Prologue – Paper Mario 64 Walkthrough

This Prologue guide in our Paper Mario 64 walkthrough takes you through the party at Peach’s Castle and your first visit to Toad Town.

Like every guide in our Paper Mario 64 walkthrough, our Prologue 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 Prologue walkthrough by hitting these links:

Party at Peach’s Castle

Feel free to chat to any of the partygoers but it’s not required in any way. Head up the stairs and through the grand doors. Do the same in the next room and start climbing your way farther into the castle. Enter the next room to find Peach. Watch the cutscene and a Bowser battle begins! Don’t worry about a thing. You cannot win this fight and Bowser will annihilate you after your fifth attack.

Goomba Village

And off you’re sent flying to the ground! After getting discovered by Goombario, wake up inside the Goomba Village inn. Speak with Gompapa near the white gate on the right to trigger a cutscene with Kamek. You’ll need your Hammer to get through the yellow block sitting on top of the gate. Walk inside the Goomba family’s home and stop outside on the veranda. Yeah, about that.

With the veranda completely missing, fall back down to the ground for a second time. Shake the bush in front of the floating brick block to find a Hammer. Before you leave, whack the rightmost tree to find a Dolly that you can return to Goombaria to get a Star Piece. Head through the exit and get thrown into a battle with Jr. Troopa. There’s nothing you can do besides your Jump attack so do that until he faints.

In the next area, smash the yellow block and use the Heal Block. There’s also a Fire Flower up on ledge you can get to with the spring pad. Continue to the next room. Walk up the steps and go up an additional set of steps in the back to get your first Star Piece. Return to Goomba Village and break through the yellow block. Oh, and Goombaria is now your partner!

Goomba Road

Nothing special about the first room of Goomba Road. Don’t interact with the sign. In the second room, grab the Close Call Badge from the red Question Block and interact with the sign for a Mushroom. Heal before heading into the next room. There you’ll fight Blue Goomba (7HP) and Red Goomba (6HP). Try eliminating the red one first as it’ll die quicker. Fight them off, save at the Save Block, and continue on.

Don’t interact with the Mushroom sign, then head into the next room. Boss battle! This time you’re up against the Goomba King (10HP), and the Blue Goomba (2HP) and Red Goomba (2HP) are back as well. To make things easy, use your hammer on the X marked on the tree to cause a Goomnut to fall from above, taking out the colored Goombas and dealing 3 damage to the king. Once defeated, whack the tree in front of the fort for a Star Piece.

Interact with the bush to reveal a blue switch. Whack it form a bridge to Toad Town. Before you can get there, watch a cutscene before going through one more area of Goomba Road. Whack the tree to drop a spring pad that will allow you to reach a chest containing the Hammer Throw Badge.

Shooting Star Summit

For now pass through Toad Town and head to Shooting Star Summit buy going one area to the right and one area to the north. Pass the crater that used to be Peach’s Castle and head to the exit on the right. Cross the bridge and head up the steps. You also have the option to visit the home of Merlow and Merluvlee by taking the lower path. There you can get collectible hints and trade Star Pieces for badges. Once in the room with the hill, walk to the left to find a Star Piece in the corner. Go all the way up the steps to meet the Star Spirits, or at least their spirit forms.

Peach’s Castle (Intermission)

The cutscene with the Star Spirits will take you right to Peach trapped in her own castle. Besides meeting Twink, there’s not much to do here. For now!

Return to Toad Town

Walk back to Toad Town to get interrupted by Twink. Let him finish, then head back into town. A group of dark colored Toads block the exit on the right. To get rid of them, enter Merlon’s house (spinning blue roof) by interacting with the door several times. Walk over to Merlon and speak with him directly. He’ll deal with the Koopa Bros. in disguise.

Head down the right exit to start Chapter 1!

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

Use the links below to jump to different sections of our guide.