Ludwig's Clockwork Castle

Ludwig's Clockwork Castle, or , is the Castle course of Meringue Clouds in New Super Mario Bros. U. It is not the last main course in Meringue Clouds, but the last Koopaling castle in the game. It is unlocked via completion of Snaking above Mist Valley or via the secret exit of Spinning Spirit House and its own completion unlocks Boarding the Airship.

Layout
The castle's main obstacles are moving platforms operated by gears. There are many instances where the platforms can crush the player if unaware. The most prominent enemies are Bony Beetles, Sledge Bros., and Amps, although there are less enemies than usual.

Ludwig von Koopa is the boss of the castle, with his boss arena taking place on the crow's nest, like Roy's boss arena. In battle he levitates in the air while making two duplicates of himself, and all three will blast fireballs at Mario before dropping onto the ground. If the duplicate is jumped on, it will simply disappear. The only way to find out which Ludwig is the real one is that the duplicates only fire two fireballs at a time each, while Ludwig will fire three. When the fight starts off, after shooting their fireballs, they disappear before landing. After the first stomp, the duplicates don't disappear, making it a little harder on which is the real Ludwig. After the second stomp, not only do Ludwig and his duplicates shoot faster, but swap positions, but the real Ludwig still shoot three fireballs.

Additionally, during the boss battle, the tornado and a silhouette of Peach's Castle can be seen.

Star Coins

 * Star Coin 1: After the first Fire Bro., within a coin-filled shaft.
 * Star Coin 2: Shortly after the first Star Coin, there's a POW Block which can only be reached by bouncing off the Sledge Bro. below. Hitting the POW Block drops the second Star Coin.
 * Star Coin 3: Before the boss door, occasionally hidden by the large geared platform.

Enemies

 * Fire Bro.
 * Sledge Bros.
 * Bony Beetle
 * Super Dry Bones
 * Amps