Part 8: Marrymore and Star Hill

Main Walkthrough

Seaside Town

Your next stop after Star Hill is Seaside Town. The Toads living here are all... off. If you speak to the Elder in the northern home he'll demand you fetch the next Star Piece for him. Apparently it is in the hands of Jonathan Jones, a pirate who lives off the coast of Seaside Town.

Before you leave Seaside Town you'll want to have a quick look around. The town is going to change in the future, and you shouldn't miss out on what's available now.

  • If you check out the vendor in the eastern-most store you'll find items on sale that can't be purchased with normal coins anywhere else in the game. This includes Bad Mushrooms, Muku Cookies, Fright Bombs, Ice Bombs, and Fire Bombs. This vendor won't stick around forever, so if you want to purchase any of these items make sure you do it before you complete the next two dungeons.
  • On the second floor of the Elder's home is one of Frogfucious's students. Similar to one of the tadpoles at Tadpole Pond he sells items for Frog Coins, and these ones are worth laying down Frog Coins. The Exp. Booster, the Coin Trick, and the Scrooge Ring will all make the game a fair bit easier. This vendor will always be here, so don't worry about missing out.
  • The Inn is in the south end of Seaside Town. You're allowed to stay here for free, though the result is... a bit creepy. (I don't think anything gets stolen while you're asleep, fortunately.)

Sea 

Enemies

  • Bloober - 130 HP - Weak to Fire, Thunder
  • Leuko - 220 HP - Weak to Fire
  • Mr. Kipper - 130 HP - Weak to Fire, Thunder
  • Zeostar - 90 HP - Weak to Fire
Your next stop is the Sea, a short area leading to the next dungeon. When you enter Sea you'll be dropped into a cavern, and a short way in you'll find a weapons and armor vendor. If you've been relying on Work Pants for offensive boosts you may want to reconsider them at this point, as the enemies are starting to hit a bit too hard. Still, your call. Prioritize Mario and Mallow either way, as Fire and Lightning attacks are generally quite useful in these parts.

Check the room behind the vendor's desk and you'll find a dead end with a save block. Check the room in front of his desk and you'll find a room that's teeming with Zeostars, just laying about. Avoid them and jump down to the lower floor to find a chest. The chest contains a Super Star that you can use to zip around the room and instantly defeat the Zeostars. Aim properly and you'll get a ton of experience.

Next to the chest is an exit to a westbound hallway. Check the northern wall and you'll find a partially-hidden exit in the corner that will take you to the other half of the room with the save block. Here you can access chests containing a full health restore, a Flower, and a Frog Coin. 


At the end of the westbound hallway you'll find a room with a pool, and there's a small whirlpool in the water. Swim to it and Mario will sink. Walk along the bottom of the pond to the northeast and you'll find the entrance to a small chamber with a beam of light. Step into the light to rise out of the water, where you'll find a chest containing a Max Mushroom.

Exit to the southwest and you'll appear outside. Use the whirlpools in the water to sink to the sea floor. If you want to return to the surface you can use the few spots of rising bubbles to float. Otherwise, head to the submerged ship in the middle of the water and jump into the crow's nest. It is, of course, a pipe.

Sunken Ship

Enemies

  • Alley Rat - 105 HP
  • Bandana Red - 120 HP - Weak to Fire, Lightning
  • Bloober - 130 HP - Weak to Fire, Lightning
  • Crusty - 80 HP - Weak to Fire, Lightning
  • Dry Bones - ? HP - Weak to all Special Moves, Pure Water
  • Goombette - 100 HP - Weak to Jump, Fire, and Lightning
  • Gorgon - 140 HP - Weak to Lightning
  • Greaper - 148 HP - Weak to Pure Water
  • Hidon - 600 HP - Weak to Jump
  • Leuko - 220 HP - Weak to Fire
  • Mr. Kipper - 130 HP - Weak to Fire, Lightning
  • Reacher - 184 HP - Weak to Lightning
  • Straw Head - 131 HP - Weak to Lightning, Pure Water
  • Zeostar - 90 HP - Weak to Fire

The Sunken Ship starts off in a room with a springboard that will take you back to the surface, as well as a travel log and two doors. The door on the right leads to a save block and another travel log, while the door on the left will take you deeper into the dungeon. The next few rooms consist of a lot of undead creatures, and you'll find Mallow's Thunderbolt and the Pure Waters you pick up to be quite invaluable.

