1st Star Piece - Mushroom Kingdom Region Walkthrough

In the First Chapter of Mario’s new adventure in Super Mario RPG Remake, we’ll be heading to the Mushroom Kingdom to warn the Chancellor, meet a new friend named Mallow, chase down a thieving Croco, and return to save the kingdom from a member of the Smithy Gang to gain the first Star Piece.

• Jump to:
• Mushroom Way
• Mushroom Way Boss
• Mushroom Kingdom
• Bandit's Way
• Bandit's Way Boss
• Mushroom Kingdom (Night)
• Mushroom Kingdom Boss

Mario’s Pad

After the events at Bowser’s Keep, Mario will be knocked clear of the castle and sent hurling back into his home, where Toad will burst in to find out what’s going on. Be sure to jump off of the clothes hanger so you can start moving around freely.

Mario’s Pad is pretty small, but it does have a nice bed to nap on. If you ever find yourself low on health, you can simply interact with the Fungi Light lamp to turn the lights off, and Mario will pass out on his bed to regain all his lost HP.

New to the Super Mario RPG Remake, you’ll also find a Storage Box in the corner. As you find various recovery items, you’ll find that each item has a max amount that can be held at one time. Luckily, any extras you find will be automatically added to the Storage Box, allowing you to pull from them later without having to discard extras.

Outside the home, speak to Toad again, who will assume Mario’s silent treatment means the Princess is still in the clutches of Bowser.

Before you leave, he’ll remind you of the nearby Save Point - a large block with a star on top that you can jump on to perform a manual save. If you’re playing the Super Mario RPG Remake, you’ll find that the game also performs autosaves periodically when entering new areas, but manual saves are a good idea to do as well, so make one now!

At Toad’s bidding, leave the area by going down the path southeast, taking you to the map screen. You can try to return to Bowser’s Keep where the giant sword has taken up residence, only to be told by the sword, Exor, that the Smithy Gang now owns the keep.

He’ll destroy the bridge leading to the keep, which will prompt a change of plans as you head back from the new Vista Hill.

Head back to Mario’s Pad and enter your home to find Toad, where you can give him a very good pantomime performance of what happened. With the Princess still in danger, Toad will run off ahead and ask you to come with him to the Mushroom Kingdom.

As you go to follow, he’ll race back and give you a Mushroom. This recovery item can be used (either in battle, or when exploring) by pressing X and selecting the item to restore lost health.

Immediately after, you’ll be ambushed by an enemy Goomba, which is Toad’s cue to clue you in on Action Commands. If this is your first time playing Super Mario RPG (or it’s been awhile) let Toad show you the ropes.

During attack animations from both your party and the enemy, you may have noticed ! pop ups right before an attack landed back at Bowser’s Keep. By pressing A close to the point where the exclamation appears, you can increase the damage you deal, and reduce the damage you take.

Pressing it close to the prompt will increase your damage against the target with a show of stars exploding from the hit, often extending the hit animation to show an additional attack. If you can time it perfectly at the right point in the animation (right after Mario extends his arms but before his punch lands) you’ll not only deal increased damage, but deal lesser splash damage to other nearby enemies, which is new to the Super Mario RPG Remake!

Similarly, when an enemy is about to hit you, you can press A close to when the attack animation has a prompt to reduce incoming damage by a fair amount. Pressing it at exactly the right time will show a shield effect around your character that will negate all damage - another new remake feature - and can be extremely useful for surviving tough battles!

The action commands also extend to special moves - though certain moves are different than others. As the tooltip for Jump implies, pressing A right before the jump lands will deal increased damage, but other special moves may ask you to rotate the control stick, mash the A button, or other prompts to deal more damage.

A new addition to Super Mario RPG Remake, each time you're successful with an action command (either pressing A near or exactly at the point of the?! prompt), you’ll start a chain on your Action Gauge in the bottom left corner. The higher your chain, the more the gauge fills, and you’ll also get small bonus effects depending on who is in your party. If the meter is filled, you’ll be able to use incredible new team attacks!

If you miss an Action Command prompt, either failing to block an attack or land an increased damage hit, the chain will reset to 0, but you can start it up again, and the chain will even carry between fights! If a character (or enemy) outright misses an attack, you won’t be penalized.

After the tutorial includes, Toad will give you three extra Mushrooms, and dash off to meet you back at the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mushroom Way

You're now in your first real area to explore, the Mushroom Way, and it’s a good starting area to get a feel for combat against some basic enemies like the Goombas. Take the time to get a feel for Action Commands and timed hits particularly, and find a good rhythm for when to press A.

