ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ SUPER MARIO 64 FAQ/Walkthrough v1.0 Written by Snow Dragon İ 2007. All rights reserved. Contact at [sdfaqs@gmail.com] ______________________________ = | ================= = | TABLE OF CONTENTS = | ================= 1 Intro 2 Story 3 Start Screen 4 Controls 4.1 Basic Moves 4.2 Advanced Moves 5 Items 5.1 Power Stars 5.2 Coins 5.3 Caps 5.4 Bricks 5.5 Miscellaneous Items 6 Enemies 7.1 Minor Foes 7.2 Bosses 7 Walkthrough for All Courses 7.1 Prelude 7.2 Bob-Omb Battlefield 7.2.1 Big Bob-Omb on the Summit 7.2.2 Footrace with Koopa the Quick 7.2.3 Shoot to the Island in the Sky 7.2.4 Find the 8 Red Coins 7.2.5 Wing to the Sky 7.2.6 Behind Chain Chomp's Gate 7.2.7 100-Coin Star 7.3 Whomp's Fortress 7.3.1 Chip Off Whomp's Block 7.3.2 To the Top of the Fortress 7.3.3 Shoot Into the Blue Wild 7.3.4 Red Coins on the Floating Isles 7.3.5 Fall Onto the Caged Island 7.3.6 Blast Away the Wall 7.3.7 100-Coin Star 7.4 Tower of the Wing Cap 7.5 Jolly Roger Bay 7.5.1 Plunder in the Sunken Ship 7.5.2 Can the Eel Come Out to Play? 7.5.3 Treasure of the Ocean Cave 7.5.4 Red Coins on the Ship Afloat 7.5.5 Blast to the Stone Pillar 7.5.6 Through the Jet Stream 7.5.7 100-Coin Star 7.6 Cool, Cool Mountain 7.7.1 Slip Slidin' Away 7.7.2 Li'l Penguin Lost 7.7.3 Big Penguin Race 7.7.4 Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins 7.7.5 Snowman's Lost His Head 7.7.6 Wall Kicks Will Work 7.7.7 100-Coin Star 7.7 Big Boo's Haunt 7.7.1 Go on a Ghost Hunt 7.7.2 Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round 7.7.3 Secret of the Haunted Books 7.7.4 Seek the 8 Red Coins 7.7.5 Big Boo's Balcony 7.7.6 Eye to Eye in the Secret Room 7.7.7 100-Coin Star 7.8 Bowser in the Dark World 7.9 Vanish Cap Under the Moat 7.10 Hazy Maze Cave 7.10.1 Cavern of the Metal Cap 7.10.2 Swimming Beast in the Cavern 7.10.3 Elevate for 8 Red Coins 7.10.4 Metal-Head Mario Can Move! 7.10.5 Navigating the Toxic Maze 7.10.6 A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit 7.10.7 Watch for Rolling Rocks 7.10.8 100-Coin Star 7.11 Lethal Lava Land 7.11.1 Boil the Big Bully 7.11.2 Bully the Bullies 7.11.3 8-Coin Puzzle With 15 Pieces 7.11.4 Red Hot Log Rolling 7.11.5 Hot Foot It Into the Volcano 7.11.6 Elevator Tour in the Volcano 7.11.7 100-Coin Star 7.12 Shifting Sand Land 7.12.1 In the Talons of the Big Bird 7.12.2 Shining Atop the Pyramid 7.12.3 Inside the Ancient Pyramid 7.12.4 Stand Tall on the Four Pillars 7.12.5 Free Flying for 8 Red Coins 7.12.6 Pyramid Puzzle 7.12.7 100-Coin Star 7.13 Dire, Dire Docks 7.13.1 Board Bowser's Sub 7.13.2 Chests in the Current 7.13.3 Pole Jumping for Red Coins 7.13.4 Through the Jet Stream 7.13.5 The Manta Ray's Reward 7.13.6 Collect the Caps... 7.13.7 100-Coin Star 7.14 Bowser in the Fire Sea 7.15 Snowman's Land 7.15.1 Snowman's Big Head 7.15.2 Chill With the Bully 7.15.3 In the Deep Freeze 7.15.4 Whirl from the Freezing Pond 7.15.5 Shell Shreddin' for Red Coins 7.15.6 Into the Igloo 7.15.7 100-Coin Star 7.16 Wet-Dry World 7.16.1 Shocking Arrow Lifts! 7.16.2 Top O' the Town 7.16.3 Secrets in the Shallows & Sky 7.16.4 Express Elevator - Hurry Up! 7.16.5 Go to Town for Red Coins 7.16.6 Quick Race Through Downtown 7.16.7 100-Coin Star 7.17 Tall, Tall Mountain 7.17.1 Scale the Mountain 7.17.2 Mystery of the Monkey Cage 7.17.3 Scary 'Shrooms, Red Coins 7.17.4 Mysterious Mountainside 7.17.5 Breathtaking View from the Bridge 7.17.6 Blast to the Lonely Mushroom 7.17.7 100-Coin Star 7.18 Tiny-Huge Island 7.18.1 Pluck the Piranha Plants 7.18.2 The Tip Top of the Huge Island 7.18.3 Rematch with Koopa the Quick 7.18.4 Five Itty Bitty Secrets 7.18.5 Wiggler's Red Coins 7.18.6 Make Wiggler Squirm 7.18.7 100-Coin Star 7.19 Tick Tock Clock 7.19.1 Roll into the Roll Cage 7.19.2 The Pit and the Pendulums 7.19.3 Get a Hand 7.19.4 Stomp on the Thwomp 7.19.5 Timed Jumps on Moving Bars 7.19.6 Stop Time for Red Coins 7.19.7 100-Coin Star 7.20 Rainbow Ride 7.20.1 Cruiser Crossing the Rainbow 7.20.2 The Big House in the Sky 7.20.3 Coins Amassed in a Maze 7.20.4 Swingin' in the Breeze 7.20.5 Tricky Triangles! 7.20.6 Somewhere Over the Rainbow 7.20.7 100-Coin Star 7.21 Castle Secret Stars 7.21.1 The Princess's Secret Slide (x2) 7.21.2 The Secret Aquarium 7.21.3 Bowser in the Dark World (8 Red Coins) 7.21.4 Tower of the Wing Cap (8 Red Coins) 7.21.5 Cavern of the Metal Cap (8 Red Coins) 7.21.6 Vanish Cap Under the Moat (8 Red Coins) 7.21.7 Bowser in the Fire Sea (8 Red Coins) 7.21.8 MIPS the Bunny (x2) 7.21.9 Talking to Toad (x3) 7.21.10 Wing Mario Over the Rainbow 7.21.11 Bowser in the Sky (8 Red Coins) 7.22 Bowser in the Sky 7.23 Epilogue 8 Credits & Copyrights _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | ===== 1 | INTRO = | ===== Hello there, and welcome to my FAQ/walkthrough for Super Mario 64. There are already plenty of guides for this game out there, but it's such an enduring classic and it's so much fun that I couldn't resist getting my hands dirty with it. Mario 64 was the game that opened the floodgates for three-dimensional platforming adventure and introduced audiences worldwide to the Nintendo 64. With new characters and expansive worlds, the game really helped audiences warm up to the concept of gaming in an extra dimension. I personally think it's a blast, even eleven years later, and I had a blast writing this guide. (Eleven years? Really? Mercy's sakes, that makes me feel old.) If you have any questions to ask about the guide or any suggestions or corrections, you can email them to me at [sdfaqs@gmail.com], and I will respond when I have the time and inclination. I am a busy college student with lots of homework who also has a job, so don't expect me to set any speed records for email replies. This guide is dedicated to my girlfriend April. She loves this game just as much as I do, maybe more. To hear her gush about getting the stars on Rainbow Ride is absolutely mesmerizing. She is just a fantastic woman, and I'm glad to have spent the last 15 months as her boyfriend. I love you very much, April, and I always will. :* _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | ===== 2 | STORY = | ===== There's actually not much in the way of story in Super Mario 64. Princess Peach invites Mario to the castle for a bit of cake and (I assume) quaint socialization. But when Mario arrives, his plans for a piece of cake have been thrown wildly off course by the evil King Bowser, who has captured her and her friends and trapped them and the Power Stars that give the castle its great, er, power (and fresh pine scent) in a series of portraits throughout the castle. Whoa, what a mouthful! And yet, I probably spent more time on the story than the game itself did. They don't do a whole lot of talking in this game. They introduce you to your Lakitu camera guide, and then it's into the castle jumping into paintings. Who needs story? You can jump into a painting that leads to a snow land! Now that's gaming savvy, folks. Other plot details will unfold as the game moves forward, but there's only one way to find them all out - play through it! First-generation 3D may not have aged well, but to me, this game is just as fun to play now as it was when I was in junior high when it came out. It truly has to be played to be appreciated. Let's get to it! _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | ============ 3 | START SCREEN = | ============ The first screen you see after the title bears Mario's face and asks you to press Start. You can have some fun here though, if you like. Press A to make a hand pop up on the screen. With this hand, you can grab various parts of Mario's face and stretch them out, making funny faces and the like. When you've squeezed this activity dry of entertainment, press Start to go to the file screen. You can save up to four adventures on one cart. Next to each file, you will see how many Power Stars you have collected in each game. You can start up one of the files by clicking on it with the A button - you will start outside the castle - or you can do one of four things to it: SCORE: The green button. Click on a file once you have clicked this button. It will show you how many Power Stars you have gotten in every world and whether you have secured the 100-coin Star for each world. If you press A, you can see another column showing the top saved coin counts for each world, as well as which files those scores were achieved on. COPY: The blue button. If you have any empty files, you can copy the data from an occupied file to them. ERASE: The red button. Click on the file you want to erase. You will be asked if you are sure you want to do this, since this is an irreversible action. Pick yes if you're sure, and no if you're not. STEREO: The pink button. You can choose monaural or stereo sound, or you can configure the sound to play through a headset. Honestly though, in 11 years of playing the game, I've never messed with this setting once. _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | ======== 4 | CONTROLS = | ======== --- | ----------- 4.1 | Basic Moves --- | ----------- START BUTTON: - Begin the game. - Pause the game. When Mario is standing still, you will have a range of options to choose from while paused; these disappear if you pause while he is moving. THE ANALOG STICK: - Run by tilting it fully forward. - Walk by tilting it just slightly forward. - Aim the cannon if you are inside it. Left and right move in their respective directions, but the up and down controls are inverted (i.e. pushing up will move the cannon down, down moves it up). - Climb onto or drop off of ledges you are hanging onto. - Climb a pole by pressing up, slide down it by pressing down. At the top of a pole, you can press up again to do a handstand atop the pole. Sometimes, this will earn you an extra life. It's always worth it to check! - Press Up and Down in a steady rhythm to maintain altitude when flying. A BUTTON: - Used for jumping. Tap once to jump. - To do a double-jump, you must jump immediately after landing from the first jump. Mario will reach a little higher and say "woohoo" instead of "wah". - To do a triple-jump, press the A button immediately after landing from the second jump. Mario will go high in the air and do a somersault of sorts along the way. You must be running to perform a triple-jump. You will also use the triple-jump to enter into flight while wearing the Wing Cap. When wearing the Wing Cap, you do not have to be running to do the triple- jump needed to begin flying. - Jump off a pole you are hanging onto. Mario will jump off in the direction his back is facing. This applies to handstanding on the top of the pole as well. - If you are in the cannon, use this button to fire yourself off. B BUTTON: - When standing, Mario will punch. If you press it three times rapidly, Mario will bust out a little sort of punch-punch-kick combo. - If you jump straight up in the air and press B, he will do a jump kick. This is useful for knocking over some objects that a punch won't. - While running, jump and press B to dive. - If you are next to something you can pick up, Mario will grab it. C BUTTONS: - C-Left and C-Right will turn the camera if it can be turned. The camera in this game can be a bit iffy at times, but you can usually get it to do what you want with a little finagling or slight movement of Mario. - C-Up will bring the camera very close to Mario. In this mode, he can look around without moving and survey his surroundings. Note that you are still subject to getting hit by enemies while in this position. If the camera is panned out as far as it can go, it will come in just a bit closer to the scene; pressing it again will bring up the close-up view. - C-Down will pan the camera out. From a normal standing position, you can pan it out once; from close-up view, you can pan it out twice. R BUTTON: - Will bring the camera directly behind Mario and allow him to move. This is not a particularly useful angle. Press the button again to leave this view. Z BUTTON: - Hold it down to duck. - Press the analog stick while ducking to crawl. This will help you enter small holes (e.g. the igloo in Snowman's Land), as well as traverse some surfaces that are too slippery to cross by walking and/or running. --- | -------------- 7.2 | Advanced Moves --- | -------------- In alphabetical order. BACKFLIP: Hold Z to duck, then press the A button. Mario will do a backflip from the crouching position. A bit higher than a double-jump, but not as high as a triple. GROUND-POUND: Jump, and then in midair, press Z. This is a very useful move. It activates certain switches, is used to advance certain sequences, and can help kill some enemies. LONG JUMP: Press Z and then A in one fluid motion. If done correctly, Mario will do a very long jump forward (hence the name of the technique). Don't press them at the same time or you'll do a ground-pound by mistake. You will need to know how to do this move to cross several wide pits later on in the game, so it is worth learning how to do it early on in places that offer lots of room to practice it (like Bob-Omb Battlefield). SOMERSAULT: While running forward, turn around, and then while skidding, press A. You should do a backwards somersault. Has about the same height as a triple-jump, but not as useful for getting to far-away ledges. WALL KICK: Jump toward a wall, and at the exact moment of contact, press A to kick off it and get to an otherwise unreachable area or get some height off a jump. You can do several wall kicks in a row up longer chasms. This move is also key to getting a few Power Stars and making it through a few tough areas, so master it early. _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | ===== 5 | ITEMS = | ===== --- | ----------- 5.1 | Power Stars --- | ----------- Power Stars are what gives Peach's castle its power, charm, and refreshing pine scent. To protect them from Bowser, she has hidden them in the portraits throughout her castle. It is up to you to find them. There are 120 in all. You don't get anything special for tracking them all down, but there are a few extra things you can do if you do. Each world inside a portrait has six stages, each of which will give you a Power Star if you complete it. You can also get a Star for finding 100 coins in each world. That makes 105 Power Stars earned within the castle's various paintings. There are 15 others that are hidden in various side courses throughout the castle. You may be called upon to do various things in order to earn a Power Star. Sometimes they are sitting out in the open, waiting to be collected. In other cases, you may have to defeat a boss, collect eight red coins, open treasure chests in a certain sequence, find a certain number of preordained secret spots (usually five), race against someone, retrieve something for someone, or demonstrate mastery of one of the three caps or a certain technique (like the Long Jump or the wall kick). At various points, you will need to collect a