...Seaside
Star Hill- This is the easiest, most peaceful star to collect in the game.  Many people look at it as a rest, a way to unwind after the whole Booster incident. Star Hill is a large blue hill covered with glowing flowers that open big, star-shaped doors for you if you "talk" to enough of them. You can also see small, cute, happy-faced stars. These are wishes that people have made. However, until Smithy has been disposed of and the Star Road has been repaired, none of them will be granted. You can see what people have wished for by talking to their wish! Usually you can guess who made the wish. Anyway, the deal with Star Hill is this: When people make wishes, it makes a star. And once the wish is granted, it falls to earth (landing on Star Hill). But since the Star Road was destroyed, no wishes have been granted.  Unfortunately, the whole system is so messed up at this point that some wishes that haven't even been granted yet are falling onto Star Hill.  Those are the ones with faces--wishes that have fallen even though they weren't ever granted.  Strange, cute baddies inhabit this small and oddly beautiful world, like Mukumuku, a cute li'l gopher-like dude, and Bandits, who...I don't know. I guess they're stealing the stars that aren't wishes. Don't know why. But apparently they're stealing something, because after running around for a while with their little bags, they'll jump off the edge of the hill and make a break for it.

Seaside Town- A resort town on the--you guessed it--seashore. The whole town, except for the Village Elder's home, is all shops. (There's also an inn, of course.) A little peninsula can be reached by going up some stairs and following a path on the north-west side of town. It's got some trees and easy access to the ocean, but you can't jump in. You don't know how to swim well enough..YET. Plus, there's a shed of some kind with two jumpy fellas guarding it. Why would they be guarding a shed, you may ask? Well, if you look in the window, you can see that there's someone inside the shed before the guards usher you away and assure you that there isn't really anything of interest inside. One of Frogfucious's students rents a room on the second story of the Village Elder's house. He reads all the time, and he'll also sell you nifty stuff if you ask him and have a fortune in the green stuff. The Village Elder is pretty pompous. Plus, nobody in the shops will sell you anything. They seem paranoid, and a bit like they're reciting something they've memorized. In one of the stores, a joint number, the two storeowners confer with one another when it seems that one or the other of them has forgotten their 'line'. Only one storeowner will sell you things. The innkeeper will let you stay for free, but when you wake up, he'll be standing on top of the table staring at you. When he sees that you're awake, he'll dash down the stairs as quickly as his roundish feet will carry him. Anyway, the abnormal citizens will tell you--heck, they pretty much ORDER you to go down into the ocean and find a star. No problem, that's what you were going to do anyway--but why do they seem so insistent?

The Sea- a series of underground caverns by the ocean that will eventually dump you in the sea. It seems that it was once a seaport of some kind, because stacks of empty crates and cargo are everywhere. There's even a little dude who sells supplies for treks on the ocean. Well, that's what you're about to go on, so stock up while you can! He'll tell you one of the local superstitions if you buy from him. The caverns, some of which contain inlets from the ocean, are mostly full of sleeping starfish, treasures, and fish. Once you get outside, it will feel nice to be back in the sunshine. Take a dip in the water and swim around for a while. Then plug your nose, grab your sailor hat and dive right down the crow's nest of the sunken ship.

Sunken Ship- An old wooden sailing ship that was pulled to its final resting place a long time ago by a giant squid. You can read excerpts of the Captain's final log. Anyway, this eerie schooner is practically infested with the ghosts of the crew. Spooky, huh? You'll also find other unsavory characters--rats, pirates, clones... Anyway, Johnny Jones pretty much reigns supreme here. He and that squid. The password can be hard to guess, but check out the FAQs if you don't know what it is. Lots of famous people have been here leaving memos for you to find. Magellan, Van Doren, Columbus...must be a hot spot for explorers. Anyway, once you kill that freaky squid King Calamari and all his tentacles, you'll continue your journey through the ship. After a while you'll get really sick of the music. You can meet a clone of Mario that, if you jump on his head, will allow you to reach a hidden treasure box containing a Kerokerocola. If you talk to him, you'll discover that he's really a Greaper in disguise. Anyway, once you come to the ship's flooded cargo hold, take a dive and just swim it! Bloopers and Cheep-cheeps (as they were called in SMB, or Bloobers and Mr. Kipper, I think it is in this one) are everywhere, as are new peoples like Crusty (ewwww) and the cute starfish. Don't forget to drop behind the stack of barrels in the room with Nanny Blooper to find a.....special thing. And also, there's a treasure box after the first save point after the squid...make sure you hit the save point before you get the treasure, huh? And keep TRYING to get that treasure, because it's a wonderful thing to have. Anways...you'll eventually end up in a dry portion of the ship, where some piratical sharks will fight you. After you defeat them, they'll stop at nothing to keep you from climbing a flight of stairs and meeting Johnny. But you'll get up there soon, and Johnny doesn't seem very evil...more like a jolly, cool, pirate-type dude. He'll agree to fight you for his star. Go ahead, matey...it's good fun! And good for you too! You can also look through Johnny's spy camera by going to the thing that looks like a megaphone and peeking inside. Don't forget the trampoline in the next room, because you wouldn't want to get all the way back through the sunken ship. Well, maybe you would. But I wouldn't.

Seaside Town (reprise)- Aah! No sooner do you finish that, but all those weird townspeople are waiting for you, and that nice old elder orders you to give him the star? What's wrong with this picture? Turns out the pseudo-elder is really part of the Smithy Gang, and they kidnapped all the real citizens and have them locked in that house! It's no good to try to hold on to the star. If you don't give it to him, he'll have his cronies tickle the real elder. Just hand it over. Then run like heck to catch the baddy before he skips town. He's standing on the beach like a fool, waiting for the Blade to show up and give him a ride back to Bowser's Keep. However, when you make an appearance, he gets jittery and is about to swim for it when...who should show up but your new pal JOHNNY! He's not about to let that scumbag get away from YOU. Make sausage out of that slime (no offense, Slimu) and then go and let out the townspeople. If you allowed the Elder to be tickled, he won't give you very much stuff for saving him! :( Anyway, the town has lots of specialized shops like the Health Food Store, Beetles R Us, and the Mushroom Boy's shop. Shop around before leaving town, but don't stay in the inn...it's a ripoff at 15 coins! Mosey on back to Rose Town and crash there.