anyo presents: SUPER MARIO WORLD: Super Mario Advance 2 for Game Boy Advance ONLINE STRATEGY GUIDE Version 1.08 Last updated 03/17/02 Written by: Andrew Yoon Dean Hu For questions or comments: teakpy@yahoo.com uangu@yahoo.com The most up-to-date version can be found on my website: http://anyo.topcities.com/ or by e-mailing me. CONTENTS 1) Introduction > About this Guide > Key 2) How to Beat the Game in 30 Minutes > Only for Expert Gamers 3) Cheap Tricks > Your Brother: Luigi > Using the Item Hold > Switch Houses > Flying Forever > Top Secret Area > Yoshi's > Star Road 4) Walkthrough A. Yoshi's Island NA. Yoshi's House 01. Yoshi's Island 1 02. Yellow Switch Palace 03. Yoshi's Island 2 04. Yoshi's Island 3 05. Yoshi's Island 4 06. #1 Iggy's Castle B. Donut Plains 07. Donut Plains 1 08. Donut Plains 1 (Secret Exit) 09. Donut Secret 1 10. Donut Secret 1 (Secret Exit) 11. Donut Secret House 12. Donut Secret House (Secret Exit) 13. Donut Plains 2 14. Donut Plains 2 (Secret Exit) 15. Green Switch Palace 16. Donut Ghost House 17. Donut Ghost House (Secret Exit) NA. Top Secret Area 18. Donut Secret 2 19. Donut Plains 3 20. Donut Plains 4 21. #2 Morton's Castle C. Vanilla Dome 22. Vanilla Dome 1 23. Vanilla Dome 1 (Secret Exit) 24. Vanilla Secret 1 25. Vanilla Secret 1 (Secret Exit) 26. Vanilla Dome 2 27. Vanilla Dome 2 (Secret Exit) 28. Red Switch Palace 29. Vanilla Ghost House 30. Vanilla Dome 3 31. Vanilla Dome 4 32. Vanilla Secret 2 33. Vanilla Secret 3 34. Vanilla Fortress 35. #3 Lemmy's Castle D. Cookie Mountain 36. Cheese Bridge Area 37. Cheese Bridge Area (Secret Exit) 38. Soda Lake 39. Cookie Mountain 40. Butter Bridge 1 41. Butter Bridge 2 42. #4 Ludwig's Castle E. Forest of Illusion 43. Forest of Illusion 1 44. Forest of Illusion 1 (Secret Exit) 45. Forest of Illusion 2 46. Forest of Illusion 2 (Secret Exit) 47. Blue Switch Palace 48. Forest of Illusion 3 49. Forest of Illusion 3 (Secret Exit) 50. Forest Ghost House 51. Forest Ghost House (Secret Exit) 52. Forest of Illusion 4 53. Forest of Illusion 4 (Secret Exit) 54. Forest Secret Area 55. Forest Fortress 56. #5 Roy's Castle F. Chocolate Island 57. Chocolate Island 1 58. Choco-Ghost House 59. Chocolate Island 2 60. Chocolate Island 2 (Secret Exit) 61. Chocolate Secret 62. Chocolate Island 3 63. Chocolate Island 3 (Secret Exit) 64. Chocolate Fortress 65. Chocolate Island 4 66. Chocolate Island 5 67. #6 Wendy's Castle G. Valley of Bowser 68. Sunken Ghost Ship 69. Valley of Bowser 1 70. Valley of Bowser 2 71. Valley of Bowser 2 (Secret Exit) 72. Valley Fortress 73. Valley Ghost House 74. Valley Ghost House (Secret Exit) 75. Valley of Bowser 3 76. Valley of Bowser 4 77. Valley of Bowser 4 (Secret Exit) 78. #7 Larry's Castle NA. Front Door NA. Back Door H. Star Road 79. Star World 1 80. Star World 1 (Secret Exit) 81. Star World 2 82. Star World 2 (Secret Exit) 83. Star World 3 84. Star World 3 (Secret Exit) 85. Star World 4 86. Star World 4 (Secret Exit) 87. Star World 5 88. Star World 5 (Secret Exit) I. Special 89. Gnarly 90. Tubular 91. Way Cool 92. Awesome 93. Groovy 94. Mondo 95. Outrageous 96. Funky 5) Version History 6) Credits/Conclusion I. INTRODUCTION > ABOUT THIS GUIDE This guide was written entirely by Andrew Yoon. It's made so that you can go through the game, step-by-step and beat the crap out of this game. There are no dedicated "controls" or "items" sections, as they are detailed when they are necessary. Also, you don't have to get all the dragon coins the first time around, so don't risk your life trying to! > KEY (Y1) Yoshi Coin (the number refers to the amount you should have) (UP) One-Up Strategy (!!) Secret Exit Location II. HOW TO BEAT THE GAME IN 30 MINUTES > ONLY FOR EXPERT GAMERS If you already played the SNES version, then this will be a breeze. If not, then listen up. All you have to do is beat Yoshi's Island, and get to Star Road in the Donut Plains. How do you do that? Go to the Donut Plains 1 section of this strategy guide to find out how to unlock the secret exit. Then, you'll go through Donut Secret 1, Donut Secret Ghost House, all of Star Road and Bowser's Castle. On a side note, I like to open up Top Secret Area so that I can power-up