Return to earlier towns as new routes open. Toadofsky’s songs improve the Juice Bar’s stock, the gardener’s beanstalk leads to the two Lazy Shell items, and Monstro Town offers optional fights and a flag hunt.
Melody Bay: All Three Songs
Enter Melody Bay from Tadpole Pond and stand on the starting stone. Each tadpole moves up and down the musical staff. Jump onto it when it reaches the required note, then continue to the next one. Read the positions from the top of the staff downward as Mi, Re, Do, Ti, La, So, Fa.
Frogfucius’ Suite #18 — Alto Card
Read the sign at Frogfucius’s home, then play So, La, Mi, Re, Do, Re, Do, Re. Toadofsky gives you the Alto Card. Take it to the Juice Bar on the western side of Tadpole Pond. This shop takes ordinary coins; the nearby Frog Coin merchant is a separate shop.
Moleville Blues — Tenor Card
After rescuing Dyna and Mite, revisit the miners inside the Mole Mines and listen to their song. Return to Toadofsky and enter Mi, Do, So, Do, Re, La, Ti, Do to receive the Tenor Card. In letter notation, the sequence is E, C, G, C, D, A, B, C. The seventh note is B in English notation, rather than the German H used in some imported screenshots.
Monstro Town’s Star Song — Soprano Card
Go upstairs in Monstermama’s house in Monstro Town. Speak to the star on the shelf and inspect the nearby score. Back at Melody Bay, play La, Ti, Do, Re, So, Do, Re, Mi for the Soprano Card. When Toadofsky asks for an ending, choose any eight notes to finish the composition. You do not need to discover another fixed melody.
Seed, Fertilizer and the Lazy Shells
SNES version: Keep the Seed and Fertilizer until you have delivered them. They can be sold or discarded in the original game, preventing access to the Lazy Shells. The Switch remake protects them as key items.
After defeating Megasmilax in Bean Valley, collect the Seed left behind by the fleeing Shy Away before climbing toward Nimbus Land. For the Fertilizer, first defeat Valentina and restore the royal family. Return to the right-hand edge of Nimbus Land and walk out along the invisible path to the Shy Away. Speak to it to obtain the second item.
Return to Rose Town and take the northern path to the gardener’s house. Give him both items, then climb the beanstalk through the chimney to the clouds. Open both chests: one contains Mario’s Lazy Shell weapon, while the other holds the Lazy Shell armor. They share a name but occupy different equipment slots.
The weapon gives Mario a strong physical attack. The armor greatly improves physical and magical defense and protects against elemental attacks and status ailments, but reduces attack, magic attack and speed. It suits a character whose job is to survive and use items; do not equip it on your main attacker without checking the stat penalties.
Monstro Town Dojo: Jagger and Jinx
Enter the dojo above the stairs on the right side of Monstro Town and accept Jagger’s challenge. Use timed normal attacks to defeat him. Jinx then reveals himself and offers three progressively harder fights. Heal and restore FP between matches instead of starting the next challenge with a depleted party.
Keep Toadstool available for healing and use a correctly timed Geno Boost to improve an ally’s offense and defense. Jinx’s later matches introduce dangerous single-target attacks, including Silver Bullet and Bombs Away. Equip protection against instant defeat where possible, and prioritize recovery if one attack leaves the party unable to survive the next turn. His small size does not make the third match an easy fight.
Win all three matches to receive the Jinx Belt. Jinx also renames the dojo in Mario’s honor. These three victories complete the dojo side quest in the SNES game.
Three Musty Fears: All Three Flags
Sleep in the bed in Monstro Town to meet Dry Bones, Boo and Greaper in Mario’s dream. Their flags are invisible, so use the interaction button at each hiding place rather than looking for a flag sprite.
- Dry Bones Flag: Return to Mario’s Pad and search beneath the bed.
- Greaper Flag: Examine the back of the wooden flower sign at Rose Town’s entrance.
- Boo Flag: Reach Yo’ster Isle through Pipe Vault, then examine the space between the O and A in the word GOAL on the racecourse.
After collecting all three, sleep in the same Monstro Town bed again to receive the Ghost Medal. Check Mario’s accessory slot afterward, since the reward is equipped during the event.
