Paper Mario: The Origami King - Cutting The Red Streamer | Overlook Tower Walkthrough

We’ve hit our first major milestone in Paper Mario: The Origami King — the first of the five streamers is getting cut. You’ll have to reach the top of the Overlook Tower and takedown a tough guardian boss — and we’ve got everything you need to know about this dungeon. There are enemies to fight, cockroach goombas to squash, and a swarm of pencil-shaped missiles to avoid.

You’re thrown into the deep-end here — after our last tutorial boss, the Red Streamer Guardian is a much more dangerous foe. You won’t get hints or clues for taking him down, you’ll just have to figure out the weaknesses yourself. Or you can check the full boss guide below for tips to defeat this tough bad guy.

Paper Mario: The Origami King – Table Of Contents:

Green Streamer Region: Pt. 21: Visit All 5 Hot Springs | Shangri-Spa | Pt. 22: Cutting The Green Streamer | Bowser’s Castle

Peach’s Castle: Pt. 23: Defeat Ollie | Final Dungeon

Overlook Tower Walkthrough

At the entrance to the Overlook Tower, you’ll need a full bag of confetti to repair the big hole. Go back and smack flowers or fight enemies until your confetti bag is totally full, then you can access the inside of the tower.

Hidden Toad: There are three Hidden Toads to the right of the Overlook Tower entrance. See the blue / white origami towers on the display? Hit them with your hammer!
Hidden Toad: Three more hidden toads are in the bucket with rolled-up papers.
Hidden Toad: And yet another is stuck in the elevator! Press the button to let him free.
Hidden Toad: Hit the magazine stand to the left of the gift shop to free another hidden toad. This gift shop is full of the little guys.

Once you’re done hunting Hidden Toads, press the elevator button (if you haven’t already) and ride it up. You can’t fix the stairs just yet; the exit to the tower is blocked. Too bad you won’t ride for long — a bunch of pencils cut into your elevator! Knock them away with Mario’s hammer, and you’ll crash back down to the lobby.

Down below, you’ll encounter a bunch of new Folded Goombas. Defeat them to gain all the confetti you need to repair the stairs and reach the second floor. To the left, you’ll find destroyed stair. To the right, go to the kitchen and defeat the Folded Soldiers — but stop at the table and eat to fully heal first.

Hidden Toad: In the restaurant, hit the rustling shelves on the right.
Hidden Toad: Smack the trash can in the middle of the kitchen.
Hidden Toad: In the shelf to the left of the fridge in the kitchen.

Hidden Toad: On the scale. Use the shelf from the previous toad!
Hidden Toad: Behind the pots in the upper-right corner of the kitchen.
Hidden Toad: In the pan on the right corner of the kitchen. He looks like a fried egg.

Go to the kitchen and open the freezer to reveal a bunch of gross tiny Goombas! They’ll skitter around like cockroaches. You need to wipe them all out. You’ll find tiny goombas in these spots:

Kitchen Goombas:
- On the floor.
- On the right wall.
- Under the trashcan lid. Hit it with a hammer!
- Inside the pot with the blue face painted on.
- Stuck to Mario! Run in circle to shake it off.
- Flying around! Wait for it to land. Climb up to the higher ledges to reach it.
- On a plate on the upper ledge to the right of the kitchen.

That’s all of them in the kitchen, but there are more in the restaurant.

Restaurant Goombas:
- 3 on the floor.
- On the left wall near the front door.
- On the center table.
- On the back-center wall. Climb up on top of the rack to reach it.
- On the right wall, behind the dish cart.
- On the far-right wall. Move the dish cart to reach it.

When you kill them all, go to the stairwell room on the left and talk to the toad chef. He’ll give you enough confetti to repair the stairs and reach the third floor.

On the third floor, try to open the gate and you’ll come under a barrage of pencil rockets! Deflect them with Mario’s hammer and circle around to a cracked section of the wall. When Olivia is targeted, the missile will blast the wall open. Go inside and hit the button to lower the ladder, then dodge more incoming missiles!

Up at the top, you’ll reach a Save Block. We’re almost at the end! Don’t miss the HP heart. When you’re ready, go upstairs. We’re going to disconnect the red streamer and take down the first guardian boss.

Boss: Colored Pencils

The Colored Pencils add a few new wrinkles to the boss formula. First, the boss will mark panels with targets — if you step on a marked panel, you’ll take damage. Try to avoid those panels!

To damage the boss, send Mario so he’s positioned behind the Pencil Case. When you’re behind the Pencil Case, use the Hammer to attack and shut the lid! When the lid is shut, the pencils will explode inside the boss, stunning it! Now you can use the Magic Circle.

After the boss is stunned, position the pointers so you step over the “ON” marker to activate the Magic Circle, then step on the Magic Circle — make sure you land on the Magic Circle that is 1-space away from the boss! Use 1,000-Fold Arms without getting too close.

Do enough damage, and the boss will unleash its its Rainbow Roll attack. To counter this, activate the 1,000-Fold Arms Magic Marker with the “ON” switch and use it close to the boss — you’ll grab the pencils and smash them into the boss!

That’ll defeat the boss — if you need help, grab the hearts while moving around the boss arena. Defeat the boss to make a Magic Circle appear — and you’ll be able to destroy the first of the five streamers blocking the way to Peach’s Castle!

Max Confetti+ UP: You’ll earn a bigger confetti bag for defeating the boss!

Hidden Toad: At the top of Overlook Tower, hit the binoculars on the right with your hammer.
Hidden Toad: See that pencil stuck on the fourth floor of Overlook Tower? That’s actually a hidden toad.

To move on to the next area, go down to the tram station on Overlook Mountain and repair the stairs with confetti. Just talk to the toad outside, and you’ll be able to take the tram to Autumn Mountain!