Badge Compendium - Guide for Paper Mario

Paper Mario Badge Compendium
An In-Depth Guide for the Graphical RPG for the Nintendo 64
Created by Teirlap Carooe

TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------

I. Introduction
II. What's a Badge?
III. Badge List
       A. Jump Attack Badges
       B. Hammer Attack Badges
       C. Enhancement Badges
IV. Special Thanks
V. Version History
VI. Copyright and Contact Info

I. INTRODUCTION
---------------

Hail all. I am Teirlap Carooe, the writer, editor-in-chief, producer, 
public relations chief and playtester of this, the 'Paper Mario Badge 
Compendium'. I recently started playing Paper Mario, and amazed at the 
lack of coverage on the wide array of 'Badges' available in the game, I 
decided to pen my first FAQ/Guide specifically on the subject of 
Badges.

This guide is being written as I work my way through the game for the 
first time, so please excuse its incompleteness. Hopefully in a few 
versions, this compendium will be as complete as any other FAQ/Guide 
available for viewing on GameFAQs.

But that's enough out of me; let's get to the goods... er... badges. 
Whatever...

CURRENT GAME STATUS: Halfway through Chapter Four, just gave Tayce T. a 
Cookbook.

BADGE COUNT: 34/?

II. WHAT'S A BADGE?
-------------------

In 'Paper Mario', a lot of Mario's power is derived from 'Badges', 
which are items that can be 'worn' to give Mario special attacks, 
powers, or other such bonuses. Each badge has a BP (Badge Point) 
Rating, which generally rates its power. Mario only starts with the 
ability to wear three BPs worth of badges, but players can increase 
that capability as they level him up.

I strongly recommend reading your instruction manual to get the FULL 
story on badges. No one ever reads those things anymore anyhow. And 
someone did take time out from his or her day to write that for you, 
you know...

III. BADGE LIST
---------------

I'll be using a standard 'Badge Catologue' format throughout this 
guide. Goes a little something like this:

BADGE NAME
Description: I'll put down the in-game description.
Badge Points: This'll show how many Badge Points are required to wear 
the badge.
Where To Find: I'll put short directions on how to acquire the badge.
Comments: Here I'll put down my own personal comments/observations. 

OK, let's press on:

IIIA. JUMP ATTACK BADGES
------------------------

These badges give Mario special Jump attacks during battles.

POWER JUMP
Description: Lets you do a Power Jump. Uses 2 FP. Mario stomps on a 
single enemy using a lot of attack power.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Upon making your way back to Goomba Village, Goompa will 
give you this badge as a reward.
Comments: Not bad, actually really good at the very beginning, but it 
will probably eventually slide into disuse as you gain levels.

MULTIBOUNCE
Description: Lets you do a Multibounce. Uses 2 FP. Jumps on all enemies 
in a row if action command is timed right.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 75 Coins.
Comments: I really enjoyed this badge... for several minutes. Very weak 
if your jumping attack power is weak, or even (gasp!) mediocre. 
However, it DOES hit all enemies, so this badge evens out at about 
average. Give it a try for yourself.

JUMP CHARGE
Description: Lets you charge up Jump power. Uses 1 FP. When charged, 
Mario's Jump power goes up by 2. Lets you charge unlimited times, but 
power fades after attack.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 50 coins.
Comments: Pretty useless. The charge only lasts for one shot, and you 
have to expend a turn you COULD be using attacking your enemies to 
charge up. Better off using some other Jump/Hammer special attack.

SLEEP STOMP
Description: Lets you do a Sleep Stomp. Uses 2 FP. If it works the 
enemy Mario jumps on falls asleep for a bit.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy from Rowf's Badge Shop for 75 Coins.
Comments: Does normal Jump damage and has about a 33-50% chance of 
putting the enemy to sleep for anywhere from 1 to 3 turns. Not bad at 
all, but you probably won't need it too much for regular fights. I used 
it in my fight against the MASTER Master (the third incarnation of the 
guy; a really TOUGH bastard).

D-DOWN JUMP
Description: Lets you do a D-Down Jump. Uses 2 FP. Disables an enemy's 
defense power and causes some damage.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: On a table in Tubba Blubba's Castle. Bomb a wall 
upstairs hidden behind a sleeping guard, and then Spin Jump through the 
upper right 'broken floor'. From there, use Parakarry to fly over to 
the badge.
Comments: About the same as the D-Down Pound, only works as a Jump 
attack. Would actually of been crappy to have at Mt. Rugged, as that 
enemy that I used it against was 'spiked' (jump attacks do not work). 
Not a bad badge, however, if you fight a lot of enemies with some sort 
of Defense Power.

