Prologue: A Rogue's Welcome Walkthrough
Rougueport
The game opens with a storybook cutscene describing the legend of Rogueport, a town built on the grounds of a sunken city that holds a great treasure. Back to present day, we find Peach on a vacation here. She is sold a magic box that supposedly contains a map to find this great treasure. That's when Mario and Luigi get involved, as Peach sends them a letter asking for help finding the treasure. You then set sail for Rougueport and upon landing, take control of Mario.
The first thing to do when you get to town is save using the Save Block to the left. It should be noted that this game does not auto-save, you'll need to save manually using these blocks. Continue ahead and you'll run into a scuffle. It seems that Lord Crunk and his baddies are harassing a Goomba. It's up to you to come to the rescue in your first battle. It's a simple fight, just use your hammer a few times, the Goomba will guide you through it.
After the battle, you will be completely ambushed by Lord Crunk's minions. However, you and the Goomba can just sneak out of the commotion and head up the stairs to safety. Once in town, the Goomba will introduce herself as Goombella, and reveal that she is also here looking for the legendary treasure. Afterward, you will bump into Toadsworth, who reveals that Princess Peach is in fact missing. He then tasks you with finding her, as per usual.
Goombella overhears all of this and lets you know that her professor may be able to help us with the treasure map. She also officially joins your party. When a partner joins your party, they have a special abilities they can use both in and outside of battle. Goombella shows you a picture of her professor, but she doesn't actually know where he is right now.
Before we start looking, you can pick up the first collectible, Star Piece #1, by looking behind the crates and barrels to the right. Then head to the east side of town. You will see a brick wall which actually has an opening right in the center. It leads to an alley where you can find Star Piece #2 on some crates around the corner.
Head out of the alley and enter the building with a picture of the professor on the sign. Professor Frankly will tell you about the treasure and the seven Crystal Stars you'll need to find it. Afterward, he'll lead you outside so you can visit the sewers where the Thousand-Year Door is. Before entering the pipe, he'll also offer to teach you about action commands, which are special timings you can do to increase your performance in battle. Make sure to listen to his tutorial if you aren't already familiar with them.
Rogueport Sewers
Down on sublevel one in Rogueport Sewers, start heading east and you'll be stopped by a band of goombas. You'll need to defeat them in battle, and Professor Frankly and Goombella will continue to give you more battle advice. One thing you'll want to start implementing right away is using Gombella's tattle attack on any new enemy you see. Once you did this to an enemy type once, you'll always be able to see it's remaining HP in a battle. An entry will also be added in the Tattle Log, viewable on the Journal screen (d-pad down). After the battle, head up the stairs and use the moving platform to reach the pipe to the left, and go down it.
Down on sublevel two, continue to the right and defeat the enemies here if you'd like. Take the stairs down back to the left and you'll see some blocks that you can whack to get some items. Items can be used in or outside of battle to various effect. You can use the Gear screen (d-pad up) to use them outside of battle. At the end of this hall are some large blocks you can break to reveal another pipe to go down.
On sublevel three you'll see a few new enemies and a little mouse creature that runs into a crack in the wall. Check behind the giant yellow block and you can find Star Piece #3. To the right you'll find a blue switch that reveals a staircase when you whack it. Head up these stairs and enter the door. There is a black chest inside who promises to help you out if you find the key to unlock it.
Head back to the previous room and stay close to the wall but drop off to the left. You will land on a platform and find the Black Key. Head back to the chest and use the key to unlock it. As it turns out, you've been tricked and this is an evil chest! You will be cursed... with a very necessary and useful ability. You can now press Y to turn into a paper airplane on airplane panel platforms.
Exit this room and use your new curse on the airplane panel to the left. This will allow you to reach a higher platform on the left side of the room. Head through the entrance to find the chamber containing the Thousand-Year Door. When you approach the door, some magic will happen and the location of a Crystal Star will be revealed on your map. Mario will also learn the "Sweet Treat" ability.
You'll then leave the sewers and find yourself back in Professor Frankly's house. He reveals that the map indicates the first Crystal Star can be found in Petal Meadows. He also lets you know that Princess Peach paid him a visit recently and he also sent her in that direction. Head out of the house with the professor.
Professor Frankly then teaches you about special moves, which require Star Power to use in battle. The first one, "Sweet Treat", lets you restore HP and FP by firing projectiles at falling status healer blobs. As he explains, to build Star Power you must impress the audience that watches your battles. He also gives you the Power Smash badge, which lets you use the Power Smash move (2 FP). He also explains how to equip badges in the menu, and that BP is required to use badges. He then sends you off on your own to search for Petal Meadows.
Rogueport Collectibles
Before we head for the next area, there are some collectibles to pick up and things to check out around town. One of the first things you can do is visit the purple toad just to your south, known as the "Battle Master". You can speak to him to practice Action Commands or learn about a ton of different battle mechanics and characters. Feel free to spend as much time learning from him as you'd like. Head back to the central square, making sure to save your game.
Head into the Inn on the right side of Rogueport Square and head upstairs. Take the door to the left to exit onto the rooftops. Continue to the left onto a pink rooftop and check out the reverse slope near the wall to find Star Piece #4.
Back in the central plaza, head north through the main gate to get behind the buildings. Head left here and enter the house. Behind a tipped over trash can inside you can find Star Piece #5. You can also speak to the bandit here to get the coins back that he stole from you earlier.
If you try to explore the rest of Rogueport by heading to the left, you'll be stopped by a toad named Zess T., who is looking for her contact lens and tells you not to move. You'll eventually have to and when you do, you'll step right on her contact. She will now block off this area until you get her another one. You can order one for her by heading into the item shop and speaking to the toad Thriff T. It won't be available right away, so we'll have to come back and get it later.
Finding Petal Meadows
With all the available collectibles from Rogueport in hand, it's time to head back down into the sewers using the pipe in East Rogueport. Once on sublevel one, head through the door to the left. Check behind the pillar here and you'll find Star Piece #6. The character that is standing here now is named Dazzle. You can trade Dazzle the star pieces we've been collecting for badges. You have several options you could buy now, Happy Flower is a good choice that you have enough BP to equip alongside Power Smash.
In the house next to Dazzle lives the fortune teller Murluvlee. You can purchase information on where to go next or find collectibles from her, but since you're using this guide you probably won't need to pay her a visit too often. Now head back to the right past the staircases and you'll find an airplane panel. Use it to reach a new area to the right.
In this area you'll see a dock and a tenticle laying out on the ground. Give it a whack with your hammer to start a fight with a Blooper. Remember to start the battle with a tattle to add the Blooper to your log and see the remaining HP. You'll need to take out the two tentacles before you can attack the Blooper itself. Once you've got the Blooper on the ground, make sure to use Mario's Power Smash to rack up damage quickly.
After defeating the Blooper, some platforms will appear in the water and you can use them to reach a pipe to the right. Enter the pipe to reach Petal Meadows and begin Chapter 1: Castle and Dragon.
Continue to Chapter 1: Castle and Dragon
