7th Star Piece - Bowser's Keep and Weapon World Walkthrough - Super Mario RPG Guide - IGN (2024)

In the Seventh and final Chapter of Mario’s new adventure in Super Mario RPG Remake, we’ll be heading back to the beginning to assault Bowser's Keep, battle the giant sword that has claimed it, and head into Weapon World to defeat the leader of the Smithy Gang and reunite all seven Star Pieces!

• Jump To:
• Bowser's Keep
• The Six Door Challenge
  • Combat Courses
  • Action Courses
  • Puzzle Courses
• Bowser's Keep Mid-Boss Fight
• Chandelier Boss Fight
• Bowser's Keep Final Boss Fight
• Weapon World
• Weapon World Gate Boss
• Weapon World Factory Boss
• Final Boss

With the sixth Star Piece in your possession, the King of Nimbus Land will allow you to use their Cloud Bus to reach Bowser's Keep to cross the broken bridge, and make the final push to find the last Star Piece and stop the Smithy Gang.

Be sure you're adequately prepared by stocking up on healing items, Pick Me Ups, and FP restoring consumables along with a few stat boosters if you can, and be double sure you've located the Lazy Shell Weapon and Armor, plus bought the Frying Pan for Peach, then head over to the final region.

Arriving in Bowser's Keep, you'll find the place is indeed under new management, but you do have an advantage on your side:

Many of the Terra Cottas, Pro Goombas, Malakoopas, and Grand Troopas that now fight for the Smithy Gang will become confused and scared to attack now that Bowser has joined your side. Even better, if you actively have Bowser in your primary party, several of these enemies may flee outright on their turn after spotting Bowser, making a lot of fights that much easier.

Head through the first room full of Terra Cotta enemies, the second room with the lava bridge full of Pro Goombas, and the third room lines with Malakoopas and some Pro Goombas coming in from behind, until you make your way deeper into the keep.

You'll be in a darkened room next with only a small spotlight around you for guidance. Be sure carefully wind you way along the corridors until you find a fork in the road, and head left first.

At this dead end, you'll find a Treasure Chest with a Mushroom, and then you can head the other direction to dodge Pro Goombas trying to ambush you from behind suits of armor to leave this room.

In this area, you'll find a Save Point, and Croco of all people who has turned into a reluctant merchant of some last-minute items you may want to browse:

Unless you were flat broke in Barrel Volcano, you should have all the armor already purchased, so instead focus on topping off all your consumable items so your capacity is maxed out, then head through the next door to the Six Door Challenge.

The Six Door Challenge

Ahead of you are six numbered doors, each leading to one of three types of challenge rooms (two of each type), and the door you enter will pull one of these challenges at random. In order to proceed deeper into Bowser's Keep, you will need to successfully complete four of the six challenges.

You should still endeavor to come back and finish whichever two challenges you don't complete, as you'll earn one-time rewards for completing each of them. The types of challenges include:

• Battle Courses - Head through multiple hallways defeating specific groups of enemies in 12-round gauntlets of endurance and skill.

• Action Courses - Show off your platforming by navigating treacherous terrain and avoid getting hit by hazards with limited chances to retry while you attempt to reach the end of several challenging rooms.

• Puzzle Courses - Put your brain to the test by rapidly reacting to quizzes and puzzles that require knowledge of the game and thinking on your feet to solve every problem and reach the end, or get thrown back to the start.

Ideally, it's a good idea to prioritize the two Battle and Action Courses, as they each award you a weapon for one of your characters, while the Puzzle Courses award Rock Candy. If you enter a door and see its a puzzle course, you can fail at the start and return to the hall of doors.

Below you'll find tips and information on each of the six challenge courses:

• Battle Course 1
• Battle Course 2
• Action Course 1
• Action Course 2
• Puzzle Course 1
• Puzzle Course 2

Battle Course 1 / 2

• Battle Course 1 Reward: Drill Claw (Bowser)
• Battle Course 2 Reward: Star Gun (Geno)

You can tell the courses apart by the first battle as Battle Course 1 starts against Pro Goombas, while Battle Course 2 starts vs. Terra Cottas (both of who may still run away from Bowser).

Battle Course 1 is usually considered easier than Battle Course 2 second, due to the fact that it focuses more on enemies mostly encountered in the Sea, Sunken Ship, and Nimbus Castle areas, while Battle Course 2 also features some later game areas, and finishes with strong unique enemy encounter (who can summon another powerful enemy). See the full encounter list below:

It's generally a good idea to have Peach as your main healer for this gauntlet, and use group attacks from Mallow, Bowser, or Geno to quickly clear most of the encounters featuring lower level enemies. If you're playing the Super Mario RPG Remake, getting the timing down on your attack commands to deal splash damage can also take down whole groups relatively fast.

The final fight of Battle Course 2 features the highest tier of mimic enemy, the Comeon. Like other mimics, this chest is weak to Mario's Super Jump, but resistant to many elemental moves. It can also use Recover, and cast Sandstorms to instill fear in your party.

