Fiery Stage
The Fiery Stage[1], also known as Bowser's Castle[2], is the last area visited in Mario Pinball Land. After using the Star Keys to open the gate, Mario goes into the main foyer (where another Air Cannon and Toad's Tent was located). Players have the option to explore the other rooms in the castle, where Mario will end up fighting all the bosses again (after clearing the room of the other enemies, including Flying Shy Guys and Armored Koopas), or go through the Star Door in the middle of the foyer and face Bowser. Bowser's arena is quite small, as all the other levels are, but the Koopa King himself proves to be quite tricky. Bowser wanders around the room until he finds a spot to jump on. His landing causes the flippers to get stuck for a few seconds, rendering Mario vulnerable to be sent out. Every time Mario hits Bowser while walking causes him to rebound to another part of the room. Hitting Bowser while standing stops him from doing his jump. The only way to injure Bowser, however, is to spin the gears on the wall to raise the chained Thwomps upward, and then hit the ! Switch in the back of the room. This makes the Thwomps fall on the ground, causing Bowser to fall backwards, leaving Mario to bash him. Mario does this three times, but instead of beating him, Bowser curls up, acting like a giant pinball. It's then the flipper's job to keep Mario from falling out while bashing Bowser into the wall enough to send him flying out of the castle. This leaves Mario saving Princess Peach, and they both go back to The Fun Fair to enjoy the rest of the day.
References
- ^ Mario Pinball Land instruction manual, p. 21
- ^ Nintendo Power issue 185 (November 2004), p. 116