pretty easily. Read the walkthrough to find out how to do each level. But, you'll enjoy the game more if you DON'T do it this way. III. CHEAP TRICKS > YOUR BROTHER: LUIGI You can choose Luigi on the world map by pressing R. What's so special about Luigi? He has the insanely long Mario Bros. 2 jump. This itself is cheap: you can jump over hills and avoid enemies completely. The only drawback is, he's hard to control. This guide is focused on Mario only (as he is how the game was MEANT to be played). But remember: when it says to jump often and avoid lots of enemies, Luigi may be your man. Finally, his ability to fly is much better than Mario's as it is easier to control. Also, when he rides Yoshi, Yoshi can spit out the enemies, defeating them a la Super Mario Advance (Super Mario Bros. 2). Finally, Matt Hill points out that Luigi's multi-coin blocks spew out the coins in a shower, forcing you to collect them instead of hitting it fast. Annoying? Yes. But some of the blocks don't seem to do that... > USING THE ITEM HOLD You can "hold" items at the top. Any extra item that you collect will go here. Learn how to use this to your advantage! If you love being caped Mario (who doesn't?), keep another feather in your reserve and AVOID ALL OTHER POWER-UPS. If you pick up a mushroom with a feather in reserve, then you'll lose the feather and pick up the inferior power-up. Also, if you have a power-up and you turn into Super Mario without any special powers, press SELECT to make the item drop down. You want to do this because you'll want to use your powers, and you'll have a mushroom in reserve automatically. If you didn't, the next time you get a power-up, you'll only have a mushroom instead of a flower/feather. You can also alternate between feather and flower Marios by having the opposite in reserve and then hitting SELECT. This is quite helpful in underwater stages. > SWITCH HOUSES When you see the opportunity to get to a switch house, take it! Although it may seem difficult at first to get there, the blocks that you create become invaluable and will help you greatly in many levels, such as Bowser's castle. There are four switches: Yellow, in Yoshi's Island; Green, in Donut Plains; Red in Vanilla Dome; and Blue in the Forest of Illusion. The benefits of the Yellow and Green ones are clear: the Yellow ones give you mushrooms and the Green ones give you feathers. Not bad, huh? > FLYING FOREVER It's cheap, but makes life so much easier: flying forever. There are two methods: one with the feather and the other with blue Yoshi. Go to Donut Plains 1's coin area to test out your flying skills. Run, and when your arms are extended, press A while holding B. All you have to do now is hold B, NOT A (this is a common mistake). If you are facing right, pressing left will make you go up while pressing right will make you go down. In order to fly forever, (to the right) press left when you see your character starting to decend. You can repeat this over and over again. Try it out! Also, Luigi is easier to control. You can be cheap and use the blue Yoshi method to fly through many, many stages. Wait for any Koopa to come, eat it and hold A. However, Yoshi will eventually swallow the shell and fall down. To prevent this, every reasonable time you see a safe platform, land and press Down B to spit out the shell in front of you (will not work on red shells). Swallow it again and fly. Easy, huh? Although it may not be mentioned in every level, you can pretty much use it anywhere you please. Of course, that is if you found blue Yoshi... > TOP SECRET AREA You'll want to get Top Secret Area open as soon as you can. Read the walkthrough for more details: it can be found above Donut Ghost House. Read 17 to find out how to open it! It is a simple area where you can get a Yoshi and all the power-ups you need. It is VERY helpful. > YOSHI'S There are four kinds of Yoshi's in this game! There is the green, red, yellow and blue one. The green one is the only you'll encounter all the time until you unlock the other ones and does not feature any special powers. The red ones shoot out fire, the yellow ones stomp out sand and the blue ones can fly. You can