Partway through the battle, Comeon will summon a Bahamutt to fight alongside it. This dragon enemy has several types of fire attacks, and can use Iron Maiden to cast Fear and damage individuals. Thankfully, it has a lot less health than the Comeon, and is weak to ice, so have Mallow use Snowy to defeat it alongside the mimic chest.

Action Course 1

• Action Course 1 Reward: Sonic Cymbals (Mallow)

This action course starts out simple, but can easily prove difficult if you aren't used to precise platforming. You will have 10 tries to complete all three rooms, and failing 10 times in a row will kick you back to the six Doors.

To start, you'll be in a lava-filled room with several moving stone platforms below that float up and down. Jump onto the first platform but wait for it to move forward before starting to jump between the next group of rising and falling platforms.

Remember to wait for your platform to gain height, and the next platform to drop low to jump across. Once you reach the last platform, get a feel for the timing as it drops suddenly, and don't wait too long to jump to the door.

The second room features a cannonball on the ground, with two Bob-ombs wandering near it, and a third farther down the hall. The room features several columns that you need the cannonballs to jump off of to reach them, can can move around while on top of the cannonball, but your directional controls will be reversed.

To make matters worse, touching any Bob-omb, either when riding the Cannonball or not, will cause you to fail, and you'll also lose about 8 Coins.

To master this room, you need to wait until the Bob-ombs give you a bit of distance away from the Cannonball and then jump on it, move away from the bombs, and then aim towards the various stone columns. Since your movement directions will be restored the moment you jump off, be sure to quickly course-correct to reach the safety of the pillars.

Each column also has a Treasure Chest above it, where you can claim a Pick Me Up, 2 Flowers, Max Mushroom, and a Rock Candy. You can also try for the 8 Coins floating in a trail leading to the last column, but it's not really worth the risk of losing a retry plus 8 coins just for getting hit.

In the third room, you'll be in an area full of lava with only two small stone platforms, and jumping on one will cause the second to rotate around your current position. You'll need to carefully let the other platform position itself before jumping between them until you can reach the far side.

If you're confident in your platforming abilities, you can take several detours along the way to reach several Treasure Chests holding 2 Flowers, Royal Syrup, Fire Bomb, Pick Me Up, and a Croaka Cola.

Action Course 2

• Action Course 2 Reward: Super Slap (Peach)

Like Action Course 1, you will have 10 tries to complete all three rooms, and failing 10 times in a row will kick you back to the six Doors.

The first room is a fairly easy one, once you know the secret. You'll start in a lava-filled room that doesn't appear to have any platforms, until a trio of Terrapins dash off an start to bounce around on invisible platforms. Each time they jump, the platforms will briefly flash blue, and you'll find you can also jump to cause the same effect.

Follow the center Terrapin to a Treasure Chest with a Fright Bomb (but don't fall into the lava jumping to get it), then look for a path down to the right.

Move forward cautiously up to the right to find another Treasure Chest with a Royal Syrup. Beware, there's a giant gap just past this chest, so it's better to turn back here.

Look for a path going back up to the left using small hops to guide the way to another Treasure Chest holding an Ice Bomb.

Now you can keep following the path all the way to the northeast, and then turn right to grab a Treasure Chest with a Rock Candy, and make sure you judge the final gap to the doorway from here.

In the second room, things will get more difficult. There are several small moving stone platforms above another room full of lava, and they stop briefly at certain sections when intersecting with another floating platform. You'll need to cross between several of them to reach the other side, but note that they all stop moving when you jump, so plan accordingly!

As you cross, keep an eye out for Treasure Chests holding a Max Mushroom to the south, a Red Essence in the northwest, and a Flower and Fire Bomb to the far northeast by the door.

The final room can either be very easy or very frustrating depending on the timing and your ability to dodge. In a nod to Mario's debut game, you'll have to climb a series of long platforms and stairs as barrels rain down from above.

They'll usually come in sets of 3-4, with an extra one being tossed straight down the ramps in your general direction. To get to the top safely, you'll have to get the timing down of jumping over the set, then getting to the next row before the next salvo comes.

When you get close to the highest platform, you'll want to be ready to dodge the Kong's targeted throw before getting up to the top platform, and run into him to make him flee so you can exit.

Puzzle Course 1

• Puzzle Course 1 Reward: Rock Candy

One of the two puzzle courses you can randomly find, this one involves a lot having the right answers to a lot of questions, so I hope you've been paying attention to the things you've seen in done over the course of your adventure!

In the first room, you'll jump onto a yellow platform and meet Dr. Topper, who will challenge you to a quiz game: He'll give you 12 questions to answer, and answering a question correctly will raise your platform up one notch. If you reach the 8th notch, you'll win -- BUT -- failing to answer a question in 5 seconds will move you down a notch, and choosing the wrong answer will knock you down two notches!

