

Leap onto and across the stone block to a series of tightropes, where a couple of Podoboos can shoot up in awkward spots. Use the tightrope after the checkpoint to reach the block that contains a power-up.

Once you've cleared all of the spike ceilings, you have reached the checkpoint.Ī sea of lava follows the spiked ceilings. The general tactic here is to be patient, as the timer is long enough for you to move between safe zones carefully. You can obtain it by wall jumping off the sides of the spiked ceilings when they have fully descended. The safe zones will get smaller and smaller, and the last one is even unmarked, although there is a Star Coin right above it. The second safe area contains a 10-coin block that you can use the ground pound trick on. Turquoise blocks on the ground indicate spots safe from the spikes, making it a good spot to hide in if you're not confident you can clear the spikes in time. The ceilings will slowly move down and threaten to impale you, so you want to move across these stretches of spikes quickly. Past the moving stone platforms is a long path with ceilings lined with spikes overhead. The platforms will never completely disappear into the lava, so you can just take your time with crossing them. After that, you must cross a stretch of lava by using stone platforms rising and sinking in the lava. Use the stone platform to reach the block above it, making a power-up pop out. After that is another tightrope, leading to a moving stone block. These blobs of fire appear wherever there is lava, and you will encounter a lot of them in this stage alone. Avoiding the lava is obvious, as it causes instant death upon contact, but you also have to beware of the Podoboo that shoot up regularly. After the tightrope is the first gap with lava. The tightropes sag whenever you're on them, and you can get a height boost by jumping off of a sagging tightrope. You never have to worry about falling off the tightropes, and they are often quite beneficial. You will come across a tightrope soon after starting the level, just one of many throughout the stage. Mario's arch-nemesis awaits at the end, ready to put an early end to your adventure. Large moving slabs of stone as well as the aforementioned tightropes are your main method of crossing this deadly hazard, while spike ceilings are installed wherever there isn't lava. Bowser Jr.'s first fortress is already quite impressive, with tricky tightropes and a castle-wide pool of lava.
