First of all, head back to Moleville.
Moleville
Go to the item shop. The blue guy who was searching in the Coal Mines is now standing here to sell his discoveries. If you have not yet bought them, he will offer you a Lucky Jewel and a Mystery Egg, simply decline these offers and he will sell you a "Metal Plate" for 300 coins. Buy it and it turns out to be a Frying Pan which is the strongest weapon that Toadstool can get. Now, go to Nimbus Land.
Nimbus Land
Go into the castle and head to the King. Mallow tells his parents that he was able to find the Star Piece. The King notes though that you're still missing one Star Piece to complete the Star Road. As the Queen notices, the only place where you have not yet been is Bowser's Keep. To get there, they will organize a floating bus which will take you right to the entrance. Now go back outside and run to the stairs at the left. Talk to the guy there and the bus will arrive. Mario will jump on it and you will be taken to Bowser's Keep.
Bowser's Keep
| Croco (1st time) | |
|---|---|
| Item | Price |
| Mid Mushroom | 20 |
| Maple Syrup | 30 |
| Pick Me Up | 5 |
| Freshen Up | 50 |
| Fire Shirt | 90 |
| Fire Pants | 90 |
| Fire Cape | 90 |
| Fire Shell | 90 |
| Fire Dress | 90 |
Note: It is highly recommended to have Bowser in your party. His presence will cause most enemies in this area to flee.
Go forward and you'll come across the room where the Terrapins were the first time you were here. Go through the red door and cross the lava pit by jumping on the platforms. The next area is where you fought Bowser last time, but now, there are only some enemies here, so continue. The next area is pitch dark, just follow the way to the right and you will get out. Here you can find a save point if you need to save. Behind the save point is Croco. This time you don't need to fight him, but he will sell you some items. Stock up on anything you need, then continue forward.
Now begins a puzzle. There are six doors, and you have to go through four of them. Behind each door, there's a different thing you need to do. There are two Action doors, two Puzzle doors and two Battle doors. Behind which door they are is determined randomly.
Six doors
Note: for the two Action rooms, you have ten tries. You lose one try if you fall into the lava or otherwise fail your exercise.
Action door 1
This action doorstarts off with a large lava pit and several invisible paths that lead over it. A number of Terrapins walk around and as they jump, the paths will flash, allowing you to see them. However, the Terrapins will eventually run off into the lava, from which on you're on your own. There are some coins on your way, and a few Treasure Boxes - they contain a flower, a Royal Syrup, an Ice Bomb and a Rock Candy.
The next room has platforms that work similar to the Rose Way platforms. Jump on them and they will move to the next one. Use them to easily cross the lava pit. Again there are Treasure Boxes on your way for you to collect.
The third room is an isometric version of the original Donkey Kong game. Climb up the structure while avoiding the barrels Donkey Kong throws at you, then touch him to beat this level and continue on. Your reward for completing this Action door is the Super Slap - ignore it as the Frying Pan is even stronger.
Action door 2
The second action door starts off with some platform hopping. Several platforms move up and down between the lava and a ceiling above. You must cross the lava pit using these platforms, which is tricky because of the low ceiling. At the end, a platform drops down from above and then goes back up. Let it carry you all the way to the top of the ceiling, then follow the ceiling down where you can open the Treasure Box which contains a KeroKero Cola. Go back and open the red door to the next area.
Here, you must jump onto a cannonball and cross the room to reach the red door at the end. This is made difficult by the face that the controls are reversed. There are also Bob-ombs on the way that you must avoid, otherwise you will lose a try. You can try to collect the various coins and Treasure Boxes on the way if you want.
In the third room, there are platforms similar to those you encountered in Bandit's Way. Jump on one and the other will slowly circle around you. Use this to cross the large lava pit. It is not terribly hard but takes a very long time. Your reward for completing this action door is the Sonic Cymbals, a weapon for Mallow (don't forget to equip it).
Puzzle door 1
You'll meet Dr. Topper, who will challenge you to a trivia quiz. Simply answer all questions correctly to get to the next area.
In the next room, you're given ten seconds to count all barrels on the screen. Once you give the correct answer, you're taken to the next area, where there's a larger amount of barrels to count and you get 20 seconds. Answer it correctly again to get to the next room.
The third room is also not very challenging. Four guys went on a triathlon, and you have to guess in which order they came. You can ask them and they will tell you how well they performed. This is the order:
- I outrode [monster] on my bike, and [monster] was never able to pass me.
