The party wanders out into Dusty Dunes Desert, a superheated section of EarthBound.
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Part 12: Grapefruit Falls and Milky Well
Main Walkthrough

Dusty Dunes Desert

- After leaving the tunnels from Grapefruit Falls and Saturn Valley you’ll find Threed looking significantly nicer. The town is restored to normal, and is now, in fact, quite boring. Oh well.

- Either hop a bus that’s headed east or leave Threed through the eastern tunnel. You’ll wind up in Dusty Dunes Desert in short order… though a massive pileup of cars will prevent you from taking the easy, road-bound route to Fourside.

- On the side of the road is a Drugstore, and you can step inside to collect the usual items. In particular you should stock up on Wet Towels…

- … because every step you take in the majority of Dusty Dunes Desert brings with it the threat of sunstroke. Sunstroke will cause you damage with virtually every step you take on the world map, and is very annoying. You can dispel it with Ness’s Healing B, but you may want to keep Wet Towels on hand so he’s not expending all of his PSI.

The party battles the wildlife of Dusty Dunes Desert in EarthBound.

- Dusty Dunes Desert is populated by enemies old and new:
  • Bad Buffalos have high defence and can hit fairly hard. PSI is recommended.
  • Crested Bookas don’t hit terribly hard, but they’ll mess with your stats a lot and can be dangerous grouped with other enemies.
  • Desert Wolves can hit fairly hard, and they have a decent chance of poisoning your characters with their bites. Sunstrokes are annoying enough without help from poisoning. Kill ‘em with PSI Freeze.
  • Skelpions are similar to Desert Wolves, though less powerful and a bit faster. PSI!
  • Cute Li’l UFOs like physical hits, for the most part, and may heal themselves. Fairly standard.
  • Smilin’ Spheres are perhaps the most dangerous enemies in the Desert, as they can use powerful fire attacks and will explode upon defeat. Take them out last.
  • Criminal Caterpillars are weird enemies. They will attempt to flee no matter what, and if caught by surprise they’ll almost certainly die. Killing one will yield an enormous amount of experience for this point of the game. Actually fight one, though, and you’ll probably get your butt kicked. Moral: Don’t get into a straight fight with a Criminal Caterpillar.

The party visits Montague, a miner in Dusty Dunes Desert, an area in EarthBound.

- North of the Drugstore is an arms seller, and a little bit further north you’ll find a tunnel populated by monkeys. This tunnel is a dungeon of sorts later; for now it’s just a useless oddity.

- From here Dusty Dunes Desert opens dramatically. If you want to skip the desert, head straight east, along the southern rock wall. A ways down the desert you’ll come to a shack staffed by a man named Montague. Give him one of your food items - make sure you do this - to allow him to continue his digging work. You can spend the night in his shack, as well.

Ness discovers something shiny in Dusty Dunes Desert of EarthBound.

- If you do decide to check out the Desert in its entirety you’ll find a fair number of items, though reaching them is a rather perilous task thanks to the heat and the enemies.
  • Follow the western rock wall north from the monkey hole and, once you reach the water’s edge, you’ll find a Double Burger.
  • Follow the coastline northeast and you’ll eventually find a black sesame seed, part of the most tragic love stories ever written. Further northeast from here is a Cup of Lifenoodles.
  • Head southeast at a slight angle from the Lifenoodles to find a small oasis. There’s a Skip Sandwich DX sitting by the water.
  • A short ways west of the Montague shack, north of the rock wall separating road from Desert, is a Big Bottle Rocket. Head left of here and you’ll find the white sesame seed. Sadness.
  • Almost directly north of the Big Bottle Rocket and back at the edge of the water is a Double Burger. Just south of the present, between it and a sign, is a Contact Lens. You can give this to a man in Fourside’s Bakery in exchange for a Pair of Dirty Socks. Dumbest side quest ever.
  • Continue to follow the water as it twists east and southeast and you’ll find a PSI Caramel and, near the exit tunnel, a Sudden Guts Pill.
- Once you reach the far east tunnel in Dusty Dunes Desert the road will be cleared, allowing you to explore the roadside to the west. You’ll find a roadside slots game of sorts that’s pretty much a waste of time, and if you look north of the ‘DESERT’ sign you’ll find a present containing $1,000. That’ll do it for Dusty Dunes Desert.

Part 14: Fourside
Main Walkthrough