-------------------------------------------------------------------- Super Mario World Strategy Guide Platforms: Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Wii Virtual Console Author: Kylohk Version: 1.0 Date: 2009-4-27 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: ===I. INTRODUCTION=== 1. Basics ===II. STRATEGY GUIDE=== 2. Yoshi's Island 3. Donut Plains 4. Vanilla Dome 5. Twin Bridges 6. Forest of Illusion 7. Chocolate Island 8. Star World 9. Special World 10. Valley of Bowser ===III. CONCLUSION=== +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | I. GETTING STARTED | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Super Mario World was a hit for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1990, featuring a new 2D adventure for Mario and his brother Luigi in the new dinosaur land. As far as the story goes, the Mario Brothers were on vacation with Princess Toadstool (now with a first name Peach) in Dinosaur Land. The Princess goes missing and the brothers have to rescue her from the clutches of You-know-who (I am not referring to Voldemort, I am referring to Bowser!) As the first Mario game, and video game I have played, Super Mario World brings me fond memories! Now that I have moved somewhere else and left my SNES behind, the Virtual Console provides a chance for me to play this game again legally without resorting to buying yet another SNES on eBay! If you have a Wii, this game can be obtained by entering the Wii Shop Channel and paying 800 Nintendo Points (equivalent to £5.60) for it. This game takes up 35 blocks of Wii memory, which are peanuts considering the fact that you can now load games directly from an SD card. Now, let's go! --------------- 1. Basics --------------- Super Mario World can be played on both the SNES or the Wii Virtual Console. If you do play it using the latter method, you must have a Classic Controller. Plug the Classic Controller into the bottom socket of the Wii Remote and you are ready. Either way, the controls are completely equivalent to those on the SNES controller. --------------- Controls --------------- Directional pad/Left control stick Just like most games, the D-pad is used to move Mario around. Simply press and hold the key corresponding to the direction to which you want Mario to go. The up key makes Mario look up while the down key makes Mario duck. B button Press the B button to jump directly upwards. Press the button while you are holding down the left or right key on the D-pad to make Mario jump in that direction. Y button Press the Y button while moving around to run. Mario can pick up certain objects (like Koopa shells) if you hold down the Y button as you walk or run into it. This button does many other things depending on the power-up Mario has. For instance, pressing the Y button as Fire Mario to throw fireballs. A button The A button is used to spin jump. The spin jump is used to smash your way through certain blocks as long as you are not tiny Mario. When riding Yoshi the dinosaur, press the A button to alight. L and R buttons The L and R button are used to scroll the screen to the left and right, respectively. Start button Use the start button to pause the game. Select button When the game is not paused, press the select button to release whatever power-up you have in reserve. When visiting a level you have beaten, press the select button while the game is paused to leave the level and return to the world map. --------------- Movement --------------- Use the directional pad to move Mario around. The left and right keys make Mario go left and right respectively, when pressed and held down. Hold down the Y button while doing so to make Mario run. Meanwhile, the B button makes Mario jump. Press the B button while Mario is moving left or right to jump in that direction. Jump while running to increase the distance covered. As a rule of a thumb, consider holding down the Y button throughout the levels. Beanstalks may sometimes appear when you bump certain blocks. You can climb up beanstalks by jumping or running at it and holding down the up key on the directional pad. Of course, use the down key to climb down. ----------------- Grabbing objects ----------------- Certain objects in this game can be picked up. To do so, move into the item while holding down the Y button. Mario will continue to hold on to the object as long as you keep the button held down. Let go of the Y button to put it down (if it's a Koopa shell, Mario will kick it forward, causing it to soar along the path). You can also throw the object directly upwards if you hold down the up key on the directional pad when releasing the Y button. --------------- Collectables --------------- A number of things can be collected in Super Mario World. Coins Coins are the staple collectable of a Mario game. Collect 100 of these to gain an extra life. Dragon coins These bigger coins have an image of Yoshi on them. Most levels have five of them, though some may have more. Each Dragon coin gives you an increasing number of points as you collect more of them. (The first gives you 1000, the second gives you 2000, the third 4000 and the fourth 8000) You will receive an extra life once you have collected all five coins. Be warned that once you have collected all five Dragon coins in a level, they will no longer appear when you revisit that level. Power-ups These items give Mario extra abilities to help him with the level, as well as increasing his size, if he's tiny. Power-ups include Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers and Cape Feathers. 1-up mushrooms These green mushrooms give Mario extra lives. Super Star Picking up a Super Star turns Mario invincible for a short time. You can defeat enemies by simply running into them. Each enemy you defeat while you are invincible gives you an increasing number of points, with the ninth enemy and beyond giving you extra lives! --------------- Blocks --------------- A number of blocks exist in this game for you to bump or break. You can interact with most blocks can be jumped at them from below, hitting them with Koopa Shells or grab blocks or simply whacking them with your cape as Cape Mario. Message blocks Message blocks are blue blocks with a red circle in the centre. Jump up at these blocks from below to read important tips that may help you in the game. Question blocks These trademark blocks with question marks on them can be opened by jumping at it from below or hitting it with grab blocks or Koopa shells, revealing the items inside. If the block contains coins, they will be automatically added to your total. Bonus blocks Bonus blocks are green blocks with a white star in the centre. A bonus block gives you a 1-up mushroom if you have collected enough coins within the level. Wooden blocks Most of these blocks are empty, though some may contain items. If the block is empty, jump up at one of these blocks from below to make them spin, allowing you to jump through them. As long as you are not tiny, you can break these blocks by spin jumping from above. Wooden blocks with items inside behave the same way as question blocks. Brown blocks Brown blocks are dud blocks which question, bonus, exclamation and wooden blocks turn into when you have revealed whatever's inside them. They do nothing but serve as platforms for Mario to jump on. Grab blocks These purple blocks can be picked up, just like Koopa Shells and such. The difference is that you can pick one up even if you are standing on top of one. Exclamation blocks Exclamation blocks are blocks with exclamation marks on them. These blocks come in four colours: Yellow, green, red and blue. They start as inactive squares, as represented by coloured outlines. When inactive, virtually nothing is there. Exclamation blocks are activated by completing the correspondingly coloured switch palaces in this game. In doing so, you will create many platforms which makes certain levels much easier. In addition, yellow and green exclamation blocks contain power-ups. Yellow blocks contain Super Mushrooms while green ones contain Cape Feathers. --------------- Switches --------------- A number of switches marked by the letter P can be found in the game. Blue switches turn coins into brown blocks and vice versa. They are used to create new platforms for Mario to reach certain places, or open up new paths for him to go through. Grey switches turn enemies into grey coins. The more grey coins you collect at once, the more points you get from each coin. You will get an extra life from the 9th coin, two from the 10th and three lives from each coin you collect from the 11th onwards! Both switches can be carried to the most appropriate places before pressing them. --------------- Power ups --------------- Mario thrives on power ups. He starts the game as tiny Mario and can increase in size and gain new abilities by gaining new power ups. When tiny, any power up obtained from question blocks will always be Super Mushrooms, which enlarges Mario into Super Mario. Once Mario is large, subsequent power ups found in question blocks will be either the Fire Flower or Cape Feather. Power ups found anywhere else immediately give Mario its power, regardless of Mario's size. Fire Flower Tap the Y button repeatedly to throw fireballs. Most enemies that are vulnerable to fireballs will turn into coins when hit. Fire Mario will throw two fireballs to his left and right when he spin jumps. Cape Feather The Cape Feather is arguably the most powerful power up in the game. Firstly, Mario can fly! As Cape Mario, run a certain distance before you press and hold the B button to take off. Continue to hold both the Y and B buttons down to keep Mario airborne. While he's in the air, intermittently tap the key on the directional pad corresponding to the direction opposite the one he's facing (e.g. tap the left key when Mario is flying right). This allows Mario to glide in the air. If you time it correctly, Mario can stay airborne for long periods of time, even through the level! This cheap trick allows you to quickly beat most of the levels in the game, but takes away a lot of the enjoyment, right? You can also opt to slam down hard onto the ground. You do this by not doing anything but hold the Y and B buttons while Mario is in the air. Mario will cause the ground to shake upon impact, defeating all the enemies on the screen that are on the ground. On the ground, the cape can be used as a weapon by pressing the Y button repeatedly. Most enemies in the game can be defeated by twirling with the cape. In addition, the cape greatly increases the distance in which Mario can jump if you hold down both the Y and B buttons when jumping. In addition, Mario will drift slowly to the ground, allowing you to fine tune your landing spot. --------------- Health system --------------- Mario can take up to two hits from enemies before dying. When he takes damage as Super, Fire or Cape Mario, Mario will shrink back to tiny Mario. When that happens, you should be careful since the next hit will kill you. --------------- Reserve slot --------------- Mario can hold one power up in reserve in this game. When Super, Fire or Cape Mario collects a Fire Flower or Cape Feather, the power will supersede the one he currently has. The superseded power will be placed in the reserve slot on the top of the screen in the form of the equivalent power up. If he collects a Super Mushroom, the mushroom will immediately replace whatever power up is in the reserve slot. Now, when Mario takes damage, the item in reserve will drop down to him from the top of the screen, allowing him to recover. That item can be released any time by pressing the select button. --------------- Yoshi --------------- Super Mario World introduces Yoshi, the green dinosaur. Yoshi can be found inside certain question blocks in the game. Jump onto Yoshi to ride him through the level. When riding Yoshi, press the Y button to make him eat whatever's in front of him. Eating any fruit or enemy in the game is equivalent to collecting a coin. Certain items can be carried in Yoshi's mouth for a short time before it is swallowed. Those items include switches, springboards and Koopa shells. These items can be spat back out by pressing the Y button. Holding Koopa shells in Yoshi's mouth gives him different powers depending on the colour of the shell. The red shell allows Yoshi to spit out a few fireballs; the blue shell allows Yoshi to fly (by tapping the B button repeatedly or simply holding it down if you are Cape Mario) while the yellow shell allows Yoshi to generate small shock waves when he lands onto the ground after a jump. Mario will be knocked off Yoshi if he gets hit by an enemy. Yoshi will run around when that happens. Try to jump back on him before he runs into a pit or off the screen! If you wish to get Yoshi for any other reason (like if you want to climb a beanstalk), press the A button. A neat trick is to press the A button while you and Yoshi are in the air. Mario will make a very high jump, enabling him to reach places he could not have otherwise. --------------- Gates --------------- There are two types of gates in this game, found in regular levels. Midway gates serve as checkpoints in levels, triggered by moving Mario through the bar on it. Now, when Mario dies or leaves the level before he can beat it, he will start at the midway gate when he returns. In addition, if Mario is tiny, he will become Super Mario when he touches the bar on the gate. The final gate marks the end of the level, just run through it and you are done. If you manage to send Mario through the moving bar, you will get some bonus points depending on how high the bar was. Collect 100 bonus points and you get to play a bonus game. --------------- Level types --------------- Mario will travel through different parts of Dinosaur Land in his quest to find Princess Peach. Mario will be moving on a world map, so use the directional pad to move him from level to level. Regular levels are marked by spots. A yellow spot implies that there is only one exit in the level, while a red spot implies two exits. In addition, there are ghost houses in which Mario will have to enter a haunted house alone, without the help of Yoshi. Furthermore, there are fortresses and castles at the end of which Mario must fight a boss. As for ghost houses, Yoshi cannot help Mario there. Renzors, quartets of fire breathing dinos, are the bosses of fortresses while Bowser's kids are the bosses of castles. Both fortresses and castles will be knocked down when beaten, although you can still reenter them by moving Mario onto the level on the world map and pressing the select button while holding the L and R buttons. Finally, there are four switch palaces in the game. These levels are beaten when Mario trips the switch inside. Once beaten, you can never enter them again. --------------- Saving --------------- You get to save the game when you beat a castle, ghost house or switch palace. The best way to save your game anytime is to revisit any ghost house and beat it since they are easier to beat than castles. Save data of this game takes only 1 block of the internal memory of the Wii. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | II. STRATEGY GUIDE | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ All right, let's go to the Wii Shop Channel and download the game. You can now access the game through the Wii Menu or SD Card Menu, depending on where you stored the game. Press the start button and choose an empty file. Select "1 Player Game" if you are alone and you can begin. The game starts with a disclaimer stating that Bowser is at it again, and you are to start at your insertion point. In Yoshi's Island! ------------------ 2. Yoshi's Island ------------------ Yoshi's Island is where you begin your quest to save the Princess. It's the simplest world in Dinosaur Land. You start at the first junction, Yoshi's House, and you can go left for Yoshi's Island 1, and right for Yoshi's Island 2. The world layout is shown below. Yoshi's House --> Yoshi's Island 1 (west) or Yoshi's Island 2 (east) Yoshi's Island 1 --> Yellow Switch Palace (in the entire overworld) Yoshi's Island 2 --> Yoshi's Island 3 --> Yoshi's Island 4 --> Iggy's Castle ----------------- Yoshi's Island 1 ----------------- Right at the start, a shelless Blue Koopa runs and dives at you from the slope above. Stomp him flat and jump onto the ramp. Run up, and with the ramp's help, grab the coin in the air. It's a Dragon Coin. There are 5 in each level. Collecting all 5 nets you an Extra Life. Collecting all 5 Dragon Coins in the game brings exciting rewards. Consider ducking when you hear the Boom sound past the slope. It's a giant Banzai Bill. Better not mess with it. There will be a floating Prize Block with a Super Mushroom for you. Take it to size up. Past the Banzai Bill, is a Purple Rex. Stomp on his head twice to kill him. If you hit him twice without touching the ground, you will find that the points acquired in the second hit are higher than that of the first. This trick is called Power Hopping. Bouncing on 8 or more enemies nets you Extra Lives. You will find 2 more Purple Rexes before you reach the first green pipe sloping upwards to the right. On top of that hill is another Purple Rex. There are loads of them there! There are 3 slopes past the hill. They lead to another Dragon Coin in the air. Get past the Purple Rexes to the golden pipe. The bush that precedes the pipe has a Super Mushroom hidden inside. Running by the bush will cause the Mushroom to pop out, enabling you to collect it. Jump over the pipe when the Piranha Plant is gone. You will come to a pipe blocked by 2 wooden blocks. Spin jump through both of them so that you can enter the compartment below. In the underground room, you will find another Super Mushroom hidden beneath 2 wooden blocks. Spin jump through it to get another Super Mushroom. Always nice to have 1000 points more, eh? There are also 6 coins and a Dragon Coin in this room. Get them and exit through the pipe to the right. You will be propelled out of another diagonal pipe all the way to through the Midway Gate if you don't touch the D-pad a bit. You will come to an invisible yellow block. It will become solid when you stomp the Yellow Switch later. Don't worry. To the right is a Purple Rex, and then you come to several platforms leading up to a slope above with another Dragon Coin. Below is a parade of 3 Purple Rexes. Get the Dragon Coin and jump down to the bottom of the slope. Another Banzai Bill will come your way. Stomp on it, and go right. You will arrive at a Purple Rex before a Red Koopa Shell. You are to grab the Koopa Shell by running at it by holding the B button, and then holding Up on the D- pad before releasing the B button when you are below the wooden block high above. The action reveals a 1-Up Mushroom that moves along the clouds above, and which you can catch as it falls beyond the next Banzai Bill. Beyond the next pit, is another lone Prize Block. Jump onto the wooden block below to punch it. It holds a Fire Flower. Get it and you can throw fireballs at the enemy with the Y button. Spinjumping with the A button causes 2 fireballs to be fired to both sides of you. You will come to a small plateau next. Jump on it to avoid the Banzai Bill below. To the right is a green pipe with a Piranha Plant inside. Use a fireball to turn it into a coin. The same goes for the Purple Rex. The last Dragon Coin appears above you. Finally, the exit is guarded by a jumping Chargin' Chuck. You can jump on him, and bounce up to the moving tape to gain bonus points if you like. You win the first level with ease. With this course cleared, a path leading up will be revealed, and you will reach the Yellow Switch Palace located high up in the mountains. --------------------- Yellow Switch Palace --------------------- This is the first of 4 Switch Palaces, and by far the easiest one of them all. There is a single Switch Block in front of you, and stomping it right now will cause a load of coins to appear all over the place! But still, they appear there temporarily before disappearing completely. The best way is to carry the Switch Block all the way up to the far right of the upper platform before stomping it. You can then collect as many coins as you like from the top platform before dropping down quickly and collecting as many as those down there. You should be able to scoop up at least 300 coins, or maybe 3 extra lives before all the coins before they vanish. When you are done, go through the pipe to the right. Run through the hallway and stomp the Yellow Switch. The power of the switch palace will turn all invisible Yellow Blocks into Yellow Exclamation Blocks. Each of those blocks will hold Super Mushrooms. That's it for this Switch Palace. You cannot play it again. Let's save and Continue, and get down the hill and go east, to Yoshi's Island 2. ----------------- Yoshi's Island 2 ----------------- Go right from the start, and you will come to a Red Koopa Shell. Grab it, and take it up to the next plateau, where 8 Red Koopas patrol. Now, Red Koopas are slightly brighter than Green Koopas, since they won't walk off ledges. Kick the shell by releasing B, and run after it. This kick and chase technique will guarantee at least 1 Extra Life if you let it destroy all 8 Koopas in a row. Continue right and you will reach 3 blocks, 2 question blocks and 1 yellow exclamation block. The 2 question blocks hold coins while the center block holds another Super Mushroom. Collect them, and move to the right. There is another pair of blocks to the right. One holds a coin, while the other holds Yoshi! He's now freed from that egg. Jump onto him to mount. To dismount, press A. Use Y to have Yoshi swallow enemies! Koopas can be spat back out by pressing Y again. To the right is a Shelless Red Koopa attempting to enter his shell. Destroy him and his shell, and then collect the Dragon Coin, marked by 4 coins in the air. To the right is a Koopa attempting to enter his Green Shell. There is a second coin overhead too. There is fruit here, eat them. Jump up the hill. On top of the hill is a Chargin' Chuck. He likes to ram you, and can climb over pipes that are short. Stomp him until he's dead. There is another Dragon Coin in the air to the right of the cliff. Get it and the 3 coins, and continue to the right. You will now come to the Midway Gate. Jump through the bar before jumping over the next 2 golden pipes. There is a trio of question blocks beyond the pipe, 2 of which holds coins, while the middle one holds another Yoshi Egg. But since Yoshi's free already, a Green 1-Up Mushroom will pop out of the egg instead. To the right are several hills with Monty Moles which can be eaten by Yoshi. There are 2 wooden blocks to the right, one of which holds a beanstalk. Climb up on it, and you will find a cloud with another dragon coin. The hill to the right holds the final dragon coin of the level. With this, go right and bump the yellow exclamation block if you like. The next pit's sealed with yellow exclamation blocks, so it's safe. There is another Monty Mole in the ground to the right. Eat the next apple. If you have eaten 5 Apples at this point, Yoshi will lay an egg, from which a Super Mushroom will come out. Enter the next pipe. You are in an underground room with lots of Prize flying question blocks. You can throw the grab blocks at the blocks above to get the goodies inside. One of them has a 1-Up Mushroom. A better way is to jump up while you are on Yoshi, and pressing A in mid air. Mario will be given a large boost, enabling you to reach the block! With the blocks opened, get out through the pipe to the right. One final pipe separates you from the exit area. Eat the Piranha Plant and go on. There is a switch concealed in the wooden blocks. Get it down, and step on it. It solidifies the coins to the right into brown blocks, only then you can use it as a path to the goal line over the Chargin' Chuck. Use this opportunity to get more Star Points! With this level completed, the path will be expanded to the north, allowing you to tackle Yoshi's Island 3. Let's go. ---------------- Yoshi's Island 3 ---------------- Yoshi's Island 3 has a rather leisurely theme. This indicates that it's a highland platforming level. Jump up the plateaus one by one until you reach the top, and then jump to the next plateau to the right. There is a swing lift next. Jump on it and lean to the right. Jump onto the next plateau. Ignore the yellow exclamation block if you like, and then jump onto the next platform. It's a contracting platform. It reexpands after a short instance, and the safety zone is the center block. Jump onto the next contracting platform and get the dragon coin in the air before moving to the right. Don't worry if you fall, since the majority of pits are covered with Yellow Exclamation Blocks. The next platform has 2 question blocks, one of which holds Yoshi. But now, it should have a 1-up Mushroom. Wait for the lift to come to you, and jump on it. Ignore the Red Koopa Paratroopers. If Yoshi swallows any Red Koopa, he can spit fireballs out. Make your way through the next lift and the next platform. The next plateau has a Red Koopa on it. Now, instead of jumping onto the next swing lift, walk right off the platform and drop down below! You may think I am crazy, telling you to commit suicide, but there really is a golden pipe down below, which can be entered to find a hidden underground room. (Must be a long pipe) In the underground room, stomp on the switch to turn the long line of coins into solid brown blocks, allowing you to run across the lava pool. There is a dragon coin waiting for you at the other side. Get out through the pipe now. You are on another plateau. There are 2 coins to the left by the cliff. Go right, and find the midway gate guarded by a Green Koopa Paratroopa. These guys only know how to bounce or fly around in one direction, so they aren't as smart as Red Koopa Paratroopas. A dragon coin is also found beyond the midway gate too. You then come to a platform of 5 wooden blocks with a Red Koopa patrolling the top. Bump the Koopa off from below. To prevent people from trapping themselves by destroying all 5 wooden blocks, the rightmost block will award you a coin and turn brown when you bump it. The plateau above has a question block with a Fire Flower inside. It looks like you can use a little extra firepower! Jump onto the next lift and then onto the next platform. What follows next is a series of contracting platforms. Below those platforms is a long platform comprised with yellow exclamation blocks. Take the high road or low road as you wish, since the place is getting insanely easy due to the safety net below. But be sure to get the dragon coin near the end. Jump onto the next left, let it carry you to the right, and then follow through the Swing Lift to the right to reach the plateau with the Bonus Block. This block will land you a 1-up Mushroom if you have 30 coins. The next 2 swing lifts lead to the goal line. Be sure to get the last dragon coin before the finish line. With this done, the path leading north will be further revealed. It's a water hole! I wonder what kind of fish you will find. ----------------- Yoshi's Island 4 ----------------- This is a semi water map. You start on a platform above the water, and below are 3 Cheep Cheeps patrolling the waters. They jump up at you every now and then, so run across when they are down. They can be stomped if you like. There is a yellow exclamation block to the right. Punch it for a mushroom if you please. Drop down to the platform bobbing up and down in the water for a Dragon Coin. Jump onto the next platform for a question block holding a Fire Flower. Afterwards, jump up and to the right to get the dragon coin above the next bobbing platform. Jump past the next platforms until you reach a blue pipe. Let's have a temporary diversion and enter the pipe. You are back on dry land for the mean time. To the right, a Pokey will come towards you. Have Yoshi eat all his 5 segments before you jump over the pit. Another Pokey is in the way, as well as an apple, so feed Yoshi. Jump over the next pit to find is a coin block before the Pokey. Bumping it will allow you to collect the coins inside one by one. When you are done, go through the pipe to the far right to exit. You find yourself at the beginning of a long coin line. To the left is a Red Koopa Shell. Ignore it, and continue left, and get the dragon coin above the bobbing platform. Now, make use of those leaps off Yoshi's back to get the switch down. Stomp it, then immediately punch the wooden block to the right. A Super Star will appear. Take it and you will become invincible! Run across the bridge created to the right, getting the dragon coin and