Falling Star
Falling Star is the final Special Attack learned by Mario and Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. It costs 20 SP to use (ten if reduced) in the original game, and 28 BP (30 BP on Easy) to use in the remake. It is one of the most powerful special attacks in the game, while the other is Broggy Bonker, Bowser's strongest Special Attack.
Falling Star is found in the garden of Peach's Castle. The first seven Attack Pieces are found in a single block, which must be obtained using Shell Mario. Once these are collected, the Koopa Paratroopa Trio who explained the Shell Mario technique back in Toad Town will appear. For 300 coins, they mark the approximate locations of the last three Attack Pieces, which are hidden in invisible blocks on the map.
When this attack is activated, Mario and Luigi toss an orange star with eyes to the top screen, with it growing large in size. Smaller stars appear next to each brother, and Starlow flies up to the top screen, transforming into an aiming crosshair. The large star switches between red and green, and the player must hit the button of the corresponding brother (
for Mario, 
for Luigi) repeatedly to throw the smaller stars at the larger star. The player must also use the control pad to keep Starlow focused on the star, as it moves around the screen for the duration of the attack. When the action command is finished, the large star, along with the smaller stars, will fly upwards off-screen and come back down to crash into a single enemy, followed by each of the smaller stars. Groups of seven small stars fall first, followed by individual stars, which do less damage. This attack can lower an enemy's defense. In the remake, however, the large star takes a little longer time to change color, allowing the player to throw more stars for extra damage.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | こいこいスター[?] Koikoi Sutā |
「こいこい」is from「来い」(koi, come) or may be a derivative of「恋」(koi, deep love), and「スター」means "star" | |
| German | Sternmix[?] | Star Mix | |
| Italian | Stellassalto[?] | "Stella" (star), "Assalto" (assault, attack) | |
| Korean | 스타&스타[?] Seuta&Seuta |
Star & Star | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Estrella Fugaz[?] | Shooting Star | |
| Spanish (NOE) | ¡A mí, estrellas![?] | To Me, Stars! |