find more detailed descriptions in the various levels of Star Road where you can find these critters. Once you unlock a certain color of Yoshi, you can then get it any time you want. Which color you get depends on what kind of Mario you are: Regular Mario will get a random Yoshi. Super Mario will get a yellow Yoshi. Fire Mario will get a red Yoshi. Caped Mario will get a blue Yoshi. Use this to your advantage! At Top Secret Area, you can choose which Yoshi you want by changing your power-up. Also, Star Road 2 is the easiest and fastest way to get a blue Yoshi if you're miles away from Top Secret Area (see 79). > STAR ROAD Star Road is invaluable! Not only are the levels pretty cool, but they act as warps between each world, which you'll want especially when you're stuck in Chocolate Island and you want to go to Top Secret Area for some power-ups. When you have the ability to, unlock Star Road from all five areas: Donut Plains, Vanilla Dome, Soda Lake, Forest of Illusion and Valley of Bowser. IV. WALKTHROUGH A. YOSHI'S ISLAND NA. YOSHI'S HOUSE (Difficulty: Very Easy) If you can't figure this out, then you should just return the game. Just walk out to the left or right. Go to: 01. Yoshi's Island 1 OR to: 03. Yoshi's Island 2 01. YOSHI'S ISLAND 1 (Difficulty: Very Easy) In general, always keep this in mind: Avoid fighting as much as you can. If you can jump over an enemy instead of fighting it, do it! Careless mistakes when landing the wrong way on moving enemies may cost you your life! (Y1) Jump up the first hill and you'll grab it. After the first bush, a giant bullet bill will come. Don't try to kill it. Instead, just press Down. (Y2) Run on the top of the three hills and grab this easy coin. The first blue pipe, under some yellow blocks will let you go to an underground passage. How do you break yellow blocks? First you need to be at least Super Mario (with a mushroom), and then press R. You will bounce off each yellow block, so move while you're bouncing to do even more damage! This special spin jump can destroy many enemies with just one hit (like those Dino dudes!) (Y3) After going into the pipe, press R on top of the second set of yellow blocks to get this easy one. You will fly out of the pipe and land in the checkpoint. (Y4) When you see 3 dinosaurs in a row, just jump to the top of the hill (be careful! There's another baddie on the top!). The coin will be on the top. After the three dinosaurs, another giant Bullet Bill will come flying at you. Just jump over it. (UP) Hold the shell, then while holding B, press up and let go. Practice this technique, as it will be helpful in an upcoming boss. After you hit the yellow block, run and bounce off the Bullet Bill by hitting A once you hit him. You should run into the 1-UP. (Y5) It's in plain sight at the end. Jump over the Charging Chuck in order to end the level. If you hit the white bar when it's higher, you'll get more stars. Once you collect 100, you will go to the bonus game, where you must get tic-tac-toes for more 1-UPs. Go to: 02. Yellow Switch Palace 02. YELLOW SWITCH PALACE (Difficulty: Very Easy) Each switch palace allows you the chance to get some 1-UPs. I'm sure you can figure them out. Just get to the end, hit the giant switch and all the yellow blocks that were empty before will be filled. If you hit these blocks, a mushroom will come out. Sweet! Go to: 03. Yoshi's Island 2 03. YOSHI'S ISLAND 2 (Difficulty: Very Easy) (UP) Grab the shell, jump up and let go of the B button. Run and follow the shell. You should get a 1-UP. Once you're done, let the shell be, as it may bounce back and hurt you. You'll meet Yoshi for the first time if you hit the correct ? Block. The easiest way to defeat enemies now? Hit B to swallow. (Y1) It's in plain sight. (Y2) Also an easy one. At the top of the staircase, there will be a Charging Chuck. Just jump over him. (Y3) After the Charging Chuck, jump into the row of coins. After the checkpoint, there will be moles. You can eat them with Yoshi while they're digging! Just jump and press B at the right time. The second yellow block above the moles will have a vine in it. Hit it from underneath and jump to it. In order to