------------------------------------------------ Super Mario 64 DS Strategy Guide by Alasdair Lo System: Nintendo DS Date: 16 September, 2005 Version 2.1 ------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents: [Search Key] 1. Introduction [SMDS1] 2. Updates [SMDS2] 3. Getting Started [SMDS3] ---a. Story [SMDS3A] ---b. Characters [SMDS3B] ---c. Basics [SMDS3C] 4. First Floor, Mezzanine and Fountain Area [SMDS4] ---a. Storming Princess Peach's Castle [SMDS4A] ---b. Course 1: Bob-omb Battlefield [SMDS4B] ---c. Princess' Secret Slide [SMDS4C] ---d. Sunshine Isle [SMDS4D] ---e. Goomboss Battle [SMDS4E] ---f. Course 2: Whomp's Fortress [SMDS4F] ---g. ? Switch of the Rainbow Tower [SMDS4G] ---h. The Secret Aquarium [SMDS4H] ---i. Course 3: Jolly Roger Bay [SMDS4I] ---j. Course 4: Cool, Cool Mountain [SMDS4J] ---k. Exploring the Back Garden [SMDS4K] ---l. Course 5: Big Boo's Haunt [SMDS4L] ---m. Big Boo Battle [SMDS4M] ---n. Bowser in the Dark World [SMDS4N] 5. The Basement and Wario's Rescue [SMDS5] ---a. Bowser in the Fire Sea [SMDS5A] ---b. Chief Chilly Challenge [SMDS5B] ---c. The Secret under the Moat [SMDS5C] ---d. Course 6: Hazy Maze Cave [SMDS5D] ---e. Behind the Waterfall [SMDS5E] ---f. Course 7: Lethal Lava Land [SMDS5F] ---g. Course 8: Shifting Sand Land [SMDS5G] ---h. Course 9: Dire, Dire Docks [SMDS5H] 6. The Upper Levels of the Castle [SMDS6] ---a. Course 10: Snowman's Land [SMDS6A] ---b. Course 11: Wet-Dry World [SMDS6B] ---c. Course 12: Tall, Tall Mountain [SMDS6C] ---d. Course 13: Tiny-Huge Island [SMDS6D] ---e. Over the Rainbow [SMDS6E] ---f. Course 14: Tick Tock Clock [SMDS6F] ---g. Course 15: Rainbow Ride [SMDS6G] ---h. Bowser in the Sky [SMDS6H] 7. Have you got them all? [SMDS7] ---a. 100-Coin Stars [SMDS7A] ---b. Castle Secret Stars [SMDS7B] ---c. Red Coin Stars [SMDS7C] ---d. Silver Star Stars [SMDS7D] ---e. Switch Stars [SMDS7E] ---f. The Bosses' Stars [SMDS7F] 8. Creative Ways to Play the Game [SMDS8] ---a. The Minimalist's Finish [SMDS8A] ---b. Wario Bonanza [SMDS8B] ---c. Coin after Coin [SMDS8C] 9. Extras [SMDS9] ---a. Minigames [SMDS9A] ---b. Multiplayer [SMDS9B] ---c. Comparison Between the Versions [SMDS9C] 10. Conclusion [SMDS10] Appendix I. Feedback Information [A1] ----------------------- 1. Introduction [SMDS1] ----------------------- With the year 2004, came a new Nintendo handheld. It features two screens, one normal, and one with touch sensitivity. With the handheld came a stylus which allows for PDA style controls on the touch screen. The system is called Nintendo DS, short for Nintendo Developer's System. No one knows if this is a product Nintendo originally intended to release, or if it is something used to hold back Sony's foray into the Handheld market, the PSP (PlayStation Portable). The Nintendo DS launched in the US in November 2004, and with it came a Mario game. It is another of those "older" Mario games remade for handhelds. (Nintendo's been doing that with all the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World games.) This time, it's Super Mario 64's turn. All they had to do was to add DS to the name! This results in a name with a rather long name. of course, when an old game is remade, not only the name is lengthened, so is the game! Super Mario 64 DS features some new levels, as well as 30 more stars. (One for each course, and 15 more secret stars) I originally intended to buy this game with the system as it came out in Hong Kong, but only the Japanese version was available! Not fair! (I bought Feel the Magic: XY/XX, instead with the system). Then came the Hong Kong public examinations. I was forced to postpone any purchase of new video games until after the exams. And now, 7 months after the US launch, I was able to get my hands on this new Mario game and write a guide on it. Whew... I have added a new section called Creative Ways to Play the Game. It tells you how to beat the game in some special styles, like beating the game with the minimal requirements and playing as Wario predominantly in the later stages of the game. If you can read this, either jump to the standard walkthrough or that section. ------------------ 2. Updates [SMDS2] ------------------ Version 2.1: Added Chapter 9c: Comparison Between the Versions. This section is to compare the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS versions of Super Mario 64. Version 2.0: Completed Chapter 8c. Version 1.9: Continued work on the new chapter 8c, and I am now up to Course 14. Version 1.8: Continued work on the new chapter 8c, and I am now up to Course 12. Version 1.7: Continued work on the new chapter 8c, and I am now up to Course 7. Version 1.6: Added a subsection in Chapter 8 called Coin after Coin. Version 1.5: Added the section called Creative Ways to Play the Game. Version 1.4: Added the section after the Bosses' Stars in Chapter 7. Version 1.3: Added the Silver Star Stars and Switch Star section in Chapter 7. Version 1.2: Added the Red Coin Star Section in Chapter 7. Version 1.1: Added the Extras Section. It contains the minigames and a short paragraph on the multiplayer mode. (I don't play multiplayer myself) -------------------------- 3. Getting Started [SMDS3] -------------------------- This is where I cover the basics of the game, such as the controls, characters and story. ----------------- a. Story [SMDS3A] ----------------- The story is slightly different from that of Super Mario 64. As before, Princess Peach Toadstool invited Mario to have a slice of her delicious cake at her castle. But this time, his nosy brothers, Luigi and Wario decided to come along to join the fun too! They entered the castle, and did not come out for a long time. This got a certain Latiku concerned. Meanwhile, Yoshi is fast asleep on the roof of the castle. Latiku wakes him up and tells him that something is seriously wrong. This is when Yoshi enters the castle to investigate. ---------------------- b. Characters [SMDS3B] ---------------------- There are 4 characters in Super Mario 64 DS. But they are not all playable right off the bat. It is just like Donkey Kong 64. You have to free them one by one before they can be available. Here are the 4 characters, in their order of appearance. Yoshi: Mario's old dinosaur buddy from Super Mario World is back. This time, he will not wait for Mario on the roof. He will be an active participant. Yoshi is a good jumper, and has inherited the skills in Super Mario Sunshine. Although he is not very powerful in the field of block smashing, Yoshi has his long tongue to overcome this shortcoming. He can swallow enemies, and turn them into eggs for long range attacks. The only drawback is that Mario, Luigi and Wario CANNOT ride on Yoshi in this game. Mario: Yes, the fat plumber with the red cap is back. But this time, he is not so lucky. He has been captured and locked up by someone and Yoshi's got to save him. Mario is the all round average character of the game. He can break most blocks, and can punch and grab, and this is something Yoshi cannot do. Mario seems to have the most special abilities. He is the only person who can perform the wall jump. He also can float up like a balloon and fly around with a winged cap. Luigi: Mario's younger brother, and sidekick must be happy. He was excluded from two straight Mario platformers, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. He is also given a game, Luigi's Mansion, a non-serious game that involved him running around a haunted mansion with a vacuum. If I were Luigi, I would become very angry that I am not made good use of! (Angrier than Anakin Skywalker!) I guess he's PLEASED as hell as he gets some of the action. Now, Luigi is the most aerobic of the 3 Mario Brothers. He has the highest jump in the game, and is the fastest runner. He runs so fast that he can run on the surface of water for a short time, just like Dash. Luigi gets to be the Invisible Man too, and can walk through walls. Wario: It's about time that Mario make up with his twin brother Wario, who claimed to be mistreated by Mario in his childhood, hence spawning a lot of hate over a castle. (See: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins) Before Mario and Wario came together, Wario was, and will always be a money hungry person, starting his own Corporation, Wario Ware Inc. It seems that all these money grabbing bureaucratic practices have not sapped any of Wario's strength. He is still the strongest, with the power to break brick blocks. (Sorry if it's hard to pronounce) He can also make himself heavier by wearing a metal suit! Another funny thing about him is that he speaks and makes sounds like those of 20 retards in a dump truck that are about to be hauled off the Empire State Buildings! Sometimes, he tries to sound like a burly truckie. Either way, his voice is hilarious. King Bowser Koopa: Since Mario began his days as the hero, he has been fighting this monstrous turtle king. When something goes wrong in Mario's world, it is natural for the player to shift the blame on Bowser. Of course, this game is NOT an exception. Bowser has stolen the 150 Power Stars that protect the castle, and it is up to Mario and pals to retrieve them all for the sake of the Mushroom Kingdom. The kingdom's future is balanced in your hands, player. Princess Peach Toadstool: A simple invitation to a cake-eating tea party by the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom went astray when no one was found in the castle. What to do now? Where is the princess? How can we find her? ------------------- c. Basics [SMDS3C] ------------------- Standard Mode Control Scheme: Directional Pad: Move the character around Stylus: Move the character around in a much more comfortable way than when using the D-Pad*, make selections on menus, rotating the camera Start Button: Pause the game, maybe bringing up the Game Menu Select Button: Enter the Control Scheme Selection Screen A Button: Attack Button B Button: Jump Button X Button: Zoom the camera in and out Y Button: Press and hold to run while using the D-Pad L Button: Rotate camera for 180 degrees R Button: Crouch *Footnote 1: This is just solely MY opinion. I personally believe that the stylus provides an excellent simulation to analog control. It just takes time to get the hang of it, and if you have shaky hands (or are just a bit too conservative to accept new ideas), you might as well play the game with the D-pad. *Footnote 2: While playing this game, I hold the Nintendo DS in my right hand, and the stylus in my left hand. I don't know whether I got the hang of the controls because I am a little ambidextrous. If you are a right handed person who can't do things well with your left hand, there is always the Dual Hand Mode for all of you who insist on using the right hand to hold the stylus. Moving around: It may sound stupid that I add a small paragraph on how to move Mario around. But it is absolutely necessary, due to the new control system. If you are using the D-pad, then your character can only move in two quantized speeds: Slow and fast. To run, press and hold Y while moving the D-pad. The stylus can be used for movement with variable speeds. As you apply pressure to the touch screen with the stylus, you will notice a circle with 3 areas appearing. As long as the stylus is on the central red area, the character will stand still. If the stylus is on the yellow area, the character will walk. The further the point is away from the center, the faster the speed. When the point of the stylus is on the outermost blue area, the character will run. The position of the stylus on the circle determines the direction the character will move. Jumping: B is the jump button of Super Mario 64 DS. Pressing B twice in a row allows for a double jump that is slightly higher. If your character is running, he can perform a triple jump. Just press the B button 3 times in a row. When you are about to land from a jump, press the R button for a heavier stomp. (Also known as Ground Pounding) This is essential for breaking blocks, stomping switches and reducing (or negating) fall damage. Another way to jump is to do a back flip. Just press and hold R before pressing B and Mario will flip backwards. To jump over long pits, the Long Jump is especially useful. Run, press R to squat and immediately press A to propel Mario forward. When jumping, Yoshi and Luigi can flip their legs into the air to increase their distance traveled. Just hold B while the character is in the air. (This can only be performed with normal jumps, but not long jumps) Mario is the only person who can perform a wall jump. Jump into a wall and press B while Mario is in contact and he will bounce off. This is very effective in scaling two parallel walls which are close to each other. Climbing: There is always a safeguard measure in this game to prevent your character from falling into a certain doom. Most of the time, if a jump to a ledge or platform is not high enough for Mario to land on it, but high enough for his hands to touch the edge, Mario will grab onto the edge. Move the stylus in the direction of the ledge to make Mario climb up, or if you want to let go and drop down, move the stylus to the opposite direction to do so. Mario can also climb up poles. Just jump into a pole and move the stylus up and down to climb. When jumping from a pole, please note that Mario will jump in the direction his back is facing. So you must pay attention to the direction your character is facing on the Touch Screen Map before making your leap. Mario can also move around on the monkey bars. Just press B to jump and hold it to hold on. Move the stylus around to determine which way Mario will go to. When you have reached the destination, release B for Mario to let go and drop down. Attacking: The A button is the standard attack button. Pressing A on the spot causes Mario to punch, or Yoshi to stick is tongue out to swallow an enemy. For all characters except Yoshi, press A 3 times in a row for a punch-punch-kick combo. When running, press A and the character will jump dive into the ground, sliding forward and hitting enemies as he goes. Pressing A while jumping will result in a jump kick. Certain items or enemies can be grabbed. To grab an item, move next to it and press A. Press A again to throw. Yoshi will temporarily hold the enemy in his mouth. At this time, you can press A to spit the enemy back out or press R to digest it and lay an egg. (Some enemies, like Bob-ombs cannot be digested.) Yoshi can hold one egg at a time. Pressing A when he's got the egg will cause Yoshi to throw it at the nearest enemy. The aim is automated, so don't worry. It is possible for the egg to ricochet off several enemies, and landing you a large coin bonus. The Power Flower: The caps of Super Mario 64 have been replaced by Power Flower, obtained from ? blocks throughout the game. The Power Flower grants each character different abilities depending on his identity. Yoshi has the ability to breathe fire (having a bad case of heartburn!). Mario has the ability to inflate into a balloon, allowing him to reach new heights. (Press R to deflate and land.) Luigi gets the ability to become invisible and walk through walls and enemies. Wario gets the ability to turn metallic, allowing him to be invincible, killing enemies just by walking into them, and walking under water! Mushrooms: There are two types of Mushrooms in the game. The Super Mushrooms (red) turn your character into a HUGE size, enabling him to destroy anything just by walking into them. Even blocks, wooden pillars will fall before the giant. You will get a number of every enemy or item that you have destroyed. When the number reaches 8 or beyond, you will get an extra life for any additional things you break! The