SHADOW MARIO IN THE PARK

Entering the Park

For the waterslide to enter the park, go a bit left of the rounded wall, and just before it lean Up-Right. If done right you won't bonk on the wall or on the noki by the gate.

Shadow Mario's Route

Once you approach him, Shadow Mario can either go left or right. If you come at him from the right side he'll go left and vice versa. It's much easier to make him go right and left and I recommend doing the movement in the example video.

Analog Triggers

GameCube triggers are analog not binary, meaning the game can tell how hard ou're holding down the trigger. A useful mechanic in SMS is to only hold down the trigger partially. This allows Mario to run and spray at the same time.

Efficient Spraying

If your initial spam sprays don't kill Shadow Mario don't attempt to keep spam spraying him. The most efficient way from that point is to hold down R partially and run after him while spraying. A common misconception is that it works better the closer you are to him, but this isn't true. It's actually much more efficient to have the end of the water stream hitting him as this does the most damage.

Kill Spots

Shadow Mario cannot die at any time, and there are certain spots in his route where he can. Damage still counts at any time, however if you get him to zero health in between kill spots, you'll have to hit him one more time while he's there.