Part 5: Update Five: From Boos to Bon Appetit!

Last time on Super Mario RPG, we received a brand-new destination to go to. It happens to be a sewer level, but it's not so bad, really.



Our new destination is to the right, so you could say we're going to the next "world", and Kero Sewers is level 2-1. I've never considered it that way before and will never do so again.



Mario's fat ass is blocking it, but the entrance to the Kero Sewers is a big red pipe.



Unless he's immune to hammers in the face, I don't think we have anything to worry about, Mallow.



"Probably"? Mallow, you don't actually know? Shouldn't there be some overground route you took to get to the Mushroom Kingdom? Or did you forget that, too?



Mallow heads down first.



And Mario, instead of waiting for screams to see if it's actually safe, just uses his powers of imitation again.



So, here it is, the fun sewer level I promised. It mostly leeches off this game's fun for that fun, though, so that also speaks volumes about this game's enjoyment level.



After swimming across the pool, and if you'd like to see that, just imagine Mario's head sticking above the water and him gliding along slowly, we're given the option of learning how to use pipes.



Hop on pipe, press down. Ta-da! Also, there are no hidden chests around this area. Matter of fact, we'll not be seeing any of those for quite a while.



Popping out of the other end, we immediately see another pipe, and some exploration to the left.



Let's hit that pipe first, shall we?



Coming out of that pipe and rounding a bend has us meet our first of a few new enemies down here.



The Big Boo and his buddy, the Shadow. Both are immune to the Jump element.



Hammer smacks, however, do not discriminate in their killing power.



I am a level or two ahead of where I should be, but Shadows take damage like the French. On the flipside, magic doesn't seem as effective against them as it has against everything else we've fought. So, if you've been relying on Mallow's magic and haven't learned the timing for your hits yet, this can get a little sticky.



The Shadows give me the creeps when they attack. Not only are those eyes soulless, but they're also as red as the blood he wishes to drink from your veins.



Heading through another pipe and around a new area (get used to this stone pattern, as it's all that's down here. Hey, I said this place was fun to play, not fun to look at. )

Although, that's not fun treasure...



That's right, Mimics exist in this game. I'd reckon this one is about as tough as Mack was, maybe just a bit weaker. It can be a little surprising to new players, but considering the smack-down I laid on Mack, I'm not worried.



Definitely not worried. Hell, this guy is going to barely be a threat.



Ha! I did more than half his health in one shot!

Also, his Psychopath thoughts are, I'm trying to sleep, OK?

I feel kinda bad now.



Alright, asshole.



You asked for this.



The Pandorite drops a boatload of experience (remember, we only got 12 from Mack's boss fight) and coins, in addition to a Flower Jar. Flower Jars increase max FP by 3 points.



That's not our only reward, though. The Trueform Pin, as the name suggests, prevents transformations into either the Scarecrow or a Mushroom. While we're here, I'll talk about those for a minute; being a Scarecrow prevents you from attacking normally, but still allows access to your Special skills, and not even at a lower power. Being a Mushroom prevents any action whatsoever, but also recovers a very low amount of HP a round.



It adds 4 to both defenses, as well as preventing the aforementioned status effects. It's a handy thing and would prove more useful is those effects actually came up more often. At least +4 to both defenses is useful.



Moving on past more of the uninteresting stone walls and floors, we fight our first underwater battle. Considering both Mario and Mallow move just as efficiently underwater as they do on land makes me think they could have had good secondary careers as Blitzball players.



As you might imagine, Thunderbolt is quite effective against fish, as they are underwater. They're actually weak to Thunder, as well, in what I find to be a nice little detail.



Moving on, we find the Rat Finks. They're annoying and completely unthreatening.



Even with poison; it just saps a few HP every round, but not enough to really matter. It also paints your characters an ugly-ass purple, as evidenced on Mallow.



Moving on, we have Hobgoblins. These creepy looking pumpkin men have two attacks; Dark Claw and Elegy. The former inflicts poison and the latter inflicts silence, which would only affect Mallow, but he's immune to it at the moment. They're weak to fire, but Mario can crush their skulls in one blow anyways.



They also have a chance to drop Pure Waters. If used on an undead enemy, such as these Hobgoblins or the Big Boo we saw earlier, they'll instantly kill it. They're actually necessary to defeat some enemies later on.



Popping through another pipe (if you'd like to imagine how this went, imagine me running through these areas for fifteen minutes because I forgot where to go), we come to this intersection.



Defeating this Rat Fink gains Mario another level and I give him a +4 bonus to HP on top of the 6 he already gained. +10 HP in a single level isn't too bad, I think.



Heading through the pipe he was "guarding", we cross that area to another pipe. This place is filled to the brim with 'em. Like I said, this place is actually fun when you're playing it, but looking at it can be a bit tiring.



