Fortress of Traps is the 6th fortress level in the Mushroom Kingdom and it is a fusion level between the Mario series and the dungeon/catacomb levels found in both Dracula Castle from Castlevania and The Legend of Zelda series.
Layout[]
This used to be a standard Koopa fortress that marked the entrance of the Koopa Kingdom, but it was completely changed when it was transformed by the fusion effect to look more closely to that of Dracula Castle, as the hallway has more rich details like golden chandeliers, red carpets with the Koopa Troop emblem on them, many more floors, and even includes an underground catacomb. It is possible that Bowser made a deal with Dracula in his castle, and upon agreeing, the combined forces of Death and Kamek magically turned the normal fortress into a much more deadly and highly defensive fortress to make it harder for the Mushroom Kingdom Coalition to get to the Koop Kingdom.
The first area has the player exploring the hallways, jumping over the lava, jumping on candles for coins and rupees, and avoiding hazards such as Firebars and Rotodiscs. Enemies from both the Mario and Zelda series are here too, such as Dry Bones, Bony Beetles, Thwomps and Stalfos. Near the end, the player must go up the stairs while avoiding the Grinders coming down to go to the next area.
In the second area, the player will go into a catacomb underneath the fortress floors, which is full of purple acid lava with purple bubbles popping out similar to the Podoboos, while dealing with additional enemies, such as Piranha Plants, Darknuts, Armos, and Keeses. Near the end of the catacomb, the player enters a gray pipe that takes them to the upper fortress room.
The last area of this fortress is the most challenging, as it will start auto-scrolling while the player goes through the many floors and deals with and avoids the many enemies and hazards coming their way, such as Medusa Heads flying by the hallways, Cannons and Bone Towers firing all over the place, and more Thwomp and Rotodiscs to deal with. After surviving all that, the player enters the last checkpoint room before going to the boss room.
There, the player will fight Mouser again, but this time he appears as a ghost resurrected by Death after his defeat in a previous level and seeks revenge. Instead of normal purple bombs and Bob-ombs, he throws skulls at them that will summon skeletons upon landing on the ground. The player needs to stomp on the skeleton and use their skull to throw it back at Mouser. When he has only half of his health left, Mouser will throw a white orb at them that will summon Death as he dives down to attack with his scythe. After taking enough damage, Mouser's soul will start disappearing in a blue flame, finishing off for good as Death retreats back to his master in his castle. The player now clears the level as they enter a red door to exit the fortress and make their way to the Koopa Kingdom on the map.
Enemies[]
Mario enemies:
- Firebar
- Podoboo
- Bony Beetle
- Dry Bones (SMB3 version)
- Thwomp
- Thwimp
- Rotodisc
- Buzzy Beetle
- Grinder
- Lava Geyser (recolored as purple acid)
- Venus Fire Trap
- Bullet Bill
- Cannon
- Koopa Troopa (SMB3 version)
Castlevania enemies:
Zelda Enemies:
Black Tiger Enemies:
- Ground Skeleton (only appears during the Mouser fight)
Bosses[]
Trivia[]
- There was no boss battle in older versions of MKF. Originally, Boom-Boom was added as the level boss but was replaced with Mouser after the level was revamped in the v0.785 update.
- In Super Mario Fusion: Mushroom Kingdom Hearts V0.0.0.1b (a prototype version of MKF), this level was quite different and only featured Mario elements and lacking both the Castlevania features and the fusion format in general.
- The enemies from Zelda were originally absent in this level. The Venus Fire Traps and Lava Geysers were also absent as were the Ground Skeletons and Death.
- Prior to the v0.8 update, this level was almost entirely an auto-scroll before its heavy redesign.
- The fusion tilesets in the revamped version come from Castle of Illusion and Ardy Lightfoot.
- The boss fight against the ghostly Mouser is one of the features ported from the long-cancelled sister project Super Mario Fusion Revival.
Gallery[]
Revamped Version[]
Original Version[]
Video[]
Mer!X Plays MKF v0.8 Fortress of Traps
RCBlazer plays MKF Part 9: Fortress of Traps
MKF: Fortress of Traps
Super Mario Fusion: Mushroom Kingdom Hearts V0.0.0.1b: Fortress of Traps