Chapter 8 – Paper Mario 64 Walkthrough

This Chapter 8 guide in our Paper Mario 64 walkthrough takes you through the final moments in Bowser’s Castle and the final boss fight.

Like every guide in our Paper Mario 64 walkthrough, our Chapter 8 walkthrough keeps it to the point and gets you moving to your next goal without getting too stuck in the details. We’ll also mention any Star Pieces or badges you can snag along the way. You can jump to a specific part of our Paper Mario 64 Chapter 8 walkthrough by hitting these links:

• Star Way
• Bowser’s Castle
• Princess Peach’s Castle
• Final Boss: Bowser

Star Way

You’ve saved all the Star Spirits! You now have enough power to travel up into the star-filled sky. Head over to Shooting Star Summit and climb the hill where you first learned of your grand mission. Speak to the spirits again and they’ll create a handy beam that shoots you up into the sky.

Now you’re on Star Way. The glittering path is a simple one. Just get to the end while fighting or avoiding the fire-based Ember enemies. There’s not much going on in Star Haven either. There’s an inn you can rest at, a shop with reduced prices, and an exit that takes you to the Star Spirit’s sanctuary. Speak to them there to get the Star Beam ability. They also hook you up with a sweet ride that takes you straight to Bowser’s Castle.

Bowser’s Castle

Arrive at the docking bay and exit through the door. There it is, Peach’s Castle! Can’t go inside and can’t reach the red question block, so head through the door on the right. Attack and defeat the Koopatrol to get a Castle Key. Return back outside and use it to unlock the double doors across the bridge.

Fight or avoid the Koopatrol on this narrow path and get into the next room. Do the same in the next room and watch out for the hammer throws from the Hammer Bro! In the third room, interact with the giant Bowser head and you’ll fall through a trap door. In the jail cell, heal up and use Bombette to blast through the crack on the wall to the right.

Back in the lava room! Enter the door on the right. Time your jumps to get across the simple platforms over the lava. Use Parakarry for the wider gaps! Once you reach the next room, hop on Lakilester to reach the blue switch. This will create a moving platform. Keep making your way to the right, ignoring the door within the lava and activating the next blue switch.

Once you reach the next room, ride Lakilester across the lava as you ignore the items on the platforms. Once you reach the moving platform, use Bow to get past the lavafall. Enter the next room. Climb up the stairs to find a Magikoopa and couple of Koopatrol losers. Fight them off, then hit the blue switch to stop the lava from flowing.

With the lava hardened you are free to explore! Feel free to grab those items you passed earlier but you can also keep traveling all the way to the left to reach the outdoors. At the end, jump up the ledges and hit the red question block to find a Deep Focus badge. Remember that door within the lava we passed? The one in the room with the blue switches? Head inside and grab the Castle Key from the chest.

Go all the way right in the lava rooms to get to the locked door. Pass through to enter the darkened tunnels. It’s a bit tough to describe through text but you’ll essentially want to follow the correct path to reach the end. If you don’t you’ll run into enemies and dead ends. We’ll describe this area in terms of where the paths split:

• First junction: go north and use Parakarry.
• Second junction: go middle and use Parakarry.
• Third junction: go middle and use Parakarry.
• Fourth junction: go north and drop down instead of using Parakarry.

Now out of the tunnels, push the block to the left and fall through the hole. You’re back in the room with the giant Bowser head! Talk to it again and this time you’ll be able to pass. The next room is a bit more fancy. Get to the Save Block in the middle, then go down the path to the right. Defeat the Koopatrol to get another Castle Key, then use it to open the jail cell. Feel free to heal here, then return to the previous room.

Go up the stairs. To the left is an item shop. To the right is the next room you’ll want to head into. Pass the hallway of enemies to reach the three floored room. This one is a bit of a puzzle! Enter the second room and use the spring pad to reach the second floor. Pull on the chain to raise the water level. Use Sushie to ride into the previous room, then hit the blue switch to reveal another spring pad. Now on the third floor, bomb the wall and go into the second room.

Tornado Jump the brick block to bring down the blue switch. Hit it to reveal a hidden hallway leading to another chain that will raise the water to the highest level. Return to the previous room and swim across over to the Castle Key. Now you have to remove the water so you’ll want to do everything in reverse. Go back and pull both chains so you can access the locked door on bottom floor.

The next room can be quite annoying. Bombshell Bullet Bills spawn from the right and come crashing towards you on the left. Either weave between the two or jump over them to get past without fighting. You’ll have to fight the B. Bill Blasters as well. You’ll run into four of them before you reach the exit at the top. In the next room, push the third Bowser block to reveal a secret hallway.

