(WIP) Paper Mario: The Thousand‐Year Door (GameCube) - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki

Work in progress guide for Paper Mario: TTYD by Paradise1. If you have an extra tip for something I've already written, feel free to add it!

1) Synopsis
Set Difficulty 4/10
Approximate time to master 25-30 hours
Minimum numbers of playthroughs needed 1
Number of missable achievements 28
Does difficulty affect achievements? Not applicable
Hardest achievement of the set I Like That Jump!

2) Introduction

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a classic turn-based RPG for the Gamecube featuring simple yet addictive gameplay, charming visuals, and unforgettable characters and setting. The game is on the easy side as RPGs go, but the iconic badge customization system leaves plenty of room for experimenting, strategizing, and for players to challenge themselves.

This set, developed by LogicalFallacy and ilikepie345, contains 123 achievements, worth 1000 points and covers nearly every aspect of the game. There are achievements for progression, 100% completion (badges, recipes, tattles, troubles, collecting every item in the overworld), as well as unique (missable) challenges for every boss fight in the game. There are achievements for obscure interactions that even veteran fans may not have seen, like the secret Glitz Pit fight or destroying the fire bars in the Palace of Shadow. Overall, it is a very well-rounded set that overall isn't too challenging (with perhaps one notable exception).

This guide is written with new players in mind, so I will explain some things that may be familiar already to veteran players.

3) General Tips / Strategy

  • It might be worth playing the European release instead of the USA release. The European release is able to switch between 50hz and 60Hz, and the 50Hz setting makes an achievement that requires several frame perfect inputs in a row just that much easier, and the ability to switch to 60hz means there are no drawbacks in other areas of the game.

  • Coin management is ultimately not a problem by the end game, as you will likely have more coins than you know what to do with. However, in order to avoid missing achievements, you will need to have 300 coins before finishing the intro to Chapter 4, and 180 coins before finishing the intro to Chapter 5. So don't go on too much of a spending spree during the early game.

  • If you don't know what stat to choose when leveling up, BP is usually a good option. Throughout the game, you will find several "HP Plus" and "FP Plus" badges which add 5 HP and FP at the cost of 3 BP, meaning a BP level up is equivalent to leveling HP or FP but with added flexibility. That being said, it may be worth leveling HP in the beginning in order to make some early-game achievements easier, and leveling FP not long after, as 5 FP is pretty pitiful. And don't worry about ruining your stats, as you can respec with Chet Rippo (surely a trustworthy guy) in the Rogueport Sewers after Chapter 5.

  • Ms. Mowz is often considered the worst partner in the game. Combat-wise, that might well be true, but her overworld ability is insanely valuable for completing the "collect all items' achievements. Once you get her, using her ability as often as you can will save a lot of backtracking in the long run. The ability works like this: when you press X, she will sniff, and then if there's an item anywhere on the screen, she will tell you. She will also point either left or right, and this will tell you what direction the item is in. This will help you pinpoint the location of the item on one axis. If you don't find it at the point where she switches between left and right, the item may be further back on the screen, or it may be up/down. When near an item, Ms. Mowz will start sniffing on her own, and when X is pressed she will do a flip and say the item is close by. Finally, if there are any items (coins, hearts, flowers) from an enemy battle, Mowz will count that as an item, so either collect them or wait for them to despawn.

  • Make sure to save before bosses. Most bosses in this set have an extra challenge as a missable achievement

  • Mario Wiki is a very useful resource for this run. They have detailed enemy data, badge data and, most importantly, detailed data on items and hidden items in each area.

  • This checklist is very useful for keeping track of recipes and what you need to make them. The other tabs may be useful too. When making a copy, make sure you change the folder to your own drive, otherwise it will say you don't have permission.

  • If you haven't played this game before, I think a lot of the fun comes from trying different things and coming up with strategies yourself, but I can give a few pointers if you're completely lost. A good basic strategy is to buff attack through badges or moves like Power Lift (after Chapter 3) and then use Power Bounce and/or Goombella's Multibonk to inflict massive damage. This will get you through most, if not all, boss encounters in the game.

  • As for badges, the beauty of the system is that it is so customizable and you can change things on the fly, so you can tailor your build for specific fights, or go with a general set that does well against everything. I personally like to go with a jump build, including Jumpman, Power Bounce, Multibounce, Power Jump, Spike Shield, and various attack-boosting badges. For jumps, any attack bonus is applied to each individual hit of the jump, meaning you typically get twice the bang for your BP (and meaning that Power Bounce is absolutely bonkers). I'm also partial to the Flower Saver badge, available from Dazzle. -1 FP for each move doesn't sound like much, but there are many moves that cost 2 FP (Power Smash, Multibounce) and many that cost 3 FP (Power Bounce), and effectively cutting their cost in half or by a third is a godsend. Finally, the Quick Change badge, also available from Dazzle, has a steep 7 BP cost, but it is (in my opinion) absolutely worth it. Being able to switch partners without using a turn opens up so many options, like being able to put away an injured partner or bringing out a partner who does well against specific enemies. Of course, this is all my personal opinion - there are infinite viable builds, so feel free to experiment and figure out what works for you.

  • The missable boss challenges may have different ideal (or required) badge setups or strategies. In that case, I will comment on it in the achievement guide.

