Part 25: Update Twenty Four: It's The End Of The World As We Know It

Welcome back to Super Mario RPG; last time, we took a quick vacation and saw a few familiar faces and found something we shouldn't have in Toadstool's bedroom. Today, we're exploring a bit of Land's End and we're going to quickly visit an old location. So, let's get this show on the road.



We're in a new world, too. And yes, eventually, we're going to visit the volcano.



There's a few of these cannons about.



Hop in 'em and fire yourself out to progress through these first two areas. It's pretty neat, I think.



Moving along.



Maybe it's just me, but this second cannon is a massive pain in the ass to get you launched to the next destination. If you hit the fire button too early, you'll land just short of the cliff.



Time it right, though, and you're shot into this pit. Chows shoot out of it.



Speaking of Chows, they're nothing special. They're fairly speedy, but other than that, with only 80 HP to their name, they're going to fall quickly. They have no weaknesses, but they can poison and inflict fear on your characters. I'd recommend dropping them first, since it's both easy and can prevent statuses being inflicted.



They occasionally drop Attack Up Flowers, too, which is fabulous for Geno.



Next we have Shoguns; they have 150 HP, with quite high Attack and Defense. They can use the same Carni-Kiss attack that Hidon did, but their Magic Defense is pathetic. However, hit 'em with a special that doesn't kill them, they'll use Vigor Up, which can really allow them to lay the smack down on an unfortunate character.



And to round out our new enemy checklist, we have Octovaders, the Octolot's big brother. With 250 HP, and a nice Magic Attack stat, these guys can be fairly dangerous, with access to Bolt, Lightning Orb and Drain Beam. They can also inflict Sleep and Mute on your characters, too.



Even with all of the above in mind, these encounters aren't very tough. Any sufficiently leveled characters will be able to lay the smack down on these foes, and the rewards are well worth it.



After clearing out those Chows, I turn my attention to the chest floating around up there. We can't jump up there from that convenient plant, either.



However, there's a hidden platform hiding out here. Jump at this spot to turn it on...



And then cannon yourself up onto it. Timing is important with the cannon; it seems that you have to fire it just as it flips to the down position. Do it too late, and you fire yourself into the cliff. Do it before it moves and you essentially go straight up. You can also shoot yourself back into the last area, too.



Anyways, use the yellow platform to head over here and hit that chest. A Frog Coin is our prize.



Next, we have this area and a new enemy. To get across, just jump onto the pillars. There's only two to cross, but Geckits are constantly on them.



Anyways, crossing usually seems to result in a fight. Geckits move across the platforms at a brisk pace, and nearly all the fights I had with 'em was this exact encounter. Spinthras aren't too big of a deal, with 230 HP and a weakness to Ice; their defenses are low enough it'll only take a few hits to do them in, and should only take one if an Ice attack is used. They can also poison and, for some odd-ass reason, Scarecrow your characters.



Geckits seem more like they were here to confuse and get a chuckle out of players; 100 HP, shit stats, but they can put a character to sleep. More often than not, you'll receive the message that the monster's confused and they'll tongue-whip one of their own. It's particularly amusing to see them drop a comrade, I think.



Anywho, Geckits are constantly being fired from these cannons up onto the ledges. They'll wander around them for a minute, then just walk off, as I guess they have the survival instinct of a Lemming. Hopping onto one of those cannons just gets you shot into the wall, by the way.



This fight was the only one I had with a Geckit that didn't have a Spinthra in it. You might recognize the Shy Away from when I sequence broke in the Kero Sewers. They were one of the enemies they kicked the ever living shit out of me and barely took a scratch in return. But, they only have 140 HP, and access to Willy Wisp and Elegy, which means they're no longer a threat. They sometimes drop Lucky Flowers, but it's only a 30% chance. Leave them for last, and they'll just run the hell away.



After the pains in the ass the Piranha Plants in the Pipe Vault were, you'd expect their pallet swaps to be just as intimidating, even at a higher level. The Chewy () is a damn disappointment; 90 HP, with abysmal stats. It has access to Drain and Mega Drain and is immune to all status effects and Jump, but Toadstool could sneeze on it and it'd explode. They have a 50% chance to drop an Attack Up Flower, which makes them worth something. Not much, though.





Anyway, moving past those platforms, we enter the third area.



Granted, I don't know a ton about geography, but should a cliff side mountain thinger transition that smoothly into this...grassland, hilly thingy? Maybe I'm wrong here. Or I'm thinking too much about a Mario world.



Either way, Stingers are new here. Much like the Buzzers back in the Forest Maze, their main schtick is to move quickly and poison or Mushroomize. However, just like back there, Geno is quicker than they are. Their 63 HP doesn't last long. Granted, they don't have a weakness, but I'd feel like such an asshole exploiting one.



