After defeating Smithy, save the cleared game and load that file. Use Toad’s Stay Voucher for the Marrymore hotel suite, sleep there and follow the new event to Star Hill. Examine the new pink wishes, then speak to the Frog Sage at Tadpole Pond. His dialogue points you toward the rematches. Return to him when the next challenge is not available.
Prepare for the rematches
Finish the Seed-and-Fertilizer quest for the two Lazy Shell items, equip the Frying Pan on Peach and collect the protective accessories you need. Clear the first three Jinx fights for the Jinx Belt and the original Culex battle for the Quartz Charm. Those are separate from their new rematches. Equipment locations and effects and optional equipment quests cover these preparations.
On Normal difficulty, Pick Me Ups are limited to six carried at once. Use Peach’s two-FP Come Back when it is safe and save the items for turns when she is down or unable to act. Keep FP recovery available and equip every reserve member before starting. A free item returned at random is a bonus, never a dependable part of the plan.
Scratchy-Throat Belome
Return to Belome Temple, using the map shortcut or the entrance from Monstro Town. Equip Sleep protection on the character handling recovery. Belome creates copies of your party; eliminate the copies before pouring more turns into Belome. This also reduces the number of attacks you must survive.
Use focused attacks on one clone, then return to Belome when the field is clear. Group damage is useful against several copies, but do not empty the FP pool needed for Peach’s next healing or revival. Re-establish the party after a bad sleep sequence rather than spending every Pick Me Up immediately. Winning awards Sage Stick, Mallow’s strongest weapon.
Leveled-Up Punchinello
Go to the end of Mole Mines. Punchinello’s defense makes direct attacks unproductive: the summoned bombs are the route to victory. Attack each bomb individually and perform the Action Command to turn it toward him. When it explodes, it damages Punchinello instead of your party. Splash damage is not a substitute for redirecting each bomb.
Check the direction of every surviving bomb before the enemy turn. A bomb still facing your party can cause catastrophic damage; a perfect block helps, but keep recovery available for a missed input. Peach’s defensive equipment protects her from ordinary attacks while she heals and revives. Avoid wasting FP on direct spells against the boss. Continue redirecting bombs until the final giant-bomb scene. The reward is Wonder Chomp for Bowser.
Engine 023 Booster
Return to Booster Tower’s top room. Booster works on his train, and a completed repair leads to a 9,999-damage group attack. Hit Booster to interrupt the work, while removing the three Snifsters whose encouragement makes him faster. Do not spend the opening turns attacking a helper while Booster completes the train unnoticed.
Begin with a charged Action Gauge and a fast character able to interrupt him. Mario, Mallow and Bowser can use Clown Car Barrage against the whole group; the Snifsters are weak to ice. Mallow’s Snowy is useful for further group damage. Geno can then replace Bowser for stronger support and attacks. Maintain an interrupt on Booster while the others eliminate helpers.
As the helpers fall, keeping Booster interrupted becomes more manageable. Heal or refill FP with the character who can spare the turn, without losing control of the train. A protected reserve member or a defensive Triple Move is a fallback for a failed interruption, not a reason to let the train run repeatedly. Winning gives Geno Stella 023.
Extra-Fancy Bundt
Visit the chapel in Marrymore. The chefs light the cake’s candles, and allowing all six to burn enables a devastating group attack. Use Peach’s Sleepy Time to put the chefs to sleep, then focus single-target damage on the cake. Avoid waking them with unnecessary group attacks or splash damage.
Watch the chefs rather than assuming Sleep lasts for the entire fight. Reapply it when they wake, keep removing candles with attacks and use Peach’s healing when the cake’s spells have damaged the party. Protect her against Scarecrow so she can continue using her spells. A fast ally can use a recovery item when her turn must be spent putting the chefs back to sleep.
Keep the same control through the lower cake phase rather than rushing to finish with the candles nearly full. The reward is Enduring Brooch, which lets its wearer survive one otherwise fatal hit in each battle.
Duel-Ready Johnny
Return to Johnny at the end of the Sunken Ship. This is Mario’s one-on-one duel, and items cannot be used. You cannot rely on Peach’s healing to fix a missed block. Save first, restore Mario fully and choose his equipment before accepting.
The Lazy Shell weapon is useful for damage. The Lazy Shell armor is a defensive option, though its attack penalty makes the duel longer; the Super Suit is excellent if you have earned it. Choose an accessory for survivability and useful stats. Geno and Bowser in the active party before the duel supply their Ally Buffs from the sidelines: Geno improves attack and speed, while Bowser helps defense.
Use reliable timed normal attacks and learn Johnny’s physical and ice-spell block timings. After he powers up, expect the fight to last longer instead of trying an unsafe damage race. If repeated missed blocks exhaust Mario’s HP, adjust his armor or practice the timings on another attempt. The reward is the Extra-Shiny Stone needed for the Culex rematch.
Mario-Style Jinx
Go to the Monstro Town dojo after completing the earlier three Jinx fights. The objective is a Triple Move, not an ordinary race to drain his HP. Jinx empties the Action Gauge at the beginning. Build it through successful timed attacks and blocks until it reaches 100%, then use a Triple Move that hits him.
Keep Peach available for healing and revival, with protection from instant-defeat attacks. Mario and another attacker can use normal attacks to build the gauge without consuming her recovery FP. Reserve a Pick Me Up for an emergency involving Peach instead of spending one after every knockdown. A longer controlled fight is preferable to losing the healer while attempting one more perfect block. The reward is the Teamwork Band, which improves Action Gauge charging.
Culex 3D
Complete the six rematches, obtain Johnny’s Extra-Shiny Stone and follow the Frog Sage’s final lead. Return to the reappeared sealed door in Monstro Town. You also need to have defeated the original Culex. Save, fill HP and FP and charge the Action Gauge before entering.
Culex 3D has 9,999 HP on Normal. The four strengthened crystals have 3,500 HP for Fire, 2,800 for Water, 4,200 for Earth and 1,800 for Wind. Their weaknesses remain ice, fire, thunder and Jump respectively. Use Thought Peek when the remaining HP will change which crystal you can safely finish.
Defeat all four crystals before trying to finish Culex. If crystals remain when his HP is depleted, they can restore him. Removing them also reduces the attack load. Wind’s low HP makes it a useful early target; adjust to whichever crystal is close to falling after group damage.
The opening Meteor deals each target’s maximum HP minus one. A fully healed character survives with one HP; a character already below maximum is normally knocked out. Restore the active party promptly, and prepare for the on-screen five-turn countdown while crystals remain. Full HP before the next Meteor matters more than one extra attack.
Command locks can temporarily remove access to items or special moves. Keep both recovery methods stocked, and use a faster character or a reserve swap when Peach cannot act in time. Mario, Geno and Peach’s defensive Triple Move, Spare-Us-All, can protect against a lethal attack when available. Do not assume the Lazy Shell armor will absorb a scripted 9,999-damage hit.
Once all crystals are gone, the command locks stop, but Culex can act twice. The countdown’s Final Claw deals 9,999 damage to one target. Keep a protected or healthy reserve healer available, revive deliberately and continue with reliable attacks between recovery turns. The reward is the Crystal Shard; later challenges let you try to improve the turn count. Preparation and strategy for the original Culex battle