traditional 1-up (green) mushrooms are back for more. Some will be attracted to Mario, and some will attempt to get away, making you chase them. Some just sit still and wait for you to collect them. Flying: The ability to fly is exclusive to Mario. Bumping the ? blocks sometimes makes a feather appear, and this is what Mario can use to fly. Jump in place for 3 times and Mario will take off. The same flight rudder controls apply. (Down for up, and vice versa). It is recommended that you hold the B button for the entire duration in order to maintain a stable altitude. Different Types of Blocks: There are 3 types of blocks in the entire game. The first type is made of wood, and can be broken by anyone except Yoshi. (Just punch or stomp hard on it.) The second type is made of ice. This time, only Yoshi can melt it with his fire breathing attack. The third type is made of bricks. To break the bricks, Wario MUST be used. The 3 types of coins: There are 3 types of coins in Super Mario 64 DS. The ordinary yellow coins are worth 1 coin each, and if you collect 100 of them, a star will appear. The Red coins are worth 2 coins each, and there are 8 of them in each level. Collecting them all will result in a Power Star appearing somewhere, most possibly a Star Shadow. Blue coins are only found by killing certain enemies, or stomping Blue Coin Switches. They are worth a whooping 5 coins each! If you looking for the 100 coin star of a course, you must keep an eye on these high class coins. Health System: Mario no longer starts out small and weak. In fact, all characters start out regular sized. Each character's health, or Power is shown on a gauge shaped like Mario's head. The circle in the middle is divided into 8 parts, representing 8 units of health. When there are 7 or 8 units of health, the circle appears blue. When there are 5 or 6 units, it appears green. When there are 3 to 4 units, it appears yellow. If there are only 1 or 2 units left, the gauge appears red, and the alarm will sound. You better recover health or you will be knocked out and lose a life. To recover health, Mario can collect coins. The number of units of health recovered is the same as the value of the coins. (For example, Blue Coins recover 5 units of health) Another way is to use a Spinning Heart. Spinning Heart can be used as many times as you like, and the faster you run through a Spinning Heart, the more health you recover. The Power Gauge also is a representation of how much air your character has when he is swimming underwater. The Gauge will slowly drop to zero. In fact, one unit of air is lost every 9 seconds. To recover air, head up to the surface and breath deeply. Of course, since in this game, air = health, jumping into water that is deep enough to swim in will result in your Power Gauge filling up completely! (This is also why the programmers behind Super Mario Sunshine decided to have 2 separate gauges for health and air.) Ways of Collecting Stars: In general, there are several ways of collecting stars. The first way is to following the instructions as given by the objectives of the star. The second way is to collect all 8 Red Coins in a level. 2 new ways of getting Power Stars include pressing a Star Switch, thus causing the star to appear somewhere for a fixed period of time (They always appear in Star Spheres); and the Silver Stars. There are 5 Silver Stars in a level, and hence it would be a good idea to find them all for the star to appear. --------------------------------------------------- 4. First Floor, Mezzanine and Fountain Area [SMDS4] --------------------------------------------------- This is the meat of the guide, the strategy guide itself! Once you have turned on your DS, select the game Super Mario 64 DS, by Nintendo and the game will start. However, you will be no longer be greeted with "It's me! Mario!". However, Mario or Yoshi's face will appear, and you can touch his face to play around with the scribbles of his face! By pressing the pencil button, you can draw your own picture to play around with. On the main menu, there are 3 options. Here they are: The Vs mode, where you can compete for Power Stars with up to 3 of your friends. (See Chapter 8b) The Adventure Mode, which is the main quest or 150 Stars (See below) The Rec Room, where you play the minigames. Let's poke the Adventure button, to make a new file. (See Chapter 8a) -------------------------------------------- a. Storming Princess Peach's Castle [SMDS4A] -------------------------------------------- *****PLAYING AS YOSHI FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** Mario has again been invited to Princess Peach Toadstool's castle for a cake she baked. The Latiku cameraman flies over to the gardens outside the castle, and a pipe pops up, and Mario jumps out! In front of Mario, 2 more pipes pop out, and Luigi and Wario comes out! They goof around for a while before entering the castle. Meanwhile, Yoshi is fast asleep outside the castle, and Latiku wakes him up. He tells him that Mario has not returned yet! So, it's up to Yoshi to find out what's going on. Try to open the door to the castle, but you will find that it is locked. The Latiku will tell you that it is in the mouth of a certain rabbit. The location of the rabbit will be found on the map on the Touch Screen. Go over to the hedges where the rabbit is, and give chase. Run around, and you can eventually use Yoshi's tongue to capture the rabbit! The rabbit will then surrender the key to Yoshi, and you can use it to open the castle door, and storm the castle itself! Inside the castle, you will hear a voice, of a certain arch villain that has a long criminal record of kidnapping princesses. His evil laughter is heard! Now, let us investigate. All the doors in the foyer area of the castle area require stars or keys to open. Except one, that is. Let's enter that room and jump into the painting featuring 3 Bob-ombs marching. It's the Bob-omb battlefield, and there's a war going on. Several overviews of each course may be given, as the course will appear differently depending on which star you have chosen. When a Star can be collected at a certain point in a course, I will inform you, and the phrase *****STAR X COLLECTED***** will be typed. Also note that collecting a Star will cause the character to leave the level, so it is needed for a character to play through a level at least 7 times to collect all 7 stars plus the 100 coin stars. (100 coin stars do not cause instant evacuation.) Besides, this guide will NOT collect stars in the order of number. The exact order will be revealed at the beginning of the guide for every level. Here are the requirements for each of the courses: Course 1: Bob-omb Battlefield --- None Princess' Secret Slide --- 1 Star Sunshine Isle --- 1 Star Course 2: Whomp's Fortress --- 1 Star The Secret Aquarium --- 3 Stars Course 3: Jolly Roger Bay --- 3 Stars Course 4: Cool, Cool Mountain --- 3 Stars Goomboss Battle --- 8 Stars The Secret of Battle Fort --- Unlock Mario ? Switch of the Rainbow Tower --- 14 Stars Course 5: Big Boo's Haunt --- 15 Stars Big Boo Battle --- 15 Stars Bowser in the Dark World --- 12 Stars ----------------------------------------- b. Course 1: Bob-omb Battlefield [SMDS4B] ----------------------------------------- Stars available for collection: 1. Big Bob-omb on the Summit 2. Footrace with Koopa the Quick 3. 5 Silver Stars! 4. Big Bob-omb's Revenge 5. Mario Wings to the Sky 6. Find the 8 Red Coins 7. Behind Chain Chomp's Gate I recommend that you collect the stars in this order: 7 --> 1 --> 6 --> 2 --> 3 --> 4 --> 5 --------------- Star 1 Selected --------------- Yoshi flips several times and lands in the battlefield beside several pink Bob-omb buddies. You will be told to talk to the bob-omb buddy. He will tell you that a certain man in a red cap and moustache has passed by recently and has not returned. At the same time, the big Bob-omb has been bombarding them with Water Bombs since he's got his hands on a Power Star, so it is time for the crew to silence him for his own good. Now, move forward and kill the Goombas. Under the wooden plank, there are 5 yellow coins to be collected. To the right, there is a transparent ? block. You will have to visit a certain tower with the switch to activate those blocks, so there is no time to worry about it for the moment. Turn left to find even more Goombas and some Bob-ombs. Kill them all, and you will eventually reach a locked gate. The switch is on the other side. So, it's a dead end. Head back to where you were a few moments ago, and get up to the ledge above using the lifts. There is a Red Coin on the top of the lift. Collect it, and work your way up to the top. To the right, is an open area where there are Goombas and Bob-ombs galore. Put them all to sleep, and watch out for the Water Bombs raining down from the sky. There is a second Red Coin on top of a rock, and some quick jumping is needed to get to the top for the coin. Now, let's get back to the junction and turn left. There is a gigantic Chain Chomp guarding the area. To the right is a star locked up in a cage. It seems that Chain Chomp is being held at bay by a wooden pillar, with the third Red Coin on it. The Pillar, like many other interactive objects in the game can be flatted by stomping hard down on them with a ground pound. That is what you have to do. One the pillar is stomped flat, Chain Chomp will be set free. To thank you, he will ram open the cage containing the star, and there you have it, the 1st Star of the whole game! *****STAR 7 COLLECTED***** Past the Chain Chomp, there is a teetering bridge. Cross it carefully, and turn left. There are several Goombas hanging around the 4th and 5th Red Coins and 4 Wooden Pillars. The 4 Wooden Pillars can be cashed in by running around them until the coins pop out. Each pillar holds 5 coins, so it really is a worthwhile investment. After this, jump up the steps, and you will reach another area with Bob-ombs. Water Bombs are prevalent here, so watch out for large shadows on the ground. There is a flowerbed with 8 coins surrounding it at a far corner. Collecting all 8 will trigger the appearance of a 1-up Mushroom. Yoshi has to chase it around it collect it. Just hurry before it disappears. There is a slope leading downwards behind the flowerbed. It leads down to a small enclosure with the 6th Red Coin, a Bob-omb, a 1-Up Mushroom and a switch opening the locked gate. With the coin and the extra life, get back up, and cross the bridge above to an area partially blocked off by bars. The grassy slope you see holds the 7th Red Coin of the course. To get it, run up the slope consistently without slowing down, or Yoshi will slip. Slide back down and make your way carefully past the pit with the iron balls. Make your way along the path to the top of the hill. There are lots of iron balls rolling down the path. Dodge them all. To help you to get to the top, you can always jump into the first iron ball dispenser you see on the mountain wall, and you will warp to the top of the hill. Notice the floating island in the sky? That is where the 8th Red Coin is. Since the cannons are unavailable for use, you might as well save this star for later. The big Bob-omb will be waiting for you at the top. Run over to him and he is not that willing to give you his Power Star. You will face his Bob-omb minions. He will throw Bob-ombs are you every now and then, and you are to use them against him. Use your tongue to hold a Bob-omb in your mouth, and spit it back to the big Bob-omb. Repeat this 3 times and he will be blown up! There's the Power Star. *****STAR 1 COLLECTED***** ---------------- Star 2 Selected ---------------- You now have to challenge the athletic Koopa, known as Koopa the Quick on a race to the top of the hill where the Big Bob-omb used to be for the first star. Before doing so, I suggest that you talk to the Bob-omb buddy by the cannon so he can prepare the cannons around the course for your use. There may be lots of cannons in the Bob-omb Battlefield, but only two of them are particularly useful. The first useful cannon is near the top of the hill. Before going there, please collect all the first 7 Red Coins as mentioned in the previous chapter. Also collect all the coins you find as you navigate the level. (Use the Egg Throw, destroy several enemies in a row to maximize your earnings. The egg seemed to have some sort of a "guidance system"! Hee hee.) While doing this, do not put on any Red Caps yet as they will turn you into Mario, and this will impede your coin collecting spree. Then, climb up to the top of the peak and jump into the cannon. Aim slightly above the tree with the 8th and final Red Coin. Yoshi should be able to grab onto the tree as he soars through the air. Once the 8th Red Coin is retrieved, the Star will appear above the shadow at the open air where the 4th and 5th Red Coins are. Before jumping down to collect it, hop into the cannon on the floating island and aim at the coin rings in the sky. Collect as many coins at possible, but stop when you have collected a total of 97-99 coins from this course. I know that it is a bit tedious, but stars like those 100-coin stars are best collected earlier on so you don't have to worry about them later, right? Notice that whenever Yoshi flies through the coin in the center of each ring, a Red Number will appear. There are 5 numbers in total, but the last one cannot be reached in your current stage. You will need to activate the ? blocks, and use the wings of Mario to get it, so forget about it now. Just focus on the coins. Now, use the Touch Screen Map to find the location of the nearest Red Cap, and put it on your head. You will become Mario, although you will still make Yoshi's sounds. Got to the wooden block near Koopa the Quick and smash it, revealing 3 coins. Upon collecting these coins, you should have 100 coins or more. A star will appear. It is the 100-coin star. Collect, it and you will not be evacuated. So, let's go back to where the Red Coin star is and collect it as well, ok? *****100-COIN STAR COLLECTED***** *****STAR 6 COLLECTED***** With these 2 stars, come back, put on a Red Cap and turn to Mario. Run over to Koopa the Quick and challenge him this time, for real. The finish line is the top of the mountain where the big Bob-omb used to be. You have to run to the flag to win. Just run like always, and be careful not to fall off those narrow wooden planks. Another thing to note that shortcuts, that is the warp portal is not allowed in this race. Koopa the Quick may try to outsmart you using a short cut, you will still be able to outrun him to the flag and collect the trophy for your victory, the Power Star! *****STAR 2 COLLECTED***** ---------------- Star 3 Selected ---------------- Here is a new way to collect Power Stars. Collect 5 Silver Stars which are 1/5th of the power of a normal Power Stars. The locations of the 5 Power Stars are found on the Touch Screen Map. While collecting the Silver Stars, it is advised that you do not take damage, or you will lose a Silver Star and will have a lot of trouble chasing after them. The first Silver Star is on top of a tree near the wooden ramp at the start of the level. The second is found on the tail of the free Chain Chomp. You can always throw an egg at him to stun him before collecting it. The third Silver Star is on a Goomba at the area with the 4 Wooden Pillars. The fourth one is on the flowerbed surrounded by 8 coins in the area above the steps. The fifth is on a Goomba in the open area at the base of the hill. Once the fifth star is collected, the Power Star will appear inside a Star Sphere at the start of the level, by the cannon. Jump into the sphere to smash it and get the