certain amount of Power Stars in order to proceed throughout the game. Some doors require you to collect so many Stars to open them. Or, you may have to have a certain number to be able to fight Bowser. Sometimes, you will have to collect a certain Star to trigger an event. To beat the game, you will need a minimum of 70. This guide will tell you how to get all 120 Power Stars, so if you're stumped, hopefully you won't be for too much longer! --- | ----- 5.2 | Coins --- | ----- In your travels, you will encounter three different colors of currency. YELLOW: A yellow coin is worth one, and will heal one piece of your life meter if you are hurt. Being the most abundant, they are as such worth the least. If you collect 100 of these in a world, you will earn a Star for your troubles. Most enemies give these up when you kill them, and they can be found in yellow blocks on occasion. Sometimes getting certain groups of them can yield a 1-Up, as can getting certain coins in the correct sequence (e.g. getting a ring of eight in an unbroken circle). RED: There are eight of these in every world. They are equivalent in value to two yellow coins, and will heal two pieces of life if you are hurt. Finding all eight coins in one world will reveal a Power Star; one level of each world is dedicated to this pursuit. These are not given away as prizes by enemies, nor can they be found in boxes. BLUE: The rarest type of coin in the game. These are equivalent in value to five yellow coins, and will heal five pieces of life if you are hurt. Larger enemies or those that are harder to kill tend to give these away. These are especially handy when you're going after the 100-coin Star in a world. They are not found in boxes, but you can sometimes make a group of them appear by ground-pounding a switch with a picture of a blue coin on the top. Those blue coins that appear when you ground-pound a switch are only around temporarily; if you do not get them when they are around, they will disappear forever. --- | ---- 5.3 | Caps --- | ---- As with coins, there are three kinds of cap that Mario can don throughout his journey. WING CAP: Found in red boxes. To unlock the Wing Cap, you must press down the red switch in the "Tower of the Wing Cap" course. To access that level, you must have at least 10 Power Stars. When you accrue this amount, a beam will shine into the lobby of the castle. Press C-Up and look directly into the light to go to this course. With the Wing Cap, Mario can fly. To begin flying, perform a triple- jump from either a standing or running position. You will also automatically begin flying if you shoot yourself out of a cannon. To maintain altitude in the air, press up and down on the analog stick in a steady rhythm. Hold up on the analog stick to do a nosedive toward the ground, and hold down to do a neat flourish upward. If you need to end your flying session abruptly, press Z to ground-pound. It is worth your while to learn how to fly well. There are many points later in the game where you will be called upon to retrieve airborne coins or navigate the skies in an expert fashion. Practice flying early on so that you will struggle with it later. METAL CAP: Found in green boxes. To unlock the Metal Cap, you must press down the green switch in the "Cavern of the Metal Cap" course, which is located within the Hazy Maze Cave world. The Metal Cap effectively makes Mario invincible. He can kill just about any enemy just by running into it. Not only is he impervious to enemy damage, but he will also not lose health when underwater or when walking through toxic gas. Being metal does make Mario heavier though, so your jumps will be a bit shorter, and you will also sink to the bottom if you jump in the water. However, when metal, you can walk at a rather brisk pace along the ocean floor, a fact which you must sometimes exploit to earn Power Stars. VANISH CAP: Found in blue boxes. To unlock the Vanish Cap, you must press down the blue switch in the "Vanish Cap Under the Moat" course, which you will be able to access once you reach the basement and pound the two pillars down there. Donning the Vanish Cap makes Mario both invincible and invisible. While invisible, he can pass through many surfaces, including nearly all fence-type walls. (He'll still walk on fence-type ground - talk about perfected technology.) Some Power Stars are hidden behind walls that require you to put on the Vanish Cap, so it is worth your time to gain access to it. --- | ------ 5.4 | Bricks --- | ------ There are different types of bricks that Mario will encounter in his travels as well. LARGE BRICKS: About as tall as Mario. He can punch them open. Sometimes they contain yellow or red coins, but they may also hold nothing. These are the type of bricks that will appear when Mario touches a ground switch. They can also be ground-pounded. TINY BRICKS: Mario can pick these up and throw them. They can only be broken open by throwing them at a wall, at which point coins are liable to fly all over the place. They cannot be punched or ground- pounded. These are relatively rare. CRAZY BRICKS: They have kind of a zigzaggy crazy face on the side, hence why I call them that. When Mario grabs one, he will bounce three times, each time higher than the last. At the end of the third bounce, the brick will crash open and let you have the coins. These are often located near precarious surfaces, making them very dangerous to pick up. If you want to risk picking one up, you can play it conservative by holding back on the analog stick, thus decreasing the distance (but not the height) of the bounces. --- | ------------------- 5.5 | Miscellaneous Items --- | ------------------- 1-UP: 1-Ups are tiny green mushrooms that give you extra lives. Sometimes they are hidden in boxes, but more often you'll find them sitting on ledges or floating in the air. You can also make them appear by doing things like collecting a ring of coins in an unbroken circle or doing a handstand at the top of a flagpole. Some 1-Ups will attempt to "run away" from you, and while some of these are worth the effort to get, others are not, whether it's because of the small space you're standing on or their proximity to a cliffside leading to certain death. CANNON: In each world there is a cannon. To use it, you must talk to the red Bob-Omb. Unlike their black counterparts, red Bob-Ombs are peace- loving creatures, and although they don't like the cannons, they will let you use them since they know you're a good guy. While inside a cannon, left and right movement remains the same, but the up and down controls are inverted. To shoot yourself out of the cannon, press A. As with the caps and certain advanced techniques, it is worth your time to learn how to use the cannon effectively, since getting certain Power Stars depends on your talents with it. HEART: Seen floating around, especially in later worlds, running through one of these will restore your life. These are handy to be around, especially in places where a long fall can really take the wind out of your sails. Best of all, they can be used infinitely since they do not ever disappear. FLOOR SWITCH: Touching this maroon panel with an exclamation mark (!) on it will cause bricks to appear, often with the intent of helping you access an area or an item you can't otherwise get. The duration of this switch is temporary, but unlike a blue coin switch, you can touch it over and over again as needed. SHELL: Mario can ride on Koopa shells in this game. They can be earned either by finding them in yellow boxes or by stomping on a wandering Koopa Troopa. While they are powerful - you can kill most enemies just by running into them, and you can also skate along surfaces that would normally hurt or even kill you, like lava, quicksand, and that nasty ice water in Snowman's Land - they are also very fragile. Running into any wall or otherwise hard surface will make them disappear. You can also get rid of one if you are tired of riding it by pressing Z to duck. _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | ======= 6 | ENEMIES = | ======= A glossary of all the enemies in Super Mario 64 along with their real names. The official names of the enemies are gathered from various other websites, but the descriptions are all mine. For the most part, the enemies' real names are not used within the walkthrough, often replaced instead by descriptors of their appearance, except in the cases of those enemies that are referred to within the game by name. This is done in the interest of casual gamers who are only trying to figure out how to beat a level and have no interest in getting bogged down in names and trivia. The enemies' real names are listed here purely for reference purposes. Each section is arranged in alphabetical order. --- | ---------- 6.1 | Minor Foes --- | ---------- AMP: A tiny sphere that moves around in circles. If Mario touches it, he'll get electrocuted and lose health. These are often seen hovering around some central object, such as a pole, but sometimes they will appear out of thin air to harass Mario during a tricky platforming segment (e.g. inside the pyramid in Shifting Sand Land). BOB-OMB: A familiar enemy from the Mario series. When you approach a Bob-Omb, it will light its fuse and start running behind you, not breaking away until it explodes. You must either outrun it or turn around, pick it up, and throw it. Bob-Ombs will explode immediately upon hitting the ground after being thrown. If a Bob-Omb's explosion touches another Bob-Omb, that Bob-Omb will explode as well. BOO: A ghost found in Big Boo's Haunt and outside the castle near the fountain. Boos will disappear from view if you face them, but will move toward you when you turn your back to them. You can destroy them by ground-pounding them. Depending on where you find them, they may yield a blue coin or a yellow coin. BOOKEND: A book monster found in Big Boo's Haunt that pops out of the bookshelf and tries to sink its teeth into you. It can be kicked or jumped on. BUBBA: A giant fish that will eat Mario if he swims too close. This results in instant death for Mario, no matter how much life he has. There is no way to defeat them. BULLET BILL: Appearing only in Whomp's Fortress after Whomp has been defeated. They move rather slowly, but tend to follow Mario. They will explode shortly after popping out of the cannon. They do not give out any coins, but can be jumped on nonetheless. BULLY: A variant on the Bob-Omb found in Lethal Lava Land. They cannot and will not be picked up. If they see you, they will aggressively try to push you off the platform into the lava. You can fight back by punching or kicking them, or by running into them while riding a shell. The only way to kill them is by knocking them into the lava. CHUCKYA: Looks like a Bob-Omb, but is bigger, purple, and more aggressive. If a Chuckya catches Mario, he will turn and throw him regardless of what consequence it may have. You can get severely hurt from a fall suffered as a result of a Chuckya throw, or even die if you are thrown off an edge. To defeat one, run behind it while it is stopped and pick it up, then throw it onto the ground. FWOOSH: The cloud on Tall, Tall Mountain who will blow you away and make you lose your hat if he catches you in his windy breath. He cannot be defeated, only avoided. GOOMBA: The mainstay of the Mario series. When they see Mario, they will become alert and attempt to charge directly at him. They have no other line of offense, however, and thus are very easy to defeat. In certain levels, you may also encounter very small or very large Goombas. GRINDEL: Like a Thwomp, except made up to look like a mummy. They have a bit more versatility than Thwomps, as they can also jump up and down while moving back and forth in a straight line. They appear in the pyramid in Shifting Sand Land. HEAVE HO: A small red enemy with a wind-up key on his head. He carries a tray, which he will attempt to slip under Mario's feet. If he is successful in doing this, Mario will launch backwards high into the air - high enough that he'll get hurt when he lands. This can be used to your advantage on occasion, but is mostly annoying. Heave Hos sometimes have to stop to wind up so they can move again; if you are trying to avoid one, this is a prime opportunity to slip by him. KLEPTO: A vulture that patrols the skies of the Shifting Sand Land. At first, you will find him holding a Power Star in his claws, but after you retrieve that, he will swoop down on you if he sees later on and try to steal your hat. If he does, you must jump on him to get him to let go of it and get it back. Not having your hat is a very bad thing, as you will take increased damage if you are not wearing it. KOOPA TROOPA: Koopa Troopas in this game are very timid, and if they see you heading toward them, they will try to run away. When Mario bounces on one, he will pop out of his shell, which Mario can then ride around on in a state of semi-invincibility. There is also a certain other Koopa Troopa which Mario can talk to and race against. LAKITU: Although there is one filming you, they also appear as an enemy very late in the game. They often fly low enough so that you can kill them by jumping and kicking them. You can also kill them simply by hitting them from underneath with your head. They throw Spiny enemies out at you, which are by all appearances invincible and don't give away coins. MAD PIANO: Found in a single room in Big Boo's Haunt. He is guarding a red coin. When Mario approaches the Mad Piano, it will bare its fangs and go after him in a mad rampage. It is not defeatable. MANTA RAY: Found in Dire, Dire Docks, this gentle creature is the key to a Power Star thanks to the rings he releases from his tail. If you swim through one of these rings, your oxygen will be refilled. Gentle though he may be, his tail can still hurt Mario. MONEYBAGS: An enemy that disguises itself as a coin, but reveals its body if Mario gets too close. If you run up to it thinking it is a coin, you may run into it and hurt yourself. Their coins scatter very quickly when they are bounced on. Found only in Snowman's Land. MR. BLIZZARD: A small snowman who will follow Mario's movements and throw snowballs at him. Similar to the Mr. I enemy found in Big Boo's Haunt and Hazy Maze Cave, you can kill this enemy by running around him in circles. He will eventually tip over, shrink, and reward you with multiple coins. MR. I: As his pun-tastic name would suggest, Mr. I is a floating eyeball. He will follow your movement, and if you stand in front of him too long, he will fire a weird pink blob at you. Kill these guys by running around them in a circle. There is also a giant version of this enemy found in Big Boo's Haunt. PIRANHA PLANT: Usually, Mario cannot see these until he approaches them and they grow out of the ground (the exception being Whomp's Fortress, where they lie sleeping and must be snuck up on). Mario can kill a Piranha