But in that next area is a Star, but I feel it's a bit wasted here. That pipe leads to the previous area where we fought the Pandorite, which isn't exactly crawling with enemies. Actually, here in this area, there's only four Rat Finks and a Big Boo.



In the area that pipe actually leads to, there's only about four Rat Finks, too, but these to get to them, you actually have to cross a certain spot to make them pop out. Much as I hate to say it, it's really kind of a waste of a Star.



Heading through this pipe...



...brings us back here. Yeah, I got lost again.



If you'll remember, this is where we started. Why, yes, I am an expert at this game and that helped influence my decision to LP it. Why do you ask?



While wandering around lost (seriously, I'm a Goddamn idiot), Mallow punched a Rat Fink to death and got this "Once Again!" flower, which rarely come up. They allow a character another turn following this one. If I remember right, you can get more than one of these in a row, which means one character can run train on an entire group of enemies.



They also dropped an Able Juice, which cures any status ailment. I kind of forgot these existed.



After swimming around for a while, I finally find where the hell I'm supposed to go.



I really oughta be kicked in the nuts.



That trampoline will take us back to the beginning of the level. Since this place can be a little tough, if you, for some reason, need supplies or whatever, you can escape out here.



Hitting that switch drains the water out of this place. You can fight Gobys while they're out of water, but I didn't see any. Or if I did, I just didn't take a screen of it, which is odd. Going back over my video, I don't see any. It's oddly bizarre.



I suppose you could have taken that trampoline back to get back to these areas quicker, but I've never done that. Really, it's a single pipe back, so anyone that does is kind of .



In the corner of one of these rooms is the pipe we need to get one step closer to the exit this place. Really, it's not that bad. Play it yourself if you don't believe me.



In this room, there's a pipe we can't quite reach. At least through normal means.



Let's snag this Mushroom first, though. Full heal is never a bad thing.



Alright, to get up there, first we need one of these Boos to come closer.



Almost close enough. We actually need to jump on it to initiate battle for this to work.



After doing so, we need to run away from the fight. This is the only time you'll ever see me do this, so enjoy it.



Since we ran away, the Boo stays there and we can stand on it, as it is solid for a second.



And from there, viola! We jump to the platform and down the pipe.



This is Land's End, an area much closer to the end of the game. We really shouldn't be here, but it's nice to see the devs thought that players could do this.



However, they do kind of shaft you with this chest. If I remember right, later on, the item in here is worth 10 Frog Coins, which is actually a good bit of Frog Coins.



Let's try fighting these enemies, though. We've steamrolled every boss so far and even crushed a Mimic. This can't be too bad.



Meh, it's just flashy.



That's more HP than Mallow has, and I believe his Magic Defense is better than Mario's. Maybe this won't go as smoothly as I expected.



Oh, God, I even blocked that hit!



Sure, this was only 5 jumps with Super Jump, but still, that's a little terrifying.



But, that never happened. I never opened that chest or attempted suicide by monster-rape.



In the chest over on top of those arches, there's a Flower, which I'll never complain about.



Heading down the pipe across from that save point and just down from that pipe we're definitely not supposed to go in, we enter the final area of the Kero Sewers.



The hell is that thing? I think it has four eyes. And it had a child scribbling on it with a Magic Marker.



I expected something more intimidating.





Bah, go grab a Snack Pack!



Alright, asshole, it's go time. You want to chow down, let's see how you like shoe leather.



Not very well, I take it. That's nearly 1/5th of his HP, by the way. I swear, I'm not that far overlevelled. He's weak to Thunder, though, and immune to sleep, even though I have no way to inflict it right now.



And his Psychopath thoughts. I would have shown the HP left, but you can do the math.



Where's my bib?



OH GOD DO NOT WANT







Trying it on Mario is ineffective, thanks to that Trueform Pin we won earlier. Otherwise, we would have been jamming the wood of his scarecrow body into Belome's eyes.





MALLOW NEEDS AN ADULT



Mario just happens to be an adult, who takes extreme prejudice against these sort of things.



If you had enjoyed it, Mario would have given you the Mahogany Special when this was all over.



Beware the flood!



And with that final warning (which I don't understand why he gave us, but whatever), Belome passes on to the Great Buffet in the Sky.



Mallow gains a level, and nets himself another +6 to HP, for a total of 11 in one level up. For the type of character Mallow is, that's a nice boost.



Maybe he was just threatening to drool a lot when he died?



Oh, God, it's Belome's death fart!





Alright, Mallow, just stay still. You shouldn't be able to fuck that one up, Stay-Puft Junior.



Oh, you fat cunt.



Mario must be seething with hate right now.



I hope they'll be okay...

Find out right the hell now!

Next time, we see the sweetest mustache in the series, and find out Mallow's true roots!