star! *****STAR 3 COLLECTED***** ---------------- Star 4 Selected ---------------- The Big Bob-omb is back for revenge. He has also restyled his moustache! This time, the only way to defeat him is for you to grab him and throw him like all the other Bob-ombs. Since Yoshi cannot grab and throw large objects, you need to have him put on a Red Cap found on a Goomba near the top of the peak. When you have turned into Mario, talk to the Big Bob-omb and fight. You will have to run in very tight circles around him so you can grab him from behind. Then you throw him on the ground to injure him. You must be careful not to be grabbed by the Big Bob-omb, as he can throw you off the hill and rendering your efforts useless. Once you have thrown him for the third time, the Big Bob-omb will truly be defeated and he will give up his second Power Star. *****STAR 4 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 5 Selected --------------- *****PLAYING AS MARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** NOTE: This Star requires the use of the feather. Therefore, you must have stepped on the ? Switch in the Rainbow Tower to activate the ? Blocks throughout the game in order to access it. Once the ? Switch has been pressed, get back here, and blast your way to the flying island. There is a ? Block here. Bump it to get the Magic Feather. Mario will don wings. Jump into the cannon. Aim at the center coin of the nearest coin ring. Open fire. Try to maneuver Mario so that he can fly through the central coins of all 5 coin rings in the sky. Once all 5 Red Numbers has been revealed, the Power Star will appear near the 4th and 5th Red Coins. Swoop down and get it. *****STAR 5 COLLECTED***** ---------------------------------- c. Princess' Secret Slide [SMDS4C] ---------------------------------- *****PLAYING AS YOSHI FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** Since you should have more than 3 stars, let's explore the foyer area. How about entering the 1 Star Door on the balcony? You will find yourself in a room with 4 locked doors, labeled L, M and W. One of the doors is unlabeled. So, this is where the Mario Bros. are trapped! Before going through the only other unlocked door in this room, let's jump into the stained glass window to the right. It's the Princess' Secret Slide! The first star seems simple enough. All you have to do is to slide down to the bottom of the slide and punch the yellow ! block open. The second star requires you to slide down to the bottom in 21 seconds or less. To do that, you must jump down to the lower section of the slide as you are about to slide down the first downward railed slope with yellow rails. To save time, you must jump off the left of that part of the slide. Yoshi will suffer fall damage, but don't let that stop you. Get up immediately and continue to slide down to the bottom. You should be able to get it within a couple of tries. *****2 SECRET STARS COLLECTED***** ------------------------- d. Sunshine Isle [SMDS4D] ------------------------- With the 2 stars in hand, go through the double doors in the previous room between the other locked doors. You will find yourself in Princess Toadstool's recreation room. Talk to Toad. It seems that you will need keys to unlock the minigames here. Take note of that. There is a rather large picture of the beach that ripples when you jump near it. It's another hidden level, it's the Sunshine Isles! It has even adapted the music of Delfino Plaza of Super Mario Sunshine! From the map, you should know the objectives of this level. You are to retrieve all 5 Silver Stars to get the Power Star. The first is on an island to the north of your starting position. The second Silver Star is located on top of a palm tree to the right of that island. The third Silver Star is in an alcove behind the island with the 2nd Silver Star. The fourth Silver Star is located at the top of the central island. The fifth and final Silver Star is in the talons of Klepto the Condor. Run after him and jump up to shake the Silver Star loose. Then you can collect it and make the Star appear in the Star Sphere, marked by 8 coins. Collect it before taking any more damage! *****SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** --------------------------- e. Goomboss Battle [SMDS4E] --------------------------- I presume that you have more than 8 stars by now, right? Notice that there is an 8 Star Door. Go through it to find a large picture of Mario. Jump into it. It is time to free Mario! --------------- Freeing Mario --------------- You find yourself in an underground cavern. There is a large series of platforms above a large pool of water. The water is toxic, so do not jump into it, or risk taking lots of damage. Your target at the current moment will be to get to the red X on the map, that is where the boss battle is. There are 2 Power Stars in this level, however, they are not available right now. Also, there IS NO 100-Coin Star. So do not get distracted with collecting Red Coins or whatever at the moment. Slide down the ramp down to the platform with the Goombas. Jump onto the grey platform in front of you, and make your way to the logs that are rising and falling. I suggest jumping on while each log is rising from its lowest point to avoid taking damage from the water. Shuffling your legs while jumping can be a great help. Use the Egg Throw to dethrone the Sleeping Piranha Plant. Kill the Latiku and jump up onto the ledge behind the Plant. Climb up the vine. Once you jump off the vine, a 1-Up Mushroom will be released and given to you. Ignore the Red Coin for now. Run up the bridge, fighting any Goombas and Sleeping Piranha Plants that get into your way. You will eventually come to a very large hole on the highest log. Jump into it to fight Goomboss. We have another king to deal with. He is the great Goomba. He reveals that he has locked Mario up in a room. Since he's so large, he cannot be stomped! There must be another way! It seems that Goomboss is leading a team of 3 Goombas after you on a circular arena, surrounded by a bottomless chasm and with a poisonous lake in the middle. At first Goomboss is small, and can be run around. Grab a Goomba with your tongue, turn it into an egg and spit it out at Goomboss. When he is hit, Goomboss will get red with rage and grow slightly bigger. Now, it is quite difficult for you to run behind him. Also, he will lead a team of 6 Goombas against you! Run away from him on this circular ring. Since Yoshi runs faster than Goomboss, he will eventually reach his rear. Turn a Goomba into an egg and try to hit him again. (You may be able to drop all 6 Goombas like bowling pins while you are at it before even hitting Goomboss!) Goomboss is mad now! His skin turns deep red, and he swells to an even larger size! He is also leading an army of 9 Goombas against you! As before, run away from him on the circular arena, eventually reaching his troops' rear guard. Grab one, turn him into an egg and throw! STRIKE! The Goomboss now wonders if it's the Goombas' fate to lose! He swells, and explodes. The Mario Key is released. Take it, now you can free Mario! Get back to the room where Mario is locked up, and open it. Mario comes out! Let's play as Mario for now. Before we do anything else, let us jump back into Mario's picture as Mario, as there is something for him to get! ------------------ Getting the Stars ------------------ As before, slide down the ramp to the platform below. Turn right at this first junction, and walk through the twisted path to another platform. There is a ramp to the right leading up. Go up the ramp, being prepared to Dive Tackle the Sleeping Piranha Plant that is resting there. Then, you will find a series of 4 grey platforms balanced on small and thin pivots. When you jump on one, you will find that it will tilt towards the position you are standing on. Fortunately, it will not tilt as far as to cause Mario to slide off. Make your way past these platforms to the other side. You are now on a rather long path. Kill all Goombas in the way, and you will find a Switch Star. Step onto it and a Star will appear in the Star Sphere on the top of that caged structure to the left. Run towards the structure and enter it. Have Mario wall jump up the 2 parallel walls to the top and get the Star from the sphere. There should be ample time for you to do this. (Otherwise, many people will gripe to Nintendo) This is only one of two stars in this level. Be sure to come back when you have freed Wario for the next one. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** NOTE: The next star requires the usage of Wario. You will have to rescue him from the clutches of Chief Chilly in order to get this star. *****PLAYING AS WARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** It is time to go for a Red Coin hunt. Slide down the wooden slide. Keep going forwards, past the logs that move up and down out of the poisonous water. Then, notice some checkered platforms moving to the main path from the left. Get onto that platform. Ride it to the next platform, over the waters and bottomless pit until you reach the remote platform with the Brick Block. Smash it apart to get the Red Coin inside. Ride back to the main path. Go right, and double jump to grab hold of the wire netting. Make your way over to the other side, collecting the Red Coin on the way. Then on the other side, get ready to punch the Sleeping Piranha Plant. Then, you can just backflip up onto the top of the wire netting and collect the 1-Up Mushroom that is nestled up there. Jump down to the very wide platform in front of you. Go left, and over to the Goomba wearing the green cap. Punch it away, and steal the cap. Go back to the log with the wooden pillar and jump over to the platform on the other side. There is a Red Coin on a teetering platform over the water. Collect the coin, and make your way to the lone island to the right where the Red Question Block is. (Some teetering platforms lead to it.) Punch it for the Power Flower, and become Vanish Luigi. You will have to go quickly, all the way back to the place where you got the Green Cap, and backflip up into the cage above for the next Red Coin. With the Red Coin in hand, it is time to get back to the Goomba with the Red Cap. Kill him, and take the cap and become Mario. Go back to the Red Question Block. This time, turn into Balloon Mario. Float up to the top of the large log with the caged Red Coin you have collected, and collect the Red Coin at the top. Then jump down to the ground below, taking care to Ground Pound just before impact to nullify any damage. After this, go back to where you found the Red Cap, and go forwards. Then, go to the right. There should be a series of logs rising and falling. Jump carefully between logs and you will eventually reach a stationary log with another Red Coin guarded by a Piranha Plant. Surprise him as usual and the Red Coin should be a steal. Jump back to the mainland. Jump over to the narrow path to the right, and you should run into another log that is rising and falling. Jump onto it to find a Red Coin at the top. Now, go over to where you would face Goomboss, and climb up the vine. The Red Coin should be sitting there, on a small branch. Take it, and the Power Star will appear on the Star Shadow on the stationary log that leads to the series of rising and falling logs to one of the Red Coins you have collected. Collect it, and both Stars in this level are yours. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** -------------------------------------- f. Course 2: Whomp's Fortress [SMDS4F] -------------------------------------- *****PLAYING AS MARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** There is another 1 Star Door in the foyer. Enter it. You will find a picture of a Fortress. Jump in. You will be entering Whomp's Fortress. Stars available for collection: 1. Chip Off Whomp's Block 2. To the Top of the Fortress 3. Shoot into the Wild Blue 4. Red Coins on the Floating Isle 5. Fall onto the Caged Island 6. Blast Away the Wall 7. Switch Star of the Fortress I suggest that you collect the stars in this order: 7 --> 1 --> 4 --> 2 --> 5 --> 3 --> 6 --------------- Star 1 Selected --------------- You start at the front lawn of the Fortress, and will be told of a way to sneak up on enemies. See the wall to your left? There is a way to jump up there. First walk up the ramp by the Sleeping Piranha Plant, and collect the 5 coins. Stand in the corner facing the ramp with Mario's back facing the grey stone wall. Perform a back flip to get up! You will find that this is a shortcut to the top of the fortress. Run up the ramp and collect the 5 coins, but do not go up yet. Instead, jump down to the moat. Collect the circle of 8 coins, and jump to dry land on the other side. Move along the path, collecting coins and slaying any Goombas you find. On your way, you will notice a cannon covered up. Since there is no Red Bob-omb Buddy, you cannot activate the cannon. The cannon is used to collect 2 of the 7 stars in the level. You will eventually reach a dead end. There is a blue coin switch there. Stomping it will cause 4 Blue Coins to appear in front of you for a short time. Collect them all, and go back to the front lawn of the Fortress. (I won't risk jumping to the other ledge due to the chasm and the high fence.) Now, walk forward, kill the Goombas. See the Sleeping Piranha Plant? He can only damaged while he is sleeping. So, you must hit him with a Dive Tackle. Once the Flower shrivels up, he will drop a Blue Coin, worth 5 coins! Collect the coins around the flower bed and from the pillar, then jump over the fence. Surprise! No more bottomless pit here! See that lone block in the alcove between the 2 walls? Smash it, and you will find a Star Switch. Do not step on it yet. Continue going forward. Jump over the next gap. This time, there is a bottomless drop down there, so be careful. Dive tackle the Sleeping Piranha Plant and get his Blue Coin. Break the wooden box. There is a 1-Up Mushroom inside. Jump over the next gap and watch out for that deep brown box. It's a cannon, it fires Bullet Bills. The Bullet Bills of this game cannot be stomped. Break the Wooden Boxes for their coins. Then, jump up and run around the 3 wooden pillars to cash in even more coins. Use caution when going over to the flowerbed, as there are 3 Sleeping Piranha Plants waiting to ambush you. Once they appear, run away for a while so they will fall asleep. Then it's Mario's turn to catch them off guard with his Diving Tackle. Get their 3 Blue Coins and the 100-Coin Star should appear at this point. Get it, now! You should also note the Red Coin by the flowerbed, just in case that you have to collect it later. Around the corner, to the left of the flowerbed is the Star Sphere, where the Switch Star will appear upon pressing the switch. So, run back to where you found the Star Switch and step on it. The Star will appear in the Sphere. There will be ample time for you to get over to the ledge with the Switch Star, so take your time, jump carefully, and do not fall down any of the gaps. It's a long way down! *****100-COIN STAR COLLECTED***** *****STAR 7 COLLECTED***** With this really out of the way star collected, it's time to come back. As before, go over to the grey stone wall and backflip up the wall. Run up the ramp and take the shortcut to the top. You will find yourself at the foot of the steps leading to another Sleeping Piranha Plant. Use stealth tactics to Dive Tackle him, and take him out. There is a Red Coin behind him. Take note of that. As you go left, notice that there is another Red Coin available for grabs on a narrow path near another Sleeping Piranha Plant. Wall hugs will work