Blasting through the Sand

Complete walkthrough for the Blasting through the Sand Power Star in Super Mario Galaxy's Dusty Dune Galaxy. Learn how to defeat Pokey, collect Star Chips, and navigate the maze planet.

This page offers a walkthrough of the Blasting through the Sand Power Star in the Dusty Dune Galaxy.

You start the level on the same platform as the one from Soaring on the Desert Winds. Instead of Dry Bones, you’ll be met with Pokey Heads. Defeat them by jumping on them or using your spin attack. You must defeat all Pokey Heads to progress. When they are defeated, Pokey will appear from underneath the platform.

To defeat Pokey, spin attack his head. If you miss, he can regain segments. When Pokey is defeated, a Launch Star will appear to take you to the next planet.

The Ring Planet

You’ll land on a series of platforms with a ring planet featuring constantly moving boulders. Before reaching the Sling Star, check underneath each platform. Underneath the furthest platform is a Life Up Mushroom. Underneath earlier platforms are Star Bits and a Hungry Luma.

Underneath the Sling Star is a Rainbow Star, which grants temporary invincibility. Use this to destroy boulders and get more Star Bits. Take the Sling Star to another Sling Star, which shoots you to planets connected by flowing sand.

Blue Star Chips

Upon landing, you’ll encounter Dry Bones, defeatable by jumping or spin attack. Follow the sand stream to a Sling Star that transports you to interconnected planets forming a circuit. Collect five blue Star Chips as you traverse this circuit. Use a green shell found on a planet to break open a chest containing one Star Chip.

When all Star Chips are collected, a Pull Star appears. Use Pull Stars to reach the next planet.

Going Left or Right

The Pull Stars take you to a planet with a platform and arrows pointing left and right. On either side, rock platforms move quickly towards your platform and sink upon reaching it.

Heading right leads to ? Blocks and a Launch Star to the next planet. Heading left yields coins and a Warp Pipe to a room where you can earn three 1-Up Mushrooms by collecting musical notes that appear after touching a ? in the center. Exiting the Warp Pipe transports you to the final maze planet. Either direction leads to the same final planet but changes your starting position.

The Maze Planet

The Maze planet has quicksand; falling off means losing a life. The planet has two halves connected by a path. Enemies like Thwomps, Dry Bones, and Tweesters will try to stop you.

The Power Star is visible on the side where the path is mainly grey, but it’s out of reach. To get to the star, you need to raise the platforms underneath it from the other side of the planet by pressing a button. Head right on the path with Tweesters to reach the other side. Follow the path to find a button raised on platforms; press it.

Pressing the button temporarily makes the platforms appear under the star. You must race back and reach the star before the timer runs out and the platforms disappear. If the timer expires, you’ll need to press the button again.