Proceed until you reach a set of stairs. There's a stack of crates at the top, and if you check the hole in the middle of them you'll find a hidden Flower. At the bottom of the stairs, floating over another stack of crates, you'll find a chest containing some Coins.


Ahead are two hallways filled with doors, and each door is guarded by a Greaper. Connecting the two hallways is a chamber with a crate staircase, and if you're willing to fight a Dry Bones you can get at a chest containing more Coins. Also in this chamber is a vendor who will provide you a hint to an upcoming puzzle. At the end of the second hallway, guarded by another Greaper, you'll find the entrance to said puzzle.

First up is a room with a save block and two buttons. If you check the stack of barrels on the right side of the room you'll notice that one of them is a slightly different color from the rest. Jump on this barrel to knock it to the floor, then keep hopping on it to line it up with the buttons. If you jump on the barrel while Mario is facing away from the button you'll slowly roll it on top. Stand on the other button once the barrel is on the first and you'll receive a full health restore, as well as a note with a hint: 'The 'r' comes before the 'l'.

This refers to the puzzle in the next room. Here you'll find six blocks, each connected to a series of letters. In order to get through the locked door in this room you need to set each of the blocks to the correct letter. The Greapers you saw earlier are guarding a slew of puzzle rooms, each of which reveals one of the letters. It is possible to guess the password now and skip the puzzle rooms - feel free to jump ahead if you just want the solution - but we'll have a look at the rooms anyway. The list starts with the first room in the first hallway.

  • First room - Inside is a stack of crates with an iron ball on the top, next to a button. There's a Paratroopa up above, and it follows Mario's movements below. You need to line it up with the ball and move it forward so the ball falls onto the button. The hint is 'S'.
  • Second room - Inside are three sliding springboards, each with a corresponding crate for you to hit. Strike a crate and its springboard will stop moving. Hit all three springboards to release an iron ball that will bounce along the springboards. Your goal is to bounce the ball over to the button on the east side of the room. Each springboard has a spotlight to help you line them up, and you'll want to offset each one a little bit away from the exact center, closer to the upper-left side of the spotlight. Note that you can hit the box again to make the springboard move if you want to finesse the placement. The hint is 'Found on the bed of the ocean', and you'll receive a Flower.
  • Third room - Inside is a 3D maze that you need to navigate by walking into walls and hoping for the best. You can press X to check your position inside the maze, or to give up. My attempt at providing directons that made sense failed, so I suggest just checking this map made by someone with more patience. The hint is 'Contains two vowels, and you'll receive a Royal Syrup.
  • Fourth room - Inside is a coin that will travel around the room, leaving other coins. You need to collect every coin to receive the hint. Don't move too quickly and grab the lead coin, or you'll end the game and need to start over. Wait until it stops moving. The hint is 'It has four consonants', and you'll receive a fistful of coins.
  • Fifth room - Inside you'll find three cannons and four floating boxes. You need to hit the left-most box, which will trigger the nearest cannon and fire off a cannonball. Get beneath the nearest box and jump to push the cannonball into the box. You'll need to repeat this process twice more for the other cannons to succeeed. Leave the room and reenter to reset the puzzle if you miss a cannonball. The hint is 'two consonants are side by side', and you'll receive a Mushroom.
That's all the hints you'll get. Ready for the solution? Head to the puzzle room. The letter boxes are numbered, starting with the far-left-lower box and snaking around to the far-left-upper box. You want to change the letters to form the password 'PEARLS'. Speak into the tube near the locked door once you've entered the password and, assuming it's correct, the door will open. You'll also receive a hint of what's waiting on the other side, which should prompt you to heal up and save.

King Calamari

HP: 
  • 800 (King Calamari)
  • 260 (Tentacles)
Weakness: Fire

If you've been checking the ship logs while exploring the Sunken Ship you'll know that a giant squid sank the vessel. This is him. King Calamari knows the following attacks:

  • Melee slap (All enemies)
  • A throw move that inflicts Fear and temporarily removes the target from combat (Tentacles)
  • Ink Blast, a moderate attack against a single target (King Calamari)
  • Venom Drool, a single-target attack that can inflict Poison (King Calamari)
  • Drain Beam, a weak magic attack against the whole party (King Calamari)
  • Sand Storm, a magic attack against the whole party that can inflict Fear (King Calamari)

This is a three-part fight. During the first two sections you'll face off against three sets of Tentacles, moving on each time you clear the field. During the third you'll fight King Calamari himself, as well as two more Tentacles. The Tentacles are all more or less the same as one another, and King Calamari adds a few more status-inducing attacks into the mix.