for that one. But ignore it for now. Run across the grey bridge. You must hurry, as the grey bricks will collapse as soon as Mario steps onto them. Then, cross the wooden bridge. Avoid the Sleeping Piranha Plant, and wait for the swinging ledge to stop on your side. Run onto the ledge and stand in the center to avoid being pushed off by that grey triangular block. If you like, you can walk to the tip after the ledge has passed the other side to collect the Red Coin to the left. You may also be tempted to chase the 1-Up Mushroom that appears after you collect one of the coins, but it's best not to bother, just in case you fall off and waste precious time. Continue along the path on the other side, and jump over the fence to the flag pole. Destroy the wooden block to reveal a Spinning Heart. Climb up to the top of the flagpole and another 1-Up Mushroom will appear and be given to you automatically. Slide down and return to the main path at this point. As you continue along the Fortress, you will encounter those large grey walking tiles called Whomps. When you step in front of a Whomp, he will attempt to slam down hard on your character. So quickly dodge. At this point, the Whomp is vulnerable. (See his bandaged back?) For the first 5 times you jump on Whomp's back, you will be given a yellow coin for your effort. Then, as you Ground Pound his back, the Whomp will be smashed, and you will awarded with 5 more coins! That's 10 in total. There are only 2 standard Whomps in the entire fortress! How ridiculous. At the end of the path, ride the lift up and you will face the Whomp King. He is mad that tiles are stepped on, and not even thanked for paving all our roads and building our houses! He is going to vent his anger at Mario! The same fighting strategies for Standard Whomps apply to the Whomp King, only that he will take 3 Ground Pounds to kill. You can witness his back slowly cracking. By the third ground pound, he will be turned into dust, and the Power Star will be yours for the taking! *****STAR 1 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 2 Selected --------------- You are back in the Fortress after the first 2 stars. This time, we will not cut corners, OK? First, turn around the corner and jump over the fence. Head all the way to the flowerbed where the 3 Sleeping Piranha Plants lie. Kill them all and take the Red Coin. Head back to the start. Walk up the ramp and this time, follow the lower path. Watch out for parts of the wall that stick out, they may knock you off the path (but not into certain doom, fortunately.), prompting you to go back to square one. The wall sections that move NO LONGER have eyes, so you must keep your own eyes peeled in order to prevent this from happening. What do you know? The second Red Coin is perched above one of those moving wall sections. So get it now. Keep moving along the path. You will now find parts of the path moving in and out. The first gap is not dangerous, but the second one leads to a rather long drop out of the sky. Beware. After this, you will come across 2 wooden blocks. One of them holds 3 coins while the other holds a 1-Up Mushroom. The path now leads up. It is guarded by 2 Thwomps. (No longer those ugly Blue Thwomps of Super Mario 64.) They look nicer, but are just as deadly. The Thwomps rise and drop in a pattern, and they drop regardless of whether Mario is nearby, so when a Thwomp starts to rise, run underneath. Once you have got past the second Thwomp, be sure to turn back and jump on him when he is down. As he rises up, you will find the third Red Coin for the taking above the Thwomp. You will now find yourself to be at the point where the normal path and the previous shortcut converge. Quickly run up the steps, and Dive Tackle the Sleeping Piranha Plant as before. Steal his Red Coin from him. This time, instead of running on that collapsing bridge, wall hug to get the fifth Red Coin placed there. Quickly punch the Sleeping Piranha Plant before he knows what hit him! Get onto the rotating ledge, ride it all the way round, getting the sixth Red Coin on the way. Continue on your way to the top of Whomp's Fortress. Hey, where are the remaining to Red Coins? Has Shiggy played a trick on us? Apparently not. As you can see, there is a long wooden plank placed at the edge of this ledge, where a tower now stands. Jump kick it twice to knock it over, creating a bridge. Cross the bridge and onto the arrow shaped platform. The next square platform holds the 7th Red Coin. Just jump over 2 more rotating circular platforms to get to the 8th and final Red Coin. The Power Star will then appear above the Star Shadow around the lawn near the Starting Point. All you have to do is to run forwards and jump down to get it. *****STAR 4 COLLECTED***** If you want to get Star 2, you should just get to the top of the Fortress, to where you first fought the Whomp King for Star 1. You will find a rather tall tower instead of the Whomp King this time. You must make your way up to the top of the tower to get the Power Star. See those ledges protruding out of the tower? Those are the steps you have to use. Notice that the 2nd, 4th and 6th ledges move in and out. Once you have jumped up to the 8th and last ledge, it will move up like a lift, taking Mario to the top of the tower, where you can have a nice view of the Fortress, as well as the pleasure of adding another Power Star to your collection! *****STAR 2 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 3 Selected --------------- At the start of the course, there is a tree with a single coin above it. Sounds suspicious, right? Climb up to the top, and jump off. It seems that you have woken up an owl who was roosting in the tree. The owl is very kind, not only that he will not rebuke you for disturbing him, he will offer to take you up into the air. Just watch out for his shadow, and press B to jump up and grab him. While in the air, hold B to hold on. Release B to let go. You can then use the stylus to steer the owl to wherever you want to go. While collecting the Red Coins of this course, you should have noticed a Power Star trapped in a cage above the platform where you have obtained the 8th Red Coin. That is where you will want to land. The programmers are much, much nicer than when they were programming Super Mario 64. The island with the caged star is much larger than before, so it is much easier to land without fear of falling to death. As soon as you see Mario's covering that particular platform on the Touch Screen Map, release B to let go and drop down. You should be careful not to land on the cage itself, as it is quite slippery, and can cause Mario to slide down to a rather long drop below! When you have landed, just walk into the cage and get the Power Star. Seeing how isolated this island is, it is no wonder Mario will be evacuated upon collection of Power Stars. *****STAR 5 COLLECTED***** The last 2 stars of Whomp's Fortress require the use of the cannon. So, let's go over to the grey stone wall and haul Mario up. Wade past the fountain and the Pink Bob-omb Buddy will be waiting for you at the other side. Talk to him and he will prepare the cannon for you. Jump in and depending on where you aim, you can get 2 different Power Stars. First, see the alcove beneath the flagpole? Aim at a spot slightly higher than the inner pillar you can see. Mario will be blasted over there, and the pillar will be the only thing that is preventing Mario from overshooting and falling towards certain doom. It must also have been painful for Mario, hitting his head on a brick wall like that. Anyway, all you have to do now is to get up, and slide down the pole, and the Power Star will be waiting for you in the level below. *****STAR 3 COLLECTED***** ---------------- Star 6 Selected ---------------- As for the previous star, hop into the cannon, and this time, aim to the right. See the two parallel walls? They both have structural weaknesses, and their cracks can be easily seen. Now, you are to aim Mario at the wall to the right and break it open. Once it is smashed, the Power Star will be freed from the wall. Run up the path, past the collapsing bridge to reach the top of that wall. Walk over to collect your prize. *****STAR 6 COLLECTED***** ----------------------------------------- g. ? Switch of the Rainbow Tower [SMDS4G] ----------------------------------------- If you have followed this guide, you should have 18 stars at this current moment. (Excluding Star 5 of Course 1) If you go back to the foyer as Mario, you will notice that there is a beam of light shining onto the sun pad on the floor. Stand on the sun pad and look up into the light. Mario will be transported to the Rainbow Tower, and will be donning Wings! There is one and only one star in this secret level. You have to collect the 8 Red Coins. While flying above the tower, follow the trail of the coins, eventually reaching a ring of coins with 2 Red Coins in the center. Collect them both. Then slowly glide downwards, following the path of coins, and collect the 3 other pairs of Red Coins as they appear. To ensure that your altitude does not fluctuate, please keep the stylus pointing at the red region of the circle. To turn, only move the stylus to the left and right, not even diagonally. It is quite a tricky star, given the maneuverability of the Wings. When all 8 Red Coins have been collected, the Power Star will appear on the tower. Dive down onto the tower and stomp the ? Switch. Now, all ? Blocks throughout the game will turn solid, and you can bump them for their contents. Save, and get the Star. It's time to evacuate. Now that the ? Blocks are avail; let's go back to the Bob-omb Battlefield. There are some loose ends Mario has to take care of. Scroll back up now. Have fun in the air! *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** ------------------------------- h. The Secret Aquarium [SMDS4H] ------------------------------- When the star is collected, return to the Foyer, and go through the 3 Star Door to the right. You will find yourself in a room with a picture and an aquarium. Before jumping into the picture, go to the right of the room and jump into the hole in the wall. You will find yourself in the Secret Aquarium. There are exactly 8 Red Coins you have to collect here for the Power Star. The locations of the Red Coins are very simple indeed. First, dive down to the bottom of the Aquarium and swim along the walls. The first 4 Red Coins are located at the 4 corners. Then, swim upwards and around the Aquarium. You will find 4 rings of yellow coins, each with a Red Coin in its center. Collect them too. Once the 8th Red Coin is collected, the Power Star will appear on the Star Shadow in the center of the bottom of the Aquarium. Swim down to collect it. Since air is running low, you get to evacuate. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** ------------------------------------- i. Course 3: Jolly Roger Bay [SMDS4I] ------------------------------------- Now, once you get back out of the Aquarium, it's time to jump into the painting of the deep blue sea, into Jolly Roger Bay. The programmers of the Super Mario series have a tendency to use soft and gentle music in stages with water. This time, they have chosen a love song style theme! The Power Stars available for Mario's collection are as follows: 1. Plunder in the Sunken Ship 2. Can the Eel Come Out to Play? 3. Treasure in the Ocean Cave 4. Blast to the Stone Pillar 5. Red Coins on the Ship Afloat 6. Switch Star of the Bay 7. Through the Jet Stream I would prefer to collect the 7 Power Stars in this course in the following order: 3 --> 1 --> 2 --> 5 --> 4 --> 6 --> 7 --------------- Star 1 Selected --------------- You will be dropped at the shorelines of the level. There are 2 wooden blocks to your right, as well as 2 Goombas and a Blue Coin Switch nearby. First, go and kill the 2 Goombas for some cash. Then break the Wooden Box to the right. A Koopa Shell will come out. Do not pick it up yet. Instead, go and Ground Pound the Blue Coin Switch. Immediately run back to the Koopa Shell to collect it before it disappears. Surf on the surface of the water, collecting the trail of a whopping 8 Blue Coins. Once they are collected, surf back to the start of the level and break the other wooden block. Collect the 3 coins. Wow, you already have 45 coins within the first minute of playing this course! Now, press R to stop riding the Koopa Shell. It's time to take Mario on a little deep sea tour. We will start at the continental shelf, where you are right now. Notice the cannon. It is not ready at this star. Notice the ring of coins under water, surrounding a rock? Swim down there. Collect the 8 coins, then the first Red Coin of the level when the clam opens up. The other clam is holding another Koopa Shell. You can grab on and swim faster if you like. But I won't bother, as the effects are only temporary. After this, swim in the direction of the other end of the bay. You will find a second clam guarding a second Red Coin. Grab it when the clam is open. To the left is a pillar surrounded by a ring of 8 more coins. Collect them as well, and turn right to the dry land. You should find yet another clam guarding a third Red Coin. Take it. Then go over to the dry land. Jump onto the wooden plank, and go right. Jump on to the pole and get to the top of the 4th Red Coin of the level. Then, go back onto the wood plank, and jump over to the wall with the 5 coins leaning against it. Jump up to the wall and climb up. There is a switch that will temporarily reveal a series of bridges covering several platforms. You will find that the bridges seem to lead to nowhere. I wonder what is going on. The 3 Red Coins seemed to be floating in mid air and are completely unreachable. I wonder what is going on. Do not worry about them for now. Instead, dive down to the bottom of the deep trench below. There seems to be a sunken ship here. Ignore the Sunken Ship for now. Instead, swim over the clam which is guarding the 5th Red Coin of the level. Also collect all the coins on the sea bed, and the ring of 8 coins marking a tunnel. You should have collected 100 coins at this point, and a star will appear. So get it and continue with your dive. Swim through the tunnel, and you will find yourself in a secret cave. Make your way to the left of the cave, watching out for all those rock pillars that crumble down on you, and killing all Goombas. You will eventually reach 4 Treasure Chests. You must open them in the right order in order for the Power Star to appear. First, open the one at the rear, then the one to the left, then the one to the right, and finally, the one in front. The Power Star will appear in the cave. Get it now. *****100 COIN STAR COLLECTED***** *****STAR 3 COLLECTED***** Now that is taken care of, let's come back and select the same star. Dive down to the bottom of the trench as usual, and let's have a look at the Sunken Ship. It is guarded by an Eel, and once you swim near it, it will gnaw at you for a few times before swimming out, revealing a hole. Swim into the hole. You will find yourself inside the ship. There is one and only one treasure chest here, compared to 4 in the original Super Mario 64, so we don't have to open the chests with any trial and error method while Mario gasps for air! Once that lone chest is opened, the water will drain. If you are running short of air, swim into the large air bubble evolved to fill up your Power Gauge. Once the water is completely drained, you will find a large series of ledges leading up. If you want to jump up, you must jump while Mario is on the ledges. The slope here is designed in a way that Mario can jump while standing on it. Slowly make your way