- I fell into 4th place during the bike race, but finally ended up in the same place as I did in the swimming event.
- I placed the same in the swimming and cycling events, but 2 others beat me in the marathon.
- I came in 3rd for swimming...
Complete the puzzle correctly and you get a Rock Candy as a reward.
Puzzle door 2
Dr. Topper is here again. This time there's a puzzle game involving a Treasure Box with coins inside. You switch turns and can take from one to four coins, whoever takes the 21st coin loses. There is no real strategy to this game, but if you make sure you get the 15th coin it becomes much easier (since you can then make him get the 21st coin no matter how many coins he takes in the previous turn). Win this game to get into the next room.
Here, there is a group of sixteen green switches. If you jump on a green switch, all neighboring (horizontal and vertical) green switches will be depressed as well. You must depress all of them without leaving a single one with no neighbors. If you can't figure it out, the switches you need to depress are colored red in the map.
In the third room, there are fifteen cannonballs. You can kick one cannonball over another to make that cannonball disappear. Your job is to kick the cannonballs until only one is left. This actually needs a great deal of strategy and is not as easy as it sounds. By solving this puzzle, you get a Rock Candy as a reward.
Battle door 1
You get into a preset amount of battles. Most of them are straightforward and need no strategy. Having Bowser in your party makes some of them much easier.
- Terra Cotta (x4)
- Oerlikon (x2), Star Cruster
- Sackit, Big Bertha (x2)
- Chow (x2), Forkies
- Alley Rat, Armored Ant (x2)
- Bloober (x3), Star Cruster
- Stinger (x4)
- Geckit (x2), Chained Kong
- Rob-Omb, Big Bertha (x2)
- Vomer (x4)
- Magmus (x2), Pulsar (x2)
- Chester [use Ultra Jump to decimate him easily. He may spawn a Bahamutt which can give you some trouble, so use special attacks like Geno Flash or Bowser Crush]
You get the Drill Claw as a reward, which is a new weapon for Bowser.
Battle door 2
Everything that applied to Battle door 1 applies here as well.
- Gu Goomba (x5)
- Malakoopa (x2), Tub-O-Troopa
- The Big Boo (x2), Orbison (x2)
- Sling Shy (x5)
- Chewy (x2), Shy Away (x2)
- Mr. Kipper, Muckle (x2)
- Amanita (x2), Orbison
- Greaper (x2), Glum Reaper
- Pyrosphere (x3)
- Lakitu (x3)
- Zeostar (x2), Shaman (x2)
- Shaman (x6) [have Toadstool use Mute here to freeze the game. Yes, seriously!]
Your reward is the Star Gun, a weapon for Geno.
Bowser's Keep, part 2
After the last door, a path goes off to the right. Follow it and you will fall down to a save point. Save here if you want, then continue onward. A Magikoopa will appear and attack you...
Miniboss: Magikoopa
You should probably physically attack Magikoopa, as he has a high Special Defense. Use Terrorize or a Fright Bomb to cast Fear status on him, then attack him. He will after a while summon a monster and hide behind it, just kill the monster (it's rather weak) and Magikoopa can be attacked again. Since he uses strong specials you may possibly need to heal.
Bowser's Keep, part 3
| Croco (2nd time) | |
|---|---|
| Item | Price |
| Mid Mushroom | 20 |
| Maple Syrup | 30 |
| Pick Me Up | 5 |
| Freshen Up | 50 |
| Hero Shirt | 100 |
| Prince Pants | 100 |
| Star Cape | 100 |
| Heal Shell | 100 |
| Royal Dress | 100 |
It turns out that the Magikoopa was just brainwashed by Smithy. He decides to help you by summoning a golden Treasure Box with infinite coins. (though coins have probably become worthless by now anyway) He will also heal you fully if you need. Now, go through the left door and you'll find Croco again, who has stocked up this time. Get all the armor since it's the best you can get (bar the Super Suit), also stock up on items if you need (especially if you got one or both of the Battle doors). Now, go through the right door to continue.
Here, you need to cross a path which is being stomped by Thwomps. Their stomps will stop your movement momentarily so watch out to not get hit by them. Halfway through, you will encounter Big Berthas, which are quite a threat. In the middle there's a big Thwomp, from here just run forward to the red door. The next room looks suspiciously like the one where you battled Bowser at the very beginning. Run forward to meet an enemy there...
