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 will spin and explode, revealing a secret entrance. Entering this new entrance will bring 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 will transform them into a pair of hands, forming the Eyerok boss.

The eyes on the palms of the hands will open and close throughout the battle, and the player needs to damage each three times in order to defeat the boss. Only one eye will open at a time, however. Eyerok will attempt to either crush the player or shove them off the edge. Sometimes, the Eyerok hands will work together and repeatedly pound the ground in an attempt to damage the player. Once one of the Eyerok hands is defeated, the other will slide 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 will appear on top of the sarcophagus.

In Super Mario 64 DS, Luigi can backflip 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 into or ground-pound his open eyes or eat a flame from a pillar and then breathe it into Eyerok. If Wario is fighting, he needs to hit each eye only twice.

Trivia

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