Most useful Paper Mario Partner?

Koops

Agony
Pronouns
He/They
MarioWiki
ManKoops
Listen, people, I know I have a... not so popular opinion on the partners. I'm probably one of these very few who think that having Mario playable by himself is a better thing, or even just having one mostly invisible partner. That way you don't always have to cycle between your party and that one partner gets development, which is probably what makes Huey such a good character. And I though that even tho SPM has a lot of major flaws the Pixls are actually one of its upgrades, which I've already talked about multiple times and I already said why I think that. But even then, party members are still a decent idea that should be reworked imo should IS want to put them in their next Paper Mario, if any.

So yeah. The way I analyse a party member's usefulness is not how many puzzles they are useful for, instead, that differs from game to game. For 64 and TTYD, that means whoever you always keep out for the battles. It's nice when a partner accomplishes something on the field but most of the time puzzles like that are situational, and it's unfair to rate a partner above the other JUST because the devs put more of this obstacle. There are some field utilities that surpass the other tho, so we'll get to that. For SPM, that just means the Pixl you use the most, again, outside of situational field utility.

Anyway, for 64, I'd say the best partner is Parakarry without a doubt. A very versatile fighter and even if his field utility is situational, the same can be said about anyone else in this game, except maybe Lakilester but he imo joins too late to really make use of this niche. Parakarry attacks enemies in the air with ease and can do the same to those on the ground. Bow can also do that and her field utility is arguably somewhat better if you're looking to avoid conflict, in fact I heavily debated whether she or Parakarry deserved the spot more. The thing is, Bow has such a great earlygame, since she can easily smack enemies for 4 damage, at base level. She starts off disgusting but she starts seriously falling off later due to a lot of enemies having defense, and Smack deals 1 damage four times, and her only other effective offensive move is the last one, meaning you gotta wait to get it, and while it's a really good move that deals 10 damage if the enemy has no defense, well there's still an abundance of enemies who do. So overall, Parakarry performs better and is probably the most optimal partner to keep out in 64.

I haven't played TTYD yet (I will soon), so we'll move on to SPM. And do I have something to talk about here. I love Carrie so fucking much. The other Pixls are good too and I like how some have multiple applications for their utility, but Carrie just easily takes the cake for me. From the moment you get her, she's probably going to be your most frequently used partner in the whole game. Not only does she trivialize spikes, but she also lets you move quicker (and those who find this game a drag would value this over anything else), and she's not bad for offense. It's way easier to jump on a spike enemy using Carrie than to set up Boomer here and make him explode. She mitigates any erroneous mistakes you may make by quickly jumping on a spiky enemy, and essentially acts like the "Spike Shield" badge in the earlier games, while also having the other mentioned abilities. She doesn't offer the same power that someone like Cudge comes with but she's more useful to have around. I made this choice without hesitation, but runner ups for best Pixl are Barry and Cudge. Barry joins a tiny bit after Carrie (though he's optional so blind players can miss him), and just like Carrie, offers a quick and great way to remedy your mistakes on short notice and does so arguably better than Carrie, but Carrie has more applications to her ability. Cudge is another really good Pixl but not only does he join late, but he's got problems in some situations, especially when using Bowser, since your hammer can simply just stop in its tracks because a brick was just above you, that and he can't be used on an enemy who's in the air. So yeah, Carrie it is. Now if Dashell joined really early, he might have a spot somewhere, because who WOULDN'T want to clear these levels quickly but, Pit of 100 trials... yeah. Most players, by the time they get him, have little to do in the game anymore. He is good for the Piccolo sidequest but most likely the two challenges that remain after you get him are the Dark Pit and Sammer's Kingdom, in which running is not the best thing you can do. Sammer's Kingdom is a huge opportunity for Barry to shine btw. Anyway, Carrie best SPM girl.

So, your opinions on the matter, good sirs?
 
personally i think Tippi easily walks all over the rest of SPM's "partners" unless you count the 4 heroes. But overall i have to give this one to Vivian, what a great role she has. Starting as a villain but joining Mario after he treats her kinder than her own sisters, plus she's immediately established as an underdog who's constantly mistreated so it feels so nice when she joins and you have the opportunity to give her a better life than she's ever had. Plus her abilities and design are sick. Most of the TTYD partners are A-tier though, Bobbery is my next favorite because you're literally helping him overcome his grief after losing his wife, and by the end he's back doing what he loves, sailing the seas. Major missed opportunity to not give him a cameo in the pirate chapter of Color Splash, he'd have fit right in.
 
I mean I mostly meant to talk about partners from a gameplay standpoint but I mean I guess that works.
 
i get that koops wanted this to be about gameplay but i really can't help but take their story role and personality into account so...

