Paper Mario: Time and Tide

Paper Mario: Time and Tide is a role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Intelligent Systems. As the fourth installment in the Paper Mario series, it is the first Paper Mario title to be released for a handheld console. It is the successor to Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario. The game was released on December 16th 2011.
The story revolves around Mario who has to find the Twelve Millennium Numbers in order to reseal the Countdown Clock in under 168 hours before time stands to a still and fades out of existence.                                      
==Story==
===Prologue Part One: Man in the Sun, Lady in the Moon===
"High in the sky, far far away from the land, the Sun and the Moon watched these people grow and wished they could do more to help them, however they knew that letting those people solve problems by themselves was important, especially in times of dire situations. Their names were Ray and Luna..."
"For a Star and a Planet, the two of them accomplished a lot in the past, one of their main accomplishments was the birth of a very special machine the two of them conceived at the start of time. This was known as "The Countdown Clock", this clock was a very special clock as it not only told the time of day, but it also kept time flowing daily without any stop whatsoever."
"Twelve different numbers were given to twelve different individuals across the Mushroom Kingdom, when it was a growing community. However over time, when the kingdom was in a terrible time of corruption and famine, people died of hunger and thirst. People took their own lives cause they couldn't take anymore, and that fresh sense of community was gone, and Ray the Sun and Luna the Moon, went into a deep sleep when it all died..."
"As for the Countdown Clock, those numbers didn't die when those twelve people died working hard for what they needed, those numbers found their way into that one special place they belonged. A new home for where they belonged...."
===Prologue Part Two: Time and Tide===
One lovely summers day in the Mushroom Kingdom, the clumsy paratroopa that is Parakarry arrives to bring mail to Mario and Luigi, and Luigi decides to read it. 
Dear Mario and Luigi,To celebrate your recent victory over Bowser, I have decided to throw a party in your honor.The population of Toad Town is invited as well, I am sure they will be thrilled to see you.Lots of tasty treats and sweets will be on the menu including a cake I made myself.I really hope to see you there.Sincerely, Peach
With their usual sense of urgancy and importance, the brothers jolt out of the house and to the castle. On their way they are saluted by many Toads. They finally reach the gates of the Castle's Garden and enters, it is filled with Toads, friendly Koopas and Goombas. Tables have been set and the trays are full of delicious foods. They see Princess Peach, Toadsworth and Merlon discussing and decide to join them. After preparing the party for six hours, the Princess leaves them and goes onto a podium to speak to her guests. The speech goes on for two hours and eventually that night they have a fest over the celebration.  Mario and Luigi go outside to look at the stars out on the balcony of the castle. Peach comes out to see them, reminding them about the food. Luigi tells her that they're not really as hungry as they looked when they came in. He turns the conversation towards the beautiful night sky and wonders why it's so pretty tonight apart from it being a summer night. Peach is reminded of a story she heard about in the Shine Library, about some ancient beings hidden somewhere within the sun and moon and how they used to rule this world once before. She explains how it reminded her of an object she kept in the castle basement, which was known as "The Countdown Clock".  She takes the brothers down to see it for themselves.
Astounded by the sight of it, Luigi comments on how it looks extremely distinct and can easily tell which side of the clock has the rays of the sun and which has the bright circular shine of the moon. Their admiration for the clock is suddenly interrupted by the sound of screams coming from upstairs, Mario sighs in annoyance, thinking that it is Bowser again.  Running upstairs they the castle being invaded by several different Merchants holding guns in their arms and hands. Mario spots a bigger figure, who says "I am President Zaluvine! Bow down to me or you will be destroyed!". Mario and Luigi don't hesitate to kick him out, but he hopes into a crystalized diamond and blocks their attacks.
They smash the glass with their hammers, but to no avail. This however angers the angry president as he prepares to generate an energy blast, he is interrupted by the force of a punch in the back of the head. The puncher is none other than Bowser, who's in the castle to tell the party goers to shut up and keep the noise down. The two titans get into a brawl, with Bowser sending the dark lord down the stairs. Mario and Luigi surround the clock trying to protect it from the brawl, unfortunatly one giant shove sends Zaluvine into the clock.  The ground begins to shake and the sky uncontrollably shifts between day and night until it rapidly stops and the bright lights of the clock send out an all out powerful shockwave that sends Mario and company out of the castle. 
==Gameplay==
The basic gameplay, goes back to the original roots that was left behind in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Where the player plays as Mario or Luigi depending on the time of the day, and one of their parenters in the 3D overworld. Both characters can jump, but both have exclusive abilities. Mario can swing his hammer and use Huey's cutout ability while Luigi can throw his wrench and use Kersti's Paperize ability, while the partner can use their own ability depending on which partner is on the field. 