Exit the secret hallway to find a room with a locked door. Push the first Bowser block, the one to the left, to reveal another secret hallway. Follow it into a room with another trio of Bowser blocks but this time one of them is already pushed to reveal a door. Following that path will lead to a dead end so instead, push the middle Bowser block over the door to reveal a second door. This leads to a Castle Key that can be used on the locked door a few rooms back.

Another giant Bowser head! Speak to it to start a quiz. The memory questions are based on different enemies running in and out of the nearby doors. Here are the answers to the first few:

• How many Koopas? – 3
• Which were the three of? – Red Shy Guys
• Who came out of the middle entrance? – Red Shy Guys
• How many Goombas were there? – 2
• How many arms did you just see now? – 4

With the quiz complete, the door leading outside is accessible. Collect any of the extra items from the blocks and head up the stairs. Walk across the upper walkway and back into the castle. Take the lower left path to reach another jail cell. Same situation, defeat the Koopatrol to get the key. Unlock the jail and you have a place to rest and restore your health.

From the center room, go up the stairs past the Save Block. There’s an optional Ultra Shroom you can pick up in the left room. Go up the colored steps, drop down to the ledge, use Bombette, let the platform rise up, and use the other raised platform to reach the Ultra Shroom. From the main room, go right and in the room with two Hammer Bros. Go up the stairs and into the next puzzle room. Standing to the left of the red switch will raise the platform in the back and the wall on the left. While they’re lowered, stand where the wall would go up and use Kooper to hit the switch. Jump across and into the next room to find yet another Castle Key.

Almost done! The next series of rooms is a maze. You either take the upper path or the lower path. If you enter the wrong door, you’ll return to the first room. Take note of the flames on the back wall of the first room. They indicate the order of doors you must enter. The hallway maze order:

• Up
• Down
• Down
• Up
• Down
• Up

Get through the blue hallway of enemies and the next hallway. This castle is just endless amounts of hallways. Where are the rooms?? Anyway, the next hallway you’ll find Peach at the end. Speak with her and she’ll start to follow you. Run all the way to the door on the left, then run back to Peach to find a Duplighost instead. Fight the four Duplighosts and head through the next door.

Enter the next room and watch the hysterics unfold. It’ll end with a Jr. Troopa fight! He has 60HP and will switch between his many previous forms. Defeat him, then climb up the stairs into Peach’s Castle.

Princess Peach’s Castle

Back at the castle but this time as Mario! There’s really not much you need but you do have the option to collect any badges you missed as Peach. Outside the castle, look for a hidden block holding an Ultra Shroom. There’s the Last Stand badge in the small bedroom. In the same room, open the cabinet to reveal a Toad who will let you rest up and heal. There’s the Deep Focus badge in storage room and you can find the Power Rush badge and Life Shroom in the library.

From the entrance of the castle, keep walking up the stairs and through the double doors as you go higher and higher into the castle. Reach the area where you were originally fought Bowser in the Prologue to start another fight with Bowser!

Final Boss: Bowser

First part of the Bowser fight! This one won’t last that long. Just beware of his 50HP and 1 defense and keep dealing damage. If Bowser uses the Star Rod, use the power of the Star Sprits with the Star Beam attack to remove his multicolored state. Defeat him and he’ll run off!

Before you keep moving forward, head back to the small bedroom located in one of the first rooms of the castle and speak to the Toad to heal up. Follow the path all the way up to the end, across the roof walkway and up the spiral staircase. Cross the checkered path over to the Bowser’s floating island to start the final battle.

Phase 1! Don’t worry too much about this part as everything will be reset momentarily. After two turns of attacking, Bowser will whip out the Star Rod and increase his power. Using the good ol’ Star Beam will do nothing but use it anyway as it’ll trigger a new event. Now you’re playing as Twink and Peach! Is it possible to mess this up? I don’t think so. You’ll go through five rounds. Each time you attack with Twink followed by a Focus power-up from Peach. On the fifth hit against Kammy, you’ll take her down.

Phase 2! Now you have the Peach Beam so any time Bowser powers up, hit him with special attack to bring him back to normal. Now he has 99HP and 1 defense. A few things to keep in mind. Bowser will heal 30HP at three different points during the fight. Focus on pulling out your strongest attacks and consider having Watt as your partner so you can use his standard attack to ignore defense and save FP. Watch out for his fire breath attack but especially be ready to block his yellow shockwave attack. Failing to do so will knock out your partner. This is especially bad if you’re someone like Goombario and his Charge attack. Getting knocked out will remove the effect!

Deplete Bowser’s health and the battle is over! And so is the game! You did it! You did the thing. Peach is saved, the castle’s back, and there’s a lovely parade to celebrate. Sadly no, you can’t do anything besides shut off the game once you reach the ending screen. But it’s still a pretty scene!

Got any tips or suggestions for our Paper Mario 64 Chapter 8 walkthrough? Let us know in the comments!

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