Plant by punching it, jumping on it, or diving at it. If disturbed, they will shoot fire. Later on in the game, you will meet both tiny and giant variants. POKEY: A cactus that will follow Mario if he is nearby. Mario can knock segments off of Pokey by punching or kicking him. If Pokey is left alone after being attacked, he will regrow segments. When all the segments are destroyed in rapid succession, he gives up a blue coin. SCUTTLE BUG: Spiders that inhabit dark areas such as Big Boo's Haunt and the Hazy Maze Cave. They can sometimes pop out of pits to attack Mario. SHYGUY: In this game, Shyguys are exclusively flying enemies, and they also shoot fire at you. When they are close, they will swoop to attack. If Mario kills one by jumping on it, he will be launched high into the air and will fall to the ground slowly while spinning with his arms put straight out. They can also be punched or jump-kicked. SKEETER: A bug that can skate along the water. He is green and has very thin legs. Their mobility is severely limited when they do not have any water to walk on. They tend not to attack aggressively, although they presumably count as enemies because they hurt you when touched and give up coins when stomped. SNUFIT: A close relative of the Snifit from Mario 2. They float seemingly without aid and shoot bullets from their snouts. You can defeat one by jumping on it. They appear in the Toxic Maze in the Hazy Maze Cave. SPINDEL: A rolling mummified log found in the Shifting Sand Land's pyramid. It cannot be defeated. SPINDRIFT: An enemy with a white head with a flower on top. They usually appear in snowy areas. When Mario jumps on their heads, the same thing happens as when he jumps on a Shyguy's head. They have no real means of attack but will shimmy forward faster than their usual rate if Mario is nearby. They can also be punched. Spindrifts are occasionally found in dangerous areas, making it a very risky prospect to jump on them. SUSHI: A shark swimming around Dire, Dire Docks. Sushi is possibly the least threatening shark of all time. I have tried numerous times to get hit by him, and I just can't seem to do it. He must be one of those vegetarian sharks like in "Finding Nemo". SWOOPER: A purple bat that will, true to its name, swoop down from the ceiling in an attempt to hit you. They fly pretty haphazardly and usually aren't aiming directly at Mario. THWOMP: A giant blue block that drops to the ground at regular intervals. Thwomps love stomping. Stomp, stomp, stomp. If you are under one when it lands, it will squish you and deal heavy damage. Unlike in other Mario games, you can walk on Thwomps in this one, a fact which you can occasionally use to your advantage. TOX BOX: A large boxy enemy that rolls around the Shifting Sand Land. There are a few of them, and they are all confined to their own maze in the corner. They are hollow on the inside, meaning that if Mario is standing in the right spot when one rolls over him, it may just go over him without doing any damage. Otherwise, he'll get squished like a bug. Tox Boxes are indestructible. UKKIKI: A monkey on Tall, Tall Mountain. He will steal your hat, but only if you talk to him or get it blown off by Fwoosh higher up the mountain. He chitters and chatters a lot, but is mostly harmless, and is even good for a Power Star at one point. WHOMP: A walking slab of stone that looks like it got punched in the teeth and went cross-eyed. When Mario approaches, it will hop and fall onto its face in an attempt to crush him. They will lie flat for a while, allowing Mario to ground-pound the weak spot on their backs. Mario can also squeeze a few extra coins out of a Whomp simply by walking on his back while he is down. --- | ------ 6.2 | Bosses --- | ------ BIG BOB-OMB: The king atop the summit in Bob-Omb Battlefield, and the first boss Mario faces. He will give you a Power Star if you can defeat him in a fight, which you must do by throwing him onto the ground three times. If you try to throw him off the mountain, he will scold you for not fighting fair and restart the battle from scratch. BIG BOO: A giant ghost that you will run into several times in Big Boo's Haunt. He is not very good at switching up his strategy, as you kill him the same way every time you encounter him (ground-pound him three times). Each time you defeat him, he will give you a Power Star. Like regular Boos, he shies away when looked at directly but will move in for the attack when you turn your back. BIG BULLY: Found in Lethal Lava Land, this variation on the Bob-Omb is not by any means a nice guy. If he sees you encroaching on his territory, he will try to push you off into the lava. You must retaliate in kind, either by punching or kicking him. There is also a blue variant made of ice, found in Snowman's Land, who is equally aggressive. Killing a Big Bully usually earns you a Power Star. BIG PENGUIN: A fellow that you can race in Cool, Cool Mountain for a Star. He is quite rotund, and is not beneath dirty trickery, using his weight as a means of pushing you off the track, although hypocritically, he will cry foul if you attempt to cheat. He will give you a Power Star if you beat him legitimately. If you return to Cool, Cool Mountain to race him when you have all 120 Power Stars, he will be even bigger and will have gained even more weight, presenting a formidable challenge for you. BIG SNOWMAN: The massive centerpiece of Snowman's Land. He doesn't like intruders in his face and will try to blow them off his mountain. There is a penguin walking around in front of him, who is there presumably because he is too heavy for the snowman to blow off. The wind the snowman blows is powerful enough to knock Mario off the mountain entirely. If knocked off, Mario will also lose his hat, which you should recover immediately. EYEROK: The guardian of the one of the Power Star inside the pyramid in Shifting Sand Land. His weak spots are the eyes on his hands. He has a variety of methods for defeating you, including smashing you with his fists and sweeping you off the side of the platform. Unlike other characters that are articulate, Eyerok speaks in very primitive English. KOOPA THE QUICK: A giant Koopa Troopa that likes to race Mario on foot, with a Power Star as the stakes. You will meet him twice in the game - once in Bob-Omb Battlefield and again in Tiny-Huge Island. Although he's fast, Mario is faster, although there are some situations that give KtQ the upper hand. UNAGI: A giant eel that lives in Jolly Roger Bay. If Mario gets near him, he will sometimes come out to play. He has a Power Star attached to his tail and a scary set of teeth seemingly eternally grafted onto his face. Mario cannot hurt Unagi, and will endure pretty severe damage if he happens to touch him. WHOMP KING: The king of Whomp's Fortress. He is bigger than other Whomps, but is defeated the same way (by ground-pounding his back). He will give Mario a Power Star when you ground-pound his back three times successfully. Once he has been defeated, a tower-like structure will appear in place of his arena, and you can reach some floating islands via a wooden plank as well. WIGGLER: Inhabits a cave on Tiny-Huge Island. He will get really mad when you flood his home by ground-pounding the pool on the tiny island. You can jump on him three times to defeat him, which works out nicely since he doesn't want the Power Star anyway - claims it does weird things to him. Wiggler claims to be a nice peace-loving guy who likes to stare up at the stars, but the Power Star definitely doesn't make it seem that way. _______________________________________________________________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ = | =========================== 7 | WALKTHROUGH FOR ALL COURSES = | =========================== === | ======= 7.1 | PRELUDE === | ======= That greedy Mario. When food calls him, he's got to answer! In this case, the lovely Princess Peach appears to have written him a letter telling him there's a cake waiting for him at her castle. So Mario, being the apparent cake fiend that he is, takes the first pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom and heads for Peach's castle. Once you're free to move, head for the front door. At the drawbridge, you'll be accosted by the Lakitu Bros., who will be filming your exploits as you play the game. They'll give you the skinny on the camera controls, telling you that you can turn the camera with C-Left and C-Right, zoom out with C-Down, and zoom in with C-Up (which allows you to stand still and scope out your surroundings). You can also go way in close up on Mario by pressing R, although this often isn't a very good angle to use. When Lakitu's out of your face, go in the castle. Bowser's voice comes at you from parts unknown, and he tells you he's got Peach in his clutches once again. What else is new? And so the adventure is on. The logical course of action from here is to find a door you can go in without needing any Power Stars. Luckily, as you enter the castle, there's one up the stairs to your left that you can go in, and in that room, there's a painting of marching Bob-Ombs on the wall. Paintings such as these (along with other hidden wall passages) are the key to finding the 120 Power Stars that Bowser has stolen and hopes to use in order to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. There are more found throughout the castle, and we'll get to them all in due time, but for now, let's just head into Bob- Omb Battlefield. === | =================== 7.2 | BOB-OMB BATTLEFIELD === | =================== LOCATION: As you enter the castle, go up the steps to the left and enter the door with the star on it. No Power Stars are required to open the door. ----- | ------------------------- 7.2.1 | Big Bob-Omb on the Summit ----- | ------------------------- To reach the top of the mountain in the middle of the level, stay along the dirt road for the first part. Arrowed signs will tell you where you need to go, and they'll take you first over a sturdy bridge and past the Chain Chomp (whom we'll deal with in a later mission). The next bridge tilts when you stand on it, so don't linger on it - get past it and hop up the stone steps to reach a clearing where some Bob-Ombs are wandering around. You don't want to hang around here too long either. If you stand in one spot, you're liable to get pelted by some giant water balloons that do some fair damage to you. Make your way over to the caged wall to the right and go through the open part, then turn right and weave through the rolling black balls (they hurt too). Once you get out of that valley, you're on the road to the top of the mountain. Walk up the road to the summit until you reach a part of the mountain that is indented. You can hop inside this little arched alcove, and if you stand perfectly still in the middle of it, you'll be warped to an identical, but higher point on the mountain - in fact, right near the top! Hooray for easy shortcuts! It's not much farther to the peak, so make your way up and then approach the giant Bob-Omb with the crown on his head. He's the Big Bob-Omb, ruler of all he surveys, and he wants to challenge you to a battle since you look like a puny pipsqueak. He'll give you his Power Star if you prove you can throw down with him on his turf. In order to defeat Big Bob-Omb, you have to pick him up and toss him onto the ground three times. To pick him up, run around to his back - an easy feat, since he's an extremely slow, lumbering brute - and press B to hoist him up in your hands. Once you have him, toss him. You must toss him onto the ground around you, however - if you toss him off the mountain, he'll jump back on and scold you for not fighting fair, and you'll have to start all over again. After you succeed in picking him up and tossing him three times, he'll explode and hand over his Star, and he'll also tell you that you can visit any time you want by returning to this specific level (choose the star on the menu called "Big Bob-Omb on the Summit" when you hop into the Bob-Omb Battlefield wall painting). There you go! Your first Power Star! You can now open doors marked with a "1", so feel free to explore Whomp's Fortress and take a ride on the Princess's Secret Slide (where you can earn two Power Stars, allowing you to unlock the doors with a "3" on them). ----- | ----------------------------- 7.2.2 | Footrace with Koopa the Quick ----- | ----------------------------- When you enter this level, you'll see a large Koopa Troopa standing around at the beginning. When you talk to him, you'll find he's jonesing for a race, and that the goal lies at the top of the summit where you just fought Big Bob-Omb. Accept the challenge when prompted and start running. Since you just had to get to the top of the mountain to fight a boss there, you should have no trouble finding your way there this time. Take the same route you took last time. Koopa the Quick has no shortcuts up his sleeve and is actually a pretty slow runner compared to ol' Mario. You just have to run and not stop for any reason. If you're ahead of him by the time you reach the mountain, you can seal the deal for sure by taking the warp hidden in the alcove on the mountain. Just stand in it, go straight to the top, and take a double-jump to get to the peak, then wait about 15 to 20 seconds for Slowy McSlowpants to catch up. When he finally reaches the summit, approach him to get the Star you won from him. ----- | ------------------------------ 7.2.3 | Shoot to the Island in the Sky ----- | ------------------------------ This level's title is pretty self-explanatory - shooting involves cannons, obviously, so now we get to have our first experience using the cannons. To open them up, talk to the red Bob-Omb at the beginning of the stage. Unlike the volatile black ones, red Bob-Ombs are peace-loving creatures who don't like the cannons but will deploy them if it means helping you out. Once the cannons are ready, you have two options for getting to the floating island. The first is straight ahead in the clearing with the Goombas and the Koopa Troopa. There is a trapezoidal concrete fixture out in the clearing. Run up to the top of it and drop inside to enter the cannon. When you are allowed to aim, point up toward the island so that the crosshairs are positioned about an inch above the top of the tree that you should barely be able to see. If done right, you should shoot out of the cannon and grab onto the tree. The second option makes it easier to reach the island but takes longer to get to. You'll have to go up the mountain toward where you fought the Bob-Omb King in order to reach it. When you find the cannon that shoots water balloons, go forward from there and jump over the pit (or walk across the plank provided). The cannon is near the far end of the grass overhang. When you enter it, point almost straight forward at the island. Position the crosshairs so that they are just barely above the tree