climb, press Up and Down to navigate. (Y4) At the top of the vine. (Y5) On top of the next hill. The next blue pipe you see, you can go in it. (UP) In the underground cavern, you'll see some flying ? Blocks. Grab one of the blue blocks by pressing B next to them, and use them as a shell. Hit the third (or fourth) one to get a 1-UP. If this is too hard, use the Yoshi Jump. Press A on top of Yoshi then R in order to jump even higher. Try this underneath the block. Go to: 04. Yoshi's Island 3 04. YOSHI'S ISLAND 3 (Difficulty: Very Easy) Before you begin: Make sure you have hit the Yellow Switch! It will make your life a lot easier in this level! (Y1) After the first set of moving platforms. Although this may seem difficult, all you have to do is take your time (but don't take too long, as there is a timer). You'll get used to the craziness. Continue and after you see a Koopa walking back and forth on a platform, jump on the rotating platform. Below, there will be a yellow pipe, which you can enter. (Y2) In the underground passage, just hit the P and run. You may have noticed that Yoshi gets some powers when he eats certain color Koopas. The powers that he gets are: Green shell: nothing! Red shell: Releasing the shell will cause three flames to go flying out. Yellow shell: Every time Yoshi stomps, clouds fly to his left and right, damaging all enemies around him. Blue shell: Allows Yoshi to fly when you hold down A. There are more advanced strategies for the blue shell, but you don't need them now and most likely, there are no blue shells for you to find right now anyways. If you do get one, you can fly for extended periods of time, but Yoshi will swallow the shell eventually, so beware! (Y3) Right after the checkpoint. When you're up to the moving yellow platforms, always aim for the middle one! That block never changes! (Y4) After the series of moving yellow blocks. (UP) Sometimes, you'll see green star blocks. These blocks will give you a 1-UP only if you collected a lot of coins in level. For this level, stay on the rotating platforms, as there are some coins hidden below. (Y5) After the green star block. Easy. The goal is pretty easy to get to. No worries. Go to: 05. Yoshi's Island 4 05. YOSHI'S ISLAND 4 (Difficulty: Very Easy) Before you begin: You may want a Yoshi if you want to eat some cactus. Ouch. Also, this is the first level to feature water. If you fall in, press Up and A to jump out of the water. Try aiming for the nearest platform when you jump. But do NOT fall in the water as it is filled with plenty of baddies! (Y1) Right in plain sight. (Y2) Also in plain sight. The first blue pipe can be entered, although can be skipped. Make sure you have a Yoshi if you go in. You'll see the yellow cactus dudes. Eat them with Yoshi, but don't get too close to them. Eventually, you'll find a ? block that gives off lots of coins. The faster you hit them, the more coins you get. Very useful. (Remember that 100 coins equals a 1-UP!) Eventually, you'll come back out of the pipe, but you'll have to backtrack a little. Go left and get the dragon coin you missed. (Y3) Backtrack after the pipe and you'll find this one. (UP) Now that you're out of the pipe, grab the shell and hit it up to where the POW block is. After you hit it, hit the yellow block to the right and a star will come out. While you're invincible, kill as many enemies as you can by simply walking into them! The more enemies you destroy, the more lives you get! Just rush through the level to get as many lives as you can. (Y4) It will be on the POW bridge that you make. Remember, that POWs always turn coins into bricks and vice-versa. Also remember that stars are easy ways to get 1-UPs. (Y5) On your way to the end. While jumping, try taking bigger jumps than smaller ones. It's riskier to take more jumps as it increases your chance of messing up. The pipe at the end of the level is your way to freedom! Go to: 06. #1 Iggy's Castle 06. #1 IGGY'S CASTLE (Difficulty: Very Easy) Remember: You can not re-enter castles until you beat the game. So, if you want the Dragon Coins, you'll need to get them the first time around or you'll have to wait. Also: You can never bring