Saturday, June 1, 2013

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time -- Part 2: Hammers Roxor

E. Gadd is waiting for the bros in the throne room. The time hole remains and is marked on the top screen, including its destination. Now that all four bros have joined forces, you can reach the upper floors of the castle. When you're ready, talk to Gadd. He's got the Jr. Shrooboid in a state of suspended animation. He's happy to see the four teaming up. Stuffwell shows off the mysterious sparkly shard and Gadd identifies it as a shard of the Cobalt Star that powered the time machine. Gadd has no idea why the Cobalt Star was broken, nor why a shard of it was in Bowser's Castle. The shard floats over to the Jr. Shrooboid and it reacts angrily. Gadd concludes that there's a link between the Cobalt Star and the Shroobs. A Toad suggests finding more shards to learn how to defeat the Shroobs. The shard opens up a time hole in the west part of the castle. Gadd says it reacted to the other shards in the past. Stuffwell will keep track of how many we've collected. Gadd gives the bros a badge, which makes Stuffwell very happy. An item and equipment store on the east side of castle is now open, so check it out before you head out. When you're ready, go through the time hole.

Toadsworth, carrying Baby Peach, runs into his older self. Toadsworth the Elder thinks that the princess grew younger due to her trip with the time machine. Toadsworth the Younger freaks out, not knowing who Toadsworth the Elder is.

The time hole leads to Toadwood Forest. Something's weird about the trees. Toads are stuck in the trees. In some item blocks, you may find Fire Flowers as new Bros. Items. There are some hollow tree stumps in the forest. Toss the babies into the tree trunks to find items, coins, and enemies. Koopeleons are one type of enemy in the trunks. They'll disappear, making dodging their attacks difficult. Some of the item blocks contain coins worth 100 coins. They'll fly out of the tree trunk, so have Mario and Luigi get them.

In the next area, the bros find Toadiko, one of Peach's assistants that went on the time machine trip, trapped in a tree. When the time machine arrived, the three of them were attacked by the Shroobs. Princess Peach was taken and the trees of Toadwood Forest captured Toadiko. The trees siphon away the captured Toad's vim, which flows through the roots to the Shroob Vim Factory. There, the vim is mixed with chemicals to make fuel for the flying saucers. The bros must go to the Vim Factory, as Toadiko know's there's a Cobalt Star shard. Some flying saucers appear overhead and fire lasers, hitting Toadiko, turning her into a Shroob mushroom. She mentions gathering the Cobalt Star shards.

In the next areas, you'll encounter Boo Guys, ghostly Shy Guys. They'll split into two, but the bro it points to will be attacked. There will be pipes in the trunks, which are enemies called Elasto-Piranhas. The path will split ahead. To the southwest, go to the large trunk in the southwest and have the babies move around. There are boxes with little flames that the babies must hit. Each flame will appear from the tall, skinny trunks into another box. When all flames are outside, hit them in their new boxes into the box into the center. They will conglomerate into one giant flame. Hit that box to send the flame to the trees ahead, which will burn them and clear a path. The path ahead leads to a pipe.

To the north is the Vim Factory, but you can't cross the moat just yet. Go east and toss the babies into the trunk. There's a block with a rotating arrow. It controls the platform over the spikes. Use the platform to go to the right. When you make it across the spikes, go north and reunite the bros. In front of the radio antenna is another colorful block. Have one bro jump up, then, while in mid-air, have the baby jump to hit the block. You can hit higher blocks this way. Hitting the blocks activates the antenna, deactivating one of the claws in front of the factory. Go west and toss the babies in the trunk to control the platform that's to the south. Go due east over the obstacles to the ! Block that raises a platform. To the west is another radio antenna. Deactivate the other antenna. Go south and have the babies control another platform. There are useful items over the spikes. The path will take you to the area south of the factory. Use the pipe block in front of the factory to reunite. You can now enter the factory.

