Stand Tall on the Four Pillars

Stand Tall on the Four Pillars is the fourth mission of Shifting Sand Land in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS. The mission has the player fight the boss of the course: Eyerok.

Layout
In order to reach the boss's room, the player has to first reach the top of each of the course's four pillars. The player can easily stand on the two west of and the one in the southeastern corner of the pyramid, though the one in the northeastern corner requires the player to use a Wing Cap or a Shiny Shell to reach it, as it is surrounded by quicksand. Once the player stands on the top of all four pillars, the top of the pyramid spins and explodes, revealing a secret entrance. Entering this new entrance brings the player to a lift that slides down the center of the pyramid's interior and stops at a hole. The hole leads to a room with a sarcophagus and some stone steps. Standing on the stone steps transforms them into a pair of hands, forming the Eyerok boss.

The eyes on the palms of the hands open and close throughout the battle, and the player needs to damage each three times in order to defeat the boss. Only one eye opens at a time, however. Eyerok attempts to either crush the player or shove them off the edge. Sometimes, the Eyerok hands work together and repeatedly pound the ground in an attempt to damage the player. Once one of the Eyerok hands is defeated, the other slides towards the player with its eye open, making it difficult to time a hit on the boss. Once both hands are defeated, the Power Star appears on top of the sarcophagus.

In Super Mario 64 DS, Luigi can backward-somersault to the pillar in the northeastern corner of the pyramid. Also, the hole that leads to Eyerok's chamber is blocked by a Brick, which the player must punch. If Yoshi is fighting Eyerok, he can slide-kick or ground-pound into Eyerok's open eyes or eat a flame from a pillar and then breathe it at him. If Wario is fighting Eyerok, he needs to hit each eye only twice.

Trivia

 * In Super Mario 64 DS, Luigi can access Eyerok's chamber by backward-somersaulting off the cube Eyerok is within, punching the Brick in the hole, and then falling down into Eyerok's chamber.