For example, the Goombas will attack by doing a flip, so wait until they are on the downward arc of their jump facing down to press A and negate or lessen the attack, or if they toss a spike at you, hit A when the projectile is very close.

Note that once you’ve mastered the Action Commands a few times on or against a particular attack, the?! prompt will stop showing up, though it will return if you start to miss the timing again.

As you clear out enemies wandering around, you may also notice that defeating enemies has a chance for Bonus Flowers to appear and give that character that defeated the enemy a buff. These can include a full heal, increasing attack or defense, and even prompting a “find the yoshi” minigame for a double-or-nothing shot at increasing your rewards after the battle is over!

At the end of the first path, the road will curve back, near a treasure chest you can jump repeatedly into to collect 5 Coins.

Doing so may attract nearby Paratroopers to fly into you, so be ready to block their dive bomb attacks, and take them out in one shot with your Jump special that they are weak to!

Up ahead on the path above the one you came in through, you’ll find another treasure chest with 8 Coins you can jump up into, and nearby you’ll find Toad being harassed by a Goomba. Defeat it, and Toad will thank you with a Honey Syrup item, which you can use to regain lost Flower Points needed to perform your special moves like Jump.

Head north from the rescued Toad into the next area, where you can spy a row of palm trees to the left hiding a Goomba that will charge out to ambush you. Defeat or dodge him, and look back in the alcove along the left wall he was hiding along to find a Flower Tab. This item can be used outside of battle to not only increase your maximum Flower Points (FP), but also fully max you out, making it great to use when you’re already low on points.

This large area also features several purple flowers you can stand on, but the interesting one is the red flower that a Goomba is spinning on. Defeat the Goomba and stand on the red flower to start spinning yourself, and jumping off while facing one of the small plateaus will propel you up to the high platforms.

Jump to the north platform, and you can find a Pick Me Up Item near a palm tree guarded by a Goomba. This item is essentially a revive to use once you’ve gotten a larger party to awaken a fallen ally.

Jump to the east platform, and you’ll find Toad being carried around by a Paratrooper. Defeat the enemy, and you’ll be awarded a Flower Tab.

Finally, jump to the west platform, and you can find a Treasure Chest with a Flower inside. Similar to the Flower Tab, the Flower will increase your max FP amount by 1 when claimed — but it won’t refill your amount.

You can leave this area by continuing to head right, and near the path leading out you’ll find one last Treasure Chest with a Mushroom inside — just watch for an ambushing Goomba among the palm trees. Note that Mushrooms in chests act as an instant heal (and FP replenish), rather than being added to your inventory.

In the third area, you’ll have to deal with a Lakitu tossing down Spikey enemies onto the path. These foes are immune to your Jump special, so don’t waste the FP, and just use your timed attacks to deal with them.

Around this point, you’ll probably get your first level up, allowing you to increase Mario’s Physical, HP, or Magic stats. Since Mario is your main man and a good all-rounder, don’t worry too much about which stat to increase, as every stat will help in the long run.

Once you’re at least level 2, head to the right end of this Spikey-filled area, and you’ll find a large Hammer Bro has gotten hold of Toad. This will be your first real boss battle, so make sure your health and FP are topped off before approaching him!

Boss Battle - Hammer Bros

• Recommended Level: 2
• Recommended Party: Mario

Since this is still your first real boss battle (not counting Bowser as a tutorial boss), you don’t have too much to worry about, as you have limited moves to use yourself. Instead, this fight should be all about focusing on your Action Commands, and the best timing to negate the attacks of both Hammer Bros.

The duo has two main attacks they alternate between:

A standard hammer attack, one of the bros will hop close to you, raise his hammer up, and perform a single strike: Press A once his hammer is up behind his head before the blow lands!

The Hammer Time special, one of the bros will toss several hammers up into the air in an arc towards you: Press A right before the first of the hammers land to reduce incoming damage.

If you have good timing down on your own attacks, you can start performing regular timed hits to focus on one of the Hammer Bros at a time to catch the other with a bit of splash damage. Otherwise, you’ll find that using your Jump special deals a good amount more damage than your regular hits, and you’ll only need around 2 jumps per enemy to finish the pair off.

Note that when one enemy goes down, the other will likely use the Valor Up ability, increasing their damage for the rest of the fight!

After defeating the Hammer Bros, you’ll earn a Flower Jar from defeating them to increase your max FP, and Toad will also drag the Hammer they were using over to you. Once he dashes off to the Mushroom Kingdom, be sure to equip it in the menu, as it will increase Mario’s damage by a good amount.