Miniboss: Boomer
At the beginning, Boomer is red. That's when he is susceptible to special attacks, so use Ultra Flame, Geno Blast and Bowser Crush and fill up your flower points when they drop to zero. Beware especially of Boomer's Shaker attack, which causes instant death but can be blocked. Eventually, he will turn blue, and with this his weak point changes to physical attacks. From now on, attack Boomer physically to inflict lots of damage. If you are not able to block be sure to have several pick me ups.
When you defeat him, he decides to commit suicide. Your chandelier will then move up to the ceiling, where you will immediately encounter your next fight...
BOSS: Exor
Yes, you get to fight against the sword that crashed into Bowser's castle. Actually, there's a pretty ridiculous glitch you can perform here. First, kill one of the eyes so Exor's protection is gone (the left eye is weak to fire and a prime target for Mario's Super Flame). Now, have Geno use Geno Whirl against Exor and time it correctly, it will actually work on him and cause him to instantly die. Normally, you would have to bother with the eyes and the Neosquid which have some ridiculously powerful magic, but using this glitch you can defeat Exor in less than twenty seconds.
Once he's dead, you're automatically sucked in and land in a mysterious place. Geno says that following the road will lead you to Smithy. Bowser refuses to come with you at first because he already has his castle back, but as Geno reminds him more monsters will be coming to his castle, he changes his mind. Walk forward to continue your journey...
Gate
Note that you might want to switch Toadstool into your party here for her superb healing capabilities.
Here, you'll frequently have to cross pits by jumping on the bolts repeatedly until you reach the other side. If you fall down, you'll return to where you fell off. After the first such pit, you'll find a save point giving you an opportunity to save if you wish. After a while you'll find a green switch, press it to open a new path. The Ameboids dropping on you from above should not be a big threat since they're always alone. After that room you'll find another save point for you to save at. In the following room, the Treasure Box contains an Ultra Hammer, but ignore it as the Lazy Shell is stronger. Jump onto the springboard to be launched to the bolt above. Cross the pit, then jump on the springboard and you'll meet your first serious threat.
Miniboss: Count Down
This miniboss is a bit odd. The clock itself performs attacks depending on the time it shows:
- 1 o'clock: Crystal or Ice Rock
- 3 o'click: Recover
- 5 o'clock: Aurora Flash
- 6 o'clock: Mega Recover
- 7 o'clock: Water Blast
- 9 o'clock: nothing
- 10 o'clock: Petal Blast
- 12 o'clock: Corona
It should be obvious that you want to get rid of the clock as fast as possible. Don't underestimate the Ding-A-Lings either, since they have many status-altering moves and strong attacks including Dark Star, which does very heavy damage to a single target. Equipping accessories that prevent Mushroom status (such as Safety Ring or Safety Badge) is highly recommended.
Geno should probably cast Geno Boost on Mario, while he uses Ultra Jump at Count Down and Toadstool heals or attacks physically. Once the watch is broken, just attack the Ding-A-Lings physically and they should soon die.
Gate, part 2
Once Count Down is gone, a save point appears behind you. Use it to save if you want, then use the springboard to jump down. In the next area, you'll find bosses you have already battled before, but this time as "machine made" versions. Needless to say you should avoid them unless you want another boss fight. Jump over the conveyor belt, then jump onto the platform to cross the pit. In the next area, the machine mades will be travelling from side to side, quickly run across while there's a break to avoid needless fights. There are also arrows flying down and if they hit you, you will be paralyzed.
In any case, in the next area you must walk on the conveyor belts and be careful not to fall off the side. Then, follow the path and go to the right to find a Treasure Box containing a Royal Syrup. Continue by crossing the conveyor belts to your left, then jump onto the platform which will take you to more conveyor belts to cross. At the top left, behind the conveyor belt is another Treasure Box with a Max Mushroom inside. Continue to the right and cross the next set of Conveyor Belts then follow the path to the next area.
Here, immediately go to the right. Machine Made Bowyers will be dropping down here. Wait until one has dropped down and then quickly jump up all the conveyor belts to avoid having to fight him. In the following area, Machine Made Axem Rangers will be moving back and forth, jump over them to avoid them. Another Bowyer dropping conveyor belt mountain will be there for you to climb, do this and go to the next area to find a save point. Save there if you want then continue. Here, there are Ninjas and a brick box. Machine Made Yaridovichs are dropping from above, wait until one lands on the brick box then fight it. Once you beat it, the brick box will explode allowing you to drop down to your next fight.
