A Mystery Box is an item found in Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Super Paper Mario.
History
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario
The first appearance of the Mystery Box in Paper Mario goes under the name Mystery? When used in battle, a roulette will appear, containing the following items, that will be used right after the roulette stops on an item:
- Mushroom
- Super Shroom
- Fire Flower
- Stone Cap
- Dizzy Dial
- Thunder Rage
- A Pebble that hurts Mario with 1 HP
Mysteries? can also be used for cooking, yielding a Mistake half the time, and a randomly selected one of twenty-three recipes otherwise.
Throughout the game, Mysteries? can be found in the following locations:
- In a hidden block in the north of the Shy Guy Playground in the blue area of Shy Guy's Toy Box.
- In a hidden block on the beach of Lavalava Island.
- On a platform in the third lava/moving platform area in Bowser's Castle.
- On sale for 1 coin each at Boo's Shop.
- On sale for 5 coins each at the Storehouse.
- Dropped by enemies such as Groove Guys and Duplighosts.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mystery is sold for three coins at Pungent's Great Tree Shop and the Sales Stall. One Mystery can also be found in a bush in near the bridge in Petal Meadows.
When used in battle, a Mystery has the effect of one of the following items:
- Dried Mushroom
- Mushroom
- Ultra Mushroom
- Honey Syrup
- Jammin' Jelly
- Volt Mushroom
- Slow Mushroom
- Gradual Syrup
- Repel Cape
- Stopwatch
- Fire Flower
- Shooting Star
- Thunder Rage
In the remake the selection is different:
- Mushroom
- Honey Syrup
- Stopwatch
- Repel Cape
- Fire Flower
- Shooting Star
- Thunder Rage
Later chapters replace Mushroom and Honey Syrup with their upgraded forms.
If it is cooked by itself or with any other item, it makes a Mistake half the time, and otherwise a random one of twenty items, mostly cooking recipes.
Super Paper Mario
Mystery Boxes appear under their current name in Super Paper Mario. When cooked, the outcome can be random, or more commonly, a Mistake. However, the set recipe is a Miracle Dinner. The Mystery Box can be bought in Flipside Arcade for five Flipside Tokens, at the Downtown of Crag for three coins, or carried by a Lakitu. Similar to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a random item will appear which can be any item from a Catch Card to a Thunder Rage.
A Mystery Box can contain one of the following items:
- Shroom Shake
- Super Shroom Shake
- Shell Shock
- Sleepy Sheep
- Ghost Shroom
- Catch Card
- POW Block
- Mighty Tonic
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
While Mystery Boxes do not appear in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, another item known as a Secret Box with similar effects appears. Secret Boxes mimic a random badge effect, unlike Mystery Boxes, which mimic a random item.
Unused appearances
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
The Mystery Box was originally set to re-appear in Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the Nintendo 3DS, as seen in early artwork, but is absent from the final game.
Names in other languages
Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Japanese | なにがおこるかな[1] Nani ga Okoru Ka Na |
I Wonder What Will Happen | |
Chinese (simplified) | 神秘?[?] Shénmì? |
Mystery? | Paper Mario |
会发生什么事呢[?] Huì fāshēng shénme shì ne |
I Wonder What Will Happen | The Thousand-Year Door remake | |
Chinese (traditional) | 會發生什麼事呢[?] Huì fāshēng shénme shì ne |
I Wonder What Will Happen | |
Dutch | Verrassing[?] | Surprise | |
French | Mystère?[?] | Mystery? | |
German | Mysterium?[?] | Mystery? | |
Überraschungsbox[?] | Surprise Box | Super Paper Mario | |
Italian | Chissà cos'è[?] | Who knows what it is | |
Korean | 미스터리박스[?] Miseuteori Bakseu |
Mystery Box | |
Spanish | Sorpresa[?] | Surprise |
References
- ^ "Paper Mario: From Japanese to English". (June 17, 2013). The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved February 4, 2015.