  • The Peril Strat: If you don't mind cheese, you can use a simple and incredibly effective strategy known as the Peril Strat. To do so, you need two badges, both available by midway through Chapter 1. The first is Mega Rush P, found in Petalburg (after acquiring the Paper Mode upgrade from Hooktail's Castle), which increases your partner's attack by 5 when they are at 1 HP. The Second is Quick Change, available from Dazzle in the Rogueport Sewers for 8 Star Pieces. In order to utilize the strat, you have to first get your partner to 1 HP. To do this, you can either calculate the damage enemies will do and Defend or Guard as needed, or you can let your partner faint and collect a single heart on the overworld. Just make sure you're not carrying a Life Shroom, or your partner will eat that and make you feel really silly. You can also use the Point Swap item when your FP is at 1. Now that your partner is at 1 HP, they will gain a massive 5 attack boost. And the Quick Change badge means they will never be exposed to attack during battle. Simply switch your damaged partner in, have them attack FIRST and then switch them out with Mario before he attacks. Goombella and Yoshi are typically the best partners for this, as (without upgrades) they will go from dealing 1-1 and 1-1-1-1 damage to 6-6 and 6-5-4-3 damage. Add additional boosts from badges like Power Plus P, the upgraded moves Multibonk and Stampede, and buffs from Power Lift and Power Punch, and you have a recipe for trivializing almost every encounter in the game. The downside is that it can kind of be a pain to maintain your partner at 1 HP. Inns and Heal Blocks are right out, of course, but you also need to watch out for levelups and hearts that spawn after battle. Both of these only affect your active partner, so they can be avoided with careful play. Sometimes the Audience will throw hearts at you as well, so you'll need to mercilessly beat them down if they try to. Overall, the Peril Strat probably makes the game a little too easy, so for the sake of fun I wouldn't recommend using it unless it's clearly the best way to get an annoying achievement (e.g. with the Chapter 3 boss). But it's a good thing to keep in your back pocket to use as a last resort. Or a first resort. I'm not the boss of you.

  • It should be noted that [Trials and Tribulations] (https://retroachievements.org/achievement/430320) requires you to beat the pit without any Danger-related badges, meaning you cannot use the Peril Strat.

4) Walkthrough

Step 1: Story

This section will focus on going through the story, noting missable achievements along the way. I'll also note some miscellaneous achievements that are convenient to pick up at the same time, or that become available to be completed. Achievements will be arranged in roughly chronological order as you go through the story. I may also provide information not directly related to the achievement if it is useful in an upcoming part.

Missable achievements:

Step 2: Pit of 100 Trials

You can complete the Pit of 100 Trials at any point during or after the story (even during the Prologue, using glitches). Generally speaking, the later through the story you wait to do it, the easier it will be (especially if you're going for Trials and Tribulations).

Some tips about the Pit:

  • You can challenge the Pit as many times as you like, but you can only beat the final boss ONCE. This is why the Trials and Tribulations achievement is missable.
  • Each 10 levels you go in the Pit, you get a reward chest. Several of these rewards are exclusive badges, and the level 50 reward is a key item doubling the size of your inventory. Very useful. Every reward room has a pipe to the entrance to bail out - the only other way to exit is death or victory.
  • Dying in the Pit is a full Game Over. You go back to your last save, with all your progress wasted.
  • It may be worth doing more than one partial run of the pit (in fact, it's required for 100% completion), as the rewards can be very useful outside of it. The Strange Sack on Level 50 is particularly useful, and Fire Drive (Level 20) and Zap Tap (Level 30) are decently useful as well.
  • There are two troubles involving the Pit: one to get to level 20 after Chapter 2, and one to get to Level 50 after beating the game. For that reason alone, it's probably worth saving your full run until after the game so that you don't have to go through half of it again.
  • There are many enemies that only appear in the Pit that are required for the Tattle Log. For the love of God, MAKE SURE that when fighting the Dark Lakitu from floors 61-69 that you tattle him AND the blue spiny that he throws. That one's very easy to miss.
  • The enemies on the later floors (~80-99) can be very nasty. You may not want to spend a turn Tattling them, so what you can do is just Tattle with Goombella and run away with Mario. Depending on your confidence, it might also be worth running away if you don't get a First Strike - every bit helps!
  • Every so often you may find a small guy called the Mover who will move you down 2 floors for 10 coins or 5 floors for 30. This is almost always worth it, especially on the later floors. Just make sure you don't skip past a reward you haven't obtained, or the target of a trouble (floors 18 and 50).

Missable achievement:

  • Trials and Tribulations - Defeat the terror at the bottom of the Pit of 100 Trials without using Special Moves or equipping any Danger-related badges during the entire pit.

Step 3: 100% Completion / Overworld Items

This section will focus on collection achievements, such as collecting all the Tattles, Recipes, Badges, and Troubles. I won't provide a location for each and every item/badge/tattle, but I'll try to provide links to guides for those as well as information on ones that may be particularly tricky to find.

Notes:

  • Tattles are thankfully not missable. Any Tattles of one-time enemies that you miss will be found in Professor Frankly's garbage can.
  • Generally try to get as many items as you can on your first run through, but don't sweat it if you miss some. All necessary areas can be revisited after the game if you need to (with one exception in Chapter 8). What's more, some items can't be collected without certain partners or abilities, so you can't finish some chapters' achievements on your first run anyways.
  • Some items can be found by hitting trees with your hammer or searching bushes. Others can be found by hitting blocks (red blocks are Badges) or hidden blocks.
  • Star Pieces count as items, as do badges and Shine Sprites (I'm pretty sure). Coins from trees, bushes, and blocks, hidden or visible, also count as items. Ms. Mowz will be drawn to all of these items for you.
  • An item doesn't count as "picked up" until it enters your inventory. If you don't have room, you can throw the new item away, but it won't count for the achievement. Thankfully, it will respawn in the same spot until it enters your inventory (but once it does, it will no longer respawn even if you throw it away again).
  • When running around to get ingredients or finish Troubles, the Bump Attack badge (Floor 80 of the Pit) is very useful.

Missable achievement:

Step 4: Cleanup/Misc

Other achievements will go here, including the Pianta Parlor minigames, the Special Move challenges, and other miscellaneous things that can be done at any time.

