The Goopy Inferno

"How terrible! The village is covered in burning goop! Pardon me? No, my darlings are not responsible! Hmph!"

- Pianta

The Goopy Inferno is the third episode of Pianta Village in Super Mario Sunshine. The episode's objective is to navigate through the burning goop that has appeared in the village.

Layout
As soon as the player starts the level, Shadow Mario appears and takes FLUDD away, much like how he does before starting a secret course. The entirety of Pianta Village has become covered in burning goop, which the Piantas claim has fallen from the sky and has trapped the Pianta mayor on his golden mushroom. Without FLUDD, the player cannot wash away the burning goop, so they have to take an alternate route.

Running around the village, the player can find a hole next to the spa. Ground Pounding the panel at the bottom takes the player to the village's underside, which they must navigate to reach another hole that leads them to the mayor. The hanging paths have many Klambers and Red Electrokoopas on it the player has to avoid. To move the sliding panels, the player has to press when hanging on them, then quickly jump off once it reaches the end of its rail, as the panel falls shortly after. By using the mushroom platforms and a swing underneath the village, the player can reach the panel they need to flip through. Wall Jumping out of the hole and jumping between the breaks in the burning goop leads the player to FLUDD and the golden mushroom the mayor is on top of. Jumping up and cleaning him off, the mayor then rewards the player with a Shine Sprite.

Alternate ways to complete the episode
There are various methods of completing this episode without using the village underside:
 * Mario can use the spring's water to clean away some of the goop in between the spring and the building where FLUDD is held, then jump or dive across.
 * Mario can avoid being hurt by the burning goop for a short time by taking a hit from a Wind Spirit, therefore skipping most of the level.
 * If Mario has full or near full health and enters the grate near the Piantas playing music, he can climb the wall by sideways somersaulting onto it, since the edges are not covered with burning goop. He can get close to the mayor's platform, and if he faces opposite of the platform (on burning goop, Mario bounces opposite of the way he is facing), jumps, then, while in the air, moves toward the platform, he will bounce across the burning goop to the mayor's platform.
 * Mario can climb to the top of the tree to the left of the entrance and jump down to the building where FLUDD is located.

Trivia

 * This is the only mission where Shadow Mario always takes FLUDD, regardless of whether or not the mission has been previously completed.