If you're having trouble answering the questions correctly, we've compiled a little cheat sheet below:

• Booster is what generation?
  • A: Seventh
• How many legs does Wiggler have?
  • A: Six
• How many underlings does Croco have?
  • A: Three
• How much... does a female beetle cost?
  • A: One Coin
• In the Moleville Blues, it's said that the moles are covered in what?
  • A: Soil
• Johnny loves which beverage?
  • A: Currant juice
• Mite is Dyna's... what?
  • A: Little brother
• Speardovich is what?
  • A: A Boss
• The boy at the inn in Mushroom Kingdom was playing with... what?
  • A: Game Boy
• The boy getting his picture taken at Marrymore can't wait till which season?
  • A: Skiing
• The man getting his picture taken at Marrymore hates what?
  • A: Getting his picture taken
• What color are the curtains in Mario's House?
  • A: Blue
• What color is the end of Dodo's beak?
  • A: Red
• What did Carroboscis used to be?
  • A: A Carrot
• What do Culex, Goomhilde, and Jinx all have in common?
  • A: They live in Monstro Town
• What does Belome really like to turn people into?
  • A: Scarecrows
• What does Birdo come out of?
  • A: An Eggshell
• What does the Red Essence do?
  • A: Gives you strength
• What is Cinder Toad in charge of at the middle counter?
  • A: The Inn
• What is Raini's husband's name?
  • A: Raz
• What is the fourth option on the Menu screen?
  • A: Items
• What is the name of Jagger's "sensei"?
  • A: Jinx
• What is the name of the boss at the Sunken Ship?
  • A: Johnny
• What technique does Bowser learn at Level 15?
  • A: Crusher
• What was Mallow asked to get for the Frog Sage?
  • A: Cricket Pie
• What was Peach doing when she was kidnapped by Bowser?
  • A: She was looking at flowers
• What words does Beezo use when he sings?
  • A: La dee dah~
• What's the chef's name at Marrymore?
  • A: Torte
• What's the full name of the boss at the Sunken Ship?
  • A: Jonathon Jones
• What's the password in the Sunken Ship?
  • A: Pearls
• Where was the first Star Piece found?
  • A: Mushroom Kingdom
• Where was the third Star Piece found?
  • A: Moleville
• Which monster does not appear in Booster Tower?
  • A: Terrapin
• Who helped you up the cliff at Land's End?
  • A: Paratroopas
• Who is the famous composer at Tadpole Pond?
  • A: Toadofsky
• Who is the famous sculptor in Nimbus Land?
  • A: Garro
• Who is the leader of the Axem Rangers?
  • A: Red
• Who is the ultimate enemy in this adventure?
  • A: Smithy

If you answer enough questions correctly, you'll be ushered into the next room. This challenge is both simple, but requires quick mind. You'll be shown a random amount of stacked barrels, and ask to correctly count them all in 20 seconds. Once the lights go back on, you'll need to get an exact count - but it if seems easy, don't dismiss the challenge just yet.

You'll need to count a second group of barrels that are much higher in quantity than the first! The best tip we can give is start at the bottom and count the row, then times it by 2-3 for the barrels you can't see in the back row. Deal with the cubic amounts first, then add the outliers along the edge last. For example, if you can clearly see there's three rows of barrels four barrels each -- that's 12, and if almost all of them are stacked three barrels high, you'll have the 36 as the bulk of the count, and can spend the remaining time adding the smaller groups on the top rows or side columns.

For the final challenge, you'll be presented with four creatures: Boo, Goo(mba), Bones, and Kipp. Each of them competed in a triathlon, and you'll need to get a clue from each of them to identify how they each placed in the race from 1st to 4th.

While there are only four statements they can say, who says them is completely random, but luckily you can take as long as you want to talk to each of them before telling Dr. Topper you're ready to solve, giving you a chance to take some notes. With the following statements, you'll know which person placed where:

• First Place: "I outdid (Name) both on my bike in the final rankings"
• Second Place: "I fell into fourth place during the bike race, but finally ended up in the same place I did in the swimming event":
• Third Place: "I placed the same in swimming and cycling events, but two others beat me in the marathon":
• Fourth Place: "I came in third for swimming, and never did better in the events after that..."

Match the names to the quotes above, and you'll be able to correctly answer the puzzle and complete the room!

Puzzle Course 2

• Puzzle Course 2 Reward: Rock Candy

Unlike Puzzle Course 1, there's a couple more interactive puzzles in the following challenges, but you'll start with a little number game:

Dr. Topper will have a challenge for you in the first room: A chest in the air has 21 Coins, and the object of the game will be to alternate collecting 1-4 coins from the chest until its empty -- but to win you can't be the one to claim the 21st coin.

To win, you'll want to be diligently counting the cumulative number of coins both you and Dr. Topper are collecting. Since Dr. Topper can take anywhere from 1-4 coins on his turn, you'll want to avoid being the one to take the 16th or 17th coin so that you don't get screwed over. Once Topper claims that number of coins, be the one to collect the 20th coin, and he will lose.

In the second room, you'll find a room full of green! switches in a 4x4 grid. You'll be told that hitting one switch will lower all the switches around it (or raise a lowered switch), and your goal it so lower every switch in the grid.

Since it only effects the other switches that are touching the one you step on, you can stick to only hitting switches along the middle of the outer edge so that it forms a _|_ pattern, which you can see in the image above.