taking out all Koopas you find. Continue jumping from platform to platform, and stopping to destroy any Spiked Balls you find. If you can kill more than 8 enemies using the Super Star, you can get extra lives for enemy additional enemies killed. So, let's take it slow. There is a jumping Cheep Cheep at the final platform. Make sure that you collect the dragon coin on one of the platforms before you leave through the pipe. You will now be right in front of the next final gate. You can always try doing a running jump off that message block so that you can hit the bar at the higher point, thus amassing more Star Points. When you have accumulated 100 Star Points, you can play the Bonus Game! It's a tic tac toe style game. The path leading to Iggy's Castle will be revealed, and you can go and fight the first boss in the game. -------------- Iggy's Castle -------------- When you fight it out like a man, you fight alone. Yoshi stays outside and wait. In the first area, you will come to a large fenced area. Jump up and move the D-pad to climb around. You can fight Koopas by punching them off from the other side of the fence, or by climbing down onto them from above. The more Koopas you kill by the latter method without you touching the ground, the more points you get. Once you have killed eight Koopas this way, you will receive extra lives for any additional enemy you kill. Slowly climb to the right, and take out 2 Koopas you find. Then, jump over the gap and cling on to the next wire netting. There is a Koopa that is shifting between both sides of the fence. Wait for him to come to your side and hit him with your bum from above! A red Koopa will come quickly from the other side of the fence. Wait for him to come over, and butt him from above. Another Green Koopa awaits to the right, beneath the Prize Blocks, so Butt him as usual. You will find that one of the blocks holds a Fire Flower. To get it, you have to stomp the switch below, but don't do it since you will touch the ground. Keep going to the right, to find a Koopa on the other side of the fence, as well as one Koopa on your side. Stomp the one on your side first, and climb down to the small tight area below. Climb to the right, and wait. Wait for the Red Koopa to climb over to your side so you can butt him. Climb to the right, and watch out for the Podoboo in the lava. You will then come to a wider area with 2 more Koopas. Butt the one on your side first, and then go over to the square panel. Punch it so you can go to the other side, allowing you to butt the Koopas there. Come back and revert to the normal side before jumping to the next wire netting. There are many Koopas on both sides of the fence. Move to the right and trigger the midway gate before going through the door. The next room holds a scrolling area. There are lots of pillars that crush down on you. Predict the positions of impact, and either step back and duck into the trenches that are provided. To help you with the battle, there is a flying question block that holds a Fire Flower. At the end of this pathway, you will find a red door that leads to the boss, Iggy Koopa. He is perched on a teetering platform. Stomp him, or blast him with Fireballs so that he tends to one of the 2 edges. When the platform is tilted to that direction, stomp him once more to send him into the lava. You have beaten the first koopa kid! Mario will detonate a bomb and blow the castle up. You are now off to Donut Plains. ---------------- 3. Donut Plains ---------------- The majority of Donut Plains is in the main Overworld, with everything in a zoomed out view. Donut Plains introduce the Secret Levels. There are certain levels marked with red dots, those levels have more than one exit. Secret Exits are often unlocked by finding the key in the level and inserting them into the keyholes in the level. There are plenty of ways to make it to the castle, either by beating standard or secret levels. Here's the layout of the Donut Plains. Donut Plains 1 --> Donut Plains 2 (standard)/Donut Secret 1 (secret) Donut Plains 2 --> Donut Ghost House (standard)/Green Switch Palace (secret) Donut Secret 1 --> Donut Ghost House (standard)/Donut Secret House (secret) Donut Ghost House --> Donut Plains 3 (standard)/Top Secret Area (secret) Donut Secret House --> Donut Secret 2 (standard)/Star Road (secret) Donut Secret 2 --> Donut Plains 3 (convergence point) Donut Plains 3 --> Donut Plains 4 --> Morton's Castle As you can see, 5 of the levels in this place have secret levels. There is also an entrance to Star Road, and hence it's possible to beat the game by visiting just 3 of the worlds. (Yoshi's Island, Donut Plains, Valley of Bowser) If you take the standard path, regardless of which paths you take, the paths will either converge at Donut Ghost House or Donut Plains 3. So, now you know. --------------- Donut Plains 1 --------------- In Donut Plains, you will be introduced to the power-up that enables Mario to fly. It's the Cape Feather. Dismount Yoshi, run to the right, and you will find some Koopas wearing capes calledSuper Koopas. Jump onto the one with a glowing cape to knock his Cape Feather off him. Pick up the feather and you will become Cape Mario! Jump up the hills and get the dragon coin. Kill the blue shelless Koopa left behind if you like before going back to Yoshi. Run towards the right, pick up steam, and press and hold B when the critical speed is reached. Mario and Yoshi will fly up into the air together. You will fly towards a cloud platform in the sky. Grab the coins, then take off from the longer platform and fly to the right. There are more coins on the next cloud. Now, drop down below to find a pipe that is upside down. To the left is another dragon coin in the air which should be collected before you enter the pipe. You are inside a bonus game, where you are to punch 3 question blocks in the correct order, level by level until you reach the top. The orders also follow a specific pattern, and if you get the order wrong, the blocks on a single row will all be browned. You will come out of an upside down pipe further in the level. Enter the pipe that is right way up to the left of the upside down pipe. You will be in a coin bonanza. First, pick up the Cape Feather sitting there for you. Then, you must abandon Yoshi. Run towards the pipe and the Triangular Block will allow Mario to run up pipes. Gather up speed as you run up the pipe before taking off. Tap the D-pad in the opposite direction of Mario's direction of flight to have Mario glide in the air. You can collect a lot of coins in the air that way. When you are done, run up the tall pipes to the right and head off to the exit. You should exit through the same upside down pipe you went out from the Bonus Game. Immediately go right and jump over the pit. There is a new enemy here. It's like a lotus flower that spews fireballs in 4 directions from time to time. This volcano plant can be defeated by twirling your cape at it, or eating it up with Yoshi. Speaking of Yoshi, there is one in the question block to the right. In addition, a dragon coin is in the air above him. Move to the right, and you will come to a pit with 2 baseball throwing Chargin' Chucks. Spin jump through the left wooden blocks, and kill the one there. Then pump the rightmost one and a beanstalk will sprout. Climb up for another dragon coin before you make your way through this pit. Be careful as you run along the next hill. A baseball throwing Chargin' Chuck is waiting for you on a platform on the other side. Dodge the baseballs and bump him from below. You will then come up to several layered hills with several Super Koopas around. Kill them all and grab the final dragon coin. If you want to go to the Secret Exit, put up speed on the highest hill and fly up to the right. The key and the keyhole are waiting for you on the platform above. If you just want to beat the level through the standard methods, just keep walking along the path to the right and the Goal line will be waiting for you, among all those yellow exclamation blocks. If you unlock the secret level, you will enter the lake into Donut Secret 1, if you beat the standard goal, you will move to the west, around the lake to a cave, Donut Plains 2. --------------- Donut Plains 2 --------------- Welcome to the first cave level of Super Mario World. This level is a scrolling one, which means that even if you don't want to go right, the game will still force you to do so. There are plenty of pillars that move up and down slowly here. Sometimes, they will completely block your path. If you get stuck between the scrolling screen and the pillar, you will be squished and killed, so watch out! You will come to a trio of question blocks, followed by a yellow exclamation block. The middle question block is a coin box. Get as many coins as possible before the scrolling screen forces you to go forward. Buzzy Beetles cannot be destroyed by Fireballs, but they can be killed by spinjumping or devoured by Yoshi. If you stomp a beetle, it acts like a Koopa of the old Super Mario Bros. It withdraws into its shell, allowing you to grab the shell and kick it around. Note that the Buzzy Beetle can still come out after a short while even if it is in your hands! You will then come to a Buzzy Beetle and a pair of Swooper Bats before you come to the first pillar. Jump up to the pillar before it goes up too high, blocking the path. On the pillar, is a Buzzy Beetle, and 4 coins and a dragon coin. Collect them all, and get back onto the path when the pillar is lowered. You will find a Swooper before the next question block, which contains a Cape Feather. Quickly run past the next pillar before it comes down and blocks the path. The next block is another coin box. Then, you will come to another pillar with a Buzzy Beetle. Jump up to the next path, and dodge or eat the Swoopers that mess with you. Jump up to the next giant pillar. It's safe since it does not go all the way to the top. There are some more Swoopers, and they make a tasty treat for Yoshi! Drop down to the main path below. There is an invisible green block here. They will turn into green exclamation blocks when the Green Switch Palace is cracked. Jump up onto the next pillar and enter the green pipe at the top if you would like to a) unlock the Green Switch Palace or b) find a shortcut to end this level. To get to the Green Switch Palace, jump over the pit and over the Chargin' Chuck, he is practicing place kicks with his American football. On the other side, go and find the Blue Koopa Shell. Have Yoshi swallow it, and hold the Y button the up key to fly up. Find the gap in the ceiling and fly through it. You will find the key and keyhole for the secret exit leading to the Green Switch Palace. Mario will blaze a trail to the west side of the main path and onto the Green Switch Palace by the coast. To beat the level easily, just skip all this and head through the pipe to the right for the goal line above the surface of the earth. If you are interested in collecting all 5 dragon coins, skip the pipe I mentioned above. There is another dragon coin before the next pillar. Continue to the right. You will come to an area where the ceiling comes down and up, but not completely blocks the way. There are several Swoopers, Buzzy Beetles and a dragon coin here. A Cape Feather can then be found inside a flying question block. The next dragon coin is found by a giant pillar. Notice how the scroll speed of the screen has slowed down. Resist the temptation to jump up onto the pillar to quickly, or Mario will be crushed at the top. Only jump onto it when it has come down again. Run across the top quickly until you reach the depression to the right, where you should wait for the path to be revealed to the right. Jump down onto the path, collecting the final dragon coin. To the right are 2 Spike Tops before the exit pipe. These things cannot be stomped, and can only be eaten or defeated with your cape twirl. Go through the exit pipe for the Goal Line, and you will continue your lakeside path towards the Ghost House to the north. --------------- Donut Secret 1 --------------- Welcome to the first underwater level of Super Mario World. To swim, tap the B button repeatedly. Fireballs are much more effective than Cape Feathers here, since all fish can be killed with Fireballs. Of course, Yoshi's taste is just as good. As soon as you start, you find a fish sleeping in front of you. As you go near, he will wake up and give chase. He's known as a Rip Van Fish. If you do manage to outrun him, he will fall asleep and give up the chase. Anyway, sneak up on him and whack him with your cape. Swim up and to the right to get the 5 coins on the ledge there. A Cheep Cheep will patrol the gap to the right in a vertical pattern. Whack him with your cape, and sink down to the hole below, and swim to the right, avoiding the Bloop. You will then come to another Rip Van Fish. Whack him out of his misery again. You will come to a series of 4 question blocks to the right. A Rip Van Fish is sleeping on one. Bump him from below and receive your present, a Fire Flower. Now you can cook the fish up for good. Swim through the waterway below, burn the Cheep Cheep and swim up through the blue pipe. You are inside a subterranean cavern. Punch the question block for a Power Balloon so you can float upwards. Don't let any enemies hit you or you will deflate. Float up to the left, and you will find another Power Balloon in another question block, allowing you to go up even further. Go up to the top for 2 dragon coins, and a 1-up Mushroom hidden in a wooden block. If you let Mario drop to the right, you will land on a platform with another question block with another Fire Flower. Get out once you have the stuff. You will find 2 Cheep Cheeps guarding 2 trenches as you come out. Kill the one to the right and sink down for another dragon Coin before swimming to the right. You are to kill all the enemies you find before you move forwards. There is a Rip Van Fish guarding another dragon coin. Kill him, and grab the grab blocks away for the coin. You have now collected 5 dragon coins. You will reach a switch, but don't trigger it yet. Instead, continue to swim to the right, killing enemies until you see the keyhole. To make sure that the enemy is destroyed, you have to collect the coin left behind, or the enemies will come back. When the path is clear, carry the switch and swim over to the keyhole. Stomp it now, get down into the trench, punch the question block for the key, and insert it to the Keyhole. With this secret exit, Mario will go ashore on the east side of the lake and reach a secret Ghost House called the Donut Secret House. If you intend to beat the level the normal way, skip the keyhole. There are 2 pairs of Cheep Cheeps guarding the waterways ahead just before the final gate. Burn the Rip Van Fish and swim to the goal line. It's relatively easier to amass Star Points since it's not hard for you to swim up to the top of the line to break the tape there. If you beat the level the standard way, Mario will leave the lake and climb up a ladder at its northern shore and reach the Donut Ghost House. ------------------- Green Switch Palace ------------------- This time, there are several enemies at the bottom level. There is a single Koopa Shell in front of you above a brown block. Grab the shell, and then stomp the switch block. The brown block will turn into a coin, enabling you to drop through. Avoid the shelless Blue Koopa, and drop down to the bottom level. Lean against the wall to the left and then kick the shell top the right, running after it. That way, you can destroy all 8 Koopas in a row, enabling you to get an extra life. With this, jump back up to the upper path and enter the pipe to the right. Run across the hallway and stomp the Green Switch. The Power of the Switch will turn all invisible Green Blocks into Green Exclamation Blocks. ------------------ Donut Ghost House ------------------ This is the first Ghost House you will find in the game. It's quite scary, and it seems that Yoshi has to stay outside and standby in case of any bad things that happen to you! The first room is a ghost filled room. Before you do anything, let's find the entrance to the Top Secret Area first. Walk slowly to the right until you see the edge of the path. Assuming that you are Cape Mario, run back to the left, and press and hold B to take off to the top. You will find a secret passage on the ceiling. Don't worry, only the white Boos can hurt you, the others are just part of the scenery. Run across the room, and drop down to the secret exit below. There are 4 wooden blocks here. Bump them one by one for 4 1-up Mushrooms before going outside. The goal line is in front of you. Jump up and try to get as many Star Points as you can! With this secret exit, Mario will continue to go north over to a secret hill known as the Top Secret Area. It's an infinite powerup zone! You can return as many times as you like for extra power. Now, let's focus on beating the level the normal way. Keep running to the right, and try to keep your jump as low as possible to avoid the Boos above. Then, with that collected, you can go through the door to the right in order to get to the next area. In the next area, you will find 2 levels. The lower level is blocked off by the stairs, and several boos patrol the area. They thrive on your fear. If you face them, they won't move, if you look at them, they will give chase! Run to the right and go through the door. You will find yourself at the lower level. Bump the wooden block for a switch. Stomp it and go to the left. You will find that there is a new ledge to the left, and a blue door has appeared. Enter before the time expires on the Switch Block. It's a room with a question block, which really is a control block. When you bump it, coins will come out in a line. You can control the direction of the coin line by moving the D-pad. If you press Up, the coin chain will go up. This chain will keep on expanding until it hits a wall or block. Exit once you have collected all the coins. You are back where you started. Go through the door to the right again. Then, jump up to the upper level and go through the door once more. With this, bump the wooden block. A beanstalk will sprout which leads to the exit. Mario will go east across the river on a newly constructed bridge. It's Donut Plains 3. ---------------- Top Secret Area ---------------- This is the other area of 2 in the game that is only one screen long. There are 5 Prize Blocks here. The 2 left ones hold Fire Flowers while the 2 right ones hold Cape Feathers. The center one holds Yoshi. You can come back at any time to stock up on your goodies. But what's the point? The original area does not. To leave, just walk out of the screen. ------------------- Donut Secret House ------------------- Donut Secret House is the one and only Secret Ghost House in the game, hence it's called the Secret House. As before, Yoshi is not allowed in! Run to the right and up the stairs, you will find the next path guarded by a ring patrol of Boos. To get down there safely, you should wait for the opening of the ring before slipping through. Go right and duck to avoid the Eerie. A springboard can then be found on a brown block high up. Stomp the switch to release the springboard. Carry it to the Big Boo and use it to bounce high over him so you can get to the next area. In the next room, go left. The first question block you find holds a Fire Flower. Don't get it, instead, continue left to that compartment with another ring of Boo, in the middle of which is a coin box. Continue left and collect the 5 coins on that ledge there. Continue left, and ignore the far left door, since it leads back to the start of the level. Jump all the way up the wooden ledges until you reach the top for a switch. Carry it back to the area where the door is floating in midair and then stomp it. Blocks will appear beneath the door, allowing you to enter. In this room, the question block is actually a Control Block. Go left and go through the door there. You will find yourself at the lower level of the first area where you can find a wooden block with a 1-up Mushroom inside. Return to the second area and carry the Switch Block back to the door floating in midair and stomp it again. A blue door will appear to the right which leads to the standard exit. We will come to that later. Now, bump the block above the yellow door for a beanstalk. Climb up, run to the right, and you will find another Blue Door which leads to a boss. You are to fight a Big Boo. There are plenty of grab blocks for you to use. You are to wait for the Boo to appear and then toss the grab block up at him. There are 2 Boos here, so be careful so as not to get trapped. Besides, there is nothing beneath the 3 layers of grab blocks. If you grab one at the bottom, you are likely to fall through a bottomless pit! When you have hit the enemy 3 times, you would have won. You would have blazed a new trail leading south, to the seashore, where a Star would have appeared. You now have access to Star Road! On the other hand, if you do go through the lower blue door, you would have found your standard final gate. With that completed, you would have access to a pipe to the east. Entering it would send you to an area high above the Valley of Bowser. It's Donut Secret 2. --------------- Donut Secret 2 --------------- It's a good idea for you to bring Yoshi to this level, since it's a slippery ice world. The block on the ground to the right is a control block. To open it, whack it with a cape or kick a Koopa Shell into it. Stock up in coins, and go right. A green Koopa will come down from the next hill. There is a dragon coin in the air to the right of that hill. You will then come to a springboard. Use it to bounce up to the wooden block above to reach the beanstalk that sprouts. Climb up the beanstalk, and you will find a wooden block with a Super Star inside. There is also another dragon coin up there too! Get the star and coin and drop down to Yoshi. Run forwards and jump across the pit. You should find a third dragon coin before the next hill, and a fourth one beyond that. At that point, the Super Star's power would have run out. You would have reached an area with many Chompers beneath the pipes. Yoshi's boots provide protection from those nasty plants. Beyond the Chompers is a pipe leading up. It leads to an area high above the sky, and if you miss the Power Balloon there, you will have to move along those dropping lifts and Amazing Flying Hammer Brothers, so it's not worth a try. Just bump the block to the left for another Cape Feather and go on with it. To the right are some platforms with Spike Tops patrolling around. Eat them all if you like. Go right, and you will find the final dragon coin of the level near ground level. Jump across the pit. There is a single wooden block in the middle of nowhere, but actually, there really is only a coin inside. You will come to a parade of Spike Tops led by a single Green Koopa. Swallow the Green Koopa and spit him back out. This parade will end up in a chain reaction where all participants are killed! Fun, eh? Well, not that fun, since you won't kill enough to get an extra life. At the end of this path, jump over the pit for a hill sloping up, and then jump over the next pit for a tall pipe blocking the way. There is a small gap below but it's guarded by a column of 8 Red Koopa Paratroopas. It is time to make use of your awesome Power Hopping Skills. Jump onto the top Koopa Paratroopa and then let Mario and Yoshi drop down. You will see the points rack up to 8000, and then an extra life will be awarded to you. While you are doing all of this, lean forwards, to the right so that you won't fall into the chasm below after you are done with it. The final gate is very close and to the right. After you have beaten this level, the path to the exit pipe will be revealed, and you can come up. You will then find a path marked by an arrow. Go left on the map, and Mario will wade through the lake and go ashore at Donut Plains 3, the convergence point of the 2 paths. --------------- Donut Plains 3 --------------- Donut Plains 3 is another of those highland levels. It is also the convergence point of both standard and secret paths. If you decide to play through each path the standard way, you will still end up in Donut Plains 3. Run to the right and jump onto the triple swing lift. This one is automatic, and will spin around clockwise all the time. Jump up onto the next high platform, where you will find a green exclamation block. You can bump it for a Cape Feather now. Then, drop down to the platform below for 2 more coins before jumping onto the tracked lift. The next triple swing lift has a dragon coin on one of the platforms. You will jump onto the platform with a Blue Koopa. Swallow him and Yoshi will sprout wings. Press and hold the B button, and hold up to fly upwards. If Mario does not have a cape, then you have to tap the B button repeatedly. Fly up and you will reach a cloud with lots of coins, and the second dragon coin of the level. Jump back down by the left. Then, go to the right and jump to the next triple swing lift, and then over to the next lift with a circular track. Another triple swing lift awaits you before the next platform with a Red Koopa. The next lift is running on an octagonal track, and doesn't seem to be leading anywhere. To divert the track, bump the On/Off block to the Off position. You can then go right. You will come to another On/Off Block. It's still set to the Off position. Quickly bump it to get the track back right, or you will have trouble. You will now find some new enemies that run on tracks too. They are Fuzzies. You can bounce off them without harm if you are riding Yoshi. The midway gate is on the platform in front of you. So, you can now jump through the bar at last. The next tracked lift is guarded by a Fuzzy, so watch out. You won't have many problems if you are riding Yoshi. The next triple swing lift is special in the respect that the central hub is a question block with a Cape Feather. After that, you are to choose between a high lift and a low lift. Choose the high lift for heaven's sake. Ride the lift through the Koopa Paratroopas and you will eventually reach a Dragon Coin and a golden pipe leading to a Bonus Game. When you exit, go left and you will find another Triple Swing Lift. One of the lift platforms has the final dragon coin on it. You can now go right, onto the next triple swing lift guarded by a Fuzzy, and then through the final tracked lift that will lead you to the final gate. The bonus block is likely to bring you a 1-up Mushroom since you should have got 30 or more coins in this level. With this level completed, a path to the east will be revealed, and you will come to Donut Plains 4, which is basically on the front porch of Morton's Castle. --------------- Donut Plains 4 --------------- You start in a lovely looking valley with green hills in the background. Move right and quickly swallow that Yellow Koopa Shell before the shelless Koopa can enter it. If he does enter it, the Koopa Shell will start flashing and charging towards you! It's basically invincible except to Yoshi's swallowing and stomping. With the Yellow Shell in Yoshi's mouth, you can cause mini-earthquakes whenever you jump, and nearby enemies will either be stunned or killed, depending on who they are. Jump onto the first pipe, and up onto the top of the hill for the first dragon coin in the level. Jump onto the next pipe and wait for the Green Pipe to lower so you can jump onto it. The next blue pipe leads to an area with lots of rising and falling pipes. Certain pipes are thinner in appearance and those are the ones that are stationary. There is nothing in this area apart from 2 Red Koopa Paratroopas. Head out of the exit pipe and go to the righ to find an Amazing Flying Hammer Brother above you. Bump him from below to remove him, and jump onto his flying platform. Let it lift you to the right and jump onto the hill there. Knock the shell off the Red Koopa, kick him to the right and he will hit the Blue Koopa. The shell then bounces off the block to the right, slides down the slope, rebound off the wall and destroy all the Goomas and Paragoombas below for you. If you time it right, you will be awarded an extra life. One of the 3 question blocks has a Fire Flower inside. Get it if you like and jump onto the wooden blocks to get over the pit. Enter the next blue pipe. It's another underground room and there are 9 Red Koopa Paratroopers here. If you are riding Yoshi, you can attempt to power hop. First, stomp the first column of 2 Koopa Paratroopas, then glide over to the next column and stomp the 2 there, then glide