I like them for this opportunity, though. Giving Geno another chance to attack is A-OK by me.



Fink Flowers have the potential to be assholes. Their regular Defense is crap, but their Magic Defense is pretty good, but their weakness to Fire makes it a waste. However, they can either Scarecrow or Mushroomize a character and can heal a little over half their HP with Recover. However, Geno, Bowser, or Mario should be able to drop 'em easily enough.



The rewards are, suitably for such an easy pair of opponents, pretty crappy. At least that Mid-Mushroom might be useful somewhere down the line.





Anywho, before we go up those small mounds, we're going to the right to do a bit of exploring.



There are platforms up there that'll be useful, but we're here to look at something different.



The hole in here can be jumped in, which takes us to...



...what should be a familiar looking area.



There's not a whole lot around here, except a few enemies.



And this Frog Coin.



But, after fighting that Geckit, Geno hits level 20. His bonus this level is +3 to Magic Attack.



Continuing on and curving around the bend, we move on. Those little juts of land might look like exits, but they're not and I didn't find anything around there.



There was a Chow at the top of these steps, but there's nothing extraordinary around here.



Except for an exit that leads us around to here. From what I could tell, there was nothing around that Mushroom patch; I thought maybe there'd be something for the Mushroom Boy, but alas, I believe it's purely there for flavor.







The Shy Aways, we've covered, but Ribbites are new. 250 HP, with the ability to poison or put a character to sleep, their Attack is high, but everything else is completely abysmal. I'm sure they could be a threat, were you a geriatric, retarded, armless player. For anyone who understands how to hit "A", however, they're just a bump in the road.



Hey, something new. From what I could tell, that crate was there just to be in the way. Those barrels, on the other hand...



You can knock this one down here. Why?



Because it forms a convenient bridge back up. This area should look very familiar.



We hit this trampoline and bounce back to...



The Kero Sewers! Now, didn't somebody wish for Cricket Jam? And wasn't it plainly obvious who wished for said Cricket Jam?



We'll visit Frogfucius in a bit, though. For now, though, we're heading back.



On the way back, we find our last new enemy of the day; Kriffids. Kriffids are pretty similar to Artichokers, with high stats and high HP; 320, to be exact. They've got Sand Storm to Fear susceptible characters, but with a nasty weakness to Ice and an immunity to Fire. They also have a small chance to drop Bad Mushrooms; I might come back and try to get one, just for the Mushroom Boy.



And before we can get out of there, Toadstool hits level 18; she gets +3 to Attack to finish it off and learns her last skill. I'm being vague about that on purpose. It'll come up in a video later, since it's a nice surprise.



Anyway, these flowers work like the ones from waaaaaaay back in Mushroom Pass.



Except there's usually enemies at the next jumping point, which is fine by me. It helps Mario reach level 21. From here on out, until level 30, all stats go up by a measly two points. 20 is really the highest level you need to be for just about anything in this game. Mario also gets an additional +2 to his Attack here.



Anyways, up at the top, we crush this Stinger and head for the exit.



But first, Mallow joins the 20 Plus club. His bonus here is +3 to Attack.



On this side, we have another mini game.



For 5 Coins, we can go across a course here, and win prizes. Or we can cross for three. There's three different levels of course to do, each with different prizes.



What you have to do is just cross the platforms and not fall off. In Normal, it's impossible to fall off manually and you have to dodge bullets, which can knock you off. You win a small amount of Coins; Special is just like Normal, but the blocks will fall if you stand on them too long and you win a handful of Coins; Expert combines all three and you can fall off if you screw up your jump. Frog Coins are the prize for Expert.



I choose Expert, as I like Frog Coins.



It's pretty easy. The bullets don't go too fast and you have a good amount of time before the blocks will fall. Make it to the other side and...



...you get this opportunity. So, one Frog Coin becomes two, but the course gets harder. After finishing that one, you have an opportunity for another doubling, but that's as far as it goes.



Still, five regular Coins for four Frog Coins is a nice trade to me. It's a pain in the ass, but more efficient than Midas River.



As we exit that screen, we meet this mouse here.



Well, hell, that's exactly where we're going. I guess there's not a lot of other places to go when you're out this far, though.



Keep following it and find your way underground. Once there, Monstro Town's just around the corner. I'll see you there.

Monstro Town, despite being full of monsters, is not full of assholes. It's one of my favorite towns in any SNES era RPG, actually.



But, we're stopping here for the day. Next time on Super Mario RPG, we'll reach Monstro Town and a very exciting event will go down. Until then...