3rd Star Piece - Moleville Mountain Walkthrough

In the Third Chapter of Mario’s new adventure in Super Mario RPG Remake, we’ll be heading to Moleville to delve into the Mole Mines to rescue some kids, catch the thieving Croco again, and blast a path to a strange bombmaker and seek out the third Star Piece.

• Jump to
• Mole Mines
• Mole Mines First Boss
• Mole Mines Second Boss

Moleville

Arriving in the new town of Moleville, you can find an Inn to save and rest at right as you enter. Inside, a little mole girl will mention that two moles named Dyna and Mite went into the mountain where a star crashed into and trapped them inside.

Next, head up to the left to find the Item Shop, and be sure to stock up on new upgrades for your team:

If you talked to Gaz before leaving Rose Town, you should already have Geno’s new weapon, so focus instead on getting the Punch Glove and Mega Shirt for Mario, and the Cymbals and Mega Pants for Mallow. While you can buy the Mega Cape for Geno, the Work Pants are a huge upgrade that anyone can wear, and therefore make a good case to give to Geno for now instead. Be sure to also buy a few higher tier mushrooms and syrup that you probably haven’t encountered yet in the wild.

The rest of the town is mostly empty except for little kids, due to most adults trying to free the trapped Dyna and Mite in the mountain mine. Instead, head to the far back right of the town, and you can spot Bowser and his rapidly deteriorating minions struggling to keep morale up.

After they leave, you can climb up to the top of the mountain from around the back to find a few moles digging unsuccessfully, so instead head down to the main mine entrance on the left and talk to the people outside before heading in.

Inside, the two miners will be unable to make any progress, but will ask if you’re able to help. Hop on their shoulders and jump up to a high platform to enter the mines.

Mole Mines

In the first room, you’ll find a few wandering Magmites. These foes are pretty durable even with low health, and may take a few turns to whittle down (don’t bother jumping on them unless you equip the Jump Shoes). They are often accompanied by Bob-ombs, who should always be your primary focus, due to their tendency to run at you and explode for a lot of damage (unless you can block it at the right time when it jumps up before exploding).

Further in, you’ll also encounter Clusters. These crystal enemies hit hard, and can also drop crystal chunks on you for a lot of damage (block when the third chunk is about to hit you to block the entire attack!) They may also try to explode, so be ready for them to contract right before the detonation to block!

Head through to the next room, where you’ll find a treasure-hunting Toad wandering the rafters in search of rare items (keep a look out for him after we’ve cleared this place). Jump down to the lower area and keep pushing on to the right (the left passage is blocked).

In this next area, there are signs pointing in both directions, but ignore them for the moment and instead jump on the springboard and Mario will promptly knock himself out. Great job!

When you awaken, Croco and his Crook minions will be busy looting your corpse, and will then run off with your Coins!

When you regain control, chase Croco through the room on the right, and you’ll find him posted up past some wandering Magmites. Croco will throw a bomb down to open up a caved in tunnel entrance, so follow him as he darts into the next passage, and dodge more Magmites as you keep moving through to the area beyond.

While chasing Croco through these areas, you may get caught in more random battles, and a new Enigma enemy may appear among them. These foes have a lot of health, and can use their Echofinder ability to mute your allies and stop abilities. When they attack, wait for them to turn into an arrow and then rear back before blocking, and take them out quickly with Jump attacks.

You’ll spot Croco darting out the other newly opened tunnel passage, creating a circle back to where you jumped on the springboard.

Before you reach the springboard room, chase Croco but be on the lookout for a Crook hiding behind a box, and attack him to get some of your coins back (they barely put up a fight on their own). Though he doesn’t actually have your coins, you’ll still get a bunch from beating him, as well as a Flower Tab!

Back in the springboard room, Croco will dart to the right once more, but be sure to look behind the springboard for a second Crook in hiding, and once again you can earn some coins and another Flower Tab for beating the second minion.

Finally, in the room where Croco first bombed the tunnel, take a left and look behind a stack of crates to find the third Crook hiding, and finish him off to get a third Flower Tab.

If you keep running in a circle, you may not catch up to Croco, but you can do the next best thing to get his attention: let him come to you. Post yourself in a room without enemies (like the springboard room) and wait, and he’ll keep running in circles until he bumps into you, prompting your second Croco encounter.

Boss Battle - Croco (Mole Mines)

• Recommended Level: 7
• Recommended Party: Mario, Mallow, Geno

Croco is back, and though he’s got more health and does more damage, the rules haven’t changed too much. Even though he’s supposedly weak to fire, Mario’s Fireball won’t do nearly as much damage or stun him for a turn, so you’re actually better off having Mario do timed Super Jump attacks, while Geno does timed regular hits, and Mallow heals as needed.

Be sure to keep your FP topped off as much as possible, as Croco will soon crash into you and steal ALL of your items, requiring you to beat him without using any more items.

Thankfully, you can still pull off moves like your Triple Attack to deal a lot of damage fast, otherwise focus on your offense, and be ready to press A when he tosses a random object in a high arc at you, or jumps into the air before charging.

Deal enough damage, and he’ll begrudgingly toss your items back at you before escaping. He’ll also accidentally give you a Microbomb - something we’ll have use for very soon.

From the springboard room, head up the left passages until you reach the area where he blew up a tunnel to escape out of when you were chasing him counter-clockwise. Look for a minecart trail going up to the left, and follow it past enemies until you reach a large chamber.

Talk to the mole in this chamber who is trying to reach his kids trapped on the other side of the rubble. Give him the Microbomb, and he’ll blast apart the debris to create a new passageway.

