Saturday, June 7, 2014

Paper Mario: Chapter 8 -- A Star-Powered Showdown! -- Part 1

The Star Ship has landed on Bowser's Castle and docks near some Clown Copters. There's a Save Block nearby. Leave the area and you'll find yourself outside the castle. The front door is locked. Cross the bridge over the lava river and go east through the door. There's a Koopatrol here. They're the highest ranked guards of Bower's army. They have 8 HP, 4 attack power, and 3 defense power. They have spiked helmets and charge up their attacks sometimes. The charged up attack has 10 attack power. They call also call in reinforcements. They give 3 SP. Defeat this one for the Castle Key. You can see Toads imprisoned on the other side of the wall, but you can't do anything now. Go to the front door and open it.

Inside, you'll find more Koopatrols. Go east and you'll encounter Hammer Bros. They have 12 HP, 5 attack power, and 1 defense power. If their hammer hits you and you don't guard, you'll shrink, halving your attack power. When they're low on HP, they'll hurl several hammers in quick succession, so guard repeatedly. They give 3 SP. Go east. In this room is a door with a talking Bowser head. It's a guard door to keep suspicious types from entering. Tell it you want to go through and stand in front of it. It will open a trap door that drops you into an impenetrable prison with some Toads. There's no escape, but the guard door says it will let Mario through if he can escape and return. The Toads in the room tell Mario to save Peach. Use the Heal Block and have Bombette blow up the east wall. She says the material here is weak and easier to blow up than the Koopa Bros. Fortress. Go east, save, and go east again.

There are platforms in the lava here. Cross the lava and go east. On one platform will be a small set of stairs. Stand on the bottom step and have Kooper hit the switch. This makes a platform move through the lava. Up ahead is another switch, but Kooper can't reach it. Use Lakilester to cross the lava and hit it. Jump and cross the lava with Parakarry to reach the east doorway. In this room, there are items on the platforms, but you can't reach them. Use Lakilester to cross the lava to the next platform you can reach. Up ahead, is a moving platform. Lava will flow onto it, so have Bow make you transparent. Have Lakilester take you over the lava and through the back door. The lava is flowing from here. Go up the stairs and you'll see some Koopatrols and a Magikoopa near a switch. They must not let Mario hit the switch. Battle them all at once. The Magikoopa has 11 HP, 6 attack power, and knows the spells of all other Magikoopas. They give 3 SP. Once you defeat them, hit the switch and the lava stops flowing. It hardens and cools, so you can walk on it. You can now reach the items in the area. Go all the way to the west to go outside the castle. There's an item block on the way with a Life Shroom. Outside the castle are some rocks with an item block that contains the Deep Focus badge. Go back inside and through the back door in the area west of the locked door. There's a chest here with a Castle Key. Go back east to unlock the door on the east wall.

The door leads to a dark part of the castle, where is seems to be crumbling. You'll need Watt to see and battle. There are Bony Beetles here. Goombario can't use Tattle in the dark, but they have 8 HP, 3 attack power, and 4 defense power. Their attack power increases to 5 when they have their spikes out. Attack them to make the spikes retract. They give 2 SP. The path splits ahead. For the first part, cross using the top path. For the second part, the back path has an invisible block with a POW Block, but you want to cross using the middle path. Go west. The first path split here is like the one before: there's an invisible block with a Shooting Star on the back path and you'll cross using the middle path. On the next split, take the back path and drop down, then go west.

This will take you into a room with a stone block with Bowser's face on it. Push it to a reveal a door on the front wall. This will take you back to the guard door. It's amazed Mario returned and thinks it's a dirty trick. It lets him through. The guard door leads to a room with stairs. Go through the east door on the first floor. There's a Koopatrol guarding a prison cell with more Toads. Battle it for the Prison Key to unlock the prison. There's a couple slabs of rock hanging from chains in the room. They serve as beds, so you can take a nap here in this makeshift Toad House. Return to the room with the stairs, go up the stairs, then go west. There's a shop here.  At the top of the stairs to the east are more enemies, and the path forward.

Go east from here and you'll reach a couple of tall rooms. One of them has a locked door. Spring up to the next level. Pull the chain to partially fill the rooms with water. Swim west with Sushie and hit the switch. Spring up and blow up the east wall with Bombette. Go east and Tornado Jump on the switch to reveal a couple of alcoves in the back wall. Walk in the alcoves to the right and pull the chain. This will fill the rooms with even more water. Return west and swim to the left for the Castle Key. Pull both chains again to drain the water so you can unlock the door.

The door leads to an area filled with gold Bullet Bills, called Bombshell Bills. They have 3 HP and 6 attack power. As their HP drops, their explosions get bigger. They give 1 SP. Take them out quickly and try to avoid more battles. At the end are a couple of Bomshell Bill Blasters. They have 10 HP and 4 defense power. They do not attack directly, but fill the area with Bombshell Bills. They give 2 SP. Watt is a good choice here. Unfortunately, there are more Blasters and more Bombshell Bills as you climb the stairs in the area, so be careful. At the top of the stairs, go east.

You'll find Dry Bones here. They have 8 HP, 4 attack power, and 2 defense power. They throw bones and can rise back up after being defeated. You must defeat them all at once or use fire attacks. If they appear alongside other enemies, defeat the other enemies first. They do not give SP if you defeat them normally. Push the right Bowser block to the right to reveal a doorway on the back wall. This hallway will take you to a room with a locked door and a save block. Push the left block in this room to the left to reveal a hallway to a room with a Heal Block. Return east and push the block near the other open doorway to the right to reveal a new doorway. There is nothing through the other doorway. This doorway leads to the Castle Key. Return to the room with the Save Block and unlock the door.

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