The final room can be an extremely tough one if you don't understand the rules. There will be another 4x4 grid of cannonballs in this room, and Dr. Topper will ask you to kick the cannonballs over each other until only 1 cannonball remains (the one you kick the cannonball over will disappear, and they can only be kicked to one side where another cannonball is touching, plus it needs to land in an empty spot).

Dr. Topper will leave one gap near the top right to start. If you aren't sure how to accomplish this task, you can view the image below and use the following moves to complete the puzzle:

1. Kick the ball in spot 1 right to spot 3
2. Kick the ball in spot 4 left to spot 2
3. Kick the ball in spot 11 up to spot 3
4. Kick the ball in spot 5 right to spot 7
5. Kick the ball in spot 8 left to spot 6
6. Kick the ball in spot 9 right to spot 11
7. Kick the ball in spot 15 up to spot 7
8. Kick the ball in spot 3 down to spot 11
9. Kick the ball in spot 2 down to spot 10
10. Kick the ball in spot 16 up to spot 8
11. Kick the ball in spot 10 right to spot 12
12. Kick the ball in spot 8 down to spot 16
13. Kick the ball in spot 13 right to spot 15
14. Kick the ball in spot 16 left to spot 14

After four of six challenges have been completed, you'll find a door at the end that leads to a Save Point. Be ready, for a boss waits on the other side.

Boss Battle - Wizakoopa

• Recommend Level: 21
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Bowser/Geno
• Recommended Accessories: Jinx Belt (Mario) Safety Ring (Peach)

This particular battle against Wizakoopa isn't too hard, considering that he himself has no attacks, and instead will summon various boss-like enemies fight you. Thankfully, these enemies have nowhere near as much health, but should still be taken out as soon as possible.

This is because not only can they deal a lot of damage if left alone, they block you from actually targeting Wizakoopa. You'll need to take them out and then deal as many timed regular attacks to the main boss before the next enemy is summoned.

The Bahamutt you may have already encountered from the mimic enemy in one of the combat challenges isn't too powerful, and also has a weakness to Ice.

The King Bomb has bit more defense, and will explode for a lot of damage if you don't take it out quickly. Luckily, a well placed Super Fireball or Super Jump or two can take it out fast.

Finally, Wizakoopa can summon a clone of Jinx. If you didn't fight him in Monstro Town, you'll need to be on guard, as Jinx can employ his Silver Bullet one hit kill attack (which is why having accessories that guard against mortal blows is useful here). On the plus side, the clone has nowhere near the health of the real Jinx.

Once the summoned enemies go down and you deal enough damage to Wizakoopa, he'll come to his senses and the battle will be over.

Talk to him, and he'll create a golden chest that you can jump up to and hit for limitless Coins (though it will take a lot to get a huge amount). Hopefully by this point you have a lot of money, and the only real things you still need to buy are just ahead.

Go through the door on the left, and you'll find Croco again with one last treasure trove of items to purchase:

These should be the best armor for characters and the last ones you can purchase (excluding the Lazy Shell and Super Suit). Be sure to get the Hero Shirt for Mario, the Prince Pants for Mallow, the Star Cape for Geno, the Heel Shell for Bowser, and Royal Dress for Peach.

Once you're resupplies and good to go, head back to the previous room and take the right door.

In this next room, you'll have to cross a long corridor with several Thwomps threatening to knock you backwards, while Big Blasters shoot bullet bills that draw you into battle (and can deal a lot of damage with their bullets).

When you reach the next hallway, you'll be drawn into a second boss battle back up in the chandeliers to mirror your very first big fight, but this time you'll have to deal with a metal samurai!

Boss Battle - Boomer

• Recommend Level: 22
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Bowser/Geno
• Recommended Accessories: Jinx Belt (Mario) Safety Ring (Peach)

Boomer is an imposing samurai with a wicked blade, and has a few moves worth noting for this otherwise straightforward fight.

He'll start the fight red, but will sometimes use Vigor Up to increase his attack at the cost of defense. When he does this, his form changes to blue, and you'll find that when he's colored red, he's weak to magical attacks. When he turns blue, he'll be more vulnerable to physical attacks!

Capitalize on this by having your team attack with magical abilities like Mario's fireball when the fight begins, and then swap to regular timed hit attacks when he shifts. Geno's boost can also help increase the damage done regardless of what form he's in.

Aside from some group attacking spells like Blizzard, and single target spells like Storm, Boomer only has two real attacks of note. One is a standard quick slash where he dashes up before drawing his sword to slice (block when he crouches down).

The other is far more dire, and often done in response to being hit with attacks he happens to be vulnerable to. His Shaker strike is a mortal blow, and can instantly floor your allies unless you have Accessories that guard against mortal blows, or you time your button press at the right moment - he'll jump forward and extend his blade across him quickly before bringing it back in an upward slash (defend right when the upward slash begins).

Other than these moves, you can win the battle by pressing the attack on whatever he happens to be weak to, and using Pick Me Ups on anyone felled by a mortal blow. Once enough damage is done, Boomer will have some sort of asthma attack, and cut the rope to the chandelier he's on.

