It's time to clean up Valley of Bowser before we finally knock on Bowser's door!
Overworld map by Rick Bruns. All other maps by Stefan Mahrla.
Valley of Bowser 3
You'll meet a new kind of platform here: countdown platforms (which have been seen in many a Super Mario World ROM hack). They have a number on them, and once the number disappears, it's dropping down. The higher the number that is in the circle in the center, the more time it will have before it drops down into nothingness. You want to get on another platform when that is about to happen.
You'll also meet a whole bunch of Para-Troopas throughout the level, as well as a few Banzai Bills near the end, but that's nothing new.
If you go down the pipe where the yellow pipes are, you'll enter the three block mini-game yet again.
Valley of Bowser 4
For some reason, the Chargin' Chucks are using the pugil sticks from American Gladiators to dig soccer balls out of the ground, which in turn slowly bounce towards you. That, or the soccer balls could be huge dirt clods. They looked like soccer balls to me, but at a closer glance, the patterns on them aren't soccer balls, so they're more than likely clods of dirt.
You'll also be leaping from one end of the lava to the other with platforms that sink when you jump onto them. You'll want to be careful on them, especially past the checkpoint, since there will be Chargin' Chucks who will send those dirt clods your way.
Both exits are at the end. The key and keyhole will take you to Star Road and Star World 5, while the goal gate will take you to #7 Larry's Castle. To get the key into the keyhole, you will need to have Yoshi at the end so you can slurp up the key and get it to the keyhole.
#7 Larry's Castle
The first section of Larry's Castle is a block snake section. Once again, you will have to stay on the block snake while avoiding rotating ball and chains as well as the spikes and the lava. Move carefully! When you reach the end, you could enter the first door that comes your way, but if you ride the back of the block snake all the way down, you'll find the last two Dragon Coins as well as the checkpoint and a Mushroom. Regardless of which door you enter, you will enter the next section.
In the second section, you'll be dealing with the Choco Fortress spike pillars, a couple of Dry Bones...and the Magikoopa. Yes, he's back, and you may need him to get past a wall of blocks unless you're Caped Mario. Be sure not to accidentally spin jump on the block bridge near the end.
The fight with Larry Koopa (named after U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., news talk show host Larry King or nobody at all; the origin is disputed) is the same as with Iggy. The only difference is that he slowly moves towards you and ducks out of his shell to throw fireballs at you. Also, there are Podaboos that jump in and out of the lava below at the sides of the platform as well as at the center of the platform. This can make the battle tough, especially when you have Larry so close to the edge. You can still jump on him to knock him back, but you will have to keep a close eye on him to see what he does, as he does the fireball toss at regular intervals.
Your best bet to beating this battle quickly is to wait for the platform to tilt to the right, then jump on his head twice in quick succession.
When you beat Larry, you'll rescue the last of Yoshi's friends and it is on to Bowser's Castle. However, there is still work to do with one of the side paths...
Valley Fortress
You thought Wendy's Castle was nasty with the gargantuan spikes? This one has even more of them, and I'm amazed that I was able to find a way through.
In areas where there are a ton of them are next to each other, your best bet is to know where the safe spaces are between them and get the locations for them down pat. Make sure to bring prenty of lives; these gigantic spikes are the hardest part of the level, and there is no checkpoint. If you die at any point, it's back to the beginning.
After that, there is a spiked ceiling with a few brown spikes that come down as soon as Then, there is an area with a few Dry Bones, a Bony Beetle and a couple of Podaboos. After this, the gargantuan spikes will go up and down in quick intervals while Podaboos leap in and out of the gaping lava pits. You'll have to time your jumps so you not only keep from getting crushed, you have to keep from getting burned midway over the gaps as well.
Also, this is the last time you fight the Reznors. Hooray. And yes, they are named after Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails. Thanks for asking.
Beating the Valley Fortress takes you to the back door of Bowser's Castle, which takes you straight to the last corridor before Bowser. I'll go over that next time...
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