on the island. Shooting from this position should make you grab onto the tree. After grabbing it, slide off of it. Once you are on the floating island, the Power Star is located on the yellow "!" box near the edge. ----- | -------------------- 7.2.4 | Find the 8 Red Coins ----- | -------------------- As you'll soon find out, each of the game's 15 courses contains exactly one level in which you must hunt down eight red coins in order to obtain a Power Star (and not only that, but many of the castle's secret courses require you to collect eight red coins as well - but we'll get to those later). Bob-Omb Battlefield is the course that'll pop your red coin-hunting cherry, so to speak. They're all lying out in plain sight, so let's set about finding them with the help of this handy numbered list. 1. From the beginning, walk straight forward. You should see one above the two platforms that move up and down and turn over when they reach the top of their path. Stand on one and jump once it reaches the top to snag it. 2. Across from there, in the open clearing, you'll see a red coin nestled atop a triangular black rock. Simply run up the rock to get it. 3. Go over to Chain Chomp. There is a red coin floating just over the post to which he is attached. Get in, get it, get out. 4. From Chain Chomp, cross the bridge that tilts, jump up the stone steps, and head left into the clearing with the four wood poles. There's not just one red coin over here... 5. ...but two. 6. Run back through the clearing, avoiding the constant water bomb assault as you go, and make your way toward the concrete ground with the cage wall. When you get there, walk over to the left and drop off. There is a hidden area down the slope where you should find a 1-Up, a floor switch that will open the cage door ahead, and the sixth red coin. 7. Get back up to the concrete ground and go through the cage door, then straight. You should see a red coin way up the hill ahead. Run up the hill - don't jump or you'll slide to the bottom - and keep plugging away until you've grabbed the coin. 8. Run up the mountain until you find the cannon you can use near the cannon that shoots water balloons. Point yourself at the floating island, positioning the crosshairs just above the tree. Once you hit the tree, slide down and grab the eighth and final coin. When you find all eight red coins, the star will appear in the area where you picked up Nos. 4 and 5. Head that way, and before you know it, you'll be one Power Star closer to the 120 mark. ----- | --------------- 7.2.5 | Wing to the Sky ----- | --------------- Although you don't necessarily *need* the Wing Cap to beat this one, having it certainly helps. If you don't yet have the Wing Cap but want it for this mission, you'll need to get at least 10 Power Stars and then touch the red switch in the Wing Cap course. (To get to the Wing Cap course, go to the center of the castle lobby, stand on the circle in front of the stairs, press C-Up to zoom in, and then look up into the light. To access this course, you need at least 10 Power Stars. See Section 7.4, "Tower of the Wing Cap", for further details.) Once you have the Wing Cap, use a cannon to get yourself to the island in the sky, upon which there is another cannon. You'll be using that cannon to net yourself the Power Star. Grab the Wing Cap before dropping into the cannon. Once inside, you'll see that when you point yourself forward, you can shoot yourself through some coin rings. Those coin rings are the key to unveiling the Power Star. You'll have to pass through each one at least once in order to make the Star pop up. You can get through the first three easily without even flying. Just point yourself at the top coin of the first ring you see. That'll put you through the first ring without having to fly, but once you sail through the air for a moment, you'll take to the skies instantly if you're wearing the Wing Cap. All you have to do is fly through the middle of each of the five coin rings. Keep yourself steady by alternating between slight shifts of up and down on the analog stick, and fly back to the floating island where you can get the Wing Cap if you feel like it's about to run out or if you're getting nowhere. Also remember that in order to start flying from a standing position, just do a triple-jump (you don't have to be running, you'll take off on the third jump if you do it right). As you fly through the rings, you'll see the numbers 1-5 appear. This is how you'll know if you're doing it right. It's hitting these specific target spots that make the Star appear once you've touched all of them. When you get it, it will appear down in the clearing where the Power Star from "Find the 8 Red Coins" appeared. There are other target-point levels in future courses ... but thankfully, none of them involve cannon fire and flying like this one does. ----- | ------------------------- 7.2.6 | Behind Chain Chomp's Gate ----- | ------------------------- From the beginning of the stage, walk forward and up the bridge, then cut a U- turn to find Chain Chomp. Chain Chomp is a nasty creature who doesn't take kindly to strangers being all up in his grill, and he's not too fond of being chained up either ... perhaps you can help him with his predicament? Getting the Power Star here is simple. You merely have to free Chain Chomp by ground-pounding the pole that his leash is attached to three times. Get a good camera angle with the C buttons and wait for him to attack so that he'll be calm while you try to get to his pole. When you think you've got it, jump up on the pole, jump straight up, and press Z. Do this as quickly as you can three times. Around the second time he'll notice you and pound you in the face probably, so run if it looks like he's eyeing you. If you start running low on health, hit up some of the surrounding areas for coins to restore power. You don't have to hang around the area the whole time, but it goes without saying that you need to do it without dying. When you successfully pound the pole three times, Chain Chomp will bounce about excitedly. He even gets so excited that he smashes the cage behind him, the one that was housing the Power Star, before he hops away, never to be seen again (or at least until the next time you enter this world). Grab the now- free for another notch on your belt. ----- | ------------- 7.2.7 | 100-Coin Star ----- | ------------- A detailed step-by-step analysis of how to obtain 100 coins in Bob-Omb Battle- field. Note that this section will not tell you how to get as many coins as possible - only how to get the minimum 100 for the Power Star. To get the 100-coin star for any given course, you must get 100 coins in a single run-through of the level without dying. When you get the necessary amount, the star will appear right above the spot where you got the 100th coin. When you grab it, you will be prompted to save. Always choose to do so. 1. From the start, walk forward and punch the large bricks for the coins they hold, then pick up the small brick and throw it at the wall to the left of the cannon. (6/100) 2. Kill all Bob-Ombs over to the left up to the caged door, then stomp both Goombas and get the row of coins lying underneath the bridge. (17/100) 3. Get the red coin at the top of the rotating platforms. (19/100) 4. Go up the bridge and throw the Bob-Omb for a coin, then find the Koopa Troopa in the clearing. Bounce on him to get him out of his shell, then board it. Cruise around the area, killing all the Goombas while riding the shell and getting the red coin atop the black rock. (33/100) 5. Get the red coin on top of Chain Chomp's post. (35/100) 7. Cross the tilting bridge and turn left. There are two red coins in the clearing that will add to your total, plus a few Goombas who will yield a single gold coin each. (42/100) 7. Also in this area are four wooden poles. There is a nifty trick you can do with these poles. If you run around them in circles while sticking close to it, they will yield some modest coinage - five coins per pole. This will bring the total to... (62/100) 8. If you're feeling gutsy, go back to Chain Chomp's pole and do the same thing for more coins. (67/100) 9. Explore the clearing ahead for coins. There is a small brick to be thrown at a wall, Bob-Ombs to be killed, and a ring of coins surrounding a patch of flowers. (If you run around the ring and get the coins in perfect ordered sequence, they'll yield a 1-Up.) (82/100) 10. Drop into the area where you open the cage doors with the floor switch, and kill the Bob-Omb and get the red coin. (85/100) 11. Walk through the opening in the cage wall and run up the hill to snag the red coin. (87/100). 12. Start up the mountain path. When you see a Bob-Omb over to the right of the path, get him to blow up, either by grabbing him and throwing him or by letting him chase you long enough. (88/100) 13. Continue up the mountain. When you find the Bob-Omb manning the water bomb cannon, grab him and blow him up, then grab the coins ahead of the cannon. (94/100) 14. Go ahead a little more and grab the coins by the open cannon. (99/100) 15. Blast over to the floating island and grab the red coin in the tree. (101/100 **SUCCESS**) === | ================ 7.3 | WHOMP'S FORTRESS === | ================ LOCATION: In the lobby there is a door on the ground level marked with a "1", meaning you need to collect one Power Star to unlock it. ----- | ---------------------- 7.3.1 | Chip Off Whomp's Block ----- | ---------------------- Much like the first stage of Bob-Omb Battlefield, the first stage of the second world has you climbing to the world's peak to face off with the boss of that world. Let's get a move on then, shall we? Head up either the dirt slope or the concrete slope that leads way up. The concrete slope is much safer, and we're only trying to speed through the level anyway, so take that for now. (You'll need to go the other way when you go for the 100-coin star.) At the top of the slope, you'll see a set of steps to your left, and at the top of those, a sleeping Piranha Plant. If you walk slowly up to it (which you can do by pushing the analog stick forward very lightly) and press B to punch it, you can kill him without him waking up and snapping at you. For your trouble, you'll get a blue coin. Move to the next part by either running across the falling bridge or scootching up against the wall and sneaking up on napping Piranha Plant. Wait for the rotating wooden plank to roll around to you, walk to the middle when it goes near the other end, and run to the next platform when it reaches across. You will encounter two mini-Whomps who will help prepare you for the big one just ahead. When they sense you nearby, they will approach you and attempt to body slam you. Run out of the way when they do this, then ground-pound them (jump and press Z) to break them and pick up their modest coin reward. After those two guys, you'll see a turning duo of platforms that will take you up to the man himself, Whomp. Whomp is gigantic but easy to take down. If you don't know how to ground-pound by now ... well, you should, but in case you don't, it's easy. All you have to do is jump and then press Z (located on the back of the middle peg of the N64 controller) while in midair. You need to pound him on his back, which you can do when he is face-down following an attempted body slam. Just like the miniature versions of himself, Whomp will run at you when he notices your presence and attempt to smash you by falling onto his face. When he comes near you, stand as close to him facing him as you can, then run under him when he does the little hop just before his face slam. He lies on his face for quite a bit, giving you ample time to jump on top of him and pull off the ground-pound. It'll take three of those to do him in. Run away when he tries to squish you, then jump on him and pound him while he's down, and you'll have another boss in the bag, as well as another Power Star to add to your rapidly growing collection. ----- | -------------------------- 7.3.2 | To the Top of the Fortress ----- | -------------------------- Take the same path as the level before to the top of the stage. Instead of finding Whomp there, you'll see a tower where he used to be. First, run around the base of the tower punching the walls. One of the sections will explode when you punch it and show you a hidden 1-Up. Once you have that, start climbing the steps that go around the wall of the tower. Some are stationary, while others move in and out. You can reach them all with single jumps - just rotate the camera as needed to make it a little easier on yourself. The last platform will take you to the top of the spire, where you should have no problem seeing the Power Star. ----- | ------------------------ 7.3.3 | Shoot into the Wild Blue ----- | ------------------------ Hop up to the concrete slope near the start, then turn left into the pool of shallow water. Run through that until you find the red Bob-Omb. Talk to him to open up the cannon right next to you, then immediately drop into it. Move the field of vision down a lot and left a little until you are looking at an enclosure held up by four brick columns (there is a very thin flagpole above this). Point at the second one from the left, which looks small but is really just far away, then move the crosshairs above it so that they are next to the thin flagpole. If you do this right, when you blast off, you'll hit the brick column and land by a coin ring surrounding a flagpole that leads down. Slide down it to find this quest's Power Star. ----- | ------------------------------ 7.3.4 | Red Coins on the Floating Isle ----- | ------------------------------ As in Bob-Omb Battlefield, you've now reached the point in Whomp's Fortress where you're forced to track down eight red coins in order to get the Power Star. Let's get on it! 1. Start by jumping up to the dirt incline leading up. The first coin can be found floating over one of the jutting rocks with eyes. 2. As you make your way up the concrete steps, you'll find a Thwomp around the middle of them. Jump one step behind him, then when he comes down and is sitting on the step below you, jump on top of him. When he rises back to his regular position, you'll find a red coin up there. 3. Continue forward to the sleeping Piranha Plant at the top of the brick steps. Punch him out and you'll find a red coin behind him. 4. Right near that is a red coin up against the wall on a narrow piece of ground. Press up against the wall and sidle up to it. 5. Drop down onto the gravel slope below to find another one. If you don't get it on the way down, use a long jump to get some momentum, then hop forward for that last little inch to grab it. 7. Return to where you got Coin #4 and run onto the rotating wood ledge. When it gets to the other ledge, stand at the end, but let it take you around to grab coins. (A 1-Up will also appear at some point during the proceedings, but it starts out far away from you and rolls off the wooden ledge rather quickly. Bothering with it is not recommended.) 