POWER BOUNCE
Description: Lets you do a Power Bounce. Uses 3 FP. Jumps on one enemy 
continuously until you miss an action command.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: Search the Koopa Bros. Fortress to find this badge.
Comments: Regardless of the fact that I cannot remember where I got the 
damned thing, I really love this badge. If you're any good at the 
Action Command, you can easily get a lot of bounces out of one attack 
(my current record is 15). Great for bosses, or even regular enemies 
with a lot of HP. An all around good badge, made even better when you 
upgrade your jump attack power

IIIB. HAMMER ATTACK BADGES
--------------------------

These badges bestow Mario with special Hammer moves during battles.

POWER SMASH
Description: Lets you do a Power Smash. Uses 2 FP. Hammers an enemy 
using lots of attack power.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: After acquiring the Super Hammer, explore the west side 
of the Toad Town Tunnels to find this badge.
Comments: Not bad at all. Since you're hammer's already upgraded by the 
time you snag this badge, the extra attack power is great. I use this 
badge very often, myself, and still get a smile on my face after 
smashing my enemies for 7 Damage in one swift blow.

SMASH CHARGE
Description: Lets you charge up your hammer. Uses 1 FP. When charged, 
Mario's Hammer power goes up by 2. Lets you charge unlimited times, but 
power fades after attack.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Cannot remember exactly, but I believe that it was 
somewhere in the Koopa Bros. Fortress.
Comments: See 'Jump Charge'. A bit too weak for my liking.

SPIN SMASH
Description: Lets you do a Spin Smash. Uses 2 FP. If Mario hits an 
enemy, it smashes into the ones behind it.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 75 Coins.
Comments: Eck… Smashes the first enemy for around normal damage, but 
causes him to spin through ALL enemies for about a point of damage. I 
think you'd be better off using Quake Hammer or maybe even Multibounce.

QUAKE HAMMER
Description: Lets you do a Quake Hammer. Uses 2 FP. Slightly damages 
all enemies on the ground or ceiling.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: I believe it was on Mt. Rugged. I probably should of 
written this stuff down...
Comments: This badge saved my life in the Dry Dry Desert. It hits 
basically everyone on screen for decent damage, for a respectable 
amount of FP, too. Unfortunately, it eventually suffers from the 
Multibounce effect, in that eventually gets that it has stopped doing 
enough damage to be worth a spot on your... uh... well, wherever 
Mario's got all those Badges on.

HAMMER THROW
Description: Lets you do a Hammer Throw. Uses 2 FP. Hits one enemy with 
the Hammer, no matter where the enemy is.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: A screen or so west of Toad Town is a tree you can smack 
with your hammer. Hitting aforementioned tree will cause a spring to 
fall down near you. Jumping on it springs you to a nearby roof, where 
the treasure chest containing the badge lies. Yet another reason to hit 
most everything you find (i.e. trees) with your hammer.
Comments: Mmph. I really don't like this badge at all... First off, 
anyone with patience can wait a turn or two to get at the enemies in 
the back row. Secondly, this specific hammer attack does the same 
damage as Mario's normal 'free' hammer strike.. at a cost of 2 FP! 
Plus, the badge takes TWO FP to equip! So, in other words, uh... This 
badge is awful, unless I am missing some godly magical trait of some 
sort.

D-DOWN POUND
Description: Lets you do a D-Down Pound. Uses 2 FP. Disables an enemy's 
defense power and injures it.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: Buy from Rowf's Badge Shop for 100 Coins.
Comments: I kind of have a soft spot for this one. It only does normal 
hammer damage, which is basically, uh... crap for 2 FP, but if you are 
fighting against something that has a defense rating higher than 2, 
this attack will bypass it completely! Ha! This was my favorite attack 
climbing Mt. Rugged, and it saved me many a time.

IIIC. ENHANCEMENT BADGES
------------------------

These badges empower Mario with various assorted abilities/bonuses on 
and off the battlefield.

