Chapter 1: Storming Koopa Bros. Fortress
Right away you run into a problem. There is a gap in the road. To cross it simply hit the nearby tree with your hammer to knock down a blue switch. Stepping on it lowers a bridge. As you continue forward you will eventually see a star piece on an island that you can’t reach. Don’t worry about this right now, you can’t get it until later. Eventually you reach a sign that points towards the Koopa Bros. Fortress and Koopa Village, so you’re forced to make a decision. It’s best to head to Koopa Village first. And why not? On the way down you find yourself a fancy badge. To get it you need to take note of three brick blocks arranged suspiciously in the shape of a triangle. Hit the left one first, then the right one, and finally the middle block. This makes a red question mark block appear and you get the Attack FX B Badge.
Koopa Village
When you arrive at the village you’re informed of a big problem: the Fuzzies. One of the Fuzzies will steal a koopa’s shell. Hit it with your hammer to get it back, and if you can’t catch it watch the set path it travels on. Wherever its shadow lands it will eventually land itself. Just sit and wait for the fuzzy bugger to come to you. Next you knock the shell off the top of a floating brick block. And yet another one will be up in the tree nearby, so knock it out with your hammer. At this point you should be done messing with shells in this area. Just at the right edge is a save point and Chuck Quizmo (if you took the first quiz). As always, save right before you take the quiz so you can just reset and take the quiz again if you fail.
Star Piece: Chuck Quizmo asks, “What is the color of the block you can break with the first hammer you got?” Answer: Yellow.
Check out the local shops and homes. The one with a blue-shell roof holds a radio in it, and if you turn the dial you can listen to some familiar old tunes. Later on this radio becomes even more useful. Move over to the eastside of town, and you find the Fuzzies are still up to no good. One of them has again placed a shell on top of a brick block. This time it’s too high for you to reach, so push the nearby blue block underneath it. You can now smash the block, problem solved. Yet another shell thievery is to be dealt with though. Kooper, who lives in the hut with the green shell, has a particularly nasty Fuzzy that has stolen his shell locked up in his house. Go inside the house and then follow the fuzzy down a path behind the house until he climbs up into a set of four trees. [Note: On the way down the path you see a badge sitting on a stump, ignore it until you come back down the path.] Here you have to watch the blue shell carefully as the Fuzzy hides it in the trees. After finding it three times, the Fuzzy gives the blue shell back and when you return it to Kooper he joins your party.
Upon leaving you have to face a big group of Fuzzies in a showdown. Use Kooper’s special power shell attack to hit them all at once. Use your POW item to knock them on their backs and accelerate the process. Heading back down the path you see that badge is still sitting atop a stump. Now you can get it, though. Just climb to the top stump and use Kooper’s shell throw move (C-down button) like a boomerang to snatch it up.
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Star Piece: Back in town, there is a Star Piece sitting on top of the brick block you can only reach by placing the blue block underneath it. Crush the block and pocket another star piece.
In the hut all the way to the right is Koopa Koot, an old Koopa looking for a favor. He wants you to go to Kolorado’s house to borrow a book. Agree to it and head over to Koloarada’s house, which sports an orange roof and is placed in the very left of this area. Retrieve the book from Kolorado’s wife and Koopa Koot will give you one coin. Pretty cheap, but talk to him again. This time he wants a Sleepy Sheep from down at the item shop all the way back in Toad Town! Go ahead and go back to Toad Town, the payoff is worth it. [Note: Don't do too much of this inter-town traveling, though. Later on you be able to warp from town to town with little effort.]
Star Piece: While on your way to Toad Town you can go back and collect that star piece on small island just outside of Toad Town. Just use Kooper as your “boomerang” again.
Eventually after you get Sleepy Sheep from Toad Town and return it to the old Koopa Koot, he’ll give you another coin…and a Silver Credit to play inside the Playroom in Toad Town, which he tells you is hidden near the station. No time for playing, though. Head for Koopa Bros. Fortress. With Kooper on your side now you actually be able to make it to the Fortress. Kooper immediately comes in handy allowing you to retrieve the Thunder Bolt item from atop a brick block. Stand on the ledge across from it and use Kooper’s shell throw. Then you come to a gap in the path where a creek cuts across it. Use Kooper to hit the blue switch on the other side.
