Part 10: Land's End and Belome's Temple

Main Walkthrough

A tidy, cliffside hamlet secreted near Land's End, Monstro Town isn't much to look at from a surface glance. It consists of a single 'street', lined with doors, and one further door at the top of some stairs. There's an Item Shop partway through town, the save point is hidden in a hole in the southeast, and the exit to the main map is near the save point. (Check to the left of the bush in the exit room to find a hidden Frog Coin.) You can be in and out of Monstro Town within a minute or two. That said, Monstro Town is home to a lot of useful side content, and that's what we'll explore in this guide.

If you want to get in and out of Monstro Town as quickly as possible, then check out the first door in the northwest. Inside you'll meet Monstermama, the only Toad in the village. She'll tell you about Monstro Town's 'star', which you'll find upstairs. It... isn't quite a Star Piece. Speak to Monstermama again and she'll call in some help to get you to the next star. You'll need to return to the final section of Land's End, where you may have spotted a steep cliff, to proceed to the next area.

We'll get to that part of the story in the next guide. For now, let's have a quick look around Monstro Town.

Surprise Boxes

On the second floor of Monstermama's home you'll find a Chester who, for once, doesn't want to eat you. This guy keeps track of all of the hidden chests you've found throughout the game - known formally as Surprise Boxes - and will let you know how many are still waiting to be opened. You don't get anything for finding them all, but the Chester will congratulate you. This guide will help you find all of the Surprise Boxes, assuming you've missed a few.

Temple Key

If you look along the cliffs above the doorways of Monstro Town you'll spot a Temple Key. Mario can't possibly reach it on his own, so you'll need some help. Enter the home below the key and you'll find a Thwomp. Keep speaking to it and it will slam the ground each time. Enough slams (around ten) will drop the key to the ground outside.

Grab the Temple Key and return to Belome Temple, via the springboard in the northwest of Monstro Town. Make your way back to the elevator that led to the Belome fight, and smack the statue at the top of the elevator until it gives the 'Past my bedtime' fortune. You can enter and reenter this room until the statue gives the proper fortune. Use the elevator at this point and you'll find a treasure room. The key you collected will allow you to get past the golden Belome statue at the entrance, granting you access to a king's ransom: Eight Frog Coins, four Flowers, a Fire Bomb, a Royal Syrup, and a Max Mushroom.


Super Jumping

In the same house as the Thwomp you'll find a Chow who will ask Mario about his Super Jumping prowess. It will challenge you to perform a Super Jump of thirty timed hits in a row, without stopping. If you can do this succesfully the Chow will give you an Attack Scarf, a powerful offensive accessory. The Chow will then challenge you to perform 100 Super Jump timed hits in a row, and if you succeed at this ridiculous task you'll receive a Super Suit. The Super Suit is the best piece of armor in the game, and makes its wearer nigh-invincible.

(Having trouble with your Super Jumps? Me too. Getting to 100 is very difficult. I recommend this tutorial for timing your jumps. It's too difficult to accurately describe the process via text.)


Sealed Door

Between the home of the Thwomp and Chow and the Item Shop is a sealed door. The only way to open the door is to retrieve a Shiny Stone from a little girl in Moleville. Once you open the door you'll find a boss monster inside who is, almost inarguably, the most powerful enemy in Super Mario RPG. When you first visit Monstro Town you will not be ready to fight this guy. We'll come back to the sealed door in another guide.


The Three Musty Fears

In the home next to the Item Shop you'll find a conspicuous bed. Switch off the light in the right corner of the room and Mario will have a nap, during which he'll be visited by a group calling themselves the Three Musty Fears. These creatures will challenge you to a scavenger hunt of sorts, planting flags in three spots around the world. You need to track down their flags. The flags are in the following locations:
  • 'Behind a wooden flower' - In Rose Town. When you enter the town you'll see the wooden flower sign straight ahead. Check behind it for the Greaper Flag.
  • 'Under a green bed' - In Mario's Pad. Check the bottom of Mario's bed, near his spare clothes, for Dry Bones' Flag.
  • 'Between an 'O' and an 'A' - On Yo'ster Isle. If you check the northeast end of the track you'll see a big GOAL sign carved into the grass. Check between the O and the A to find the Big Boo Flag.

