(This walkthrough was stolen from http:\\www.nintendo.com\.If you would like to give me a walkthrough or a FAQ, please E-Mail me at meem95@aol.com or at meem95@hotmail.com )
After defeating the Axem Rangers, return to the Nimbus Land Castle and talk to King and Queen Nimbus. They will give you permission to use the Royal Bus. Exit the Castle and take the stairs on the far-left side of the town. Talk to the person there and the Royal Bus will take you to Bowser's Keep. This will open a path on the World Map from Nimbus Land to Bowser's Keep and re-open the path between Mario's Pad and Bowser's Keep.
To reach the six big red doors in Bowser's Keep enter the area and follow the path up and right. You will go through two red doors, across a normal bridge, a do-nut bridge and another red door. When you reach the statue of Bowser, the area will become dark.
Walk up and right to the wall, then walk down and right to the end of the path. Follow the path to a Save Block and talk to Croco here. Go through the door in the top-right corner of the room to find the six big red doors. Of the six doors, two lead to action courses, two lead to battle courses and two go to puzzle courses. You can choose any door you wish, but once you enter one, you cannot turn back. You must complete four of these rooms to move ahead. If you fail to complete one of the doors, you will be returned to this room.
After you have completed 4 out of the 6 Big Red Doors, you will drop in to a room with a Save Point. Once you are done, go through the Big Red Door to continue.
The first action room begins with three Terrapins walking on an invisible floor. This room has three sections: the invisible floor, the moving platforms, and the Donkey Kong section. You have 10 tries to make it all the way through this room and your reward for completing it is the Super Slap.
Walk up and left to corner. Walk up and right to the end of the path. Walk down and right to the end of the path. Walk up and right until you come to a path going up and left. Walk up and left to the end of the path. Walk up and right until there is a path going down and right. Walk down and right to the end of the path. Walk down and left to the end of the path. Walk down and right to the end of the path. Walk down and right until you come to a path going up and right. Walk up and right to the door.
This section has a number of floating grey blocks that are moving back and forth. You need to jump between these blocks to make it to the door in the top right corner of the room. Jump on the first platform and ride it up and right. When it stops, jump over to the block that is a just down and left of it. Ride that platform up and right until it stops, then jump on the platform above it on the left. Ride that platform up and right until it stops, then jump up and right and enter the door.
This section is reminiscent of the original Donkey Kong arcade game, where Mario must avoid the barrels being thrown by Donkey Kong to get to the top. After five barrels come down, one will go in a different direction. Then there will be a pause before the pattern repeats. There's no trick to completing this section, just move carefully and keep practicing until you get it right.
There are three sections to this action room: Moving Block Section, Cannonball Section, and Spinning Block Section.
There are no tricks to crossing the moving blocks -- just be careful to not get too close to the large platform above them.
In the cannonball section, you need to move the cannonball in the room to the exit, while avoiding the two bomb enemies. To do this, jump on the cannonball and direct it with your Control Pad.
The spinning block section has two floating gray blocks in a room that is filled with lava. When you jump on one block, the other will spin around you. You must jump back and forth between the blocks until you get to the exit in the upper-right part of the room. When you complete this action room, you'll receive the Sonic Cymbals.
You will meet a group of Gu Goombas at the beginning of the first battle room. The battle rooms only have one direction that you can go, but you will have to fight a group of enemies between each set of statues in order to continue. There are approximately 12 groups of enemies that you will need to fight. Your reward is the Star Gun.
You will meet a group of Terra Cottas at the beginning of the second battle room. The battle rooms only have one direction that you can go, but you will have to fight a group of enemies between each set of statues in order to continue. There are approximately 12 groups of enemies that you will need to fight. Your reward for making it through this room is the Drill Claw.
The puzzle room features Dr. Topper, the Quiz Master. It is divided into three major sections: quiz, barrel counting, and the triathlon riddle. Your reward for finishing this room is Rock Candy. If you miss any of these puzzles, you will start over at the room with the six doors.
Dr. Topper will ask you 12 questions (all of which have been answered earlier in the game). Each one you answer correctly will move you up one spot and every wrong answer will move you down two. If you get to the eighth step within 12 questions, you win.
Dr. Topper will show you a pile of barrels and you will need to figure out how many are there within a certain time limit. The actual number of barrels displayed changes each time you go to the room. You will have 10 seconds to count the first set of barrels and 20 seconds to count the second set.
