Fearful Fortress is the first Bowser Stage of Super Mario 64 The Green Stars, and is located inside the tower behind the 15-star door in the first overworld. The fortress is made of four very tall walls in the shape of a square, with platforms on the outside which Mario must climb around, while avoiding bullets, fire jets, and toxic goo. Bowser holds the key to the spaceship Mario needs to reach his base, and is waiting for Mario inside a tower at the center of the castle.
Levels[]
Getting the Key[]
Raised bombs are no problem for Mario!
Mario must go through the entire level to get to Bowser, which is a bit of a difficulty jump from the rest of the first overworld. Wall kick up the platforms and long jump to the ledge with the sign. Jump and grab the vines to cross the gap, or side flip + wall kick to grab the top of the platform and run across. Go past the Goombas to the walkway over the toxic pool, but be careful because the paths over the pool are very slippery. After crossing the pool, quickly move across the narrow path to avoid the Bullet Bills. Take the elevators to the next level (use backflips to dismount the elevators, as regular jumps can be glitchy). Continue to the platform with the Amp and long jump around the corner. Go past the Thwomps, and carefully time the run past the fire jets. Climb up the right side of the Bullet Bill blocks to avoid the bullets. Head past the Amp, and carefully go around the slippery ledge around the corner. Long jump from the platform with the Heave Ho, and wall kick to the platform above to get to the final obstacle – a slippery slope with 4 tiny platforms. This slope can be very frustrating, since if Mario slips, he can easily slide right off the level. Either carefully use a combination of double jumps, side flips, and ledge grabs, or triple jump off the slope just above the first platform and land on the top platform. Cross the bridge and drop down the hole to fight Bowser.
Bowser taunts Mario, saying that the bombs are raised now, but Mario throws Bowser hard enough that they are still very much in range. Grab Bowser’s tail and rotate the control stick to throw him into a bomb and collect the star. It may be helpful to use smaller throws to get Bowser closer to the bomb first.
Star 1: 8 Red Coins[]
The middle flame jet narrowly misses the 6th red coin.
To earn this star, Mario must collect the 8 red coins scattered throughout the level. The locations are as follows:
- Above the first white structure Mario uses to wall-kick up at the start.
- Above the platform with the vines. To get up, triple jump wall-kick or do a regular wall kick from the other side.
- Inside a wooden box, next to the Goombas
- On top of the wall after the toxic pool, before the Bullet Bills
- On top of the pair of Thwomps
- Floating in between the three flame jets. There’s a “!” switch nearby that makes a box appear under it.
- On top of the white structure Mario uses to wall-kick up, just before the slippery slope
- At the top of the tower, behind the entrance to Bowser
After obtaining all 8 red coins, the red coin star appears at the top of the tower.
Star 2: Hidden Behind Bullet Bill[]
Something's not right here...
Before the acid pit are two stacks of boxes next to some Goombas. Breaking the boxes on the left reveals a clue to the star’s location - there is a false wall above the third Bullet Bill after the acid pit. Jump from the platform by the elevator onto the nearest cannon and go through the wall.
Star 3: On the Castle Wall[]
This may hurt a little.
This star can be seen if you pause at the start of the level, but can’t be reached until the very end. Long jump to it from the platform at the bottom of the slippery slope, right before the entrance to Bowser. Make sure that the jump is straight, because despite the drop, the star is still quite far away. Also, if Mario lands on the platform instead of ledge-grabbing, he will take 4 damage from falling, so make sure to have at least 5 health before going for this star!
Enemies[]
- Amp
- Bullet Bill
- Goomba
- Heave-Ho
- Thwomp