Step 1: Story | Total points: 999 

Go Goombas! (1)
Rescue Goombella from the X-Nauts.

He Knows About Timed Hits! (3)
Defeat Crump in only 2 attacks.

To defeat him in only 2 attacks, you will need to successfully hit both of the Action Commands. For new players, the Hammer is probably easier - hold the stick left until the big circle lights up. That will get you to 4 out of 5 damage. The last point of damage comes from a Superguard. To execute the Superguard, press B just as Crump hits you - the timing is pretty tight. If you miss it and you've already done 2 attacks, you can choose Defend under the Tactics menu to try again (the achievement is 2 attacks, not 2 turns). Crump won't be able to hurt you if you're defending, so you can try as many times as you'd like.

Reverse Robbing (3)
Find the Bandit that stole your coins and get them back.

As you enter East Rogueport, a Bandit will come and jack half of your coins. To find him, go back to the main plaza and into the graffiti-covered alley in the back. Once the camera pans around, go left and into a door. You should see the Bandit living in filth - simply talk to him to get your coins back.

Just Plane Cursed (3)
Recieve the awful, horrible curse of being able to transform into a paper airplane.

Story-related, cannot be missed.

You're Just a Spear Carrier (3)
Defeat Gus in Rogueport.

An Early Bird (5)
Defeat Gus before beating the Blooper.

Gus is the spear-carrying bird guarding a door in East Rogueport. He has 20 HP and 3 attack, which is quite a bit for this point in the game. Before fighting him, stop by the Rogueport store and buy a Mushroom and a Honey Syrup. To defeat him, switch Goombella to the front (press Y) and have her Defend (She can't attack him anyway due to the spear). Gus' spear charge will only hit the player in front, and Goombella will be able to take up to 5 hits while defending (10 if you guard at the right time by pressing A). With Mario, whale away with Power Smash and regular hammers, and use Sweet Treat and items to replenish HP and FP as needed. If you're really having trouble, you can give Goombella some Fire Flowers for extra damage (just save some for Blooper).

You can also Tattle with Goombella if you would like, but it's OK if you don't. If you miss a Tattle on a one-time enemy, their Tattle Log entry will be in Professor Frankly's trash can.

Bloop Bloop! (5)
Defeat the Blooper in Rogueport Sewers.

Two for One Sushi Special (5)
Defeat the Blooper in Rogueport Sewers while defeating his tentacles at the same time every time.

To defeat his tentacles at the same time, use Fire Flowers (sold in the Rogueport square store). These will target all enemies, causing Blooper to fall to the ground. Whale away with Power Smash and Headbonk, and he should be done. Bring a second Flower just in case, though.

Knocked down a peg (2)
Receive a Horsetail from a Candy Cane.

On the screen in Petal Meadows right before the bridge (coming from Rogueport) there's a Candy Cane (stripy guy with eyes) that will pop down when you hit it with a hammer. Hit it 10 times to get a Horsetail, which can be used in some recipes.

Brawns over Brains (5)
Fail the 65th Super Fun Quirk Quiz and win the fight afterwards.

Bring an extra POW block (or 2) from Petalburg for this one. Failing this event will summon 4 Clefts. These guys have 2 Defense, so at this point the only way to damage them is items, Power Smash, and Superguards. A POW block will make short work of them.

Guarding for Gold (5)
Defeat the Gold Fuzzy in the Petalburg Sewers without sustaining 3 or more HP worth of damage.

The good news is that the Gold Fuzzy only has 10 HP, so he'll go down in 2 turns if you use Power Smash with Mario and Headbonk with Goombella. The bad news is that he summons a Fuzzy Horde after taking some damage. In order to get through with 2 damage or less, you'll have to guard against most of the attacks by pressing A. The Fuzzy Horde will attack 5 times at full health, and the Gold Fuzzy himself will also attack. Thankfully, both of them just try and bonk you instead of doing the normal Fuzzy attack with the weird timing, so it shouldn't be tooo hard to guard against them. I would recommend focusing on the Gold Fuzzy and skipping the Tattles in order to end the fight quickly (the Horde will disperse when the Gold Fuzzy dies).

One final thing - if you hadn't noticed already, sometimes when you attack, it will bring parts of the stage crashing down on you. This is very common when using Power Smash, so make sure you guard against that too. If you look closely, you can see the background wobbling after the attack, letting you know it's going to fall.

Sensitive Shell (5)
Have Koops join the party!

Story-related, cannot be missed.

Dance of the Deceased (5)
Defeat the Red Bones in Hooktail Castle.

Use Koops' Power Shell to clear out all the Dull Bones, or else you may get overwhelmed by their attacks.

Flat-Out Cursed (3)
Receive the no-good, horrendous curse of being able to turn into Paper.

Story-related, cannot be missed.

While exploring the castle, you will likely find the Attack FX R badge. Equipping it will make the Hooktail fight a lot easier (the game very subtly hints at this). Anyways, make sure you DON"T equip it, because you need to beat Hooktail without it for an achievement.

Also, at some point, you will ride a large green block up. On the left side, you'll be able to see a Life Shroom, a very useful item that revives you at 10 HP when you die. Once you get to the top, just drop off the bridge in the top left corner and use the paper mode to go through the gate. Was I the only kid who tried this part over and over thinking you had to do a Koops trickshot to get it?

The Belly of the Beast (5)
Defeat Hooktail in her castle and obtain the Diamond Star.

Muted Massacre (10)
Defeat Hooktail without utilizing the sound of a cricket.