DOUBLE DIP
Description: During battle, lets you use two items during one turn.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 100 Coins.
Comments: Have yet to use it, but in theory, it's great. Very nice 
Badge Point requirement AND the ability to throw back two Spaghettis or 
otherwise in one round? I'm sold… Except it costs a couple FP. But one 
can get around that, I suppose.

GROUP FOCUS
Description: Lets Mario's party members use the Focus command, as well.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 100 Coins.
Comments: Haven't had the chance to use it, myself. In theory, could be 
interesting paired with the Deep Focus badge.

QUICK CHANGE
Description: During battle, lets you change your party members… and 
still use the new member without losing a turn.
Badge Points: 4
Where To Find: The fortuneteller in Toad Town will mention something 
about seeing something good happening to someone running around a red 
palm in Dry Dry Outpost. If you go there and run a few laps around the 
red palm, someone will say for you to stop because you're making him 
dizzy. He'll also let slip that he heard if you Spin Jump three times 
in a house with a spinning roof, you'll get something good. If you go 
back to the Toad Town fortuneteller's place and Spin Jump three times, 
lo and behold, this badge'll appear.
Comments: I live for this badge. COMPLETELY removes that problem of 
having the wrong partner 'in' for the job when you get into an 
important battle (and we've all experienced that, I would bet money on 
it). If you can afford the four Badge Points, I strongly recommend this 
badge.

DODGE MASTER
Description: Makes the action command work more frequently.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 100 Coins.
Comments: Again, the description sounds great, but I have yet to put it 
to good use yet, so I would not be able to confirm whether or not it is 
worth using.

DEEP FOCUS
Description: When using Focus, charges more energy than usual.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Princess Peach can snag this and drop it into the 
'special chest' during the break after Chapter 2. Afterwards, Mario can 
pick it up at the fortuneteller's house near Shooting Star Summit.
Comments: Haven't used it enough to tell if the charge bonus is worth 
the Badge Points...

HP PLUS
Description: Increases maximum HP by 5.
Badge Points: 3
Where To Find: Right after getting Kooper to join, use his shell throw 
ability to grab this badge from a stump on the way back to the Koopa 
Village.
Comments: Wear it. Religiously. The HP will help. I guarantee it.

FP PLUS
Description: Increases maximum FP by 5.
Badge Points: 3
Where To Find: After clearing out Koopa Bros. Fortress, use Bombette to 
take out the cracked wall just outside the castle walls. Go down the 
pipe to find the badge on a cliff high above the level.
Comments: See above. Wonderful badge. Wear it as much as possible.

POWER PLUS
Description: Increases Mario's Jump and Hammer attack powers by 1.
Badge Points: 6
Where To Find: Buy from Merlow for a whopping 25 Star Pieces.
Comments: Another great 'Plus' badge. Anything that boosts attack power 
is cool with me, however, the only disadvantage of this badge is its 
high BP cost. It's your decision whether or not to use it. 

DEFEND PLUS
Description: Decreases the damage Mario takes by 1.
Badge Points: 6
Where To Find: Inside the Shy Guy's Toy Box, there is an easy to find 
chest. Inside is this badge.
Comments: Anything that raises statistics is cool with me, remember? If 
you can handle the Badge Point hit, wear this like you would your 
favorite shirt.

CLOSE CALL
Description: When Mario's in danger, enemies sometimes fail to attack.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: ...No idea. I remember it was near the start of the 
game, though.
Comments: Pretty useful at the very beginning when you have little to 
no maximum HP. This badge will cause enemies to occasionally miss an 
attack (signified by a large LUCKY appearing near where the enemy was 
attempting to disembowel you) when you are in the 'Danger' health 
status. 'Danger' is classified as 5 HP or less, so at the beginning of 
the game when you will be in this area most of the time, this badge can 
save your ass somewhat often. However, later when you have a lot of 
health to spare, this badge will see a lot less use. I did notice, 
however, that when I DID have it on, and when I WAS in the 'Danger 
Zone', it went off quite often (at least 33-50% of the time). 

ICE POWER
Description: Increases attack power against fire enemies by 2. Mario 
won't take damage when he jumps on a fire enemy.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: Another easy to find chest resides in the Shy Guy's Toy 
Box. Inside is… heh, that's right, this badge.
Comments: I have met… one fire enemy in my brief time playing this 
game. This badge would have been GREAT against him, however (note my 
sarcasm…).