This is the hardest section of the room to figure out. There are four characters (Kipp, Bones, Goo, and Boo) that are involved in the riddle. They all participated in a triathlon and you will need to determine the order they finished in from the clues they give you. When you are ready, talk to Dr. Topper and he will tell you to talk to each character in the order that they finished. The order they finish in changes each time you enter the room. The clues given by each character will indicate the place they finished in. When you've finished, talk to Dr. Topper and he will tell you if you got it right.
There are three sections to this puzzle room: the coin puzzle, the magic button puzzle and the cannonball solitaire puzzle. Your reward for finishing this room is Rock Candy. If you lose on any of the puzzles, you will start over in the room with the six doors.
Mario and Dr. Topper will take turns getting the coins out of a treasure chest with 21 Coins in it. The person who takes the last coin loses. Each character can take between one and four coins out of the box during their turn. Since the object is to have Dr. Topper take the 21st coin out of the treasure chest, you must make sure that he does not take the 20th coin. The B Button on your controller takes coin(s) out of the box. You must take at least one Coin on your turn. The A Button lets Dr. Topper take his turn when you want to take less than four Coins. Here's a suggested strategy:
Keep taking one coin until the total reaches 15. If it reaches 15 on your turn, let Dr. Topper go again. When it is your turn again, take the 20th coin (and the ones in-between). Let Dr. Topper go again and he will be forced to take the 21st Coin and you will win. If Dr. Topper lets you go and the total is above 15, take all the coins up to the 20th Coin and let Dr. Topper go again. He will be forced to take the 21st Coin and you will win.
This room is filled with 16 buttons with exclamation marks on them. The ON buttons are down and dark blue, while the OFF buttons are up and green. Each OFF button you jump on turns that button ON and switches the surrounding buttons to their opposite position (i.e. ON buttons change to OFF and OFF buttons change to ON). The object of this puzzle is to get all of the buttons in the OFF position.
There are many ways to solve this room, but here's the easiest method, since it only requires jumping on four buttons.
Jump on the second button from the left in the bottom row. Jump on the far-right button in the second row from the bottom. Jump on the far-left button in the second row from the top. Jump on the third button from the left in the top row
This room has 15 cannon balls. You will need to kick each cannonball over another cannonball to an empty location until only one cannonball remains. To kick a cannonball, stand behind it and press the A Button.
Make a diagram of all the possible positions a cannonball can be in. Number the positions 1 through 16, starting from the top-left corner and working your way to the bottom-right corner. When you are finished, the diagram should look a little like this:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
Tah dah! Congratulations!
Once you have completed four of the six doors in Bowser's Keep and leave the room with the Save Block, you will enter a battle with a Magikoopa. After the battle, he will return to normal and be one of Bowser's loyal followers. If you talk to him, he will restore your Hit Points and Flower Points, like an Inn. The upper door leads to Croco's new hang-out, where you can buy items and good armor for everyone. When you're ready to go, walk through the lower door to continue. There are a bajillion battles ahead, so make sure you're prepared!
Work your way past the Thwomps and defeat Boomer, then ride Chandeli-Ho to the top of Bowser's Keep. Defeat Exor to enter the gate to the Smithy Factory and work your way up and right to a nut-and-bolt bridge. (You can jump on the trampoline if you want to return to the World Map.) Jump on the nut and face the direction you want to go to move the nut that way. Go to the Save Block and save your game, then continue right past three more nut-and-bolt bridges until you reach a green Exclamation Switch.
Jump on the switch to open a path and save at the next Save Block, then go right one room and jump on the trampoline to reach another bridge. Cross both bridges here and jump on the trampoline, then defeat the Clock to make the third Save Block and another trampoline appear.
Work your way up by jumping across the conveyor belts and riding the floating blocks until you reach the fourth Save Block. Go up and look for a room with a gray block covering a hole. Defeat the enemy to make the block explode, then drop into the hole and defeat Cloaker and Domino.
Enter the production area and walk up and left to meet the Clerk. Defeat the Clerk and continue up tp talk to Toad. Buy any items you want, then go up and defeat the Manager. Continue up and fight the Director, then save at the Save Block above him.
Walk up and defeat the Factory Chief and Gunyolk, then jump on the green Exclamation Switch to be carried into Smithy's lair. Defeat Smithy and Smelter to enter the final battle, then defeat Smithy again and retrieve the seventh Star Piece. Geno can now restore the Star Road and wishes can once again be granted. Congratulations!
If there are any additions, subtractions, or corrections, please E-Mail me at meem95@aol.com or at meem95@hotmail.com .