Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This may be about two months prior—the event was held in mid-June 2026—but it’s dtill not as far behind as my Splatfest or Pokémon Legends: Z-A coverage. Partially this is due to my single-player coverage resuming (but probably at a reduced capacity).
In Superpowered Paper Star!, you play City Trial matches, but Paper Stars are not only abundant, but they have much better stats in all categories than they normally would. Hence, in most cases, you’d want to pick up a Paper Star and compete with the other players with it, but the Paper Star’s weaknesses (namely low Defense, low Offense, low HP, and low Weight) mean there may still be better alternatives. The battle-based Stadiums, like Dustup Derby or Kirby Melee, still favor the rougher and tougher machines like the chariots and tanks, as they still have better durability and take less damage.
00:26 - Match #1
City Trial
Character: Taranza
Stadium: Race (Celestial Valley)
You’ll see that even with the increased resilience, the Paper Stars can still run low on health and be destroyed while you’re on them. I did notice the increased speed and handling they had though, making it easier for me to collect the upgrades…but I know most of the other players were doing so too. Luckily, I eventually found a Maxim Tomato, so I no longer needed to look for another vehicle.
During the race itself, I was in 2nd but started falling behind in the waterfall portion. Is it because I was too high up and relying on the machine’s own speed instead of being carried by the waters?
07:25 - Match #2
City Trial
Character: Waddle Dee
Stadium: Dustup Derby 3
As the game announced this match would end with a Dustup Derby, I figured this time, there are better options than the Paper Star. But it’s still a good idea to find a Papwr Star and gather upgrades to get ready, then switch machines later on. (I also got some of the Reward Rings when they appeared!)
As you can see, six of the eight participants in the room brought in a Paper Star anyway, but I was able to find a Battle Chariot in the last moments of the City Trial, albeit after losing some of my upgrades to falling off…Got a Bomb too late though.
15:07 - Match #3
City Trial
Character: Lololo & Lalala
Stadium: Air Glider
On the other hand, this one is the Paper Star’s specialty, and I figured I’d have a real struggle here as most other people would also be on the extremely good Paper Star, a machine with excellent gliding (but not as good as the Winged Star, but maybe it is in this event). But now the challenge is inverted: on a different machine, find a Paper Star in time. (Interesting to see someone on the Compact Star, the default, bottom-stats machine, outdo someone on the Paper Star.)
22:32 - Match #4
City Trial
Character: King Dedede
Stadium: Kirby Melee 1
Here is another Stadium that the Paper Star is ill-fitted for—but people were very aggressive with scoring points that I remained behind for most of it, being unable to defeat enemies because I needed to come in contact with them rather than blasting them from a distance like most of the other players were doing. I did catch up—not enough to take the lead, but to overtake some people though.
Also, Audrey (using Noir Dedede), despite playing well and scoring a lot of points, got eliminated, so you have to watch out for that too using a fragile machine like the Paper Star.
07:28 - Match #5
Top Ride
Course: Cave
Character: Marx
Machine: Wheelie Bike
I missed the Wheel powerup over there; I think I was close enough to the lead that I could seize it with that speed boost. At some point, I was locked between 2nd and 3rd though, which is good enough for me.
29:55 - Match #6
City Trial
Character: Rocky
Stadium: Beam Gauntlet 2
Choosing the Paper Star for the Beam Gauntlet is mixed for this event…on one hand, it races incredibly well, and on the other, you may still get eliminated touching the lasers. You can see that Kevin got eliminated here despite winning a match earlier (as deonted byt eh star on the upper right of their profile on the results).
36:39 - Match #7
City Trial
Character: Noir Dedede
Stadium: Drag Race 4
Pretty handy that “No fair! Most boxes contain the same item!” happened to feature Top Speed for a Drag Race, though I figured the other players were picking them up too. I accidentally wound up with the Battle Chariot here and thought it was going to be a wash, but I did better than I expected. Also, is it me, or do the “superpowered” Paper Stars rarly take 1st place in these Stadiums?