SPIKE SHIELD
Description: Lets Mario jump on a spiked enemy without taking damage.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: I believe it was in the Dry Dry Ruins... Not certain, 
though.
Comments: Wouldn't be bad, but since you get your hammer improved 
first, your jump will see a brief period where it will see some disuse. 
However, once you get ahold of the Super Boots, this badge might be 
worth a second look. Plus, my signature attack right now, the Power 
Bounce, does NOT work on 'spiked' enemies, so this badge could become 
one of my favorites very soon.

RUNAWAY PAY
Description: Lets Mario earn Star Points even if he escapes from 
battle.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: There's a small triangle of three palm trees somewhere 
in the Dry Dry Desert. Jump up right in the middle of them and this 
badge will reveal itself from a hidden question mark box.
Comments: Haven't used it... And even if I did, I don't run enough to 
make it worthwhile. I suppose it might be worth wearing if you find 
yourself hauling ass from battles somewhat often.

REFUND
Description: Refunds some coins if you use an item in battle.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: In the Koopa Bros. Fortress, there is a room in which a 
door leads out to a patio containing a Save Block AND a trap door which 
will spit you down into a jail cell. In the bottom right corner of this 
room is a wall Bombette can take out. Doing so will reveal a door 
outside to a path leading to a chest containing the badge.
Comments: Mmm. Haven't tried it. But then again, money isn't really a 
problem for me to get a hold of…

I SPY
Description: A sound and icon alert you to a nearby hidden panel.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Rowf will give you this badge after you return his 
Calculator, which is stolen from him in Chapter Four by Shy Guys and 
can be recovered early inside the Toy Box.
Comments: Indispensable when off looking for hidden Star Points (to buy 
more badges, no doubt). Totally useless when off fighting enemies. You 
make the call.

SPEEDY SPIN
Description: Increases the distance Mario can Spin Dash.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for… uh… some unknown amount of 
coins…
Comments: Eck. Was the Spin Dash very useful in the first place? I 
think not...

DIZZY ATTACK
Description: Delivers a blow that makes an enemy dizzy an unable to 
move.
Badge Points: 2
Where To Find: Not totally sure, but I believe it was in a question 
mark box on the way to Koopa Village from Toad Town (Pleasant Path).
Comments: From what I have been told, this badge will cause an enemy to 
be dizzied for one turn at the beginning of battle IF you Spin Attack 
into them at the start of the battle. I ended up testing it and... Eck. 
It only dizzies the FRONT enemy, leaving the other one/two/three/seven 
awake and rearing to rip your pancreas out and stuff it down your 
throat. In other words, at the beginning of the game, this badge is 
somewhat useful, but as you face greater numbers of more powerful 
baddies, this badge will suddenly turn mediocre. I'd spend the two 
Badge Points elsewhere. 

SPIN ATTACK
Description: Lets Mario destroy a weaker enemy with a spinning move.
Badge Points: 3
Where To Find: In the Dry Dry Desert, head two screens south and then 
one screen east. There should be a tornado there (and I BELIEVE the 
area has blue cacti growing around). Head into the tornado, and it 
should whoosh you right next to the badge.
Comments: This is a nifty one. I wouldn't recommend wearing it into any 
sort of important or semi-tough battle, but... It is very helpful when 
travelling along paths that are heavily populated by weak enemies 
(read: enemies who no longer give you Star Points) that you really 
don't have the patience to be fighting. Simply spin into them and they 
disappear; no Star Points for you, of course, but you usually receive a 
coin, or a Heart or something. Very handy for those long trips on foot 
in easy territory.

FIRST ATTACK
Description: Lets Mario destroy a weaker enemy with a First Strike.
Badge Points: 1
Where To Find: Buy at Rowf's Badge Shop for 100 coins.
Comments: About the same as the Spin Attack Badge, only its slightly 
harder to pull off a First Attack, AND this badge requires two less 
Badge Points. My opinion? If you are on weaker enemy turf, this is the 
badge to go for.  

ATTACK FX A
Description: Changes the sound effects when Mario's attacking.
Badge Points: 0
Where To Find: Buy from Merlow for 1 Star Point.
Comments: Changes the sound effect that Mario makes when he jumps or 
bashes things with his hammer. Fun, and takes no badge points. No 
reason why you should not be wearing one of these.