over to the row of 5 to the right and stomp them all. If you can do the above without touching the ground, another Extra Life is yours. There is a dragon coin for you to collect here too. Exiting the pipe will propel you above the next Amazing Flying Hammer Brother, and all the way through the midway gate. With that, continue to the right and jump into the pit with the Paragoomba. Eat him up, and punch the Prize Block for Yoshi, except that he's there with you already so a 1-Up Mushroom will pop out instead. Make your way past the next few pits, and you will come to a Roulette Block. Have Yoshi eat the contents when it's a Super Star, allowing you to make a mad dash to the end. There is a final dragon coin in the path you have to collect beforehand though. Although the exit is only accessible by hitching a ride on the Amazing Flying Hammer Brother's platform, you should be able to soar and fly to the final gate without help. Now that you have beaten Donut Plains 4, a small path will be opened to Morton's Castle. ---------------- Morton's Castle ---------------- At the start, you will be greeted with a new enemy. They are Thwimps, miniature version of the larger Thwomps that you all know. They jump back and forth, and you can run under them when they are in the air. Then, you will come to a series of automatic stairs leading up. Several Ball and Chains will be swing around. Only the spiked ball will hurt you, so, move back until they are safely out of the way before running up. If you do get bonked and are shrunken, the yellow exclamation block will be of help to you. Then, go through the door and onto the next area. You will have to go left next. There is a Thwomp waiting for you on the stone platform. Walk up close so that he will slam down on you, and run past while he is rising. Jump up the steps, another Thwomp awaits. Let him drop, rise, and jump past. There is a lava pool with a Podoboo, so wait for it to fall before continuing to jump up. Jump up the next series of steps carefully. Another Thwomp is in the way. At the top, there is a Dry Bone guarding the door. To permanently defeat them, whack them with your cape. Go through the door now. You are now in a vertical area, and Morton is waiting for you at the top. Wait for the ledges to stick out one by one and jump up to the top. Then, wait for the ledge to the left to stick out before you jump onto it. There is a trio of question blocks, the middle of which holds a Cape Feather. Wait for the pillar to move out before you drop down and bump it. Afterwards, wait for the ledge above to stick out of the wall, and jump up to the next level. Use the springboard to help you bounce up through the gap when it is open. Then, wait for the steps come out through the left wall. You will then reach a row of wooden blocks above. One of them holds a beanstalk. Let it sprout and climb up. There is an invisible 1-up Mushroom up there. Pick it up before dropping down again. Go right and jump up, avoiding the walls coming out from the right. Continue moving up and kill the Dry Bones you find. You will then find 3 question blocks with coins inside. Jump up along the right walls before getting onto a block overlooking the shifting spikes. Get onto the ledge that comes out and use it as a boost to reach Morton's door, getting the Cape Feather before you enter. Morton will attempt to climb up the wall and stomp down hard on you. To make him drop, run under him. Make sure you jump when he's about to land, since he will make the ground shake and you will be temporarily immobile in that short moment. Stomp him 3 times to defeat him. To make things easy, stomp him as he's just recovered from his stun. This time, when he's beaten, Mario or Luigi will kick the castle down onto the ground! The next thing up is the underground Vanilla Dome. What will happen to Princess Toadstool? ---------------- 4. Vanilla Dome ---------------- With the second Castle down, Mario will go behind the castle and go through the door leading to the cave system of the mountain known as Vanila Dome. You shall be presented with some hardcore funky music as well. Vanilla Dome is home to the Red Switch Palace, and has levels underground and above ground. This has got to be one complex world, since there are also 2 paths you can take, and they remain split up until you reach the next world! (The 2 boss levels are Lenny's Castle and the Fortress) Here's the layout of the place, or I should say flow chart. Like Donut Plains before it, the fork of the 2 paths occurs at the first level. Vanilla Dome 1 --> Vanilla Dome 2 (standard)/Vanilla Secret 1 (secret) Vanilla Dome 2 --> Vanilla Ghost House (standard)/Red Switch Palace (secret) Vanilla Ghost House --> Vanilla Dome 3 --> Vanilla Dome 4 --> Lenny's Castle Vanilla Secret 1 --> Vanilla Secret 2 (standard)/Star Road (secret) Vanilla Secret 2 --> Vanilla Secret 3 --> Vanilla Fortress --------------- Vanilla Dome 1 --------------- Welcome to the first Vanilla Dome level. Most of the underground levels here will have some gloomy music. Move down the steps, being aware of the Spike Top moving up. On the ceiling, 2 Swooper Bats will swoop down on you. Eat them if you like to. Then, jump over the next pit, taking care to eat the Buzzy Beatle that is foolhardy enough to stand in your way. Meanwhile, a flying question block would be moving over to the left with a Fire Flower inside. Take the lower path to avoid the Swoopers above. You will then come to a large block structure. The only way through is the bottom path, which is populated with Buzzy Beetles. One of the compartments above holds a dragon coin. Eat every single Buzzy Beetle before you proceed, ok? When they are all gone, go all the way to the entrance of this structure. Swallow the Blue Shell, and drop down to the bottom path and go all the way to the end of the structure. Jump up and bump the leftmost block in the rightmost compartment (the one where the Super Mushroom pop out) for a 1-up. Leave this structure through the top and fly to the right. When you see the invisible Red Blocks, fly up through them. You will find another key and keyhole. Yes, it's a Secret Exit. Swallow the key and walk into the keyhole to unlock Vanilla Secret 1. Mario will go off the main path to the left, and climb up the rock face to Vanilla Secret 1. Now, let's assume you want to beat the level the standard way. Skip the secret exit, and continue on. There is a question block on the ground, and you must whack it with a Buzzy Beetle shell or cape in order to get the Fire Flower inside. Jump over the 2 large pits to the right and go through the pipe to the right to the next area. You will come to another cave like that of Donut Plains 2. Punch the question block for a Super Star before you jump onto the pillar. Run quickly across this pillar since it will sink into the lava. Invincibility cannot save you from the lava, only fast running can do that! In the middle of the pillar, there is going to be a bump, so be ready to jump. At the end of the pillar is a dragon coin in the air, so get ready for it. (Note: There are more than 8 enemies here, making it possible for you to collect an Extra Life if you kill them all.) Exit through the pipe to the right. The midway gate is right in front of you. Jump forwards and drop down by following the coin. Move to the right, and bump through the wooden blocks to get to the above level. You will now have 2 paths to take. The bottom path is filled with Spike Tops. The top one is safer, and has a Dragon Coin, but to enter, you have to be tiny, so get off Yoshi, and deliberately hit the Spike Tops until you are small, and jump up to that path. Grab the grab block and kick it at the Buzzy Beetle in this area, and get the dragon coin. Go back and mount on Yoshi. Take the lower path and eat all Spike Tops that are in the way. To help you, there is a question block with a Super Mushroom to the right. Jump over the pit, and there will be several pipes follow up. The pit between the second orange pipe and the green pipe is rather wide, and to help you, a row of green exclamation blocks has covered the hole up. You can always bounce off the Red Koopa Paratroopa to get the dragon coin above. Continue to go right and you will encounter another Buzzy Beetle coming at you from a rather steep slope. Go up the slope and you will find the final dragon coin in the bottom level of this maze like area. Spin jump through the right wooden block to get to that level, dismount from Yoshi, and do a squat run to get beneath the brown blocks and get the dragon coin. Get back out and leave the maze by continuing to go right. You will find the final gate, guarded by a Chargin' Chuck practicing place kicks. Jump on him and use him to help bounce up to hit the bar at a higher height. Having beaten this level, Mario will enter the underground lake, and that is where Vanilla Dome 2 is. --------------- Vanilla Dome 2 --------------- This is one subterranean level, and parts of it are waterlogged, so expect the presence of a number of Cheep Cheeps. After the initial drop, you will land in a pool of water. There is a Cheep Cheep to the right. He's jumping like a fish out of water. Run forward and ram him. He will die immediately! Run to the right, and you will find another stretch of water. Jump beneath the question blocks and bump them one by one. They each hold a coin, except one with a Fire Flower. It's useful against all Cheep Cheeps you encounter. Swim to the right, eat the Cheep Cheep and you will find a lone wood block there with a beanstalk inside. Since you must climb it to advance, you have to say goodbye to Yoshi at this point. You will come to an area with several Buzzy Beetles. Stomp them and spin jump on them as you wish. You will eventually pass an area that is sealed off with brown blocks. A secret area is hidden below. It's up to you to find a switch. Drop down the next pit, following the coin arrow, and collect the dragon coin there. Roast any Cheep Cheeps you find in the pit below and continue to the right, where you will find a trio of Prize Blocks. Bump the area to the left of the blocks for an invisible 1-up Mushroom by the wall there. Cape Feathers don't do a good job here, so switch back to the Fire Flower by dropping it from your reserve. (Press Select) Continue to swim right and you will find a ledge leading up. Jump onto the question block (it holds a Fire Flower), and jump first to the right, go up the path slightly and jump back to the left, collecting the dragon coin. Follow the path up, and you will find a switch. That's just what you need. Don't stomp it yet! Move it to the left to the brown blocks blocking the way before stomping it. Jump across the pit, and drop down the newly revealed area to the left. There is a dragon coin, and a key! This key opens the Secret Exit leading to the Red Switch Palace. Grab the key, jump into the water and swim to the right for the keyhole. If you do insert the key into that hole, Mario will wade to the far right shore of the underground lake and enter the Red Switch Palace. On the other hand, if you are interested in leaving the level with all 5 dragon coins, switch to Cape Mario and fly back out of the hole, and continue to the end of the level. Just go right, see? There are still 2 dragon coins left for you to get. Brace yourself as you approach the wooden blocks. The reason is that a Chargin' Chuck will break through the blocks to attack you. Twirl your cape again and again until he gets close and gets knocked out! The midway gate is up ahead. There is a roulette block in front of you, so get the Super Star! Charge forward, down the slope, get the dragon coin and press the switch to unblock the path ahead. Charge through the next area, where you will find many Swoopers. The final dragon coin can be found on one of the mounds. Meanwhile, the exit is located further to the right. Beware of the Chargin' Chuck there, since he will split into 3 Chargin' Chucks when they spring into action! With the standard exit completed, Mario will go north, climb up the slope to the Vanilla Ghost House. But first, let's activate all the Red Exclamation Blocks. ------------------ Red Switch Palace ------------------ The Red Switch Palace is also another level where Kick and Chase techniques are required to score extra lives. You may want to stomp it now, and release that insane glowing Koopa Shell so that it can kill the Koopas in the area. However, it's not a good idea since this mad shell is quite hard to handle. So instead of doing that, carry the switch all the way to the far right near the pipe. Stomp it now, then stomp the shell off the rightmost Red Koopa before kicking it to the left. Run after the shell to see it destroy all the Koopas, including the Yellow Shell and the shelless Yellow Koopa. If you follow it after the first rebound, there is a chance that the shell will destroy one or two more enemies, and hence netting you a couple more extra lives. When you are done, go through the pipe. Run along the balcony as usual, and get to the Red Switch. Stomp it, and the power of the switch palace will turn all invisible Red Blocks into red exclamation blocks. Now, red exclamation blocks don't contain any power ups. They are just there for you to bridge certain gaps or make it easy for you to reach certain high places. What a disappointment. I was expecting red exclamation blocks to hold Fire Flowers, or something like that. In fact, I had been expecting that the first time I played this game, and have been disappointed up till now! -------------------- Vanilla Ghost House -------------------- In this dark world, you are to enter alone while Yoshi stays behind. But which part is scarier, the outside or the inside, definitely the inside. Right at the start, 2 Eeries will come towards you. Duck, and let them pass over your head. Then, you will come to a wooden platform guarded by a Boo ring. A dragon coin can be found in the lower level, so sneak in through the gap to collect it. Then, jump up to the upper level, and bump the block for a Fire Flower. Go to the right to find a series of small ledges, guarded by many Boos. Make your way across them slowly and carefully. A dragon coin can be found on one of the higher ledges. 2 rows of wooden blocks can be found to the right, guarded by a Big Boo. See the gap in the lower row? The third block to the right of the gap holds a Beanstalk that will give you a shortcut to the door leading out of the first area. Climb up and run along the path, picking up a dragon coin on the way. Jump over the gap and collect the coins while avoiding the Eeries. At the end of the path, drop down the hole to the far right to find the door leading to the next area is right in front of you. Before you go through the door, backtrack a bit to hit the coin box and dragon coin guarded by the large Boo ring. In the next area, there are no boos, yay! Instead, there are just Giant Green Bubbles. But what is so special about Giant Bubbles? They are not even ghosts! Must be the ghost slime inspired by the Ghostbuster movies back in the late 80s! If you jump on one, you will get hurt, but if you spin jump on it, Mario will bounce harmlessly off it. Move right to find the first Giant Bubble. Another one is floating down towards you are you come to the next ledge. Jump up to find another one floating towards you. Drop down to the next ledge and spin jump off the next one to reach the next platform in the middle. The next one is coming down from above, so duck to avoid it. You will eventually leave the danger zone and reach the safety of a much larger platform, and there is another Giant Bubble that can be avoided or spin jumped off. The middle wooden block of the three holds a switch. Grab it and carry it over to the right. You will come to a door, but don't go through it or you will end up back at the first area. Instead, continue to the right and collect the five coins. Stomp the switch now and a blue exit door will appear. With the ghost house beaten, Mario will continue his way along the upper east area of Vanilla Dome and onwards to Vanila Dome 3, a yellow level without any secret exits. --------------- Vanilla Dome 3 --------------- Vanilla Dome 3 is one underground lava land. You have to ride many rafts through the lava in order to advance. In the lava, are many dragon creatures called Blarrgs. They cannot be defeated in anyway, but if you ride Yoshi, you will bounce harmlessly off them. Start by boarding the first raft. See the eyes down there? They belong to Blarrgs. Be prepared to jump as they dive down before jumping. You will come to 2 flying question blocks and a stationary one. The 2 bottom blocks hold coins while the top one holds a 1-up Mushroom. But would you risk it? Nah! Another Blarrg follows those blocks before you reach the first stretch of dry land. There are 3 pipes here, arranged in steps. A Buzzy Beetle walks slowly down them to be eaten by Yoshi. There are also 2 Jumping Piranha Plants that make great lunches for Yoshi. Meanwhile, the question block holds a Fire Flower, which is ineffective against both Blarrgs and Buzzy Beetles. Get it anyway if you are deprived of special power. Slide down the next slope, collect the Dragon Coin, jump onto the next raft and continue the ride. The one and only flying question you find here holds nothing but a coin, so don't bother with it. You then come to a pair of Blarrgs in the lava, followed by another. You will come down a lava fall which causes the and the raft to break up. Don't panic. The raft will come pack into one piece when it lands. You arrive on dry land soon enough. You will come to 2 tall pipes. How do you get up there, you ask? It's simple. Lean against the first pipe and jump up to reveal a hidden block. Then, you can get onto the pipe, drop down between the 2 pipes and collect the Cap Feather in the Prize Block between the pipes. There's more. Hop out of the pipes the same way you came in, and then fly high to the left for a hidden alcove with a 3-up Moon! (Take off again and fly to the right for a bonus game, if you like.) You can then drop down and continue your way to the right for another short raft ride with only one Blarrg before you reach a brown platform. Continue to the right along that platform and collect the dragon coin you find on the way. You will then come to a series of upside down pipes with Piranha Plants sticking down. Eat them up one by one on your way to the next raft. This time, it will pass under the large brown platform to the right. Before activating the raft, jump up onto the platform and eat the Buzzy Beetle and inverted Piranha Plant. Also bump the block for the coins inside. Then, go and activate the raft and allow it to pass under the platform. Move to the right and drop onto the raft as it comes out again. You will eventually come to a Golden Pipe which leads to a slippery ice world. Wow, it's an icefire level, with both ice and lava! You will find 2 Buzzy Beetles walking down the path towards you. Eat them both and jump over the next few water pools, and kill any Buzzy Beetles you find. A dragon coin can be found high above a pool with a Cheep Cheep inside. If you don't have the cape, bounce off the Red Koopa Paratroopa's back to reach it. There is a Cape Feather in the Prize Block next to the exit pipe. After exiting from the pipe, go to the right and bounce onto the high pipe with the help of the triangular block. A shelless Blue Koopa is kicking a Red Shell around in the pit between the 2 pipes. Drop down and stomp him. Eat or stomp the Red Koopa Shell to stop it, then with Yoshi's help, jump up to the Prize Block above to get Yoshi or a 1-up mushroom. Go to the right after breaking the midway gate there. Another lovely raft ride awaits you. This time, you will go up and down the lav, dodging more Blarrgs on the way. There is a platform in the air to the right of the lava fall. Jump onto it, and wait for the raft to pass under the platform. When it's to the right, jump and get the dragon coin and land onto the raft. The next stretch of dry land is populated with Spike Tops, and won't be a problem since you can eat them all up. Then, jump across the pit, and jump past the next series of hills above the pits. One of the hills has a Prize question block with a Cape Feather inside. Another Dragon Coin can be found on another hill. You then come to the final lava ride. As before, activate it and then jump up onto the platform and follow it to the right, eating all inverted Piranha Plants as you go. Then get back onto the raft. The goal line will appear after the final lava falls. The end is in sight! After this level, Mario will continue to go south and reach another stage with a smaller yellow dot. It is the Vanilla Dome 4. --------------- Vanilla Dome 4 --------------- Vanilla Dome 4 is a Bullet Bill land, and is the only underground level with a happy theme in Vanilla Dome. The Bullet Bills just fly out of nowhere, and cannons are nowhere in sight, so be ready to avoid them when you hear the boom of the cannon. At the start, run forward, drop down two platforms until you reach the first white pillar, collecting the dragon coin in the way. Then, jump up and spring yourself up with that green spring, jumping to the platform to the right. The next platform has a Red Koopa on it. Jump onto the next white pillar, below which is a Super Mushroom standing completely still. Don't bother with that, since you have a hard time getting up using those green springs. Jump over to the next pillar. Drop down to the platform below and jump up the next white pillars. You will come to 2 green platforms before you find some more white pillars connected by green springs with coins on them. Don't move too far from the pivot of each spring or you will fall into the pit below. A dragon coin can be found above the 2nd pair of springs. Bounce up to the pillar above the third pair. In case you have taken damage at this point, help is on its way in the form of a question block with a Cape Feather inside. Jump up the green spring to the right and you will find several more green platforms with coins on. Then, you come to another tall white pillar guarded by 2 Red Koopa Paratroopas. Bounce up with the springs to the platform above. You will find the midway gate past that. The bar is high up, so you only have one chance to break it. You will then come to a series of white pillars with pipes between them. Jumping Piranha Plants reside in those pipes. At this point, many Bullet Bills may come flying at you from many directions, so beware. The green pipe may be entered. It leads to a raft ride in the lava. Many coins are there waiting for you. Things are made slightly more difficult with brown blocks in the raft's path. You will either have to jump or duck to avoid getting knocked into the lava. A dragon coin waits for you at the end of this ride for all your troubles. You will then come to a platform with a Green Koopa walking towards you. Beware as you get near, since a large barrage of Bullet Bills will be fired from all 4 directions at you. A dragon coin is to the right below the next white pillar. The next area consists of merely white pillars and green springs. They are all guarded by Red Koopa Paratroopas. Navigate through them and collect the dragon coin before you reach the final gate. Use the green spring to gain as many Star Points as you can. With this level beaten, Mario will move south to Lenny's Castle. ---------------- Vanilla Secret 1 ---------------- Before covering the boss levels, let me cover the secret path first. Vanilla Secret is the first vertical level in the game. This means that to beat the level, you have to go up, rather than to the right. At the start, jump upwards, to the left. Avoid the Green Koopa Paratroopa. You will find 2 question blocks on top of a grey pillar, one of which contains a Cape Feather. Drop back down, and jump up to the right for the horizontal green pipe. There is a single dragon coin on the pillar beneath it. Then, jump onto the pipe and bump the center wooden block for a beanstalk. Climb up the beanstalk. You will find another dragon coin in the air to the right, jump and collect it, then drop to the left onto the ledge. Bump the wooden block there for another beanstalk that leads up. Climb up that and drop onto the ledge to the left. Jump over the first gap and fall into the pit to the left. You will land near a third dragon coin. Collect it, and use the green springs to bounce back upwards. See the Invisible Blue Blocks? They are to help you get to the secret exit, but unfortunately are only available when you have completed the Blue Switch Palace, so let's get up there another way, shall we? Jump back to the ledge to the left of the beanstalk, and hang around near the right edge. Run to the left, and take off. There should be barely enough room. Fly upwards, and you will find the pipe that leads to the alternate goal of this level. This secret goal line is guarded by a Chargin' Chuck that is practicing place kicks. He's on a higher ground, and that gives him the advantage. Jump over him and go through the final gate. With this secret exit done, Mario will move to the left, and break through the rocks to reveal yet another portal leading to the Star Road. If you are not interested in the secret exit, continue to jump up the hills. Jump onto the platform to the right to find 3 question blocks, one of which holds a Cape Feather, before jumping up to the Springboard. You have to bounce up, through the gap in the Koopa Paratroopa formation and through the gap above to reach the upper level. The Cape provides some protection since you can twirl it while going up, hitting any Koopas in the way. Another springboard awaits you above. Carry it up to the grey platform above and use it to reach the dragon coin above you. Then, carry it to the large ledge to the right and bounce up for the 5th and final dragon coin of this level. You can now leave this level by going left, and bouncing your way up using the green springs before going through the pipe. In the final path, you can have a shot at gaining more Star Points by choosing the upper path, but a Chargin' Chuck is waiting for you at the top. It's up to you to decide which path to take. Mario will climb up the wall to the north to reach a pipe. Get into it to reach the surface. You now can play Vanilla Secret 2. ----------------- Vanilla Secret 2 ----------------- Finally, sunshine. If you stay underground for too long, you are likely to suffer from Light Deprivation Disorder! The starting area of Vanilla Secret 2 is filled with Green Koopa Paratroopas. Some have low jumps, others have very high jumps! At the start, the first question you can find holds Yoshi. Use him to pound and eat all the Koopa Paratroopas you find, making things easier for you. Start eating and killing Koopa Paratroopas until you are up to the Green Exclamation Block on the ground. This is definitely a hint that tells you to take off at this point. There are 2 clouds over head, with some coins and a dragon coin. Collect them all and drop down to the ground continue carefully to the right. The next 3 Koopa Paratroopas are low jumping, and the 2 after that jump very high up. After dealing with those 2, you will find a second coin in the air. Another high jumping Paratroopa follows before the downward slope, followed by a high jumping one at the bottom, then another low jumping one, then you come to maybe four more that alternate between high jumping and low jumping. You then find another question block with a Fire Flower inside. Use it if you are feeling very unconfident with your cape feather at this point, but I won't bother getting it. Beyond this block are even more Koopa Paratroopas. Once you get past them, you will find a slope leading up, followed by 2 pipes with Jumping Piranha Plants in them. Another dragon coin can be found between the pipes. The midway gate is next, be glad that you are done with that nightmare! You come to a slope leading up next. Jump on it and use it to reach the hill above. A Spiny awaits, so whack them with your cape. Run down the slope and you will find an area populated with Bob-ombs. The pipe there has a Lakitu hidden inside, so use the Cape to whack him. Punch one of the Music Blocks above for a Cape Feather and then quickly leave the area, since the Bob-ombs come down non stop. Run down the slope, whacking the Spinies on the way and you will find a coin box over the bit, and there is only one brown block below it. Between the 2 blocks is the 4th dragon coin. You will then come to a pit filled with Spinies, so how can you get through? The answer to this predicament is found in the second wooden block from the left. Bump it for a grey switch. Stomp it to turn the Spinies into grey