Miniboss: Cloaker and Domino
Cloaker is the physical fighter, Domino the magician. Once you beat one of them, the other will run back and mount a giant snake. It is recommended to defeat Cloaker first, since Domino is much easier to deal with at the end. To do this, use special attacks on him like Super Flame and Geno Beam until he dies. Once he does, Domino will run back to mount the Mad Adder. Now, the Princess should heal while the others physically attack the Mad Adder. While they have some strong specials, the Princess' healing capabilities will easily allow you to survive this battle. Once Mad Adder is gone, Domino will disappear on its own.
As soon as they're done, walk to the left as more Machine Made Yaridovichs will drop from above.
Factory
| Toad | |
|---|---|
| Item | Price |
| Mid Mushroom | 10 |
| Max Mushroom | 39 |
| Maple Syrup | 15 |
| Pick Me Up | 3 |
| Able Juice | 2 |
| Freshen Up | 25 |
| Froggie Drink | 8 |
This is where all the bad machines are made. Run forward to meet the Clerk, he will try to stop you by sending his Mad Mallets, however these are weak and no match for you. Once they're gone, the Clerk will jump in to join the fight. He's not much better and should be no problem for you. Once he's done for, run forward and Mallow will discover a green switch. He jumps on it, while a crane comes and picks him up. Mario rescues him at the last moment. Run forward and Toad will rush in from behind. He will offer to sell you some items, as his stuff is at a discount you might just as well do so. After you're done shopping, he will give you a Rock Candy. Now, finally go up north to the next area.
Here, the Manager will try to stop you. He's just as weak as the previous guys, but watch out for the Pounders who may give you some trouble. Attack him normally and he will faint, since you heal automatically after the fight there's not even a need to use Toadstool's healing powers. Just proceed to the next area.
Now, you'll reach the Director. This time, you may need to use Geno Flash or Psych Bomb to take out the guys, note that they regenerate once you get rid of them. At the end of this room there's a save point. note that the game does not save after you beat the game, so save here if you do not want to lose progress. Once you've done that, continue.
Here, the factory chief wants to demonstrate Mario his newest invention...
Miniboss: Gunyolk
Normally, the Gunyolk has some strong special powers like Breaker Beam that will make your life hard. But have Peach use Mute on Gunyolk, and he won't be able to do a thing. Take out the Factory Chief now since he has some strong physical attacks, then divert your attention to the Gunyolk. Since he's utterly unable to attack, you have nothing to fear.
Once he's dead, you can jump onto the green switch to get to Smithy. Before you do this, you may want to equip the Lazy Shell armor to Toadstool, which makes her practically invincible. Then, jump on the green switch, hang yourself onto the crane, and watch as your party has its last fight in the game...
FINAL BOSS: Smithy
Finally, you're there! Smithy's main attack is Sledge, which... should be self-explanatory. He may also use the Smelter to produce Shypers, who can cast special attacks. Attack him any way you want and most importantly, heal frequently. Whether or not you want to take out Smelter is your choice, but you should attack the Shypers when they appear as they'll only cause trouble. Once you dealt enough damage, Smithy will get all furious. His stomping on the floor eventually causes it to crash, making everyone fall down. Here, he will reveal his true self...
Smithy is composed of two parts. The head changes, and depending on what it has changed to, Smithy uses specific attacks. The body can use the Hammer and the Finger Shot, if you reduce the body's HP to zero Smithy will momentarily be unable to change his head. Smithy has the following heads:
- Normal: Nothing special. No attacks.
- Tank: As a tank he can use strong physical attacks including instant death ones. Special attacks are very effective here.
- Wizard: The wizard casts some really powerful magic attacks, but he has very low defense so your physical attacks will drain his HP quickly, even from Toadstool.
- Treasure Box: He uses status changing attacks like Poison or Scarecrow, which you should hopefully be immune to. He's weak to fire, so Ultra Flame will dish out lots of damage.
- Box: He has very high defense, and only really uses Shredder. He's susceptible to ice, so Ice Bombs are best used here.
Since Toadstool has the Lazy Shell there's nothing really which can damage her dangerously. She should however heal and revive the other party members so they can deal damage, and when she's not busy healing she should use up any excess Rock Candies. If you have Red Essences, use them as they turn you completely invincible. After a long fight, Smithy will finally die...
...and leave behind the seventh and last Star Piece. Feel free to watch the credits roll now.