Cat Shine
First appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Latest appearance	Tetris 99 (20th Maximus Cup, cameo) (2021)
Variant of	Shine Sprite

Cat Shines are the main collectible of theBowser's Fury campaign ofSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. They are shiny crimson objects shaped like cats' heads, with golden facial features, whiskers, and ear canals. Surrounding each Cat Shine is a series of golden triangles of varying widths, loosely resembling the outer edges of aShine Sprite. They are accompanied by a vibrant glow. Some Cat Shines appear above pedestals with a Cat Shine design on them, colored according to the region ofLake Lapcat in which they are found.

Throughout Lake Lapcat, there are 100 Cat Shines in total to collect. 60 of these are found on the main islands, five on theLucky Isle, and 35 across the lake itself. Each of the twelve main islands has five Cat Shines. Three of these are obtained via unique missions (though some challenges are reused between islands), which have to be done in order; one is obtained by collecting the fiveCat Shine Shards on the island; and one is located behind a set ofFury Blocks that can be destroyed only byFury Bowser's fury blasts. However, the player can collect only up to 81 Cat Shines beforeGiant Bowser is defeated at least once and the main story is completed. Once the player returns to gameplay after viewing the credits, the locations of the remaining 19 Cat Shines appear on the map; this includes the four Cat Shines after the first one onFur Step Island, the four Cat Shines collected by findingToad Brigade members (which in some cases require defeating nearby enemies), and the five Cat Shines on Lucky Isle.

Cat Shines are collected only ifMario comes into contact with them; whileBowser Jr. can collect Cat Shine Shards, he cannot collect full Cat Shines. Additionally, held objects such asbaseballs that are thrown at Cat Shines simply bounce off them. The animation that Mario performs when collecting Cat Shines resembles the one when he collects a non-story-relatedPower Moon inSuper Mario Odyssey. If he collects a Cat Shine asSmall Mario, he turns intoSuper Mario afterward.

When the first Cat Shine of an island is collected, its power activates that island'slighthouse, clearing thesplotchy goop off its top until Mario leaves and returns to the island. If Fury Bowser is active when this occurs, he takes a small amount of damage from the lighthouse's light and retreats to theFury Sun. However, defeating Fury Bowser solely by collecting Cat Shines is impossible, as the damage done by lighthouses never completely drains hishealth bar. Once all five Cat Shines on an island are collected, aFling Pole resembling aGoal Pole appears on that island's lighthouse, and the splotchy goop permanently disappears. Some Cat Shines may also clear splotchy goop other than that atop a lighthouse, which can unlock new missions. The missions "Climb to the Shine" (nearPounce Bounce Isle), "Hurry! Slide through the Sky!" (nearClawswipe Colosseum), and "Hurry! Slip to the Shine!" (nearPipe Path Tower) are all unlocked after Cat Shines on their respective nearby islands clear the splotchy goop concealing them.

When Mario leaves and returns to an area, its collected Cat Shines are transparent, and they do not light up lighthouses or have a special animation when collected, instead awarding severalcoins. These transparent Cat Shines cannot progress the story, as only unique Cat Shines raise the counter in the heads-up display.

Mario and Bowser Jr. must collect a certain number of Cat Shines in order to awaken any availableGiga Bells, with the number increasing according to how many times Fury Bowser has been defeated in battle. The required number is initially five before increasing to 15, then 20, 40, and finally 50 Cat Shines, where the final battle happens. In the 15- and 40-Cat Shine fights, he retreats after half his health is depleted, to be finished off in the following fights. Since Fury Bowser takes damage when a Cat Shine is collected, his health can be depleted to below half and he does not retreat, allowing the player to skip the 20- and 50-Cat Shine battles and allowing the player to beat the game with 40 Cat Shines. When the player has collected 47 Cat Shines, Fury Bowser begins a nonstop rampage until the player collects three additional Cat Shines and collects a Giga Bell to begin the final battles against Fury Bowser and Giant Bowser.

After the player collects all 100 Cat Shines and defeats Giant Bowser again, a special painting is shown after the credits. When returning to gameplay,Cat Mario and Bowser Jr. have different appearances, with the former's suit being changed to look likeGiga Cat Mario and the latter gaining cat-like ears, fur, and a tail. Fury Bowser also has bright white hair and spikes. While the changes to character design are purely aesthetic, future battles against Fury Bowser and Giant Bowser on that save file are more difficult. However, there is no reward for completing this new version of the ending sequence.

Gallery[edit]

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  Outline of a Cat Shine

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  A Cat Shine pedestal

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  Mario approaching a Cat Shine

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  Mario collecting a Cat Shine

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  The ending screen if the player has collected fewer than 100 Cat Shines

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  The ending screen if the player has collected all 100 Cat Shines

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  Cat Mario's new suit, fashioned after Giga Cat Mario

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  Bowser Jr. with cat ears, fur, and whiskers, which closely resemblesMeowser

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  Fury Bowser's white hair and spikes that appear after the player collects all 100 Cat Shines

Names in other languages[edit]

For a list of Cat Shine mission names in other languages, seeList of Cat Shine names in other languages.

References[edit]

• Stars
• Collectibles
• Artifacts
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury items

• Articles with unsourced foreign names