Scorching Desert is the 8th main stage of Super Mario 64 The Green Stars, and is located through a pipe surrounded by sand in the second overworld. The level includes many desert Mario standards, such as pyramids, an oasis, palm trees, cacti, and of course, lots of quicksand. The main area of the level is set up as a ring of sandy islands in a sea quicksand. There are two large features for Mario to climb on opposite ends of the level – a series of pillars on top of a hill on one side and a pair of large cacti growing out of the quicksand on the other.
There is also an underground temple reached through a pipe underneath the pillars, which has a large main room that is connected to 3 smaller rooms, and a pipe in the middle of the quicksand in the center of the room. The temple also contains the entrance to The Secret Ancient Temple, via a warp at the center of 4 pillars inside the room on the right.
Levels[]
Star 1: Climb the Pillars[]
Catching the ledge with a side-flip
Mario must climb to the top of some ancient pillars. The pillars are on top of the hill with the pipe leading to the ruins, directly in front of Mario at the start. All of the pillar jumps can be done with side-flips or double jumps, as a matter of preference. It is a good idea to kill the Fly Guy on the hill first to make a climb a lot safer.
Star 2: Inside the Temple[]
The second star is located high above the main temple room.
This star is inside the temple, located down the pipe, straight ahead of Mario's starting position. The temple has 3 rooms connected to the large main room, the one on the left has a red coin, the one on the right leads to a room with 4 pillars (leading to The Secret Ancient Temple), and the room directly across from the entrance leads to a red coin and this star (not through the pipe with the switch in the middle of the sand).
Head into that room, and climb across the low ceiling to get over the quicksand. Drop onto the platform and long jump across the gap and jump up the platforms and enter the doorway at the top to reach the star.
Star 3: On Top of the Giant Cactus[]
Taking care of the Chuckya. Safety first!
This star is, unsurprisingly, on top of the giant cactus to Mario's left. Go around past the temple and follow the path of islands to get to the base of the cactus. All the jumps are possible using double jumps, just be careful of the Chuckya on the way up, because it can grab Mario while setting up the camera for the next jump.
Star 4: Find the Ancient Secrets[]
The stone staircase leading to the cacti where secret 3 is located.
Mario must discover the 5 secrets hidden around the desert (in v2.1 they appear as small white orbs, while in v1.3 they are invisible). The locations are as follows:
- Beside the oasis, under the far palm tree
- Behind the lower stone pillars (leading to the top of the pipe), near the edge of the quicksand against the slope of the hill.
- Behind the staircase block leading to the giant cacti
- In the temple, in the room on the right, in the corner next to the pillars
- In temple, down the pipe in the middle of the quicksand. Jump up the pillars and the secret is hiding under the back left coin
After finding all 5 secrets, the star appears next to the last secret, so it's important to save that one for last.
Star 5: The Sandy Red Coins[]
The takeoff point to get the star.
Wing Cap Required! To earn this star, Mario must collect the 8 red coins scattered throughout the desert. This star features a wing cap next to the oasis that isn't present in any other stars. The cap is required to collect the star at the end and is also very helpful for getting around the desert. The locations of the red coins are as follows:
- Next to Mario's starting position
- In the oasis
- Next to the block leading to the cactus
- In the corner of the map, on a pillar, on the way from the cactus to the temple. Use the wing cap, or long jump across.
- On the hill above the pipe leading to the temple
- Next to the pipe leading into the temple
- In the temple, in the room on the left side, across a quicksand pit
- In the temple, in the room across from the entrance, on the right side before crossing the hang-able ceiling
The red coin star is on top of a slanted pillar in the middle of the quicksand, and requires the wing cap to fly to it. Mario can either take off from the cactus area on the platform with the Chuckya, or from the top section of the pillars at the section with the coin line.
Star 6: Spinning Dizzy Mario[]
Mario must use the Flyguy to reach the boxes
Like the previous stars, this star has added an object that isn't in any other stars - in this case a "!" switch. The switch is right at the start of the level and it creates a platform directly behind Mario, in front of the last star. This allows him to reach the star by jumping off the nearby Fly Guy and spin jumping to the platform. Even with the boxes it is still a fair distance away, so lure the Fly Guy closer to the star if it starts wandering. And this star is not available during Star 5, so Mario can not utilize the Wing Cap to get here, though it is visible in every other act.
Enemies[]
- Amp
- Chuckya
- Fly Guy
- Goomba
- Pokey
Trivia[]
In v1.3 the red coins don't display a number when picked up until Star 5, because the red coin star is impossible to get without the wing cap, which only appears during that star (although they do count during Star 6, even though the red coin star is again unreachable). In v2.1 the red coins display normally, but the star is still only collectable during Star 5.
Even though this is a desert level, the texture for the normal sand is NOT sand and Mario will take fall damage if he lands onto it.