coins. Collect them all and you can get 3 Extra Lives. (The number of points collected by collecting subsequent Grey Coins increases from 100 for the first coin to 8000 for the 8th coin. The 9th coin lands an Extra Life, the 10th lands 2 Extra Lives and all subsequent Grey Coins collected land 3 each!) Get past the pit, run up the slanted pipe and enter the pipe with Lakitu inside. It's another underground room. There is lava everywhere, and to get through this place stomp the Switch Block. The coins over the lava will turn solid, and you can collect the now freed coins above them, as well as the final Dragon Coin to the far left before the exit. When you exit from the pipe, hold right on the D-pad and let Mario soar over the Chargin' Chuck, then he's likely to bounce off a Red Koopa Paratroopa in the air and go straight through the final gate! With this level completed, Mario will move east along the path to a damp area. It's Vanilla Secret 3, the level preceding the Fortress. Tip! There is a way to quickly fill up your lives by replaying Vanilla Secret 2. First, break the tape of the midway gate and then leave the level. Then, reenter at the Midway Gate, and go right, and grab the grey switch and carry it back to the two pipes with the Jumping Piranha Plants. Stomp the switch block now. Collect the grey coins on the pipe, then jump up to the slope and run left through the area where the Green Koopa Paratroopas once were. You will find them replaced with grey coins, lots of them. Collect them all until time expires. You should have racked up 40 Extra Lives or more! Note that the number of lives Mario can have is capped at 99. ----------------- Vanilla Secret 3 ----------------- Vanilla Secret 3 is one watery level that introduces you to the Micro Dolphins. They are harmless, and jump out of the water, giving you lifts, like the normal lifts do. Before you enter this level, I suggest you have a Cape eather. Go back to the Top Secret Area and stock up on them, have Yoshi along as well. The first 4 Micro-Dolphins work in pairs. The two pairs rise and drop down to the water in unison. The second one in the second pair can help you reach the platform rather high up. There is a question block with a Cape Feather. In addition, there is a dragon coin slightly below this block. In the next stretch of water, there are plenty of coins in the air above. To get them, jump onto the Micro-Dolphins. All of them jump to the left, instead of jumping left and right as the previous ones. Fortunately, there is an infinite number of Micro-Dolphins coming from the right to help you until you reach the next long platform. There is a dragon coin on the next long platform. Once you have collected it, jump into the water and swim to the right, ignoring the Micro-Dolphins for now. You will find a large spiky fish swimming towards you. He's a Procupuffer. Let him come to you and defeat him with a whack of your cape. When he's gone, this level is officially devoid of all enemies, and you can take it slowly as you like. Just watch out for the time! Collect all the coins in the air with the aid of the Micro-Dolphins. You will come to another long platform. You will come to the midway gate shortly. It's rather high up in the air, so use the help of a Micro-Dolphin to reach it. Don't worry, the 2 Dolphins responsible jump back and forth. Then, jump onto the vertical dolphin to the right to reach the high green platforms, where you can find another dragon coin. Beyond the last high platform are loads of large coin arrows. Use the large school of Dolphins from the left to grab as many as you can, and grab the dragon coin hidden among them. You will find the 5th dragon coin before the exit pipe, and another one is waiting for you before the goal line, so that makes 6 dragon coins in one level. With this level completed, Mario will continue to move west, and enter the lake, and it seems that a Fortress is found right in the middle of it all! --------------- Lenny's Castle --------------- It's the 3rd Castle, and it belongs to the hijinx Koopa Kid, Lenny Koopa. The first area is a real nightmare. It's filled with Magikoopas, and they can often blast you with magic spells, and appear very frequently. If you are on the same level, you can duck to make their spells float harmlessly above you. But now, you start on a long row of wooden blocks high above the ground, and are trapped. Don't even think about spin jumping, since Mario will continue to spin jump through the lower row and fall into the lava. What to do now? The trick is to wait for a Magikoopa to appear below. Let him fire a spell at you, and it will make a hole on the row, allowing you to drop through. At this point, run quickly to the right, and dodge all the spells, there will be a question block in the middle of the path. It holds a Cape Feathe which will help you a lot. Continue to the right for the water. Jump onto those wooden blocks high up. You will eventually find a switch. Carry it over to the door floating above the coins. Collect the coin pillar to the right of the door, and stomp the switch block. Jump onto that makeshift platform and go through the door. You will find the midway gate and a 1-up Mushroom. Say goodbye to those nasty Magikoopas! (It's likely that you will suffer lots of pain now!) The next area features lots of moving stone pillars, like the ones in Morton's Castle, only that there is lava complimenting them at this point! Better save and quit at this point, and stock up on Cape Feathers at the Top Secret Area before tackling the area. Run to the right to the pillar floating and sinking in the lava. Then, jump back to the central and highest pillar when the pillar starts to sink. When it has sunk all the way, take a running jump to the next patch of dry land to the right. (You should reach it if you play as Luigi and have a cape.) There is a Dry Bone. Whack him hard. Then, wait for the next wall to the right to rise up so you can jump over. Go over to the other side, quickly before it comes down and jump onto the next patch of dry land, and dodge the Podoboo. Whack the next Dry Bone and jump into the gap of the next floating structure when it's within reach. There is a safety refuge inside to jump up to so that you won't be fried when the thing comes down again. Quickly jump to right for the ledge. Go down the single step, for another weird inverted structure. 2 more pillars by the side of the lava pool will rise up later. Another rising and falling structure awaits to the right. When they are rising, jump over there and quickly go to the right. Another safe refuge exists at the bottom and has a Super Mushroom standing still waiting for you. Then, the path ahead may be temporarily blocked by a set of floating and sinking stone steps. When the top step is down, jump onto it. This is the only step that will stay out of the lava when the entire series are at their lowest point. When subsequent steps rise up, drop down. Jump over to the next stone platform, over the next lava pit to the alcove with the Dry Bone. Wait for the next stone "elevator" structure to come down so you can enter it. Rise up and continue your way through this castle. Another lift waits for you to the right, then another past the two Dry Bones. Jump to the right and you will find the red door leading to Lenny Koopa. Lenny is one nasty trickster. He will pop out of one of seven pipes. You have to stomp him when he's out to hurt him. Repeat this 3 times to win. That's not all, along with him, 2 dummies will also pop out of the pipes too. If you stomp those, they don't count. So, you must watch carefully. There is also a fireball bouncing around, but it won't hurt you as long as you get the hang of its pattern. Once Lenny is stomped 3 times, he will fall through his pipe into the lava, screaming as he is burnt. There goes the court jester! Ha ha! Having rescued the yellow baby in the egg, Mario will take out the castle by hammering it down to the ground! Instead of giving a preview of the next world, you will be told that the quest is getting more and more difficult. You are also reminded to find the Red and Green switches. But you have, haven't you? Once this Castle is demolished, a path will be revealed to the exit pipe of Vanilla Dome. And you will be in the outside world again. You will get on a bridge across the bay there. You are now in the Twin Bridges Area. ----------------- Vanilla Fortress ----------------- The Vanilla Fortress is one big exception and a big first. First, it is the first Fortress you are going to tackle, second, it's the one and only Fortress that is completely waterlogged, so you must swim your way through. Swim to the right, and upwards, to avoid the Ball and Chains. You will find a new enemy called the Fish Bone, which is essentially a swimming Dry Bone! These guys are invincible, so avoid them at all costs. Stick to the ceiling. Then, drop down to the block of the next Ball and Chain. Avoid the Fishbone, and swim through the chains to avoid damage. Continue to stick to the ceiling, and wait by the next block hub of the Ball and Chain until it passes you. Then continue your way. You will then find a spike pit. Wait for the Fishbone to swim past you before swimming over the spikes. Next, you will come to a question block in a relatively open area. There is only one Fishbone guarding the question block. Punch it and get the Cape Feather inside. The next area features spikes on the ceilings. Note that certain spikes are loose and will fall down when you get near. They can be figured out by their slightly darker color. The pit is guarded by some Bony Beetles and Dry Bones. This time, the Dry Bones will throw Bones at you, so you may want to swim just between the bottom of the pit and the spikes above. It's not that hard to whack the enemies here. As soon as you swim past that, you will come to the blue pipe that leads to the next area. To the right are 2 Fishbones and a bone throwing Dry Bone. Swim to the right, and dodge the Thwomp. Another Fishbone awaits you. Then, swim up and to the left. Swim through this area, avoiding the Ball and Chains before you drop back down at the other end. Swim through the next area while avoiding the Ball and Chains and you will find the door underwater that leads to the boss. Pick up the Super Mushroom from the exclamation block if you need it. A quartet of fire breathing rhinos on spinning platforms called Renzors are in charge. They spit fireballs at you. To get rid of them, bump them from below. But that's not all. As you bump them (after bumping the second one off), the walkway below will start to disintegrate, revealing the lava below. So, you are very likely to defeat the last one while standing on one of their platforms. When you are done, the fort will surrender, and a long bridge will be built linking the eastern cliff to somewhere to the east. You are in the upper path of the Twin Bridges Area now. ---------------- 5. Twin Bridges ---------------- After Vanilla Dome, you will enter the next world at either one of 2 entry points. It is dependent on which final level you have completed. If you have completed the Fortress, you will start on the higher road, Butter Bridge. If you have beaten Lenny's Castle, you will start on the lower road, Cheese Bridge Area. It does not matter which path you take. Both paths will converge at Ludwig's Castle. However, in spite of it being one of the smallest worlds in Super Mario World, there is still a secret exit. It is only accessible if you play the lower Cheese Bridge Area. It leads to the Soda Lake, and afterwards, you will be able to find another portal leading to the Star Road. Here is the layout. From Lenny's Castle: Cheese Bridge Area --> Cookie Mountain (Standard) or Soda Lake (Secret) Soda Lake --> Star Road Cookie Mountain --> Ludwig's Castle (Convergence Point) From Vanilla Fortress: Butter Bridge 1 --> Butter Bridge 2 --> Ludwig's Castle (Convergence Point) The upper path is harder than the lower path, so if you are glutton for punishment, consider taking the Butter Bridges! ------------------- Cheese Bridge Area ------------------- Before you enter this stage, make sure that Yoshi's with you since he's going to be a big help in this level. The first question you find holds a Cape Feather to the right, with that, jump onto the first tracked lift. To the right are 2 more lifts higher up. Jump onto them to activate them. Stay on the top one, since it's safer and you can avoid most of the Saw Blades. Before you reach the next Prize Block, you will encounter 2 more Saw Blades. Jump over them. If Yoshi is there, you can bounce off them without getting hurt. The next question holds a Cape Feather, but it's basically impossible to get it without risking your life. Beyond the block is a dragon coin in the air. Now, you may notice that you have missed a couple of dragon coins below. But don't worry, there are more than five in this level. After passing several more Saw Blades, you will come to the midway gate. You are lucky to be at the top, since you can't reach it if you have taken any other lift. There is another question block below. Punch it for a pair of Yoshi Wings. Grab them and you will be propelled to the stars in what looks like coin heaven. Notice how Yoshi's turned blue! Now he will sprout wings whenever he swallows a Koopa Shell, no matter what colour it is! You can now control Yoshi and fly around, collecting more dragon coins. Just follow the scrolling screen and avoid all the Fuzzies that get in the way. When you are done, you can either follow the scrolling screen until the end of the area, or just drop out of the screen. With that, you will be considered to have completed the level. Mario will cross the bridge to a rather brown area. It's the Cookie Mountain. I wonder what flavor the cookie is! Let's hope it's hocolate Chip! Now, let's go and find the secret exit of Cheese Bridge Area. Take Yoshi along again. This time, past the midway gate, skip the Yoshi's Wings and continue to go right. There are plenty of poles that you can grab on to, but you can't since you are riding Yoshi. Just continue to the right, and you will come to a platform with a question block containing a Cape Feather. Skip the next blue pipe and continue to go right. You will then come to a rather long wooden platform. Run across it and take off, as you descend, try to bounce forward off the Saw Blades until you see the final gate. You are to glide beneath the platform with the final gate, and spring up off Yoshi's back behind it! You will find another final gate behind the previous one preceded by a 3-up Moon! Once you are done, Mario will climb down a beanstalk off the bridge into Soda Lake. Warning! As you go the above maneuver, don't glide too high, or you may hit the bar of the first goal line and stop gliding forward, and then dropping to your doom! I had this funny moment when I hit the goal line, and the 3 star points appeared on the screen, and then I fell to my death! --------------- Soda Lake --------------- Soda Lake is one tough underwater obstacle course. It's because there are plenty of Torpedo Teds around. Once they start to launch out of their cannons, they will launch continuously without pause at all! Bringing Yoshi along is going to provide you with a little protection from them. At the start, swim to the right. Notice the Torpedo Ted cannon below. The Torpedo Ted is continuously firing, so it's hard to get past once they start. You will come to the only question block in this level with a Fire Flower inside. You will then find 2 Torpedo Ted Launchers on the ceiling to the right, so stay low and avoid them. You then come to 2 Torpedo Ted Launchers arranged in a column with a gap between them. There is a Dragon Coin in that gap. Swim through that gap quickly to collect it. If a Torpedo Ted comes up, continuously swim up and hit the bottom of the launcher to make it harder for Mario to be knocked off Yoshi. Next, you will come to a formation of 4 Blorgs. Stay low and eat the 2 lower ones before continuing right. Then, you will come to a low ceiling with steps above. Each "step" is guarded by Torpedo Ted launchers, and there is a Dragon Coin to the right of the 2nd launcher. Coax the 2nd launcher into firing to the left and quickly swim up and get the coin, then drop down and swim to the right immediately. Swim upwards to the top of the next brown pillar and you will find a Dragon Coin in the pit below. That coin is guarded by another Torpedo Ted Launcher, but fortunately, it's a little further away. So, you can get in and swim out before you get hit. 3 Torpedo Ted Launchers are up next. The 2 to the right are arranged in a column with a gap between them. Swim through that gap and keep bumping the bottom of the launcher so as to stay on Yoshi. To the right are some Blorgs, and another low Dragon Coin that is guarded by a Torpedo Ted Launcher to the right. But this time, it's much closer so you have to react quicker. With that, swim beneath the next Torpedo Ted Launcher to the right, and then get above the one after it for the last dragon coin. Get down again and get past the next Torpedo Ted Launcher. The final area has 3 Torpedo Ted Launchers placed so closely together. Swim quickly to the right and don't even hesitate. There may be some more Blorgs before the exit pipe, but fortunately, it's not a bad idea to sacrifice Yoshi at this point. Use your temporary invincibility and you should be able to make it through. With Soda Lake completed, Mario will wade south thorugh the lake and down the waterfall into the bay. Down there, he will get onto a remote island with the portal leading to Star Road. Now, let's get back to business and find Cookie Mountain, ok? --------------- Cookie Mountain --------------- Finally, sweet solid land. I assume you enter this level having lost Yoshi in Soda Lake. Immediately after you enter, a shelless blue koopa will slide down the slope and charge towards you. Whack that koopa to death. Then, you will find a Monty Mole jumping out of the ground in front of you. Stomp him or whack him. Then, jump onto the slope, and get up to the top. Jump over the pit onto the row of question blocks where the Sumo Brother is. The Sumo Brother specializes in pounding the platform, causing flames to drop down to the ground beneath it. Kill the Sumo Brother with a cape and bump the top question block for a Cape Feather. Jump forwards and steer clear of the pit. In front of you is another slope with a shelless Koopa sliding down towards you. Whack him to death and jump up onto his slope. Go right, and stay on the slopes. Get the Dragon Coin above the slope. You may want to take out the other sliding Koopas. Then, drop down to the ground, pick up the Red Koopa Shell and jump up the hill. This hill is guarded by many Monty Moles. Kick the shell and let it go down the hills and take out all the Monty Moles in the way. Then drop down and go right, all the way to the pit partially blocked by 2 red exclamation blocks. You will come to a super deluxe Monty Mole hill. Watch out as they jump out and try not to get hurt. Afterwards, you will find a long row of note blocks above guarded by 2 Sumo Brothers. When they have stopped pounding the flames down, jump to the right and collect the dragon coin, then get away from the area beneath them quickly. The midway gate can then be reached from the pipe. Another giant Monty Mole hill awaits you. Let them jump out one by one and get rid of them, then go to the right. Punch one of the 4 wooden blocks for a beanstalk. Climb up for a third dragon coin. Jump onto the hill to the left to find another wooden block with a 1-up Mushroom there. Then, drop down and go right. Beyond the next blue pipe is a question block between 2 Note Blocks. Yoshi is inside. Hi buddy! He's going to be of help since there is another Monty Mole hill to the right. Let Yoshi feast on tasty mole meat, if you like before picking up a Dragon Coin on one of the hills. Eat the pink apple just before the pit. Jump across the pit. Then, eat the second pink apple there. Yoshi will lay an egg and release a cloud that drops happy faced coins. You are to follow it and collect all those coins. IF you do, the cloud will drop a 1-up Mushroom before disappearing again. Get the Super Star from the roulette block on the ground if you like. As you go right, you will come to a Jumping Piranha Plant that spews fireballs. Then, you will also find the final dragon coin in the level before you reach the 2 rows of blocks with Sumo Brothers. Run through the area with Yoshi covering you. Jump over the next Chargin' Chuck, onto the tall blue pipe and then break the tape at the Goal Line. That's it. With Cookie Mountain completed, Mario will hike along the base of the mountain and then climb up a ladder to the east to find Ludwig's Castle. ---------------- Butter Bridge 1 ---------------- Butter Bridge 1 is a scrolling level that features lots of piston platforms. The longer you stay on one, the lower it sinks and the higher its mate goes up. If you go too low, you will fall to your death. So, the best thing to do is to keep hopping in place while you are on one of those platforms. There are 3 coins between each of the first 2 pairs of platforms, and a Red Koopa Paratroopa flies between the second pair. Then, you will come to a collapsible platform with a dragon coin on its right side. Get it and then jump to the next pair of piston platforms. This pair also features a grey collapsible platform in the middle. Jump to the right platform and wait. You will find a wooden platform rather high above with a second Dragon Coin on its left edge. To reach it, jump forwards and bounce off the back of the Red Koopa Paratroopa. It's easy to die here. If you are desperate, let Yoshi give you a boost. The next pair of piston platforms after the wooden platform you are on has a dragon coin between them. Collect it carefully, before you arrive at a long platform of red exclamation blocks. Above are a parade of Green Koopa Paratroopas. You can practice power hopping by stomping all 9 without touching the ground for an extra life. Afterwards, you will find another pair of piston platforms. There are 3 coins in the middle between them. Then, the next pair has a column of 3 coins between them. Then, for the top pair, there is a dragon coin in the middle, but it's quite low. To get it, you have to stand on the right platform, and let it go down, then jump to the left, get it and swerve back. Fortunately, the screen is scrolling downwards at this point. Jump down to the next pair of platforms and then to the longer solid platform to the right. You now come to rows and rows of wooden blocks. The question block at the bottom holds a Cape Feather. As you go up, you will find that certain blocks hold coin boxes, but you will have to bump them quickly before the screen catches up. At the top, jump onto the next pair of piston platforms to the right, and you will find a Koopa Paratroopa flying in the middle. Use the cape to help you jump over. Let the platform drop a bit, and get the 5th dragon coin by the collapsible platform. Finally, you will come to the exit, and there are some Koopa Paratroopas around. If you have collected 30 coins up till now, bump the Bonus Block and a 1-up Mushroom will be given to you. Go through the exit pipe. You will need to take a running jump from your platform to get to the goal line. With this level completed, another level will be revealed on this long bridge, and that is Butter Bridge 2. ---------------- Butter Bridge 2 ---------------- You will be please to know that this level is built on solid wood platforms, so it's less likely for you to fall to your death. However, there is a new influx of Super Koopas, so watch out! The blue Super Koopas with glowing capes can have their capes stolen. The first Super Koopa you find is red, and will swoop down from the right. Then, you will come to a low flying Blue Super Koopa with a glowing cape. Steal his cape for your own use and kill the wingless Blue Koopa left behind. With those 2 Koopas killed, the initial path is clear. Move back to the left and take off. You will land on a cloud with 6 coins and a dragon coin in the middle. Take the coin and drop down to the left of the clouds. You will land on a long wooden platform. There is a question block high up which can be hit using a Koopa Shell. The block contains a Cape Feather. Jump to the right to find a series of platforms 3 logs wide, each separated by a small gap. There is a small trickle of coins slanting upwards, and the top coin is a dragon coin. Afterwards, you will find a Red Koopa shell being kicked towards you. Twirl your cape and stop the shell before going right. So, there are plenty of nasty Blue Shelless Koopas kicking Koopa Shells down on you. Make your way to the right, stopping all the shells and use them as shields against the enemies. At the end, you will find a pair of those shell kicking Koopas, so beware. To the right of their platforms is the 3rd dragon coin. After that, you will come to the midway gate. There is a Shelless Green Koopa to the right which can be easily killed. Then, a large squad of Green Super Koopas will start flying around. This is truly overwhelming. But eventually, you will come to a platform with a Green Exclamation Block. To the right are 2 pipes, of which the one to the right can be entered. Drop down to the lift below, and then grab on to the steam powered pole above. There is a platform in the middle with a dragon coin. Get it, and ride to the right for the exit. Go to the right, and you will get to another long platform. This time, the red Super Koopas are coming at you in pairs, leaving a narrow gap between them. Your best bet is to jump up and whack the lower one so you can pass. Eventually, you will leave that platform and come to a series of descending platforms. The final dragon coin is to the right and floating in the air between 2 platforms, and this is one tricky one. This is because it's on the same level as the lower left platform. You should jump to the right, and float slowly back to the left to get it. Then, you will find the Goal Line to the right. To get to it, bounce off the squadron of 5 Red Super Koopas. Once this is completed, Mario will cross the bridge all the way to the east to Ludwig's Castle. --------------- Ludwig's Castle --------------- This is the ultimate convergence point for the 2 paths that have been split since Vanilla Dome. You now come to the Castle owned by the Koopa Kid who likes to play many malicious melodies! Perhaps the music sounds horrible, so Yoshi will not be willing to get in with you. In the entry way, go to the right. Drop down to the path below, and you will come to a Bony Beetle. Then, there is a Ball and Chain in the corner. Jump onto its center block and you will not be hit. Jump up to the area above with the stone block, and then drop down to the right. Then, you will find a pair of Ball and Chains, one on the ceiling and one on the ground blocking the path. To get past this tight area, Run forwards as the lower one is about to reach its highest point, and do a squat run. With luck, you can glide past all of those spiked balls and reach the exit door. But hey, there is more, see that short segment in the ceiling above? You can jump through it. Then you can jump up to the far right to play a Bonus Game before you reach the next area. The next area features a ceiling of spikes dropping down from the roof. Quickly run down the steps, jump over the lava pools, and get the Dragon Coin on one of the platforms on the way. Then, you will come to an On/Off block. Wait until the spikes have almost come down onto the block and hit it. The ceiling will rise up again. Then, jump over the next few lava pits and take a dead run to the right until you reach the exit. The spiky ceiling will come down on you after it has reached the top, so run for it! Once you get to the exit, have a sigh of relief. The next area features more wirenetting as for Iggy's Castle. The first set of wirenetting has some Green Koopas climbing. To the right is a small alcove with a question block with a Cape Feather. Then, jump up to the next piece of wirenetting with only one Green Koopa. The one above that has one Red Koopa, and has a gate for you to get the other side. There are many small pieces of wirenetting, each with a Green Koopa to the right. There is also a column of coins in the middle. Jump to the right pieces of wirenetting and drop all the way to the bottom. If you get hurt, there is another question block to the right with a power up. Now, jump back to the left. There is a wirenetting there that leads to the top, where the door to Ludwig Von Koopa is. Face the music! You are given a very long arena to fight