Topic: How do you get Mario to move forward in the bloated form in SM64 DS?

[Gamebasher]

I had this annoying problem with getting Mario to MOVE forward when in the bloated mode where he can float upwards after taking the power flower! No matter how many times I try, I simply cannot get him to move forward. I tried stroking the touch screen with the pen to get him to move float forwards but all he does is move up and up and a little forward...and then the timer runs out! So I couldn´t get the Power Star in Jolly Roger Bay sitting on that tall shelf above the water next to the three pillars. I tried grabbing that star by shooting over to the first of the three pillars, the one being closest to the shelf, but nomatter how many times I tried to get Mario to jump over to the shelf with his back turned to it, or hand-standing, he just ends up falling in the water anyway. It´s as if the distance between the top of that pillar, and the shelf edge, is too far to allow the jump.

In any event, I gave up trying to shoot over there, wanting to float over there instead, so can any of the forum members please tell me how I get Mario to move forward through the air, so I can get the damn Power Star in Jolly Roger Bay?

I thank you in advance!

[Khushrenada]

Thanks for the question game basher. It gave me a chance to revisit Mario 64 DS. It's been awhile since I've played it and it is still one of the best looking 3D DS games. So, I popped in the cart and tried it out. It took a couple of tries but I was able to reach the shelf with the flower. I don't want you to think I'm trying to brag but just to first let you know that it can be done. Here's what I did:


First, I beat up the goomba's. Then, I stood under the box with mario facing the high shelf directly. I then positioned the camera so that it was behind mario and facing the shelf also. Basically, you and mario should be looking at the shelf in the distance. Also, my controls are not set with the touch screen. They are the ones were you direct Mario with the D-pad and can run fast holding Y, jump with B, punch with A. So, the traditional controls, I guess.

Alright, so with that set-up, I jumped into the box releasing the flower. I also jumped again twice to get some hit and hit the flower while it is still in the air. Then I immediately hit up on the d-pad and keep the Up button pushed. I also start tapping the B button. What this should be doing is moving Mario in a straight direction to the shelf and by hitting B constantly you should be sending him higher in the air. However, this is where it gets tricky. You don't want to hit B constantly. Once you reach a height above the shelf, stop tapping. Mario should start to sink a bit. Don't let him fall to low but rather tap the B button every so often to rise him back up to the previous height. This should create a sort of falling rising rythym to give you a bit of momentum as you continue pressing forward. When I succeeded, my flower power was wearing off and Mario was flashing, showing I was about to lose. But, just when it ended, I had reached the shelf and fell on to it. This means it will probably be a tight distance to make and could take a few more tries for you. But, it can be done. I hope you understand what I described and can accomplish it. That's the best advice I can give.

As for jumping from the pillars, I don't know if you can reach the shelf from them in the DS game. I know that's how you got the star in the orginal 64 version but they may have changed the distance this game. And since you just asked for help with the flower power, I never tried jumping from the pillars. Let me know if you need further assistance.

[Gamebasher]

Thanks, Khushrenada, for offering your help!  

I will just paste a portion of your reply here:

"Once you reach a height above the shelf, stop tapping. Mario should start to sink a bit. Don't let him fall to low but rather tap the B button every so often to rise him back up to the previous height. This should create a sort of falling rising rythym to give you a bit of momentum as you continue pressing forward."

So you are saying that I should only tap the B button when Mario starts to drop? Like when he drops, I raise him again to the previous height by tapping B, and once he is there again I cease the tapping? What this makes me think of is that he can only move forward when I do that cyclical tapping on the B button?

I am still confused, since THIS method of movement for that Power Flower upgrade is NOT specified clearly in the instruction booklet for that game. So I have to ask you again, in a slightly different way:

When you have Mario in the air, in Jolly Roger Bay, what do you do to make him move forward until he gets to the shelf (I could hear this beeping sound for each tap on the B button, but all that did was to keep rising him higher and higher until...the timer ran out. There was no forward motion, even when I pressed the directional pad to the right, the direction of the shelf from the Power Flower box) Is it simply the by you described rising-falling motion which makes him move forwards through the air?    

[Khushrenada]

By tapping the B button all you do is make Mario rise. When you stopping hitting B, the camera will readjust itself so that it is no longer looking up but behind you again. All you have to do is hold down the direction you want Mario to go with the D-pad and he will slowly float in that direction. I just keep doing the tap, pause, tap, pause since that motion seems to cause him to move a bit faster. It's very similar to a P-ballon in Super Mario World. If you have any experience with that power up, you control this much the same way.


However, if that still is not working, the good news is that I checked and you can reach the shelf from a pillar. You want to get on the pillar that has a ring of coins around in the water. This pillar is also the one closest to the wall. Aim for it with the cannon and shoot yourself to it to grab on to the top. Then get Mario so that his back is facing the shelf. Also, climb him up the pillar to the point he does his handstand. Once he does the handstand, tap down once as this will cause him to once again grab onto the pillar with his back to the shelf. This way, you know you are at the highest point. Check with the camera to make sure that Mario's back is at a point between the star and the cliff wall (boundary of the level). With his back still facing, jump off and push up or the direction of the shelf and Mario should fall onto it. You may need to adjust where you aim for the shelf a couple of times but you should be able to get it eventually.


I'm not sure I can describe this any more without pictures or video. I'll see if I can find a better description but basically, if you just practice a bit moving around as the air Mario or jumping from pillars, you should be able to get a hang of the controls. Then, if you follow my description, it should work.  