In order to get the Muted Massacre achievement, you have to beat Hooktail WITHOUT equipping the Attack FX R badge. This can be a little tough, depending on how much you've leveled HP. Hooktail has three attacks that deal 4-5 damage: a stomp that's pretty slow and decently easy to guard, a bite that comes out fast and is hard to guard, and fire breath that targets both party members and pierces defense. What's more, she has 1 defense, meaning that Power Bounce and Goombella will most likely be useless. I would recommend equipping at least HP Plus, Power Smash, and Close Call (might as well), and bringing a couple items for your partner to use (the burn damage from Fire Flowers will help).

Have Mario use Power Smash, and have Koops use items or Shell Toss. Switch positions as necessary. Have Mario use Sweet Treat sooner rather than later, as once Hooktail reaches 0 HP she will eat the audience and you will no longer gain Star Power. With the 4 Stylish opportunities from Power Smash, you should hopefully be able to use it twice throughout the fight. All this combined with the Life Shroom you hopefully picked up earlier should make this fight winnable.

If all else fails, you can unleash the wrath of Peril Goombella (see the General Tips section) if you're willing to backtrack to Rogueport. With an upgrade, you can deal 6-6 to Hooktail with a Headbonk and potentially even more with a Multibonk. This is 100% overkill and I wouldn't recommend it, but the option is there.

If you end up using the Life Shroom, it might be worth reloading your save to beat Hooktail with the badge to save it for later.

She'll Blow You Away (5)
Have Madame Flurrie join the party!

Story-related, can't be missed.

A Super Upgrade Is Afoot (5)
Obtain the Super Boots.

Story-related, can't be missed. This upgrade allows you to begin collecting Star Pieces from panels in the ground.

What's the Rabble, Jabble? (2)
Recruit Jabble into your ranks.

Jabble is found in the Secret Shop inside the Great Tree. You can find the Secret Shop in the room with the zig-zag path and the Piders by dropping to the floor, going all the way to the left and blowing away a paper with Flurrie. Jabble is found inside the shop all the way to the left, hiding behind a few logs. If you bully him, he won't join you, but you can revisit the room to make him come back.

In Numbers, We Are Strong (3)
Reach Magnus von Grapple in The Great Tree with all your punies by your side.

It's not very difficult, the time limit is very lenient. Basically, just keep going upward whenever the opportunity presents itself, and keep an eye on your Puni count to make sure you don't lose any. Watch out for the bubble room, though - if you're going to lose one, it's probably going to be there.

Not So Puny Anymore (5)
Defeat Magnus von Grapple in the Great Tree and obtain the Emerald Star.

Magnus von Grapple's Got Hands (5)
Defeat Magnus von Grapple without destroying his hands while they're on the field.

Not too bad. Magnus' hands do 4 damage each and attack every turn if not destroyed, but you shouldn't have to take too many attacks from them if you kill him quickly enough. Just make sure you don't kill them accidentally with something like Earth Tremor or a Superguard. It might be worth bringing a Life Shroom from either Chapter 1 or the shop in West Rogueport, though do note you can't exit the tree once the timer starts counting down.

If you have the Power Punch found inside the Tree, you can have Goombella use it on Mario turn 1, and have Mario start using Spin Jumps. If you hit all the action commands and use Headbonk with upgraded Goombella, Magnus should go down turn 4 after only one round of attacks from the fists.

If you don't have the Power Punch, the strategy is much the same, but you may need to use Sweet Treat to offset some of the damage done by the hands.

I Guess He's Part Dragon? (3)
Collect all 12 coins in World 1-1.

Wow, this one's pretty creative. This takes place during the Bowser intermission after Chapter 2. If you make your way through the level normally, you will probably collect only 10 coins. Where do the other 2 coins come from? The answer is that you have to intentionally take damage, and the other two coins will be located in hidden blocks strategically placed to make it possible to complete the level when small.

Note that if you die, the coin counter will stay, but your achievement progress will be reset. You must collect all 12 coins in one life.

(Thanks to EazyMatt and SirBunting in the comments)

Suck Around and Find Out (10)
Win a match against the Wings of Night team in the Glitz Pit.

After King K disappears, his team will be replaced by the Wings of Night. You can tell because Sir Swoop the bat will be in the Minor League locker room. In order to fight them, you will have to derank all the way to the bottom. As EazyMatt notes in the comments, the easiest way to do that is to just run away from battle over and over again. The Wings of Night will leave after Chapter 3, so you have to do it before the chapter ends.

Leviathan01 has another tip: Save before you start deranking and then reload the save once you get the achievement. This will save you from having to rank back up, and you don't get anything special for defeating the Wings of Night anyway, so nothing of value is lost.

Colorful Companion (5)
Have Yoshi join the party!

Story-related, cannot be missed. Once you rank up to the Major Leagues, look in the top left corner of the locker room for an Ice Storm. This item isn't missable, but it is a pain to get if you miss it the first time.

Super Smasher (5)
Obtain the Super Hammer.

Story-related, cannot be missed.

Surprise Showdown (5)
Defeat Bowser in the Glitz Pit.

Bowser will ambush you after you defeat the 5th-place team, so make sure you pay attention to your ranking and save beforehand. Usually that's the Magikoopa team, but apparently it might be possible for other teams to be in that spot too. Anyway, in this appearance Bowser is pretty weak. You shouldn't have too much trouble defeating him unless you're really beat from the fight beforehand. It's probably a good idea to save before, just in case.

Scuffling Solo (5)
Win a fight in the Glitz Pit after eating the Poisoned Cake.

The Poisoned Cake will appear before the 2nd place fight against Chomp Country. Save before attempting the battle, and bring attack items if you have them. Eating the cake will cause Mario to fight without his partners (apparently all 4 of them had a bite?). The Chomps have 3 Defense and 6 Health, meaning a perfect Earth Tremor will take them out. If you can't use special moves, using attack items and Power Smash is your best bet.

An Unsurprising Upset (5)
Defeat Rawk Hawk and become the new champion.

