Bowser’s Keep
You’re going to want to have Bowser in your party for this section. Some enemies won’t battle you with him in your party.
To begin, head through the next several areas until you come to a dark room.
Go through the dark room until you come to a statue. Go behind that statue to find a mushroom chest.
From the previous chest, head the opposite direction and enter the door.
You’ll see Croco standing ahead of you and a save block. Before approaching him, go to the left corner of this room to find a hidden exit.
This will lead to a small area with two chests. A mushroom chest and coins for the other.
Exit that hidden room and then buy whatever you may need from Croco and then save your game.
Go through the door and you’ll come to a room with six doors ahead of you.
What’s behind each door is randomized. There are two action rooms, two puzzle rooms and two combat rooms.
You’ll need to pass four of the six in order to progress.
Pick any door and see what you get on the other side. The rewards are very strong weapons for your party.
Combat Room 1
You’re going to have to go down three hallways fighting through enemies. The final bosses will be Bahamutt and Comeon.
The reward for beating this room is the Star Gun.
Combat Room 2
This is just like Combat Room 1. You just need to beat every enemy down three hallways. This one does not end in a boss fight.
The reward is the Drill Claw.
Puzzle Room 1
To begin this room, you and Dr. Topper will be taking coins from the chest above. Whoever collects the last coin losses the game.
In the next room, you’re going to have to get all of the switches down in order to continue through. You can see what buttons to press pictured below.
The third room contains Ball Solitaire. You’re going to need to kick the balls over one another to make them disappear until there is only one left.
You’ll get the Rock Candy as a reward for completing this room.
Puzzle Room 2
Room 1:
All you have to do here is answer Dr. Topper’s questions correctly.
You only have a few seconds to answer correctly, but the questions will repeat so, this is really a trial and error section. The questions will be about what has happened in the game leading up to this point.
Room 2:
The next room will have you counting barrels quickly. The number for both is random, but this can be done easily.
The first stack will always have seven barrels on the bottom. So, you only have to count the second and third row and then add seven.
The second stack will always have 40 barrels in the first, second and third stacks. So all you have to do here is count the top stack and add 40 to it. There are 6 barrels on the top stack pictured below, so the total for that is 46.
Room 3:
The final room will have you figuring out who came in what place.
The answers for who won are always the same, but the character who says it will change. Just put the characters in order based on the answers. Below is the correct order.
- 1st Place – “I outdid ___ both on my bike and in the final rankings!”
- 2nd Place – “I fell into fourth place during the bike race…”
- 3rd Place – “I placed the same in swimming and cycling…”
- 4th Place – “I came in third for swimming…”
The reward for this is a Rock Candy.
Action Room 1
There will be enemies ahead that are walking on an invisible path in here. Every time you jump, the path will flash showing you where to go. Follow the path and make it to the other side.
The next room will have you jumping from platform to platform in order to reach the other side.
The final room will be a game of Donkey Kong. Dodge the barrels and make it to the top in order to win.
The reward for this room is the Super Slap.
Action Room 2
For the first room, you’re going to need to platform over to the end. If you ride the final stone up, you can jump on to the top platform and find a chest.
In the second room, you’ll have to get on the ball and roll through the area while avoiding the bombs. Your controllers will be inverted during this section.
The third room will have you moving platforms over to the end. When you stand on one, the other will move. Jump over and the other will then move. Make your way through the room.
You’ll get the Sonic Cymbals as a reward for completing this room.
After you’ve completed four, you’ll be transported to a different area in order to continue. It’ll also be time for a boss fight against Wizakoopa.
Wizakoopa
For this fight, just stick to physical attacks.
Eventually, Wizakoopa will summon a bigger enemy. Just keep attacking that and it should go down fairly quickly. Afterwards, the fight is almost over.
After the fight, Wizakoopa will heal your party and summon chest with coins in it for you.
Go through the door on the left and you’ll find Croco’s shop again. Stock up on whatever you may need here before continuing.
When you’re ready, go through the door on the right.
You won’t be able to move when the Thwomps hit the ground so make sure you’re out of the way of the next one when the previous crashes down.
Enter the next room and it’ll be time for another boss fight.
Boomer
When Boomer is colored red, it is vulnerable to special attacks.
When Boomer is colored blue, it is vulnerable to physical attacks.
Boomer’s Shaker attack can one hit a party member, but it can be blocked. So be ready to block when you see that attack coming.
After the fight, your party will be healed and it’ll be time for yet another boss fight.
