Super Mario RPG Walkthrough (SNES)

Walkthrough has been completely retyped.

Sorry, I just had to say that. Anyways, back to Bowser's Keep, the first level. "Sorry Mario, but the Princess is in another castle." One of the greatest lines in gaming history. However, it's not going to apply to us, because Toadstool (Not Peach, she is Toadstool in this game) is actually in this castle. Time to save her

The first things you notice:
1) What the heck is this? I'm not moving left to right!
2) Wow...pretty graphics!

Just take it in, it's a good thing. Anyways, head straight through the first door. You'll notice you are now in a different Area. In this game, doors and little square sectors (like the one behind Mario at the start of the level) separate levels into different places, which I call areas. The term will be used through the walkthrough, so it's good to know.

So, the first area is complete. In this next part, you're going to see a Terrapin, which is the 1st enemy you see in the game. To fight them in a battle, you simply need to touch them. Whether or not you want to is up to you. I would recommend it, just so you can see how the battle system is set up in its simplest form. When you come to the end of this area, you have to fight some Terrapins. You'll see them, they'll be guarding the door. Approach them to get in a battle.

This battle is simple, but this is a good time to explain the battle system. You have 4 options to use: A, B, X, Y.

A: Normal attack. Uses equipped weapons.
B: Defend or run away. Defend makes you take less damage. However, you can't always run
X: Once you get an item, you'll be able to use it with X (Later explained by Toad)
Y: Special! Each character gets special moves. These are more powerful, and they're just cool =P

For this battle, just use your normal attack. These guys are simple, no problem. After you're finished, simply keep heading straight to the next area. Here, you'll be in an area with some lava and some bridges. Just go across them and through the door

Keep going forward until Mario stops walking. He'll look up...

This place isn't big, it's just Mario's house. Toad's there, so go up and talk to him. He'll rant about Bowser kidnapping Toadstool again, and he'll finish up by telling you to go get her. After he's done, you can try to leave, but Toad will stop you.

Now, Toad is explaining the Save Points. Save your game, and head out of the place. Whenever you save is up to you, but it's best to save at every new place.

Don't worry about it, Vista Hill is just where you can look at Bowser's Keep. You can't go to Bowser's Keep now because the bridge is out. With that in mind, it's time to go back and see Toad

Now, Mario's...well, acting. After he's done, Toad will say that you need to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom to tell the Chancellor about this dilemma. Head outside, and leave. Only problem is, you can't.

When you try to leave, Toad will "bump" Mario, and Mario will lose 1 HP. He'll give you a Mushroom to heal, and offer to explain about items. If you want to know more about items, do it. If not, don't, and you'll get an extra Mushroom (1 Mushroom will be used in Toad's explanation).

After you are done with the item explanation, Toad's going to want to explained Timed Hits. I recommend doing this, because it is very, very useful.

After the tutorial, go and save, and then go out of Mario's Pad. On the map, head to Mushroom Way.

The path is very, very simple - it's almost one way. To start, head down and to the right. Fight some battles; experience will be gained and it'll help to learn the controls better. A treasure chest will be near there - coins are inside, so stop for a second and get those.

Continue on and you'll see Toad pinned up by a Goomba. You do not have to save him, but it's smart to do so. Enter the battle and you'll be fighting a duo of Goombas. It's not supposed to be a hard battle, so don't make it one: just defeat them.

Because Toad is as generous as he is, he'll give you a Honey Syrup. Honey Syrups restore 10 FP. FP is Flower Points, which allow the party to use Special Attacks. For instance, Mario's Jump takes 3 FP. Since a player starts with 10, Jump can be used 3 times before FP needs to be replenished.

FP can become very important later on, so it's good to know how it works!

Anyways, after saving Toad, get the treasure box to the right and head on up through the next area. This area is a bit different, and a whole lot more greener! Enemies are all over, and some of the land is raised.

So, how does a player get onto the elevated rocks? It's not so hard actually. Take out the Goomba that is on the spinning flower and jump on it. The flower propels Mario to a higher jump in the direction he's facing.

We want to go to the rock on the furthest right point, so head on up there. You'll see a Paratroopa there holding our good friend Toad. Seriously, how does Toad get caught like that?!

Take out the Paratroopa to save Toad once more, and this time, he'll give a Flower Tab as a reward. Flower Tabs permanently raise Mario's FP by 1, and they are very valuable, so it was worth saving Toad again!

To the right will be a treasure chest and the gateway to the next area. Inside the chest is a Mushroom, but it's a different kind of Mushroom. It is not an item - it restores all HP and FP on the field. Heal up and proceed.

This is the final area of Mushroom Way. A Lakitu will be throwing Spikeys on the ground, the hardest enemy up to this point in terms of how much damage they do. The exit is in the far bottom right, so either go down and to the right or to the right and then down. You'll notice that Toad's been captured for a third time...

We need to take care of one before even touching the other. I will generally attack the left one first - they have no differences, it's just where the cursor starts. Use Jump once to inflict massive damage and then a regular attack to finish him off.

Once the first one has vanished, the second one will use Valor Up, a move to increase its defense. Good thing 2 Jumps were saved - expel both and finish him up with an A move. At any point, heal if needed in case Timed Hits aren't working that well.