Your own chandelier will rise to the top in a very entertaining segment, and before you know it you'll be thrust right into the final boss of Bowser's Keep - Exor the giant sword!

Boss Battle - Exor

• Recommend Level: 22
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Bowser/Geno
• Recommended Accessories: Jinx Belt (Mario) Safety Ring (Peach), Troopa Medal (Bowser)

When you arrive at this momentous battle, you'll find that Exor is comprised of various attack points, but his main vital part cannot be attacked at the start. Instead, you'll need to temporarily disable his left and right eyes to stun him, allowing you to attack the real head.

To make matters worse, both his head, eyes, and even his mouth can all dish out separate attacks, and it can get quite confusing and terrifying when different attacks are happening from all directions. The good news is that even though they will regenerate over time, dealing enough damage to each eye and even mouth will stop the individual parts from attacking for a few turns.

Starting with with the eyes - each of them has a basic attack where a gleam appears before it blinks and the attack lands. The eyes can also use a Fire Saber attack to hit after wiggling twice.

Another damaging attack can come when the eye arches itself and unleashes a Blast, that damages you after a few seconds of explosions around the character. You'll also need to watch out for random muting Gunk, Scarecrow Bell, or Venom Drool flying out of either eye, as they can place unwanted status effects on your team.

Meanwhile, the mouth can invoke a Carni-Kiss for a lot of damage from a quick bite, as well several types of unblockable group attacks like Static Electricity and Water Blast -- or Aurora Flash (or Lulla-Bye) that can put your crew or a single target to sleep.

Because you'll be taking hits from so many sources, you'll want to spread your damage around a bit. Have Mario and Bowser (or Geno) focus on one eye at a time until the pupil starts spiraling to let you know its out of commission.

In the meantime, Peach should be attacking the mouth whenever she's not healing or curing status effects -- and you should also consider using certain Triple Moves to target all parts of the sword at once.

Even if both eyes are stunned, Exor can continue to attack with his mouth, but if you rack up enough damage to the mouth as well, it will hang open for a few turns, leaving Exor's main part completely defenseless, and he won't be able to retaliate at all until one of his body parts is no longer stunned.

Once you get him stunned once, keep Mario on the offense, while you have Peach and Bowser shutting down any eye or mouth that comes out of being stunned, and you can begin to lock him down for longer periods until you finally deal enough damage to the top of the sword.

With Exor's defeat, his mouth will swing wide to reveal a portal to the realm where the Smithy Gang came from: Weapon World. The group will dive in, and the final assault will soon begin!

Arriving in a strange new world, Bowser will start to have second thoughts about leaving his newly re-taken keep until Geno encourages the group to make the final push.

A springboard here can take you back to the World Map, and it's not a bad idea to take care of any remaining secrets or optional encounters - like taking on the Secret Boss, Culex, in Monstro Town (though you should prepare for a tough battle!).

You should also return to Bowser's Keep and deal with the remaining two Door Challenges you didn't get to clear the first time through.

Move through the next area of Weapon World's Gate to find a Save Point. In the room beyond, there will be several platforms to move between by jumping on large bolts to cross the gap by jumping on them to send them spinning forward a bit at a time.

As you do, you'll run into Glum Reapers that are essentially tougher versions of the Greapers found in the Sunken Ship (and still susceptible to Pure Water), and also incorporate lightning into their attacks.

As you reach the next few platforms, strange blue Ameboids will pop out as well. They have a deceptively harmless look, but will quickly sprout a group of clones to back them up, so don't waste any time taking them down with physical attacks (as they are quite magically resistant).

Cross to a way forward in the northeast, and in this next area you'll find what looks like a dead end with a green! switch. Don't waste any time running over to hop onto it, as a swarm of Ameboids will drop down from a high platform to flood the area. Hit the switch, and a new path will be created.

In the room beyond, a Treasure Chest here contains the Ultra Hammer for Mario, but if you've already found the Lazy Shell, it won't really be an upgrade for you at all. Take the springboards and cross to the far platform where you can jump down to fight the first boss of Weapon World.

Boss Battle - Count Down

• Recommend Level: 23
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Mallow
• Recommended Accessories: Jinx Belt (Mario) Safety Ring (Peach), Safety Badge (Mallow)

For this fight, you'll have three targets to choose from: the main clock body known as Count Down, or the two alarm bells known as Ring-a-Dings.

At first glance, it may seem like a good idea to target the weaker Ring-a-Dings first, but the moves unleashed by Count Down follow a specific pattern that includes several heals and a very strong attack, so you may want to concentrate fire on the clock first.

If you watch the clock's small orange clock hands, they'll begin to move clockwise to stop at various hours - and each time the hands stop, they will use very specific and often destructive attacks. You can tell what's coming by the hour hands:

• 1:00 - Uses Crystal Attack
• 3:00 Uses Recover Heal
• 5:00 Uses Aurora Flash Unblockable Attack
• 6:00 Uses Mega Recover Heal
• 7:00 Uses Water Blast Unblockable Attack
• 9:00 Break Time
• 10:00 Uses Petal Blast Unblockable Attack
• 12:00 Uses Flare Unblockable Attack

You'll want to pile on damage by having Mario use either Super Jumps or timed regular attacks, while Mallow follows up with Shocker attacks (you can also use Thunderbolts if you really want to spread damage around to each enemy).

