The trick for how to solve the Toadofsky Puzzle in Super Mario RPG isn’t immediately obvious, and to tell you the truth, it requires you to exercise your brain a little.
Thankfully, the easy solution is literally around the corner.
After defeating the naughty pup Belome and surviving the Midas River, Mario and Mallow will arrive at Tadpole Pond. Approaching the edge of the water opposite to the starting point will trigger the next story beat, but if you head left from where you begin, you’ll find two tadpoles selling items.
The tadpole on the right will welcome you to the Juice Bar, name-drop ‘Toadofsky’ and inform you that you’re only entitled to peruse a limited menu as you don’t have a current membership card.
Without a membership card, Mario can only purchase the Tadpola Cola, an item that recovers 30HP for the party.
Thankfully, we can unlock the rest of the Juice Bar menu rather easily and we just need to solve the Toadofsky puzzle to do it!
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Melody Bay
From the Juice Bar, run all the way down to path into next area, Melody Bay. Nearing the water will activate a tutorial about how to cross the pond by playing notes as you jump on the tadpoles.
Step onto the grey stone at the water’s edge and observe as the tadpoles surface. You can now use the tadpoles to cross the bay but pay attention to how the musical notes change depending on where the tadpoles are positioned in the bay. The lines across the bay act as a stave, similar to how lines appear on a sheet of music.
As you cross the bay you’ll notice a fancy looking Toad on the shore. Upon reaching dry land again, your path across the bay will be played out in sequence with each tadpole sounding out their notes dependent on their position.
Unless you’re a returning player with great musical memory or incredibly jammy, Toadofsky will say that the melody is incorrect. Talk to the composer again and he’ll reveal that he has composer’s block.
He will offer you a tutorial on how to read notes and we recommend you listen. Toadofsky will explain where each of the notes exist on the lines in the bay and this information is what you’ll use to solve the Toadofsky puzzle.
From top to bottom, the notes in the bay are: Mi-Re-Do-Ti-La-So-Fa. We’ve illustrated the screenshot below for a visual guide on where each note sits in the bay.
Now we know where all the notes are, we just need a melody to appease Toadofsky! For this head on back to Tadpole Pond.
A Musical Aficionado
You’ll notice a break in the foliage to the right just as you re-enter Toadpole Pond. Walk to the shoreline here and a Tadpole will appear. Conveniently, this tadpole knows it’s classical music and says that it’s favourite song is ‘Frog Sage suite no. 18’. Fortunately, Toadofsky is also a fan.
The notes to play Frog Sage suite no. 18 are: So-La-Mi-Re-Do-Re-Do-Re.
Now we have something to play for Toadosky, it’s time to return to Melody Bay.
How To Solve The Toadofsky Puzzle
Once you’re back in Melody Bay, step on the grey stone again and the first tadpole will appear and begin to swim across the lines in the bay. You need to wait until each tadpole is in the correct position before jumping on them.
Below is a list of where each tadpole should be located in the bay to achieve the correct notes in ‘Frog Sage suite no. 18’. All lines are numbered from the top, with line 1 being at the top and line 5 at the bottom.
- Tadpole 1: So – Fourth line down.
- Tadpole 2: La – Space between lines 3 and 4.
- Tadpole 3: Mi – Space between lines 1 and 2.
- Tadpole 4: Re – Second line down.
- Tadpole 5: Do – Space between lines 2 and 3.
- Tadpole 6: Re – Second line down.
- Tadpole 7: Do – Space between lines 2 and 3.
- Tadpole 8: Re – Second line down.
Take your time to jump on each tadpole as they swim across the bay. They will continue swimming back and forth until you jump on them so there’s no need to rush and get the notes wrong.
The correct bay of tadpoles required to solve Toadofsky’s puzzle should look like this:
The Alto Card
If you’ve entered the correct melody, Toadofsky will congratulate you and give you the Alto Card to show his appreciation.
The Alto Card is the membership card required for the Juice Bar, so return to the tadpole near the entrance to Tadpole Pond and stock up on the newly unlocked ‘Frogleg Cola’ item. This is a supercharged upgrade to the ‘Tadpola Cola’ and is an excellent healing item that grants 80HP to all members of the party.
Congratulations! You’ve been able to solve Toadofsky’s puzzle and nab yourself some potent healing items! These will certainly come in handy during your ongoing adventures with Mario in Super Mario RPG.
