Chapter 8

When you get done talking with Merlon, head to Flopside and find the new Heart Pillar that’s opened up on the 2F outskirts. Head out of town, across the gap into the foreground, then head to the right past the stone pillars to reach it. Placing the Pure Heart into it will open the door to the final battle at the top of Flopside.

Chapter 8–1: The Impending Darkness

First Screen

Head right to enter the castle.

Second Screen

Koopatrols will attack you here; they can take a lot of damage and will charge at you with their spiky heads. Try to get behind them and hit them with Cudge. There are also Magiblots here, which you know all too well if you’ve tried out the Pit of a 100 Trials. Wait for them to pop into existence, jump out of the way of their magic bolt, and jump on their head. You can also try laying down Boomer and hope that they spawn in on top of him.

Third Screen

Start heading up the stairs, using Boomer to clear out the boomerang Koopa, or simply avoiding them in 3D mode. The middle door here still leads to a dead end, so head up and to the right to find the uppermost door here.

Fourth Screen

Lots of weirdo enemies await you in Bleck's Castle.

Plenty of Mister I’s here, so flip into 3D mode and run around them to kill them off, then use Luigi to jump up to the upper door.

Fifth Screen

Use Luigi to jump up to the left platform here, where you’ll find a Stopwatch and a Long-Last Shake in chests. Then jump up to the right platform and use Peach to glide across to the pipe there.

Sixth Screen

Move all the way to the right here (you can use Mario in 3D mode and get close to a wall to avoid most of the enemies) to receive a Castle Bleck Key. Return to the fourth screen and use it to move on.

Seventh Screen

A long, annoying hallway, with some really annoying enemies, like flying Magikoopas. Stick to 3D mode as much as you can to avoid their attacks until you reach the far door.

Eighth Screen

Hey, guess what? More annoying enemies to deal with! Some are in the 3D plane, but you can still get up the steps more easily as Mario than anyone else.

Ninth Screen

Ow! Right in the tuchus!

You should see the first save spot here, as well as five torches. Light them to match the pattern that you saw in the last screen: the second, third, and fifth torches should be lit (by Bowser), counting from left to right. That will raise a stairwell leading to…

Tenth Screen

One last O’Chunks fight, coming your way. You have to take him on with Bowser, who’ll probably have an attack of 18 or 20 by this point. Repeated head-stompings will rule the day, but you can also use the flaming breath if you manage to get O’Chunks on the ground and convince him to stay there. Alternately, the old plan of using Boomer might be helpful, but generally speaking the fight will go too fast for it to be useful. When it’s done, move on to the next room to find the Star Block.

Chapter 8–2: The Crash

First Screen

Cudge your way through the first few enemies here, then 3D your way past the rest to reach the second screen.

Second Screen

Merlon appears here and tells you to smash a block. It is, of course, Mimi in disguise, and the block will lead you into a trapdoor. Head down and use Boomer on the crack in the wall, which will lead you to a room with two doors and a pipe in it.

Feel free to ride up the pipe; you’ll find yourself in a room with five other pipes in it. Use 3D to find a lightning bolt weapon, if you like, then return back to the bottom portion of the screen. You’ll have noted that of the five pipes, only the one on the left actually goes to a different screen. You need to shift the pipe exit underneath that pipe. Do so by heading into the left room near the pipe exit and hitting the red switch there a couple of times, then return to the pipe and ride it up to reach the next area.

A few treasure chests here for you to open. They contain a Courage Shell, a Castle Bleck Key, and a Life Shroom. With those in hand, use 3D to drop back down to where you were before and open the door to move on.

Third Screen

The middle door here will lead to a seeming dead end, but if you use 3D to find the hidden path, you’ll come to a handy Ultra Shroom Shake. Return to the main screen and head up the stairs to move on.

Fourth Screen

As you might imagine, the shrooms hanging from the ceiling here are traps. They at least have the courtesy of being real shrooms, and thus will heal you when you grab them. You only need to grab the third one from the left, though, as the room below it will feature an enemy in the 3D plane that drops a Castle Bleck Key when killed. Use it on the door to move on.

Fifth Screen

If we never see Francis again, it'll be too soon.

Marlee will quiz you now. As you might expect, this is Mimi trying to suss out your weaknesses. She’ll place whatever you answer into the next three rooms. You can use this to get some easy power-ups from the first two answers, but pick something easy from the last choice; the last thing you really want is to have to fight Francis again. You can skip the first two rooms if you like, but you’ll have to defeat whatever you put into the third room.

Sixth Screen: Mimi Fight

It’s Mimi versus Peach here. This fight is going to be really, really annoying. In case you’ve forgotten the basic procedure, you have to use Thoreau to pick up the Rubees on the ground and throw them at Mimi. When she’s stunned, jump on her head to make her shed her legs. When all the legs are destroyed, you win.

Prepare to take a while with this fight.

Mimi doesn’t have many new attacks here, but the one she does use is a spinning blade that rotates around the room. It’s easy to dodge, which in some ways makes it even more frustrating, since she’ll use it often and you can’t attack her while she’s performing it, which adds up to annoyance! To make matters worse, you still have to beat Mimi by jumping on her head, and Peach isn’t the most precise jumper in the game. You’ll also have a hard time seeing her legs on the black background. To boot, throwing Rubees at Mimi is no easy task, especially when she’s on the ground.

Expect plenty of frustration here, and you’ll probably have to use a healing item or two before moving on.

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