While this is happening, the Ring-a-Dings will routinely pepper your team with various attacks, but thankfully most aren't too difficult to deal with. If you see the stars emerge from the bell with no attack listed, it means a physical attack is about to hit.

The strongest attack they have is a rare one, but you'll need to be ready for Fear Roulette. A large red diamond will appear overhead and rapidly hover over each character. Block the moment if finally drops or that character will be dealt a mortal blow (unless you have an accessory protecting them).

They can also unleash a pretty powerful Dark Star attack where a large black star bounces on a target to damage it. However, if you just block on the third bounce, you'll soon be able to block the attack in full each time.

Beyond that, just have Peach be prepared to cure any effects caused by the Ring-a-Ding's Scarecrow Bell or Spore Chimes, the clock's sleep spells, or resurrect those hit by the instant KO.

Once the Clock goes down, it will just say "Time marches on!" and can no longer attack, letting you focus on the bells until they too are defeated.

You'll now move into the second part of Weapon World's Gate, which has even more new and familiar enemies waiting for you:

At the start of the next room, you'll come up a series of conveyor belts deploying assorted newly crafted machine enemies, ones that you may recognize as several of them were previous Smithy gang bosses!

The first conveyor belt will continually have members of the Axem Rangers appear, and running into them will trigger battles against 4 random rangers. Luckily, they won't be nearly as durable as the real deal, but they still posses many of the same moves, so you'll need to be quick in defeating them and not getting drawn into too many fights.

At the top of the second conveyor belt, move quick to grab a Treasure Chest with a recovery Mushroom, then jump down a floating stone platform to reach the next landing, where even more Machine Made Axem Rangers are being dumped on a smaller conveyor.

When you reach the next room, you'll find two sets of conveyor belts offloading a steady stream of weaker enemies that include spear and hammer enemies, as well as a few pogo jumping Shy Guys.

Most of these enemies don't have too much health or deal too much damage (aside from the Poundettes causing fear), and many are weak to Lightning. You'll likely want to avoid getting near the conveyor belts when possible, but a steady stream of paralyzing arrows like the ones that plagued Rose Town will keep raining down to try and stop you so enemies can run into you.

The end of this hall features none other than a Machine Made variant of Claymorton, complete with his four Machine Made Bodyguards. Like the others, more will keep coming down the conveyor belt, so don't linger.

Head through the narrow paths of the next area and dodge some King Boos to find a Treasure Chest with Royal Syrup, and keep running at an angle along the conveyor belts to cross through to a floating stone block to take you northwest.

Grab the Treasure Chest with a Max Mushroom at the edge of a small conveyor belt past more Boos, then head to the northeast to reach the next area.

As you climb a series of conveyor belts, be prepared for a Machine Made Bowyer to come crashing down.

While he many not be as durable as the Forest Maze boss, he can still fire arrows you and disable your ability to use the A, X, and Y buttons, so deal as much damage as you can with timed hits with what's available.

Just past the conveyor belt stairs, you'll find a narrow path full of Machine Made Axem Ranges that move back and forth, but if you watch their movements for a few moments, you can easily jump over them and bypass most of these fights if you wish.

There's one last conveyor belt stairs that more Bowyers will drop down, but as long as you wait to the side and time it right, you can sprint up before another drops down again.

The final room past the Save Point is comprised of several Ninjas quick enemies that wave their hand a few times before tossing shurikens at you (or teleport up close to stab).

Unlike other enemies, they'll always have a last response, and will throw a shuriken at you after they are defeated but before they disappear.

Be sure to check the far side of the room for a passage leading to two Treasure Chests with a Flower and Mushroom.

Returning to the Ninja-filled room, head to the brick in the middle that the Machine Made Speardovich keeps bouncing off, and fight him on it. He may not have any weaknesses this time, but he's also got a lot less health, so you should be able to defeat him in a couple timed regular attacks.

When the brick explodes after the battle, drop into the hole to face your next true bosses.

Boss Battle - Cloaker and Domino

• Recommend Level: 24
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Bowser/Geno

This fight is a battle against two foes that compliment each other nicely, but with a twist involving a second phase that bolsters whoever you don't defeat first.

Cloaker is a melee-focused attacker with good physical defense and higher HP, while Domino is a magic user with high magical defense, but less overall HP.

For this fight, we recommend favoring physically strong characters and taking out Cloaker first so you'll be able to defeat Domino in the second phase a bit faster. For this portion, Cloaker only really uses an overhand slash, while Domino can cast Fear as well as several elemental attacks like Flame Stone, Blizzard, and Lightning Orb.

Just focus on applying timed regular hits with Mario and Bowser (or Geno) while Peach heals the fear effects.

If you defeat Cloaker first, you'll have to fight Domino fused to a Mad Adder, while defeating Domino first will summon a Bad Adder to fuse to Cloaker.

Ignore the fusion, and focus all your efforts on defeating the adder (Dominor's Mad Adder has much less HP making her an easier opponent for the second phase).

