The Hillside Cave Secret

Episode
The Hillside Cave Secret
Game	Super Mario Sunshine
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“Say... Do you know anything about the Hillside Cave? I was hanging out near the entrance the other day... Suddenly, this weird-looking guy ran after me! I took off quick! I saw him bust the cave gate open and vanish inside. Yikes!”

—Pianta, Super Mario Sunshine

The Hillside Cave Secret is the third episode of Bianco Hills in Super Mario Sunshine. The episode's objective is to collect the Shine Sprite at the end of the secret area.

Layout

The entrance to the Hillside Cave

In order to get to the cave, the player needs to enter the lake area once again. Before going through the large gate, the player can find a Pianta covered in goop. After cleaning him off with F.L.U.D.D., he'll tell Mario that a mysterious person broke through the wall blocking the cave. After passing through the gate, the player has to take the ropes connecting the platforms, which start under the bridge leading to the windmill. To get to the last platform, the player has to use the Hover Nozzle, then simply jump onto the ledges leading to the cave entrance above.

Upon entering the cave, Shadow Mario will appear and take F.L.U.D.D. away from Mario, then Mario will be brought to an area filled with moving platforms. The first set of platforms move side-to-side and are needed to reach the higher stationary platform. Next is a series of moving and stationary platforms, with the moving ones each moving in a different way. After traversing these platforms is a long bridge with four large, spinning cubes that slide across the bridge. Taking care not to be pushed off, the player has to cross the bridge to the next group of platforms, which are spinning star-shaped ones. Jumping between these and making it to the end will reward the player with the Shine Sprite.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	がけのうえの　どうくつの　ヒミツ[?] Gake no Ue no Dōkutsu no Himitsu	The Secret of the Hilltop Cave
German	Das Geheimnis der Hügel-Höhle[?]	The Secret of the Hill Cave
Italian	Il mistero della Grotta dei Colli[?]	The mystery of the Hill Cave
Spanish (NOE)	El secreto de la cueva[?]	The Secret of the Cave