what you’d expect. Mario will meet all kinds of interesting folks on his journey, like the upbeat and studious Goombella and the shy but determined Koops. Some of these characters will need your help with their own quests, or even join your party. Others, like Peach and Bowser, have stories of their own that you’ll play between Mario’s chapters!

A classic turns the page, bringing fresh visuals and updated features

Twenty years after the original game on the Nintendo GameCube™ system, this version for the Nintendo Switch™ system has revamped graphics, and a suite of additional changes that make the game easier than ever to enjoy.

Pre-release and unused content

Various badges that also went unused in the original game have graphics in this game, complete with a few having names. These include Mega Jump, Mega Quake, Mega Smash, Triple Dip, Triple Dip P, Lucky Day P, Pity Flower P, and unused alternate designs for Damage Dodge and Damage Dodge P.

Glitches

• Koops can now grab the Blue Key from the Jabbies early due to a glitch, which results in possible softlocks and glitched cutscenes.
• By hammering Ms. Mowz twice and have Mario distance himself from her and mashing the hammer while pressing Y to activate her ability, the player can freely move while her textbox is open. This leads to loading zone not working, camera glitching, and more effects.
• The player can now duplicate badges by holding the maximum amount of badges and picking one up from the floor. Tossing a badge then picking it back up, the player still holds it. By then going to the Lovely Howz of Badges the player can buy the badge again, while holding the original one, thus cloning it. This works even for unique badges, including Simplifier, with really interesting effects if multiple are equipped at once.

Staff

Main article: List of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) staff

Like Paper Mario: The Origami King, the game was directed by Masahiko Nagaya and was art directed by Isamu Kamikokuryo. It was produced by Atsushi Ikuno, Taku Sugioka, Risa Tabata, and Shinya Saito, making this the first game in the series since the original game that Kensuke Tanabe did not serve as producer. However, he was given a special thanks credit. Tabata was previously an assistant producer on Paper Mario: Color Splash and Paper Mario: The Origami King.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).

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  Mario

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  Goombella

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  Yoshi Kid

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  Sir Grodus

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  Princess Peach

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  Bowser

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  Group artwork

References to other media

For references in the original game, see Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door § References to other games.

• Super Mario Bros.: The regular battle theme begins with an arrangement of the Ground Theme motif from this game.
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System: The colors of the button icons correspond to those of the Japanese and PAL controller buttons.
• Super Mario 64: An arrangement of "Inside the Castle Walls" from the game plays when Luigi reads Princess Peach's letter at the beginning of the game. The Thwomp from Shhwonk Fortress and Bob-omb NPCs' vocal effects are taken from the game.
• Paper Mario: The world map from this game appears on a wall in the Mario Bros.' House. An arranged version of this game's title screen theme plays when Parakarry delivers the Magical Map to the Mario Bros.' House, and when talking to Lady Bow in Poshley Heights. Kooper is an incorrect answer in one of The Creepy Steeple Boo’s quizzes.
• Game Boy Advance: The terminals in the Glitz Pit that resemble the Game Boy Advance from the original game make the sound of the actual system turning on when activated.
• Nintendo GameCube: The Nostalgic Tunes badge resembles the titular console, and its description mentions the console itself.
• Luigi's Mansion: Atomic Boo uses King Boo's voice clips from this game.
• Super Mario Sunshine: Toadsworth and the Piantas' vocal effects are sampled from their voice clips from this game.
• Mario Party 5 / Super Mario Party: Paragoombas' vocal effect is sampled from one of the sound effects used for Goombas in these games.
• Mario Power Tennis: Boo's voice clips are taken from this game.
• Super Mario Strikers: Hammer Bros.' vocal effect is sampled from one of Hammer Bro's voice clips from this game.
• Super Paper Mario: The Mario Bros.' House now has the pictures of Mario's partners from Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door as seen in this game. Garson and Mega Star are incorrect answers in The Creepy Steeple Boo’s quizzes.
• Mario Party 8: Blooey's vocal effect is taken from one of Blooper's voice clips from this game.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Kammy Koopa's vocal effect is sampled from one of Kamek's voice clips from this game.
• Paper Mario: The Origami King: Bowser's leitmotif from this game has been incorporated into his rearranged theme in this game.