Ludwig. He spits flames at you, but you can defeat him by jumping on his head 3 times. Every time you stomp him, he will withdraw into his shell and hurl himself towards you, like any mad flashing Koopa Shell. Then, he will make a side somersault and continue to spew flames. Stomp him 3 times, and he will deflate. As in most cases, Mario will use TNT to blow up the castle. But this time, it takes off and crashes in a nearby hill. So, Ludwig Von Koopa's days of composing symphonies in his castle are over. Now, they move on to the Forest of Illusion. Mario and Luigi must try to solve the puzzles of this perplexing forest. They got a point there! ---------------------- 6. Forest of Illusion ---------------------- With the castle destroyed, the hill to the right will have a bandage on it, and a path will be revealed behind the castle's porch, and Mario will climb down the ladder into a forest made up of trees with weird faces, it's the Forest of Illusion! The most perplexing thing about this forest is that basically every normal stage is connected to any other level. All 4 of the standard levels have secret exits, and are marked by red dots. At the same time, the castle here must also be reached by a Secret Exit, so if you are unaware, you will end up running around in circles! Here's the map of the Forest of Illusion. Forest of Illusion 1 --> Forest of Illusion 2 (standard) or Forest Ghost House (secret) Forest of Illusion 2 --> Forest of Illusion 3 (standard) or Blue Switch Palace (secret) Forest of Illusion 3 --> Forest Ghost House (standard)/Roy's Castle (secret) Forest Ghost House --> Forest of Illusion 4 Forest of Illusion 4 --> Forest of Illusion 2 (standard) or Forest Secret Area (secret) Forest Secret Area --> Forest Fortress --> Star Road As you can see, the secret exit in Forest of Illusion 1 provides a shortcut to the Ghost House. If you are planning to only go to the Star Road, you should take the shortcut and beat the later levels, going through many secret exits. If you are interested in beating Roy Koopa, you have to beat the first 2 levels the normal way and then find the key in the 3rd level. -------------------- Forest of Illusion 1 -------------------- Welcome to the first level of the Forest of Illusion. The trees are so tall and thick here that you cannot see the sky. There are some places so thick with trees that you may find it hard to spot the enemies. You will be introduced to a new enemy called the Wiggler. These enemies must be eaten by Yoshi. They are immune to Mario's cape and fire flower. Stomping on them only provokes them and causes them to charge at you angrily. Move forwards and have Yoshi eat the Wiggler. Then jump over the pit to the next path. There is a block above, and it has a Fire Flower inside. Let's not bother with that, shall we? Jump over the next few pits, and onto the next path with the question block with Yoshi inside. A Wiggler will also start walking from the right. Eat him. What follows are a couple of Goombas and a Paragoomba. Then, you will find another Wiggler before you see a spring block. You can use the spring board to reach the apples in the trees high above if you like. Jump over the pit to the next path. You will find a wooden block in the middle of lots of note blocks. There is a dragon coin to the left of the note block column. Bumping the wooden block reveals a 1-up Mushroom. Use a Note Block and bump it to the right, and catch it as it falls while you jump to the path to the right. You will come to an area that is rather thick with trees. There are 3 Wigglers just waiting to be eaten, as well as a dragon coin between 2 of the trees. Jump over the next pit and you will come to the midway gate in the air over another pit. There is a roulette block to the right. Eat the Super Star and run towards the right. There are some enemies that force their way through the wooden blocks above. Engage them one by one, same goes for the Wigglers, then jump up to the wooden platforms above, and continue taking out the Koopas and Wigglers that you find. It seems that once you have beaten 9 enemies, any subsequent Wiggler killed will bring you 2 extra lives. When you have dealt with all the enemies on the wooden platforms, jump to the right and into the trees to take out 2 more Wigglers. When you are done, backtrack to the start of the path with all those enemies jumping out of the blocks. Walk into the first large tree trunk you find, and jump up, you will find a dragon coin hidden there. There is also a dragon coin on the wooden platform that you may have skipped. When you are done, go to the right into the pit with the Wiggler and Amazing Flying Hammer Brother. Knock the Hammer Brother off his perch, and collect the final dragon coin in the pit. Use the perch to reach the ledge above and jump through the final gate. With this, Mario will blaze a path through the woods to the right, and reveal a lake in the middle of the forest. It's Forest of Illusion 2. If you want to get to the Secret Exit, you have to stop at the end of the wooden platform. Drop down and punch the question block for a Power Balloon. Float to the left, where there is a keyhole and a question block on a lone island. Punch that block for the key and stick it in. Mario will blaze a trail to the west, revealing the Forest Ghost House. --------------------- Forest of Illusion 2 --------------------- This is the underwater level of Forest of Illusion. It's entirely down in the damp places. Even the exit gate is underwater. The secret exit to Blue Switch Palace is also found here, so watch out. Right at the start, there is a green exclamation block in front of you. Punch it for a Cape Feather and swim to the right. You will find the waterway guarded by 2 large Urchins on patrol. Wait until they move out of the way and move on. Then, you will come to a small gap leading up. Another Urchin guards the area to the right. Consider eating several of the Blorg formation coming from the right. Swim up through the gap when the coast is clear. Go up to find a dragon coin closely guarded by an Urchin. With Yoshi's help, you can swim to the left while bumping the ceiling to get the coin without getting hurt. Another Urchin patrols the stretch leading upwards to the right. There are 2 square lumps to the right, both patrolled by Urchins running along their edges. Dodge them and drop down to the bottom. Then go right and swim up, avoiding all the Blorgs and Cheep Cheeps. The question block at the top holds a Fire Flower, but you don't need that now. Swim to the right, and swim over the 2 Sea Urchins to find a dragon coin guarded by a Rip Van Fish. Swallow him to give him rude awakening! Then, drop down, go left, and drop down to the trench below. At the bottom, kill the Sea Urchin and go right. You will come to another dead end with a dragon coin. In the alcove above, you will run into invisible blocks. One of them holds a 1-up Mushroom. So, bump carefully, and make sure you don't seal up the area completely. The block is the third one from the left. If you accidentally hit the second or first block, the 1-up already cannot drop down onto you. Swim back up and go on to the right. Swim past the next few sets of Urchins, and you will find one moving up and down, and there is a Dragon Coin at the bottom of the pit guarded by it. Drop down and get it when the Urchin is up. Then, go right, and drop down the gap when the Urchins are out of place. Drop all the way to the bottom. Then swim to the right. Try to keep low in order not to attract the attention of the Rip Van Fish above. However, a Chargin' Chuck down below will wake them up for you anyway, and they will all give chase! Before swimming right to the Goal Line, be sure to collect the final dragon coin from the alcove to the right that is one of the Rip Van Fish's resting place. With this level completed, Mario will blaze a way south to Forest of Illusion 3, which also has a red dot! If you want to visit the Blue Switch Palace, drop all the way down just before the Rip Van Fish and go left, through the wall to the left of the Yellow Exclamation Block. This wall is not solid. The key and keyhole are waiting for you there. Luigi will blaze a path to the right, and the Blue Switch Palace will pop out of the woods. ------------------- Blue Switch Palace ------------------- The Blue Switch Palace is much simpler than the Red Switch Palace when it comes to collecting extra lives. There are a lot of Spinies on the brown platform high above you at the start of the level, and there is a long row of coins. Before doing anything else, collect all the coins. Then, go back to the left and stomp the grey switch. All Spinies will turn into Grey Coins. Then, stomp the blue switch so that the grey coins will fall down on you. Collect them all, and you should be able to collect 3 extra lives. Now, go through the pipe. Run across the hallway and trip the Blue Switch. The Power of the Switch Palace will turn all invisible Blue Blocks into blue exclamation blocks. Please note that Blue Exclamation Blocks are meant to provide platforms and no power ups. So, if you bump one from below, you get nothing. --------------------- Forest of Illusion 3 --------------------- Forest of Illusion 3 is the land of enemy filled bubbles. The bubbles hold Goombas, Bob-ombs or Cheep Cheeps. Touching any bubble will burst it, and the enemy will pop out. If you wait too long, the enemy will come out too. So, the best approach is to use Yoshi, let him have the preemptive strike by eating the contents! Yummy! All ready wrapped food. Right at the start is this Bob-omb in a bubble coming towards you. Eat him and jump over to the pipe where the first dragon coin is. Drop down, collect it, and eat the Goomba from the right. Jump over the lower pipe. Jump over the next pit for a Bob-omb and a Goomba hidden inside bubbles, which will make a nice meal. Use the springboard to the right to bounce up the tall pipe, and drop down between the 2 pipes for a question block. You will find Yoshi inside. Get the 1-up, since Yoshi's there with you. The shorter pipe leads to a bonus game, but I will skip it this time. To the right before the grey pipe is another Bob-omb in a bubble. Beyond that, there are 2 Goombas and a Bob-omb in bubbles. Jump up the wooden block steps. The second block from the ground is a coin block. Stand on the lowest block and whack it continuously with your cape for loads of coins. There will be a Super Mushroom provided for you in another bubble to the right. Jump across the next pit for a springboard rather high up. Bump the red Koopa Shell so that it hits the block and knocks it down to you. Carry it to the tall pipe to the right and jump right over. To the right is a dragon coin in the air along with several more enemies in bubbles. Go over the pit, and you will come to an area with lots of blocks overhead. Move to the right cautiously. This place is filled with Goombas galore, and the midway gate can be found at the end, so can a Super Mushroom packed in a bubble. Jump over the next pit and go onto the next golden pipe. There is a pit between this pipe and the next. Get the dragon coin in the air as you jump. Jump over the next few pits until you reach the question blocks, one of which is a coin block. To the right is an area filled with more question blocks with a dragon coin among them. Jump over the next pit and you may find Cheep Cheeps in bubbles if you are slow. There is a Chargin' Chuck waiting for you to the right. He will split into 3 if you give him the chance, so get past him and jump up to the tall green pipe quickly. The ground to the right holds the final dragon coin. Get it, and jump through the goal line to the right. Now, Luigi will go northwest to the Forest Ghost House! This is really a circular route! If you need to find the secret Exit to Roy's Castle, enter the tall green pipe, and you will find the key and keyhole hidden beneath a row of wooden blocks. Spin jump through the blocks for the key. Then, Mario will blaze a trail south, out of the forest to Roy's Castle by the coast. ------------------- Forest Ghost House ------------------- If you check the level menu carefully, you will find that there are 2 exits in Forest Ghost House. Only one of them leads to Forest of Illusion 4, so you have to choose the exit carefully. The opening area is very tight, and has little room to maneuver. You will find a Big Boo right in front of you as you enter. Run past him quick. Then, drop down that small trench and face left. Duck and let the Eerie pass over your head. Then, you will come to a large pit guarded by another Big Boo. He's blocking the way. You have to lure him out of the way by turning your back to him. When he's safely away from the passage, you can jump up and continue. Run across the hallway, outrunning all the Boos, and you will find another pit. This time, the other side is blocked by 2 Boos. Lure them away. You must hurry, since you are surrounded. When they are out of the way, jump over them and continue to the right. You will come to an area where you have to jump up to proceed. There are 3 Eeries passing by overhead, and you have to let them pass. Once they have passed, hurry and jump up and don't let the Boos cut you off. You will leave the tight area. In the next relatively open area, you will be confronted by an Eerie, followed by a column of 3 Eeries. You will now come to a platform with 2 question blocks. One block holds a Cape Feather and you can find a Dragon Coin above them. The Eeries are rather persistent here. Jump over to the right when the coast is clear and go through the door for another of those ghost filled rooms. Run to the right. This time, there are blocks on the ground, forcing you to jump up. The first flying question block you see holds a Fire Flower while the next one holds a Cape Feather. You will find a couple of dragon coins here before you reach the stone ledge. (with the 4th Dragon Coin.) There is a switch block there. Get it and quickly go right and get down. That part is quite a high area, and you can easily get hurt by the Boos above. Drop down to the second pit and stomp the switch. A blue door will appear which leads you to the top part of the first area. Go left, avoiding the Boos as you go. There is an exit door, but don't go through it. Instead, go far left for the dragon coin. Then, find the first Boo of the level. Lure him away from his spot, and then you will find that he is hiding a door. Go through it and you will find a Goal Line with a 3-up Moon there. Get it and go through. Mario will sort of recreate a trail back to Forest of Illusion 1. To get to the main exit, enter the first door I told you to skip. Luigi will blaze a trail to the southwest and you will come to Forest of Illusion 4. --------------------- Forest of Illusion 4 --------------------- Forest of Illusion 4 is the land of the Lakitus. There are plenty of them, in the clouds and hiding in pipes. The clouds of the Lakitus can be stolen in this game. All you have to do is to throw an object up towards them in the sky and they will be knocked off, allowing you to get the cloud and have a free ride. At the start, a Lakitu is fishing for you, using a 1-up as bait. If you get the 1-up Mushroom, he will start throwing Spinies. So, it's best not to get it. To the right before the first pit is a Green Koopa Paratroopa followed by a Red Koopa. Swallow the latter and spit out flames at the Lakitu. If you manage to hit him, he will be killed, and leave his cloud for your use. Jump onto it and ride around. It's easy to steer, but it does not last forever. Float up to the right and get the First dragon coin. Continue to float to the right and enjoy the scenery. There are quite a number of Lakitus hiding in the pipes. You will eventually find a dragon coin on the ground beneath the row of question blocks. This is when you have to abandon your cloud and get it. Jump over the next pipe and eat the Lakitu there. One of the blocks holds a Fire Flower, so you can get it if you please. Jump over the next pit and eat the Lakitu in the blue pipe. Jump over the pit and onto the green pipe, which rises and falls. When it is at its highest position, jump to the right and collect the dragon coin. Jump over the pit to the right and eat the Lakitu in that pipe as well. Yummy. Continue to the right. You will find the midway gate on a hill high up. Jump through the bar and move on to the right. You will then find a Blue Pipe in the middle of the air. There is a Lakitu guarding it. This pipe leads to the secret exit, but let's worry about the dragon coins before we get there, all right? There is a switch block beneath the pipe. You don't need to take it. You will then come to a series of steps. A Green Koopa Paratroopa is jumping down the steps. Avoid him and move on. You will come to several green pipes, and a new Lakitu will start dropping Spinies on you. Ignore him and continue to the right until you find the Blue Shell. Swallow it and fly upwards to find the 4th dragon coin. Continue to the right for the final stretch, marked by the Grab Blocks. Fly around and find the final dragon coin. Continue to the right and you will see the final gate. It seems that Mario will blaze a trail east back to Forest of Illusion 2! That's it. You now know that if you don't take any secret options, you will more or less be running around in circles. To get to the secret exit, enter the blue pipe I mentioned earlier. It's possible to jump there with the help of the cape. Inside, you will be in a room with a key and a keyhole. Stick it in. Mario will blaze a path to the south, and you will reach the Forest Secret Area. ------------------- Forest Secret Area ------------------- Forest Secret Area features 2 flying lifts. You are supposed to stay on them in the entire course of the level, collecting as many coins as you find. Of course, there is going to be Koopa Paratroopas all over the place. First, pick the left one. It will first go upwards, and then go downwards. That is when the 2 flying platforms meet. Don't change platforms yet. As the platform continues to do down, you will eventually find a dragon coin in the middle of several coins. Watch out for the Green Koopa Paratroopas in the place. The platform will then go up, past a question block, before reaching another dragon coin high above. As you descend, you will run into another Koopa Paratroopa. Then, you will find a question block with a Fire Flower above you. Continue to the right. Watch for the ambush of Red and Green Koopa Paratroopas. These guys are very nasty. As you reach the next highest point, you will find the 3rd dragon coin. After the next descent, the platform will rise up towards the platform of blue exclamation blocks. That row of blocks is solid, and you will be knocked off if you stay on the lift. Jump onto the platform quickly and bump the wooden block for a 1-up Mushroom. Continue with the same lift. It is going to ascend and descend, and a dragon coin can be found on the way. The final gate is to the right, there may be 3 1-up Mushrooms behind the goal line. So, before you exit, consider changing lifts, and you may be lucky enough to get past the gate and get the 1-ups, otherwise, they will be reduced to coins. With this level completed, Mario will blaze a path to the southwest, out of the forest, and you will find the Forest Fortress by the west coast. ---------------- Forest Fortress ---------------- This is one of two final levels of the Forest of Illusion, and completing this does not take you to the next world, but only to the Star Road. It's quite tough, and you will find the saw blades here as new hazards. The first room features a scrolling area with giant wooden pillars overhead! A pillar will drop down to your right. Then, past the next trench, you will find the first of the Grinders moving in a fixed track. Duck down in the trench as the next pillar drops down. The next trench is also guarded by a Grinder. The only safe spot to duck in is the far right of the trench. The Grinder simply cannot reach that spot. When the pillar is up, jump up and to the right before the scrolling screen crushes you. You will then come to 2 pits sealed with blue exclamation and red exclamation blocks. Stick just behind the Grinder, and let the pillar drop down in front of you. When the path is clear, run past both of them. The next pit is blocked off by a yellow exclamation block. Fortunately, you can just stick to the left and the pillar would have long dropped and gone back up by the time you reach the Grinder. The final 2 pits are also guarded by the Grinders. Run right to reach the door. As soon as you enter the next area, a Grinder will drop down and roll along the ground to get to you. Jump over it. Then, break the midway gate. Jump over the lava pool. There are 2 Podoboos down there this time! Jump up the steps, and drop down into the pit. Quickly jump over the 2 Grinders and run full speed up the triangular block. There is another lava pit with 2 separate Podoboos. You then come to a stone bridge with Grinders. Fortunately, there are blocks above which help you avoid the dangerous path below. Podoboos will pop up from through the bridge. In the next tight area, stick to the upper path, then, you won't be easily hurt by the Grinders. There is a question block in one corner with a Cape Feather inside. The entrance to the Renzors is beneath the next stone platform. Notice the lava pit to the right? If you have a cape, you can fly over this pit for another door to the Renzors. Let's bump them off their perches as before, and another entrance to Star Road will be opened to you. --------------- Roy's Castle --------------- This is the 5th Castle in the game, and things are getting a bit complex for Mario. This is because the entire first section of the level involves moving around in a single lift platform. Drop down onto the lift, and let it carry you around the giant lava pool. It is the only way for you to proceed. Before the platform moves upwards in a step like form, collect the Dragon Coin in the air above the platform. Watch out for the Podoboo. As you reach the ceiling, you will find a fireball bouncing up. If you stick to the right, you can avoid getting hit. The lift will then start to twist and descend before moving upwards in a stepwise way. As you reach the top, you must duck to avoid the fireball. Then, the other fireball may miss the platform, and you can be safely out of the lava pit. The next area is a large spike pool with many spikes dropping from the ceiling. The best way to deal with them is to tend to the back of the lift. Then they would have dropped long before you have reached them. This part is not very hard, just concentrate and you won't fall in by mistake. The snake like lift will eventually drop down a pit, so get ready to jump to the right. Move down slowly, and avoid the spikes on the ceiling. You will find a switch. I suggest that you carry it to the right before stomping it. Run across the next catwalk, and avoid the podoboos from below. When you have passed the first Bowser Statue, stomp the switch. Any subsequent Bowser Statues would have fallen down the large pit to the right. (They are mounted on brown blocks!) But still, the Bowser Statues here no longer shoot lasers in this game, they just spit flames. The next platform is one that contracts and expands. There is a lone fireball guarding it. Bump the green exclamation block for a Cape Feather if you need to, otherwise, jump onto the green block. Jump to the right. The Bowser Statue would have dropped down the pit due to the switch being stomped. One final Bowser Statue awaits you before the door leading to Roy Koopa. If I remember correctly, Roy Koopa is the Koopa who is called Bully Koopa in the Super Mario World Cartoon Show. He is to be defeated the same way as Morton Koopa, but this time, the 2 walls will close in as time passes, so you must hurry. Once you have beaten him, Mario will attempt to blow up the castle as usual, only the bomb doesn't get set off until he walks up close! A Yoshi is freed, and you are on to a Delicious Chocolate Island! -------------------- 7. Chocolate Island -------------------- Charlie Bucket or Willy Wonka will be pleased. This island is made entirely of chocolate! I wonder if Bowser or the King of the Dinos has sent Willy Wonka to build this island from scrap. (Like that nutty Indian Prince Pondicherry!) But still, this chocolate must be very strong, since it does not melt under the hot, hot sun! This island is one of the most linear levels of the game. There is one standard straight path, going from the east to the west of the island, and then there is one single secret level accessed early on that provides a shortcut to the Castle here. This is the only world where the Fortress is situated in the main path. Here's the map of this tasty and delicious island! Chocolate Island 1 --> Choco-Ghost House --> Chocolate Island 2 Chocolate Island 2 --> Chocolate Island 3 (standard exit) or Chocolate Secret (secret exit) Chocolate Secret --> Wendy's Castle (shortcut) Chocolate Island 3 --> Loop back to Chocolate Island 3 (fake goal) or Forest Fortress (real goal line) Chocolate Fortress --> Chocolate Island 4 --> Chocolate Island 5 Chocolate Island 5 --> Wendy's Castle ------------------- Chocolate Island 1 ------------------- This must be the original Chocolate Island, before whoever it was built the huge extension to the west by chocolate. Chocolate Island 1 is on a green island, so the ground has grass. This place is home to the Dino Rhinos, which are green hybrids of dinosaurs and rhinoceros. They have a smaller version called Dino Torches. These guys can spew fire at you. Stomping a Dino Rhino turns them into the smaller version. Both of them will turn and chase after you. Fireballs can kill Dino Torches. These enemies also can climb over pipes! Right at the start, a Dino Rhino will charge towards you. With Yoshi, stomp him dead in one hit. Then, you will come to a slope, where a Dino Torch drops down towards you. Eat him. Use the slope to reach the top of the hill above. Eat the Dino Torch you find above. There is a Super Mushroom that will jump out as you pass the bush. It's not very useful, since you have Yoshi. Then run down the hill. There is another Dino Rhino running up towards you. Stomp him. You will then find a series of steps, with a number of foolhardy Dino Rhinos running and jumping towards you. They are just asking to be eaten. Finally, there is another Dino Rhino beneath the flying question block. Stomp him, and bump the question block for a Fire Flower. I doubt that you will need that. Then, jump up the next hill to engage the Dino Rhinos that bother to bounce up after you. Then, you will come to a green pipe with a Jumping Piranha Plant. Behind it is another slope with a Dino Torch running down towards you. Eat him as well! Continue to the right. You will find the first dragon coin in this level, which is rather late! Enter the golden pipe and you will be propelled to the right. You will be propelled past a Dino Rhino, so let's get back and stomp him. You will then come to a springboard at the edge of a pit. Use it to bounce up to the midway gate high up in the air. (If you did not enter the golden pipe just then, you cannot find this midway gate.) You will then come to a pit with munchers at the bottom. Stomp the switch to turn the coins into a brown platform, allowing you to cross the pit. Watch out for the Chargin' Chuck! To the right is another slope with a dragon coin at the top. Get that coin and run down the slope. You will be meeting a Dino Rhino and 2 Dino Torches. There is another flying question block with a Fire Flower. Continue right. Go up the hill and face the Dino Torch. Then, jump over the large pit. You will come to a question block with Yoshi inside, or maybe just a 1-up Mushroom. A Dino Torch will jump towards you from the right. Eat! Must eat! To the right, are several pits blocked by exclamation blocks. There is one yellow exclamation block guarded by a Dino Rhino. Stomp him, and get the Super Mushroom if you wish. If you have not entered the golden pipe back there, it will be a green exclamation block instead. The blue pipe before the red exclamation blocks can be entered. It leads to a water world with several Porcupuffers. The wooden block you see holds a 1-up Mushroom. Use the Micro- dolphins to get to the exit pipe. Upon exiting, you will be propelled across the large pit to the final gate. Make sure you get the dragon coin on the springboard before you leave this level. The springboard is useful in gaining many Star Points for the cause, I am sure. With this, you will move to the mainland. ----------------- Choco-Ghost House ----------------- This is the first time I