Start this stage by dropping down a ladder to grab some dynamite, then carry it to the lower right corner of the area and blast some large blocks. You'll gain access to a door, which you should enter.
In the next corridor, there are large floating tanks of water. You can easily leap from one to the next, or float. There's also a ninja along a ledge. Gulp him down, and continue right while watching the overhead ceiling. Near the far right side, just above a floating enemy, there's a set of three magma blocks. From the surface of the water, you can throw water up at those blocks and cool them down, then collect the Rare Keychain: Nightmare's Power Orb that hangs in the air just above them. After that, pass through the doorway just to the right.
From where you appear in the next area, swim upward and watch out for the eel that emerges from a hole in the background. You can gain the Spear ability from an enemy as you ascend. As you reach the top, defeat an enemy and then hop onto a 3D Warpstar to ride into the background. Now it's time to descend along the backdrop, the way you just came in the foreground (watch for the eel again). As you do, you can collect a Keychain and the stage's first Sun Stone. Then head back up and keep ascending to reach a doorway, through which you should pass.
Now you're making your way along another of the chambers with a bunch of tanks. There's a Waddle Dee here that will throw you an Assist Star if you need it. Past that, you can grab the Cutter or Circus ability from the tanks. Keep going and you'll see a cannon, but you can drop down to a lower tank for a Keychain. Then head back up to the cannon and let it launch you to a mid-boss fight.
Mid-Boss: Blocky
You have narrower space than you typically would as you battle Blocky, because there are lava walls to the left and right. Blocky will run or roll back and forth, trying to smash you. You can avoid most of his attacks by staying in the air, and then you can land to do some damage with your chosen weapon or by sucking in and expelling stars and pieces of rubble that fall off their host when he gets a little too ambitious with his movements. Just know that he will often flash while stunned, which means you can't hurt him for a second or two. Once he stops flashing, he's fair game and you can do a lot of damage with each direct hit.
Gulp down Blocky once you defeat him, then open the door that appears overhead.
Through that door, you'll find a bunch of pools of water. You can swim back and forth here, gradually descending as you watch out for eels and other enemies. You want to keep the Stone ability, as you'll need it when you reach the lower left corner. There' s a stake waiting for you. Jump into the air above it, then press Down and B to turn into a statue. You'll pound the stake into the ground and reveal a hidden door to the left. Enter it.
In this new room, you immediately appear with dynamite in your hands. Toss it, then float up and around the wall to the right. You need to now pound a bunch of stakes as you descend along the right of the two vertical shafts, by running up to the stakes or jumping on them as you press the B button. Hitting everything in time (before the dynamite to the left explodes) is tricky, but remember that you descend faster in stone form. You can make it if you hit two stakes near the right side of the shaft with the same stone statue. If you mess up, you can exit and renter the room to try again. When you finally succeed, you'll reach a
Sun Stone near the bottom of the shaft, and then you can drop down from there to pass through a door.
Now you will be positioned on a high ledge. Descend to the right to grab some Miracle Fruit, and keep going from there to reach some transparent tubing with a cork in it. Suck down the cork and put your mouth on the tubing to inhale the objects in the background, including a chest that holds a 1up doll. Then continue right again and you'll come up against an eel. You can start to suck him into your mouth but he'll resist. As you continue to use the Hypernova move, pull back toward the left and eventually you will gulp down the massive eel. Then you can head through his pipe to reach the backdrop. Descend along it, gulping down enemies and another eel. Pass through the pipe to return to the foreground, and now you should head right again. Descend as you go, and look for a bomb block to your lower left. Kick it and you will produce a ledge to your right. Stand on that and use Hypernova to suck another chest through the tubing. This one contains a
Sun Stone.
Venture to the right from there and gulp down some enemies, then pass through a pipe. When you appear in the backdrop, enter the doorway. You will arrive near another pipe, so pass through that and you will reach the foreground. Descend the shaft just to your lower left, passing through another pipe and then landing between another pipe and an eel's tail. Head left through the pipe, then right in the foreground and use Hypernova on the eel. When he is gone, head through the pipe to return to the backdrop. Next, drop through the ledge and hit a switch, then return to the foreground and drop through an opening you've temporarily created to grab the last
Sun Stone in the stage. Now drop down and hit a switch, then quickly exit the shaft.
To get to the exit, head left and descend a ladder. Inhale some more enemies that head your way, then descend another ladder and drop down to face another large eel. Retreat as you must and use Hypernova to eliminate the oversized creature, then head through his pipe to appear in the backdrop. To the right, there's another pipe you can pass through, which deposits you in a new area to the right.
Keep advancing in that direction, and notice the slumbering enemy on the ledge in the distance. Work your way to the lower right side of the room and hit a bomb block, which produces a ledge to the left of a corked bit of tubing. Use Hypernova on that tubing to suck the enemy through the opening and produce a goal door in the process. A 3D Warpstar will arrive to your left, so hop onto it and ride it back to the ledge where the goal door appeared. Then pass through that door to finish the stage.
NEXT: Endless Explosions - Stage 3
