After they leave the Forest Maze, Mario and company arrive in the quaint town of Moleville. However, the town is in disarray as the local Mole Mines have collapsed, trapping some children inside. Super Mario RPG is no stranger to mazelike levels, and the mines are no different: players must delve deep under the mountain through winding caverns filled with enemies. This guide will direct players through all the twists and turns of the mines and out the other side.
Super Mario RPG: How to Get to Yo'ster Isle
In Super Mario RPG, players are able to find Yo'ster Isle, an optional area of the game teeming with Yoshis and another minigame.
Where to Find the Bomb in Mole Mines
When players first enter the Mole Mines in Super Mario RPG, they are met with two moles that have Mario hop on their shoulders to reach an alternate entrance. Players will only have a single path to follow until they reach a crossroads in a room with a spring.
Both of the presented paths lead to the same place, forming a large loop that players are able to explore. There is one branching path on the western side, however, where players will find another cave-in and Pa Mole. Pa tells Mario they'll need a bomb to blast through the rubble, but they all seem to have disappeared from the storeroom.
Despite a Bob-omb just wandering around in the previous room, players should navigate back to the spring room as they hunt for the missing bombs. When Mario hops on the spring, he hits his head and falls unconscious, leaving Croco free to strike.
After robbing Mario of his coins, Croco and his flunkies flee through the mine. As the party chases after them, Croco opens up new pathways with the bombs he has stolen. After a while, they will separate and hide. There are a total of three Crooks to find, as well as Croco himself. They are not too hard to spot, but their locations are shown in the gallery below.
Although the flunkies do not hold the coins, each one will drop a Flower Tab that will increase the party's FP. Once all three have been caught, players will need to chase down Croco.
How to Catch Croco in Mole Mines
Croco can be tricky to hunt down if players are continually passing through rooms in an endless loop to find him. As shown in the video above, players will need to wait in a single room for Croco to run through. If they can intercept and catch him, Croco will stop to fight head-on.
As would be expected, Croco is a lot tougher than the first time Mario fought him. Although he still has a weakness to fire, his defenses have essentially doubled. Croco's healthy 750 HP will take several rounds to take down his while he attempts to steal the party's items and bombard them with enemies.
When defeated, Croco will drop the party's stolen coins as well as a Flower Box and a Microbomb. Players can return to Pa Mole with the bomb to destroy the rubble and venture even deeper into the mines.
How to Beat Punchinello
From this point in the mine, it is a single path to the end. The journey ahead is littered with Bob-ombs, but players are able to find a Star in a floating Treasure Chest to take out several in the first room.
Once players reach the Save Block, they will find an odd-looking character across the adjacent chasm throwing bombs. Mario will need to dodge or fight through the Bob-ombs in order to reach Punchinello, the self-proclaimed famous bomb maker.
Punchinello sports a whopping 1200 HP, has no weaknesses, and resists all status conditions the party could possibly throw at him. However, the boss fight is rather straight forward if players can keep up with the constant stream of Bom-ombs joining the battle.
When there are no Bom-ombs in the battle, Punchinello will use his turn to fill the field with them. Otherwise, Punchinello will simply run up to the party and hit one of them. On their following turn, these Bob-ombs will charge at the party and explode. Players can prevent this by defeating all Bob-ombs before they move or by dealing enough damage to Punchinello in between.
As the fight progresses and Punchinello weakens, he will destroy the current Bob-ombs and introduce bigger, more powerful variants. This will progress from Microbombs to Bob-ombs to Mezzo Bomb, each with greater stats than the bombs before.
Once players have depleted his HP, Punchinello will summon a King Bomb as a last resort but ultimately be crushed beneath it, ending the fight. The enormous bomb will explode, shaking loose the nearby Star Piece and opening the way forward to the trapped mole children.
With the children in tow, players are thrust into a mine cart minigame to exit the mine. There is no time limit on the escape, so players are free to take their time and enjoy the ride.