Star Piece: The first tree you see after the bridge holds a star piece. Use your hammer to smash it down.
Save at the next save block, and then get inside that fortress.
Koopa Bros. Fortress
Inside the fortress you encounter a large locked door. Beat the koopa in front of the door to get the Fortress Key, and press onward. You sure could use a badge about now. How about that one located behind a set of bars? Just slide in a crack on the back right edge of the prison cell area. Mario is paper-thin so he can make it through if you press into the crack long enough. You get the Power Bounce Badge, which lets you jump on an enemy repeatedly for 3 FP.
When you get to the next room you see a set of stairs and a locked door. Defeat the Koopa in the room to reveal a blue switch. Hit the blue switch and lower the stairs. Then you arrive at the bottom of the stairs continue to the left, whereupon the entryways in the next room rise above the floor. Defeat all the enemies in the room to bring them down. In the next room you have to dodge some rails of fire, but at the end you find another Fortress Key to unlock the door upstairs. Through the locked door are the Koopa Bros., making trouble around a yellow question mark block. Walk downward first before heading up the spiral slope. Outside is a save point. Save and head up the slope to hit the yellow block. Sure the Koopa Bros. have meddled with it, but you have no other choice. You fall down into a prison full of Bob-ombs and, thankfully, a heart block to replenish your HP and FP is there too. Talk to the pink Bombette, and she’ll join your party. Use Bombette’s special move (C-down) and drop her by the crack in the wall.
Travel back up to the lower part of the spiral ramp that leads up to where you just fell from after hitting the yellow block. Follow the lower curve again all the way to the back. Since you have Bombette you can place her on the crack in the back wall. Outside is a treasure chest with a Refund Badge in it that refunds coins if you use an item in a fight.
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Continue back towards where you started in the Fortress. There is a Fortress Key hidden behind bars next to where you found the Power Bounce Badge. Bombette can be used to bust the crack in the wall. Before you go back upstairs to use the key, though, go all the way back outside the Fortress until you see the gray brick wall with a crack in it. Behind the crack is a green warp pipe. Using Bombette get to the pipe and in that near area you find the FP Plus Badge.
Time to use that hard-earned key. Going back up to the top of the castle you can enter above the prison cell area that held a few of the keys and the Power Bounce Badge. To cross the gaps in the pathway you use Kooper’s shell throw move to hit the red switch across the way. Then when you get to the other side you have to hit the same switch again to progress. You have to repeat this same pattern for the next red switch on the path.
This leads you up a small set of stairs, and in the next room is a stairway held up by chains. Lower it by jumping on the blue switch. The stairs lead down to a crack in the wall, which if blown up by Bombette leads to another Fortress Key. After getting the key go back up the stairs and use the key in the locked door at the top. If you’re running really low on health go back to where you originally found Bombette and replenish your energy with the heart block (and save it too). Otherwise press on and you can refill your energy and save just ahead near the boss. In the next room is another blue switch. Hitting it will make the set of stairs rise out of the water at the Fortresses entrance. Proceed to follow the stairs up and pass the door going to the highest level where another badge is waiting for you. It is the Smash Charge Badge that lets you charge Mario’s hammer. Now go back down and through the door you passed on the stairwell.
Finally you have arrived face-to-face with the Koopa Bros. They will immediately begin by firing Bullet Bills at you. The first set is only possible to dodge if you walk downward in the open area that isn’t blocked by the gate.
You want to go down in that open area anyhow, because at the bottom there’s a rock that you can blow up with Bombette’s skills. After that it’s pure dodging skills. On the other side is a question mark block that holds Maple Syrup, which refills your FP by 10. Don’t use it yet, though. Save and refill your health before you attack the Bill Blaster cannons.
Boss: Bill Blaster Cannons
HP: 4 – Attack Power: 0 – Defense Power: 1
You can’t jump on them (they’re made of steel after all), and they’ll use their Bullet Bills like a front line to keep you away. The Bullet Bills only have 2 HP, so they’re not a big problem. Always attack the Bills first, and when you have your opening at the actual Bill Blaster cannons use your hammer move or Bombette’s body slam offense. Use all the FP you want because you can save and refill your energy once the battle is done. Just be sure to always attack the actual Bullet Bills first.