up to the top, and there will be a yellow exclamation block on the top ledge. Bump it to reveal the Power Star. *****STAR 1 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 2 Selected --------------- When you are dropped into the course again, you will find that something has changed. It seems that the sunken ship has risen up and is now docked in the bay. I wonder what the sea bottom will be like once the ship is up. So, let's swim beneath the ship and dive down to the bottom of the trench. There is something new there. A Power Star is found over some Jacuzzi like machine, that sends out currents from it. Try as you might, and you will find that it is impossible for you to get the Power Star. Don't worry about that for now. This is not the star you are about to get. Since the Sunken Ship has risen, the Eel has to find somewhere else to rest. Swim along the walls of the trench and you will find it staying in another alcove covered with seaweed. Once you swim near it, the Eel will swim out after gnawing at you a few times. This time, notice that a Power Star is connected to the tail of the Eel. So, go and swim after the Eel. While doing so, you better keep an eye on your Power Gauge, as a potential hazard of this Power Star is running out of breath. Once you come in contact with the Power Star, it will break free and move over to a position slightly beneath the alcove where the eel once stayed. Swim over to get it, just take care not to lose your breath! *****STAR 2 COLLECTED***** ---------------- Star 4 Selected ---------------- First, dive down to the continental shelf, and get the 1st Red Coin guarded by the clam. Then, swim back up in the direction of the ship, and collect the second Red Coin guarded by that clam. Then, dive down to the bottom of the Challenger Deep (that is, the deepest trench), and collect the Red Coin guarded by the clam. Swim back up, to the area near the wooden plank. There is another clam underwater. Let it open up and steal the Red Coin. That leaves 4 more to go. Jump up onto the Wooden Plank. Go over to the ledge where the Red Bob-omb Buddy is. Talk to him and he will open up the cannon portal. Then jump up the pole and get the Red Coin there. Get over to the switch to activate the bridge system. Quickly run across the bridges and jump onto the ship. There is 1 Red Coin at the stern and 2 more at the bow. Get them all and the star will appear at the bow. Here we go. *****STAR 5 COLLECTED***** It's time to get back to this level, selecting the same star as before. This time, the cannon should be ready for use. Jump into the cannon, and aim at the pillar with the ring of 8 coins at its base. Since the pillar is so far away, you must aim much higher than the pillar. After a few tries, Mario should be able to grab on. There is a 1-Up Mushroom on top of the pillar adjacent to the one you are grabbing on now, but I will not bother trying to get it. Instead, turn Mario so his back faces the ledge with the Power Star. All you now have to do is to jump over and get it. *****STAR 4 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 6 Selected --------------- Note: This Star requires the Vanish ability of Luigi, and hence cannot be collected until you rescue Luigi from the clutches of Big Boo in the Big Boo Battle, so feel free to skip this star until Luigi is found. *****PLAYING AS LUIGI FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** As Luigi, swim over to the ship, and dive down to the deep trench below. Swim through the tunnel you find there and enter the cave. See the caged area? You will need to turn into Vanish Luigi in order to enter it. So, go over to the Red Question Block and bump it. Take the Power Flower and Luigi will turn invisible. Run through the Goombas and falling stone pillars to the Star Switch in the cave, and press it. The Power Star will appear in the Star Sphere inside the cage. Then all you have to do is to run into the cage to get the Power Star. *****STAR 6 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 7 Selected --------------- NOTE: The following star requires the usage of Wario. You will have to rescue him from the clutches of Chief Chilly in order to get this star. *****PLAYING AS WARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER**** It is a long comeback, but once you get your hands on Wario, send him here as the main playable character. Swim over to the risen pirate ship, and then dive down to the bottom of the Challenger Deep trench. Wario may be the slowest swimmer, but he should be able to swim fast enough to reach the bottom without suffocating. As usual, the Power Star is there in the Jacuzzi like jet stream. You still cannot swim into it, in spite of Wario's imposing bulk. So, the solution to this problem lies somewhere else. As before, swim through the tunnel to reach the cave deep underwater. Go to the Red Question Block and bump it, revealing a Power Flower. Get it, and Wario will be transformed into a metal machine. As described by the game, he can walk underwater, and of course, since metals are so dense, they cannot be moved by any water currents either. So, once you turn into Metal Wario, run back into the tunnel and into the water. Run to the jet stream, and this time, the bubbles cannot keep Wario at bay, and you can get the final star of Jolly Roger Bay after a jolly long delay! *****STAR 7 COLLECTED***** ----------------------------------------- j. Course 4: Cool, Cool Mountain [SMDS4J] ----------------------------------------- *****PLAYING AS MARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** It seems that you need the help of your other brothers in order to get the final 2 stars of Jolly Roger Bay. So, let's move out once we have obtained the 5th star. Get back to the Foyer, and go through the other 3 Star Door. You will be in a room with 3 pictures of 2 snowmen (one large, one small) besides a tree. It's time to go skiing! Here are the stars you can find in this ski resort: 1. Slip Sliding' Away 2. Li'l Penguin Lost 3. Big Penguin Race 4. Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins 5. Snowman's Lost His Head 6. Mario's Super Wall Kick 7. Switch Star of Cool, Cool Mountain I prefer that you collect the stars in this order: 1 --> 3 --> 2 --> 4 --> 5 --> 6 --> 7 --------------- Star 1 Selected --------------- As soon as you dive into this level, you will be instructed to enter the cottage first. You can see that there is a column of coins pointing down the chimney, and that is where you will want to go. You will find yourself at the top of a slide! It is time to slide down this slide for the first star. Unlike the Princess' Secret Slide, you will be wagering a life in playing this ride. If you fall off, too bad. You will lose 1 life. Start by sliding after the Blue Coin that seems to be bouncing away from you. Once you collected it, I suggest that you slow down by leaning the stylus backwards. Then, turn to the right, collect the coins, and prepare for a chain of coins leading up to a small arc of coins. If you jump at the right time, you will be able to collect them all. Then, turn right, then left, and you will see a line of coins leading into the wall. Collect them and turn left. Now, at the next turn, you will have to be careful and keep to the center of the slide. Why? It's because the slide will be slightly slanted to the right hand side. If you are not careful, you could slip right off the slide while you are trying to collect the coins on the inner bend of this section. This is the only tricky part of the slide. Once you have survived that part of the slide. Brace for a treat. There is a long line of yellow coins in the middle of the next straight section of the slide for you to collect. Be sure to collect them all. Afterwards, there will be another anticlockwise bend with some more coins. Past that, you should be relatively safe, because you will be surrounded by walls on both side of the slide. Then, prepare for the final tricky part of the slide. You will find a narrow ice bridge taking you to the finish line. To avoid falling to your doom, make sure to follow the next long trail of coins leading you there. Once you cross the finish line, you can go out of this place, and possibly have collected more than 70 coins! NOTE: If you have trouble sliding down this slide, there is a shortcut that you can use. Remember the 5 coins leading into the wall? Slide into the wall at that point and you will be sliding through a shortcut tunnel, filled with several 1-Up Mushrooms. This place is definitely safe, and will send your character straight to the finish line! Once you have got out of the room, you will be in the bottom of the mountain. The Power Star will appear for your collection. Since you already have so many coins, it won't hurt if you took some more effort in finding more for the 100-coin star. First, climb up a tree to Mario's right and collect the Red Coin on top. You will awaken an owl, but ignore him for now. Run past the mother penguin (She's looking for her baby), and kill the Goombas and collect their coins. Then, run over to the bridge, cross it and collect the Red Coin on the platform. There is one more Red Coin at the far corner of this area. With these coins collected, run over to the broken bridge and stand on its edge. It is actually a warp. Mario will be warped back to the top of the mountain, which is the start of the level. Jump up to the ledge where the baby penguin is, but ignore her for the moment. Go left and jump down to the ledge below. There is a Spindrift on the platform. Jump kick her to release 3 more coins. Get back to the start of the level and slide down the slide, collecting all the coins that are in the way. By the time you reach the first U shaped bend, you should have more than 90 coins. So, jump off the slide at this point and land on the ledge in front of you. There is a Blue Coin Switch hidden here. Stomp it to reveal 2 Blue Coins. Collect them and you should have more than 100 coins, and hence the 100-Coin Star will appear and be ready for your taking. Once you have this 100-Coin Star, jump off the ledge and you should land back on to the base of the Mountain, and be able to collect Star 1 of this course. *****100-COIN STAR COLLECTED***** *****STAR 1 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 2 Selected --------------- After you have collected the first Power Star of Cool, Cool Mountain, you can access Star 2. The baby penguin you have to give to the mother is right on the ledge above the cottage. Ignore her and jump down into the cottage. This time, you are not alone in the slide. There is a big penguin hanging around the top of it too. Talk to him and he will tell you that he is the fastest sledder of this mountain. He asks if you want to race him down the slide. Of course, let's go! So, let the race begin. This is just pure speed, not much brain here. Don't even bother to try collecting any of the coins as they can only distract you and result in Mario falling to his demise. Watch out for the same tricky corners, as it is very easy for a person to make mistakes when he is in a hurry or is very nervous. Once you have reached the narrow ice bridge leading to the finish line, you can be rest assured that the victory is in your hands, after all, the penguin CANNOT overtake you at that point. Please note that shortcuts are not allowed, whether they involved following the line of coins into the wall, or jumping to a lower section of the slide from above. As long as you win it fairly, the big penguin will award you with the Power Star when you talk to him at the bottom. *****STAR 3 COLLECTED***** Once the race is won, we got the baby penguin to deal with. See the baby penguin on the ledge, making sounds similar to those of the car alarm systems? Jump up and grab her, causing her to cry for Mama, then get back to the starting point, and jump into the slide. Slide down the hill, and steer clear of any walls that are in the way, as bumping into them will cause the baby penguin to escape Mario's clutches. Another thing to note is that you cannot warp with the baby penguin in your hands, or you will lose it as well. As before, jump onto the ledge as you approach the U shaped bend. Run over to the edge facing the base of the mountain and jump! I know that it is a long drop, and Mario may take fall damage. The baby penguin is also likely to escape your clutches, but fortunately, she cannot go far before you grab her again. Once she's back with you again, move her over to Mommy. The mother penguin will thank you for finding her baby, and give you a Power Star she found along with her eternal gratitude. So, get it now. *****STAR 2 COLLECTED***** Before you attempt to collect the next star, I'd suggest you get back to the Character Change Room, and set Yoshi as the current playable character. All you have to do is to enter Mario's room for Yoshi to come out. --------------- Star 4 Selected --------------- *****PLAYINS AS YOSHI FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** Having dropped down into the level, jump up onto the ledge with the baby penguin. Take care not to eat her up! There is a Red Coin enclosed in an Ice Block. But how do I break it? The solution is over there on the left. See the fire? Press A when Yoshi is near the fire to have him "hold" the fire in his mouth! Talk about flame eaters! With the fire in his mouth, send Yoshi back to the Ice Block and press A to have him breathe fire! The fire will melt the Ice Block and allow Yoshi to get it. Now, let's go and slide down the hill. This time, go all the way to the bottom of the slide, without jumping onto the ledge. At the bottom of the slide, you will find the second Red Coin hidden in a corner next to a Pink Bob-omb buddy. This Bob-omb buddy will tell you the locations of all the Red Coins of the level, so pay attention to their locations on the Touch Screen Map at this point. There are several wooden blocks behind the stand with a snowman's head. The snowman complains that his body had melted away, leaving his head! Ignore his cries for help for now. Instead, jump onto the wooden block further away from the wall of the pair, and prepare to do a triple jump up the wall! It is a tricky practice, but you should be able to do it after a couple of tries. Just be careful not to break the blocks, or it will render the ledge above inaccessible! On the ledge, there is a Yellow Exclamation Block with a 1-Up Mushroom. There is yet another Red Coin encased in an Ice Block, and there are 2 more Ice Blocks stacked over it. Swallow some fire, and use it to melt the ice. For some strange reason, the 2 Ice Blocks above do not respond to gravity. So, you can just get the 3rd Power Star of the level easily. Get back down and go over to the wooden bridge. There are 2 jumping snowmen on patrol. Slowly follow the first one, and when he turns back to go the other way, let him jump over you. Then run forwards to the next snowman, and let him jump over you as well. Then you can cross the bridge. There is a broken bridge with a Red Coin on the edge of it. Run over to get it. See the other end of the bridge? There is a Star Shadow there. Remember this for now. This leaves 4 Red Coins. Get back onto the main path, and slide down the wooden path, passing the Mr. Blizzard and Spindrift, eventually reaching the bottom of the course. There is this Red Coin on top of the tree to Yoshi's right. There is also this one hidden in a corner at the edge of the level on the far left side. Another one is on the platform linked to the main part of the course by a bridge. This leaves one left. Run past the mother penguin, and the owl. There is a gondola leading up. Ride it. As you go up, you will find