This fight take a while, but it's not too difficult. If you want to fly through it quickly then use Mario's Super Flame attack. Properly primed via the Y button it can, in some cases, take out a Tentacle in a single go. You'll need a few Syrups to keep Mario stocked, but this will wipe the floor with your foes. Once you've reached King Calamari you'll want to quickly take out the Tentacles, then focus on the squid. It doesn't throw any curveballs that Toadstool or Mallow can't handle with their healing abilities.

Once the battle's over you'll be dropped into the lower half of the Sunken Ship. Use the springboard here if you want to get back to the save block. In the second chamber you'll find two exits, and if you go through the upper exit you'll find a path lined with Alley Rats firing Bullet Bills from cannons. Get hit by a Bullet Bill and you'll be swept to the lower floor. You can either time your jumps through here carefully, or just beat the Alley Rats so you can travel along the tops of their cannons.

Beyond a staircase patrolled by Alley Rats you'll find a room with two chests on top of crates. Head northeast and you'll find a door with two barrels beside it. If you run and jump off of the top of the barrels you can just barely land beside the chests. The chests contain Coins. Collect your fill, then head through the door in the northeast.

In the next room you'll come moustache-to-moustache with a Mario doppelganger. It will mimic your every move, preventing you from getting through the room. That said, it won't jump at the same time as the real Mario if you're walking when you jump. This will allow you to leap over the Mario clone or hop onto its head. Hop around near the central spotlight and you'll discover a hidden switch that will reveal a chest overhead. You'll need to lure the doppelganger over and use its head to reach the chest, which contains a KeroKero Cola. (Also, if you try to speak to the Doppelganger, you'll get into a battle.)

Beyond the room with the Doppelganger you'll find a chamber with stairs leading to a save block, as well as two chests. The first chest fully heals everyone, while the second contains a battle with a Hidon. The Hidon can hit quite hard, and will summon Goombettes in to help it. The Hidon is weak to Jump, making Mario's Super Jump your ideal weapon. Ignore the Goombettes until the Hidon is gone. You'll receive a Safety Badge for winning.

The next few rooms are flooded. Head to the second room and you'll find a whirlpool that will sink you to the lower floor. Head southeast and you can enter the first room, where you'll find easily-accesible four Frog Coins. Most of the enemies in this section are weak to Lightning, so make sure Mallow is back in the party if you removed him earlier.

Proceed through the next few flooded areas to the northeast until you come to a larger chamber with a Bloober and several of its babies bopping around. There's a stack of barrels in the north with a suspicious blue glint poking through the wood. If you check the rear of the barrels you'll find a hidden path to the glint, which is a door. The door leads to a chest containing a Safety Ring.

Climb the barrels in the east of the larger chamber to emerge from the water by a door. Before you go through, though, skim along the surface of the water to the west end of the room. You'll find a heap of barrels with a Frog Coin on top. Go through the door and you'll get your first taste of this vessel's pirates, though the Bandana Reds are easy foes to mop up with Mallow's Thunderbolt. Check the chest in this room for a health restore.

Head up the stairs in the east and you'll wind up in more encounters with Bandana Reds. Besting them will earn you an audience with their captain, Johnny himself.

Johnny

HP: 

  • 820 (Johnny)
  • 400 (Johnny, solo)
  • 150 HP (Bandana Blues)
Weakness: Fire, Lightning (Bandana Blues)

Yar. Johnny is a fairly tough opponent if you haven't been leveling consistently, and the fight gets more difficult if you make a conscious choice to isolate the captain. Johnny and his crew use the following attacks:

  • Melee stabs (everyone)
  • Pierce, a melee stab (Bandana Blue)
  • Skewer, a melee stab (Johnny)
  • Mega Drain, a Fire attack against a single target (Johnny)
  • Diamond Saw, a heavy magic attack against a single target (Johnny)
  • Get Tough!, a permanent stat buff (Johnny)
Johnny has four Bandana Blue guards, and everyone will assault your party with a variety of spear pokes. If you get rid of the four Bandana Blues Johnny will issue a personal challenge to Mario, using Get Tough! to bolster his attack and defence, and Mario will have to fight him solo. This will reset Johnny's HP, so any progress you've made will be for naught.