encounter a Ghost House so early in a world. It's just the first level! No matter how tasty are the things inside, you are NOT allowed to bring Yoshi inside, much to his disappointment. This level features sliding floors, where the gap will move left and right, and you must time your jumps. The first sliding gap will appear immediately to your right. Jump over it. Two Eeries immediately follow! Jump past the next platform, and you will find 5 Eeries moving towards you. Back track to the previous platform and let them get close before you jump over them all. Jump over the next moving gap. 3 Eeries await. Across the next gap, a pair will come over to you. Jump between them. Across the next gap, a fishing Boo will come over. He uses a flame as the bait, so you CANNOT touch the bait. Your jumping abilities are hence limited at this point. The following path is continuous, and no jumps will be required at the moment. Several Eeries will patrol the paths. The first one can be avoided by backing up to the left stairs, and letting him pass. The second one can be dodged by simply keeping low. You will then come to a question block on a low platform. Bump it for a Cape Feather. Then, run to the right and jump over the pit. There is a dragon coin on the lower platform to the left. Use the squat jump to dodge the bait and reach the coin. The next question block holds another Cape Feather. Go right and jump across the next few sliding gaps. A pair of Eeries will swoop up and down beyond that gap, so your timing as to be precise to jump between them AND avoid the flaming bait. The next pair of Eeries can be dodged by ducking before the sliding gap. Jump over the gap for the Midway Gate. One final Eerie awaits you before the door to the next area. Be sure to collect the second Dragon Coin to the right before going through the door. The next area features Boo Blocks. They are blocks that turn into Boos when you face away from them. They are harmless when you face them. The first question block can be reached with them, allowing you to get a Fire Flower. Go right, and you will find a large room with a dragon coin rather high up. A line of Boos will move around, avoid that and use the Boo Blocks to create steps for you to jump up and reach the coin. The next room holds the exit on the ledge high up. Ignore that, and go right to the next one. There is a dragon coin above a platform. Avoid the Boo lines and get it. Then go to the far right room. The top platform holds the final dragon coin. Get it and then get to the exit. If you have no cape to fly up, you should lure one Boo Block to give you a little boost. Go through the goal line. With this level completed, Mario will bust a path to the south to Chocolate Island 2. ------------------ Chocolate Island 2 ------------------ Chocolate Island 2 is the first level where the timer really matters. The areas you get to visit change depend on how fast you complete your previous areas and the amount of coins collected. So, there are many possibilities here. To get to the secret exit, you must complete the first two areas with 250 seconds or more left in the timer, and this means you only have 50 seconds! It's recommended that you bring in Luigi and Yoshi for this course, since only then you can move fast. First, I will tell you how to get to the Secret Exit. At the start of the level, jump up to the hill and all the way to the summit where there is a dragon coin and Yoshi in a question block. Get him and jump off the hill to the right and collect the second dragon coin there before you go through the pipe. Since you have collected very few coins, you will be given a cliff region! This area features lots of slopes overlooking a pit, and to tell you the truth, the ones sloping to the right are hard to jump on, but with the Cape in hand, you can bounce off all the Red Koopa Paratroopas and reach the pipe quickly. You should definitely have more than 250 seconds left on the clock right now. This is the area with the secret exit. It is guarded by some pitching Chargin' Chucks. If you have completed all 4 Switch Palaces, there will be a walkway above them that will allow you to get to the key at the dead end without much trouble. Otherwise, you will have to use the Grab Blocks and fling them at the Chargin' Chucks. With the secret exit opened, Mario will bash his way through the chocolate to the south, before moving in an anti-clockwise direction all the way to the north shore where a pipe is. If you enter that, you will find yourself on another plateau overlooking the Valley of Bowser. It's Chocolate Secret. Now, let's try to beat the level using the standard exit. So, take your time in the first area and collect as many coins as you can. There is a coin box above the spring block at the start, but a little lower to the right of that is an invisible block. Step on it once it is revealed, and then jump up and whack the coin box from the right to get over 10 coins, then proceed to the top of the hill as usual, and collect the 2 dragon coins. Don't worry about Yoshi this time. If you have around 260 seconds left at this point, you will find yourself in an area with a Cape Feather in front of you. Get it, and run up the Triangular Block, take off at the top and get the coins in the air. You will come to a plateau with a dragon coin on it. You can stop, land and get it, and then use the Cape to glide to the exit. If you have 229 seconds left at this point, you will come to a watery land. There are no enemies here, just lots of Super Mushrooms in floating bubbles like those in Forest of Illusion 3. Dig in! There is a 4th dragon coin here. Collect it before you go through the pipe. If you have 214 seconds left at this point, you will find yourself facing a large pit that is completely sealed up with exclamation blocks. There is a Switch Block in front of you. Carry it and walk across the pit, then you can collect the final Dragon Coin at the end, and pass through the goal line with the Switch Block. If you have a Cape Feather in reserve, you will get a 1-up Mushroom as a bonus! Now, Mario will smash his way to the west, where Chocolate Island 3 is. ------------------- Chocolate Island 3 ------------------- Chocolate Island 3, like most of the other 3rd levels, is a highland platformer level. This time, you will be using a lot of mechanical swing lifts, most of them have a Koopa or Fuzzy on the central hub. The latter are more annoying, but can be eaten by Yoshi. Jump to the right through the first set of Swing Lifts, and then drop down to the next platform. Then, jump up to the next Swing Lift guarded by a Red Koopa to reach the Dragon Coin high above. Jump through the next set of Swing Lifts to a platform with a question block. Pick up the Cape Feather and jump your way past the next few Swing Lifts. The second Swing Lift of the next set has a dragon coin at the bottom. The Red Koopa is no threat, really. Then continue to the right. There is a blue pipe leading up. It leads to a bonus area with loads of coins, which can be collected by riding on the Swing lift. Collect as many as you can, and also bag the dragon coin. Leave. You will now find yourself in an area with Swing Lifts guarded by Fuzzies. This place is really hazardous. But still, there is a dragon coin to the right between 2 swing lifts. Another dragon coin is found below the Swing Lift that follows! Duck to dodge the Fuzzy. Then, you will come to a bonus block. Punch it, and a 1-up Mushroom should appear, since you have collected more than 30 coins. Now, to the right is a wooden block, punch it and a beanstalk will sprout. Up there, is a Swing Lift leading to a final gate. Unfortunately, this is a FAKE Goal. When you beat this, you will follow a roundabout path that leads back to where you start! But, how do you get to the real one? Well, actually, there is something else behind the final gate. To get there, run along the platform below, and fly upwards beneath the fake goal, coming up through the platform behind it. Then, you can run and take off to the right, through the skies and reach the final platform with the goal line. It seems that there are 3 wooden blocks before the real goal line. Each of them holds a 1-up Mushroom. (Note that if you don't have a cape, you must bring Yoshi in order to reach the gate. Eat the Blue Koopa, and then use his wings to fly through the long stretch of nothingness and then you will eventually reach the final platform.) Now, Mario will continue to blaze a trail through the chocolate hills until he reaches a Fortress, the yummy yummy Chocolate Fortress. ------------------- Chocolate Fortress ------------------- This is the first time I encounter the Fortress in the middle of the world, instead of near the end. But you are in for a treat, literally. Of course, Willy Wonka has learnt his lesson from the Prince Pondicherry fiasco, and has strengthened the melting point of his chocolate mix, and it's going to take forever for this fort to melt. So, let's go in and take care of the enemies inside. You come to a new obstacle: Sharpened wooden pillars that move up and down. The pointed tips will hurt if you touch them. The first pair moves from the ceiling and ground at the same time, and will meet at the middle before stopping. Let them move out of the way and jump through. Whack the Dry Bone that appears next. Then, you will come to a pair that rise and fall in unison with a gap between them. Jump between them as usual. There will be a pool of chocolate fudge next, but fortunately, it's blocked by a row of red exclamation blocks, so you won't end up being Augustus Gloop, the great fat greedy nincompoop. The next opening is guarded by one sharp wood pillar. Wait for it to rise up before jumping. The next pool is large and a wood pillar will occasionally move down from the ceiling, wait for it to move up before jumping. The next island has a question block with a Cape Feather inside. This is when the flames start appearing from the right. They come from many directions, and you have to pay attention in order to avoid them all. Jump over the next few pools of chocolate fudge. Wait for it to drop down before getting it. Jump over the next pool when the pillar has gone up. Then, you will come to another pool, blocked by a row of blue exclamation blocks. Beyond that is a pair of sharp wooden pillars adjacent to each other. Wait for them to both come down and jump over to the other side. Now, just make your way through 4 more sharp wooden pillars and you can reach a midway gate and a door that leads to the next area. The next area is a Thwomp and Thwimp haven. For the first pit, you have to lure the Thwomp to drop, and then drop down yourself as it rises to get past the spikes. Another Thwomp is guarding the path ahead. You need to jump up over that small bump while he's rising up. Another bump is guarded by a Thwomp and a Thwimp. Stick to the left of the bump and duck. When the Thwimp has gone to the left and the Thwomp is rising, jump to the right. Then, you come to a row of question blocks guarded by 2 Thwomps. Drop through the gap and bump the blocks for a Cape Feather. Then jump over the pool of chocolate fudge when the Thwomps are rising. Then, you will make your way past two Thwomp-Thwimp pairs. The second Thwimp is blocked in by the Red Exclamation Blocks, so you are rather safe. Then, you will come to a spike pit guarded by a Thwomp in the middle. You have to jump using the cape, lure the Thwomp down, drift to the left, and then make your jump across the spikes. Next up are pairs of Thwimps. It's easy to pass them. Immediately past the next spike pit is another Thwomp, lure him down, drift to the left before jumping over him. Then, you will come to a small bump in the middle of a spike pit with a Thwomp guarding it. Make your way past the next few bumps in the spikes guarded by Thwomps. Several of them are sealed in with exclamation blocks, so it's relatively safer. Only one last Thwimp gets in the way. Before you reach Renzor, you will come to a green exclamation block. Get the Cape Feather before going in to face the Renzors. Let's bump them off their perches like you have done before! ----------------- Chocolate Secret ----------------- Now that we are past the midway point of the standard path of Chocolate Island, it's time to take a look at the one and only secret level. This level is found very far under the ground, and is on another plateau to the south, and overlooking the Valley of Bowser. Let's bring capes and Yoshi to help you with what you are doing. Right at the start, drop down, and you will be overlooking a pool of lava. Jump onto the Springboard in order to bounce to the right. Take care of the Blarrg hiding beneath the springboard. Move along the path, and kill the Buzzy Beetles. Then, you will come to the first hill with a Chargin' Chuck who is practicing his kicks. Avoid the footballs, slide down the hill and jump over the pit for a question block with a Cape Feather inside. You might as well go up the hill and take out the Chargin' Chuck before you try getting it! With that, get the Cape Feather, go up the hill and go up the green pipe. You will be rather high up in the sky. There is a series of dropping grey platforms and a Dragon Coin in the middle of the air guarded by an Amazing Flying Hammer Brother. You must first jump along the platforms, get rid of the Hammer Brother, land on the hill to the right, before you jump back to the left and grab the dragon coin in the air. The collapsible platforms would return once more. Now, enter the exit pipe. Go right, and drop down to the bottom of the hill beneath the Chargin' Chucks. Grab the dragon coin, and go through the pipe to the next area, and don't bother with the midway gate. Just slide down the hill, hitting any Buzzy Beetles you find. It's just like the old days of Super Mario Bros. 3. If you are nervous, you can just jump to the right, and slowly drift down. At the 3rd slope, there is a small pit with Munchers, so you must look before you slide. Go through the pipe to the next area at the bottom. The next area features a series of steps with Spike Tops moving down them. Whack the Spike Tops with your cape as they get in the way. You will come to a yellow pillar floating over the lava pit. Jump on it, and immediately jump back to solid ground before the pillar sinks into the lava. There are even more Spike Tops in the path ahead. One of the pits holds a dragon coin. At the end of the path, you will come to a series of yellow pillars that act as stepping stones for you to jump across the lava pit. As soon as you land on one, the entire series will sink, so you must jump fast. There is a dragon coin on one of the pillars. At the other side, you will come to a path with Chargin' Chucks guarding the way. The lone question block holds a Fire Flower. Get it only if you are short on power. At the end of this path, you will come to another series of sinking pillars. Jump across them swiftly. The final dragon coin is in the air between the ledge and the last pillar. Once that part is clear, you can reach the exit pipe for the final gate. Once this level is completed, you will be given access to the western pipe, and you will emerge right next to Wendy's Castle. This really IS a shortcut for you. ------------------- Chocolate Island 4 ------------------- This time, you will be visiting a chocolate cave. It's all underground, but veins of chocolate fudge are all there. Just don't fall in if you don't want to be like Augustus Gloop! Go down the hill, and jump onto that orange and green lift, and let it give you a boost upwards and across the pool of hot chocolate fudge. Then, move past this small hill and jump past the next set of orange and green lifts to get to the other side. You will find a dragon coin there. You will then come to a rather large pool of hot chocolate fudge. To get across, you will have to make your way to the right and down. If you continue upwards, you will reach an alcove with a Super Mushroom. Go down, and jump onto that dropping platform for the next path. Go up the slope and jump up to the left for another dragon coin. As you can see below, there is a pool of hot chocolate fudge sealed up with Blue and Red Exclamation Blocks. You can get the 3 1-up Mushrooms with ease now. Just use the orange and green lifts to get back up. The midway gate is also down there too. Then, you will come to a diagonal of wooden blocks with a Dragon Coin on it. Bump one of the wooden blocks to reveal another dragon coin below, as well as a brown pipe leading to a bonus area. Inside the bonus area, stomp the switch and drop down level by level to find your prizes. Different levels have different powerups, and one level has 5 1- up Mushrooms. One of the levels has a long row of coins. Get down to that level, and you will find the 5th and final dragon coin there. (It's the 3rd level from the top.) Go through the exit pipe and you will emerge from a golden pipe that is nestled on a bony platform rather high up, and you will find the place filled with Mega Moles roaming about. The question block to the right of the pipe holds a Fire Flower. Now, drop down to the path and make your way past the Mega Moles, and jump over the large pool of hot chocolate fudge. Now, you will eventually see the sign. This means that the goal is near. The goal line is preceded with a green pipe with a jumping Chargin' Chuck. Just like Yoshi's Island 1, you can stomp on his head, and use him as a spring to bounce up high to the goal line, breaking the tape rather high up and collecting more Star Points. With this level completed, Mario will continue to blaze a path through the chocolate to the west, and reach another yellow dot on the map. This is the Chocolate Island 5. ------------------- Chocolate Island 5 ------------------- This is a first in Super Mario World: the first level with the number 5 in the level name. What took them so long huh? Well, I guess a linear world needs a couple more levels in order to be on par with the rest, I say. You will be back on the surface now. This is one weird world since many enemies are sealed in brown blocks or wooden blocks. This means that you will need a switch to release them from their little prisons. At the start, move past the Spinies imprisoned in their blocks and reach the pit that is temporarily sealed up with brown blocks. Bump the question block for Yoshi, and the lower right block for a Fire Flower. The switch is on the ground. Don't stomp it yet or you will fall to your death. Instead, swallow it and move to the right. When you have found the sealed up dragon coin, stomp it. You can also retrace your steps and enter the golden pipe you have passed just now and play a bonus game. If you do so, you will emerge close to a large pool of water. There is a dragon coin in the air above the water. Go right, avoiding all the Goombas and Bob-ombs that are being paradropped down onto you. Don't jump too high and stay low. Once you are cleared the water, you will find a Green Koopa Shell between a coin and a row of coins above the water. Anyway, you may want to backtrack and enter the second Golden Pipe of this level. You will be dropped into an area with lots of Cheep Cheeps in bubbles. They are harmless until they hit the water, then they will swim. Several Super Mushrooms can be found as well. But most importantly, you will find 2 dragon coins here. Leave and you will emerge before the midway gate. Next up is an area with pipes that rise and fall all the time, just like in Donut Plains 4. Next up is a series of wooden platforms that contract and expand, just like in Yoshi's Island 3. You will then come to a rather high pipe with a Chargin' Chuck blocking the way. He is jumping up and down and is planning to intercept you in the air. If you have the Cape, you should be able to jump higher than him. Knock him off his platform and collect the single dragon coin that he is guarding. After that, you will come to the final gate, guarded by 3 jumping Chargin' Chucks. The final one should make a good boost to get more Star oints. With this exit gone through, Mario will move north, through a couple more chocolatey hills and to Wendy's Castle. --------------- Wendy's Castle --------------- Wendy's Castle is the first and last castle in this game that is owned by a female fatale, and a spoiled one too! Yoshi's not going to be with you, son. Right in front of you as you enter is a Bone Throwing Dry Bone. Charge forwards and whack him before he can do anything with you. You then come to a pit guarded by a Monster Spike. These new obstacles will slam down hard onto the ground and remain there for a short moment before rising up again. If you get trapped under one, you will definitely lose a life! As soon as the Spike rises, jump over the gap. Then, go over to the next bed of springboards and bounce up to the ledge above before the spikes come down. Then, you can move forwards, and drop slowly down to the path below while avoiding the spikes in the corner. As soon as you have dropped down, be careful of the Grinders coming from the right. The first safety pit is a little to the right. Then, you will come to a small section of the path with a higher. Jump and avoid the Grinders as you go right. You arrive at a large lava pool. Jump onto the stone block which is extended into a platform by 2 red exclamation blocks to reach the next path, avoiding the Podoboo. The next area features a combination of Grinders and Monster Spikes. The first set can be avoided by standing inside the trench. Then, a Monster Spike follows. Squat to avoid the next Grinder. Then, when the next Monster Spike rises, run forwards to avoid the next long tracked Grinder, and stand right between this track and the next to dodge the Monster Spikes. It's a tight squeeze, but there is a gap just big enough for you to fit in. The next pair of Grinders are to be jumped over when they are close. Use the Cape to drift all the way to the right beyond the Monster Spikes to the safety of the next path. You will then come to a trio of Grinders. To get to the path up above, jump along those stone blocks. The first 2 Grinders can be avoided by ducking on the stone block and blue exclamation block you stand on. Then, just make a long jump to the ledge above with a help of the cape. You will then come to a pair of alternating Monster Spikes. The left one and right one move in turns. When the first rises, run and jump over the next one. The next pair moves downwards in unison. Wait for each to rise up and run beneath them. Go through the door to the next area, which features lots of stone platforms guarded by L'il Sparkys and Hotheads. The latter are the large fireballs which can be spinjumped on. Jump onto the first platform with the Li'l Sparky and get the Super Mushroom inside the block if you need it before jumping onto the next moving path. Jump onto the next platform with a Hothead. You will have to wait until the next path is revealed before you jump over. Hurry past this path and jump to the next platform before the ceiling comes down. Wait for the masonry to move up in front of you, and jump to the next platform with the Hothead. Afterwards, jump onto the next rising and falling platform. You will then find a grey platform moving left and right. Ride it to the right before dropping down to the lower grey platform. Continue right when the path is clear. You will then jump onto the next platform guarded by a Hothead. Jump to the right and onto one of the many platforms guarded by Hotheads when the coast is clear. Continue to the final platform for the door leading to Wendy Koopa. There is a green exclamation block if you need a power up. Wendy Koopa is also hiding in one of the 7 pipes in the boss battle room. This time, all pipes are level, and there are 2 Fireballs bouncing around. Since he pipes are level, it's easy to predict where the fireballs will go. Just stomp the real Wendy Koopa (not the dummies) 3 times and she will fall into the lava, just like Lenny. This time, Mario will simply use a mop and mop the castle away from the scenery! You will be told that Wendy O. Koopa has sung her swan song. You now come to a Sunken Ghost Ship that is the threshold to the dreaded Valley of Bowser. ------------------ Sunken Ghost Ship ------------------ With Wendy's Castle knocked down, you will move north into the bay. There is a wrecked ship there known as the Sunken Ghost Ship. What do you expect from ghost ships? Boos, of course. However, in spite of this being a haunted level, Yoshi can still come with you! It's a definite plus to have him come with you. The first area features 3 Bullet Bill cannons. There is a question block above the first cannon with a Cape Feather inside. Swim upwards, drop down the next trench and you will find the golden pipe leading to the next area. In the next area, swim right and stick to the ceiling to find several Eeries around here. Swim upwards and go over that stack of giant crates, this is where the Boos appear. A massive array of Boos will fill the room from time to time, appearing and disappearing without warning. The best strategy is to use Yoshi, and continue to bump the ceiling while you are riding on him. Then, even if you touch a Boo, you can still force yourself to stay on Yoshi and you will be safe. You will eventually reach a narrower hallway, and so be prepared to dive a little deeper. After you have gone past the hallway and found several more Boos, you would have seen Eeries ahead. You know you are safe when you have seen them! This is because those Boo arrays will no longer come to haunt you. Dive down and swim past the next hallway. There is a pair of Boos preceding the first Boo Ring. Keep facing them until you can swim in through the gap in the ring, and keep pressing B to avoid touching the Spikes at the bottom. When the gap is open, swim up and to the right, and wait for the next Boo Ring to reveal its gap and swim through drop down to the pipe and go through it to get to the next area. The next area is a giant vertical drop. As soon as you leave the pipe, you would have collected a Super Star. Start dropping. All the 5 dragon coins are found in this area. If you want to collect them, you might as well slowly down your descent with your cape, and weave left and right to discover their locations. For one things, the first dragon coin is to the left, the 2nd and 3rd are to the center. The 4th is also to the left. The 5th and final one lies in the center after the first coin column. Near the bottom, you will find plenty of Spiked Balls dropping around you. You must avoid them all if the Super Star has worn out. At the very bottom, you will come to a platform floating on the water with a green orb. Touch that green orb to beat the level. When this level is completed, a large entrance modeled after Bowser's face would have risen out of the water. You will enter through his mouth and end up in the Valley of Bowser! --------------- 8. Star World --------------- Now, before we get to the Valley of Bowser, let us have a look at the portal world of the Star World. Star World is accessed through Star Roads unlocked in Donut Plains, Vanilla Dome, Twin Bridges, Forest of Illusion and the Vally of Bowser. You will be sent to an island in the sky that is star shaped. The stages are designed in a loop. To get to the next level, you must find the secret exits of each level. Once all links are connected, you can use Star World as a "Warp Zone" to travel quickly between all the other worlds. Here's the map of Star World, it's very linear so we will start from the southwest. Star Road from Donut Plains --> Star World 1 --> Star Road from Vanilla Dome --> Star World 2 --> Star Road from Twin Bridges --> Star World 3 --> Star Road from Forest of Illusion --> Star World 4 --> Star Road from Valley of Bowser --> Star World 5 --> Star Road from Donut Plains (standard) or Star Road to Special World (secret) A new world can be revealed if you find the secret exit of Star World 5. Otherwise, the entire loop is completed. --------------- Star World 1 --------------- This level is very simple. It's just a cavern with happy background music. You are to spin jump through rows of wooden blocks to reach the exit at the bottom. If you just wish to find the Secret Exit to Star World 2, just hang to the far right as you spin jump down and you will come to a ledge with the key and keyhole as you spin through the second layer of blocks. On the other hand, if you are interested in getting through the standard exit, you should also find the dragon coins. When you are tackling the first layer of blocks, hang to the right and you will find the first Dragon Coin stored there. If you miss it, you can perform a high jump off Yoshi's back from below. Bringing a Cape