a Bob-omb Buddy on a small platform midway of the gondola's route. Ignore him for now. When you have rode the gondola all the way to the top, you will find the last Red Coin there. Once the 8th Red Coin is collected, the Power Star will appear on the Star Shadow on the opposite end of the broken bridge. Long jump over to the other end of the bridge to get it. (Or warp back to the start of the level, slide down the mountain slide, jumping onto the ledge at the U-shaped bend.) *****STAR 4 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 5 Selected --------------- Remember that snowman with a very unhappy look on his face? Well, as you remembered, his body had molten off, leaving his head! It is up to you to find a body. How about looking around the ledge at the top of the mountain with the Spindrift? First kill the Spindrift, and observe the mount there. So, it's a small snowball. It can talk! It claims that it is looking for a head to fit on his body. It says that it will follow you. So, quickly slide down the mountain slide, and get down to the area where the snowman's head is. Stop as soon as you can stop sliding, and stand still in the path of the body. The body will get larger as it rolls down the hill. Once it is within sight, run in the direction of the snowman's head. The body should then roll towards the body, maybe right on top of you! Once the body and the head collide, the snowman would have become whole again! His sad face changes to a smile. He will reward you with something that will warm you up, a Power Star! *****STAR 5 COLLECTED***** Now that the fifth star is collected, it is time for you to get back to the Character Change Room and change to Mario, after all, the title of the next star mentioned Mario's Jump Kick. --------------- Star 6 Selected --------------- *****PLAYING AS MARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** Remember the cannon portal and the Pink Bob-omb Buddy by the Gondola? You need to find them now. Since they are located at the bottom of the course, the best course of action is to run over to the broken bridge near the start, and get warped all the way to the bottom! Simple, isn't it? Now, go over the gondola and ride it up. Midway up the top, jump onto the floating island where the Pink Bob-omb Buddy and a Star Switch is. Stepping on the Star Switch will cause a Star appear under the frozen pool of water where the mother penguin is hanging out. Since no one has the ability to break the ice for the moment, let's not deal with that star yet. Talk to the Bob-omb Buddy and he will prepare the cannon below for you. Wait for the Gondola to come back down and then jump on it. If you are lazy, you can just long jump in the direction of the bottom of the course and hope that the gusts of wind can give you a boost. Hop into the Cannon. There is one single tree on the other side of this deep chasm, and that is where you want to hang on when you have blast off. Aim much higher than the tree, as the distance is very far. (In fact, to maximize the range of this launch, the cannon should be inclined at 45 degrees to the horizontal.) Open fire, and then allow Mario to grab onto the tree. Slide down the tree after arrival. Follow the narrow path you find, punching any Spindrifts that get in your way. You will eventually reach a coin arrow, pointing to another large gap. Use the long jump to jump over this chasm to the other side. A Spinning Heart is there for your use if you want to recover health. Then run up the slope. You will reach a wall, and a higher ledge is behind you. Jump at the wall, and wall jump to send Mario up. Then run along this path and get ready to perform a Triple Jump. Mario should be able to make contact with the wall to the left. At this point, you can perform another wall jump to reach the ledge above. Now, the only thing that separates you from the Power Star is an icy path, made twice as wide when compared to that of the original Super Mario 64. I presume you will have no problems in reaching it, right? *****STAR 6 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 7 Selected --------------- NOTE: The following star requires the usage of Wario. You will have to rescue him from the clutches of Chief Chilly in order to get this star. *****PLAYING AS WARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER**** Once you get Wario, enter Cool, Cool Mountain. Go over to the broken bridge by the top of the mountain, and warp all the way to the bottom of the course. Run over to the frozen pond next to the mother penguin. Ground Pound the Ice to break it, revealing the Star Sphere beneath. Now, go over to the Goomba wearing the green cap and knock him away. Then put on the cap and transform into Luigi. Ride up the gondola. Halfway up the gondola, jump onto the ledge with the Pink Bob-omb Buddy, and trip the Star Switch. The Power Star should appear in the Star Sphere. Long jump down to the bottom of the level, and let the gusts of wind blow you forward, preventing Luigi ala Wario fall into the oblivion. Most of the time, Luigi ala Wario will land in a way so that his head is stuck in the snow. Wriggle the stylus and A and B buttons to pop back out, then run over to get the Star in the bottom of the pond before time expires. *****STAR 7 COLLECTED***** ------------------------------------- k. Exploring the Back Garden [SMDS4K] ------------------------------------- Now, let us go through one of two wooden doors in the Foyer. You will be inside a hallway. There is a set of stairs leading down to the basement, but let's not worry about that yet, shall we? Instead, go over to the long corridor, where a Boo is grinning at you. Run after him, go through the door. You will find yourself in the back garden of the castle. The back garden is infested with Boos! Remember that Boos thrive on fear. When you look directly into one, he will turn transparent, revealing the coin he is holding. On the other hand, if you turn your back on him, he will give chase. Boos are invincible in the transparent state. To defeat one, you must turn your back on him. Once he is close, give him the Ground Pound. Then he will disappear and cough up the coin! Let's do some Boo bashing practice here, shall we? It seems that the Boos here now drop Red Coins! There are 8 in all, so let's be aggressive and Ground Pound every Boo you find, well, except the one who appears to be holding a cage in his body. Once the 8th Red Coin is collected, the star will appear in the back garden go and get it. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** Now, notice that there are several wooden blocks in the back garden. Break them and you will find a hole in the ground. Jump in. It's the Battle Fort! There is only one secret star in this level. You have to collect all 5 Silver Stars. First, jump down to the bottom pit below, and destroy a wooden block by one of the corners for the first Silver Star. Walk around the pit and kill all the Goombas you find. One of them will drop the second Silver Star. Get out of the pit, and walk along the walls of the level. You will find a set of 4 wooden blocks in one corner. Smash them to reveal the third Silver Star. Another Silver Star is found on a Goomba hanging around the walls. While you are collecting them, watch out for those mechanical flippers known as Heave Hos. Now, run up the ramp to the top of the level, onto the narrow path, past the Chuckya (The giant purple Bob-omb like thing), and to the 5th Silver Star on top of the pole. The Power Star will then appear above the Star Sphere right back where you ran into the path. Collect it and get out. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** Once you are done with this secret star, find the Boo with the cage, and kill him. Walk over to the cage and Mario will jump right it, to Big Boo's Haunt, the one and only haunted mansion in Super Mario 64 DS. ------------------------------------- l. Course 5: Big Boo's Haunt [SMDS4L] ------------------------------------- These are the stars available for collection in this haunted mansion: 1. Go on a Ghost Hunt 2. Ride Big Boo's Merry Go Round 3. Secret of the Haunted Books 4. Seek the 8 Red Coins 5. Big Boo's Balcony 6. Eye to Eye in the Secret Room 7. Switch Star in the Basement I prefer collecting the Power Stars in this order: 1 --> 4 --> 3 --> 5 --> 6 --> 2 --> 7 --------------- Star 1 Selected --------------- You will start in front of the front door of the mansion. The double doors are right in front of you. But do not go in. Instead, let's stroll around the perimeter of the mansion in an anticlockwise direction, shall we? There is an insect known as a Scuttle Bug to the right. Stomp him and get his three coins. Then continue on your way. You will come to 2 more Scuttle Bugs and a Yellow Exclamation Block. Stomp the bugs, and bump the block for 10 more coins. You will now find a secret back door on a ledge. Go through the door. This is a small room with 2 Boos. If you stare into them, you will find that they each hold a Blue Coin! Turn your back on them and Ground Pound them as they appear. As you destroy each one, you will be taunted like this, "Ghosts...don't...DIE! Heh, heh, heh! Can you get out of here...alive?" Of course, we will get out of here alive. With the two Boos killed, get back out to the perimeter, and continue in an anticlockwise direction. That is, to the left. You will come to a shed, with 2 Brick Blocks next to it. You cannot break the blocks yet, so use them as stepping stones to jump up to the roof. There is a 1-Up Mushroom on the roof. Do not enter the shed for now. See the box with a confused looking face? It is a Crazed Crate. Grabbing one will cause it to bounce around. Use the stylus to control where it lands. Once the crate has bounced 2 times, it will break upon the 3rd impact on the ground, releasing 5 coins! Now, let's enter the mansion from the front. You will find a lot of doors in the foyer of the mansion's ground floor. Let's go through the leftmost one and explore the first floor in a clockwise direction. In the first room, there is a grand piano, but it is not an ordinary piano, it will chomp at Mario when you approach him! So, it is a Mad Piano! To get the Red Coin it is guarding, you have to lure it away before running around it. Another way is to tiptoe and sneak around it. Then, go through the other door in this room. You will be in a room with some bookshelves. The books are haunted too! Some giant books, called Bookends will fly out and dive at you. To destroy them, bump them from below. You will receive a Blue Coin for every Bookend you destroyed. There are 2 more Red Coins on top of the two bookshelves. Get them. Stay away from the chairs, as they are haunted, and can fly up and swoop down on you! Go through the other door and back to the lobby. Then, go through the next door on the right. You will be inside a room with another Boo. Turn your back on him and Ground Pound him. There is also a giant eyeball in this room who would love to keep an eye on Mario. It's Mr. I! To defeat him, run around him repeatedly. The Mr. I will get dizzy while trying to follow Mario around and eventually spin himself out of existence! The reward for this is another Blue Coin! Let's get back out to the lobby, and go through the next door you find. The next room has a collapsing bridge. Run across it quickly or Mario will fall down into the basement. There is another Boo on the other side. Ground Pound him as usual and cash in the Blue Coin. (In case you fall into the basement, swim around the water until you are at a wading depth. Follow the path to a door. Run through the waterlogged hallway to a lift that will take you back up to ground level. You will find yourself in a shack. Get out of the shack to find yourself standing in front of the front door of the mansion. Easy, isn't it?) Go through the next door. You will find yourself in a room with a ledge with another Red Coin. Hug the wall to get onto that ledge. Get the Red Coin and kill the Boo there. You will hear a confirmation tune, and the Big Boo himself will announce his presence. So, let's wall hug to the other side of the room and go through the door there to get back to the lobby. Don't fall into the basement! The Big Boo will be waiting for you in the lobby. You should be very careful when facing him. Big Boo can deal 3 units of damage to Mario when he hits you, so turn your back on him and Ground Pound with care. The Big Boo takes 3 Ground Pounds to defeat. As you pound him down, he will shrink in size. After you pound him for the third time, he will disappear, and a Power Star will appear on the first floor. Is it unreachable? Not necessarily. Run over to that metal panel on the ground. It will rise up, revealing a set of steps that will allow you to reach the first floor and get the Power Star. Let's explore this floor later, ok? *****STAR 1 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 2 Selected --------------- As before, explore the perimeter of the mansion first. Kill the first Scuttle Bug, grab his coins and move on. Just like last time, stomp the 2 Scuttle Bugs you then encounter, and bump the Yellow Exclamation Block for 16 more coins. Then enter the back room of the mansion. Ground Pound the 2 Boos here for 2 more blue coins. What do we know? One of the boos here is wearing a green cap! Put it on to turn into Luigi. Now, you can take advantage of his super jumping abilities! Let's get back out to the perimeter. With Mario being turned into Luigi, backflips have been made more powerful. Not only will Luigi flip up high, he will glide in the air for a short distance. This should make collecting the 1-Up Mushroom on top of the shed an easy job. After this, jump down and grab the Crazed Crate. Break it open for 5 more coins. You should have 34 coins at this point, assuming that you won't let any disappear. Enter the mansion by the front door. Let's explore the rooms on the ground floor in the same order as we did for the first star shall we? In the piano room, sneak past the Mad Piano carefully, and grab the first Red Coin. It is vital that you do not take damage, or you will turn back to Mario. In the next room, bump the Bookend from below and get his Blue Coin. Then, while avoiding the 2 haunted chairs, grab the 2 Red Coins on top of the 2 bookshelves in the room. You should have exactly 45 coins now. Head back out to the lobby, and go through the next door you see. We have a single Boo and Mr. I in this room. Pound the Boo into the ground, taking his Blue Coin, and spin around the Mr. I until he disappears. You should now have 55 coins. Head back out to the lobby. Go through the next door. In this collapsing bridge room, run across the bridge before it disintegrates, and ground pound the Boo at the other side for another Blue Coin. Go to the next room, as in Star 1. In the next room, wall hug to the next ledge you see and collect the 4th Red Coin of the course. Ground Pound the Boo and collect his Blue Coin. Then, head back to the lobby. So, there is a Pink Bob-omb Buddy here. According to him, green hats are pretty chic now. The stairs are already available for use. Jump up them to reach the next level. The 2 leftmost doors are to be ignored for the moment. Go through the door immediately to Mario's left as he reaches the first floor. You should be standing on top of wire netting above the ground floor. The only item of interest is the Red Coin at the other end of the room. Jump over there to collect it, and go back to the lobby and go through the next door. As you enter, Mr. I is waiting for you! Quickly spin around him to defeat him. Get his Blue Coin. There is a coffin room next to where the Mr. I was. One of the coffins will