Mushroom Kingdom

Arriving at your first town in Super Mario RPG, you’ll be able to take in the sights and talk with the townsfolk. There are also several homes and buildings to check out, but the most important one to see first has a Star icon outside. Head in here to save your game first!

Before getting too ahead of yourself, be sure to enter the Mushroom Kingdom’s Castle by way of the main gate.

Head through the main door to reach the throne room, where a green Toad Chancellor is presiding in the absence of Princess Peach. When he asks Mario what happened, the plumber will do his best impressions of the story so far, including the arrival of the mysterious “Smithy Gang”.

He will ask again that you go out and find a way to save the Princess, and also give you a quick tutorial on how to equip items if you haven’t already equipped your Hammer. Before you can leave, he’ll stop Mario one last time to advise that you check the Vault for items to take on your journey.

Take him up on his offer by returning to the main hallway and going southeast, and talking to the Toad by the south door.

He’ll let you downstairs to get into the Vault, which is composed of three Treasure Chests holding a Mushroom, Flower, and 10 Coins, while re-explaining how Mushroom and Flowers found in chests differ from those found as items you can carry.

While you’re here, you can also return to the main hall and take the northwest path up some stairs to Princess Peach’s Bedroom. You can talk to an old Granny Toad here, and if you try and inspect the area between the fireplace and the blue chair, you’ll get the prompt “Found Peach’s????”. The Granny Toad will respond by chastising you, and give you a Mushroom to keep things as they were.

Upon exiting the Mushroom Kingdom Castle, you’ll witness an event: A little pudgy lad is (unsuccessfully) chasing around a purple crocodile who stole something. As the little guy despairs, the skies themselves will rain down tears.

Head down the path to the side towards the building with the star to talk to the sad fluffy guy, and the rains will subside. When a nearby townsperson asks you to show off your jumping skills, he’ll recognize you as Mario, and introduce himself as Mallow, a “frog” from Tadpole Pond.

His grandfather’s Frog Coin was stolen by the purple croc character, so he’ll ask for your help getting it back, officially adding Mallow to your party!

Mallow is at heart a support character, so while he’s not as strong as Mario, he does have a variety of special moves that he’ll learn that can be used to great effect in the right circumstance, and will eventually be vital to exploiting enemy elemental weaknesses.

With Mallow in your party, the next thing you should focus on is getting the team properly equipped! Head over to the building with the mushroom icon - the Item Shop, and inside, Mallow will talk to the shopkeeper. Without the Frog Coin, Mallow can’t trade for the item that the Frog Sage needs, meaning you’ll need to track down that thief soon. At the very least, you’ll gain a Pick Me Up item by talking to the shopkeeper.

Before you go, talk to the Shopkeeper to see his wares:

Be sure to equip Mario with a new Shirt and Mallow with Pants to boost their stats, then buy and equip the Jump Shoes to Mario (letting him damage enemies like those Spikeys who are normally immune to jump attacks), and let Mallow have the Antidote Pin. If you have any extra coins, it’s not a bad idea to make sure you have at least 4-5 Mushrooms, a few Honey Syrups and Pick Me Ups, and a Cleansing Juice or two in case Mario gets poisoned down the line.

While the shop owner will yell at you for jumping on the shelves at the back, there’s also some important things to find downstairs.

Now that you’re decked out, you can return to the Inn with the star icon outside and save your game, or even rent a room to sleep in (good if you’re ever low on health).

When you go to leave the Mushroom Kingdom by the eastern gate, Croco will dash past with his loot, prompting Mallow to want to chase. Before you do, the Toad at the gate will give you a Map, and in the Super Mario RPG Remake, you can use it to quickly fast travel back to any area you’ve already encountered — which will be useful before long. Take the exit out the gate to follow Croco to Bandit’s Way.

Bandit’s Way

As you enter Bandit’s Way, Croco will dash off once again as you spot him, prompting a chase through the fields full of more Goombas and Spikeys.

Be sure to test out your new Jump Shoes on the Spikeys, and let Mallow utilize Thunderbolt to hit multiple targets at once (press A right when you see a line of three bolts hitting the ground in front of the enemies).

Mallow also has a special ability called Thought Peek (formerly Psychopath in the SNES version). This will let you view an enemy’s current health and many more of their weaknesses. If you timed your A press right when the spotlight centers on the target, you’ll also be able to read their thoughts, which will get added to a Monster List you can access in the menu.

With your new Hammer weapon, you’ll find the timing for Command Attacks different than your fists, so be sure to time it when Mario’s Hammer is all the way back and about to slam forward, and it will hit again on well-timed hits.

Be sure to look for a Save Point in the bottom left corner of the first area, then head to the right to enter the second room.