7. Pass the two mini-Whomps and ride the rotating lifts up to the top tower. Explore the ground around the tower until you see a large wooden plank standing on end. Get a fair distance across from it, then run, jump, and kick it. It will start to wobble. While it is wobbling, run/jump/kick it again to knock it over, forming a bridge over to the floating isles in the title of this quest. Jump from the arrow-shaped mass to the brick floor for coin #7. 8. Coin 8 is nearby from there. Leap from one spinning flat island to the next until you reach it. When you get the eighth coin, the Power Star will appear down at the beginning of the level, between the sleeping Piranha Plant and the patch of flowers with the eight gold coins surrounding it. Make your way carefully back down there and take it for the win. ----- | -------------------------- 7.3.5 | Fall Onto the Caged Island ----- | -------------------------- Climb up the tree located next to you at the start. You'll coax an owl out of the tree named Hoot. Once you jump back onto the ground, he'll tell you that he can take you far above the island if you grab onto him and hold on tight. I guess you could say he'll give you a real bird's-eye view? Eh? Eh? No? Whatever. To get the ride out of him, jump at him and hold A. You'll hang on as long as you hold the A button down, but he won't let you ride forever - he does let go at some point. (If he does let go and you miraculously don't fall to your death, you can get him out of the tree again by climbing it again.) While he's got you in the air though, you need to use him to find the Power Star for this mission. Work quickly and carefully. As the title states, you're looking for the "caged island". It's pretty easy to find if you just hold the analog stick to the right as you fly. It's got a round wooden floor and is enclosed with a black chain-link wall, and to get the star, you'll have to drop in from the top. Keep the owl at or near that point and look carefully for your shadow to appear in the circumference of the small cage. When you think you're sufficiently above it, let go of the A button to drop in. If you did it, congratulations! If not, keep at it - as long as you are able to hold A and keep the owl in the general area, you'll have it before long. ----- | ------------------- 7.3.6 | Blast Away the Wall ----- | ------------------- Go to the cannon and drop in. You are looking to blast away a portion of a wall here that will reveal a Power Star to you. Move the cannon over to the right where the gravel slope is. It is surrounded on either side by brick walls. One wall is close to you, one is farther away. Point yourself a little above the top corner of the farther wall so that you hit it, then shoot yourself at it. If done correctly, you should smash the corner of the wall and you'll see a little more than half of the Power Star sticking out of the wall. Again, enter the cannon. You'll see a few coins directly above the star. Point the crosshairs so that the middle is right between the first and second coins above the Power Star. When you blast off, you should hit it dead-on, thus sealing the last of the six regular Power Stars to be found in this area. ----- | ------------- 7.3.7 | 100-Coin Star ----- | ------------- A detailed step-by-step analysis of how to obtain 100 coins in Whomp's Fortress. Note that this section will not tell you how to get as many coins as possible - only how to get the minimum 100 for the Power Star. 1. Walk up slowly and punch the Piranha Plant while he sleeps to nab the blue coin from him. (5/100) 2. Go toward the small brick and the patches of flowers nearby. Throw the small brick at the wall and get the ring of coins around the far flower patch. (16/100) 3. Backtrack and jump up to the gray stone path. Grab the coins on the slope, then drop off to the left and get the ring of eight in the shallow water. (29/100) 4. Get the row of coins in front of the cannon. (34/100) 5. Backtrack a tad and do a long jump up the black gravel slope with the red coin on it. You'll have to do a small hop to reach the coin. (36/100) 7. Go past the cannon to a blue coin switch. Ground-pound it to activate it (jump and press Z). The four coins it yields will all appear in plain view. There is also another small brick to throw at a wall that will give you three coins. (59/100) 7. Go all the way back to the beginning and get the five coins up the dirt slope. Continue up it after getting them. (64/100) 8. Jump over the rock guys that pop out of the wall to get the red coin. (66/100) 9. Make a U-turn at the top and go up the concrete steps. Jump on top of the Thwomp you meet on the way up. He will lift you up to a red coin. (68/100) 10. Continue forward and punch the Piranha Plant when you sneak up on it. Grab the red coin behind him as well. (75/100) 11. Press up against the wall and scoot over to the next red coin. (77/100) 12. Backtrack a smidge, run across the bridge that falls when you stand on it, sneak slowly across the thin plank, then punch out the other Piranha Plant. (87/100) 13. Just ahead of you is a rotating wooden fixture. Walk to the middle when the end comes around to you, then stand at the end in order to get the coins as it comes back around. (93/100) 14. Proceed forward to the mini-Whomp. When he tries to slam you, walk on his back to squeeze one coin out of him. You can do this five times. When he is no longer yielding coins this way, ground-pound him to get five at once. (103/100 **SUCCESS**) === | ===================== 7.4 | TOWER OF THE WING CAP === | ===================== After collecting Power Stars in Bob-Omb Battlefield and Whomp's Fortress, you ought to have enough stars by the time you've finished both in order to access the Tower of the Wing Cap. There's nothing subtle about how it makes itself known to you. When you have ten Power Stars, you'll see a beam of light shining down on the sun circle in the middle of the castle lobby. Stand in the center of the sun circle and press C-Up to zoom in way close. Look up into the ceiling and everything will fade to white, and then you'll be in the new area. Opening up the Wing Caps is pretty easy. Just make sure you're above the fairly wide tower and press Z to land from your flying position. Just jump on the big red button to activate Wing Cap blocks (the red ones) all throughout the castle. Using the Wing Cap is a bit difficult to get the hang of, but once you've got the basic feel for the controls, you should be able to do most things you need to with it fairly easily. To take off, you do a triple-jump, although unlike the regular triple-jump which requires you to be running to pull it off, you can start flying by triple-jumping from a standing position. When you want to land, press Z. While you're in the air, it's just like flying an airplane - pull the analog stick back to move up and lightly press it forward to steady yourself and move downward. The cap courses also have a Secret Star you can earn by getting eight red coins. For the strategy on how to get the Tower of the Wing Cap's Secret Star, see the appropriate subsection in the Castle Secret Stars section (7.21.4). === | =============== 7.5 | JOLLY ROGER BAY === | =============== LOCATION: As you enter the castle, you will see a door over to the far right up some steps with a "3" on it, meaning that three Power Stars must be collected before you can enter. ----- | -------------------------- 7.5.1 | Plunder in the Sunken Ship ----- | -------------------------- Swim out to the far end of the bay and dive down into the water (by holding Up on the analog stick - inverted controls, y'know), where you should see a sunken ship with a decidedly toothy eel sticking his head out the window. You need to get into that very window to get the Power Star from this stage. To get in there, you'll need to lure the eel out. This is easily managed by getting down near him at his window (make sure you don't touch him, he hurts you pretty badly) and then swimming up to the surface. As soon as you've recovered your oxygen, dip back down and you should see him swimming freely about in the water. While he's out for a swim, make your way into the black void of his window. You'll now be inside the sunken ship, where you have naught for air but a tiny area near the top of the ship. If you manage this part correctly, however, you won't even have to go up there for air. Before you are four chests, which you must open in the correct order so that the water becomes drained from the ship and you're able to move around inside it freely. If you open them in the incorrect order, you'll get electrocuted and have one of your eight pieces of life hacked away. If it gets too bad, you can always go up to the corner and surface for air to replenish all your life. The first chest in the sequence is right in front of you, below you. When you open it, an air bubble will pop out. Swim into it to swallow it, and you'll have your entire air supply replenished. Helpful! When you turn around, there will be three more chests in front of you. Swim over to the far one on the left, then to the one across from it to the right, and then finally to the one in the middle. Open them up in that order. When you complete this sequence, the ship will shake and the water will drain out so that you can breathe right. From here, jump up the ledges until you reach the very top where the yellow "!" block is. Pop it open and grab the Power Star that comes out. ----- | ----------------------------- 7.5.2 | Can the Eel Come Out to Play? ----- | ----------------------------- Here's another one where you have to lure out the eel (Unagi is his name), but this time he's hiding out in a wall, and he's a lot easier to coax out to boot. Go once again to the far end of the bay and dive down. Get down to about the top of the jet stream (the stream of bubbles flowing up at you that you can't swim through) and look around to see his head poking out of a grate on the rock wall. Get close to him, but not too close. If he senses you around, he'll stick his head out and look around, then start slinking his way out of his comfy little alcove. Resurface for an air refill or grab some nearby coins, then start pursuing the eel. As you can see, he's got one of those Power Stars attached to his tail, and it's your job to extract it from him. This is simple - you don't even have to hit him or anything. Just swim up close and touch the star. When the game registers the touch, it will bounce off his tail and into a preordained spot below the cave he lives in. Swim over there and grab it for the win. ----- | -------------------------- 7.5.3 | Treasure of the Ocean Cave ----- | -------------------------- This level requires you to visit a part of Jolly Roger Bay you won't have to go to very often - the aforementioned ocean cave. To get it, simply go out to the far end of the bay, dive down, look for the ring of eight gold coins (when you swim through the middle of it, a 1-Up will appear), and then swim through the tunnel behind it to reach the cave. You'll have to be careful here - the stone pillars seem to know when you're approaching and will tip over and fall on you. They are easily avoided by long-jumping past them (if you don't know how to do that, you just run forward and press Z and then A in close but distinct sequence - you'll know if you pulled it off by Mario's "wahoo!"). You need to get past them to a raised platform with four chests like the ones you encountered in "Plunder in the Sunken Ship". They're arranged all nice and symmetrically, so we'll just call them Front, Left, Right, and Back. Open them in the proper sequence: Back, Left, Right, Front. When you get all four chests open, the Power Star will pop out of the front one and all you have to do is perform a short hop to obtain it. ----- | ---------------------------- 7.5.4 | Red Coins on the Ship Afloat ----- | ---------------------------- Despite what the title of the level tells you, they're not all on the ship - just a few of them are. None of them are in the ocean cave, though, thank goodness. They're all in the bay area of the stage, and they're all easily found. Let's get to tracking them down! 1. Go in the water and dive down. Almost immediately you will see a clam to your left. When you approach him, he'll open his mouth to reveal a red coin. Grab it before he snaps his mouth shut and hurts you (and don't touch him, either, that hurts too). 2. Swim ahead up the incline to find another clam who also has a red coin in his mouth. Follow the same steps as with the first coin to safely take it. 3. Swim down into the area with the jet stream and the eel, all the way down to the ocean floor. There's yet another clam down there keeping yet another red coin in his mouth. Make your way back to the surface once you have it. 4. Swim back to near where the red Bob-Omb is. Swim below the large wooden floating board to find a fourth clam nearby. No prizes for guessing where his red coin is hidden. 