Flaunting for the Fans (10)
Defeat Rawk Hawk after performing 20 Stylish moves.

You only need to see the Stylish! text 20 times, you don't actually need to do 20 individual moves. Power Smash has 4 Stylish prompts that are pretty easy to hit, and Koops' Shell Toss has 2 (Rawk Hawk can flip Koops over, though, so be careful). If you need to get more without damaging him, you can Tattle with Goombella repeatedly.

In terms of the fight itself, it's not too bad. He's 85% weak to Tiny, so Shrink stomp might be helpful - he can dish out some damage when his health gets low. When he goes on the ceiling, you can hit him with attack items, Quake Hammer, or Flurrie's Body Slam. Ultimately, he shouldn't give you too much trouble (In fact, you might have trouble not killing him TOO quickly).

The condition is always "use a special move," but you don't actually need to to become the champion. Still, a Sweet Treat may be a good idea if you're hurting near the end of the fight.

Flaunting for the Fans is marked as missable, although you can rematch Rawk Hawk after Chapter 3. Just to be safe, I would recommend getting it the first time around, just in case something in the achievement logic prevents you from getting it in the rematch.

After beating Rawk Hawk, it is a good idea to save immediately to prepare for the next boss fight. Once you investigate the ghost in the Champion's room, you willnot be able to leave the Glitz Pit hallway, so make sure you're prepared to do the missable boss achievement for this chapter before you continue.

(Credit to gotenks and 14ausher in the comments for parallel thinking)

What happens in the Pit Stays in the Pit (5)
Defeat Macho Grubba in the Glitz Pit and obtain the Gold Star.

Winners Don't Use Drugs (10)
Defeat Macho Grubba without having him buff his Fast Status more than once.

Grubba will use his Fast buff on the first turn and then buff himself and attack for three more turns, before using the fast buff again on the fifth turn. Essentially, then, what we have to do is defeat him within the first five turns. The easiest and most consistent way to do this is to use the Peril Strat (see General Tips / Strategy section). I would recommend Yoshi - even without any upgrades or additional badges, he will do 6-5-4-3 (18) damage to Grubba. With that kind of damage, Mario can pretty much do whatever he wants, but it might be a good idea to try Soft Stomp. Soft won't lower defense past 0, but it will proactively cancel out Grubba's defense buff it he decides to use it (and if he does, it will crater Yoshi's damage). Luckily, Grubba has a 90% chance of being affected by Soft, so it shouldn't take too many tries to affect him.

If you can't or don't want to do the Peril Strat, the achievement comments have several alternative strategies you can try. I myself used JaxonH99's proposed strategy of stacking several Charges and Charge Ps and unleashing a massive Power Bounce and Multibonk, which was admittedly incredibly satisfying. It might be difficult to pull off if you don't have the Power Bounce timing down, but the Simplifier available in the Rogueport Badge shop can help with that. And trust me, if you want to master this set, you will need to become very familiar with the Power Bounce timing.

Whatever you choose, please note that once you confront Grubba in his office, you're not able to leave the Glitz Pit hallway. Make any preparations you need to and only save after confronting Grubba if you're confident that you have what you need.

Raising the Stakes (10)
Receive the maximum amount of coins from investing in Lumpy.

Lumpy is a green mouse located on the right side of Rogueport Harbor. If you talk to him, he gives you the opportunity to invest up to 300 coins (3x 100 coin increments). It is well worth investing the full 300, as you will get 999 coins when Lumpy returns after Chapter 6. Hopefully you have 300 coins, but if you don't, you can try doing some Troubles (many have a coin reward) or grinding enemies. If you're going to grind enemies, I might recommend either trying out the Pit of 100 Trials (and doing the "Help my Daddy" trouble while you're at it) or, if you want, you can rank back up through the Glitz Pit. Becoming the Champion again isn't required for this set, though, unless you missed the Ice Storm in the Major League locker room.

Lumpy will leave after Chapter 4 ends, but you'll be unable to return to Rogueport halfway through the chapter, so it's probably best to pay him the coins before you leave for Twilight Town.

When he comes back after Chapter 6, he will completely fill your wallet with 999 coins, and this achievement will pop. Any excess coins you may have already had will be wasted, so make sure to spend as much as you can before talking to him.

Let's Eat, Grandma (2)
Recieve a Shooting Star as a reward for helping a single mother feed her kids.

You should do this as soon as you enter Twilight Town. She is located in the house to the left of the store on the eastern screen of the town. You can give her any food item you wish. Even a Dried Shroom, if you're feeling particularly cruel. If you didn't bring anything, you can get a Peachy Peach by staying at the inn. You won't be able to earn this achievement after you break the curse by defeating the monster in the steeple.

A Tubular Curse (3)
Recieve the terrible, soul-rending curse of being able to transform into a paper tube.

Story-related, impossible to miss.

Glittering and Gold (5)
Defeat an Amazy Dayzee.

While traversing through the forest, you may rarely come across an Amazy Dayzee. At this point, attempting to defeat one is probably a bad idea - they have 20 HP, 20(!) Attack, and their singing attack is very hard to Guard against. It even has a chance to put you to sleep.

Later on, when you're more powerful, you'll be able to defeat them without too much trouble.

This Is Getting Out of Hand (5)
Defeat ??? in Creepy Steeple and obtain the Ruby Star.

Hey! How come this boss doesn't get a special condition achievement like the rest of the chapter bosses? He is pretty forgettable, to be fair - I can't even remember his name.

Anyways, after Macho Grubba, this boss doesn't put up too much of a fight. He has 40 HP and 4 Attack. Power Lift really starts to shine here. A decent Defense boost will make his attacks basically useless, and with a high attack boost, you can use Power Bounce and Multibonk to shred his HP. You probably don't even need to go that far - with only 40 HP, Spin Jump will get the job done. Near the end of the battle, the boss will transform into a shadow version of Mario, but won't really become any more threatening. Defeat him to claim his Crystal Star and end a surprisingly short chapter.

