Options were starting to narrow. I still needed to unlock the remaining caps, and the next one was waiting at the very top of the tower in this area. Getting there was the problem. The only way up was a chain of triple jumps, one after another, and missing even one meant dropping all the way back to the start. It took more attempts than I care to count before I was confident enough to even start recording, so when it finally came together in one clean run, it felt earned.

At the top sat the pipe leading to Lava-Switch of Eruption, the Wing Cap switch course for this area. First priority was the switch itself. I’d rather have the cap unlocked before worrying about anything else, so I went straight for it. With that done, there were still three stars left in the course, and the first attempt didn’t go well enough to keep. A quick reset and a change of approach made more sense.

I went for the red coins next. They’re spread across towers and platforms, and in theory it’s straightforward, just a matter of planning the route. In practice, I managed to ignore my own plan and leave the highest coin until last. The course forces you to use the cannons to reach everything, and timing matters more than it first appears. On the first proper attempt, the Wing Cap ran out just as I was closing in on the final coin. Close enough to see it, not close enough to reach it.

The second attempt went better. I got the last coin, the star appeared, and then the same thing almost happened again. The Wing Cap ran out just as I was going for the star itself. This time though, I was low enough that the fall didn’t matter. No panic, no recovery needed, just a clean landing and the star collected.

Under the Tower was next, and this was the one that caused problems earlier. This time it didn’t. One clean attempt and it was done, which made a nice change. The Tallest Tower followed, and although I’d already been there, the star itself wasn’t where you’d expect it. You can go for it with the Wing Cap, but dropping down to it felt more reliable, so that’s what I stuck with.

With the Wing Cap course cleared, it was time to go back to Dice-Fortress and finish what I’d left behind. The Observation Tower was first. At the top, along with the star box, was a sign pointing out what I already suspected. To reach the platforms ahead, I’d need to start my flight from the highest point in the map. Which naturally leads into the final star: Secrets in the Sky.

Finding that highest point wasn’t as straightforward as I remembered. The video makes that fairly obvious. I ended up going in the wrong direction more than once, even managing to grab the Observation Tower star again by mistake. At one point I even tried to kill Mario just to reset my position, and somehow failed at that as well. Not exactly the cleanest part of the run.

Once I finally found the right spot, the plan was simple. Launch from the highest point, hold the jump button to glide, and keep as much height as possible on the way over. Simple on paper, less so in execution. It took several attempts before the flight lined up properly, but eventually everything clicked, the box was broken, and the final star was free.

One more flight to reach it, repeating the same route, and this time it worked without issue. With that, Dice-Fortress was complete.

That brings the total to forty stars. Still a long way to go, but progress is steady. One hundred and eleven left.