5. Find the red Bob-Omb that opens the cannon. Behind him is a very thin pointy contrivance sticking out of the water, which you can climb like a pole when you jump onto it. At the very top is a red coin. Do a handstand at the very top to snag it. 6. Stay on dry land and go over to the concrete plateau with the dark red floor switch. When you stand on it, bricks will appear between the thin ledges ahead, allowing you to easily reach the floating ship nearby. When you jump from the final row of bricks to the boat, there's one waiting right there for you. 7. Go to the opposite end of the ship and double-jump to reach the raised portion. Grab one of the two coins up here. 8. Grab the other one that you didn't grab just now. In a miracle of convenience, when you grab the coins on the boat last, the star will be right there nearby. Isn't that handy? ----- | ------------------------- 7.5.5 | Blast to the Stone Pillar ----- | ------------------------- If you haven't talked to the red Bob-Omb in this area yet, he's over on one of the ledges over to the right as you begin the level. Swim over to the thin pointed pole with the red coin at the top of it, climb it, and then jump off and talk to him. He will open the cannon back at the beginning of the stage. Climb into the cannon and look for the stone pillar hinted at by the title of the level. There are actually three of them, and they really don't look very pillar-like at all - more like giant stalagmites sticking up out of the water, if you ask me. But you didn't, and anyway, those are what you're looking for. The bottoms are thick and you can't hang onto them, but if you shoot for the thin tops, you can hang onto those like you would a flagpole. Shoot for the one on the left and point your crosshairs slightly above it so that you hit the top. Once you've successfully grabbed a stone pillar, look around. You should see a concrete ledge with a yellow "!" box on it. This contains the Power Star you need to complete this particular level. Climb all the way up the pillar and press Up so that Mario is doing a handstand on it, then turn yourself in the appropriate direction and jump to the ledge, holding forward on the analog stick so that you have a better chance of making it. And of course, pound open the box from underneath to release the star for collecting purposes. ----- | ---------------------- 7.5.6 | Through the Jet Stream ----- | ---------------------- Have you gotten the Metal Cap yet? If you haven't, you're plumb out of luck. You need it if you want to get the star held within this mission. To get it, visit the Metal Cap course hidden within the Hazy Maze Cave, which is located in the castle's basement. (And to get THERE, you'll need to have defeated Bowser in the Dark World first.) Without the Metal Cap, you won't be able to get the Power Star found here. See section 7.10.1 for the lowdown on how to go about accessing the Metal Cap. Once you've got the Metal Cap at your disposal, you're in business. Go to the area over by the pirate ship and jump up on the stone plateau with the floor switch. There is also a Metal Cap box on this plateau. Get the Metal Cap, then do a Long Jump into the water and watch yourself sink like a rock. You don't have much time to complete your objective, so act quickly. When you get to the sea floor in metal form, all you have to do to get the Star is jump directly into the jet stream - that is, that mess of bubbles that you couldn't get into before as regular Mario. Your added weight will help you break through the barrier and collect the Star with ease. If your Metal Cap runs out, just swim back to the top, grab another one, and have another go at it until you make it. ----- | ------------- 7.5.7 | 100-Coin Star ----- | ------------- For the easiest time getting the 100 coins needed for the star, enter Jolly Roger Bay via "Red Coins on the Ship Afloat". It's tough to get the 100 here since there's just barely that many coins in this area. However, it can be done, and we're gonna do it - right now! 1. From the start, walk back some to find a yellow "!" box containing three gold coins. (3/100) 2. Swim over to the stone pillars from the fifth mission. One has a ring of coins surrounding it. (11/100) 3. Swim back to the thin spiky pole near the red Bob-Omb and get the red coin at the top. (13/100) 4. Run across the wooden plank floating in the water and double-jump to get the column of coins by the concrete plateau. (18/100) 5. Atop the concrete plateau is a floor switch. Press it and use the bricks that appear to get the coins on the thin ledges. (33/100) 6. Jump across to the floating ship and get all the red coins on it. (39/100) 7. Go all the way back to the beginning and swim underwater. Get the eight gold coins situated in a horizontal ring around the rock. (47/100) 8. Get the four red coins located in the clams' mouths underwater. (55/100) 9. Swim toward the ocean cave to find a vertical ring of eight gold coins. If you swim through the middle of it, a 1-Up will appear and float away from you. Just concentrate on the coins for now. (63/100) 10. Swim through to the ocean cave. When you surface, you'll see a blue coin switch to your right. Ground-pound it, then run left a little to find a line of six blue coins spaced out in a row. Grab them all. There aren't many coins in Jolly Roger Bay to begin with, so it's important to get them all. (93/100) 11. There are three Goombas walking around in this area. Squish them all. (96/100) 12. Make your way through the falling stone pillars to the chests, then go right from the platform. There is a ring of coins over there that will seal the Secret Star for you. (104/100 **SUCCESS**) === | =================== 7.6 | COOL, COOL MOUNTAIN === | =================== LOCATION: As with Jolly Roger Bay, three stars are required to open the door leading to this world. The door is on your left as you enter the castle. ----- | ----------------- 7.6.1 | Slip Slidin' Away ----- | ----------------- As soon as your feet touch the snow in this chilly world, you'll get a message directing you to the cottage on your right. Enter via the open chimney. When you drop into the cottage, you'll find an icy slide ahead of you. Start down it. The important thing here is that you're able to make your way to the bottom. It doesn't matter how you do it, only that you do. So for now, take the wide turns slowly and slide until you find a row of five gold coins point- ing at a wall. If you just run into the wall, you'll find an invisible passage that will take you to the bottom (and net you two 1-Ups along the way, plus a third one in a yellow box when you reach the end of the course. To retrieve the Power Star for the level, exit the cottage through the door at the bottom. ----- | ----------------- 7.6.2 | Li'l Penguin Lost ----- | ----------------- Your mission here is to return a lost baby penguin to its mother. There are two identical baby penguins, one at the top of the mountain and one at the bottom. The one at the bottom is a fake, and the mother will reject it if you try to bring it to her. Therefore, your only choice is to deliver the correct baby penguin from the top of the mountain all the way to the bottom. Jump up onto the chimney of the house, but don't drop in; instead, leap to the hill above and grab the penguin. Now hit the mute button on your remote to drown out the incessant crying. Slide down the mountain. Don't push any extra directions, just let yourself slide until you reach the snowman's head at the bottom. Find the bridge with the hopping snowmen and cross under them when they leap coming toward you. Once you have crossed the bridge, walk down the wooden slope to its base. Drop from the base onto the roof of the house below (you will sustain minor damage, but it's faster this way). From there, walk off the house and locate the mother penguin. In gratitude for returning her offspring to her, the mother will reward you with a Power Star. ----- | ---------------- 7.6.3 | Big Penguin Race ----- | ---------------- Enter the cottage via the chimney as you did in "Slip Slidin' Away". This time you will see a rather large penguin who is prepared to race you to the bottom. Sounds like a challenge - let's take him on! In order to get the Power Star in this level, you must beat the penguin to the bottom fair and square. This means you CANNOT take the shortcut that was introduced in "Slip Slidin' Away". If you take the shortcut, the penguin will accuse you of cheating and withhold the Star, and you must race him again. Lest we uphold the penguin as a bright and shining moral compass, however, it should be noted that dirty trickery is not beneath him either. He has a way of running you off the track that is particularly aggravating, and he can catch up to you as if by magic if you get too far ahead of him. This makes the few occasions where you can fall off the track onto a lower portion not as good a shortcut as you might think. The parts to be most careful on are the sharp curves. Luckily, the penguin usually takes them fairly slowly as well, so if you want to take your time on them, you can. The last one is particularly nasty, but easily navigable if you turn into rather than try to take the sharp corner (which will almost always result in you falling off). Toward the end, the penguin will put out a little extra "oomph", but just stay the course and align yourself in the middle once you hit the tunnel. If you're in the lead when you reach the ice path, you're golden. When he loses, the penguin will concede defeat and reward you with a Power Star, inviting you to come back any time you please. LEVEL NOTES: 1. If you make it to the bottom and lose the race, there is an easy way to get back to the top of Cool, Cool Mountain to challenge him again. Upon exiting, go away from the mother penguin and over to the bridge that appears to be a dead-end (the one with the red coin at the bend). Stand still at the end of the bridge and you will be warped back to the top of the mountain. 2. If you return to challenge the penguin when you have collected all 120 Power Stars, you will notice that he has gained a substantial amount of weight. You will not earn a Star for beating him this time, but it does add a nice dimension of challenge to the race. ----- | ---------------------------- 7.6.4 | Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins ----- | ---------------------------- Not a difficult level, but it helps to go in some semblance of order, generally from the top of the mountain to the bottom. 1. Climb the tree in front of the house at the beginning to reach the first one. 2. Slide down the frosty slide that takes up most of the mountain. Along the way, you should see a red coin nestled in a corner against the wall. 3. Ride the rickety lift that crosses by the red Bob-Omb on the floating island. At the top of the lift is a red coin. 4. Cross the bridge with the two hopping snowmen and go across the patch of dry land that comes just after it. At the end of a dead-end bridge is a red coin. (Across from this point is where the Star will appear once you collect all eight coins.) 5. Near the mother penguin at the bottom of the mountain is another tree with a coin at the top. 6. Go away from the mother penguin and the house to a bridge that bends in the middle and then turns into a dead-end. At the bend is a red coin. 7. Go even further down from the bridge to where it appears as though there's nothing there. Look around the wall to find a red coin. 8. Go back to the bridge from Coin #6 and stand at the end of it. You will warp back to the top of the mountain. While standing on the bridge that you end up on, turn the camera toward the large slope behind you. Jump to the slope. When you begin sliding, you should see a yellow "!" box and a red coin tucked away behind an ice pillar at the bottom. Just before reaching the bottom of the slope, jump so that you don't slide off the end and into the abyss. Upon landing safely, grab the red coin. Once the Power Star appears, go to the end of the bridge that Coin #4 was located at. To get to the other side, you must perform a Long Jump. If you do not know how to do that, here you go: As you are running, press Z, and then quickly after pressing Z, press A. If Mario goes "yahoo" and makes an enormous leap, you've done it correctly. That long leap will help you reach the other end of the bridge and get that Star. ----- | ----------------------- 7.6.5 | Snowman's Lost His Head ----- | ----------------------- Go left (relatively speaking) as you enter the level, over the hump, but be careful not to slide too much. There is a wooden platform containing a snowball on a pedestal. When you approach it, it will talk to you, telling you it needs a head to go with its body and will follow you if you know where one is. And we're off! When the conversation ends, the ball starts rolling down the slide. You need to go and stay slightly ahead of it. Do not get too far ahead or you will mess it up. The idea is guide the snowball so that it reaches its destination properly, and the way to do that is by staying in front of it at all times. When you see the snowman's head, get yourself in front of it, then veer just around it, quickly get back behind it, and jump to stop. Turn the camera so you can see the snowball coming. If you did it correctly, the snowball will run into the head and bounce up onto the pedestal, creating a whole body. If you did it wrong, the snowball will roll on past the head and off the mountain. Pause the game, choose Exit Course, and return to the level to try again. The snowman will give you a Power Star in return for reassembling his body. ----- | -------------------- 7.6.6 | Wall Kicks Will Work ----- | -------------------- For this one, you need to activate the cannon. Go to the bottom of the mountain and ride the rickety lift up to the floating island with the red Bob-Omb. Jump off the lift and talk to him to open it up, then ride the lift back to the bottom when it comes back around. Enter the cannon when you reach the bottom. The cannon points you in the right direction, but you need to aim lower. If you point the cannon all the way down and look over, you will see a tree off in the distance across the bottomless pit. You need to get over there. Aim at the tree, but point the crosshairs at the underside of the rock above it. If you are successful, you will blast over and either hit the tree or stop when you slide into the fence. Go over away from the tree and cannon to find a narrow ledge. You must cross this ledge in order to reach the Star. You will encounter in this space two Spindrifts. If you jump on these guys, you will be launched way into the air spinning around, and will descend very slowly. Since you're in such a dangerous space here, you don't want to do that. Get rid of them by punching them instead. When you reach the other end, you will see a chasm that you must Long Jump across. If you are not sure how, a sign in front of the pit will explain how. The heart will replenish your health, which is great if you fall (and here, you just might do that more than a few times). What you will need to do to reach the Star is perform the wall kick technique (hence the name of the level). The first time is easy; just jump toward the wall and press A as soon as you touch it. You should kick off the wall and reach the next ledge. This is basically what a wall kick is, and it's a very handy technique to learn. If you need to practice it a few times, this is a great spot to do it, because the next wall kick you have to perform is much harder. To get up to the next ledge, start running and jumping from the middle of the ledge you're currently on. What you must do is perform a triple jump, then wall kick off the wall you triple-jump to. This is definitely a little taxing; even I still can't do it right the first three or four times I try it. Just remember that you have to be running and jumping to perform a triple jump; measure out the point you need to start from and plan your jump-and-kick accordingly. When you have reached the next ledge, walk slowly and cautiously along the very thin ice road. The Power Star is floating all by itself just at the end. Jump to reach it. ----- | ------------- 7.6.7 | 100-Coin Star ----- | ------------- Depending on how well you perform on the cottage slide, the amount of coins you get may be different than the amount I get. Adjust your count accordingly. The 100-coin run is best attempted by entering Cool, Cool Mountain via "Slip Slidin' Away". The coin count listed here is based on my first successful run-through of the cottage slide and everything thereafter. Make sure also that you do the slide first. You do not want to get 100 coins while on the slide and then totally miss it because you're going too fast and