If you want to try something different, the boss is 50% susceptible to Freeze and 60% susceptible to Stop, so you could try the Ice Smash Hammer move (conveniently found in Creepy Steeple) or the Clock Out special move. If he's affected by either of those, you'll be able to whale on him with no resistance. Not that he was putting up much resistance to begin with.

Gamer Beware, You're in for a Scare... (5)
Defeat the Atomic Boo in Creepy Steeple.

Ouch, I Got a Boo-Boo (10)
Defeat the Atomic Boo with only Mario in your party.

Immediately after waking up from your fight with ???, you should save and heal. You won't need to go far to challenge the Atomic Boo, and if you want to get the Ouch, I Got a Boo-Boo achievement, you'll have to do it now while you have no partners. To fight the Atomic Boo, return to the main hall of Creepy Steeple, where Boos will start floating around you. Eventually the Boos will start to latch on to Mario, at which point you should use the Super Hammer's spin move to knock them off. If too many of them latch on, they will toss you outside the building, but you can just re-enter and try again. After a few Hammer spins, the Boos will come together into the Atomic Boo, and the fight will begin.

Atomic Boo has 40 HP and 4 Attack, just like ???, but this time your damage output and flexibility are greatly lessened due to not having a partner. Power Lift is a decent option to start, although less so than usual because you don't have a partner to take advantage of it too. Using Power Lift is probably better than just attacking, though, especially if you factor in the defense buff. Use Spin Jump or Power Bounce as you prefer. If you need to, use Sweet Treat or healing items to recover.

Atomic Boo has two attacks that you need to watch out for. On some turns, instead of attacking, he will hide his face in his hands. The next turn, he will use his Spook attack, which has a chance to Confuse Mario if it's not guarded. While Confused, Mario has a chance to do something besides what you told him to, like run away or Defend (usually, he can attack his partner, too, but we can't in this case). The other attack to watch out for is when Boos circle around Mario. When they attack, they have a chance of causing the Stop status effect, which will completely immobilize Mario for several turns. In order to prevent these status effects, you should try to guard against the attacks, although the timing can be tricky.

Before you leave the Creepy Steeple, make sure to heal and save again. Also, if you haven't found it already, you can get a Golden Leaf (or several) from a tree hidden in the northern outside hallway. Just squeeze through the hole in the fence and head off-screen to the right to find a gold-colored tree you can hit with your Hammer. It will drop a Golden Leaf, an item that heals 10 FP by itself, and can be used in many recipes. The leaf will respawn if you leave the screen, so you can collect as many as you want. It might be worth grabbing a few to keep in storage for recipes, but don't sweat it if you don't have space. You can always come back later (or very shortly, as the case may be).

The trip back to Twilight Town can be pretty brutal without a partner. Don't be shy about avoiding enemies or running from battle, as you can very easily get overwhelmed, especially if Crazy Dayzees put you to sleep.

Step 2: Pit of 100 Trials | Total points: 999

Empty Dummy Step, remove if unnecessary.

Step 3: 100% Completion / Overworld Items | Total points: 999

Empty Dummy Step, remove if unnecessary.

Step 4: Cleanup/Misc | Total points: 999 

Pianta Precision (5)
Match 7-7-7 on the slots to win a jackpot of Piantas.

There are two ways to do this. The first way is to learn the timing. As SleeplessSP in the comments states, the reels run in cycles, with 4 green Don Piantas, 3 blue stars, and 1 orange 7. Each panel is on screen for three frames (.05 seconds at 60 FPS). Once you press A, it stops the reel after two frames. What you want to do, then, is look for the orange flash and press A very slightly BEFORE it shows up. If you practice, you can hopefully get consistent enough to do it three times in a row. Here is a good video to watch if you would prefer a visualization.

The other method is trying to brute force it through RNG. As FerretPlayingPS4 states in the comments, assuming the reels are stopped completely randomly, there is a (1/8)^3, or .195% chance that you get 3 7s. That's 1/512. The best way to grind it is to put on speedup and keep mashing A, taking it off speedup to collect the piantas when you win. It's probably best not to use Turbo, because we don't really want to press the button consistently if we're aiming for randomness. Apparently the machine's expected value is 120 piantas out for every 100 you put in (one wonders how Don Pianta can stay in business), so you should on average be profiting. This method is probably less efficient (and probably more annoying) than trying to time your presses, but it's there if you're unwilling or unable to get the hang of the timing.

Overshooting the Opposition (5)
Attain a distance greater than 375.14 in the Plane Game.

Advanced Aviation (25)
Finish the Plane Game with 40 or more Piantas tokens collected.

In order to play the Plane Game, you'll have to find the Special Card by completing the "Try to find me!" Trouble, available after Chapter 1. This Trouble requires you to go deep into Hooktail's Castle, so you might want to do it while trying to get the Up Arrow after Chapter 5 to save yourself a trip. Unfortunately, you can't combine it with the Trouble to unlock Ms. Mowz, as you can only have one Trouble active at a time.

In the comments, jaqqqln shared this Reddit post and accompanying video that gives a good general strategy (even though it's for the remake, the strategy works for the original as well). Using this strategy, you should easily be able to get well beyond 375.

The hard part is getting 40+ Piantas. As jaqqqln points out, there's only one really feasible way to do this: at around 450, there's a large -20 panel, but beyond it, there's a X3 multiplier panel that moves around in a loop. If you can get right past the -20 panel and hit that x3 multiplier, you'll clear 40 Piantas. If you practice, you should get a technique down to clear 450, and then it's just a matter of hitting the ground when the 3x multiplier is in place. The movement of all the panels doesn't reset when you continue the plane game, so you just have to keep trying until you get a good cycle.