[Khushrenada]

Update: So, I did some checking and looked at a bunch of FAQS and there was only one that mentioned getting the star with the flower power. Every FAQ mentioned getting it with the pillar. The one that mentioned the flower power just said to manuever yourself to the shelf, so no help there. Instead, I wanted to just go over some quick questions:

If you go the balloon Mario route:

Have Mario get the flower power put then do nothing until Mario settles to the ground. Then, press and hold down a direction for Mario to go with the D-pad. Does Mario go in this direction after a few moments? If not, what control settings are you using? As mentioned, this was all done with the standard control set-up.

If Mario is moving in that direction, practice tapping with the B button a bit. Does doing that seem to increase Mario's speed? If yes, then start trying my method I listed earlier of tap, pause, repeat.


If you go the pillar route:

I described the pillar to shoot for earlier so I won't go over that description. Are you shooting for the upper part? You need to hit the thinner top of the pillar to grab hold. Are you adjusting to Mario to make sure his back is at a point between the star and level boundary? Are you as high up as possible not handstanding? Where is your camera positioned? What control method are you using? This was all done in standard control mode. When you hit B to jump, are also holding down the UP button on the D-pad? You need to hold down the direction you want Mario to go as this will help move him further as he falls.


There is a third route if this wasn't complicated enough. It was listed in one Faq and actually wasn't too hard. You need to be Luigi. With Luigi, you need to get onto the floating ship. Once you are on the ship, jump up to the second level. Then climb on to the banister/rail of the ship. You want to be on the part of the ship closest to the shelf. With Luigi on this rail, have him stand so that his back is to the shelf. Then hold the R button so that he is crouching. With him crouching, hit the B button and keep holding it down. Don't let go of it. What should happen when you hit the B button is that Luigi does a backwards summersault. Then, becuase you keep the B button held, Luigi begins to spin in the air and slowly floats to the shelf. Of course, once Luigi begins to jump, you also need to hold down the direction you want him to float.


So, now I'll wait for your response again to know where to go from here.

[vudu]

This is totally awesome; the two most wordy members in NWR history except for Nemo discussing something that should take up no more than a couple sentences.  

Gentlemen, I salute you.

::salutes::

[Khushrenada]

Yeah, that's what I thought when I first read the question but it just kept growing to make sure I wasn't missing any information.

[Gamebasher]

Well, Vudu, to you it may seem oh so simple to do. But after trying it ten times and failing each time I didn´t find it simple. I found it frustrating. So I think it is GREAT that Krushnada givs me such a lengthy explanation as his effort to help me out is worth more than ten walkthroughs on that game! If every walkthrough was this detailed and showed this determination and care to get the player to understand! what to do to avoid frustration I would be a lot happier as a gamer! It is apparently so that some game experts think that what they find simple, will be found simple by others too. But not so, I can tell you.

There are many gamers who will interpret a task in a game differently than anticipated by the people who make the guide, and so you wind up not getting that gamer to solve the task at hand, and consequently he or she cannot continue. Some walkthroughs are just deficient in important how-to details sometimes! In Mario 64 DS, of course, you can just temporarily give up trying to take a difficult star, and go to try fetching another one. But in the end, it does feel best if one can take ALL of the stars, and know that one completed the game with all 150 stars. So I am just gratefull for the lengthy explanation I got on how to aquire just one of the power stars in Mario 64 DS! In my opinion, Nintendo have failed at explaining the propulsion mechanics of the power flower properly - otherwise I wouldn´t be having said difficulty grabbing that star! They left out important details concerning the way Mario moves through the air in the bloated form. Only thanks to Krushrenada do I understand WHY I could not get Mario to move forward and up to the shelf in Jolly Roger Bay, and get the star before the timer runs out!

Yes, I simply am amazed, Krushrenada, at your persistence to explain it so well to me! A big thanks to you! I haven´t got the game in my DS Lite right now, but I will get it later. Once I do, I will let you know HERE if I succeeded in getting the power star on that shelf in Jolly Roger Bay! But I think it will be cake walk, now that you have explained the mechanics of the Power Flower upgrade! Thanks again for the help!    

[Khushrenada]

I don't mind helping out. I've always wanted to try and answer a game strategy question. It's just that a lot of times, it's a question for a game I don't have. Plus, having played the game, I know that Mario's flower power is used in other areas so I knew you'd really want to understand how to use it for later levels. And, like I said before, I was happy to play the game again. It's been awhile since I played it because of other DS games. Now, I'm playing through it again. I love this game. Now, I just have to hope my efforts have paid off and you can use the flower power.

[Spak-Spang]

I didn't have much problems getting all the stars in this game.  I carefully moved back and forth between two control schemes depending on situation.

I really would like Nintendo to release this on the virtual console with traditional controls, because I think it would rock going through this game again...and wifi multiplayer would be awesome on the Wii.

[Mysticspike]

this game waz pretty ez, but u two guy talk wayyyy too much.

well, i kinda do also. if u feel insulted feel free to check out my mystifulspoe rebellion in loldays. FOR OUR FUTURE!! SPREAD THE WORD!!

but seriously spread the word.

[Khushrenada]

No. I refuse to join in your spam. This is a forum for Gameplay Strategy. Thanks for your help. Oh, wait. You didn't help at all. Imagine that.