can't stop and backtrack to get it. 1. Get the red coin from the tree and all the coins leading into the chimney of the cottage. (7/100) 2. Successfully reach the bottom of the slide, getting as many coins as you can along the way. Do not take the shortcut. In the run used for this walkthrough, I got 71 coins. Depending on your performance, you may get more or less. Adjust your strategy accordingly. (78/100) 3. Exit the house and get the three red coins at the bottom of the mountain. See section 7.6.4, "Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins", if you do not recall their locations offhand. (84/100) 4. Go up the wooden ramp beside the cottage and kill the Spindrift at the top. (87/100) 5. Go up past the snowman that throws snowballs at you and get the coin at the end of the dead-end bridge. (89/100) 6. Long Jump across the bridge to the point where the Power Star appears in "Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins". Jump up from that ledge to find a blue coin switch. It will reveal two blue coins; collect both. (99/100) 7. Jump off from there onto the frosty slide. There is a row of five coins ahead. Jump as soon as it appears to stop your downward trajectory, then jump more as needed to snag the Star. (104/100 **SUCCESS**) === | =============== 7.7 | BIG BOO'S HAUNT === | =============== LOCATION: Go through one of the wooden doors in the lobby. At the end of the hallway, you will see a Boo. When you pursue him, he disappears through the wall. Follow him out the door. You will be in a courtyard-type area with several Boos floating around. Locate the one in the back left-hand corner and ground-pound him. A cage with a miniature house will pop out of him; Mario will shrink down and jump inside. ----- | ------------------ 7.7.1 | Go on a Ghost Hunt ----- | ------------------ To reach Big Boo's Haunt, go to the hallway with the Boo at the end. When you pursue him, he will go outside out of your reach. Go outside through the door and then go left and to the back corner. Most of the Boos have coins in them, but one has a cage with a haunted house in it inside him. When you've tracked him down, turn your back to him so that he creeps up on you. When he is close enough, jump and ground-pound him to get the cage out of his body and enter the level. Having been thusly taunted, enter the mansion. To reveal the main boss, you must first kill all the minor Boos you can find. There are six doors on the bottom floor; we'll start with the one near you on your left. If you have unlocked the Vanish Cap, you can grab it here and pass through the giant panel with the picture of the Boo to find your first two. (If you haven't, you should visit the Vanish Cap course. See section 7.9, "Vanish Cap Under the Moat", for details on how to get it. You will need the Vanish Cap to beat some levels later on in Big Boo's Haunt as well.) If you cannot pass through the panel, turn your back to it until two Boos come through it. To kill them, jump while your back is turned to them and ground-pound them. Each Boo here will give you a blue coin and will say "Ghosts ... don't ... DIE!" when you kill it. Ghosts don't die, eh? We'll see about that. When you exit the room with the bookshelves and the chairs that float up in the air and divebomb you, you will come out the door that was on your left and in the back when you entered the mansion. Move next to the door against the back wall on the left. In this room you will find a Boo and an eyeball-shaped foe named, appropriately, Mr. I. You can kill Mr. I by running around him quickly in a circle (you must stay close to him for his vision to follow you). When he shrinks and dies, he too will yield a blue coin. Leave this room the way you came in and enter the door against the back wall on the right. Run across the bridge quickly before it collapses and takes you below with it. You won't die, but it is a major inconvenience, so try to successfully cross it the first time. At the end of the bridge is a Boo for you to pounce. Get him, then go in the door right there. You must be careful in this room, especially when sidling against the wall on the thin floor. Try to jump over the Boo onto the safe ledge with the red coin, then butt-pound him from there. When you kill that Boo, you should hear a chime indicating that you have destroyed them all. Return to the main foyer. When you enter the foyer, you will meet Big Boo. The only difference between him and a regular Boo is that Big Boo takes three ground-pounds to kill instead of one. This is not a difficult task, but he is a bit bigger, so you need a better jump to get above him. Either double-jump or do a backflip (hold Z, then press A) to get the height necessary. After three successful pounds, the Power Star will appear and fly up to the next floor. Stand on the panel in the floor to make some stairs rise that will allow you to reach it. ----- | ----------------------------- 7.7.2 | Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round ----- | ----------------------------- Enter the mansion and go in the door against the back wall and on the right on the first floor. Instead of crossing the collapsing bridge, jump over the railing and into the water below. When you get out of the water and onto land, you should see a wooden door. Go inside to reach the "merry-go-round" the level title is talking about. After defeating five regular Boos, you will once again face Big Boo. The procedure for defeating him is no different than it was in "Go on a Ghost Hunt", although it might be a little more difficult because of the spinning surface you're on. If you handled him once though, you can surely do it again. The Power Star will appear by the door just off the merry-go-round when victory is yours. ----- | --------------------------- 7.7.3 | Secret of the Haunted Books ----- | --------------------------- Enter the mansion, go up the stairs, and go in the door on the wall to the left toward the back. You should be in a room with bookshelves on either side of you. As you go down the hallway, jump to neutralize the books that shoot out at you from both shelves. When you get to the bookshelf at the end around the curve, three books will pop out - one on top, one in the middle, one on the bottom. Hit them in this order: top, bottom, middle. When you enter the combination successfully, the bookshelf will move out of the way to reveal a door. Just behind that door is the Power Star, in plain sight. ----- | -------------------- 7.7.4 | Seek the 8 Red Coins ----- | -------------------- Enter the mansion, then go in the door closest to you on your left on the first floor. 1. In this first room is a grand piano that looks normal enough, but reveals its fangs and chases after you when you get too close. When it comes out of its space in the corner, go where it was to find the first red coin. 2. Go in the other door in this room and look on top of the bookshelves to find the second... 3. ...and third red coins. Go back into the main area and enter the door against the back wall on the right on the first floor. 4. Cross the collapsing bridge and enter the door ahead of you. Sidle up against the wall to cross the thin part, then grab the coin while getting around the Boo. Back in the main area, go up the stairs and into the door against the back wall on the left on the second floor. 5. Work your way along the red mesh floor, making sure not to fall to the area below. The red coin is at the back of the room. If you fall, exit the room, go back up the stairs, and try again. When you have the fifth red coin, go back to the main area and in the door against the back wall on the right on the second floor. 6. Kill the Mr. I if you want, then go into the room with the six caskets. Approach the casket in the front to your right. When it stands up, grab the coin underneath it. 7. Approach the coffin in the middle on the left in like fashion. It will also stand up, allowing you to get the red coin underneath it. Finally, go back to the main area and go in the door just to the right of the one you just exited. 8. Kill the two books with fangs, then go around the bookshelf and get the red coin. Be careful that you don't walk on the trap floor in the middle of the room, or you'll fall down and into the water where that incessant merry-go-round tune is playing. Walk around to be safe. When you get the eighth red coin, the Power Star will appear on the second floor in the main foyer, over by the window where the beam of light is shining in. ----- | ----------------- 7.7.5 | Big Boo's Balcony ----- | ----------------- Go into the house and up the stairs, then into the door over on the wall to the right. Kill the two books that come out of the shelf, then jump on the raised platform. Press C-Up to look around with the camera and look up. You should be able to see a ledge above you with a door against the wall. The easiest way to get to that door is to do a double-jump and then wall-kick off the wall to your right (on your right assuming you are facing the door). Once you get up there, go in, then go through the double doors on the right. You will be outside on the roof of the mansion, where you must again fight Big Boo. Same as before, ground-pound him three times. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting the Power Star that he leaves behind. The Star will perch on the very top of the house, a place that is extremely difficult to get to. It takes a combination of advanced technique and a little elbow grease. When you exit the door, Mario will be facing you. Go to the right, since it's easier to see what's happening over that way. To get to the flat surface over there, just do a Long Jump toward the top of the roof and then a single jump to cap it off. Works like a charm. Now you must get over to the Power Star. Use the same technique of Long Jumping followed by a single jump to reach the top of the roof safely. Once you are on top of the roof, walking over to the Star is relatively easy. You cannot change the camera angle while up here, so press C-Up every so often to come up close and make sure you're not about to walk off the roof. When you are next to the flat surface where the Star is, slide over onto that surface to reach it. There is also a 1-Up right here in a box, presumably placed here because if you can make it right here, you deserve something for your trouble. ----- | ----------------------------- 7.7.6 | Eye to Eye in the Secret Room ----- | ----------------------------- If you don't have the Vanish Cap yet, you won't be able to do this level. Go to the Vanish Cap course and press the blue button at the end to activate all blue blocks, which contain Vanish Caps. For details on how to get to the Vanish Cap course, see section 7.9, "Vanish Cap Under the Moat". If you do have it, you're in business. Enter the mansion and go up the steps, then do a Long Jump over to the isolated balcony where you find a door and a blue Vanish Cap block. As you know, the Vanish Cap has a limited duration, and in this particular instance you must act quickly. Once you have the Vanish Cap, you must quickly go in the door by where the blue block is located, do the same double-jump and wall-kick combo that you performed to get to the balcony in the previous level, and run around to the blue panel with the Boo on it and pass through it. If you perform all this within the duration of the Vanish Cap, you will be face- to-face with a giant Mr. I. If you miss, get the Vanish Cap again and try again. Defeating a giant Mr. I is no different than defeating a regular one. Just run around it in a circle, keeping close to it until it gets dizzy, shrinks, and pops out of existence. Instead of getting a blue coin from this one, however, you'll get a Power Star, which you can collect and be on your merry way. ----- | ------------- 7.7.7 | 100-Coin Star ----- | ------------- For fastest results, enter Big Boo's Haunt via "Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round". 1. Collect all coins hidden in bricks and contained within enemies outside the mansion. When you get them all, you should have... (30/100) 2. Enter the mansion and go in the door on the wall to the left toward the front on the first floor. Get the red coin behind the piano. (32/100) 3. In the adjacent room, kill the book that comes out of the bookshelf and get his blue coin, as well as the red coins on top of the bookshelves. (41/100) 4. Get the Vanish Cap, go behind the blue panel, and kill both Boos for their blue coins. (51/100) 5. Go back into the main area and go in the room against the back wall on the left on the first floor. Kill the Boo and the Mr. I. (61/100) 6. Return to the main area and go in the room against the back wall on the right on the first floor. Kill the Boo in this room. (66/100) 7. Drop down to the merry-go-round and kill the five Boos necessary to get to Big Boo. Get all five blue coins. Leave when Big Boo appears. (91/100) 8. Ride the lift that takes you back to the starting point of the stage. At the top, run circles around the Mr. I for his blue coin. (96/100) 9. Go back into the house and go in the door on the wall to the right on the first floor. Ground-pound the Boo and collect his coin. (101/100 **SUCCESS**) === | ======================== 7.8 | BOWSER IN THE DARK WORLD === | ======================== *The eight red coins found here are covered in a separate section. For tips on getting the eight red coins, see section 7.21.3, "Bowser in the Dark World (8 Red Coins)". *Also note that there are no 100-coin Power Stars in the Bowser stages. Once you have eight Power Stars, you can enter the first of three stages in which you must do battle with the nefarious Bowser. You enter this stage through the sliding double doors at the top of the stairs. It looks like you are running toward a painting of Peach, but it slowly morphs into Bowser, and before you can reach it, the floor falls out from beneath you, transporting you to the Dark World. Move forward, being especially careful at the thin parts. Wait until the fire puffer stops blowing to move past it, then walk onto the rotating square platforms. Run up the stone hill to where the second fire puffer is, and wait for it to do its thing before heading up. Jump across the rotating set of four platforms over to a wooden area with three Goombas. In the yellow block in the center, you'll find a handy-dandy 1-Up. Snag it, then move to the walkway with the crystals and the electrocuting enemies. Getting hit by them is a minor setback, but it only takes away one piece of life pie. After this walkway, navigate the yellow platform moving back and forth and then move across the two sets of square platforms carefully. Take a detour for a second 1-Up if you like, then move to the blue teetering ledges that tilt when you stand on them. Hop up the wooden steps after destroying the two Goombas and touch the switch to turn the insurmountable incline into easy-to-climb