If you're still having trouble, here are some more tips:

  • zomblified in the comments notes that you only want to tilt the stick left and neutral, and you want to limit the time you have the stick pointed fully left to avoid killing your momentum.
  • zomblified also recommends changing the timing based on how much speed you gained, as your momentum isn't entirely based on the curve you just did, but is to some degree cumulative over the entire flight. I'm not sure it's fully necessary - maintaining a pretty consistent rhythm worked well enough for me, but it might be something to try if you are consistently coming up short.
  • As you're approaching the ground, you can tilt left more rapidly to stall your descent, or hold left to stop yourself completely and drop straight down. This can be useful for timing your hit on the 3x multiplier.

All in all, this is definitely the hardest Pianta Parlor achievement and one of the hardest in the set. If you're burning yourself out grinding it, try doing something else and come back later.

Distort8936 notes that in the Boat and Tube Game playing at 50Hz in the European version produces some wonky effects (I assume with the timer). I'm not sure if the Plane Game has similar quirks, but it's probably worth playing on the 60Hz mode just to be safe.

Flapping in the Wind (5)
Attain the first place ranking in the Paper Game.

To play the Paper Game, you'll need to get the Silver Card from the "Help my Daddy!" Trouble accessible after Chapter 2. In this game, the idea is to run in Paper Mode when the fans are blowing and run in regular mode when the fans are off. You might start out be looking at the fans in the background, but there's an easier way: when the wind is blowing little dots appear on the field showing which direction the wind is blowing. Focusing on these dots has two benefits: it lets you keep an eye on the obstacles, and it shows you when you actually need to enter Paper Mode. Most of your opponents will enter Paper Mode as soon as the fans start spinning, but you actually have about a second before the wind gets strong enough to move you. If you take advantage of these few extra seconds, you should finish far ahead of the rest of the pack and easily earn this achievement.

Swirling Obstacle Course (10)
Attain a remaining time greater than 2:13:20 in the Tube Game.

You can play the Tube Game with the Gold Card you get from the "Important thing!" Trouble accessible after Chapter 6.

This timing is a little bit tight, but is very doable with practice. The good news is that you don't need to optimize the first half of the race, as you have to wait for the moving platforms at the top anyways (something something, imagine a bus station...). Unless you're the Tube Game world record holder, you'll likely be going on the north platform if you make it there decently fast. Just don't completely fumble the staircase and don't fall off the thin path, and you'll be fine.

The second half is where you'll have to shave off some time to meet the requirements. Start by getting a running (rolling?) jump off the moving platform. Take the ramp down and then try to take the curve as tight as you can. At the end of the curve you might need to point the stick almost straight up to get yourself pointing the right way. Go through the hurdle, and if you manage to make it through without hitting one of them, you're probably home free. The sloped curve is relatively easy to navigate, and then it's a straight shot to the finish.

Distort8936 notes that if you're playing the European version, you're going to want to be on 60Hz mode, or else you'll have a bad time. Probably something to do with the timer.

Windward Whirlpools (10)
Attain a remaining time greater than 1:33:15 in the Boat Game.

You can play the Boat Game after obtaining the Platinum Card from the "I need my magazine" Trouble after Chapter 6.

I found this time limit surprisingly lenient after the Tube Game - I hit a couple whirlpools and still managed to finish in time. Just practice a few times, and it should be relatively easy.

Note that the whirlpools don't reset between runs, so each run will be different. This makes creating a consistent strategy difficult, but my advice is to try and take the corner as close as you can (hopefully the 4 small whirlpools cooperate) and stick close to the bottom for most of the rest.

Distort8936 notes that if you're playing the European version, you're going to want to be on 60Hz mode, or else you'll have a bad time. Probably something to do with the timer.

A Real Treat (5)
Recover at least 10 HP and 6 FP from the Sweet Treat special move.

This one is very easy, you'll probably get it without even trying. Note that the 10 HP is for Mario and his partner combined.

Gorged On Sweets (5)
Recover at least 40 HP and 18 FP from the Sweet Feast special move.

This one, on the other hand, is quite difficult. Like the previous achievement, the 40 HP is between Mario and his partner combined. You're going to need to hit almost all of the bonuses to get 40 HP and 18 FP, and that's assuming you get a pattern that will cooperate in the first place. In other words, you're going to need to have good luck and good execution for this one, but I came up with a strategy that mitigates the execution element somewhat. I noticed that I was often ending up with 35-39 HP, and found that it was because I was playing too cautiously trying to avoid the Poison Mushrooms. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and try a hybrid brute-force strategy.

  • Unlike Sweet Treat, if you hold the Control Stick left during Sweet Feast, Mario will continuously throw stars. As he does this, you might notice that he doesn't actually get all of the bonuses - some will slip through and be impossible to hit.
  • With that in mind, right after you activate Sweet Feast, just hold the stick left to spray as many stars as you can. You can use speedup too during this part, if you'd like. You'll get almost all of the bonuses, and probably hit a Poison Mushroom when it comes out, but that's okay. Just keep trying the same thing over multiple attempts. Eventually, you'll get a pattern where the first Poison Mushroom slips by, and now we're in business.
  • There are only 2 Poison Mushrooms during Sweet Feast, so now you can try throwing more cautiously to try and avoid the second Poison Mushroom. Try and get as many bonuses as you can still, but be sure that you miss the second Poison Mushroom. It shouldn't be too long before it appears. Once that one's past, resume spraying to get as many of the remaining bonuses as you can. If all goes well, you should have gotten the vast majority of the bonuses and hopefully put yourself over the threshold.
  • You could also go full spray-and-pray and wait for a pattern where both Poison Mushrooms slip by, but that would be a lot more unlikely and probably isn't worth it over the hybrid approach I outlined above.
  • The best way to grind multiple attempts is to equip a bunch of Super Appeals and Super Appeal Ps and go find some weak enemy somewhere. You can buy infinite Super Appeals from the Pianta Parlor (and you'll need 8-10 of them for another achievement). Once you use Sweet Feast, have Mario and his partner appeal until your SP is back up enough, then use Sweet Treat again. If you use speedup, you can get a pretty good rhythm going. I would recommend waiting to try this achievement until you have 7-8 SP, just to make it easier. If you really wanted to, you could also use an inn (such as the one in Petalburg) to grind progress for Just Another Nap, but there's an easier way to grind that achievement anyways.