Exor
There are multiple targets to attack. The hilt of the sword is Exor, but you won’t be able to attack that until you have have damaged one of his eyes or mouth first. A message will pop up saying Exor’s protection is gone. After that, you can then deal damage to Exor.
For this fight, Peach’s Mute attack is effective here. It’ll reduce the amount of magic attacks that Exor can use. These hit pretty hard, so shutting them down will be very helpful here. Not only that, but her other healing abilities will come in handy during this fight as well.
When Exor is vulnerable to attack, focus all of your attacks on him.
Eventually, Exor’s protection will return and you’ll need to damage the other parts again. You’ll need to repeat that until the fight is over.
After the fight, you’ll be automatically transported to the final area.
Just a quick note. If you wanted to return to Bowser’s Keep and complete the other challenge rooms, you can do that.
Weapon World
Go until you come to a screw. Stand on it and jump to move it forward. You’ll need to inch forward after each jump so that you do not fall.
Keep going until you come to an area with a green switch. Jump on it.
In the next room, you can find a save block as well as a Hidden Treasure. Jump up in the left corner next to the save block.
You can get the Ultra Hammer from the chest in the next room, but the Lazy Shell is still the stronger weapon.
Use the springboard to jump up the screw and continue forward.
It’ll be time for a boss fight.
Count Down
There will be three targets on this boss. First, you’re going to want to focus your attacks on Count Down.
Once that part is out of the way, focus on the bells.
After the fight, use the springboard to continue.
The next section is tricky. There will be robot versions of bosses you’ve beaten. If you run into them, you’ll need to fight them again.
Continue through the next several areas. You’re going to need to run against moving conveyor belts. Get the chests if you’d like, otherwise just get through the areas as carefully as can to avoid re-doing boss fights.
One of the chests has a Royal Syrup and the other has a Mushroom.
When you have to climb up the stack of conveyor belts, wait for the enemy to come down. As soon as he passes, quickly get up the belts.
Jump over the rangers and then use the same method as earlier to get up the next belt.
There will be a brick in the middle of the next area. You need to get on it and fight at least one of the enemies that lands on it.
After the fight, you can take the top exit to a small room with two chests.
Drop down the square hole and it’ll be time for another boss fight.
Cloaker and Domino
To begin, focus on getting Domino out first. When one of them goes down, the other spawns a different monster to help them.
So the easier route is to take Domino out first and then deal with Cloaker and Bad Adder.
Use special attacks on Bad Adder. The splash damage may take out Cloaker as you use your magic on Bad Adder.
After the fight, head through the top exit and you’ll be in the Factory.
Factory
The factory is pretty straight forward.
Just keep moving straight through the areas battling the mini bosses along the way.
As you move through the areas, Toad will appear offering items for sale. Make sure to stock up on whatever you may need as we are approaching the final boss fights.
When you reach the end, you’ll have to fight Gunyolk.
Gunyolk
Use Peach’s Mute special and focus your other physical attacks on focus them on Gunyolk. This fight is not a very difficult one.
After the fight, get on the switch and you’ll be taken down to fight Smithy.
Smithy
For this fight, take Peach with you. If you haven’t already, equip the Lazy Shell armor to Peach. You’re going to need to rely on her special abilities to heal and revive your team.
Smithy’s attacks hit every party member, so you’re going to be needed health often.
Smithy is resistant to magic attacks, so use your physical attacks. Stick with physical attacks so that your flower points are saved for Peach to use.
Just keep attacking Smithy until the second phase begins.
During the second phase, Smithy will have multiple attack points. If you focus your attacks on his body, he’ll temporarily be immobile. This will prevent him from using some of his attacks for a bit.
Smithy will change his head multiple times throughout this fight. Each of the heads has their own HP bar as well.
So, just keep attacking while using Peach to heal and revive. Smithy does a lot of damage, so you’ll likely be using Peach’s abilities almost every turn.
After the fight, you will acquire the seventh and final Star Piece! And with that, you will have completed the Super Mario RPG!
With the story completed, you can now challenge the bosses to a rematch as well as fight against two optional bosses.
- Jinx in Monstro Town
- Culex in Monstro Town
For Culex, you can use the same strategy that you used against Smithy. Culex has a lot of HP and he’ll have elemental crystals that attack as well.
However, with Peach + Lazy Shell armor, you can actually outlast Culex. He and his crystals will hit you hard, but you can simply revive and heal with Peach over and over until Culex and his crystals are out of FP. Once that happens, he will no longer be able to attack. You can then just keep attacking until he is defeated.
Had kinda hoped that Luigi would be a party member in the remake, he’s in the instruction manual for the og Mario RPG on SNES and in photos from the beta.