here is a good idea since you can go left and right while you are spin jumping down through the place. When you spin jump through the second layer, stick to the left and you will find the second Dragon Coin stored in a rather tall "compartment". Spin jump to the left to find a Cape Feather. That concludes the second layer. At the third layer, look down, and you will find a dragon coin in a hole in the layer to the left, so that is where you have to spin jump down to get it. When you are at the bottom, move to the right, and jump up from below and make your way to the 1-up Mushroom there. There are 2 Super Stars in the 4th layer. Collecting them is optional, since you need not spin jump through this layer. There are several Koopas hanging around the place below. You can kill them or ignore them as you wish. As you get to the 5th layer, spin jump through the left side and collect the 2 final dragon coins there. Then, spin jump through the next thin layer, collect the Super Star and drill all the way to the bottom, ignoring the Red Baby Yoshi you may find. The exit pipe is at the bottom level. Before you exit, dump Yoshi. --------------- Star World 2 --------------- Star World 2 is the underground Star World level. Before you enter, let's dump Yoshi. At the start, swim up next to the pipe and collect the dragon coin there, then lunge for the Super Star that is dropping down from above. Get it to become invincible and grab the blue Baby Yoshi. With him in your hands, you can swim extra fast. Swim quickly to the right, grabbing all the dragon coins you find. Eventually, you will reach a question block. Bump it before the power of the Super Star has worn off to find another Super Star instead of a coin. Continue to swim to the right at a high speed until you see the exit pipe to the far right. That exit pipe leads to the standard exit. To get to the secret exit, swim underneath this pipe. Eventually, you will find a secret cave with the key and keyhole. When you want to beat the level the standard way, come back and beat it again. One thing to note is that the Baby Yoshi will grow into an adult Yoshi once he eats 5 enemies. Blue Yoshis can fly with any type of Koopa Shell swallowed. --------------- Star World 3 --------------- This is one weird level. The standard exit is just to the next screen. The Secret Exit is to be reached by luring the Lakitu to the right by the steps of grab blocks, grab a grab block yourself, and chuck it at the Lakitu so that you can use his cloud to reach the secret exit above. The key is in the Prize Block. Of course, the Grey Switch Block is there for you to temporarily turn the Spinies into grey coins. The Baby Yoshi in this level is yellow. Feeding him with 5 enemies or Grey Coins will turn him into an adult Yellow Yoshi. These guys are capable of creating Earthquakes by jumping with any Koopa Shell they eat. --------------- Star World 4 --------------- Finally, a real serious Star World level. Make sure no Yoshis are with you. Then, go right and jump onto the platform. There is a red egg, from which a baby Red Yoshi would hatch. Grab them. Jump onto the grey swing lift. Jump onto the next platform, and feed baby Yoshi with the Red Koopas. Try to separate the Koopas from their shells and you can double the number of enemies Yoshi has eaten. Jump onto the next platform and eat the 2 Blue Koopas. The Baby Yoshi grows into an adult! So, he can breathe fire with whatever shells he eats. Jump onto the next platform and and swallow the Red Koopa there. Look to your right. There is a column of Red Koopa Paratroopas blocking the way. Spit out the fireballs at them to clear the jump. Then jump to the next platform. There is a question block with a Cape Feather inside. Jump to the next platform, and swallow the Red Koopa you find. Blow fireballs at the Koopa Paratroopa that is coming over to say hi. Watch out for the next Red Koopa Paratroopa as you jump onto the next platform, guarded by a Blue Koopa. Jump past the next swing lift to the next platform, on which you will find another Red Koopa in front of a pit guarded by a column of Red Koopa Paratroopas. Spit fire out at them, and jump to the right. Jump up the next set of platforms to reach another swing lift. Next, instead of following the stone block path, jump down to the row of green exclamation Blocks. It's a path leading to the Secret Exit. With both the red exclamation blocks and green exclamation blocks, it's a cinch to get the key, which is inside the block on the ground. Use a Cape Feather to open up the block. On the other hand, if you wish to reach the Standard Exit, follow the stone path. There is a Blue Koopa kicking a Green Koopa Shell into that small pit in front of you. Counter with the Red Koopa Shell. Then, jump over the next 2 Green Pipes and avoid the 2 jumping Green Koopa Paratroopas. Jump over the platforms, swing lifts and to the platform guarded by the Blue Koopa. 3 more swing lifts are left before you reach the final gate. --------------- Star World 5 --------------- Star World 5 is the land of the Dropping Platforms. The secret exit here does not lead to a new level, but a new world, Special World. The first 3 collapsible platforms are guarded by one Green Koopa Paratroopa flying from the right. There is a dragon coin in the air above one of them. Then, jump up to the next row of 4 collapsible platforms. The final platform has a dragon coin beneath it, so you have to stand still on the platform, let it drop and collect the coin. Jump over the large gap to the next set of 5 collapsible platforms to the next green solid platform. Bump the question block, which is actually a control block. Allow the coins to go right all the way without interference, so you should wait for the music to run out. Stomp the switch and run on this newly created platform made from the coins all the way to the end when you find 4 wooden blocks. (There is a dragon coin slightly off the edge to the right.) Bump one of them for a beanstalk which leads to the secret exit. That path is made of yellow, green, red and blue exclamation blocks. There are a couple of spots that you should squat run past. But still, it's not hard to reach the key. A new Star Road will be created in the central hill of Star World. That's the Special World. If you want to complete the loop, beat the standard exit. Just jump to the right at the wooden blocks. You will come to the next platform, and there is an egg with a baby Yellow Yoshi. Feed him with the Spinies and Jumping Piranha Plants you find by all the pipes. Then, he will turn into an adult. Jump on the next 4 collapsible platforms arranged in steps up and collect the last 2 dragon coins. The first one is above the platform, and the bottom one can be grabbed by dropping down. You will come to a platform with a Red Koopa in front of several spinies. Eat the Koopa and spit the flames out at the Spinies. There is another Red Koopa with 2 Spinies near the goal line, and after that you can call it a day. Congrats, you have completed the loop of Star World. ----------------- 9. Special World ----------------- When you have unlocked the central Star Road in Star World, you can use that to warp to a new secret world called Special World. The entire environment is like a disco, most of the place is dark, and only the revealed levels are illuminated. Flood lights arranged in the world SPECIAL flash to the north. Special World features a set of 8 linear levels, all named after hippie terms. If you stay on the map of Special World long enough, you get to hear a calypso version of the theme of the original Super Mario Bros.! The names of the levels in their order of appearance is Gnarly, Tubular, Way Cool, Awesome, Groovy, Mondo, Outrageous and Funky! Beating the last level unlocks a Star Road that is one way, and leads back to Yoshi's Island. So, let's begin with Gnarly! --------------- Gnarly --------------- Gnarly is a vertical level, so you will have to go up, then to the right and drop all the way down in order to beat this level. Start this level WITHOUT Yoshi. At the start, bounce up the green springs up to the platform above with 4 wooden blocks. Only bump the one to the right to reveal that beanstalk there, and climb up. Keep climbing until you reach the platform of brown blocks. You will see 2 wooden blocks there. Break them both by spin jumping and get the dragon coin on the left wooden block. Drop down to the platform below and bump the 2 wooden blocks in the center of the 4 to reveal beanstalks there. Climb up the left one. It leads all the way up to the top of the left area. On your way up, you will find 2 wooden blocks to the left above two green springs. Don't bump those blocks yet, but get the dragon coin to the right of them. You will climb up to a hidden alcove with a 1-up Mushroom tucked in there. Then, get all the way down and bump the 2 wooden blocks. The left one holds a switch, while the right one reveals a second beanstalk that continues to lead up. Grab the switch block and jump onto the platform of note blocks to the right. Bounce all the way up to the top of the stone block and jump over the wooden block to the top stone platform. Stomp the switch and jump all the way to the right, leaning against the right wall as you fall down. You will land on a question block to the left of a green pipe. This pipe leads to the bottom part of the second area. Go left first and collect the 3 dragon coins there before you walk to the right. 3 1- up Mushrooms will pop out of the ground, giving you 3 extra lives! Now, jump up the hill. There are 2 blue switches and a grey switch. Stomp one blue switch and carry the grey one with you. Then, jump onto the platform of question blocks revealed by the switch and quickly bump the Amazing Flying Hammer Brother from his perch. Jump onto his perch before the effects of the switch block wear off. Jump onto the next hill afterwards. Stomp the grey switch before the Lakitu comes. He will be basically harmless while you stomp him or whack him down. The final gate is to the right. Get a Super Mushroom from the bushes if you please. That's it. The path leading east will be revealed all the way to the next flashing light and that is Tubular. --------------- Tubular --------------- This is one ugly level of the game. To proceed, you must find and use 3 Power Balloons. Even if you now their locations, you will still be in trouble since there are so many Chargin' Chucks and Volcano Lotuses in the way. Anyway, brace yourself for pure terror! At the start of the level, you will be jumping across a series of pipes, and 2 of them are guarded by jumping Chargin' Chucks. Luckily, it's possible to jump even higher than they do. Eventually, you will reach the first question block with a switch on it. Stomp the switch to reveal loads of coins. Jump down to the Springboard, and bounce up to reveal the Power Balloon from the question block. Bounce up again and grab it before it drifts away. Now, you must float through the sky all the way to the exit! On your way to the second Power Balloon, you will encounter 2 Chargin' Chucks mounted on question blocks. Move carefully to avoid the American footballs they kick at you. Once you have passed them, the next question block you see holds the second Power Balloon. Bump it, and let it drift to the right. Get it only when you have passed the pair of Red Koopa Paratroopas. Your balloon should have enough power to last till then. With the second Power Balloon, drift in between the 2 Volcano Lotuses. Also consider bumping the question block holding the upper Volcano Lotus to get rid of it. Continue to float to the right, and float over the Jumping Piranha Plant. After the pipe, you are going to encounter the final hurdle, and that's the part that is most likely going to stop you out cold. Start descending, and go beneath the question block with the Chargin' Chuck who is practicing place kicks. Bump him from beneath to reveal the Power Balloon. You now have to get it, but another Chargin' Chuck above and to the right is the greatest hurdle. He is positioned in a way so that it is easy for him to hit you while you are desperately trying to get the last balloon. Anyway, after a few tries, you should be able to get the balloon and dodge his footballs. Then, I suggest you bump him off his block from beneath to teach him a lesson. Now, just drift to the right, and stay high above the Volcano Lotuses and you should find the exit in no time. What's more, you can save after completing this level, so you never have to beat it again! --------------- Way Cool --------------- Everyone needs a breather now and then. Way cool is not only cool, but very easy. The first part features a series of lifts guided by On/Off Blocks that determine which tracks will the lift follow. Ride the lift you see, and skip the first two switches, and bump the next two. You will be sent to a pipe. Enter. You will exit on a fluffy cloud with a question block inside. Bump it for Yoshi. Then, exit with him. You will come to another question block as you exit. It holds a pair of Yoshi Wings. Wear them and fly up to the clouds, and this is a quick way of beating this level. Note that there are only 4 dragon coins in the bonus sky. To get 5 dragon coins, replay this area with Yoshi, and bump the first switch of the 4 to reach a dragon coin at the start. Then, bump the second switch, and then the 4th switch. Try not to lose Yoshi to the Fuzzies, and you should have collected 3 dragon coins before you have even worn the Yoshi Wings. Then, go back up to the bonus sky and get the hell out with 2 more dragon coins. --------------- Awesome ---------------- Awesome is a slippery ice world. But this time, all action takes place on the surface instead of underground, so you will have the athletic music theme. Right at the start, a flashing yellow Koopa Shell will charge at you. Swallow it with Yoshi and go right, jump onto the retracting platform, and go up the hill. You will come down into a pit, and there is a blue shelless Koopa to the right kicking a Red Shell down to you. Eat the shell before it hits you. Then, jump up the next hill and drop down the next pit. The next pit is guarded by a shelless Koopa which is kicking a Blue Shell down onto you. There is a dragon coin in this pit, as well as 2 Rexes. The pit after that is guarded by a flashing yellow Koopa Shell. There is a Prize Block with a Fire Flower inside. Continue to the right. Run down the slope, and jump over the water, collecting the dragon coin. The next hill is guarded by another shell kicking Koopa. How annoying. The next downhill slope has a switch. Hold it in Yoshi's mouth for now. Jump over the water, and dodge the next series of Shell Kicking Koopas, Rexes and Koopa Paratroopas. Note that the Yellow Koopa Paratroopa walks sometimes, and he tries to follow you around. In fact, all Yellow Koopas do that. When you are reaching the next pit, stomp the switch and jump onto the next platform. There is a brown platform that allows you to reach the Prize Block above. Bump it for a Super Star. This will help protect you from all those Cheep Cheeps. Start running to the right. There is a Fire Flower on the ground for you to collect. It's a mad dash to the finish, and there are pipes and single ice blocks in the air for you to jump on, so take your time and don't rush. The power of the Super Star lasts long enough that you can kill the final Red Koopa Paratroopa and collect all the dragon coins you find. Just jump onto the final ice block, and jump up to the hill above to the right to clear the last pit and reach the goal line. That's done it. You would then continue to go right and walk out of the screen, and then you will reappear at the upper right path to find Groovy. --------------- Groovy --------------- Groovy is the level you find being demonstrated to you in the starting screen of Super Mario World. If you have watched the starting sequence carefully, you should know how to clear the first part. But since Yoshi's with you, we will have a little change of plan. At the start, stomp the first Koopa and eat the apple. Get off Yoshi, and whack the question block on the ground with your cape for a 1-up. Then, jump over, get the dragon coin and eat the next two apples. There will be a shelless Blue Koopa sliding down the next hill to greet you. What follows then is a parade of 4 Koopas, each with a different color. Use the shell of the leader to dispose of the entire parade. You will encounter a Pokey next. Have Yoshi eat him up. Then, walk past the next bush carefully, since a Jumping Piranha Plant is hiding inside. Jump over the next pit, and avoid the Volcano Lotus on the stone block. To the right is a roulette block. Bump it and get the Super Star. It's time to go on a crazed run to the right. Kill all the Pokeys and Volcanic Lotuses you can see, all the way to the hills stacked with Pokeys. There should be 2 more dragon coins for you to collect in that particular run. Jump up the tall blue pipe and continue to the right. Run up the slope, and jump high up to the right, that is because there is a Stone Platform to the right with a pitching Chargin' Chuck on it. Get onto his platform, whack him, and get the dragon coin. Drop down and eat the Pokey. Walk to the right, eat the Volcanic Lotus get the last Dragon Coin, and eat the last Pokey, then jump up the pipes guarded by the Chargin' Chucks swiftly, and the final gate is to the right. --------------- Mondo --------------- When I typed in Mondo, Microsoft Word decided that it is a typo. But still, Mondo is Italian for "world". Hmm... Anyway, this is a world of rising and lowering tides. So, sometimes, the place will be flooded, and at other times, it will be completely dry. Cheep-Cheeps rule this place, and are particularly vulnerable when the place is dry, since they will be flipping around helplessly, and you can defeat them by running into them. At all costs, bring Yoshi and make sure he stays with you. At the start, the water is still static. Swim to the right and eat the Cheep-Cheeps. When you reach the first Amazing Flying Hammer Brother, the water will start to rise and fall. Quickly swim right and knock him off his perch. Then go right. You should reach the next hill as the water lowers. Now, the Cheep Cheep you see will be flipping around helplessly. There are several pits with Munchers here, but you will be safe since Yoshi's standing on them. Jump over the Golden Pipe and to the Muncher pit with a Prize Block above. Bump it for a Cape Feather. Jump over the next blue pipe, and wait for the water to fall. The reason is that there is another Amazing Flying Hammer Brother to the right. When the land is dry, it's easier to knock him off. Run along the ground, and knock the 3 Cheep-Cheeps out. Go over to the Muncher pit by the tall green pipe for the 1st Dragon Coin. Jump over that pipe, and swim to the right as the water rises up. Eat all the Cheep Cheeps you find. You will come to another hill, with 3 question blocks to the left. The top block holds Yoshi, but a 1-up Mushroom will come out if you have not lost him yet. There is a Dragon Coin on the top of the hill. You will then come to 2 Blue Pipes. Enter the shorter one. You will emerge on a cloud slope filled with coins. Run down the slope, and collect the dragon coin before the exit pipe. When you exit, immediately go right, and jump over the Muncher Pit and eat the 2 Red Koopas that get in the way. Jump over the next series of Muncher Pits. Then, you will come to 2 long rows of Prize Blocks. When everything is dry, run along the ground and get the dragon coin. Don't bother with bumping the question blocks if you don't have enough time. The last muncher pit is guarded by a Hammer Brother. There is a dragon coin in the middle of the pit! Bump the Hammer Brother off his perch when everything is dry, and then collect the last dragon coin, Jump onto the flying platform, and reach the final gate. --------------- Outrageous --------------- Outrageous leads back into the forest, and this time, the place is infested with Bullet Bill Cannons. If you are temporarily trapped, stand very close to the cannon, and it cannot fire. Hopping flames are in too. They jump around, starting small fires which hurt you. Yoshi can eat those flames, so he's a powerful asset to have around. Right at the start, you will find a Wiggler, so eat him up. Then jump over the pit. You will come to a path with 2 hopping flames coming towards you. Wait for them to get close and eat them both. Let the tiny flames die away before proceeding to get the dragon coin. There is a third jumping flame before the question block, which holds a Fire Flower. That is not needed now. Let's make sure you have a Cape in hand. Before the first Bullet Bill Cannon, there is a Springboard. Have Yoshi hold it in his mouth, and go all the way to the start of this path, run to the right and take off. You should be able to cover almost the entire Bullet Bill Cannon obstacle course, but you will also skip two dragon coins here. So replay the hard way after you have beaten this level in order to get them. You will come to a tall orange pipe. Spit the springboard out, and use it to bounce over it. There are 2 Wigglers on the other side of the pipe. Straight ahead is an Amazing Flying Hammer Brother. Bump him off his perch and use the platform to go over the next tall golden pipe. Beyond that pipe are some hopeless flipping Cheep Cheeps that are popping out of the wooden blocks. 2 Goombas are also present. If you observe carefully, you will find that the Jumping Piranha Plants here spit flames out. So, beware. There is a Wiggler between the next 2 Orange Pipes. The question block there holds Yoshi, and you can get him if you lost him earlier. Use the next green pipe to reach the next hill and jump down and continue your way. You will come to another Amazing Flying Hammer Brother. His platform is used to jump up to the tall blue pipe to the right. Between that pipe and the next, there is a jumping flame and 3 question block, one of which holds a Fire Flower. The final gate is further to the right. It's guarded by 2 Bullet Bill Cannons (with a dragon coin in between), and you may need to use the Amazing Flying Hammer Brother's flying platform to reach it. However, if you have a Cape, you can long jump across this pit to reach the goal.. --------------- Funky --------------- Funky is the last level of Special World. There is one new type of apple for Yoshi to eat. They are the green apples. Each one eaten adds 20 seconds to the countdown timer! This is one thing you don't want to miss! At the start, immediately run forward to avoid the flames made by the Sumo Brother overhead. Jump over the pit, and land on the green pipe. Then eat the first green apple. Run underneath the next stone platform with the Sumo Brother, and jump over the pit, over those small islands and get the dragon coin. The next path has a Green Apple in the bush. You will then find a Red Koopa, followed by a walking Yellow Koopa Paratroopa. Just eat them all ok? If you are having a Blue Yoshi, you can simply fly across most of the level. But I am not a spoilsport, so I will just tell you how to beat this level the hard way. To the right is a row of Prize Blocks with a Sumo Brother on top. Just jump up the row of blocks, and jump over the Sumo Brother since Yoshi is protecting you from harm. Past that row of blocks is the next path with a switch, green apple and 2 Blue Koopas. Jump over the next pit, and onto the next platform of question block. There are a pair of Sumo Brothers here. One is on the row of Note Blocks above you. Quickly bump that one away, and whack the second. Then spin jump through the 2 wooden blocks to the bottom level, where you will find a dragon coin. Continue to the right and jump over the pit. There is a pitching Chargin' Chuck there. Stomp him and whack him. To the right is a Chargin' Chuck waiting for something. He is actually getting ready to signal the arrival of lots of Green Super Koopas. You must move forward and whack him before he whistles, or lots of Green Super Koopas will be swooping around. When he's gone, collect the dragon coin above you and jump onto the next two platforms made out of Grab Blocks. Since you are riding Yoshi, you won't worry about grabbing one by mistake and falling to your death. Continue along the path, and you will reach a question block before the next Green Apple. That block is a coin block, but due to the shortage of time, let's continue right to the next path. Eat the next green apple you find and you will see another Chargin' Chuck standing there waiting for you. Whack him before he can signal any reinforcements. Jump over the next two islands guarded by Red Koopas to reach the next path. Another Sumo Brother is above you. Bump him from below and eat the next green apple. Two Para-Goombas follow. Jump over the next pit. There is going to be a Chargin' Chuck guarding the top of the next hill. Only jump up when he has stopped pitching. Also get the dragon coin above him. Then, you will come to a path with several jumping Green Koopa Paratroopas, and you can eat another green apple before you jump to the next grab block platform. There is a flying question block overhead. Let Yoshi give you a boost so that you can collect the 1-up Mushroom inside. Then, to the right is a column of Chargin' Chucks in the way. Get past them, and collect the final dragon coin, and run past the coin message and you are home free! Once you have beaten this level, you can play in a slightly different dinosaur land. Notice how certain enemies have changed in appearance. For example, all Koopas have Mario heads! In addition, Piranha Plants now resemble Jack-O- Lanterns! If you'd rather play in the original world, don't save the game after beating Funky! Oh, and a new Star Road will be made available to the far west, and it's a one way portal to Yoshi's Island. You will be back at Yoshi's House. In addition, you will find that the colours of the entire world have changed. Yoshi's Island is now brown in color, and Chocolate Island is green! (Must be the mould) --------------------- 10. Valley of Bowser --------------------- The Valley of Bowser is where the evil Koopa king is based in dinosaur land. It seems that in his move here, he has built himself a very large castle to the north, and you are to slowly move there and get the Princess from him. There really are no secret levels here, but many levels do have secret exits and they create shortcuts to the final level when they are found. So, here is the map of the Valley of Bowser. Valley of Bowser 1 --> Valley of Bowser 2 Valley of Bowser 2 --> Valley Ghost House(standard)/Valley Fortress(secret) Valley Ghost House --> Valley of Bowser 3 (standard)/Lenny's Castle (secret) Valley of Bowser 3 --> Valley of Bowser 4 Valley of Bowser 4 --> Lenny's Castle (standard)/Star Road (secret) Lenny's Castle/Star Road --> Bowser's Castle Front Door Valley Fortress --> Bowser's Castle Back Door As you can see, levels that are north and south of each other have secret exits leading to them. In fact, when all the exits are revealed, you will end up with a figure of eight to the west of this world! ------------------- Valley of Bowser 1 ------------------- Valley of Bowser 1 is a completely underground level. It's so large and has many paths. It's a maze! This maze is also infested with Mega Moles, so you may want to bring Yoshi along. Right at the start, to the right, you will find a Mega Mole being imprisoned inside some red exclamation blocks, so he's harmless. Meanwhile, a Chargin' Chuck will run down the steps at you from the right. Let him come close and give him a good whacking! Jump up and you will find that there are 2 paths for you to take. Take the lower path first and you will come to a wall of grab blocks. Look to the right and the Chargin' Chuck at the other side will charge right through the blocks at you. When the path is clear, whack him out of his misery. Run to the other side of the blocks for an alcove above with a dragon coin guarded by a Mega Mole. When the Mole is under a wooden block, bump him from below, allowing you to get the coin. With the coin in hand, backtrack and take the upper path. You will find a small pit. Let the next Mega Mole move and fall into that pit. When he's inside, you can simply walk on him to the other side! At the next junction, take the upper path, and you will find a dragon coin up there. Take the next path from the top and jump over the pit to the next path you see. You will see that a certain part of the ceiling's higher than the rest of the path. Look right and let the Mega Mole come to you. Use the bump to jump over the Mole. Go right. Another junction appears. The lower path leads to the Midway