Boss: Koopa Bros.:
Fake Bowser: HP: 10 – Attack Power: 1 – Defense Power: 1
Don’t try to jump on him, as it won’t hurt him. Stick to using the hammer, bomb, or shell attacks. Use a fire flower if you can spare one. Once you ruin their Bowser costume, the Koopa Bros. begin by attacking you in a tower formation. They only have 6 HP apiece, but their attack power is 4 like this, so you must knock them down immediately. Hit them with your hammer and then a bomb attack, for example, to make them unstable and fall. After that use Kooper’s special shell attack to hit them all on their backs. After they stand up use a POW item to knock them to their backs again. Once more use Kooper’s special shell attack and you have beaten them.
When the chapter ends the game cuts to what’s going on at Peach’s castle. This becomes an obligatory event for each chapter’s end. You will get to play as Princess Peach briefly. In this instance you have to find an escape route from her bedroom. There is a switch behind the picture that hangs right of the fireplace. Follow the hallway behind the fireplace and press the next switch. By reading King Koopa’s diary in this room you find out you must go to the Dry Dry Ruins for the next Star Spirit. Shortly after King Koopa catches you, but Twink will deliver the important information to Mario.
Toad Town
When you try to return to Toad Town, Master Jr. Troopa will be there waiting to redeem himself for his previous pitiful fight.
Boss: Master Koopa Troopa
HP: 15 – Attack Power: 2 – Defense Power: 1
He has some new tricks up his shell this time, though. He closes his shell completely, so use Bombette and your hammer to attack him. Other than that there is no trick to defeating him other than delivering a relentless beating.
Upon entering Toad Town you find a whole new set of things to do. Firstly you can buy some badges at the Badge Shop that opened up. Currently on sale are the Multibounce Badge(jumps on all enemies in a row if action command is timed right), First Attack Badge (immediately kills weaker enemies if you get the first strike, but you don’t get the star points), and Speedy Spin Badge (increases the distance Mario can spin dash. As you buy badges the shop refills its stock with new badges. For instance, if you buy a badge the D-Down Pound Badge (disables an enemy’s defense power and injures it) will eventually appear.
Next, move toward the south of town to explore some new areas. Going to the southwest part of town, called the Port, you find a curious fellow named Chet Rippo standing under a tree. For 39 coins he can change your status upgrades around. When he upgrades HP, FP, or BP he takes away one level up from each of your other areas. For example, if you have 15 HP, 15 FP, and 9 BP and you ask him to upgrade your BP, your stats will change to 10 HP, 10 FP, and 15 BP. Basically you gain nothing, it’s just a choice to change how you’ve leveled up. Essentially, though, it’s just Chet’s way of performing a “rip-off”. If you head all the way to the port
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Now move back part of Toad Town with Tayce T., just east of Chet Rippo. Enter the green warp pipe labled “Private.” This leads down to an underground sewer system. [Note: This is a great place to increase your statistics yielding six star points per battle. Keep reentering the pipe to refresh the enemies.] Walking eastward you run into the Blooper squid. Beat him and open the treasure chest that lies behind the slimy beast. Your reward is the Shrink Stomp Badge (if it works, it shrinks them and decreases their attack power by 2).
Boss: Blooper Squid
HP: 30 – Attack Power: 3 – Defense Power: 0.
Use lighting and power bounce attacks on him. Pull out as much firepower as you have to. Remember that town is just above you, so replenishing anything you lose presents no problem.
Once Blooper is out of the way, get back up to the city. There’s a Bub-ulb that will give you a magical seed just to the right of the private pipe. Go back uptown and give the seed to Mihn T. She’ll plant it in her flower garden. This is one of the four seeds you can find. The reward will come once you’ve collected them all. Eventually work your way to the very south edge of town near the Train Station. Here you can access the Playroom. As you enter the new part of town, hit the first tree to the left with your hammer. A pipe will pop up out of the ground. Warp down it to play a game. If you have the Silver Credit that Koopa Koot gave you for bringing him the Sleepy Sheep you can access the Jump Attack game. When you finally arrive at the southernmost part of town, you’ll find that the train is blocked by a large boulder sitting on the tracks. Use Bombette to blow it up. This is your only way to the Dry Dry Desert. Hop on the train and head for Mt. Rugged.