References in other games

For references to the original game, see Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door § References in later games.

• Super Mario Run: An event based on the game was released from May 23, 2024 to June 27, 2024, featuring nine missions with three completed missions allowing for the acquisition of statues modeled after Paper Mario with a hammer, Goombella, and Koops. The icons representing the missions are based on Star Points.

Media

For this subject's sound test, see Sound Gallery.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (International) - Plays on the title screen.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door International.oga ​

Rogueport - Plays in Rogueport.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Rogueport.oga ​

Battle - Chapter 1 - Plays during battles in Rogueport Underground, Petal Meadows, and Shhwonk Fortress.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Battle - Chapter 1.oga ​

Excess Express (Day) - Plays on the Excess Express during the daytime.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Excess Express (Day).oga ​

X-Naut Fortress - First Floor - Plays on the top floor of the X-Naut Fortress.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS X-Naut Fortress - First Floor.oga ​

Meanwhile, Princess Peach... - Plays during intermissions with Princess Peach.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Meanwhile, Princess Peach.oga ​

Make Way for Bowser! - Plays during most of Bowser's intermissions.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Make Way for Bowser!.oga ​

Staff Credits - Plays during the game's credits.

File infoMedia:PMTTYDNS Staff Credits.oga ​

Help:Media • Having trouble playing?

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ペーパーマリオＲＰＧ Pēpā Mario Āru Pī Jī	Paper Mario RPG This naming method is similar to Super Mario RPG and the Japanese name of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Chinese (simplified)	纸片马力欧RPG Zhǐpiàn Mǎlì'ōu RPG	Paper Mario RPG
Chinese (traditional)	紙片瑪利歐RPG Zhǐpiàn Mǎlì'ōu RPG	Paper Mario RPG
Dutch	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	-
French (NOA)	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	-
French (NOE)	Paper Mario: La Porte Millénaire	Paper Mario: The Millennium Door
German	Paper Mario: Die Legende vom Äonentor	Paper Mario: The Legend of the Aeon Gate
Italian	Paper Mario: Il Portale Millenario	Paper Mario: The Millennium Portal
Korean	페이퍼 마리오 1000년의 문 Peipeo Malio Cheon-nyeon-ui Mun	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Portuguese	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	-
Spanish (NOA)	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	-
Spanish (NOE)	Paper Mario: La Puerta Milenaria	Paper Mario: The Millennium Door

Trivia

• This is the second Super Mario game after Super Mario Odyssey to receive a B rating by the CERO in Japan.
• Despite being released in 2024, the copyright text on the bottom of the title screen and some promotional material only says 2004 for unknown reasons.
• Just like in the original game, the intro to the title theme has a different melody if the system language is set to Japanese. The Nostalgic Tunes badge also accounts for this difference.

External links

Nintendo of America Inc. / Nintendo of Canada, Ltd.

• Official North American game page
• Official Canadian (French) game page
• Official Mexican/Latin American game page
• Official Brazilian game page

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

• Official Japanese game page
• Official Singaporean game page
• Official Malaysian game page
• Official Filipino game page
• Official Thai game page

Nintendo (Hong Kong) Ltd.

• Official Taiwanese game page
• Official Hong Kong game page

Nintendo of Korea Co., Ltd.

• Official Korean game page

Nintendo of Europe AG

• Official United Kingdom game page
• Official Belgium (Dutch) game page
• Official Belgium (French) game page
• Official German game page
• Official España game page
• Official French game page
• Official Italian game page
• Official Dutch game page
• Official Austrian game page
• Official Portuguese game page
• Official Swiss (German) game page
• Official Swiss (French) game page
• Official Swiss (Italian) game page
• Official South African game page

Nintendo Australia Pty. Limited

• Official Australian game page

Bergsala AB

• Official Danish game page
• Official Finnish game page
• Official Norwegian game page
• Official Swedish game page

CD Media S.E.

• Official Greek game page

ConQuest Entertainment A.S.

• Official Czech game page
• Official Hungarian game page
• Official Polish game page
• Official Slovak game page

TorGaming Ltd

• Official Israeli game page