Unlike the first two Paper Mario games, chapters can now be played in 4 sets of three, and can be completed in any different order whatsoever. The first two sets are set on whatever side Mario and Luigi are on. The first set ivolves Mario travelling in the Daytime, while the second set involves Luigi travelling around in the Nighttime, the last two sets involve them travelling together in finding the last six Millenium Numbers. After each set is complete (except for the last one), players play as Bowser in intermissions where he travels through different locations of the Mushroom Kingdom just to look for Princess Peach who has been taken by the Purples and their master President Zaluvine. Each chapter and intermission has its own self contained story that adds plot points to the main story overall.
==Battle System==
After forgoing the classic battle system in favor of a sidescrolling platformer-style system in Super Paper Mario, Paper Mario: Time and Tide returns to the turn-based system from the first two installments. In battle Mario and his partner's attacks are determined by Stickers. Stickers act similar to badges from previous games in which Mario, Luigi and the partners all have exclusive stickers that can only be used by them.  Unlike badges, stickers don't unlock new abilities for Mario and Luigi, and only act as commands for in battle. Stickers can only be used when the brothers have a specific amount of Seal Power. The brothers earn seal power when they preform perfectly in battle with the worn out default Jump, Hammer and Wrench Stickers they are already equipped with at the start of every battle. 
Like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, all battles take place on a stage in front of an audience, however unlike Thousnd Year Door where the audience just increase the player's Star Power if they preform well in battle. This audience consists of critics that all rate how well Mario and Luigi preform in battle, with numbers ranging 1-12. All of these numbers relate to the Millennium Numbers Mario and Luigi collect throughout the game, meaning that any number that they get from a critic can power up the Millennium Number they use in battle. 
===Attacking Enemies===
While Mario and his partners are battling enemies, they can attack enemies with extra power using the Action Command.
*Countdown: Tilt and hold the circle stick left, then release when the red light flashes.
*Tricky Timing: Pressing the X button to hammer the enemy before it lands on Mario or Luigi.
*Aiming: Aligning a cursor in the center of the targeting reticule.
*Button Mania: Holding on to or repeatedly tapping a button or input an entire sequence.
*Tilting Turvy: Tilt the Nintendo 3DS to guide the rolling balls into the red lights.
*Touchie: Tap the Red lights floating on the Touch Screen.
===Guarding===
To perform a guard action command, one must press the A button while holding the circle pad down. when Mario's opponent is about to strike him. Guarding reduces the damage he takes from enemy attacks and help the player resist status effects. The player must time it right, though.
*Guard: To perform a Guard move, the player must press the A button to recude to damage they do by 1, and also protecting Mario from negative status effects. The player will have 8 frames (roughly 2/15 of a second) to guard.
*Super Guard: To perform a Superguard move, the player must press the B button while holding down the circle pad to dodge enemy attacks, negating the attack completely and sometimes damaging the attacker--generally a Super Guard deals 1 damage to an enemy who attacks directly and none to foes who attack at range, but it does deflect Pokeys ranged attacks back at them.
*Ultra Guard: To preform an Ultra Guard move, the player must press the X button to hammer an enemy and dodge enemy attacks, negating the attack completely and sometimes damaging the attacker--generally by 2 damage.
===Levelling Up===
Unlike the first two games that used Star Points to level up. This game's levelling up system plays out more like Super Paper Mario's. Where beating enemies gives you points for your scoring counter. And when you level up, you can select how much you want to increase your HP, POW, DEF and SP.
Mario stops levelling up at 99. Each stat has its own maximum value, which it cannot be upgraded beyond. For HP and FP, this value is 200, but for CP, this value is 99; however, it is impossible for the player to have all three stats simultaneously be at their maximum value at any one time, since the lack of level ups prevent at least one of the stats to be at its maximum.
===Shine Sprites===
Mario's partners can only be upgraded by the help of Shine Sprites. The price of upgrading a partner is always three Shine Sprites, and Mario has to give them Merlon, who will upgrade whatever stat the player chooses.
===Bingo!===
One feature returning from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, is the Bingo. An icon will appear at the top right corner of the top screen, whenever the player successfully uses the Action Command of an attack. If the player has two matching icons and if the player executes an additional Action Command, the player can take the Bingo wheel for a spin. If the player gets all three similar icons then it will refresh the party's HP and SP all the way.
==Gallery==
===Artwork===
===Screenshots===
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Category:Fan Games
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Category:Mario Games
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Category:Nintendo 3DS Games
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Category:2011
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