Paper Mario/Chapter 8: A Star-Powered Showdown

Star Way
After talking with the final Star Spirit, start the long journey back down Shiver Mountain, all the way to Shiver City. As you pass the save block just outside Crystal Palace, you can step of the side of the cliff to find a star piece.

Go to sleep in the Toad House in Shiver City, and when you wake up there will be a bunch of items on the floor. Go back through the pipes and into Toad Town (using the shortcut), and north to the very top of Shooting Star Summit. Don't bother buying any items in Toad Town, since there is a much better shop in Star Haven.

Here, you will be able to take Star Way all the way to Star Haven. Use Sushi's water attacks to defeat the Embers along the way. You may also want to re-equip the Ice Power and Fire Shield bages.

Star Haven
On the lower level of Star Haven, there is the star's version of Toad House, and at the top of the castle is a shop with several high-powered items. You'll want to make sure you're fully healed and stocked up, since we're heading to Bowser's Castle in a moment.

Follow the path round to the right, and go into the Star's castle. Here, you will be given the Star Spirit's final power, and a ship that will let you fly to Bowser's Castle.

The Dungeon
Head through the door to the front of the castle. Unsuprisingly, the front door is locked, so instead go through the small door to the right. Defeat the Koopatrol to get the key. Watt's Electro Dash is especially helpful against their strong defence.

Unlock the front door, and precede through the castle, defeating the various Koopatrol and Hammer Bro you encounter.

Eventually you will come across the Guard Door, who will trick you into falling through a trap door into the dungeon. Use Bobmette to blow out the wall and escape.

The Lava River
In the second room, you'll need to use Kooper to activate the switch for the moving platform, and Parakarry to fly across the large gap by the middle door. For the second switch, you'll need to use Lakilester's ability to fly to the platform and hit the switch, then fly back round to the left and up the stairs to jump on the new moving platform. Use Parakarry's ability to get across the next string of platforms.

In the third lava room, you'll once again have to use Lakilester's ability to travel across the lava (which feels awful - it's clearly painful for the cloud!). You can use Kooper's ability to grab the Mystery item, but will need to ignore the Thunder Rage for now. On the next moving platform, use Bow's ability to hide from the waterfall, and the Parakarry to get across the gap. At the end of the room is a locked door, but we can't get through it yet. Instead, use Lakilester to fly through the door in the lava.

At the top of the stairs in this new room, you'll find a Magikoopa and gang of Koopatrol protecting an important switch. Defeat the gang (strong all-enemy attacks, like Star Storm and Air Raid, are helpful here), and press the button. This will block the lava fountain, causing the lava to cool and harden. Mario will now be able to walk across it.

We can now reach the locked door, but we're going to need the key. Double back on yourself, all the way to the second lava room (jumping up to grab the Thunder Rage on the way past). Remember the door we flew past earlier? Mario can now walk to it, where you will find a chest containing the Castle Key.

Before we go through the door, there are a couple of goodies to grab. Head as far west along the lava as you can. You'll pass a yellow block containing a Life Shroom. Keep going, back to the front of the castle, and up the pile of stone columns to the red block, to get the Deep Focus badge.

Go back to the locked door and use the key to get through it.

The Dark Caves
Use Watt to illuminate the caves, and to get through the thick shells of the Bony Beetles. Use Parakarry to fly across the large gaps. Note that when you're in battle, you won't be able to attack the enemies at all unless you have Watt as you're companion, since it will be to dark. Annoyingly, they will still be able to attack you.

The first two times the path splits into three, the lower path is a dead-end, and the upper path leads to an item (POW block, then Shooting Star), and the middle path is the way forward.

The third time, all three paths are dead-ends. The way forward is to follow the upper path, and then intentionally fall through the gap. Follow this path into the next room, and then push the Bowser-faced pillar to reveal a secret door back to the Guard Door, who will now let you through.

We're about to go deeper into Bowser's Castle, but first there is a chance to save, heal, and stock up. The save point is obvious, but the heal point and shop are less obvious.

Take the lower door to the east, and head down the stair. Defeat the Koopatrol to get the key to the dungeon, and open the door. Here, the Toads will be so grateful they will let you use the cell as a temporary Toad House, allowing you to heal.

If you go to the top left door in the main area, you'll find a small shop that will let you buy items.

The East Wing
Go back to the main area, up the stair, and through the door to the east. Keep going through the corridors, past the platform with the button, until you reach the locked door. Next to this, you'll find a spring up to a platform, with a long chain hanging down. Jump to pull this chain, and flood the East Wing with water.

You can now use Sushi to swim back to the previous section, and access the platform with the switch. Using this switch gives you a spring to jump up to the next platform. Use Bombette to blow through the wall, and then Tornado jump to get the second switch down. This reveal a secret passage to another chain, which will flood the East Wing even more!

Head into the previous room, and use Sushi to swim across the the platform with the key. Now we can unlock the door - if we hadn't just flooded it! Fortunately, the chains can also remove the water. Do everything you've just done, but backwards: go through the secret passage to pull the second chain, then swim back round to the first chain. You should now be able to unlock the door.

In the next room, you'll find a stream of Bombshell Bill coming towards you. If you're careful, you can weave your way through these, although it's likely you'll end up fighting at least one of them. Destroy the B. Bill Blasters at the end to continue up the stairs. Then, do the same thing another three times, for each level of blasters. The last two sets are also protected by additional enemies - you might want to consider just using Up & Away to get rid of them all.

In the next room, you'll encounter a set of Dry Bones. Kooper's Fire Shell attack will absolutely obliterate these, so don't bother using anything else. The third Bowser staute can be moved, revealing a secret passage to a room, this time with a locked door. The first statue can be moved, to reveal a passage to a third room.

The third room is sneaky. It looks like the secret passage has already been revealed, but it just leads to a dead end. There a secret secret passage hiding behind the 'moved' middle block. Go through this passage to get the Castle Key, and then go back and unlock the door.

The Guard Door
Here, you will meet another guard door, who will subject you to a memory quiz. He'll reveal a bunch of his followers, and quiz you on them. The answers are as follows:


 * 1) Q: How many Koopers? 'A: 3
 * 2) Q: What were there two of? A: Red Shy Guys
 * 3) Q: Who came out the middle? A: Red Shy Guys
 * 4) Q: How many Goombas? A: 2
 * 5) Q: How many arms did you see? A: 4

Beyond the Guard door there is a short stretch of the castle walls, which should be a fairly simple trip, with the opportunity to get more items.