Characters and Pixls

Playable Characters

You have four characters to work with here, each of which will be familiar to you from the very first Super Mario Bros. game. Each of them are fairly similar in the way that they move, meaning that all of them can bop enemies on the head to defeat them, and each can use any of the Pixls that you come across in the game in the same fashion, but each of them will have their own special features that you’ll find handy at one point or another.

Mario

Only Mario is capable of seeing the world behind the world in the 3D plane.

Mario is the first playable character you’ll pick up, and will be the one that you’ll be using for most of the game. Although he doesn’t have the special movement or attack abilities of the other characters, his ability to switch into a 3D view of the world by pressing A will let you find secret areas, bop on hidden enemies, and will often be required for moving forward in the world.

Princess Peach

Peach will be the next character you acquire in your journey. She has the ability to shield herself from attacks by holding down on the D-pad, and can also glide after jumping if you hold down the 2 button. It’s the glide action that you’ll mostly be using her for, though, as there are many gaps in the game that are uncrossable by anyone but Peach. Peach’s drawback is that she’s less capable of making small technical jumps onto small areas without the use of her umbrella.

Bowser

Bowser's flames are quite powerful when used against the appropriate enemies.

Next up is Bowser, king of the Koopas. He’s the most unique character you’re going to come across, in that he’s a fair bit slower than anyone else and a fair bit larger as well. However, his ability to breathe flame is handy to use on many of the simpler enemies in the game, who’ll walk right into it and be turned to toast. It has its weaknesses, too, in that it can’t be aimed at enemies above or below you, but it will still come in handy in some situations. Still, Bowser’s lack of speed will make it difficult for you to keep him active all the time, even if you wanted to.

Luigi

You won’t get Luigi in your party until fairly late in the game. He can jump a smidgen higher than everyone else in the party by tapping 2, and can press down on the D-Pad to start a superjump that will rocket him upwards to areas completely unreachable by your other party members. Apart from that, he’s a fairly normal guy!

Pixls

You obtain Pixls as you work your way through Super Paper Mario. Many of them are impossible to miss, as they are required to advance in the game, but some are optional or well-hidden. Every Pixl you find has a different function, all of which are activated with the 1 button.

Tippi

Your first Pixl is always active and on your screen. Tippi acts as your voice in dialogues when Mario can’t speak, and will help you find hidden items on the screen if you point your Wiimote at it. When you’re stuck and flipping into 3D can’t get you any further, use Tippi to scan around and see what’s out of your view. Tippi can also be aimed at enemies, including bosses, to learn their stats and weaknesses.

Thoreau

You'll typically find these Pixls in large chests, so keep an eye out for them.

Thoreau, the first Pixl you find, is capable of picking up almost anything you see, including enemies. In combat, you can use Thoreau to pick up enemies of almost any size and throw them into each other to deal damage to them. (Keep in mind that spiky enemies will hurt you if you attempt to pick them up with Thoreau, though.) Many bosses will require you to use Thoreau in order to pick items up and throw them at the boss’ weak spots to damage them. In addition, Thoreau can be used to hit switches that you otherwise can’t access.

Boomer

Boomer is a bomb Pixl. Lay him down, and you’ll be able to blow up the area around him by either pressing 1 again, to have him blow up immediately, or by letting the fuse run down, at which point he’ll automatically blow up. These explosions don’t hurt you, so feel free to let Boomer go off while you’re right on top of him. Boomer is a great Pixl to use on enemies below you, and he’ll be important to use if you plan on getting through either of the Pit of 100 Trials.

Slim

You’ll find Slim in the castle of Merlee, an Ancient magician. Slim can let Mario flip sideways, turning him razor thin. If you stand still while you’re slimmed-up, enemies will walk right past you without hurting you. This is a pretty situational ability, which you’ll only really use when you need to get past a moving trap or to fit through a Slim-sized gap; otherwise you won’t be needing to use Slim all that often.

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