Beetle Mania
- “High score if you hit the shells with the stars fired from the beetle. If you get hit, recover by firing consecutively...just do it!”
- —Beetle Mania Toad, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Beetle Mania is a secret minigame found in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its Nintendo Switch remake. Its name is a reference to Beatlemania, a pop culture phenomenon connected to the influential English rock band The Beatles. In the remake, it is given a Game Boy-style border on the edges.
The minigame can be purchased at the inn in the Mushroom Kingdom for a total of 500 coins from the Beetle Mania Toad. When Mario returns to the Mushroom Kingdom after the events in Marrymore, he has the opportunity to buy the minigame from the Toad. After speaking to the Beetle Mania Toad enough times, Mario is asked if he wants to buy the minigame. Purchasing it adds "Game" to the menu (or "Play Game" in the remake), which Toad explains the next time the player opens the menu. In the SNES version, he also asks the player not to use a Turbo-type controller when playing the minigame.
In the remake, the Monster List profile for Engine 023 Booster mentions that he originally owned the game before selling it to the Beetle Mania Toad for 100 coins to raise funds for his Engine 023.
Gameplay
The gameplay is simple: When the player presses 
, 
, or 
, a beetle shoots stars at red Koopa shells that bounce around. Hitting one causes red stars to pop out and gives the player two points. The stars can hurt the beetle and destroy other shells. For every subsequent shell hit by another shell's star, the points given increase exponentially. If the beetle is hit by a shell or star, it is knocked out and a timer starts counting up to three. The player can recover by pressing the buttons, but it takes longer to recover the more times the beetle is knocked out. If the beetle fails to recover before the timer reaches three, the beetle explodes into red stars and gives one point. After the player passes certain point thresholds, a flashing heart falls from the top of the screen, and it recovers some of the beetle's stamina.
The background of the minigame changes depending on which character is in the middle slot of Mario's party. One of the backgrounds resembles the start of Yoshi's Island 2 from Super Mario World.
Gallery
Geno and Princess Peach's background
Beetle Mania in the remake
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ばくれつカブト Bakuretsu Kabutomushi |
Bombshell Beetle |
| Chinese (simplified) | 爆裂独角仙 Bàoliè dú jiǎo xiān |
Bombshell Beetle |
| Chinese (traditional) | 爆裂獨角仙 Bàoliè dú jiǎo xiān |
Bombshell Beetle |
| Dutch | Knalkever |
Bang-beetle |
| French | Scaraboom |
Portmanteau of "scarabée" (beetle) and "boom" |
| German | Käfer-Kanonade |
Beetle Cannonade |
| Italian | Scaraboom |
Portmanteau of "scarabeo" (beetle) and "boom"; shared with Bugaboom |
| Korean | 팡팡 장수풍뎅이 Pangpang Jangsupungdeng-i |
Bombshell Beetle |
| Spanish | Beetle Mania |
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