Unlock Beetle Mania
After the events in Marrymore, return to the Mushroom Kingdom inn and repeatedly speak to the Toad playing a handheld game at the back of the room. Buy Beetle Mania for 500 coins; you do not need to wait until the sixth Star Piece. Open the new Play Game option in the menu to begin.
Move the beetle left and right and fire at the bouncing red shells. A destroyed shell releases stars that can hit other shells and build a scoring chain, but those stars can also hit you. Favor clear space over chasing a shell into a crowded corner. When the beetle is knocked down, press the firing buttons repeatedly to recover before the timer runs out. Recovery becomes harder after repeated hits. Collect the flashing hearts promptly to restore stamina.
Bright Card and Grate Guy’s Casino
Revisit Booster Tower after the story encounter with Knife Guy and Grate Guy. Find Knife Guy inside and play his juggling game. Follow the yellow ball and choose the hand holding it. Keep winning until he gives you the Bright Card; the earlier Mushroom rewards do not grant casino access.
In Bean Valley, reach the area with five pipes and a flying Shy Away watering the plants. Defeat the plant in the northern pipe and enter it. Defeat the Chomp Chomp below, then jump three times in the corner where it was standing. Use the revealed platform to reach the hidden passage and open the route to the casino on the world map. Show the Bright Card at the entrance.
In the SNES version, the slot-machine chest costs ten coins. Match three symbols to win a Frog Coin. The table offers blackjack rather than the remake’s memory game: get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. A tie still costs your stake, so do not gamble away Frog Coins you need for equipment.
Speak to Grate Guy for Look the Other Way. Choose left or right and win by facing away from his pointing finger. Accumulate 100 wins to obtain the Star Egg, a reusable battle item that damages all enemies. Losses do not require you to start the entire hundred-win goal again.
Cricket Jam: Ten Frog Coins
From the rotating-flower section of Land’s End, follow the lower path toward the cave beneath Sky Bridge. Enter the hole in the cliff and follow the cave past the Geckits to the pipe leading back into Kero Sewers. This brings you onto the raised route you could not reach on your first visit. Open the chest for Cricket Jam, then return to Frogfucius at Tadpole Pond and give it to him for ten Frog Coins.
Culex Behind the Sealed Door
Buy Fireworks in Moleville for 500 coins and trade them with the young mole outside for the Shiny Stone. Use the stone on the sealed door in Monstro Town. Save and prepare your equipment before entering.
Fight the four crystals before focusing on Culex. Removing a crystal reduces the number of attacks your party must survive each round. Keep Toadstool ready to heal with Group Hug or revive an ally with Come Back, and restore the shared FP supply before it runs dry. Use Geno Boost on your main attacker and equip protection against status effects and instant defeat. The Quartz Charm is the reward for winning.
Pipe Vault and Yo’ster Isle
From the map west of Rose Town, enter Pipe Vault after Bowyer. Cross the lava gaps, climb past the Thwomp and take the far pipe beyond the plants. In the row of pipes, the treasure route contains a hidden stepping block to its upper ledge and two invisible Frog Coin chests. Use the ordinary pipe route to continue through the plant and Chompweed rooms.
At Yo’ster Isle, search behind the save block for its invisible chest. Speak to green Yoshi and ride him so you can understand the other Yoshis. Obtain Yoshi Cookies from a friendly Yoshi, then challenge Boshi. Match the race’s button rhythm rather than mashing out of time, using a cookie boost when it helps sustain the lead. Winning opens the regular races and supplies cookies for later use.
Check the three hidden chests on this detour
Super Jump rewards
Learn Super Jump at level 6 and perform successive timed jumps on a target that survives the chain. Speak to the Chow in Monstro Town after a chain of at least 30 jumps to obtain the Attack Scarf. A chain of 100 earns the Super Suit. These are consecutive contacts in one use of the move, not a total accumulated across different battles.
Use a target resistant to Jump so it does not fall before you can practice the long chain, and watch Mario’s landing rather than mashing. The timing becomes less forgiving as the chain continues. These powerful rewards are optional; the story and Culex strategies should still allow a route using ordinary late-game armor if you cannot sustain 100 jumps.