1. tippi (spm)
2. bowser (spm)
3. peach (spm)
4. luigi (spm)
5. vivian (ttyd)
6. lady bow (pm64)
7. bobbery (ttyd)
8. ms. mowz (ttyd)
9. koops (ttyd)
10. goombella (ttyd)
11. yoshi kid (ttyd)
12. watt (pm64)
13. bombette (pm64)
14. lakilester (pm64)
15. goombario (pm64)
16. pakakarry (pm64)
17. madame flurrie (ttyd)
18. tiptron (spm)
19. carrie (spm)
20. cudge (spm)
21. thoreau (spm)
22. boomer (spm)
23. dottie (spm)
24. dashell (spm)
25. barry (spm)
26. slim (spm)
27. fleep (spm)
28. thudley (spm)
29. kooper (pm64)
30. picollo (spm)

unranked:
kersti (haven't played sticker star)
huey (haven't played colour splash)
 
well gameplay wise i find him pretty useless, none of his moves do anything i find myself using that often

as you know i played ttyd first and like i didn't find he had any interesting personality and his story is just he loses his shell, mario gets it back, he joins you, to me he just felt like a rip off of koops. because of that i never had him out during any custcenes (i main lady bow) so my experience with him pretty much ended then.
 
Ah, personally i feel like his scenes in chapter 7 where he gets impersonated (and later, a bunch of other characters get impersonated and claim to be Kooper) were entertaining enough to put him above most of the non-Tippi Pixls, but i guess in terms of gameplay he has nothing going for him that Koops doesn't do and more.
 
Ah, personally i feel like his scenes in chapter 7 where he gets impersonated (and later, a bunch of other characters get impersonated and claim to be Kooper) were entertaining enough to put him above most of the non-Tippi Pixls, but i guess in terms of gameplay he has nothing going for him that Koops doesn't do and more.
haven't beat chapter 6 yet
 
Paper Mario: Lady Bow or Goombario.
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door: Probably Vivian or Admiral Bobbery.
Super Paper Mario: Even though I spend a majority of my time as Mario, Bowser's brute strength and flame breath comes in handy for crowd control.

Also honorable mention to Huey both for being a massive step up from Kersti and his role during the final boss fight.
 
havent played the games
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but i like both the goombas a lot. they both just get tons of dialogue due to tattles and i love that
and yea tippi has tattles too but i dont think theyre as interesting?
i like huey too from the dialogue ive read on the wiki
 
Watt's extremely fun to use from my experience. I know she plays mostly as a support partner and not much of a damage dealer but it's always so satisfying to pull off her main electric move, especially how it pierces defense.
 
From a gameplay standpoint..
#1. The rides.
#2. The tattlers.

My favorite character personalities.
#1. All TTYD
#2. All 64
 
Luigi (M&L)

--insert very large gap here--

Tippi (SPM)
Huey (CS)
Kersti (SS)

--insert smaller gap here--

Goombella (PM2)
Goombario (PM1)

--insert another gap here--

All other PM1 and PM2 partners

--insert one more gap--

All SPM Pixls that aren't Tippi
 
Overall, I have to go with Koops. I like his character background and progression, and the ability to hold a spinning Koopa Shell in place until you need it to slingshot back is just fun and I don't think it has happened since.
 
Mario

What? You can technically swap him out in SPM like any partner :V
i say mario is the main protagonist and peach bowser and luigi are a subset of the partners, hence i included them in my list but not mario. because mario is the first and the most frequently needed of them, the game's main gameplay gimmick is exclusive to him, the prophecy depicts him as the most immediately important hero (although luigi transpired to be arguably more significant), and just, the way the four heroes interact and stuff feels like peach, bowser, and luigi are partners to mario, who is the single biggest protagonist in the game
@YoshiFlutterJump mentioned luigi in his post but the way i see it m&l doesn't have either brother as the more important protagonist and the other as a partner: they together are the main protagonists, and starlow is the partner (i wouldn't say superstar saga really has any long term partners and i haven't played the other three games) maybe also bowser for bis
 
Not saying she's my favorite but Carrie is very useful when used in tandem with Bowser as she enables you to move fast while still having Bowser's increased power. She's probably the most useful Pixl overall.

Also I think Koops is the best partner because he managed to transcend the fictional realm and become a real life Mario Boards user, even going so far as to create this topic :diddy:
 
Bombette is my favorite partner in the first game, because of her bomb abilities destroying all enemies on screen. Even though her later moves uses up so much FP, it is so worth it to me. I also like her design with her fuse as her hair and like the fact that she's "hot-headed". (According to her description in the game). The only partner in that game I don't really like using in battles is Lakilester, since I never really found use for his moves.

Koops has always been my favorite partner in the second game. I like his design with him wearing a hoodie and his shell over it and also his awkward personality which does improve throughout the game. He's also good in battles. He's tied with Vivian as my favorite partners to use in battles, although I probably prefer Vivian in battles a bit more due to her fire moves. I don't really care for Flurrie and Ms. Mowz in battles.

Super? Definitely Carrie for the combination Bowser and Carrie.
 
I don't know about most useful, but my favorite is easily (and obviously) Mini Yoshi. And he's pretty useful at that: speedy and gap crosser? Sign me up!
 
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