If your party is struggling you'll want to avoid the one-on-one between Johnny and Mario. He has no weaknesses and can hit quite hard once he's buffed. Take out three of the Bandana Blues and leave the other one alone until Johnny is toast. If you do decide to tackle Johnny with just Mario you'll want a few Mid or Max Mushrooms handy, and Super / Ultra Jump will likely be your best weapons. Good luck!

You'll receive your fifth Star Piece for defeating Johnny, whether you beat him one-on-one or as a group. You can exit the Sunken Ship via the springboard in the room to the east, which will zip you back to the world map. Head somewhere other than Seaside Town to restore your health and heal up, then pay the settlement a visit. The Elder is waiting for you by the entrance...

... and he will steal the Star Piece. What a surprise, he was a bad guy. Follow the Elder to the northwest of Seaside Town and you'll get into the fight of a lifetime.

Yaridovich

HP: 
  • 1,500 (Yaridovich)
  • 500 (Yaridovich Clone)
Weakness: Thunder

Phew. You may have run into a challenge here and there during your Super Mario RPG adventure, but this is the first battle that is legitimately difficult. Yaridovich is a powerhouse boss, and he can put your party in the ground with ease if you're not carefuly. Yardiovich uses the following attacks:
  • A melee stab
  • Pierce, a single-target melee attack (Yaridovich)
  • A glowing shot against a single target that does heavy damage (Yaridovich)
  • Water Blast, a magic attack against the whole party (Yaridovich)
  • Willy Wisp, a single-target magic attack (Yaridovich)
  • Flame Stone, a single-target Fire attack (Yaridovich)
  • Mirage Attack, which creates a clone of Yaridovich (Yaridovich)
  • Bolt, a single-target Lightning attack (Yaridovich Clone)
  • Static-E!, a Lightning attack against the whole party (Yaridovich Clone)
  • Meteor Blast, a magic attack against the whole party (Yaridovich Clone)
The battle begins with Yaridovich slamming the whole party with Water Blast, which can inflict heavy damage. He'll use this attack again every three turns. Between Water Blasts Yaridovich will use 'lesser', but still painful, magic and lance stabs to inflict damage. He'll also create occasional clones of himself, which, if ignored, will go away after a few turns. The clones use different attacks and don't hit as hard, so they're fairly easy to identify. Mallow can also ID a clone using Psychopath.

 Ideally you want to have Toadstool in your party, and leave her on healing duty. Her Group Hug Special Move will offset the worst of Yaridovich's attacks, most notably Water Blast. Equip a B'Tub Ring on Toadstool (Purchased in Marrymore) to cut the damage from Yaridovich's attacks. Mallow and items (particularly Kerokero Colas) can make up for a lack of Toadstool, but she's definitely your best option. Otherwise, all you can do in this battle is keep laying the pain on Yaridovich, figure out which is the real deal when he splits, and hope it doesn't take too long for him to go down. Mallow is the only character who can target Yaridovich's weakness, so Shocker will likely be your strongest move in this battle.


You'll receive the Star Piece for defeating Yaridovich, and tou'll find a Shed Key a short walk from the battle site. Head back to Seaside Town and check the house on the west side of the town, which was previously guarded. The key will get you inside, where you'll find the true Toads of Seaside Town. They will disperse into the town, and the Elder will give you a Flower Box as thanks. There are now more services to exploit:
  • In the west-most store you'll find Beetles-Are-Us. Spend 50 coins here (plus 100 extra the first time) and you'll rent a Beetle Box. You can use this to catch Beetles on Booster Hill, playing a minigame similar to the Booster chase from earlier. Depending on the type of beetle you catch you'll receive one coin (female), 50 coins (male), or a Frog Coin (golden).
  • The double shop in the west now sells weapons and armor, both new and old. There are only a handful of weapons that are worth buying (Double Punch, Parasol), assuming you've kept up to this point in the game.
  • The Mole in the northeast shop sells a variety of restorative items.
  • In the central shop in the east is the Mushroom Boy. He will taste-test your Mushrooms and offer you items if he happens to like what he finds. Occasionally you'll receive rare items, such as Rock Candy or Flower Tabs, though your chances aren't high.
  • The last shop in the east sells accessories. Nothing special.
That's all for the reformed Seaside Town. If you speak to the Elder he will suggest you check out Land's End, which happens to be the next stop on your journey. Only two stars left to go...


Main Walkthrough