This may be about two months prior—the event was held in mid-June 2026—but it’s dtill not as far behind as my Splatfest or Pokémon Legends: Z-A coverage. Partially this is due to my single-player coverage resuming (but probably at a reduced capacity).
In Superpowered Paper Star!, you play City Trial matches, but Paper Stars are not only abundant, but they have much better stats in all categories than they normally would. Hence, in most cases, you’d want to pick up a Paper Star and compete with the other players with it, but the Paper Star’s weaknesses (namely low Defense, low Offense, low HP, and low Weight) mean there may still be better alternatives. The battle-based Stadiums, like Dustup Derby or Kirby Melee, still favor the rougher and tougher machines like the chariots and tanks, as they still have better durability and take less damage.
00:26 - Match #1
City Trial
Character: Taranza
Stadium: Race (Celestial Valley)
You’ll see that even with the increased resilience, the Paper Stars can still run low on health and be destroyed while you’re on them. I did notice the increased speed and handling they had though, making it easier for me to collect the upgrades…but I know most of the other players were doing so too. Luckily, I eventually found a Maxim Tomato, so I no longer needed to look for another vehicle.
During the race itself, I was in 2nd but started falling behind in the waterfall portion. Is it because I was too high up and relying on the machine’s own speed instead of being carried by the waters?
07:25 - Match #2
City Trial
Character: Waddle Dee
Stadium: Dustup Derby 3
As the game announced this match would end with a Dustup Derby, I figured this time, there are better options than the Paper Star. But it’s still a good idea to find a Papwr Star and gather upgrades to get ready, then switch machines later on. (I also got some of the Reward Rings when they appeared!)
As you can see, six of the eight participants in the room brought in a Paper Star anyway, but I was able to find a Battle Chariot in the last moments of the City Trial, albeit after losing some of my upgrades to falling off…Got a Bomb too late though.
15:07 - Match #3
City Trial
Character: Lololo & Lalala
Stadium: Air Glider
On the other hand, this one is the Paper Star’s specialty, and I figured I’d have a real struggle here as most other people would also be on the extremely good Paper Star, a machine with excellent gliding (but not as good as the Winged Star, but maybe it is in this event). But now the challenge is inverted: on a different machine, find a Paper Star in time. (Interesting to see someone on the Compact Star, the default, bottom-stats machine, outdo someone on the Paper Star.)
22:32 - Match #4
City Trial
Character: King Dedede
Stadium: Kirby Melee 1
Here is another Stadium that the Paper Star is ill-fitted for—but people were very aggressive with scoring points that I remained behind for most of it, being unable to defeat enemies because I needed to come in contact with them rather than blasting them from a distance like most of the other players were doing. I did catch up—not enough to take the lead, but to overtake some people though.
Also, Audrey (using Noir Dedede), despite playing well and scoring a lot of points, got eliminated, so you have to watch out for that too using a fragile machine like the Paper Star.
07:28 - Match #5
Top Ride
Course: Cave
Character: Marx
Machine: Wheelie Bike
I missed the Wheel powerup over there; I think I was close enough to the lead that I could seize it with that speed boost. At some point, I was locked between 2nd and 3rd though, which is good enough for me.
29:55 - Match #6
City Trial
Character: Rocky
Stadium: Beam Gauntlet 2
Choosing the Paper Star for the Beam Gauntlet is mixed for this event…on one hand, it races incredibly well, and on the other, you may still get eliminated touching the lasers. You can see that Kevin got eliminated here despite winning a match earlier (as deonted byt eh star on the upper right of their profile on the results).
36:39 - Match #7
City Trial
Character: Noir Dedede
Stadium: Drag Race 4
Pretty handy that “No fair! Most boxes contain the same item!” happened to feature Top Speed for a Drag Race, though I figured the other players were picking them up too. I accidentally wound up with the Battle Chariot here and thought it was going to be a wash, but I did better than I expected. Also, is it me, or do the “superpowered” Paper Stars rarly take 1st place in these Stadiums?