In the next area, Croco will taunt your jumping abilities before bouncing off further east. Give chase by hopping onto the red flower and jumping up to the high platform.

You’ll spot two yellow floating blocks to the right, and jumping on them will cause the previous block to move forward to create a bridge for you (and let you nab 3 Coins). If you fall down, you’ll have to jump back on the block at the start to try again — but watch out for the new K-9 enemies here that are a bit stronger than the Goombas you’ve been fighting.

You may also start to come across Special Enemies, which are more powerful versions of regular foes that can randomly appear with orange text on their name. They’ll deal a lot more damage than normal variants, but you’ll also get more XP and even a Frog Coin for defeating them!

In the third area, Croco will again sprint off to the north, goading you to chase him several times while dodging Goombas and Spineys. The third time he sprints off, he’ll head to the northwest, so don’t be confused by the dead end with a K-9 in the northeast.

When you reach the fourth area, Croco will be standing on rotating raised yellow blocks before giving up and dashing off.

Pick up where he left off and stand on a block to have another rotate around you, and use it as a stepping stone to reach a Treasure Chest holding a Super Star.

This item will turn you invincible, meaning any enemy you touch now will be instantly defeated without having to go into a battle, and you’ll still get all the XP. With this in mind, quickly dash through the hordes of K-9 who will quickly gather below to rack up a lot of XP quickly and probably even level up!

Once the Super Star invincibility is gone, return to the floating yellow blocks and guide the path farther to the right to reach a second Treasure Chest that holds a Flower.

If you run into more enemies leaving, you’ll likely have to fight Frogogs along with the K-9s. They boast a lot more health than other enemies, but thankfully their attacks are basic ones, and a Thunderbolt from Mallow can deal extra damage to them!

When you chase Croco into the final area of Bandit’s Way, he’ll try to hide among the various hills and bushes in this large area. Look to the right to grab a Treasure Chest holding a Mushroom to get a full heal, then start dodging Goombas and Paratroopas to find his hiding spot.

Croco will find random places among the large hills to “hide”. His hiding amounts to looking in one direction, and if you run around and tag him from behind, he’ll be startled and mention it will take 100 more years to catch him. If you come from another angle, he’ll mock you instead.

Sneak up behind him two more times, and you’ll draw him into your second boss battle.

Boss Battle - Croco

• Recommended Level: 3
• Recommended Party: Mario, Mallow

By now, both Mario and Mallow should be level 3, meaning Mario has a shiny new Fireball ability, while Mallow can now heal single targets. Put these to use by having Mario focus entirely on using Fireball, while Mallow either heals, uses Honey Syrup to raise your FP, or does some timed hits to help with damage if you’re not in danger.

Note that Mario’s first Fireball will actually stun Croco, making him lose out on one round, so maximize that early damage!

Croco has a few moves of his own to watch out for. He’ll often reach into his bag and shuffle around before tossing something nasty at you, so watch for the projectile’s arc, and hit A just before it lands to negate damage. His bag of tricks has more than one item though, as he can also pull out mushrooms to heal himself with.

His other main attack will have him charge one of your party members, so watch for him leaping into the air and moving his feet to prepare for his charge, then press A right before he connects.

By now, you may also already have a full Gauge Bar for your Action Commands. Even though you only have two members of your party, you can still use your Team Attack to summon Toad, who will give you a random item out of a box that can either bolster your team, or damage the enemy!

Once you toss enough fireballs in Croco’s face and follow up with timed hits, Mallow will rush in and shove Croco away to reclaim his Grandfather’s coin. Not only that, but Croco will leave behind a Wallet on the ground, so be sure to remember it when heading back to town.

To quickly return back, open up your menu and select the Map, and then select the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mushroom Kingdom (Night)

Upon your arrival back in town, you’ll find the place under attack and swarming with Shy Guys on pogo sticks! If you’re low on supplies from your trip to Bandit’s Way, you can pop into the Item Shop to restock, otherwise you should focus on clearing out the Shymores that are harassing the Toads in town.

These foes don’t have too much health, and only have a pogo jump attack and a fire projectile that can be blocked or mitigated when the attack is close to landing. At this point, a single Thunderbolt from Mallow is usually all you need to take a group of them out in a single round, but you can also conserve your FP if you want to focus on nailing your timed hits.

By rescuing the Toad outside the Item Shop, you’ll gain 10 Coins, and just below him is another Toad down the stairs being harassed. He’s actually the owner of the wallet that Croco snatched, and giving it back to him will earn you a Flower Tab. You can also refuse and try to sell it for some coins, but that would make you a real jerk, wouldn’t it?