ATTACK FX B
Description: Changes the sound effects when Mario's attacking.
Badge Points: 0
Where To Find: Outside of Koopa Village, there are three bricks you can 
smash with your hammer. If you picture them as a triangle, smash the 
bottom left point first, then the bottom right point, and then the top 
point. A red question mark box'll appear with the badge within.
Comments: Same as the other Attack FX badges. If you like the sound, 
wear it. If not, don't. No penalty either way.

ATTACK FX D
Description: Changes the sound effects when Mario's attacking.
Badge Points: 0
Where To Find: Found in a small side quest involving the 
singer/songwriter at Club 64 and a composer from Dry Dry Outpost... 
I'll let you figure out the fun details.
Comments: Same as the Attack FX A badge, only the sound is different. 
Again, why NOT have one of these on? Oh, right, you could quite 
possibly like the original sounds better, in which case, don't wear an 
Attack FX badge. More power to you.

IV. SPECIAL THANKS
------------------


This version I ACTUALLY have people to thank for sending me great info… 
So, those people are:

Me, Teirlap Carooe (for all the information in the first version and 
odds and ends from then on)

styles' (for info on the locations of the Sleep Stomp, the Spike Shield 
AND the D-Down Pound Badges)

Colin Cogle (for info on the Sleep Stomp and the Spike Shield Badges)

Greg Jolin (for refreshing my memory as to the whereabouts of the 
Hammer Throw Badge)

Table495 and MagicCody (for the location of the Speedy Spin Badge)

Tyler Raymond (for info on what the Dizzy Attack Badge does AND the 
location of the Spin Attack Badge)

Brad Genz (for also painfully reminding me that the Dizzy Attack Badge 
DOES have a use…)

Tom Giordano (for various info, including information regarding a badge 
unknown to me called 'Refund'…)

V. VERSION HISTORY
------------------

Version 1.0 (February 12, 2001)
Initial Version. Very, very bare bones.

Version 1.1 (February 13, 2001)
Added the locations of the Spike Shield, Sleep Stomp, D-Down Pound, 
Hammer Throw, Speedy Spin and Spin Attack Badges.
Added on to the Comments section of the Dizzy Attack Badge.
Added a bit of ramble in the Contact Info section.
Added a Current Game Status line in the Introduction.

Version 1.2 (February 14, 2001) [Happy Valentine's Day]
Added eleven new badge entries.
Altered a few descriptions/locations/comments, etc. with some new 
information I have found through playing.
Added a Badge Counter showing how many badges are showcased in the 
Compendium.
Changed all references to 'Murvee' to his/her proper name, 'Merlow'. 
Heh.

VI. COPYRIGHT AND CONTACT INFO
------------------------------

You can contact me via e-mail at [email protected]… 

All I can say is… wow. One day after my Guide was posted, I received a 
lot of positive feedback. Thanks all.

Anyhow, a few things I'd like to say regarding e-mailing me:

1) I am writing this guide as I go through the game, so the badges on 
here will only be early ones at first. I like to actually get in 
possession of a badge before I post it up here, so if you would like to 
tell me the location of a badge you have found that is not on my guide, 
please: a) tell me the badge name and its location and b) make sure 
that I am far enough in the game already to find said badge (I will put 
something up here on the guide saying how much of the game I have 
completed). Many thanks.

2) I also like receiving comments about mistakes I make, such as in 
Badge Point requirements or perhaps something I said incorrectly in my 
comments section. Send those kinds of comments along as well.

3) I wouldn't mind sooner or later putting up various other people's 
comments on various badges, so if you have a SHORT 'comment' you have 
for one of the badges on the FAQ… I cannot guarantee it will be put in 
the guide, but hey, at least you voiced your opinion.

4) Positive comments are great. Negative comments… not as great. Heh.

5) If you don't receive an e-mail back, my deepest apologies. I really 
only have time to answer one or two e-mails a day (yesterday I got 17), 
so if I don't reply, do not be offended. If you see something go up in 
the guide about you in the Special Thanks section, you'll know that I 
noticed you. Oh, and if I DID e-mail you back, but it said something 
about a 'Mario Party Badge Compendium' in the subject, well… Oops. Not 
my fault… The titles are so damned alike looking.

Right. That about does it.

This FAQ/Guide is copyright 2001, Teirlap Patience Carooe, otherwise 
known as Rob Fuller.