Gate, while the upper path leads to the next area. Break the tape of the Midway Gate, and go up, jump over the next Mega Mole. You will come to a pit filled with Munchers. When the Mega Mole has come over, jump onto him and let him transport you to the other side. Jump over the pit for a 3-up Moon! With that, drop down the pit. Let's go all the way to the far left, and over to the lowest path of them all. There is a green exclamation block with a Cape Feather inside. Go to the right and go up to the second path from the top. There is a dragon coin to the left of the Mega Mole that is trapped inside a wall of yellow exclamation blocks. You can whack a block with a cape if you want a Super Mushroom for your reserve slot. Drop 2 paths down and collect the 4th dragon coin at the dead end. Make sure that you bump the air at the gap of the path above to reveal 3 invisible blocks. With them there, jump up, and follow that path to the right. You may encounter some more Chargin' Chucks that charge through block walls. Then jump up all the way to the top path out of the next set. Go all the way to the right, and drop down to the pit to collect the final dragon coin. Oh, the time is running out. Let's get out through the exit at the bottom right. Go left, and drop down to the bottommost path. There may be a single wooden block containing a beanstalk there, but I don't advise punching it, since the beanstalk leads to a bonus game that exits rather far away from the exit. Bust through another grab block wall with the help of a Chargin' Chuck to reach the exit pipe. Go through it and run through the goal line. Now, Mario will move west to the next dot on the map, and that is Valley of Bowser 2. ------------------ Valley of Bowser 2 ------------------ For the Valley of Bowser 2, it's advised that you beat the standard and secret exits with and without Yoshi respectively. So, now, let's beat the level using the Standard method first. The first area features the usual moving pillars of Donut Plains 2. This time, the screen is NOT scrolling to the right. Jump onto the first pillar and a Swooper will fly from above. Jump over to the next pillar, and watch out for the lone Green Koopa dropping down from the next hill. The next pillar that follows has 2 coins above. Jump over the next hill to the next yellow pillar. There is a question block between this pillar and the next one, which holds a Cape Feather. Once you've picked the feather up, look to the right. You will find a crazed flashing Yellow Koopa Shell charging at you. Have Yoshi eat the shell up or stomp it flat. Jump past the next 2 pillars. Another Green Koopa will drop down the second one of the next pair. It seems that a Green Koopa will drop down every other pillar. Learn this pattern and you won't be surprised. The second pillar before the midway gate has a dragon coin above it. Get it, break the midway gate and go through the pipe. The next question block holds a pair of Yoshi wings. Get them and you will be rocketed up to the clouds. IN this bonus area, there are no enemies whatsoever. Just coins and Dragon Coins. Since there are 4 dragon coins here, collecting them all will net you a total of 5 Dragon Coins in this level and you can drop down the sky with the level beaten. Mario will move west along the path to the Valley Ghost House. On the other hand, if you are after the secret exit, don't get the Yoshi Wings. Instead, dismount at the block, and continue right to the path moving up and down. Yoshi should be ditched since you need flexibility. As the path moves up and down, you may be crushed to death if there are obstacles above or below and you cannot move out of the way. Enter this moving tunnel and let it move up, the run all the way to the right. When you have reached the corner, stop. Let the tunnel move all the way down. When it starts to move up again, run to the right, and stop at the higher ceiling of the next tunnel. That is your first safe haven. When the tunnel moves down again, run to the right. Stop at the beginning of the next constriction. Wait for the tunnel to move to the top, and hold down Y and right on the directional pad. Mario will run to the right as soon as there is room. Stop at the pit, and that's your second safe haven. Hold down Y and right when you are in there and wait for the tunnel to go up. Run all the way to the right until you reach the far right corner at the top. Then, run to the right. As soon as there is room, seek shelter at the next safe pit. When the tunnel has risen, run to the right, and stop at the area where the ceiling and ground are furthest apart. Wait for the tunnel to go down and begin to go up again. Then, run into the next hole in the ceiling. Continue running to the right and follow the downward steps. Since the tunnel is moving down as well, you shouldn't have much trouble. The exit pipe is further to the right and is near the top of this tunnel system. Just take the low path and eventually follow up to the top path when you see the Green Pipe. Go through. At the next area, you will land on a giant yellow pillar, and it will start to rise up. Quickly jump up the steps, and run to the right. When you have enough speed, take off and fly up to the left. Walk along the top of the ceiling to the left for the secret room with the key and keyhole. Insert the key into the key hole to find Valley Fortress, north of your current position. ------------------- Valley Ghost House ------------------- It's very close to the end of the game, yet this Ghost House is not very hard. The most difficult task will simply be the location of the dragon coins and the Secret Exit. Regardless of how easy it is, Yoshi is not allowed to come in with you. Start by running up the stairs for a question block with a Fire Flower inside. However, I doubt that you will need it. In the air over the first gap in the path is a dragon coin surrounded by coins. At this moment, 2 Giant Bubbles would have drifted from the right. Jump along the path, past another 2 Giant Bubbles, and you will find the door leading to the next area. You are on a lone platform with a door. This door leads back to the start of the level, so don't try to go through it. Bump the wooden block above for a switch, which you should carry to the ground. Wait for the wooden block to stop spinning, and jump onto the wooden block for a second dragon coin. Now, stomp the switch and run to the right. Lots of blocks will be revealed, allowing you to get to the right. One of the created platforms holds the 3rd dragon coin. When you have collected it, enter the first door you see to the right to get back to the start of the Ghost House, so that you can return to the area with the switch. Stomp it again and run to the right. This time, take off to increase your speed. When you have reached the hallway with the converted coins, take a dead run and see if you can reach the final door. There is a 1-up Mushroom there standing still and waiting for you to get it. With that, go through the door. There is another switch in front of you. Stomp it and the next gap in the path will be temporarily bridged, allowing you to collect the dragon coin and converted coins above. Go right and wait for the path to be cleared. Then, jump up through that wooden platform, and collect the 5th and final Dragon Coin. Go through the door to return to the area with the first switch. Stomp it again. This time, wait for a Super Star to drop from the ceiling. With that invincibility in hand, move along the platforms at a faster speed and reach the hallway. This time, go through the 3rd or 4th doors to reach the exit gate, and you will go through the goal line of the Standard Exit again. Mario will continue to go west until he reaches the next yellow dot on the map. That yellow dot is Valley of Bowser 3. Now, if you want to get to the secret shortcut leading to Lenny's Castle, you are to replay the level again. This time, rush to the final door (and 1-up Mushroom) as before. However, don't stomp the switch where you see it. Instead, carry it over to the far right area accessed by jumping up through the wooden platform. Drop the switch and bump the question block, which appears to be a control block. Create a series of steps leading up with the coins. I suggest that each step be 3 coins high, and 3 coins wide. Just keep pressing right and up in a comfortable pattern until the coins hit a wall or something. Stomp the Switch Block. Those coin steps will turn into real steps made up of wooden blocks. Jump up, and if you are lucky enough, the steps will lead to a small gap that leads to the alcove with the secret exit. You may have to do a squat jump to enter if you are large. With this exit gone through, Mario will go north directly to Lenny's Castle, bypassing Valley of Bowser 3 and Valley of Bowser 4. ------------------- Valley of Bowser 3 ------------------- Valley of Bowser 3 is another lift hopping level. This time, there are timed lifts. Whenever you jump on those lifts, their number will start to count down. When the timer reaches zero, the lift will fall! So get ready to change lifts if you find the lifts to be running out of steam. Make sure you bring Yoshi here. Right at the start, 3 jumping Green Koopa Paratroopas will come for you. The first and third jump especially high. Swallow one and spit the shell out at the other two. Jump onto the next white pillar. There is a question block with a Cape Feather is inside. You then have to make your way past several high wires patrolled by jumping Green Koopa Paratroopas. You can always avoid them by jumping on those timed lifts. Each lift has 1 second's worth of fuel. But it would be more than enough. The next lift beyond those high wires also has 1 second's worth of fuel. Jump onto the lift, and ride to the right, collecting the dragon coin that is in the way. Avoid the Red Koopa Paratroopa in the way. Then, change to the next lift with a 4 on it. Ride it to the right while you avoid the Koopa Paratroopas that are always in the way before you change onto the next 4 second lift. Eventually, you will find a dragon coin below. Drop down onto the 1 second lift there to ride over and collect it. Be sure to jump onto the next white pillar before the next lift disintegrates. Another dragon coin is waiting in the air to the right. Jump over to it, collect it, and drift down to the 4 second lift. Ride it to the right. But hey, there is a pair of golden pipes in the way. Knock the Red Koopa away, and enter the lower pipe for a bonus game. You will exit right in front of the midway gate, only that it is very high up. Use the springblock to reach it. Jump onto the green platforms to the right and you will come to a rather long V-shaped high wire with several jumping Green Koopa Paratroopas around. Whack one and use his shell against all the others. Go all the way to the right white pillar, and wait for the next orange and green lift to come. This time, that lift is NOT timed. You will come to a 4 second lift. Ride it to the right, and don't bother jumping up for the 1 second lifts there. When you find the next non-timed Orange and Green Lift, jump on, and collect the dragon coin. A Banzai Bill will be fired from the right, but fortunately, you are out of its reach. Ride along the 1 second lifts and try to avoid the next Banzai Bill that is in the way. It may prove difficult for some. You will then reach a 4 second lift. Ride it and collect the final dragon coin right in the lift's path. If you are daring, you can jump up for the 1 second lift above, it leads to a high platform with a 1-up Mushroom. Either way, the Goal Line is to the right. With this level completed, Mario will go north to Valley of Bowser 4. ------------------- Valley of Bowser 4 ------------------- Valley of Bowser 4 contains the final secret exit of the game, which leads to Star Road. Completing this secret exit is not really that necessary, since there is another way to access Star Road in the Valley of Bowser. But for those people who sought a perfect file, you might as well complete it. Do not bring Yoshi with you in this level, that's for sure. Walk along the path, and you will find a Chargin' Chuck throwing rocks down from above. You don't need to jump up and deal with that Chargin' Chuck. Just whack away the rocks with your cape and take a very long jump across the lava pool. If you don't have a cape, then jump onto that small white platform beforehand. That platform will sink when you jump onto it, so you must act quickly. The next path is guarded by another rock throwing Chargin' Chuck waiting at the top of the slope. Whack any rocks you find before whacking the Chargin' Chuck himself. You will come to another lava pit past the pipe, on which are 3 collapsing white platforms that you must jump on before you can get to the other side while avoiding the Koopa Paratroopas. The 2nd one flies left and right, unlike the 1st and 3rd. You will find a green pipe on the other side which leads to an ice world. Jump along the platforms high above the water to the left to find a lone island with a question block holding a Cape Feather. Jump into the water pool to the left, whacking the Cheep Cheeps along the way. You then find a lone dragon coin above the surface of the water. Get it, and avoid the Spike Tops above. Go through the pipe to the left and exit back out of the first pipe you see in this level. Be sure to whack the Chargin' Chuck before he can do anything. Jump across the lava pit as usual. Bump the wooden block to the right for a beanstalk. Climb up and you will find a question block with Yoshi inside. Get onto him and swallow the springboard. Then, spin jump down the blocks until you reach the ledge below. Go right, and walk right off the edge for the 3rd dragon coin. Make sure you use the Cape to control where you land, since you may fall into lava. Drift to the left and you will find solid ground. With the springboard still in Yoshi's mouth, jump to the right, past the lava pit. You will come to another island guarded by a Chargin' Chuck high above pelting you with rocks. Stay low, sneak behind him, jump up from behind him and whack him. Collect the dragon coin around here before you continue to the right. Should Yoshi be about to eat the springboard, spit it out, and swallow it again. Jump over the next lava pit and you will find the midway gate in the air above the lava. The next island has a narrow path and a Chargin' Chuck is guarding the area to the right. Barge your way through and stomp the Chargin' Chuck several times to take him out. In the middle of the next lava pit, you will find a question block above a yellow exclamation block. This one holds a Cape Feather. Continue to the right and stay low since a Chargin' Chuck is waiting for you from above. Sneak up behind him and whack him as usual. There is a dragon coin in that closed area above a small lava pit. Jump to the right, get the coin and land on the white platform. Jump back out before it sinks. Jump up the hill and drop down to the yellow exclamation Block. There is a Chargin' Chuck above and to the right pelting rocks down at you. Wait until he is not throwing any rock and jump to the right. Run along the next path and deal with the rock throwing Chargin' Chuck at the top of the next slope. Finally, you will reach another tricky area. There is a springboard allowing you to bounce up, but there is a Chargin' Chuck that is continuously throwing rocks down! There is another solution to this problem. Since the block is extended into a platform by several Blue Exclamation Blocks, move along those blocks and collect the last dragon coin. Jump and drift to the white platform to the right. You will then come to the key and the keyhole. The trick is that the Key is hidden in a way so that you cannot spin jump through the stone blocks to get at it. You need to have Yoshi's tongue grab the key, swallow it, and walk into the keyhole to beat the level. With this level beaten, Mario will blaze a path to the north and come to another portal that leads to Star Road. At the same time, a new path will be made going east from the portal to the front door of Bowser's Castle! So, this is yet another bypass! But for those who want to have a perfect file, let us beat the level again by passing through the normal goal line past the secret exit. Mario will go east to Lenny's Castle. It's the final castle of Super Mario World! --------------- Lenny's Castle --------------- Welcome to the final Castle of this game. Instead of leading to a new world, this castle simply leads to the front door of Bowser's Castle. If you have completed the secret exit of the previous level, Valley of Bowser 4, you won't need to beat this level at all, but for the sake of completion, let's beat the life out of this Koopa Kid anyway. At the start, you are to ride a much longer snake lift like the one in Roy's Castle. The lift will move to the right, and go up some spikes on steps. Jump up, and follow through. The lift then moves through a rather long spike pit, with Ball and Chains above and below. After that, it drops down the steps, and down to the next lava pit. Some more Ball and Chains are present. AS you see several brown blocks in the air, walk over to the front brown block. This is because the lift will start to rise up. If you hang around any of the previous blocks, you will have to jump up those blocks in order to keep up. At the top of this ascent, you will come to a dragon coin. The lift then moves to the left. It goes under a long brown platform with the Ball and Chains you found before. But this time, you will be running to the left on the platform to follow the lift that passes below. Eventually, the block moves up in steps. Jump up, and follow it up and to the right. You will find a dragon coin at the top. As the lift moves to the right, you will find a yellow exclamation block above the path of the lift. Bump it if you need a Super Mushroom. The lift then goes right and drops down slowly in a repeated S pattern. The Ball and Chains are all there. The snake lift then moves up in steps, each with 3 block's height. Go up and to the right. You will find a Spike Pit at the top with another Ball and Chain. Collect the Dragon Coin up there. The door leading to the next area is in front of you. But let's not go through that door. Follow the lift down to the bottom of the pit. There are 2 more ragon coins there, as well as the midway gate! If you don't want to get the Super Mushroom, do a squat jump over it. (If you do get it, any powerful item in your reserve slot will be replaced by the Super Mushroom!) Go through the door. You will first encounter 2 Dry Bones before the first sharp wood pillar. Slip underneath when it's up. There is another one immediately after the first. This is when the Magikoopas appear again! Duck to avoid their spells. You will find a wall of wooden blocks. Use the cape to whack them into spinning so that you will pass through. If you have no cape, then, well you will have to let a Magikoopa create holes in the blocks. Beyond the first lava pool is a yellow exclamation block. Right after that block are 2 sharp wood pillars moving up from the ground. After that, another wooden block wall follows. Whack it with your cape as usual. Then, you will come to 2 pairs of sharp wooden pillars right on top of each other. Jump past them, and continue to the right. You will come to a long wooden block bridge over a lava pool. This pool is complete with Podoboos, and there are also wooden pillars coming down from the ceiling to block your way from time to time. This, compounded with the Magikoopas is a really challenging path. But still, once you time thing right, you should get past it. Run down the steps, and the door to Lenny will appear anytime soon. In case you have experienced a severe bashing by the Magikoopas, there is a green exclamation block by the door with a Cape Feather inside. Lenny, just like Iggy Koopa is also perched on a teetering platform. You are to knock him off as before. But this time, there are 3 Podoboos flying out of the lava at certain points. The platform is also teetering faster than the one in Iggy's Castle, so you only have time to stomp him once before the platform goes the other way. Eventually, you will knock him into the lava and you will win. Now, all that remains is Bowser's Castle, where Princess Toadstool is being held prisoner. Can they rescue her and restore peace to Dinosaur Land? When this castle is completed, Mario will go north and reach the front door of Bowser's Castle. With this level completed, the figure of eight in the Valley of Bowser is finally complete! Hey, that castle looks more like a night club to me with that large flashing neon light saying Bowser. --------------- Valley Fortress --------------- This Fortress seems to be rather out of the way, but it actually leads to the secret back door of Bowser's Castle. If you can get to the back door, you can skip loads of obstacles and be in spitting distance to Bowser himself! So, let's check it out. Right at the start, run to the right. You will see a trio of Monster Spikes. Run down the steps and onto the safe area with the green exclamation block before all the spikes drop down. If you are short of a powerup, you can always get the Cape Feather. Then, the Monster Spikes would have fallen down. As soon as the first one to the right starts to rise, start jumping up the steps. The designers of the game expect you to be in a hurry, so slow down just as you have gone past the last spike. Jump carefully over the spike pit and also don't jump too far to the right or you will hit the spikes mounted on the wall. Wall along the ground and don't jump too much, since there are spikes on the ceiling. The next pit is like the one in Vanilla Fortress, only that there is no water this time. Duck every time a Dry Bone throws a bone out at you. When he's done, run forward and whack your cape. The same goes for the Bony Beetles. There are 2 Dry Bones and a Buzzy Beetle in this pit. You will find another spike pit to the right of that room. This time, the only islands for you to jump on are guarded by Monster Spikes, so only jump when that giant spike is about to rise up. Once the spike is up, long jump across the island and the pits. Then, you will come to a set of 3 consecutive islands in the spike pit guarded by Monster Spikes. The 3 spikes move in unison. As soon as the first one starts to rise, start jumping like mad! It's very likely for you to lose a power up here. The next area is an area with lava. The areas between each platform are guarded by Podoboos. Each platform has a Dry Bone on it. There is also a yellow exclamation block above the first platform, so get a Super Mushroom for your reserve. The final platform before the spiky walls has a Bony Beetle guarding it. Then, jump to the right. More Monster Spikes, this time, they are guarding the edges of the islands in the lava. Those spikes move in unison, so watch out! After that, there is a Monster Spike sticking out from the ground. It's not hard to jump over it. You have the door to the Renzors next. You know what to do with them. With the Valley Fortress completed, Mario will move north to the backdoor of Bowser's Castle. ---------------- Bowser's Castle ---------------- Now, on to the final showdown. It's time to face Bowser, to fight him man to reptile. Before you enter, make sure that you have 2 Cape Feathers with you. Then you can enter. Yoshi stays outside. He's missing the best parts! This part assumes that you will enter through the front door, and tackle the areas there before you tackle the back door area. In the first area, you will come to 4 doors, each marked with a number. Different rooms lead to different obstacles. You only need to beat one area to advance to the next 4 choices. So, let's enter the door marked with a 2. Area 2 is simply a fenced area, just like Iggy's Castle and Ludwig's Castle. Only Red Koopas are climb around. There is a big spike pit at the bottom. Just climb up, and stick to the top and you will be fine. There may be fireballs bouncing around, but it's easy to determine their path and avoid them. Drop down at the other side and go through the door. At the next junction, select the door marked with a 5. This area features slow moving Monster Spikes arranged alternatively with Thwomps. The Monster Spikes here are slow, so are easy to avoid. It's just that the path is very long. So, as soon as the first Monster Spike starts to rise, start running full speed ahead until you reach the door. You may lose a power up, but there is always a temporary invincibility to help you get through. Go through the door. You are now in the back door area. This is where you start if you entered Bowser's Castle through the back door. This area is rather dark, so let's turn on the light. Go right, and bump the red question block to turn on the spotlight. Jump up the steps. There is a Mini Ninja before the lava pit. Whack him with your cape, and take a long jump across the lava pit. On the other side of the pit is a Mini Ninja with a Mecha Koopa coming down towards you. Jump over both of them and move on. To the right, there are 2 more Mini Ninjas blocking the way. Then, you will come to a small path that is guarded by a Mecha Koopa. Spin jump on him to destroy him, and move to the right. All Mecha Koopas walk after you. Then, you will find 2 more Mini Ninjas before the next lava pit. Jump over, follow the path, and go through the door to face Bowser. Bowser is perched on a Koopa Clown Car. He swoops around, left and right and drops Mecha Koopas at you. To hurt him, jump onto a Mecha Koopa to stun him, and then grab him. Toss him upwards at Bowser. Try to time yourself so that it will fall onto Bowser as he passes through. You can also toss the Mecha Koopa at Bowser when he's stopping to toss out more Mecha Koopas at you. Note that whenever a Mecha Koopa is destroyed, Bowser will toss out a replacement, and that there will be no more than 2 Mecha Koopas in the arena at a time. To stop the first wave of attacks, throw 2 Mecha Koopas at Bowser, and try to make sure that there is one Mecha Koopa remaining on the platform for the next wave. Bowser will retreat, and fireballs will rain down onto the platform, avoid them. Then, Bowser will come back, and Princess Peach will toss out a Super Mushroom to help you before Bowser takes control again. Toss the Mecha Koopa at Bowser. Bowser will follow you in the air above and drop down a giant ball at you every now and then. Jump over the ball or spin jump on it to bounce off it unharmed. Between every two balls, Bowser will drop a pair of Mecha Koopas at you. Toss another Mecha Koopa at him. You should stand in a position where you know Bowser will be next and toss it up quickly. Then stand still at that position. Bowser will attempt to follow you and get hit by the Mecha Koopa as it falls. This second wave is done for. Brace for more fireballs, and get another Super Mushroom from Peach. Bowser is really mad now! He will bounce on his Koopa Clown Car along the platform, and try to pound you as he goes. Every now and then, he stops and throws a pair of Mecha Koopas out at you. This is much easier than the second wave. You are to toss 2 more Mecha Koopas at him to defeat him for good. His clown car will malfunction, and the Princess will drop out. With the princess freed, you will be given points, and that each second counts as a massive 500 points! Peach kisses Mario, and you will be told that your adventure is over. You are all going to take a vacation. The credits roll. You see Peach riding Yoshi, escorted by Mario and Luigi, and they walk away, through the Castle, Chocolate Island, the Forest of Illusion, Cheese Bridge, some dome hills, Donut Plains and you return to Yoshi's Island. At Yoshi's house, the other coloured Yoshis are waiting for you. They watch the 7 freed Yoshi eggs hatch, and you will be given a big THANK YOU. Then, you will come to see the list of all the enemies you see in the game. Then it's the end. The game freezes at this point, so the only thing you can do is to turn off the Wii, or bring up the Home menu and reset the game. +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | III. CONCLUSION | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Super Mario World is the first SNES game I liked to play when I was much younger, and I must thank Nintendo for releasing this game on the Wii Virtual Console. Given my crocked SNES, this is the easiest way for me to legally play this game again! The Nintendo Points were truly worth spending and I'd suggest you all do the same. This guide is copyright 2009-2011 worldwide by Kylohk. This guide is intended to be published in GameFAQs and only GameFAQs only. So, now you know. See you.