Mysterious Mine Carts in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
Mysterious Mine Carts, also known as Mystery Carts[1][2] or Mine Kart,[3] is a minigame in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and its remake. It is located in a cave on Hoohoo Mountain along the path that leads down the mountain. The game is run by an old Hoohooligan man. Mario and Luigi are required to complete Mysterious Mine Carts (by collecting ten diamonds) during their first trip down Hoohoo Mountain in order to gain access to the rest of the Beanbean Kingdom. After this, the minigame is available with added difficulty for the chance to earn Hee Beans, with the number of diamonds needed increasing each time.
Mario and Luigi have to collect diamonds while riding carts along a set of tracks. They can get their carts to jump by pressing and , respectively. The entire portion of Mario's track is visible to the player; however, only a small portion of Luigi's is, which is lit up by a flashlight held by Mario. This light can be moved using the . In addition to collecting diamonds, Mario and Luigi must avoid falling stalactites that resemble Thwomps. The battery of Mario's flashlight gradually weakens and can be replenished by ones found on the track. Beginning with level two, bats start to appear at certain points, though they can be scared off with the flashlight. On level five, a Boo wearing a mining helmet and holding a pickaxe may appear. Like the bats, it can be scared off with the flashlight.
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, it is required to collect 25 diamonds to beat level three, while it is only required to collect 20 diamonds to beat level four. Boos no longer wear mining gear, and first appear in level three.
The following difficulty levels need at least the following number of diamonds collected to obtain the following rewards:
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
Level 1 (10 Diamonds) - No Hee Beans, access to other locations of the Beanbean Kingdom (10 Diamonds)
In the E3 2003 demo of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the minigame featured different visuals and notably included red and green coins instead of diamonds for Mario and Luigi to respectively collect.[4]
^2003. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 31.
^Thomason, Steve (2003). Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (American English). ISBN 1-930206-43-7. Page 22.
^Stratton, Stephen and Levi Buchanan (November 25, 2003). Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 0-7615-4423-2. Page 130.