Return to Monstro Town and have a nap once you find all three flags. The ghosts will equip a Ghost Medal on Mario. It's a powerful defensive item.

Jinx's Dojo

Up the stairs in the southeast of Monstro Town you'll find a small dojo, and Bowser will discover a familiar face inside: Jagger, one of his former minions. Jagger has been training hard under a new master, and he will challenge the group to a battle. Defeat Jagger and you'll meet said master: Jinx, a pint-sized enemy who is much more powerful than he looks. Jinx will challenge you to three battles, making for four total boss battles in the dojo.

In all likelihood you will not be able to defeat all three Jinx forms on your first visit to the dojo. You should nevertheless make return trips, as the item you earn for besting Jinx is worth all the effort. (And if you decide to try for it early on anyway, you'll won't get any Game Overs when you lose, and everyone will be restored to full health after each battle. So that's something.)

Jagger

HP: 600

Your first opponent is Jagger, and he's still very much a student. Jagger uses a combination of normal punches and Terrapunch, which is, admittedly, pretty strong... but that's all. Your strongest attacks will take Jagger down after a few rounds.

Jinx (1)

HP: 600

Your first battle with Jinx is painful, but doable during your first visit to Monstro Town. Jinx uses the following attacks:

  • Triple Kick, a strong, single-target melee attack
  • Jinxed, a strong, single-target melee attack
  • Valor Up, a strong buff to Jinx's defenses
In this match Jinx simply hits hard. Get rid of half of Jinx's health and he'll use Valor Up, which greatly improves his defenses. Jinx doesn't have any elemental weaknesses, so stick to your strongest neutral attacks and keep one character on healing duty (Peach or Mallow, either is fine). Your healer will benefit heavily from the Ghost Medal you picked up from the Three Musty Fears, as it cuts all of Jinx's attack damage in half.


Jinx (2)

HP: 800

Jinx gets a big power boost in the second battle. You may be able to win on your first visit to Monstro Town, but... the odds aren't with you. In addition to his previous moves, Jinx gains a few new tricks:
  • Quicksilver, a high-power, single-target physical attack that will often OHKO a character
  • Silver Bullet, a single-target OHKO attack
Both Quicksilver and Silver Bullet are typically deadly unless you use a timed hit to block the effects, and that isn't easy. Your best recourse - with Silver Bullet, anyway - is to equip anything that blocks mortal blows, such as a Safety Ring or a Quartz Charm. The plus side is that Jinx doesn't use these moves too often, so as long as you have a dedicated healer you should be able to keep up with him. Note that Jinx becomes more evasive, so unless you use proper timed hits your normal attacks probably won't hit him.


Jinx (3)

HP: 1,000

Yes, that screenshot was taken before I reached my first turn. Jinx gets a big power jump between the second and third battles, and unless you're a Super Mario RPG pro you won't be winning this fight until you've gotten through most of the game. Jinx gains a few more attacks this time around:
  • Bombs Away, a single-target attack that inflicts extreme amounts of damage
  • Vigor Up, a strong buff to Jinx's offenses
This fight consists of a ton of near-instant-kill attacks, and you'll need to use timed hits to defend against them if your party isn't at a high level. Bombs Away is virtually always an instant-kill even if you do defend, so you'll need to be reviving characters constantly. Jinx will use Vigor Up once he reaches a quarter of his health, which boosts his already ridiculous physical attacks to new heights.

Because Jinx gets such a boost to his defenses you'll need to rely on your most powerful attacks to get through this fight. Mario's Ultra Jump is perhaps your best weapon, assuming you can get up to 20+ jumps per use, and Geno can provide some decent backup with his overall strong normal attacks. Toadstool or Mallow are necessities for keeping everyone alive and healed. Jinx's attacks hit hard enough that you'll probably want Pick Me Ups more often than Mushrooms, as your characters will be getting knocked out often.

(Having trouble with Jinx? You may want to wait until you've collected the Lazy Shell weapon and armor. They make this fight quite a bit easier.)


Once you defeat Jinx the dojo will come under Mario's, uh, tutelage, and Jinx will give you the Jinx Belt. It's one of the best accessories in the game, and probably would have been useful against Jinx himself. Ah, well...

Part 12: Bean Valley and The Vinery

Main Walkthrough