Dusty Dune Galaxy

Soaring On The Desert Winds

Hitting the quicksand here is an instant death, so avoid it. Hop over to the tornados and spin while you're inside of them to get an aerial boost. Ride the winds off to the pipe nearby to head down.

There are some goodies here if you know where to look. After smashing through the line of blocks below you, head off to the right. The first smashing block that drops from above can be jumped on if you jump+spin from the wooden block to its left; it'll lead you to a shield, a hard-to-reach 1-Up, and a walljumpable golden coin that will reveal numerous star bits. Eventually you'll find a golden star that reveals a Fire Mario suit; use it to bust through the piranha plants, then hit the red spot on the huge boulder to destroy it. Eventually you'll reach a launch star; use it to head up.

Mario can ride these tornados upwards with spin maneuvers.

When you reach the next set of tornados, start heading upwards along the tower. Keep in mind that you'll want to let the tornado suck you up to the top of them before spinning; you'll get extra height that way. Make your way up the tower, through the wall-jump maze. When you reach the top of the tower, you'll spot the Power Star; you can jump quickly through the sand and spin its cage to release it.

Blasting Through The Sand

Hop to the sandy platform here to find a coin—and a bunch of enemies. Start spinning your way through them. When the Pokey dies (you can spin it, too), a launch star will appear to let you move on.

Jump to this little sliver of light to find a pair of the shards.

If you restart the mission, you'll eventually come to a ring where a number of boulders are rolling around. It's easy to jump to the launch star, but what isn't clear is that the platforms are two-sided. Walk underneath the launch star to find an invisible Rainbow Mario suit and smash the boulders for lots of star bits. The other small platform here has a shield on its underside.

Keep on moving until you start finding blue shards. One of them is in the chest here; bring the green turtle shell to it to bash it open. Eventually you'll reach a planet with two paths. If you take the harder path (with the narrower blocks to follow and the electrical beams above it), you can find a hidden pipe that will let you claim three 1-Ups if you find all of the magical blocks within.

When you reach the last planet, it'll have two sides; one with blue bricks and one with yellow. You need to move around in the blue brick area until you find a hole that will let you reach the center of the yellow brick side, where a large groundpound switch is residing. Flip the switch, then quickly run to the blue side of the platform to grab the Power Star.

Sunbaked Sand Castle

Flip the groundpound switch here to start the sand raising, and look for the goodies on the way up, including a 1-Up and a shield. When you reach the launch star, head up and away. When you land, grab the star shard and hit the switch to raise a large structure in the middle of the sand. You'll need to find the rest of the shards on the tower here. One of them can only be found by grabbing a shell, then lowering the tower and hitting the treasure chest as it comes down. The others can be found in various static positions around the tower. Keep in mind that you can walljump up the tower if you get stuck at the bottom.

You'll need to lure these Bullet Bills down to you if you want to proceed onward here.

When you're ready to move on, return to the mission and use the spiky plant's launch star. You'll land near a Pokey and a 1-Up. Take the launch star here to the planet nearby and kick the coconuts there from the lower planet to the upper one. When you have a couple up there, return to the Pokey and kick a coconut into it, then stomp on its head to reveal another launch star.

When you reach the Power Star, drop to the “ceiling” and smash the box outside the glass enclosure to reveal a pipe. When you reach the interior of the enclosure, move quickly. Don't wait for ledges to come down to you; use somersaults to reach them as quickly as possible. When you hit the bottom/top; you'll get your Power Star.

Honeyclimb Galaxy

Scaling The Sticky Wall

This is, as the name implies, a galaxy where you have to climb patches of honey stuck to walls. Just remember that if you tap A, you'll leap up and fall back down towards the wall; holding it down will make you float above the wall, letting you avoid the various enemies here. Getting to the top of the bug-filled wall will net you the Power Star.

Bowser's Dark Matter Plant

Darkness On The Horizon

Make your way up to the gravity-shifting area and proceed through there to the flagpole near the Goombas. Climb up that to move on to more dark matter areas; avoid anything that doesn't look solid. Jump over the blue holes to reach another gravity area. As you move along the platforms, try to always have solid matter between you and the ground as well as between you and the dark matter that's coming at you; look at the arrows on the walls to know which direction to avoid.

Mario's motion sickness caused him to call in his brother Dave to complete this level.

When you reach the Lumas trapped in crystals, break them free and head up to meet Bowser. Bowser fights almost identically to the encounter you had with him before; he still sends shockwaves out, shoots firebreath, and attempts to jump on you. New twists here include the fact that the firebreath will loop around the planet, making it difficult to dodge, and that he has a new spin attack that copies your own. Still, the basic premise is the same: wait until he jumps, force him to land on one of the blue panels, spin his tail, then spin again into him as he spins around on his back to finish him off.