Part 2: Mushroom Kingdom and Bandit's Way

Main Walkthrough

Kero Sewers

Enemies

  • Goby - 40 HP - Weak to Lightning
  • Hobgoblin - 50 HP - Weak to Jump, Pure Water
  • Pandorite - 300 HP - Weak to Jump
  • Rat Funk - 32 HP - Weak to Fire
  • Shadow - 85 HP - Weak to Pure Water
  • The Big Boo - 43 HP - Weak to Pure Water

Once you've tidied up the Mushroom Kingdom - and purchased some Mushrooms, Pick Me Ups, and Honey Syrups from the Item Shop, assuming you ran low - you'll be headed to the Kero Sewers next. Enter the area via the world map and you'll find a warp pipe leading inside. Hop on and press down to descend.

There's a save block right at the entrance, so use it before you look around. Across a short swim east you'll find another pipe, as well as instructions on using pipes. This warp will take you to an area where you'll start running into enemies. They're nothing terribly special, though keep in mind that the Rat Funks and Hobgoblins can Poison your characters. Wipe them out quickly with Thunderbolt. Several of the enemies down here are undead, and the Pure Waters dropped by the Scarecrows can wipe them out in a single use.


At this point the path splits in three different directions, and they all link up with each other in various ways. To make the most of the sewers in the most efficient way possible you'll want to take this route:
  • Walk southwest from the entrance until you find a pipe by the water's edge. Jump in.
  • You'll emerge in an open area. Jump into the nearest pipe, down the ledges on your right.
  • Run northeast in the next room until you find another pipe. Go down.
  • You should be in a chamber with four Rat Funks moving in a sort of dance pattern. Stay on the upper level and look for a pipe to the east. Next to it is a chest containing a Super Star that you can use to wipe out the enemies. Go down the pipe.
  • You'll now be at the top of a series of walkways, lined with Rat Funks in hiding. You can skip most of them by just hopping down the ledges. There's a chest containing a full health restore on the west side of the area, and if you hop to the lowest level you'll find a chest containing a Pandorite battle in the eastern corner. Use Jump and Super Jump to take it out. It drops a Flower Jar and a Trueform Pin.
  • Follow the path from the Pandorite chest to find a pipe in the east. It will bring you out near a patch of water. Swim east / northeast in the next two chambers to find a path back to the area where you started.
  • Hop out of the water and go down the same pipe you did the first time. You'll be back in the chamber with the pipe to your right. Hop down to it, but this time jump onto the wall next to it, where a Rat Funk is waiting. Defeat it to gain access to another pipe in the east. Go down.
  • In this next room you'll find a number of Big Boos, a green button, and a springboard that will send you back to the dungeon entrance. Jump on the button, then use the springboard for easy access to the outside world if you want to rest up or save.

Hitting the button will drain the water in the majority of the sewers. Make your way back inside from the save block and hop down into the empty culvert, walking southwest. In the second chamber - the place where you entered the pipe to reach the button - you'll find a pipe that used to be submerged in water. Go down it to find a room with two chests and another save block. One chest will fully restore the party, while the other is unreachable from here. You'll get a stab at it much later.

East of the save block is one final pipe. Make sure you save before descending, as a nasty... thing... is waiting at the bottom.

Belome

HP: 500
Weakness: Lightning

What is he? Whoooo knows. Belome is a hungry, sleepy fellow, and his attacks can prolong the fight quite a bit if you aren't properly equipped. Belome has the following abilities:

  • A basic melee lick
  • A swallowing attack that removes one character from battle for a short while
  • S'crow Funk, which turns a character into a Scarecrow
  • Sleep-Sauce, which can put one character to Sleep
Belome starts out dealing basic damage with his tongue, though after a few rounds he'll hop over and swallow Mallow. Inflict enough damage with Mario and Belome will spit Mallow out again. At this point Belome will start using S'crow Funk and Sleep-Sauce. Mario us much less useless than Mallow if he is Scarecrowed, so give him the Trueform Pin before the fight to prevent the effect from sticking. Mallow can still do decent damage with Thunderbolt whether he's normal or a Scarecrow. Not a terrible fight, but annoying.

Defeating Belome will remove the threat... for now, anyway... and immediately wash Mario and Mallow out of the sewers. Time for some fun!


Midas River Course

Surprise! The Midas River is a swiftly-flowing current that will guide you to your next destination, as well as provide you with ample amounts of coins along the way. Tap the B button and Mario will swim upward against the current a few times, allowing you to change direction a bit if you want. Beyond that all you have is slow right-left navigation as Mario slips down the rapids.

As you make your way down the river you'll hit splits in the path that will take you in different directions. You can find four Frog Coins by taking this route:
  • Stick to the right wall near the entrance to the course
  • Take the left path at the first big split (two coins)
  • Take the right path at the second big split
In addition to Frog Coins there are several small islands along the course that will put you into caves if you touch them on the way down. Each cave will play out a little scenario with various monsters, and depending on the cave you enter you'll receive a prize:
  • First cave, near the beginning and on your right - Nothing
  • Second cave, down the right path at the first split - Lose coins
  • Third cave, down the left path at the first split - Flower
  • Fourth cave, further down the left path at the first split - Frog Coin
  • Fifth cave, down two right splits and near the end of the course - Flower
It's not possible to collect every item on your first trip down the river, so expect to make two or three trips if you want to gather everything. (Don't worry, you'll get a chance.)


Once you reach the bottom of the rapids you'll wind up on a barrel-jumping course. You need to hop from one barrel to the next, gathering coins as you go. Jump before your barrel crashes into the next one and you'll stay on the same course; let your barrel hit the next in line and you'll veer onto a different trajectory. There are different amounts of coins on each barrel path, so you'll want to move back and forth to maximize the number of coins you collect:
  • Right
  • Right
  • Right
  • Left
  • Right
  • Right
  • Right
  • Left
  • Right
  • Right
  • Right
As you near the end of the course you'll run into jumping fish. Be careful to avoid these things by performing your own hops, or you'll lose a fistful of coins.


At the end of this course you'll crash into the 'entrance' to the Midas River Course. The Toad in charge will offer to give you a Frog Coin in exchange for 60 normal coins, all of which need to be collected by doing the Midas River Course. Whether you successfully received the Frog Coin or not, the Toad will give you a NokNok Shell, a weapon for Mario.

If you speak to the Toad after this point you can run the Midas River Course again for 30 coins. The Toad will keep track of your coin-collecting high score, and the higher your score, the fewer coins you need to collect to earn a Frog Coin. The Toad will hold on to your excess coins between runs. If you manage to collect all 100 coins on the course you'll receive five Frog Coins as a bonus. (Not easy, but doable.)

Why are you collecting all these Frog Coins? You're about to find out, as your next destination is the place you can spend 'em: Tadpole Pond.

Main Walkthrough