Paper Mario: Sticker Star -- 1-4 Hither Thither Hill

Before setting off, we sling the Fan into a Fan sticker. Both routes are open to us, but I decided to go in numerical order, so onto 1-4. In the first area, hit the tree a few times with your hammer to get some coins. Towards the front (close to the screen) is a pipe.

The pipe leads to a 2D underground area with Buzzy Beetles. It looks like something sparkly is in the cave. The pipe to the right leads to an area with a new Burnhammer sticker and a crying Green Toad. He got lost and ran into enemies. He couldn't deal with it, so he started crying. He's going to join us so we can take him back to Decalburg. He can't jump over the fence, so go through the pipe. If you do jump over the fence and return (via the pipe), he says he has baby legs and not everyone does 1,000 jump squats a day. We go back through the pipe and must battle every Buzzy Beetle in our path. If one runs into the Toad, he'll freak out and run away. He'll then tell us he doesn't stomp one hundred Goombas before breakfast. We make it to the other pipe and take him back to Decalburg. He lives in the purple house and has a reward for us. It's a Mushroom sticker. He mentions something about the Goombas in front of the windmill in 1-4 saying "Forwon toothree!" over and over again. Sounds like the Goombas are running drills.

Back in 1-4, we go through the pipe in front of the windmill. The pipe in the middle of the path is missing a piece, so we can't use it. To the right is a hidden area near the goal, with coins and a Shiny Line Jump. There's nothing of interest in the second area (where we found the Toad), so we go back to the first area with the windmill. The sign says "-Windmill-  On days of strong wind, beware the blades." The door to the windmill is blocked by its blades. We have something that can create gales, so we paperize. There's a huge area for a sticker near the windmill. Kersti mention having never seen a paperization zone like this for stickers. She believes it may be for a rare sticker type she's not familiar with. We place the fan and, with fanfare, a giant fan appears in the background. Its blades start turning and enemies blow away, while the pipes rock, and the trees spin. The windmill blades start spinning as well. The fan stops and the windmill blades stop where they no longer block the door. Let's see what's inside!

 Inside, there are four blocks with the number zero on them. Thinking back to what Toad told us, it sounds like the Goombas were telling us the order in which to hit the blocks: 4, 1, 2, 3. I try it out, and that doesn't seem to be it, however, the number of times I've hit each block appears. So I have to hit each block a specific number of times before magic happens. The blocks disappear and a pipe appears. The pipe leads underground, to the level above where we were when we were leading Toad. Carefully platform to the right to find the sparkly object, which is the piece of the pipe that's missing above. We go through the pipe in front of the windmill and paperize, then place the Green Warp Pipe.

This warp pipe leads to a red pipe. Before we can reach it, the ceiling shakes and a giant Buzzy Beetle drops in to battle. There's a Battle Spin at the start of the battle. I fail it, so only one sticker per turn to start. This is a boss battle, so I'm breaking out the Shiny Stickers. The Big Buzzy Beetle has 40 HP and isn't flipped for a while by jumping, so I try a Shiny Hammer. That doesn't work either. A POW sticker doesn't flip him for long either. The Shell doesn't work either. Kersti notices and says that two or more stickers should work here. It took a couple of tries, but I got three stickers from the Battle Spin. Unfortunately, I matched Poison Mushrooms, so Mario's poisoned. I start with a POW block, followed by a Shiny Jump and Shiny Line Jump. Thankfully, I defeat him with this combination. Mario takes poison damage between attack stickers. Victory gives us an HP-Up Heart, making our max HP 30. The red pipe leads to an area with another door drawing on the side of the hill. The Secret Door leads to the Matches.

The item block has a Flashy Jump sticker. One of the brick blocks has a Leaf sticker. Go down the stairs to find the comet piece. The path to 1-6 Goomba Fortress opens up. We'll go there after 1-5.