Item received after battle: Flower Jar

-----End of Boss Battle-----

Now that the Hammer Bros. are defeated, notice a Hammer that was left behind. Toad'll notice it for sure, since he goes and gives it to you. This is Mario's first weapon and can be equipped on the Menu Screen. Do not forget to equip it right away!

Exit Mushroom Way to the right. On the map, head right once more to the Mushroom Kingdom

To the right of the Inn is a building with a spinning mushroom - these are the item/weapon shops. The spinning mushroom is their symbol, just as the star is for Inns. This Item Shop will sell us soome new armor, but before we buy that, head downstairs. The man down there will give you instructions and you'll learn about hidden treasure chests. There's actually another one in here, but I'll  leave that up to you to find.

This one contains a flower - it does the same thing as a Flower Tab.

After the tutorial, head out of this building. Talk to some people in the town, explore around, even if there isn't much to explore! Once your ready to continue, head up to the building at the top of the screen, but do not enter it.

Why are we not entering it? Because there is a one-time only thing to happen, which needs to be explained. Once the building is entered and Toad talks to Mario, he will run forward. Jump on his head and when he reached the door, jump above it to get a hidden treasure box. This is the only time in the game that this box can be obtained. It contains a Frog Coin, which is a currency used by special shops

With that in mind, enter the castle and follow Toad. He'll lead you straight to the Chancellor. Approach him, and Mario will start to do his acting again, explaining what happened before. Mario does a great job of impersonating others, doesn't he?

After the explanation, try to walk out. If you have not equipped the Hammer, he'll stop you and ask Toad to demonstrate. If you have, he'll stop you anyways and give you a Map, which shows all of places Mario has been and will go to

...And then the Chancellor will stop Mario one more time, which will shock Mario and make him fall down the stairs! He'll mention the cellar, which is exactly where we need to be. The cellar is the room to the right of the hall where we jumped on Toad's head.

Talk to the Toad on the stairs, get the treasure chests, and go to the main hallway again. Exist the castle, and there'll be a fluffy guy chasing a purple crocodile. The fluffy guy will jump into a ledge and reveal that his grandpa's coin was stolen. He'll cry, it'll rain.

Run down and talk to him. He'll stop the rainstorm, explain what happened, and tell you his name is Mallow. After you agree to help him, he'll join your party!

Now that we've got Mallow, save in the Inn, and head to the Item Shop; the vendor will start to retrieve an item that they were going to trade for. Well, that's not to be, because Mallow tells him the story and that Mario will help him get the coin back. The vendor will give you a Pick Me Up.

That's nice and all, but we need a few more, preferably 4 more. Pick Me Up's revive KO'd partners, so their very, very valuable. Also, buy the Shirt and the Pants. Throughout the game, Mario's armor will always be a Shirt, and Mallow's will always be Pants. Each character has their own item of armor.

Equip both and exit the item shop. See the resident jumping up and down to the right? Talk to him and a scene will start and end with the crocodile running past everyone. Exit the level to the right. On the map, a new area will be below the Mushroom Kingdom - Bandit's Way. That's where we need to be

And that leads us to our objective: Catch Croco. We can't actually catch him to the end of the level, but he does lead us through it quite easily. First, follow him down the left side and you'll reach a save point; it's a good time to save the game. Continue on and the next area will come up quickly.

Croco will be "caught" again like at the beginning of the last area, and he'll start running again. Use the spinning flowers like in Mushroom Way to reach the elevated parts of the levels. Use the yellow blocks to traverse the gap from rock to rock. When you get the to the end, there'll be the entrsance to the next area and a spinning flower.

Instead of going to the next area right away, jump on the red spinning flower and jump towards the blue flower. You'll hit a hidden treasure box containing a Kerokero Cola. It's a very useful item, so it's good to have. Proceed to the next area,.

In this area, Croco will be there again. Just follow him through by heading up. Croco will pause occasionally and start running again. The next area isn't far off after that, so proceed through to it!

This area is great for growing levels. Why? Well, Croco runs away, continue to get the treasure chest like he was trying to. You'll become inincible with a star - hit as many K-9's as possible because experience is gained for everyone taken down. Hopefully, Mario/Mallow will grow in the process. There's another chest as well, which will yield a flower. The entrance to the next area is in the bottom right.

This is the last area of Bandit's Way. It's a dead end, so Croco will go into hiding. The treasure chest at the beginning wil lgive you a mushroom to heal the party. Continue downwards; Croco will hide behind the hills and plants. Approach him from behind (it must be from behind) 3 times, and you'll enter a battle with him

Well, that's because Mallow is gifted with magic. His Y-powers are very strong. Thunderbolt will do some good damage, and HP Rain is useful for healing. If a character falls at any point, use a Pick Me Up to fully restore them - after all, that's why we bought them!

Croco wil lattack regularly, use bombs to inflict high damages, and will heal himself with a Wierd Mushroom. He may take a while to defeat, but with a steady diet of attacks and Mallow healing, Croco will go down rather quick. He'll give back the green coin (Frog Coin) after the battle.

Item received after battle: Wallet

-----End of Boss Battle-----

After Croco is defeated, a trampoline will fall from the sky. Jump on it to go back to the save point at the beginning of the level. Use it, exit the level, and head back to the Mushroom Kingdom.