Shifting Sand Land is a sprawling desert roughly divisible into larger regions, a bit like Bob-Omb Battlefield.
Then, the course opens up exponentially, giving the player access to a shell and flying cap not unlike Lethal Lava Land , and allowing them to use these means or travel on foot to either a pyramid surrounded by quicksand, an oasis in the far corner, or a nearby maze-like pathway with Tox Boxes. However, it seems most like a remixed interpretation of Lethal Lava Land, underscored by the fact that it directly succeeds Lethal Lava Land in the course order.
Like Lethal Lava Land, Shifting Sand Land features two portions an exterior and interior accessed through a structure in the exterior portion , dangerous terrain that limits mobility, a shell and flying cap to diversify movement, the integration of a classic Mario theme, and a seemingly open, rectangular, mostly flat plane constituting most of the course.
Despite the parallels, Shifting Sand Land carves out its own identity through its vast sense of space and thorough integration of its desert theme.
With the shell or hat in tow, most of the course is much more accessible than it is on foot. In fact, the entire exterior seems designed with the cap in mind, as it is much more engaging and well-balanced to fly through than to run through. The core problem with this is that there is ultimately not much to explore nor reason to explore it, rendering most of the map fly-over territory. Similarly, the sixth or so of the course taken up by Tox Box pathways feels vacant, a shell of what it could have been.
Indeed, most of the course revolves around the central pyramid, with each star found inside, atop, or close by. This pyramid is especially noteworthy because it is the only mountainesque structure of the entire second part of the game. Per usual, flying around it is much preferable to navigating it on foot. On one hand, Shifting Sand Land feels like it fails to measure up to Lethal Lava Land because it is less fun to traverse, less open than it initially appears, and the tedious starting spawn ensures a repetitious first thirty seconds.
On the other hand, Shifting Sand Land desert theme feels more thoroughly explored, featuring seven new stage-specific enemies, a handful of staple desert locales, and an intricate pyramid interior with several secrets on its sleeve. It is a very brief star best acquired through flight, but it gives the player a brief aerial overview of the course and incentivizes discovery of the essential wing cap. Again, flying completely eschews the challenge, but since running around the pyramid is not very fun, flight or even better, shell-shredding is the way to go.
Fortunately, this proves more fun than the past two stars, as new enemy types percolate the path and the varied platforming is comprised of climbing, pole-jumping, and even hiding in a crevice as an enemy rolls past.
Passing through this lengthy, detailed part segment for the first time is a lot of fun and a decent challenge full of mummified whomp-y and thwomp-y enemies. For the first time this course, the star feels truly earned. Between the initial surprise of trimming the pyramid and the intricate, involved, punishing boss battle requiring precise movement and combat, Star 4 is an unexpectedly unique experience. However, this leads to feeling like the map is designed around this star, which makes it feel less tacked-on than many red coin stars.
Unlike most stages, the one hundred coin star is best not collected on the red coin star because the player must enter the pyramid for some coins and will not be able to return to the exterior to collect the red coin star that spawns outside. With coins scattered across the map, there is no shortage, but some finicky coin placements may result in what feels like unfair quicksand deaths. From there, the player must drop down to small platforms to collect five coins.
The first-person camera can help determine where to fall, but the difficulty of judging depth, the sometimes erratic camera, and the finicky close-quarters controls mean most players will fall before collecting them all. Once fallen, the player must trek back up to the top in what can feel like a tedious journey. The Pyramid is technically too steep to climb, but if you're deft you can make Mario do it without any power ups.
Otherwise, grab the wing cap and use it to fly up there to grab the power star. To start the hunt for this power star, head to the pyramid and go in the main entrance - that's around the back of the stage, right near the pillars from star 1 and the general location of star 2. There's a nice normal entrance to the pyramid; head inside. Once inside the pyramid, you need to work your way up. The quicksand here won't kill you like outside, but it will make you slow and give you tiny jumps. The path through the pyramid is a pretty linear one up to the top - and at the apex of the pyramid, the star awaits.
Doing the previous stars, you will have noticed that there are 4 large pillars that you can walk up as if they've got weird gravity or something. Two of these you can just walk up to, while two are surrounded by instant-death quicksand.
The best way to stand on top of all four is to use the wing cap to get around the level. Stand tall on all four, like the level name says, and you'll blow the top off the pyramid. Now fall through the new hole atop the pyramid - use the wing cap to get up there. You'll be lowed down to a unique entrance in the pyramid. You now must beat a boss - avoid him knocking you off the stage, and punch the eye in the center of each hand.
This is another standard get all 8 red coins mission, though the twist is that four of the coins are in the air, as the level name gives away. You'll need to nab the wing cap to grab these. Aside from that, there are four others, of course:. This power star requires you to head back into the Pyramid. Either entrance can do. There are special coins in there, but they sadly look the same as normal coins - though a counter will appear when you collect them. To get these coins, head up to where Star 3 was, but instead of climbing up that last bit to where the star is, drop down.
There is a series of platforms you can drop down to here, one to the other, level by level, each time grabbing a coin. Try and not to get hit too many times — there are many hidden blocks that will fall on you or roll over on you. Try and find the holes in the walls to get away from them. Stand on each of the four pillars outside the pyramid.
But be careful not to fall down, for it is hard to do so. The top of the pyramid will blast away. Go to it and go in the hole. Inside, you have to beat the pyramid boss, Eyerok, who is just two big stone hands with his eyes in the palms, by hitting the eyes on his hands three times each.
As Wario, go to the Tox Box area. There is a Black Brick on a platform. Punch the brick and step on the Star Switch. Use the teleport or the cannon to get to the Star, located near the oasis. Enter the pyramid, and make your way to the top.
Right before the star, there is a hole in the barrier around the platform. Look down.
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