Now here comes one of the more disturbing puzzles in this game. In this level, you will reach an area that has more of these same red tulips you saw way back in the first level. This time, however, you want to flatten all of them. That's right. Flatten them. Step on 'em. Hit'em with a special attack. Do whatever it takes to flatten every one.

   

But if you see a mushroom like the one shown in the screenshot, LEAVE IT ALONE. You must flatten all the red flowers, but leave all the mushrooms alive. You see, fungus need dead plants to grow. You'll hear a tone if you flatten all the flowers without touching a single mushroom. When you reach the end of the level, one of the mushrooms will give you the Star.

   

Grab a broom from a witch enemy near the start of the level to get the Broom powerup (left screenshot). About halfway through the stage, you'll meet this round fellow who's busy sweeping the floor (right screenshot). He's giving you a big clue for this puzzle.

   

The next couple of rooms beyond him have floors covered in gray dirt. Use the Broom to sweep away the dirt. If you clear away every last bit in both rooms, you'll hear a tone. When you reach the end of the level, the sweepster will give you the Star.

   

Halfway through the stage you'll be in a room with an egg-like creature. He will blow a bubble gum bubble, and when it pops, some of the spikes will briefly reveal faces. The egg will then ask you how many of a particular face you saw. You have to give him the correct answer three times. GOOD LUCK on the third one! They flash so quickly, it's probably going to be more a matter of a really lucky guess to get it right. If you give a wrong answer, you'll have to start the stage over again. Eggman will give you a Star at the end of the level if you get it right all three times.

   

Halfway through this stage, you'll reach a subterranean sandy area that scrolls automatically. There are multiple branching paths, and you need to take the correct ones. First, take the LOWER path, and then take the MIDDLE path when it forks, and then the MIDDLE path when it forks again. You'll end up in a room with a giant Broom mini-boss.

   

Beat the Broom and exit through the door that appears. In the next room, grab the small blue-haired child and continue on to the end of the level. Note that if you took the wrong paths through the sandy area, you would end up on either the upper or lower portion of this room with no way to reach the kid. The woman at the end of the level will give you the Star in exchange for the kid.

   

All you have to do in this level is find Chu-Chu (the pink blob) in one of the friend rooms and take her all the way to the end of the level. When the boy blob sees her, he'll perk up and give you the Star. Getting Chu-Chu through the level isn't too tough, although you'll have to use her ability to cling to and move across ceilings in a couple of spots.

   

Now comes one of the longest and most diabolical puzzles in this game. This one took me forever to completely figure out. You'll have to assemble all the pieces of the R.O.B. hidden inside a Pyramid. First of all grab, a Spark powerup from one of the enemies in the beginning of the stage, then proceed to the Pyramid. Once inside the Pyramid, go inside the green balloon-like creature and let him spit you out when he's facing down (left screenshot). You will break through the wall below and gain access to a door. Inside this door are six enemies that each yield a different powerup when eaten (right screenshot). You can get the Spark power from one of them if you failed to (or lost it) earlier. Exit through the door at the bottom of this room.

   

Take the door on the left in the next room. Then find Kine on the middle pedestal and take him with you. Just be careful not to fall in the pits when jumping over them with him. Go all the way back the way you came to the room with the green balloon.

   

Have the green balloon spit you diagonally into the upper left corner. Enter the door, and you'll be in a room with three possible exit doors. This is an example of a classic videogame "Door Maze", but this one's almost impossible to navigate unless you know this trick (and I didn't when I first got here so that's why this part stumped me). If you use the Spark power with Kine, a lightbulb will pop out of his mouth and briefly illuminate two X's and an O on the doors. Always enter the door with the O.

   

Repeat this for each room until you reach the end of the maze. If you did it right, you'll be in the center of the final room, where you can collect the R.O.B.'s base. If you didn't take the correct path through the doors, you'll end up on either the right or left side of this room, unable to reach the missing part.

   

Ditch your Spark power and return to the room with the six enemies. Get the Umbrella powerup from one of them (shown in the left screenshot). Then return to the green balloon and let him shoot you diagonally into the lower right corner. Enter the door.

   

Run to the right, leap off the ledge at the last possible moment, and quickly use the Umbrella to float across the gap (Kine cannot make this jump without the Umbrella). Enter the door and use Kine to fight against the current in that room to retrive R.O.B.'s left arm.

   

Go back to the green balloon and have him shoot you straight up to the top of the room. Enter the door and you'll be in a vertical room that automatically scrolls. Just keep going up until you reach the top.

Enter the door and grab R.O.B.'s head from the top of the pyramid. If you still have a friend helper at this point, you may want to ditch him. The catch is that you have to go back DOWN through that vertically-scrolling room and you can only fall down through the floor pieces that are blue (NOT red). It's easier to do this without getting crushed as Kirby alone.

   

Return to the green balloon and shoot yourself diagonally into the upper right area. Enter the door and then take either the left or right door at the top of the room.

   

You'll be in a series of rooms with three doors at the top and two enemies. The left and right doors are always blocked by a row of blocks that can be destroyed with the powerups obtained from the enemies in the room. Ditch whatever powerup you have, take one from the enemies, and use it to bust through to the left or right door. It does not matter which you take so long as you NEVER take the middle door. When you reach the end, you'll be in a room where you can easily grab R.O.B.'s mid-section.

   

Return to the six enemies room (at the bottom middle of the green balloon room) and get the Stone powerup from one of the enemies in there. Before leaving, go back to the room where you got Kine, and this time take Coo (the owl) from the left pedestal. Return to the green balloon and shoot yourself diagonally into the lower left area. Enter the door.

   

Use the Stone power with Coo to bust through the blocks and be sure to break out those two blocks with the Stone symbols on them. BUT BE VERY CAREFUL! Coo will drop fast when you use the Stone power, and if you don't hit the button to cancel it soon enough, you'll both plummet off the bottom of the screen to your doom! When you've gotten those two Stone symbol blocks out of your way, leave Coo at the top ledge for a moment. Also get rid of the Stone power so that you don't accidentally use it again and lose a life.

   

Use Kirby alone to clear out some of the remaining blocks. You'll want to make a path wide enough to fit through with Coo. When enough blocks are gone, reclaim Coo, then proceed to the next room.

Use Coo to fight against the wind in this room and reach R.O.B.'s right arm. A tone will indicate you've gotten the final missing part. On the way back to the central pyramid room, simply ditch Coo to fit Kirby through the small gap in the room with the breakable blocks.

   

In the central room, let the green balloon shoot you straight to the right. Take the door to exit the level. At the very end, you'll find Professor Hector and the fully-assembled R.O.B. They'll give you the Star for your long, grueling efforts in this stage.