Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Complete Walkthrough – Tips & Prologue

Adventures await in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where players must platform their way to 2D victory while looking for Princess Peach. However, the chapters are filled with puzzles and riddles that can be difficult to beat. To help players out, we have put together this comprehensive walkthrough covering everything for every chapter.

Unlike Princess Peach: Showtime, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door doesn’t spend much time holding player hands. Instead, mechanics are taught on the fly, and it can be a bit confusing during the first few chapters. Below are all the core mechanics players will need to know.

**This guide is currently in progress and will continue to be updated**

Updated May 30, 2024

Use Your Hammer on Everything

Whether players are exploring the wilderness outside of towns or are deep in the ruins of forgotten dungeons, hitting everything with Mario’s hammer is important.

Players can smack grass, skeletons, blocks, trees, and anything else they see to earn coins or find items. Transport Pipes can also be hidden behind smackable objects, so knocking things over is critical to story progression. When traveling, take the time to flatten grass or knock over barrels, just to see what might be hidden.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Hammer Upgrades

Mario’s hammer can be upgraded two times:

• Hammer – with Mario at the start of the game. Breaks small yellow and metal blocks.
• Super Hammer – Breaks big yellow blocks
• Ultra Hammer – Breaks stone blocks

All Companions in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Companions can team up with Mario during his quest to find Princess Peach. They each have different skills that can be used during a fight. Below are all the companions you can team up with.

• Goombella
• Koops
• Madame Flurrie
• Mini-Yoshi
• Vivian
• Admiral Bobbery

Every Chapter in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has a total of nine chapters including the prologue. Below are all the chapters we will cover in this walkthrough.

• Prologue: A Rogue’s Welcome
• Chapter 1: Castle and Dragon
• Chapter 2: The Great Boggly Tree
• Chapter 3: Of Glitz and Glory
• Chapter 4: For Pigs the Bell Tolls
• Chapter 5: The Key to Pirates
• Chapter 6: 3 Days of Excess
• Chapter 7: Mario Shoots the Moon
• Chapter 8: The Thousand-Year Door

How to Upgrade Companions With Shine Sprites

While playing through Paper Mario, players will find items called Shine Sprites. These are used to upgrade companion abilities and learn new moves. You will need to take x3 Shine Sprites to Merlon in Rogueport to complete these upgrades.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door – Prologue Guide

After getting a letter from Princess Peach and acquiring a suspicious map, Mario sets off to Rogueport. Here, players are introduced to Paper Mario‘s mechanics while also prepping to head off on their adventure.

How to Find Goombella

Upon arriving at Rogueport, players will run into Goombella at the docks. She will team up with Mario immediately after the squeak through fight and into the main area of the town.

Star Piece #1

– Go through the back alley – Go right past the crates – Enter the doorway beside the barrels – Walk back behind the junk

Where to Find Professor Frankly in Rogueport

To find Professor Frankly, head through the archway to the right of the Inn and Save Block. The Professor’s home is the second on the row, beside Merlon’s.

TIP: Don’t forget to stop in and visit all the shops, particularly Merlon, as he will be important during future visits to Rogueport. Merlon will exchange x3 Shine Sprites for a companion level-up.

After arriving at the Professor’s house, he will explain that the map is rare, and will break down how to find the Star Crystals for the Thousand Year Door. He will take the players outside and kick down some rotten fence, revealing an entry to the Rogueport Underground.

Exploring The Rogueport Underground

After using the Green Pipe on the surface, Mario and Goombella will find themselves in the Rogueport Underground. Here, there are multiple secrets to uncover.

Star Piece #2

– After going down the green Pipe, enter the doorway to the left. – Go behind the pillar and jump to knock the piece free.

TIP: Enter the door beside this pillar to find the fortune teller. Here, you can pay for hints to collectible locations and objectives.

After exploring this area, head back to the main area of Basement Level One. Use the platforms to cross the room and take the next Green Pipe down to Basement Level Two.

Fight the Goombas in this area to get to the platform beside the water. Be sure to hit the small boxes in this area to get healing items.

Use Mario’s hammer to smash the big yellow boxes, revealing another Green Pipe. Take this to get to Basement Level 3.

How To Get The Rogueport Underground Black Key in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

To get the strange black key, players will need to defeat the enemies in this room and then jump on the blue exclamation mark box in Basement Level Three. Jumping on the box will reveal a set of stairs.

Ascend the stairs and go left. Carefully scoot off the edge of the platform to fall onto the raised area holding the key just below. Grab the key and jump back to the ground.

After obtaining the key, head back up the stairs and through the door at the top. Inside, a large black chest will accept the key, and a monster will appear.

How To Get Paper Airplane Mode

To get the Paper Airplane ability, players only need to unlock the Rogueport Underground black chest. They will be “cursed” with the ability, which allows Mario to fold up into a little paper plane when standing on Airplane Tiles. This is activated while pushing “Y” on the tile.

Head back out into the main area of Basement Level 3 and over to the spot where Mario jumped to get the key. Here, activate Airplane Mode on the tile and cross the room to reach a door above the unbreakable yellow block.

Enter the next room to find the Thousand-Year Door. It is missing the Crystal Stars, but players can jump on the platform in the middle of the room to activate a cutscene.

Find the Crystal Stars for the Thousand-Year Door

After returning to Rogueport, Professor Frankly will explain that Mario and Goombella must retrieve the missing Crystal Stars. The first stop on this journey is Petal Meadows.

Star Piece #3

– Go through the Inn and exit out the door on the top floor. – Cross the roof to the other side. – Pick the piece up from the shingles.

How to Get to Petal Meadows in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

TIP: Sleep at the Inn and stock up on items before leaving Rogueport.

To get to the Petal Medows, follow the steps below:

• Go back down the Green Pipe that leads to the Rogueport Underground.
• Cross to the right of Basement Level One and use Airplane Mode to get to the platform across the room.
• Go through the door.
• Hit the tentacle lurking on the edge of the area.
• Battle and defeat the Blooper.
• Jump onto the moving platforms.
• Go down the Grey Pipe.

About the Author

Laura Gray

Administrator

Laura Gray, known as Ezra when not putting pen to paper, is a D&D enthusiast with a love of all things written. They are a collector of fantasy and sci-fi novels, a lover of cooking weird food, and a player of farming sims and Pokémon games. When not engrossed in a re-read of Anne McCaffrey or a deep dive into the Adventure Zone: Balance, they can be found sniffing the cats and napping in half-finished crochet projects.

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