Stage 3-2

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From where you appear as the stage begins, head right to the ladder and then start climbing down it. The ladder will stop a short distance above a pool of water. You can drop down from the ladder to enter the pool and start working your way through a level where you'll be swimming a lot.

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As you swim here, note that the puffer fish like to chase you. If you swim past them, they'll typically give chase until you turn around and eliminate them with some air bubbles. That can be inconvenient at times, so it's usually best to take care of the fish as you go unless you're familiar with the stage and in a hurry.

The first area is packed with enemies. There are four basic varieties: the puffer fish like the one that greets you as you first enter the water, a white octopus that moves a lot faster, a green plant with red tendrils that fires shots from the tendrils in whatever direction they are facing, and a blue creature with claws that vaguely resembles a lobster.

You'll find that the easiest way to progress through this area is to keep mostly to the ocean bed. You're going to find enemies no matter which route you take, but you can easily knock them out of your way with air bubbles as you maintain a slow swim that takes you toward the lower right portion of the area.

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From that low point, the stage will proceed toward the upper right. Here, you'll find crumbled blocks that you can often destroy for stars. They don't hide anything better than that, unfortunately. Continue swimming toward the right portion of the stage, sparing the occasional moment to take out enemies that choke the passageways ahead of you. If you find that fish are following you, make sure that you stop and eliminate the pursuit.

Eventually, you'll reach the surface of the water and find that a ladder leads upward from that point. Start ascending the ladder but watch out for the plants that are positioned on blocks to either side of it. They'll fire shots if you wait. Then you can climb past them and reach a star door at the top of the cliff.

Through that star door, you'll find a dock that leads to the right over a lengthy body of water. You can head along those planks and eliminate enemies as you go. Make sure to inhale one of them to receive the Spark ability, which makes it easy to let the enemies rush you and then drop out of your way as they strike against your electric barrier.

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You'll need to proceed toward the right for quite some time, dealing with all sorts of enemies. None of them are difficult, particularly if you keep the Spark ability ready for action. Finally, when you have proceeded far enough, you'll find a stone column rising through the dock. Prepare yourself, then hop up and over it and resume your trek to the right. You'll soon be attacked by a boss monster.

Boss Battle: Kibble Blade

Kibble Blade isn't a particularly dangerous enemy. He has the Cutter ability, which means he'll throw a curved boomerang at you with some frequency. You can get in a few good hits before he throws the first one, though, and then you can back away and float above it.


Your foe also isn't above rushing you, once he has thrown his blade a time or two. You can dodge such rushes pretty easily if you're paying attention. Then when he hits the side of the screen and knocks some stars loose, you can grab those and fire them at his back to inflict some pretty serious damage. The fight doesn't have to last long at all.

Once you defeat Kibble Blade, make sure that you inhale him and gulp him down to gain access to his Cutter ability. Then start toward the right again.

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As you continue in that direction, you'll find more enemies. There's one that will be prancing back and forth on a platform that hangs by a rope. Chop the rope to drop the platform, then drop into the water yourself and swim to the left. You'll find some blocks along the right side of a passage. Destroy the blocks, then swim left to snag an Energy Sphere.

Now swim back to the right and float back up to the dock. You'll almost immediately reach a star door. Pass through it and you'll appear in another watery cave. Head to the right again. As you go, you'll deal mostly with a blue enemy that likes to skip along the surface of the water. Avoid him as you break apart crumbling blocks for goodies. You can explore the deep pools of water beneath the platforms, but for the most part they just contain weak enemies and no real loot.

As you continue working toward the right, you'll eventually find a platform with a bee hovering over it. There's a sign pointing to the right and of course you'll want to keep advancing, but first you should spare a moment to absorb a bee so that you can gain his precious Spear ability. Then you can head a few steps to the right and use it to eliminate some of the waiting enemies.

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Now you'll need to keep swimming down through the water. With your Spear ability, you should find that the aquatic enemies have a harder time coming within range. As you descend, don't worry about advancing to the right too quickly. Pay close attention to your surroundings. At the bottom of one pool, you should notice a switch among some rock to the left. You can hit that with your spear to cause the rock to rise a short distance. That reveals a hidden doorway that sucks you inside as you get close.

In the secret room that you find behind the doorway, there's an Energy Sphere waiting. To grab it, you'll need to work your way through a few metal crate barriers. Sandwiched between each layer of that barrier are small enemy groups. You can attack them through the barrier with your spear and they won't have a chance to harm you. Do so one layer at a time, hitting each bomb crate only when you're ready to proceed to the next layer. When you reach the center, you can grab the sphere and then exit back through the doorway.

From the bonus room, swim back toward the upper right. In that direction, you'll soon find another star door. Before you enter it, though, head past it and to the right to snag a red star. Then return left and pass through the door.

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Now you'll appear in an area that proceeds to the right and stays above water for quite some time. Almost immediately, you'll come across a giant shoe. You can hop into the shoe and then it will start hopping for you as you move to the right. The shoe has only limited duration, but it's a powerful ally while it lasts. You can land on spikes and enemies alike without taking damage, and even springboard from the latter as if they are trampolines.

Proceed to the right and move in a hurry. You'll find some gaps that are best cleared by leaping from the back of enemies that you kill with the shoe. As you proceed to the right, you'll find a second one of the shoes around the time your first shoe is bound to expire. Discard the first shoe, hop into the second one and continue advancing quickly toward the right.

Eventually, you'll reach a series of three enemies that are floating above the water. There's a cliff to the upper right. Springboard up along the enemies. By now, your shoe is about to expire. If you moved fast enough, though, you can land on a huge crate to smash it open and reveal a secret door that was hiding behind it.

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When you enter the door, you'll find yourself in a waterlogged chamber. Swim upward and you'll find an Energy Sphere waiting. Grab it, then keep swimming up the passageway to find a lever. Grab it and you'll pull it, causing some metal blocks to your right to explode so that you can access the right side of the passageway.

Now you'll need to swim down the shaft while avoiding enemies. The general plan is to work your way toward the lower right, which shouldn't prove difficult. Your biggest concern is the occasional eel that hides in the rocky ledges. You can always see them ahead of time. They peer out at you with their mouths open wide. As you get near, they'll advance from the rock a short distance and try to swallow you. They don't move very quickly, though.

After you encounter the first of the oversize eels, swim up through the passage and toward the right. There are star rings here, typically guarded by a stationary enemy or two and some swift fish. If you're prepared to take your time, you can easily grab the stars and then continue toward the right where an eel is guarding another grouping of stars.

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Past that eel, you'll find more star circles and then you'll descend toward a 'T' in the path. You can head left for some cherries, then right to move in the direction that a sign points. An eel tries to attack from the ceiling, but you'll probably be past him before he even gets close.

Continue right and swim down along the passage and toward the right. Here, there's an eel positioned beneath an overhead opening that is filled with destructible blocks. Approach that opening, firing air bubbles upward as you go. The eel will try to bite you, but if you move fast enough you'll swim up through the opening and find the stage's last Energy Sphere.

Now swim back down through the opening and start to the right again. Here, you'll find a few weaker enemies and then you'll have to ascend through a shaft where the eel population is particularly dense. There also are a lot of stars along the way, though, so that's nice.

Continue swimming up through the shaft. Near the very top, pause to let two eels kiss one another from either side of the passage, then as they retreat briefly you can swim up through the opening to find the highest point of the waterlogged passage. There, you can enter a final star door and the stage is complete.

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