Paper Mario: Sticker Star -- 2-5 Drybake Stadium

It's very quiet here for a stadium. Not much to see besides a door drawn on the rock. The Secret Door leads to a room with a Flashy Eekhammer, Flashy Spike Helmet, and Flashy Hurlhammer. There's something green behind the wall to the right. At the top of the stairs, something large and square is missing. This is where the three tablet pieces go. It looks like the letter "U" or "V" when put together. The sky turns dark and clouds roll in. The tablet pieces glow. It then unfolds to reveal a tall tower. The marking on the tablet is the arch of the doorway.

Kersti mentions that only someone with the power of a Royal Sticker could remove such a tower. Inside are Egyptian-style hieroglyphics, with Toads. There are stickers on the wall and Spikes and Paratroopas in the hallways. We need to place two stickers on the back wall. We place two Worn-Out Hammers and they are rejected. There's a curious laugh coming from the other side. On the right and left walls, there's a Toad holding an item. So left panel shoe, right panel hammer. It words and we hear Toad say, "Yeah!" The door opens. Get the Shiny Hammer and Shiny Jump, then hop on the platform to raise it.

Upstairs, Koopas and Goombas are part of the hieroglyphics and there's quicksand and spikes. Go to the right and sink partway into the quicksand so you can go under the wall and find the Stone Entry, which goes into "Scraps". Once we go back, we notice the Goombas on the wall start moving, then jump off the wall and battle us. These are Mural Goombas. They each have 13 HP. Likewise, the Mural Koopas jump off the wall. They have 13 HP as well. There are Spikes on the other side of the quicksand throwing spike balls at you. On the other side is a spot where the Stone Entry is supposed to be. Beware of the Buzzy Beetle in the doorway.

Take the platform up to the next level. Same puzzle as the first floor. Right panel shoe, middle spike helmet, left hammer. The platform takes us to a room with Buzzy Beetles. We leave the room, walk to the left, and go outside. In one of the windows, we see what looks like the back of Luigi's head. I was wondering when he'd show up. Sombrero Guy is nearby. Paperize and Luigi will look through the window. Peel him out of the window and a tiny Luigi will run off. What just happened? Go back inside and go over the sand and through the hole in the wall. Go to the left to return to part of the hallway. There's a huge pile of sand in front of the door. Go outside again and take the green pipe to the first part. It's the pipe behind the wall. Go back through the pipe and walk around the corner. There's a door that's not quite right, so paperize, peel it off, and replace it. Sand flows out the door.

We can now go through the door. The elevator takes us to a floor with another sticker puzzle, with multiple sticker images, but only two slots. This is a tricky puzzle. Check out the Toad where you're supposed to put the stickers. Which way do the head and feet face? Find the other two Toads holding items whose head and feet face the same way that Toad does. This opens the door to a Save Block and a Heart Block.

The elevator takes us up to an arena, where Kersti notices another Royal Sticker. The mural pictures are the audience. Someone says, "SHEEBYDEEBY..." There's a rumble under the Royal Sticker. "SHEENY SHOOBY SHINY SHLOO... SHINE-A-ROONEY!" A sparkly Pokey appears. It looks possessed. I fail the Battle Spin. We are told to PLAY BALL. I probably should've made the Bat into a sticker. We're up against the Tower Power Pokey, with 300 HP. He can spin in front of us to do multiple attacks. I try again after getting the Bat and get two stickers in the Battle Spin. The Bat does 30 damage. Not nearly enough. He can summon green Pokeys and fall on top of you. Try to crumple him with POW Blocks, then hit him with Thing Stickers for extra damage. I got 70 damage out of the Bat and 26 out of the Fan this way. Shiny Hopslippers also work well. He'll periodically grow segments, which will increase his defense. If he takes enough damage, the segments will go away. Use Jump attacks as you can't get close enough to use the hammer when he has two or more segments. Periodically, he can sprout a flower from his head to heal 10 HP. Lots of shiny stickers will slowly chip away at him. Oddly enough, if you get poisoned from the Battle Spin and jump on him, the poison may transfer to him for a turn (you'll still have it, though). After a long and tedious battle, we defeat him. Kersti notes that we still used a lot of stickers. Am I supposed to use only Thing Stickers in boss battles? The defeated Pokey says, "SHUH... SHI...NY... OW?" and disappears, leaving only the orange Royal Sticker. Kersti is impressed with its power. I want to use it in the fight against Bowser.

The mini story says that the Pokey picked up the Royal Sticker and Kamek made the tower disappear. He probably also gave the Royal Sticker to the Pokey. A new page is added to the album. We have 28 stickers left after the battle. Not bad.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 2-5

There are Chomps in this level. Although dangerous, they will help us reach places. Have the third one break some brick blocks to your right so you can reach the first Star Coin over some quicksand. Keep going right and you'll see two Chomps over some quicksand. It will take a few ground pounds, but free the one next to the red pipe. The rock below the Chomp will lower so you can reach the pipe. The second Star Coin is between the two Chomps. They're not that close together, but still be careful. The blue pipe out of that area will take you to the midpoint. You'll soon see more Chomps. Make your way down the yellow blocks, staying toward the left to get the third Star Coin. Avoid a Boomerang Bro once out of the area with the third Star Coin and you'll find a Red Coin. Ring between two Chomps over quicksand. There is a Boomerang Bro in front of the flag.

Coin Total: 13,925

New Super Mario Bros.: 2-5

It's back to the desert with this level. In this level, we find new enemies cleverly camouflaged into the surroundings. You'll find brick blocks stacked on item blocks, but if the "?" on the item block does not spin and it jumps with the music, it is an enemy. These block enemies jump around when approached. We can stand on them to reach new heights. When standing on them, they will walk in the direction Mario is facing. To get rid of them, ground pound them. We can use them to reach the first Star Coin, by jumping from them when they jump. We then avoid fire snakes and hit a P-Switch to turn coins into brick blocks. Run to the left on the new blocks to reach the second Star Coin. Towards the end of the level, we can take the yellow pipe to the goal or go under the quicksand and up through the gray block to reach an area under the goal. Use the block enemy when it jumps to reach the third Star Coin, then hop up the gray blocks to reach the goal.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii 2-5 -- Yoshi vs. Pokey

I found this level to be challenging. It's full of Pokeys, quicksand, and Lakitus. On the bright, side, we get Yoshi, who can eat Pokeys and every enemy in this level. After getting Yoshi, Lakitu appears near the palm tree next to a cloud. Hidden in the cloud is the 1st Star Coin, so I took out Lakitu and hovered into the cloud for the Star Coin. Soon after, there is a Piranha Plant between 2 sets of yellow blocks. I took it out with a Spiny and fell past the right set of blocks. I landed in a dark cavern with more Piranhas, some of which blew fire. Yoshi can eat the fire balls and spit them back out. At the top of the yellow blocks is the 2nd Star Coin. Go up the pipe to the left to return to the main level. After that, I stood on the highest blocks to the right of the Piranhas and had Yoshi eat Lakitu so I could use his cloud. It took a few tries, but I managed to take the cloud far to the right, following the coins, to the 3rd Star Coin, by a Parakoopa. After that, I passed 2 Pokeys and reached the goal.