In the next small room, there’s an arrow pointing to the left to a doorway, with another on a higher platform up some crates you can jump up.

Take the lower path first, and run to the end of the minecart track, only to have a Shy Guy on a minecart knock you all the way back to the previous room. While annoying, you’ll still be awarded a Frog Coin for the trouble.

Now take the high path, and dodge the first Bob-omb to find a Treasure Chest that holds a Super Star. As soon as you grab it, keep running up the path taking out as many Bob-ombs as you can.

If you’re fast, you can clear the next room, and then jump up the crates in the room beyond to a second floor with another Bob-omb. The area beyond has a cluster of four Bob-ombs that are hard (but not impossible) to reach in time to explode them all without having to fight.

Whether you make it that far or not before the star runs out, be sure to return to the previous room you had to jump up via the crates, and you’ll find a Treasure Chest to the left of the doorway that holds 150 Coins!

In the room with the squad of 4 Bob-ombs, you can try jumping over them if your star power ran out early, or just fight your way through and thunderbolt the groups before they explode.

Just past them is a Save Point and a Treasure Chest with a Mushroom to fully heal yourself for what’s to come. Before you enter the next room, look for a stack of two crates to jump up, letting you reach a Treasure Chest floating high just below the crates that holds a Flower.

In the next room, a strange looking enemy is surrounded by Bob-ombs, while also tossing smaller bombs around himself. If you try to approach him from the front, he’ll just knock you all the way back into the previous room, so stick to the right side of the room to sidle past him, and then approach from directly behind him.

Boss Battle - Punchinello

• Recommended Level: 7
• Recommended Party: Mario, Mallow, Geno

While not a member of the Smithy Gang, Punchinello is still an interesting opponent who uses bombs to attack rather than fighting you directly. The only truly annoying thing about him is that he has a lot of health, which means a lot more time you’ll be spending dealing with his endless parade of bombs. He only really has one melee attack and it's easy to see coming and block.

At the start of the battle, he’ll start tossing out a group of 4 Microbombs. They have very little health, and a good Thunderbolt can clear them out, which is what Mallow should be doing each time there’s more than one enemy in front of you.

Mario should be focusing on doing timed regular hits (the boss is resistant to jump attacks!) while Geno can also do timed regular hits, and use Geno Boost on Mario if you have that unlocked. Mallow should still focus on Thunderbolts, stopping only to heal if any bombs manage to explode on the party.

After dealing enough damage, Punchinello will swap out Microbombs for regular Bob-ombs, and their increased health may mean you’re unable to clear them with Thunderbolt before they rush at you to explode. Still, you should concentrate all your single target attacks directly at the boss.

When he gets frustrated and says “you asked for this”, he’ll swap out the Bob-ombs for 3 Mezzo Bombs, which have 150 health a piece. They aren’t worth expending energy over at this rate, given he can keep summoning for.

This is a good time to ready our Triple Attack if you have enough of your Action Command Gauge filled up, as it can help end the fight fast before too many Mezzo Bombs can explode on you. Just keep focusing your pressure entirely on the boss to put him down and stop his endless rain of destruction.

With enough damage dealt, the boss will consider using his ultimate weapon on you. With enough goading from your team, he’ll summon an enormous bomb… that will promptly flatten him, and then explode.

When the dust clears, the nearby Star Piece will dislodge, and Mario will add it to your collection, making it the third Star Piece claimed!

With the boss cleared, head through the opened mine cart tracks into the next room, where you’ll find the wayward Dyna and Mite by an empty mine cart.

Jumping board will start the Moleville Mountain minigame, where you need to navigate the minecart through a 3D space by turning, braking, and jumping for coins or Mushrooms to use as boosts.

Once you reach the end of this segment, the minecart will blast out of the mountain and back into the home of Dyna and Mite and their worried parents. They’ll thank you profusely for rescuing their kids, and extend the offer for you to replay the minecart minigame any time you like by dropping down a new hole made at the top of the mountain.

As you exit the house, you’ll be interrupted by a trio of Snifsters chasing after a beetle for their leader, a strange man named Booster. When they surround you asking to get the beetle, they’ll mention he’s busy keeping the “Princess from the sky” entertained, which sounds like a good lead on where to find Princess Peach!

Before you leave town, there’s a few new features to take note of, even if you don’t need to engage with them just yet:

The house to the left of the one you crashed through has a mole who is selling Fireworks for 500 Coins. It’s a pretty steep price this early in the game, but good to remember.

Between the two houses, there’s a small mole with a pink ribbon behind some crates, and she runs a “Pur-tend” Store, and will trade you Fireworks for a Shiny Stone. This is actually a secret item needed to unlock a special and extremely tough endgame boss, so make a note to come back here at a later point.

In the house over in the far northeastern corner, a mole woman will take unwanted items like old Mushrooms and Syrups you aren’t using, and give you points based on the item quality. With 100 points, you can exchange them for things like Fright Bombs, Fire Bombs, and Ice Bombs.

Back at the Item Shop, the treasure hunting toad from the mines has now returned to set up shop, and will start selling strange items over the course of the game you can buy. He’ll start by selling a Lucky Jewel for 100 Coins. Using it in battle will force a “find the yoshi” minigame at the end of the fight to double or nothing your coins or experience, but the jewel will be removed after a few uses.

Once you’ve restocked on supplies and saved your game, it’s time to head out and find the next Star Piece by tracking down the potential whereabouts of Princess Peach at Booster Tower.