Take out the Shymore bouncing against the house further northwest, as well as the one taunting the female Toad, then avoid the steady stream of Shymores coming out of the castle (they never end), and enter the far house against the back wall.

Inside there are more groups of Shymores terrorizing the family here, plus one bouncing on the bed with the kid upstairs. Once you’ve cleared every last Shymore out of the house, you’ll be rewarded with a Flower Tab for your bravery.

Now it’s time to enter the castle and see what this is all about. Be sure to carefully step to the side to avoid the endless stream of bouncing enemies as you enter the castle.

Stand to one side as you watch the procession of bouncing Shymores, and you can also spot one chasing a Toad back and forth between the two hallways entrances. Single out the tormentor and defeat him, and the grateful Toad will mention that his friends are holed up in the Princess’s bedroom, while others are still being terrorized elsewhere in the castle.

Before following the Toad to the bedroom, take the opposite hallway path to find more Shymores bouncing around a guard. Take them out with Mallow’s thunderbolt, and he’ll mention the Vault Guard ran away.

Be sure to move down the stairs and check the Vault, where the Treasure Chests have been restocked to hold another Mushroom, Flower, and 10 Coins.

Now head north into the large room above the Vault and talk to the cowering Vault Guard who claims he found a gold coin for himself. As you turn to leave, he’ll pass along an item to you, the Wake-Up Pin, which prevents certain attacks from making your character fall asleep.

Head back to the main hall and cross to the other side to find more Shymores blocking access to the Princess’s bedroom. Another group guards the door itself at the top of the stairs, so be sure to take out both groups so the main Toad can get inside.

Once they’ve been dealt with, you can reunite with the Toads in hiding to make sure everyone is okay, and the Toad will rush over to Princess Peach’s????? and bring back a Flower Tab to give you, and ask that you check on the Chancellor in the Throne Room.

Now it’s time to make your way up the main hall. Save your game in the bedroom and though you aren’t allowed to sleep in the bed, you can still get a full heal by talking to the Granny Toad if you need it.

Dart around the parade of Shymores as you head through the main door to the Throne Room. Inside will be a bunch of bodyguard Shymores who will surround you as their leader appears - Claymorton (formerly known as Mac in the SNES version), one of the Smithy Gang!

Boss Battle - Claymorton

• Recommended Level: 4
• Recommended Party: Mario, Mallow

Claymorton will be attended to by four of his Bodyguards, but despite the name they have pretty much the same stats as the Shymores you’ve been facing (only they won’t offer extra coins or XP).

As one of the Smithy Gang, Claymorton can be pretty tough, especially with his group, but thankfully has a glaring weakness you can exploit with Mallow. Use Thunderbolt when he has his men assembled, and try for the timed hits by pressing A when you see the straight line of three lightning strikes, and you should be able to clear out the entire group of Bodyguards in a single hit!

Not only is Thunderbolt good for clearing the room, but it also deals extra damage to Claymorton, and the first time you do so, he’ll be stunned for an entire turn much like Croco was when hit with fire.

Once he regains his composure, Claymorton will start using a few of his own attacks, as well as summoning back more Bodyguards to keep hassling you.

His Flame attack will launch a fireball from above as he lunges forward, but don’t focus on him, and rather hit A when the fireball is about to hit you after arcing downwards.

Similarly, his Pogo Attack has him perform one short hop forward before a long bounce straight down at you, but hitting A before the attack lands can negate the damage.

Unfortunately, his Flame Wall attack can’t be blocked by any means, but it shouldn’t deal too much damage on his own.

After he summons more Bodyguards to attack with, Claymorton can also jump into the air and disappear for a turn, forcing you to deal with the additional enemies before you can start targeting him again.

Whenever you clear out his allies, have Mallow swap to healing duty as you focus the rest of your FP on doing timed hits with Mario’s Jump ability, as it deals more single target damage. Use FP restoring items as needed when you get low, and only use the thunderbolts when there are several targets to hit at once.

With enough damage dealt, Claymorton will fall, and you’ll have to clean up his bodyguards if they’ve reappeared with another thunderbolt before the battle is won.

When he falls, a shining blue Star Piece that he was holding onto will now be yours - one of seven fragments that needs to be reclaimed to win the day.

Mallow will suggest you meet with his Grandfather at Tadpole Pond to figure out what to do next, and thus will your adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom Region come to a close.

Before leaving the kingdom, be sure to stop by the Item Shop where Mallow can finally trade in his Grandfather’s Frog Coin and get a Cricket Pie. Resupply yourself with any extra items, and then leave through the east gate, and you’ll be able to advance to the Tadpole Pond Region!