We return to Decalburg to restock and find a Toad saying that high winds are a problem in Bouquet Gardens (1-2) again. Sounds like another Fan! The Toad near the Sling-a-Thing stand mentions that he'd like to make stickers, but doesn't have any things to sling. He wishes he could buy some for coins. To the left of the Sling-a-Thing, there's a Toad behind a door with a slot to look through. He'll sell us things to sling. Currently, he has a Fan for 130 coins.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-4

It's a mushroom platforming level! The first Star Coin is over the yellow mushroom near the Gold Ring. The Gold Ring will turn enemies golden temporarily, allowing you to get coins for defeating them. If you defeat them in series, such as by combo-stomping or using a Koopa shell, you can get up to 50 coins per enemy. Throwing shells will also leave a trail of coins. We take the blue pipe up and find the second Star Coin at the end. We drop back down to the main level near the midpoint. There's a Red Coin Ring nearby, with the last Red Coin appearing with a parachute. There are some invisible blocks near some regular blocks. The one in the middle has a vine. It takes you to a P-Switch that makes Silver Coins. Hop up for the third Star Coin. We drop back down near the vine. There's another Gold Ring before the flag.

Coin Total: 2461

Super Mario 3D Land: 1-4

We need at least three Star Coins to open the black box at 1-4. It becomes a new level. There's a green arrow platform on a track, so we hop on. A Super Mario 3 remix plays. We let the platform go over the geyser to get it on the tracks for the first Star Coin. At tne end of the track is the midpoint flag. We take the next platform and let it drop down, then backtrack to the left, for the second Star Coin. Unfortunately, the track ended and we fell off.
Take 2- We got the second Star Coin and transferred to the next planet. We stop to check out the Mystery Box for a Tanooki Suit and coins. I fell off at the geyser.
Take 3- We got the second Star Coin and fell off the track.
Take 4- We got the second Star Coin, the Tanooki suit, and the third Star Coin, which we reach by a geyser. I fell off.
Take 5- See Take 2.
Take 6- A gold box with a leaf appeared. It's probably Super Guide, so I ignored it. See Take 3.
Take 7- We got the second and third Star Coins. We reach the end of the track, the geysers boosting us so we could land on the lower track. We go through a green pipe for the flagpole.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 1-4 QSC

I got the 2nd Star Coin by freezing a Cheep-Cheep and riding it up between the pipes. I got the 3rd Star Coin by freezing the Urchin, so that it falls and rests on the pipe. After reaching the goal, I got a message saying that all of the Star Coins in World 1 have been collected, so I can play a course in World 9.

92 down, 115 to go

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 1-4-- Not Quite Swimming Like a Fish

I used an Ice Flower starting this level, but shaking the Wiimote does not produced two ice balls at once, like on land. I had to dodge a large school of red Cheep-Cheep, but they swim in straight lines, so they should not be much of a problem this level. I later encountered yellow Cheep-Cheep, which initially startled me because they swam in waves, and I first thought they were coming after me. Their schools form shapes. I lost my Ice Flower and got another, trying to use it on the Urchins, thinking I could get rid of them easily. It freezes them, but they use their spikes to break free soon after, making attempts to kill very dangerous and undesirable. There are several pipes spraying jets of water creating currents. Two Star Coins are protected by these jets of water. I left them along because I currently cannot reach them. I think the Penguin Suit should work here, because in a previous game, a Frog Suit allows you to swim faster and not be affected by the jets. I also may want to try a Penguin Suit/ Starman combination because the last coin is also guarded by an Urchin. I lost my Ice Flower to another Urchin. I know how to swim, but I should get better at dodging so I don't lose my items. I hit another Cheep-Cheep to lose the Super Mushroom. Towards the end of the level, I found blue Cheep-Cheep that will chase you a short distance. These are the enemies I really have to worry about for now.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 1-4 -- Sleeping with the Cheep-Cheeps

This level takes place underwater, with some nice soothing music. From New Super Mario Bros. (DS), I know that some secrets lie beneath the main level of the game, in what normally is a void. I tried to check out the first gap, which turned out to be a void, and I died. I won't be trying that trick just yet for a while, so I can have lives for reaching the next save point.