Mt. Rugged
Get off the train at the foot of Mt. Rugged, and prepare to embark up the mountain. On top you run into Parakarry from Toad Town’s Post Office. Parakarry is searching for a lost letter and needs help locating it. Being Mario, you would never deny helping anyone out, so you naturally agree to help. While searching for these letters you’re gong to run into some new characters. Whackas poke out of the ground, and if you hit one with your hammer it gives you a Whacka Bump item that refills 25 HP and 25 FP. That’s well worth being so impolite.
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Moving east along the mountainside you run into Parakarry’s letter on a ledge. Stand across the gap from it, and use Kooper’s shell attack to retrieve it from the ledge. When you return it to Parakarry he tells you he’s missing two more letters. So, there’s some more rock-climbing to do, but the payoff is big. Go as high up the mountain as you can get for the next letter.
Star Piece: You find a star piece just outside of the second arched opening on an upper ledge. Jump out and grab it. Then jump back down to the bottom and climb back to the top again.
If you head west at the very top of the mountain it will lead to a slide which catapults you to the other side of the mountain. Keep going forward and you see a yellow question mark block, then three stairs, and finally two openings in a rock wall. Hidden in the left opening is a secret passage that ramps up to a treasure chest. In the chest is the Damage Dodge Badge (if you do the action command it decreases Mario’s damage by 1).
After adorning yourself with your fancy new badge, go back down below and at the very left edge is a jump pad. [Incidentally, there is a star piece you won't be able to retrieve just yet across a gap from this spring pad. Come back later with Parakarry.] It will spring you up to a very high ledge, and there is a slide waiting for you right there. Going down the slide ramps you over to the other side of the mountain. Here is the second of Parakarry’s letters. Another series of slides will put you right back by where Parakarry is patiently waiting for you, so return the second letter and replenish your health.
The last and final letter is found as far to the east side of the mountain you can go. You know you’re close when you arrive at a broken bridge. Crossing is not an issue right now. Just leap down to the bottom and the letter is waiting for you. Use the jump pad to get back and return the letter to Parakarry. Agree to help him find more letters and he joins your party. Head back into the mountain to retrieve another badge and that star piece by the jump pad.
Star Piece: Use Parakarry to fly you across the gap so you can retrieve the star piece.
As for the badge, it lies atop a ledge that couldn’t be accessed before, where two gaps break the path. You can use Parakarry to bring you over them. Once you’ve made it across you can pick up the Hammer Badge (slightly damages all enemies on the ground or ceiling) Walk back to the east and you pass under some wood beams, and just after them is a set of three paths. The top path leads upward (where you need to go) and the middle path leads to a gap in the path. Use Parakarry to bring you across to the other side where you find a Bub-ulb. Talk to him and he gives you another magical seed, which Mihn T. will plant for you in her Toad Town garden.
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As you climb up to the top of the mountain you come back to the broken bridge. This time you can use Parakarry to carry you over to the other side. Buzzar the vulture will be waiting to interrogate you after you cross the next bridge. Tell him you’re Luigi, and not Mario to avoid a battle. If you want to do battle with him feel free, but he will only give you 14 star points.
Boss: Buzzar
HP: 40 – Attack Power: 3 – Defense Power 0
No particular trick will help you beat him. Use Parakarry’s special shell shot attack, along with your power bounce move.
Dry Dry Desert
Travel eastward, you get this same advice from everyone you encounter including Kolorado the archeologist and a lonely traveler resting under a tree. You will eventually arrive at the Dry Dry Outpost, and there will be a sign to denote this. The tree right under the sign holds one of Parakarry’s letters in it, so knock it out by using your hammer.
If you’re not aching to get into town, there are several things you can do in the desert. There is a badge hidden in the southwest. From the stone cactus, move 3 times south and 2 times west from the Stone Cactus. Stand on the rock there and jump, you hit an invisible red block and out comes the Attack FX C Badge.
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Then try twice south from the stone cactus, and then east once. Then let the twister in the area with blue cacti take you away. It drops you on a large mesa where the Spin Attack Badge lies (lets Mario destroy a weaker enemy with a spinning move).
You can also locate an Oasis south of the entrance of Dry Dry Outpost. At the Oasis you find your first Super Block. Here you can upgrade one of the members of your party so they learn a new attack. While you’re here knock down a lemon from the lemon tree. You need it later.