Inside the Vim Factory are two Hammer Bros that speak in L33T. "AREA RESTRICTED. ALL NOOB INTRUDERS 2 B HAXORED BY US L33T HAMM3R BROZ.! WE R TEH SHROOB ALLIES. WE ROXOR U AND THEN ROFL. THEN U AM CRY. WE RECEIVE ORDERS THRU ANTENNAS ON THESE L33T HELMETS. THEY R HOTNESS. WE MUST OBEY ALL ORDERS. WE LIKE 2 PWN NOOBZ 4 TEH MASTER SHROOBZORS. U = NOOBZ. BROZ. = L33T. PREPARE 4 TOTAL PWNAGE. WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!" Roughly translated, the L33T Hammer Bros are under the control of the Shroobs due to their special helmets and will defeat the bros. A device drops in and takes Mario and Luigi away. "NOOBZ STILL R NOT PWNED. CONTINUE PWNERSHIP UNTIL ALL NOOBZ R PWNED. TEH ESCAPE IS IMPOSSIBLE. WE R 2 L33T. WE OWNZ JOO. U WILL GET FLATZORED BY R L33T HAMMERS." Translation: the bros haven't been completed defeated, so they will flatten the babies with their hammers. Time for battle.

The L33T Hammer Bros have a hammer-based Bros. Attack, which that looks like Knockback Bros. They will also throw their hammers. Use Fire Flowers on them, as burns can help do extra damage. Defeating them breaks the helmets on their heads, freeing them from Shroob control. The Hammer Bros are thankful and give the babies some hammers. With new equipment comes new techniques and tutorials. Baby Mario always uses the hammer to hit stuff and Baby Luigi uses his to drill underground (like the Luigi Dunk). The order of the bros does not change (no hitting [Start]), so you're ready to use hammers when you hit [R]. The drill technique will allow you to get beans from marks in the ground (there's only one type of bean in the Mushroom Kingdom, but you'll want to collect lots of them).

After the tutorial's over, step on the yellow switch with two dots. Go through the hallway and smash crates. Ahead is a room of puzzles. Tunnel under the gates to reach the top of the walls and hit switches. This will make platforms appear that form stairs in the northwest corner. Enter the ventilation system. It's a maze with some new enemies called Spiny Shroopas. The Hammer Bros teach the baby bros how to use hammers in battle. When you exit the ventilation system, go south via the left gate to enter a room with an enemy and items. Go east and you'll see a giant tree. Hit the orbs at the tree's roots to destroy them. The bros will fall out of the tree's nostrils and and Spiny Shroopas drop in. The Hammer Bros appear so they can teach the quartet how to use hammers in battle. Once the battle's over, hit the switch high on the back wall to the right to open the gate. Hit the four-person switch to move forward. You'll find a new Bros. Item and new enemies. Dr. Shroobs will use two types of mushrooms. Attack them to knock the mushroom out of their hands. Leave the gray mushrooms alone, because when they eat them, they'll be weaker. If they have red mushrooms, they'll become gigantic and attack. Lakitufos will drop Spiny Shroopas on the field. Take the pipe further into the factory.

In the next room, tunnel under the gate to hit the switch which opens the gate. In the next room, in the middle, throw the babies onto the back wall and have them go through the hole. Hit the switch in the room to deactivate the electric gate for the bros. Hit the blocks ahead to form a path for the babies. Hit the switches and blocks so each set of bros can progress. The babies will leave the room on the right and walk high on the wall, breaking crates along the way. They'll have a nice view of all the Toad-shaped vim going through the tubes. Hit the two switches on the far left to open the two gates below. There are beans through the left gate, as well as through the right gate. To the right, send the babies through the back wall so they can control a platform once more. There are blocks directly over the sparks, so make sure their shadows are on the platform before you jump to get them. Reunite the bros at the other end of the pit of sparks. Save in the Save Book and hit the switch on the floor when you're ready.

Beyond the door is a giant, green, Wiggler-like entity. It drinks from a cup and powers up flying saucers. It's called Swiggler, and Baby Mario knocks over its cup, sending it into a rage. Battle time! Swiggler is accompanied by two Dr. Shroobs. You'll want to attack the Dr. Shroobs holding gray mushrooms to knock them into Swiggler's cup, which will weaken him. You'll just have to deal with the powered-up Dr. Shroobs. Swiggler will spew a poisonous gas, slam the ground, creating shockwaves, and power up some flying saucers that shoot at the bros. Use Bros. Items on Swiggler, especially if he's weak. It's a great opportunity to test out the Cannonballers, which shoot the bros from a cannon. Hit each bro's button as they land. When you defeat it, it explodes, revealing a Cobalt Star shard. Baby Bowser appears out of nowhere and runs circles around the bros, making them dizzy and drop the shards. He thinks they stole treasure from his castle. Kamek picks him up. The bros return to the present to strategize.

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