Friday, May 3, 2013

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga -- Part 1: Beanbean Coin Challenge

The Koopa Cruiser crashed onto Stardust Fields, scattering its occupants on both sides of the border. Some of the Koopas landing on the Mushroom Kingdom side, and said Bowser landed on the Beanbean Kingdom side. (They also haven't finished paying off the Koopa Cruiser.) To the left is the border. Once you cross it, you won't be returning to the Mushroom Kingdom for a while.

Border security consists of a couple of Koopa bros that recognize the Mario Bros. To cross the border, we must do the Border Jump. The Koopas will move a rope around, representing the border. Mario and Luigi must jump to avoid it. They have to avoid touching the rope until the flag in the background reaches the top of the flagpole. If either bro touches the rope three times, they'll have to start over. Once the challenge has been completed, they are allowed to cross to the Beanbean Kingdom side. As the Mario Bros are the first to cross the border while the Koopa Bros are on duty, they commemorate the occasion by giving them a map of Beanbean Kingdom. If you want more of a challenge, return to take Border Jump 2, Super Border Jump, Super Border Jump Sunshine, and Complete Border Jump for Hee Beans. To the left is a green pipe. Go through it and you'll see a map of the Beanbean Kingdom. You can't go anywhere just yet, but this means you can quickly warp to Stardust Fields via any green warp pipe. Just go through any large green warp pipes you see to unlock them. Go to the south for now.

There are spikes ahead on the path. Mario and Luigi can cross them by jumping at the same time. Go south, then go left. Avoid hitting item blocks and battling enemies. You'll find a Save Book ahead. There's a star-shaped panel in the floor and a large cannon. Bowser is stuck in it. A green creature drops in and finds the situation amusing. It's Tolstar, the King of the Stardust Fields. He wants all of the Mario Bros.'s coins to set Bowser free. Mario hands over the coins, but they're from the Mushroom Kingdom. Whatever amount you have, they're worth only 10 Beanbean coins. That's not enough, so he wants 100 more. We can find them in item blocks and by winning battles. From now on, you'll be dealing with Beanbean currency, which is why I said to wait on battling and item blocks. Tolstar opens the path to the south.

One of the enemies you'll find here are Fighter Flies. They'll hop towards you to attack. You can counterattack. They have about 5 HP. Another type are Bill Blasters, which fire Bullet Bills. They have about 6 HP. There are some ledges with item blocks you can't reach yet. Take the path Tolstar opened up and follow it. In one area, you'll find two yellow platforms. Stand on them and hold the direction you want to go, then hit the button of the lower bro. This will allow you to cross some gaps.

Soon, you'll come to another star-shaped panel on the ground. Step on it to make the Starshade Bros, Sergeant and General Starshade, appear. They witnessed the Koopa Cruiser crash. After the Mario Bros mimic them, resulting in Mario crashing into them, they recognize them, and change their objective to obtaining autographs. The Mario Bros explain the situation and the Starshade Bros are here to help, teaching the secrets of Bros. Action. To get over high ledges, Luigi can jump on Mario to perform a High Jump. Use [L] to select the High Jump, then have Luigi jump twice. Mario can perform a Spin Jump to cross gaps using the same button commands. They'll have you complete a short obstacle course. Go south to put these new skills to the test.

The Starshade Bros. will appear to the left of the next area. They tell us that we can use Bros. Actions in battle. They're called Bros. Attacks. They're very powerful attacks. They cost BP, which can be restored with syrup. Each attack has three modes. Mode 1 is the easiest, with slow motion and button prompts. Mode 2 has no slow motion. Mode 3 has no button prompts and costs less BP. You'll see the color of the bro whose button you should press. Successfully using the attacks a number of times will allow you to use Advanced Commands.

Sooner or later, you'll have enough coins for Tolstar. The path loops around to where he is. He takes the coins, but refuses to free Bowser. He'll then battle you. Use Bros. Attacks to do lots of damage quickly. He throws spike balls, some of which will bounce over the Mario Bros.'s heads. After a while, he'll be defeated. Sergeant Starshade will light the fuse of the cannon, sending Bowser flying. It's up to the Mario Bros. to get Peach's voice back. Go ahead to the left. You'll go through a cave and exit.

You'll end up near a couple of waterfalls. Some soldiers approach you, wondering what happened to Prince Peasley. They don't believe that the Mario Bros. had nothing to do with his disappearance. Tolstar flies in, bandaged, confirming the Mario Bros.'s story. The soldiers apologize, saying that eyewitness reports the kidnapper to wearing "an odd helmet and speaking of mustard and fink-rats". Sounds familiar. The path ahead leads to the mountainous Hoohoo Village.

No comments:

Post a Comment