open up, revealing a Red Coin. Hurry up and get it before it slams down on you again. Get back to the hallway and go through the final door you can reach at the moment. There is another bookshelf, housing 2 Bookends! Bump them and destroy them now! There is another Red Coin around the corner, next to a door leading to a balcony above the ground floor. Watch out as you collect it, as parts of the floor may flip over, sending Mario down to the basement. Get back to the ledge facing the bookshelf, and backflip up to the ledge above. Go through the door there. You will be in a room with a Luigi painting. Jumping into it will send you into a hidden level where you get to rescue Luigi. Don't bother entering now. Instead, pound the Blue Coin Switch, revealing 4 Blue Coins in this room. You should have over 100 coins at this point. Collect the Power Star that appears. Now, let the Boo in this room damage you so that you can turn back to Mario. Get out of this room, and drop down to the room below. Go through the door next to where the Red Coin was. You will find a Red Question Block. Bump it to reveal a Power Flower. Take it and Mario will float up like a balloon. Float up to the ceiling to get the final Red Coin, causing the Power Star to appear over a Star Shadow on the first floor of the lobby. Go over and collect it. *****100-COIN STAR COLLECTED***** *****STAR 4 COLLECTED***** With Star 4 Collected, head back to the mansion again. Go up to the first floor, and go through the first door on the left. Mario will find himself in a library. As you run between the bookshelves, watch out for books that fly out and try to hit you. Constant jumping is recommended if you want to avoid them all. You will eventually come to a dead end. At this point, 3 books will stick out of the bookshelf directly in front of you. The whole point of this puzzle is for Mario to push in the books in the correct order. Please do it in this order: Center, Right, Left. If you make a mistake, a book will fly out and hit you. Once the puzzle is solved, the bookshelf will slide to the side, revealing a secret door. Go through. You are inside a sealed room above the piano room. The Power Star is right in front of you, and you should be able to get it without interference. *****STAR 3 COLLECTED***** Head back into the mansion, and go up the first floor. Go through the door furthest to the right. Kill the 2 Bookends in the room here, and jump onto the ledge where the Red Question Block is. Wall jump up to the ledge above and go through the door. You will find yourself in the room with a portrait of Luigi again. Instead of jumping into the picture, go out through the double doors. You will be on a balcony. You can really have a nice view of the entire front yard here, but Mario is not alone. Big Boo is here as well! As before, turn your back on him and Ground Pound him three times to get rid of him. I suggest you only stay in one place, as it is easy to fall off this balcony. After he has been defeated, Big Boo will leave the Power Star on a ledge at the top of the mansion. To reach it, bump the Red Question Block and get the Power Flower. Turn to Balloon Mario and float up to the ledge. Before getting the Power Star, be sure to break open the Yellow Exclamation Block for a 1-Up Mushroom. Then it is time to get out of here. (Another way is to jump onto the Question Block itself, and jump up to the ledge above.) *****STAR 5 COLLECTED***** With Star 5 in your hands, it's time to head back to the mansion again. This time, let's enter the secret back room first. Kill the 2 Boos, and then steal the green cap to turn into Luigi. Then you can enter the mansion by the front door, and go up to the first floor, then entering the door furthermost to the right. As for the previous star, bump the 2 Bookends to defeat them and then jump up onto the ledge with the Red Exclamation Block. This time, bump the block to get the Power Flower. Mario, disguised as Luigi will then become invisible! Backflip up to the ledge above, and go through the door. In the following room, run all the way to the other end and run into the large Boo picture! You will find that Vanish Luigi can walk straight through these walls! There is a Boo here. Ground Pound him flat, oh, and what is this! There is another Mr. I in the room, but he is the biggest Mr. I I have ever seen. Don't bother spinning around him when you are invisible, he just can't see you. When Luigi appears again, run around the Big Mr. I and he should spin out of control and out of existence while trying to follow you. After disappearing, Mr. I will drop a Power Star for your collection. *****STAR 6 COLLECTED***** This time, let's enter the shed itself. There is a Mr. I inside as well. Spin him out of existence, and go over to the wire grating. As you step on it, it will descend. It is an elevator. Ride it down to the bottom and jump into the water. It is of wading depth. Run over to the door and go through. You will find yourself in another waterlogged hallway. Go through the door at the other end. Ugh, Mario must be under the water line. You will hear carnival music in this room. So, let's enter the structure in the middle of the room to find out what is causing the source of the voice. It is a turntable. There are quite a number of Boos hanging out here. Some of the Boo pictures of the wall can spew flames, so watch out while you are on the turntable. As you kill the Boos, more will come out of the pictures. There should be 5 small Boos in total. After that you will hear the familiar confirmation tone. And, for the grand finale, the Big Boo comes out to play! As before, Ground Pound him 3 times. Since the rate of revolution of the turntable is faster than the speed of Big Boo, you will have to take the initiative to jump behind him, making him appear before pounding. Once he is defeated, the horrible turntable will stop turning, and the Power Star will appear in the room. Just watch out for the flames while you are going for it, as they will not stop. *****STAR 2 COLLECTED***** --------------- Star 7 Selected --------------- NOTE: The following star requires the usage of Wario. You will have to rescue him from the clutches of Chief Chilly in order to get this star. *****PLAYING AS WARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER**** As for Star 2, enter the shed, and ride the lift down to the basement. Make your way through the waterlogged hallways until you reach the large room outside Big Boo's Merry Go Round. Go over to the Brick Block marked by the coin and break it open. There should be a Star Switch below. Stepping on it will cause a Power Star to appear in the Star Sphere at the other end of the room. Since there is a wall separating the Star Sphere from your entry point, you will be forced to go all the way round! Since the time you are given is very small, it is recommended that you switch to a faster character. Therefore, go back up to the ground floor, and enter the back room of the mansion. Bust the Boos there for the green cap, and turn into Luigi. Get Luigi ala Wario back down to the basement and stomp the Star Switch. Then run along the path outside the Merry Go Round. To increase the speed, I suggest you long jump as many times as possible. Even so, you should JUST reach the Power Star, when you hear the rapid clicks, indicating time is running out. Whew... (You may be tempted to run through the Merry Go Round as a shortcut, but it is not recommended. It is because it takes some time for a character in the game to open and close doors. As a result, much more time is wasted than gained.) *****STAR 7 COLLECTED***** -------------------------- m. Big Boo Battle [SMDS4M] -------------------------- *****PLAYING AS MARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** Anxious for Luigi's safety, eh? Well, it's time to rescue him from Big Boo's clutches. Enter Big Boo's Haunt. Go all the way to the back of the mansion and go through the door there. Kill the 2 Boos to get the green cap. Put it on to transform into Luigi. Now, enter the mansion through the front door. Go up to the first floor, and through the rightmost door. In this room, kill the 2 Bookends, jump onto the ledge with the Red Question Block, and backflip up to the ledge above. Go through the door. You will be in a room with a picture of Luigi. Jump in. --------------- Rescuing Luigi --------------- You should still be disguised as Mario in this secret level. Ignore any Red Coins for now. You should be in a room with a turntable. There are a total of 4 doors. If you go through the correct door, you will go to the next area. If you go through the wrong one, one the other hand, you will be sent back to this starting room. First, go through the door to the right. You hear Big Boo's creepy laughter all the time! You should be in a room with an island in the middle of a pit. There are 3 other doors in this room on separate ledges. The central island has a Mr. I and a Boo on it. Each door is connected to the central island via collapsing bridges. Run across the bridge to the island, defeat the Mr. I and Boo, then run to the left for the door there. Don't worry if you fall, you will only be sent back to the first room with the carnival music. In the next room, the doors are on 4 different ledges on each side of the square room. There is an island with a Red Question Block in the middle, as well as 2 Boos. Let the Boos come to you and destroy them, and jump onto the central island. Bump the Question Block for a Power Flower, and collect it carefully. (Parts of the floor tilt.) Luigi will turn invisible, and then you can go through the door to the right. (For your information, there is a red coin on that ledge too.) The next room consists of 4 ledges on each side of the room, each with a door. The ledges are connected by a series of lifts that all move anticlockwise. Since time is of the essence, jump over to the ledge to the left, and use Luigi's flutter kick to extend his jumping range, and go through the door there. You should be in a room with a long collapsing bridge. This is the point of non return. Run across the long bridge, and then jump through the Boo picture while you are still invisible. There is a secret Power Star inside! Take it! Then jump back out. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** NOTE: The following star requires the usage of Wario. You will have to rescue him from the clutches of Chief Chilly in order to get this star. *****PLAYING AS WARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER**** Now that we have Wario, it is time for a Red Coin Hunt. I suggest that you enter this level as Luigi ala Wario, that is, Wario disguised as Luigi. In the first Merry Go Round room, pound the Boo away and collect the only Red Coin in the room. Then go through the door to the right. In the next collapsing bridge room, there is one Red Coin on the central platform with Mr. I, as well as one on the collapsing bridge to the right. Since Luigi has the longest jump in the game, he should be able to jump back onto the central platform, collect the 1-Up by the door in front, and then come back and go through the door on the left. In the next room, let's Ground Pound all the Boos, and then jump over to the ledge to the right for another Red Coin. There is a Red Coin that is pretty high up. It is time to change into Mario. Jump into the pit to get back to the Merry Go Round room. Put on the Red Cap, and send Mario ala Wario to the room with the Red Question Block. Take the Power Flower and float up to get it. Then deflate, and go through the door to the right. In the next room, there is a system of horizontal lifts, as well as 3 Boos. Have one Boo hit Mario ala Wario to transform him back into Wario. Then pound them into oblivion. Ride each of the 4 lifts in an anticlockwise direction, collecting the 2 Red Coins, and the 1-Up Mushroom. Talking to the Pink Bob-omb reveals that the final Red Coin is in the next room. So, go through the door to the left of Wario as he entered the room. To the right, is a Brick Block. Punch it open for the final Red Coin, and the Star will appear on the shadow to the left. Get it and leave. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** --------------- Rescuing Luigi --------------- There is a lift leading up. Ride it up and change lifts at the top. The next lift will move sideways to the final lift, which leads to the top of the wall. Jump up to the ledge, and go to the hole. Jump into it. You will be inside a room with a mirror. Run around the room and then look in the mirror. A Big Boo wearing a crown will come out from behind and surprise you! He is surprised to see Luigi, as he thought he locked him up. Well, looks can be deceiving! It's time to fight! Big Boo is invisible in this fight, the only thing that can help you find him is the mirror and his shadow. (Wow, these ghosts actually have shadows!) When he appears, run over to him, and turn your back to him. When you see that he is closing in on you in the mirror, perform a Ground Pound. This time, you will have to be careful as he breathes fire. Once you have pounded him three times, he will tell you that he is about to rise from the dead! He disappears, leaving the Luigi key behind. Get it, and you can free Luigi! Go back to the Character Switch Room and unlock the door. Luigi will come right out, and you can play as him now. Use him to take care of some loose ends in Jolly Roger Bay. After that, change back to Mario. ------------------------------------ n. Bowser in the Dark World [SMDS4N] ------------------------------------ *****PLAYING AS MARIO FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** It is finally time to take care of Bowser, since we have recovered most of the Mario Bros. Go back to the foyer of the castle. Run up the steps to the Star Door. It should open, now that you have more than 40 Power Stars. Then, since anyone can open the door, switch back to Luigi. *****PLAYING AS LUIGI FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER***** Go through the door, and you will be in a corridor with Princess Peach's picture at the other end. As you approach, it will suddenly change to the picture of Bowser! Run forward, and eventually, the floor will open up, allowing you to fall through. It's a trap made by Bowser! This course has 2 Secret Stars, a Red Coin Star and a Switch Star. Luigi is chosen because of his maneuverability. At the start, follow the path until you reach the first switch guarded by a flame thrower. When the flamethrower stops spurting out flames, step on it. It will generate 2 bridges, one at the start of the level, and one directly by the edge of the path you are on now. They lead to 2 Red Coins. Run over to collect them both before the bridges disappear. After collecting these tough Red Coins, continue to the right. You will come across a pair of revolving lifts. Step on one when it is on your side, and ride it over to the other. Get off and run up the grey slope. Watch for the flamethrower as you proceed. You will eventually get to a spinning lift. Jump onto the spinning lift carefully and left it take you to the other side. Jump onto the ledge there. You will find some Goombas guarding a Yellow Exclamation Block. Take care of them and cash in. The Yellow Exclamation Block holds a 1-Up Mushroom. Cross the bridge to the next path. As you proceed, watch out for those spinning electric balls known as Amps. They can give you a shock. Also watch out for a Red Coin in the middle of the path. You will eventually come to a sliding platform. When the platform is just about to slide towards you, jump on, and quickly jump onto the stationary ledge above. The next Yellow Exclamation Block