Piranha Plant Pond is the third main stage in the hack Super Mario Star Road. The level entrance is outside the castle in a pipe in a fenced area after an arch. Most players assume this is the first level as the pipe is the closest one to the starting point of the game. This stage is a swamp infested by piranha plants and shy guys. The stage also has a lot of ruins and water.
Notable features include: The cave, the ruins, the house/steeple, the hedges, and the pond.
When you enter the stage go straight to find a path, which is tan. Immediately there is a staired slope which is very tricky to climb as it is steep. You can either triple jump up this slope, use the fly guy which is near it, or jump of the wooden "stairs" that are visible, though you could go around it if you so choose. Directly when you reach the top of the slope you will see a stone, ruined building. The power star is located at the top of this structure.. Mario must jump up onto the building (you can use the rubble around the building if you want), then jump on small pillars until the reach the tall pillar. Beware, the pillars are very small, and it is extremely easy to fall.
Instead of following the path up the slope, cross the wooden bridge slight to the left and you will find a cave entrance with a sign that warns you that the camera will be a problem. The cave consists of a couple of islands, with a "?" box at the end containing the star. However, Mario can not get on the platform unless with a very precise long jump. The intended way to get to the box is to push a grey block as close as possible to the island, while avoiding fire from the Kuromames, and then long jump from the top of that.
This level requires the cannon to shoot yourself to the ruined tower. The bob-omb buddy for the cannon can be found on top of the dam at the end of the river.To get to it either follow the path and use the warp pipe, or swim across the pond and climb the pillars until you pass the house surrounded by the hedge. Go towards the green pipe surrounded by the hedges and from the outside of it you should be able to locate the dam.
The cannon is located directly in front of the starting point on a raised stone slab. You will see a tower with two power stars in site. Shoot yourself towards the tower and you should land on a small stone ledge or the roof. You have to perform a side flip in a very small area to reach the platform with the star.
Requires Metal Cap! Make your way past the cannon towards the dock with the metal cap box next to it. Once you get the cap quickly dive into the water and hit the switch, activating timed blocks. Quickly head up the arrow ramp in front of you, then jump onto the platforms and the blocks until you reach the "?" with the star in it
This star requires you to use the Hoot the owl in order to get to the star. Directly after you walk up the slope staircase, make you way up the next hill to the green pipe. Handstand on the tree that is parallel with the pipe, which will lure out Hoot and use him to go to the top of the tower where Star 4 was and drop on top of it. There is another strategy to get this star involving back wall kicking up the roof from where star 4 is, thus not using Hoot.
The owl says that he moved from Whomp's Fortress to Piranha Plant Pond after being sick from all the noises the inhabitants make. But in Super Mario 64 DS, Hoot also appears in later leves including Tall Tall Mountain, Cool Cool Mountain, Tiny Huge Island, and Snowman's Land.
The Shy Guys are re-textures of Goombas, despite the fact that normal Goombas appear in the level as well.
The level features one of the fastest way to softlock in the whole hack: by jump diving in a corner, close to where the red coin star appears.
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