All in all, I found this strategy much less frustrating than trying to get it normally. If you're having trouble and feeling frustrated, give it a try!

Gold Star Gains (5)
Boost your attack and defense both by 3 in the Power Lift special move.

This one is also pretty tough, and like the last one, relies both on luck and execution. Sometimes you just won't have enough of both arrows (I can't remember how many times I ended up at 4/2), and sometimes you just won't be able to get to them in time. I don't have a perfect strategy for this one, but here are a few general tips:

  • Try to go for the arrows that are closest to your current position. The more time you spend with empty slots, the more arrows totol you're going to get.
  • If you're waiting (typically for a bunch of Poison Mushrooms to disappear), go back to the middle so you can react faster to upcoming arrows.
  • When you're getting close to the end, take a quick glance at the stats to see if one of them is at 3 already. If it is, prioritize arrows for the other stat.
  • As with the Sweet Feast achievement, the easiest way to grind attempts is to equip a bunch of super appeals and alternate between appealing and using Power Lift. It's a little easier, since this move only uses 3 SP as opposed to 5.
Fan Freebie (3)
Receive an item from the Audience.

You'll likely get this one without even trying. Just note that if your inventory is full, the item will sail past you onto the floor.

I Like That Jump! (10)
Perform 15 consecutive Power Bounce jumps in any fight.

"15? I remember being pretty good at Power Bounce, so this shouldn't be that hard." - me, seconds before disaster

Hoo boy. This achievement probably singlehandedly takes this set up a point or two in the difficulty rating. To figure out why, let's take a look at this website which shows the timings for Power Bounce (scroll down to TTYD).

As you can see, the first hit of Power Bounce normally requires you to hit an 8-frame window. Each hit after that, the window decreases by 1 frame until you reach a 1-frame window on the 8th hit and every hit beyond. Now, what this means is that under normal conditions, in order to reach 15 hits, you would have to do 8 frame-perfect A presses in a row. Thankfully, there are a few things we can do to make this a little easier. First, the Rogueport Badge Shop sells 2 Simplifier badges that make all Action Commands easier. Notably for Power Bounce, having 2 Simplifiers equipped makes it so only bounces 11+ are frame perfect, cutting it from 8 to 5 frame-perfect inputs. 5 is still a lot, don't get me wrong, but it's orders of magnitude easier than 8. If you're playing on the European version, you can switch to 50Hz mode to increase the length of the frames and make them slightly easier to hit. Do note that this will change the timing, so if you're used to doing it on the 60Hz mode, you'll have to adjust. After that, it's all up to you. Here's a few tips:

  • The first Simplifier is available from the start, but the second seems to only be available after Chapter 6. If you played on the USA version like I did and are thinking about starting over, keep that in mind. I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's worth it.
  • I would recommend practicing a lot, but not necessarily grinding a lot. What I mean by that is, while you're doing other things like Troubles, recipes or the Story, try Power Bouncing enemies on your way, but don't just sit in Petal Meadows massacring Goombas for Hours on end. One, you'll burn yourself out, and two, you might as well make some progress on the other parts of the set.
  • What helped me most was focusing on the audio cues and getting into a rhythm. Either focus on the EXCELLENT! chime, or the noise that the crowd makes, and try and press A rhythmically. See this video of someone sitting in Petal Meadows massacring Goombas to see what I mean (note: this is the 60Hz timing).
  • The visual cue shouldn't be neglected, though. Some enemies are harder to visualize it on than others (or at least they were for me). I had particular trouble with Koopas and other enemies who flip over, as well as Spanias, who go into a weird shaking pose when you hit them that makes it difficult to see where thier hitbox is at. I had the most success with enemies that stay relatively still when you hit them, like Goombas, Hammer Bros, and Magikoopas (I eventually got mine on a Magikoopa in the Rogueport Sewers).
  • All bosses have a soft cap on bounces. You usually won't be able to get more than 5-10 bounces even if your timing is perfect. No other enemies have a cap (well, technically it's 9999), so use it on whoever you'd like.
  • Eventually, you'll probably get to the point where you're able to do 9 or 10 bounces pretty consistently. Maybe 10% of the time, you'll get 11 bounces, maybe 5% of the time you'll get 12 or more. Trust me, this means you're almost there. When I got my 15 bounces, ~80% of my bounces were still ending at 10 (if that), but every once in a while I would have enough good vibes and good luck to get into the zone and go beyond 11. I failed at 14 once or twice before I got 15, and when I finally got it I even made it up to 16. So don't give up hope. If you're able to get to 11, 12, 13, or 14, you've definitely got the skills to make it to 15.
  • If you're getting stressed or burned out, definitely take a break. Getting the timing right is only going to get harder the more stressed you are. Do something else in game, play a different game, or, like Distort8936 recommends in the comments, get a good night's sleep and try again later.
  • In the entrance to the Pit of 100 Trials, there is a sign that lists your maximum number of Power Bounces. Take a look at it to see how close you've gotten, or to bask in your own glory after you get 15.
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