Whomp’s Fortress is the second course in the game and is accessible upon gaining a single Power Star. In the main foyer, there is a door on the ground level that is marked with a 1 Star. Go to open the door once you have a star and you will be admitted entrance, where you’ll find the painting for Whomp’s Fortress. You will find that this course has a similar structure to Bob-Omb Battlefield, except it is a little smaller and there are actually pits you can fall into that lead to losing a life. You will see this happening on the lower trail near the beginning of the stage, as there are gaps in the ground that have platforms moving in and out of the wall.

You can easily double jump to grab onto the ledge near the beginning, letting you bypass the Moving Bars (the enemies that go in and out of the wall) and Thwomps. If you do go that way, though, in the corner by the green box, is a teleport that sends you right next to a tall flagpole near the top of the course. Back to the double jumping to grab a ledge near the beginning, this will lead to an area that has shallow water, as well as a ramp that leads higher. The pool area will lead to a small section, with a cannon and Bob-Omb Buddy, as well as a ramp leading down to a small block and a Blue Coin Block. The latter, should you Ground Pound it, will make some Blue Coins appear for a limited time.

View Full-size

1

2

(1 of 2) Ground Pound the Blue Coin Block

View Full-size

View Full-size

Ground Pound the Blue Coin Block (left), to make some Blue Coins appear (right)

Returning to the ramp that leads further up, you will encounter some Piranha Plants and a bridge that gives way as you step on it. Just past that will be another bridge, but this one will be rotating. Cross that bridge and you will see that one large flagpole if you use the teleport. There will be some Whomps here and past them will be vertically moving platforms. These will bring you to the very top of the fortress, where you will meet the Whomp King. There are also some floating platforms off to the side, which seem inaccessible at the beginning. After clearing Chip off Whomp’s Block, the top of the fortress will have a tower, with platforms both extending and moving in and out of it.

There will also be something else at the base of the tower, a large block-like object that shoots out Bullet Bills. You will find one more change on Whomp’s Fortress, which happens from Shoot into the Wild Blue onward. Climbing the tree at the beginning of the stage will release an owl named Hoot. You can jump at Hoot to make him grab you, causing him to soar into the sky, where you can slowly move around. Note that Hoot will slowly lose altitude while doing this, though, so be aware of that.

Enemies¶

• Whomp: - They can be found near the top of the level, walking around and doing nothing. If they see you, they will fall over and try to smash you. In order to defeat them, you have to perform a Ground Pound while they are on the ground. There is a glitch where you can pass through their bodies if you jump while they are falling. Note that jumping on their backs will yield extra coins, in addition to the ones you get for defeating them.

• Thwomp: - You can find these by the Metal Hat box, where they simply try to smash down upon getting close. You cannot defeat these enemies, but are able to stand on top of them.

• Piranha Plant: When you’re not close to them, they will be sleeping, but if you run around near them, the Piranha Plants will wake up. While awakened, the Piranha Plant cannot be harmed. So, you need to sneak up on them and attack them in order to defeat them.

View Full-size

1

2

3

(1 of 3) Piranha Plants will be sleeping normally

• Moving Bars: Near the bottom of the fortress, you will find these moving walls with eyeballs. They move in and out of the wall, trying to push Mario off of the path. They are completely invincible and no harm comes to Mario from touching them.

• Bullet Bill: Only available after completing Chip off Whomp’s Block, you will find the launch at the top of the fortress, at the base of the tower. The Bullet Bills cannot be defeated and will follow you until it hits something, exploding in the process.

1-Up Locations¶

• One of the butterflies, when punched, will turn into a 1-Up. It’s in the flower patch at the bottom, near where the Red Coins star spawns.

• Stand on the rotating bridge and collecting some the coins will spawn one.

• Will spawn once you reach the top of the large flagpole.

• When the tower is at the top of the fortress, you can punch a wall at the base of the tower to reveal the 1-Up.