holds 3 coins. Then, when the yellow platform has just begun to slide out to the right, drop down and collect the Red Coin there. Jump back onto solid ground to the right. You will come to 2 pairs of revolving lifts. Ride the first pair so that you can collect the Red Coin, then, carefully transfer to the next pair, and let them carry you to the next solid ledge. See the narrow blue path? Drop down to it and run along it to an isolated platform. There is a Red Coin guarded by an Amp. Get it, and return to the main path. You will then come across some teetering platforms. Make them tilt upwards to the front and jump to the next one, making that tilt upwards so you can reach the ledge above. Jump up and turn around. You will see a series of ledges in front of you. Long jump to the next ledge. A Bob-omb Buddy is here to tell you the locations of the Red Coins, although it's a little too late. Jump to the next ledge to find a Star Sphere and a Red Coin. Now, only one Red Coin remains. Jump back to the first ledge, and drop down to the platform where the Goombas are. See the Red Coin? To get it, wall hug to reach that narrow path where it is. You can find 2 more 1-Up Mushrooms to the left, but it is just too risky. At this moment, the Power Star will appear next to the pipe that leads to Bowser. Jump back up to the ledge above, and press the switch. The slope will temporarily turn into a set of steps which you can jump up. Run over to the pipe and collect the star. At this point, you will also notice a Star Switch. Step on it, and the Star will appear in the Star Sphere you saw earlier, just jump your way back there and get it before its timer runs out. Now, you can face Bowser. *****2 SECRET STARS COLLECTED***** --------------- Facing Bowser ---------------- When you come, you will be told by Bowser that the Princess is not here. He also taunts that you WILL NOT be able to GRAB him by the TAIL and SWING him around! Ha! He basically told you how to defeat him! So, that's what you will do. Bowser will try to breathe fire, but as long as you are fast, you should be able to run behind him and grab his tail. Then you can swing him around. Aim for one of the 8 Spiked Orbs in the level, particularly the one closest to you. When you are ready, press A and Luigi will fling Boswer into the orb, which explodes upon contact of Bowser. That's it! You have beaten Bowser for the first time. Bowser will then spin around, disappear, and give you the key to the basement! ------------------------------------------ 5. The Basement and Wario's Rescue [SMDS5] ------------------------------------------ Once Bowser is defeated for the first time, we can unlock the door to the basement. So, go through either of the wooden doors in the castle lobby, and go down the stairs. The locked door is there. Use the key to unlock the door. You will be able to access 4 more courses in the basement. These are all the courses, and their requirements: (Note that the level where you rescue Wario is not in the basement, but I am adding it here anyway, since unlocking all Mario Brothers will be my highest priority.) The Secret under the Moat --- 2nd Key, Unlock Wario Course 6: Hazy Maze Cave --- 1st Key Behind the Waterfall --- 1st Key Course 7: Lethal Lava Land --- 1st Key Course 8: Shifting Sand Land --- 1st Key Course 9: Dire, Dire Docks --- 1st Key, 30 Stars Bowser in the Fire Sea --- 1st Key, 30 Stars and Star 1 of Dire, Dire Docks Chief Chilly Challenge --- Unlock Luigi, 2nd Key Now, we will play the game in a special order. In fact, we will beat Bowser first! As you enter the basement, you will notice a Star Door. Change to Mario and open it, then change back to Luigi. Enter the room. There is a wall of water blocking the portal that leads to the Bowser Battle. To make the water go back, you will have to jump into the wall of water and get the first Power Star of the course it represents (Dire, Dire Docks). To do that, simply dive down in the first area, and swim through the tunnel you will find at the bottom. Follow the tunnel and you will reach a large submarine pen. Go over to the dry ground, and step on the switch, revealing a bridge, or gangplank leading up to Bowser's submarine. Grab the star now, and evacuate. The water wall will move back, allowing you to jump into the hole that leads to the battle with Bowser in the Fire Sea! ---------------------------------- a. Bowser in the Fire Sea [SMDS5A] ---------------------------------- Bowser really is getting serious. You will be fighting against him in an arena surrounded by hot boiling lava. The path leading to him is also surrounded by lava, so watch out. If Luigi falls into the lava, he will jump up in pain and 3 units of health will be lost. In that case, the only thing to do is to use the stylus and try your best to steer him to dry land. Otherwise, get fried 3 times and you will lose a life. Start by following the path to the moving platform. Once you step on it, the platform will follow the rail. Eventually, there will be a ledge in front of you, which the platform will move under. Therefore, jump onto the ledge, collect the 1-Up Mushroom, and wait for the moving platform to resurface again. Jump back onto the platform, and let it continue its way. All of a sudden, it will be submerged into the lava again, so jump onto those 2 teetering platforms by the side of the platform's path for some safety. Once the platform resurfaces, you can jump back onto it. The next platform will hold another 1-Up Mushroom. Then, you will find 3 platforms in the lava, which get submerge and resurface in a pattern. A narrow strip in the center of each platform will remain above the surface of the lava no matter one, so use them as safety zones. When all the platforms are surfaced, make your way to the next ledge. The next ledge has a Bob-omb like enemy known as a Bully. They will try and ram you into the lava. You cannot grab them. The only way to defeat one is to punch him off the ledge into the lava, and let him melt. A yellow coin will be tossed up for your troubles. See the yellow path? Follow that path and you will eventually reach a Red Coin surrounded by 8 Yellow Coins. The Red Coin is floating above a hole, below which has a lot of lava, so walk over to the other side of the platform, and jump at the Red Coin. You should be able to land on the path where you came from. With this, return to the main path. There are several Goombas guarding a Spinning Heart. Kill them and use the heart to replenish your health, just in case you have fallen into the lava. You will then come to a platform that rises and falls out of the lava. There is a pole on it, guarded by an Amp. Jump at the pole and hang on. Climb up and jump up to the ledge above. There is a Pink bob-omb Buddy that will tell you the locations of the Red Coins in the course. Then, jump over to the teetering platforms. As you move along to the next pole, there is a Red Coin on the edge of the first platform. Be careful as you collect it. Then go over to the pole and climb up. As you climb up to the top, you will be rewarded with another 1-Up Mushroom. Jump off the pole into the cage. There is a Red Coin in a corner. Then go over to the lift. Step onto the lift to make it go up, and quickly run off. You will find the 4th Red Coin beneath where the lift was. Drop down to get it, then climb back up to this cage, and take the lift up. It seems that the lava is very comprehensive. We now have a series of ledges and platforms floating above a pool of lava suspended over the lava sea! Jump off the lift and get a move on. There is a platform which goes back and forth between the ledge you are on and the next ledge. You can simply jump over to the next ledge, thanks to Luigi's jumping ability. You will then reach a steep ramp. Jump up the ramp. You may be tempted to follow the narrow path leading up. Actually, don't. A safer way to reach the platform above is to go over to the other side of the ramp, jump on top of the monkey bars, and backflip up to the platform above! Punch the Bully of the platform, and collect the Red Coin, then jump back down onto the top of the monkey bars. Drop down to the path below. There are 2 Bullies on the next platform. Punch them into the lava and go to the path in front of you. This area consists of several platforms rising and falling, taking the paths linking them together with them, so you should watch out when the path becomes too steep to move up. The first platform has a Yellow Exclamation Block with a 1-Up Mushroom. The third platform has a Red Coin. Go to the 4th platform, and wait until it is high enough for you to jump into the next path. Move on. This path is relatively safe. No lava, just a flame thrower. Run along the path, and take note of the Star Sphere. Blow up the Bob-omb, and you will come to another Yellow Exclamation Block with 10 coins. Then, there will be more of those platforms that partially submerge and resurface periodically. Some of the platforms are guarded by flame turrets, so beware. One of them, in particular has a Red Coin very close to the flame nozzle. Once the flame has stopped spewing, quickly grab the coin and go over to the safety of the platform on the other side. You will come to another trio of those rising and falling platforms with poles. Make your way through them. The final Red Coin is on top of the second pole. Once you have collected it, the Power Star will appear on the ledge high above the first pole platform. To get there, simply go back to the yellow grating above the second pole platform and backflip up to the platform above to the right. Ignore the Star Switch for now, and then jump to the platform to the left for the 1-Up Mushroom and Power Star. Now, go and step on the Star Switch. The Star will appear in the Star Sphere I mentioned earlier. So, jump over to the platform with the first star, and then jump down to the Spinning Heart below. Then quickly make your way through those 5 submerging and resurfacing platforms and jump into the Star Sphere for the 2nd star of this course. Then you can go all the way back to the collapsing bridge. Run across the bridge, and jump into that funnel type structure, and you will face Bowser! *****2 SECRET STARS COLLECTED***** -------------- Facing Bowser -------------- You will face Bowser in an arena surrounded by a sea of lava. He taunts you, telling you to return the Power Stars you stole so his minions trapped in the walls can have them! It is time to fight! As soon as the battle begins, Bowser will pound his side of the arena so that it tilts to his side. You are recommended to run to the other end of the arena, so that you may not slide into the lava. Don't panic, the arena will soon be level. Bowser has a new ability here, he can teleport to another part of the arena. You can follow him by following his shadow, which will not disappear. Bowser will also charge at you, so prepare to dodge. Anyway, as before, try to maneuver around him and grab him by the tail. Spin him around and throw him at a Spiked Orb. Bowser will be blown up upon impact, and as before, he will fall in only one hit! This is just flat out lame. At least let him withstand two blasts! Bowser asks you to consider this to be a draw, this is because the next time you meet him, he will be in a perfect condition. His disappears, leaving another key to the castle. Go over to get it, it is the key to the locked door on the mezzanine in the castle lobby! You now have access to every part of the castle! Congrats. ---------------------------------- b. Chief Chilly Challenge [SMDS5B] ---------------------------------- Now, it is time to save Wario. Go back to the castle lobby, and run up to the mezzanine. Go over to the door, and unlock it. You now have access to the upper levels of the castle. You will come to a set of stairs that go up anticlockwise. Run up, and go through the door to the next level. In this room, there is a toad standing at the central wall. Talk to him to receive a Secret Star! *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** Go over to the door surrounded by a wooden wall, and you will find yourself in a room with a large mirror. There are Power Flowers grown on the pillars. Jump into it to turn into Vanish Luigi. With this, Luigi can run into the mirror's reflection! First, go through the door in the reflection and you will find yourself in a rather blank, boring white room with another of the Castle's Secret Stars! Collect it and leave, there is nothing else. *****1 SECRET STAR COLLECTED***** With this, run around in the reflection, and you will find a picture of Wario. Jump into it for the Chief Chilly Challenge! Slide down the slide in front of you, and you will find that you are sliding towards a bottomless chasm! Is this the end of our green mustachioed hero? NO! A gust of wind will propel our plumber upwards, sending him to the safety of the next ledge. On this ledge, there are some Bullies, designed to knock you off and into the void. Note that there is no hot boiling lava below, so knocking the Bullies off will not be rewarding at all. So, just jump over to the teetering platforms to the left, and make your way to the next ledge. The next ledge has another Bully on it. Ignore him and step onto the railed platform. Ride it to the next island, and collect the Red Coin on the way. You will come to a junction, to the left is a path leading to a brick block. Since there are such high winds, you cannot go over there yet. Instead, go right. There is another leap of faith here. Jump of the ledge, and let the gusts of wind propel Luigi upwards and forwards. As you soar up, try to get that Red Coin huddled up in the group of coins high above. If you miss, you can always jump back up to the ledge you were on, using the wind. There is a pool of ice water on the next island. Collect the Red Coin in there quickly. Ice cold water is a killer. You will lose a unit of health every 3 seconds while you are in the water, and it does not matter whether your head is above water. There should also be a Pink Bob-omb Buddy on this ledge. Talking to him reveals that there are no Red Coins in that Brick Block you have just missed. So just move on. Oh, the next fenced area has a large reception committee of 5 Bullies waiting for Luigi! Oh dear! Quickly get the Red Coin and jump over the fence on the other side. It is possible to knock all 5 of them off, but it's just too easy to be overpowered. You will then come to a series of moving blocks. The first 2 slide left to right. There is a Red Coin in the path of the second block. The third one moves up and down. The fourth one moves left and right, and has another Red Coin in its path. The fifth one also moves left and right. After that, you will be pleased to return to solid ground again. Whew... You will immediately come to a caged Red Coin, and there is a Mr. Blizzard popping out to surprise you as well! Spin around him to make him tumble down. Don't worry, you will find a Power Flower soon enough. Make your way up the hillside, via those walls that keep moving in and out, and you will find a Red Question Block that holds a Power Flower. Take it and become Vanish Luigi. Then drop down in front of the cage, run into it and collect the Red Coin. There is still one left to go. We will need to turn into Mario for the last Red Coin. Run over to the Red Cap on the map and put the cap on. Go back up to where you have previously found the Red Question Block. Take the Power Flower, and become Balloon Mario. Float up to the lone circle on the map. It's a hidden island high above the hill. The Red Coin should be there. Once it's collected, the Power Star will appear on a Shadow near where you found the Red Cap. Floa