steps. Once at the top, jump into the pipe to reach Bowser. The key to beating Bowser is not by jumping on him but by throwing him into one of the spiked bombs that surround the ring. To do this, you must first find a part of him that you can grab. In this case and in all future cases, that will be his tail. Run around him in circles until you catch up to his tail, and grab it by pressing B. What do you do now that you've got him in your clutches, though? Swing the analog stick in circles as well. Do this at a fairly fast pace and you will build up momentum, eventually swinging him faster and faster. Let go of him when you are directly facing a spiked bomb. If you successfully throw him into it, it will blow up and launch him into the air. If he falls off the ring, he will jump back and you will have to try it again. When you land a hit, Bowser will surrender for now. He vows to return later, but he leaves behind a key. This key will allow you to reach the courses down in the basement. And so the plot thickens... === | ========================= 7.9 | VANISH CAP UNDER THE MOAT === | ========================= The first thing you should do after beating Bowser in the Dark World is go and unlock the Vanish Cap. To get to the Vanish Cap course, go downstairs to the locked door, which you can now open with the key you got from the Dark World. Once down there, go down the winding hallway with metal walls and into the wooden door at the end. In the new room, there is another nondescript wooden door; it is within the same field of view as the door that leads to Hazy Maze Cave (that door has a star with no numbers on it). When you enter, you should see a pool of water in front of you. Jump in. Dive down and follow the path underneath to a new area with two pillars. If you read the sign, you will see that it says: "It is decreed that one shall pound the pillars." Sounds like a job for you, Mr. Ground Pounder! Jump and press Z on each of the pillars to squash them down. When they have both been pounded, the water level will lower significantly. Exit the castle through the metal door below. You can now run about the emptied moat. Toward the opposite end, you will see a square hole that you can drop into. This is the entrance to the Vanish Cap course. Once inside, slide down the large hill to the bottom, being careful not to slide all the way off into the abyss. (You will not lose a life for failing the course. Instead, you will just be ejected into the feeder pool at the bottom of the castle waterfall. It's not far from the course entrance, so it's easy to get back there.) Avoid the fire puffer spheres and jump from the first tilting ledge up to a large plateau where you find a "!" block containing coins. The pair of ledges nearby rotates, and for the most part they're stationary, but when they reach the top, they'll tilt, dumping you off if you're standing on them. Jump from the ledges to the next big wide teeter-totter. After that, there are two more pairs of rotating ledges. Tilt the teeter-totter ledge down at the far end and jump to each of the ledges as they head toward the bottom of their trajectory. At the last one, ride it up and do a double-jump up to the final ledge. Here you'll find the big blue button that will activate all the blue blocks, all of which contain Vanish Caps. Save when prompted, then exit the course in whatever manner you see fit. ==== | ============== 7.10 | HAZY MAZE CAVE ==== | ============== LOCATION: Go down into the basement and down the metal winding hallway into the basement maze. Look for a door with a star on it on a raised platform. Inside you will see a black oily-looking pit. This is the Hazy Maze Cave. ------ | ----------------------- 7.10.1 | Cavern of the Metal Cap ------ | ----------------------- Before you beat any of the levels in Hazy Maze Cave, your first priority should be unlocking the Metal Cap, which will render you impervious to health lost by running into enemies, being underwater, or being in toxic smog. At the beginning of Hazy Mazy Cave, the path forks left and right. To get to the Cavern of the Metal Cap, take the left fork and Long Jump over the pit. Go around the pit and Long Jump over to where the giant boulders are rolling, being careful not to get hit by any of them (keeping against the wall on the left will help you do this). Once past the boulders, enter the metal door you see and ride the shiny square platform down. Walk down the way and board Dorrie the plesiosaur. Ground-pound her back to make her lower her head, then stand on her head to raise it back up, facing in the direction you want to go as a means of sort of primitively guiding her. You want her to take you to a set of metal double doors. Once she takes you over to them, jump on the red platform in front of the plateau, then go through the doors. In this room is a black pit much like the one that brought you to Hazy Maze Cave. This one leads to the Cavern of the Metal Cap. *Note that the red coins for the Cavern of the Metal Cap are listed in their own section, which is section 7.21.5, "Metal Cap Course (8 Red Coins)", along with the other Castle Secret Stars. This section only tells you how to get through the Metal Cap Course. Run through the opening hallway, killing the Snifits with your awesome metal invincibility, until you reach the main corridor. Here you must be ultra- careful, because if you fall into the water and you don't have the Metal Cap on, the current will sweep you away, and if you don't make it to land, you will be ejected from the course and deposited in the feeder pool in the castle moat (also where you appear if you fail the Vanish Cap course). Jump carefully to each new ledge, not jumping any more than absolutely necessary. Walk slowly across the stone bridge, then jump to each of the next two grass-topped platforms and jump on top of the green switch to activate all green blocks. Save when prompted, then either go for the red coins or leave the course by pausing and choosing Exit Course. ------ | ---------------------------- 7.10.2 | Swimming Beast in the Cavern ------ | ---------------------------- You met Dorrie just a few minutes ago when you used her to get to the Cavern of the Metal Cap. We'll be using her services again in this level. Take the same fork to the left, again avoiding the rolling boulders and riding the shiny square platform down to the winding dirt path. Jump on her, ground-pound her back to bring her head down, then walk onto her head to make her raise it back up. From here you can navigate her, albeit not very intuitively. You can basically make her veer either left or right by facing in the direction you want her to go or moving over to that side of her head. This time, we want to steer her to the giant plateau in the middle of the lake, where the Power Star we want is sitting. Move over to the side of her head that faces toward the middle and jump off onto the plateau when you get her next to it. Collect the ring of coins if you like before getting the Star. ------ | ----------------------- 7.10.3 | Elevate for 8 Red Coins ------ | ----------------------- Take the right path along the fork, using a Metal Cap if you need to so you can barrel through the spiders. Avoid them and the fire that blows up out of the pits and go through the small door at the end. Slide down the pole to your left. When you come off the pole, go all the way to your right. You should find some steps that lead up to the work elevator. To operate the work elevator, just walk onto an arrow. The elevator will continue in the direction of the arrow you pressed until it runs into something or you push another direction. Going from the elevator's start point, let's get the red coins. 1. Go left, forward, left, forward. Punch the brick you cross by to reveal the first coin. 2. Keep going forward. The next one is to your right, just a bit out of reach. Move the elevator over some, then back to the left once you've gotten the coin out of the brick. 3. Continue forward, past the Mr. I. At this point, the elevator will cross underneath a small obstacle. You will lose your footing if you touch this part, and will likely slide off the elevator and have to start over. Just jump over this small hump and punch the brick just past it for #3. 4. Go to the left. There is a red coin in the open sitting on a cliff in the corner. Jump off the elevator and grab it, then get back on the elevator. 5. Go back toward the entrance to the room using the elevator. You should see the pole you climbed down to drop onto the floor, and beside it, a pole on a tall cliff. Go for that pole on the cliff. When you reach it, jump onto it and climb it. Dismount the pole and walk onto the yellow-and-blue checkered lift. This lift will follow a predetermined path once you step on it. Let it follow its path, punching the brick that you come to. After you have punched the brick out of your way, you will be taken to the fifth coin shortly. 6. The lift will then pass underneath two "n"-shaped barricades. Jump on top of the first one to get that sixth coin. 7. There is a ledge shortly after the two barricades that has the final two red coins on it. Grab the seventh one... 8. ...and the eighth one... ...and then fall to the floor and grab the Power Star that appears in the center of the room. ------ | -------------------------- 7.10.4 | Metal-Head Mario Can Move! ------ | -------------------------- Take the path to the left and take the elevator down as if you are going to visit Dorrie. When you reach the bottom, look to your left. You will see a Metal Cap block. Bust it open and grab the cap, then head quickly down the slope. When you get to the water, Long Jump over to the left and cross the terrain. When you get near the surface of the water, you will find a floor switch, which you can only touch if you are Metal Mario. (This whole sequence may take a few tries.) After successfully pressing down the switch, the wall will open up and reveal a door that you can enter. Ignore the spider that pops out of the pit, then perform two Long Jumps to reach the Star. ------ | ------------------------- 7.10.5 | Navigating the Toxic Maze ------ | ------------------------- Make sure you have the Metal Cap before tackling this level, since its property of invincibility will be a big help here. If you have not unlocked the Metal Cap, follow the instructions in section 7.10.1, "Cavern of the Metal Cap", before going any further. Make your way along the right path of the fork to the door and slide down the pole. Look to your left and you should see an open passageway with a wooden door just at the top of the hill. Enter the door, then jump into the pit you see. You are now in the Toxic Maze, a labyrinth populated by a dense layer of noxious gas that will slowly eat away at your health. First and foremost, grab the Metal Cap in the green block straight ahead of you. Being metal will keep you from losing health to the gas. Turn right at that Metal Cap once you've gotten it and face forward. You should see a blue coin switch on a raised brick platform. Turn immediately around and make a left, following the trail of blue coins. When you see the blue coin trail go up, keep going to the Snifit just ahead. There are also some holes here where if you fall into them, you will slide around, making it difficult to get up. Just above these holes is an alcove with a metal door. Jump up there and enter that door. Avoid the fire puffers and the swooping bats and ride the elevator up. When you reach your destination, you will find the Power Star over in the corner by the fence wall. ------ | ------------------------- 7.10.6 | A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit ------ | ------------------------- Return to the Toxic Maze from the previous level, "Navigating the Toxic Maze". As before, get the Metal Cap straight ahead, activate the blue coin switch, and follow the trail of blue coins. This time, however, when the blue coins start going up, wall kick off the wall at that exact spot and you'll reach another alcove, which also has a metal door. Go in, run down the winding hallway, and board the elevator. At the top, go in the metal door you see. To reach the Power Star here, you must climb across the bars on the ceiling. Hang onto the bars by jumping and holding A when you hit the ceiling. Holding A will allow you to keep your grip. If you let go of A, you will fall. Keep this in mind as you navigate the bars. You must hold A while using the analog stick or you will drop, most likely to your demise. The Power Star is over to the right, sitting in the open. If you so desire, you can take a detour to the left and grab the 1-Up in the yellow box. ------ | ----------------------- 7.10.7 | Watch for Rolling Rocks ------ | ----------------------- An easy level if you know where to go. And where exactly do you go? I'm glad I asked! Take the fork to the left and Long Jump across the pit. Go through the door, then around the pit, and then Long Jump again over to the rolling boulders. Keep to the left wall so they don't hit you, and move past them to the metal door, but DON'T GO IN THE DOOR! Stay there in front of the door and look at the walls on either side of you. It takes two wall kicks off these walls to find a hidden ledge containing the Power Star you need to beat this mission. ------ | ------------- 7.10.8 | 100-Coin Star ------ | ------------- 1. Bop the spider in front of you. (3/100) 2. Take the fork to the right and get the spider that jumps out of the pit. You will only get coins for the first one. (6/100) 3. Get the coins along the wall just before the door leading to the work elevator area. (11/100) 4. Kill both the spiders on the ground. (17/100) 5. Board the work elevator and the first four red coins from "Elevate for 8 Red Coins". (25/100) 6. Climb the pole to the upper area and get the other four. Ignore the star when it appears. (33/100) 7. Go in the door leading to the Toxic Maze. Get all the coins leading up to the entrance hole. (38/100) 8. Kill the Snifit ahead of you. (40/100) 9. Activate the blue coin switch and get all seven blue coins that result from it. (75/100) 10. Kill the nearby Snifit as well. (77/100) 11. Take the door leading to the Power Star for "A-Maze-Ing Emergency Exit". Kill the two bats in this room. (79/100) 12. Take the elevator up. If you drop straight down off the ledge, you can land where the rolling boulders are coming at you. (Look very carefully with the camera before attempting this drop. It's actually somewhat easier than it looks. Also make sure you have enough health to take a whack from one of the boulders, in case that happens.) When you make the drop, quickly get over to the wall on the left and get the coins. (84/100) 13. Go through the metal door and get the ring of coins around the yellow 1-Up box. (92/100) 14. Ride Dorrie and get on the big plateau in the middle. Collect the ring of coins around the Power Star for "Swimming Beast in the