The Bafflewood
The Bafflewood is the second level of World 3 in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. In this level, Mario is required to take a very specific path to successfully navigate a maze leading to a Comet Piece. Deviating from this path will send Mario back to the beginning.
Collecting the Comet Piece at the end opens the path to World 3-3: Wiggler's Tree House on the World Map.
Layout
Mario begins in the first area which is basically just a path to the start of the maze. A Toad can be found here during the Wiggler Segment chase. The second area, the start of the maze, has a signboard between two Snifits. The sign warns Mario to be careful in the maze. Behind it is a ? Block with a sticker inside, and there is a choice of two paths with signboards for each one. This can be used to place stickers on to mark the correct path. The left path basically leads back to the same area. Taking the right path, which is already marked by a Jump sticker in the beginning, takes Mario to the next area with a Piranha Plant and several Snifits, and two paths. The right path is marked with a Worn-Out Jump sticker, but instead Mario should take the left path. This brings Mario to an empty area with flowers and now with three different paths, also with the middle path marked. Instead, Mario should take the path on the right. This takes Mario to an area with a pool of poison and Snifits in it, and three paths. The left path goes back to the start, the middle path leads towards the Comet Piece and the right one leads to another area with three paths.
Taking the right path leads to an area with a fork of three paths, all without any signboards to stick stickers. At the south of the area is a hidden door, which requires a Secret Door sticker from Outlook Point to access. The path on the right is the correct path, while the others leads back to the start. This brings Mario to a room full of stickers, and during the Wiggler event, the Wiggler Segment. Upon seeing Mario, the Wiggler Segment will panic and run towards north, crashing into a fence which causes the bushes at the north to move away, revealing a secret path. The Wiggler Segment will then become unconsious. When Mario reaches the Wiggler Segment, it will begin a battle with Mario. After the battle, Mario may jump over the fence and go north. This leads to, first, an area with two Piranha Plants and a matching pair of ? Blocks above them. To the north of the Piranha Plants and the two ? blocks is an area with four bushes, one containing a HP heart. Going north again leads Mario to a dead-end, with the Bowling Ball thing, which is required to reach the secret Comet Piece in Strike Lake. If this dead-end is returned to after using the Bowling Ball, there will be a Trophy thing in its place.
Back to the pond, taking the middle path leads Mario to a large area with Snifits and a Piranha Plant, and five different paths. The correct path is the west path. This leads to an area with a notice on a signboard, stating that Mario has reached the end of the maze and congratulating him on behalf of the 'management'. A ? Block can be found here. To the west there is a dandelion shining under the sunlight which has no effect on the game. Going north leads to the end of the level with the Comet Piece in sight. Collecting it unlocks the next level, Wiggler's Tree House.
Enemies
Things
- Violin (Secret Door)
- Bowling Ball (pre-Strike Lake)
- Trophy (post-Strike Lake)
Names in other languages
Trivia
- The sign at the entrance of the Bafflewood states, "Be Careful Not to Become That Guy Who Got Baffled [...] Times", the "[...]" representing a number that increases by one each time the player is "baffled." However, if the player gets baffled 100 times, the [...] is replaced with "any more".
- If Mario sticks an oversized thing or sticker, the sign will snap, this trick can be helpful to remove fake tracks.
- The Japanese name of this area is a reference to both the Forever Forest and Forest of Illusion, which in itself is a reference to the Lost Woods in The Legend of Zelda series.