You'll still have to be on alert from a wider range of attacks in this second phase, both from the adder and the upgraded Cloaker or Domino. Domino can now cast Light Bubbles to send your party to sleep, and a slowly floating Ice Rock that will suddenly drop at the last moment for a lot of damage.

Meanwhile, Cloaker can now toss sword projectiles at you in addition to slicing from his vantage point, while the Adders can deal poison damage or bite you.

As long as you focus all your attacks on the big snake, both parts of the fused attacker will fall when the snake does, and you can continue on to the next part of Weapon World: The Factory.

Arriving in the factory, you'll find a series of short rooms with somewhat tough opponents who aren't exactly bosses, but they do bring a lot of backup.

Start by engaging the Clerk, who will start by sending three Mad Mallets to attack you.

When he shows up to battle next, he'll be flanked by two more Mad Mallets, but you don't need to focus on them. He only has 500 HP, so it should only take a few timed hits to take him down.

After he is defeated, you'll find out what the green! switches in the Factory do, and Toad will run in behind you to set up one last shop for you to stock up before the looming final battle:

You should be fully stocked up on Max Mushrooms, Maple Syrup, Pick Me Ups, and Party Cleanses by this point!

In the next room, you'll fight the next tier of enemy, the Manager, who is flanked by three Pounders. Once again, don't worry about fighting the minions, as he'll just summon more in-between slamming his axe down at you.

In third room is where the highest tier of this enemy is, the Director, and he's backed by four Poundettes. These adds tend to be a bit more hassle due to their ability to cast Fear, but the good news is they almost routinely drop Attack Again bonus flowers when defeated, allowing you to clear them fast.

Since the Director can also cast Valor Up to increase his strength and defense, defeating him is the first priority, so have Peach heal or use Party Cleanses to deal with any fear effects. He may also cast Spritz Bomb, which showers you with several bombs before they all explode (block once they've all bounced off your head).

Boss Battle - Factory Chief

• Recommend Level: 25
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Mallow/Bowser
• Recommended Accessories: Jinx Belt (Mario), Safety Badge (Peach), Troopa Medal (Bowser), Defense Scarf (Mallow)

For this fight, it may seem like you'd want to focus on the weaker Factory Chief, but taking out the Gunyolk tank is your priority due to its very deadly attacks.

Just like the Axem Ranger ship, it can use the Breaker Beam to deal a lot of damage to your group, but it won't stop there, so having Peach around to heal (and having the Lazy Shell Armor equipped to lower damage dealt to her) is a must.

The tank can also open up to shoot out Electroshock attacks (block a few seconds after the lightning bubble appears), a Fire Saber attack, and an Echofinder that can mute your allies.

Make sure anyone affected by the mute ability is cleansed, and have Mallow keep hitting the Gunyolk with Shocker attacks that its weak to (or Bowser with timed regular attacks), as Mario also uses timed regular attacks with the Lazy Shell).

Keep your allies topped off with heals (or use recovery items as needed since you're in the final stretch). The Factory Chief only really uses shuriken attacks that are easy to block once you get the timinig down.

Once the Gunyolk goes down, focus on the Factory Chief with regular attacks, and he'll soon follow.

Now is the point of no return! Once you hit the green! switch here, a crane will take you to the final battle. Consider this your last opportunity to go out, restock on items, feed Fat Yoshi for some special items, or take on optional secrets. You'll likely want to be anywhere from level 25 to level 27 before you tackle this boss, unless you think you've been doing good so far at a lower level.

When you're ready, get grabbed by the crane, and you'll finally face off against the leader of this deadly machine-building gang: Smithy.

Boss Battle - Smithy (Phase One)

• Recommend Level: 25
• Recommended Party: Mario, Peach, Mallow
• Recommended Accessories: Jinx Belt (Mario), Safety Badge (Peach), Defense Scarf (Mallow)

In the first phase of the final boss fight against Smithy, you'll also have to contend with a large Smelter that provides the materials for Smithy to keep creating Shyper enemies to assist him in battle.

The fight can go two ways, depending on what you want to prioritize. Defeating Smelter is not necessary, but if you're feeling like the Shypers are causing a consistent problem in aiding Smithy's attacks, it's not a bad idea to have Mallow exclusively focus on using Thunderbolt on the Smelter, while Mario does regular timed attacks.

While the Shypers basic attack isn't too bad, they also have a unique Sword Rain attack that sends a shower of swords at the whole party to deal a lot of unblockable damage.

When you add this to Smithy's unblockable Sledge attack or his Meteor Shower, you may find the damage will rack up pretty fast.

By focusing on taking down the Smelter first, you can limit the attacks to just coming from Smithy, which can be a bit easier to manage, especially once you get a good rhythm for blocking his regular attacks or Flame Sabers.

Expect the fight to last awhile - especially if you target the Smelter first - so make use of your consumable items, increase your damage with Energizers (or sub Geno in to use Geno Boost). Keep an eye on your FP count to make sure someone is ready to replenish your FP before you need a dire heal.

Once enough damage has been dealt, Smithy will start smashing the floor with his hammer, causing you to fall down to a lower area where the true final fight begins:

Boss Battle - Smithy (Phase Two)

In this final battle, prepare to hold nothing back, as you'll be dealing with Smithy's true form. Note that using Thought Peek will reveal that he has 8,000 HP, and as he shifts the form on its head, it may seem like each head has that much, but in reality he has 8,000 total HP spread across all his forms!

For about one turn, you can get some free hits on Smithy's real form by aiming at his head, buff up with items like Energizers, Yoshi Aide, and others. If you're playing the Super Mario RPG Remake, remember that you can swap in party members, making Geno a good pinch hitter to give the boost effect to other allies.

After a turn, Smithy will smack his own head with his hammer to morph into one of several forms. Each of these forms has its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique attacks that come with it. You'll have to battle that head for several turns until he smacks his head back to normal, and then chooses another form (you won't be able to directly battle his real form after this).

In addition to the forms he swaps between, you can also target his body. It only has 1,000 HP, but will eventually revive like Exor's body parts. Just like Exor, you can prevent his body from doing independent attacks like its gun arm for several turns, so if your party is in a good spot, consider having Peach give the body a smack with her Frying Pan when you have the opportunity.

Each of Smithy's forms has its own associated attacks and strategies, which we'll go over below:

Tank Form

When Smithy's head becomes a giant tank, he'll gain a great deal of physical damage resistance, but become vulnerable to magic attacks - specifically Lightning attacks. Make us of this vulnerability by having Mallow go on Shocker duty to deal as much damage as possible while Mario does regular attacks or fireballs, and Peach heals or attacks the body to shut it down.

In this form Smithy will send out rockets at you very fast so you'll need to be ready to block them. The most important one is his Magnum attack, which sends out a golden bullet bill straight out. It has an instant mortal blow attack if not perfectly blocked (or if you don't have an accessory to guard you), so be ready!

Wizard Form

When Smithy's head become a creepy robed figure covering his crown, he will become highly resistant to magical attacks, and won't have any elemental weaknesses. The good news is that his physical defense will drastically lower, making it a good time to sub out Mallow for Bowser or Geno if you're playing the remake and can switch out party members.

Making up for this physical weakness, Smithy's Wizard form has a large variety of powerful magic attacks that he can throw at you for several turns, including unblockable group attacks like Boulder, Meteor Swarm, Sword Rain, Spear Rain, and Arrow Rain.

He can also employ the Dark Star attack that was used by Count Down, so remember to block the third bounce to negate most of its damage, and keep your FP topped off so Peach can continue to heal the group (Giving her the Lazy Shell armor to equip will make sure she takes minimal damage from most attacks).

Casket Form

Once Smithy's head turns into a large blue coffin that a pink face is embedded in, he'll gain massive physical resistance, and even his magic resistance isn't too bad. He'll use this phase as a "recovery period" and begin to heal himself - or use the Shredder ability to remove buff effects from items/abilities, so refrain from applying any others until after this phase.

The only way to ensure that he doesn't regain more HP than damage you've recently dealt is to have Mallow step up to the plate with Snowy to capitalize on his one real weakness in this phase. Ice damage will still punch right through, and turn what was supposed to be his recovery phase into several free hits (You can also have Mario use Ice Bombs if you have any), while Peach uses this time to attack his body and shut it down.

Treasure Chest Form

The last form he can turn into is a giant treasure chest for a head, and it's full of nasty surprises. He can routinely toss out several status effects from his treasure chest head - everything from poison to fear and even turning your party into scarecrows. This is where you'll want Peach focused on clearing status effects or using all of your Party Cleanses, or even give Mario the Red Essence to make him invincible for a few turns.

Thankfully Smithy still has one weakness to fire during this phase, and its one that Mario can take advantage of. Prep his Ultra Fireball ability, and use it to deal a huge amount of damage (since both his physical and magical resistance is pretty strong in this phase).

Keep up your attacks and don't let any items go to waste to help out with healing or cleansing your group, and giving them buffs when Smithy isn't in his Casket form. Once you've dealt a total of 8000 damage to his head, the leader of this evil gang will finally fall for good.

Mario and his friends will grab the seventh and final Star Piece, and escape Weapon World to return to the Mushroom Kingdom victorious!

Congratulations, and enjoy the ending to Super Mario RPG!

Post Game Boss Battles and Unlocks

If you're playing the Super Mario RPG Remake, you'll find that you can create a new save data when clearing the game. This will put you back right before the final battle, but you'll also unlock a lot of new features and opportunities:

• Any enemy you missed encountering in the game will now be listed in your Monster List (If you used Thought Peek on the final boss, these entries will still be listed).
• A Sound Player will let you listen to any music from the game on command, both in the Remake and SNES font!
• A Play Report will now list all of your records, Hidden Treasures Found, Casino Wins, and Minigame Records!
• Toad will give you a Marrymore Stay Voucher for a free night at the hotel, and doing so will unlock the path to fighting several new variants on familiar bosses. Expect these bosses to be some of the toughest you've ever faced! View our full list of Postgame Bosses Here!