Yoshi to a castle or ghost house (the only exception is the Sunken Ship). When you start this level, you'll see a fence. In order to grab onto it, jump and press Up. The control pad is used for navigation. Hold B if you want move around faster and press B if you want to punch (a Koopa on the other side or turn around a square section to go to the other side). (UP) Do not punch any Koopas or land on the ground. Only defeat the Koopas by landing on their heads. Eventually, your score will increase for each hit and you'll rack up the 1-UPs. Remember this technique for later castles. Eventually, you'll reach a POW. Use it only if you NEED the flower upgrade above. (Y1) In plain sight after the POW. (Y2) Behind the fence where the fireball is. Hit the box later on to flip to the other side and grab this coin. (Y3) Once again, you must go behind the fence in order to get this coin. After the checkmark, there is a door. Press Up to enter. This room scrolls automatically, so you don't want to go too far or lag too far behind. There are things that smash down on the ground and they can instant-KO you. Avoid at all costs. When you first enter the room, just stay to the left and it shall fall. (Y4) Above the pit in the ground under the second stomper. Jump up and grab it when you see it and then duck. There is a pit which you should enter and duck until the stomper has smashed once. For the next one, either force yourself left by holding left or force yourself right by hugging the walls. The next one is the last one. You should hug to the left, wait for the stomper to stomp and then jump over the yellow moving platform. (Y5) Underneath the last stomping one, above the moving yellow platform. Enter the door to fight your very first boss. BOSS: Izzy - Hit Izzy on the head to make him move. Make sure you make Izzy only go ONE direction. If the platform isn't facing the right direction you would like, just stand still (making sure you stay in the middle of the platform) and wait for the fireball he shoots. Jump over it and hit him on the head when you have the chance. Like shampoo, repeat if necessary. Remember: always jump back to the middle after you hit him once or you may fall into lava, which instant-KO's you. If you have a fireflower, you can shoot fireballs, but it may be easier just to jump. Once Izzy falls into the lava (and you survive for about two more seconds), then you've beaten castle #1 and you saved a red Yoshi! Go to: 07. Donut Plains 1 B. DONUT PLAINS 07. DONUT PLAINS 1 (Difficulty: Easy) This is the first level in which you can get the cape feather, which will turn Mario and Luigi into their caped forms. An important thing to remember is that Luigi flies farther than Mario, due to some bizarre plumber power unique only to Luigi. The flying koopas with the flashing capes give feathers when hit with a normal jump, so take advantage of this. The cape pretty much makes you invulnerable to the side, nulling baseballs, fireballs, and almost everything else imaginable. Note: You can't use the cape to fly if you're riding Yoshi, but you can glide. (Y1) On top of the second hill in the level. Look up. (Y2) Right before the first purple pipe, above right to the three flying koopas. (UP) The first purple pipe leads to a bonus game. Hit the blocks in the correct order on each level to score a 1 UP. (UP) After exiting the bonus stage, enter the purple pipe to your immediate left. Use the free feather (if you don't already have one) to practice your flying skills, as well as score 600 coins. Obviously it'll give you 6 lives, but it's very time-consuming and relatively inefficient. Good, safe place to learn all the flying techniques with both Mario and Luigi. (Y3) In a pit with 2 Chargin' Chucks throwing baseballs, the 4th yellow block from the left yields a vine, which you can use to climb up and snatch the Dragoin Coin from the clouds. Or,you can just fly up there with the cape. (Y4) Falling off the right edge of the cloud from the last coin, there's a volcanic plant with a coin right over it. (Y5) Right after the 4 flying koopas flying in formation over some low hills, next to the last green pipe. Abuse the cape as much as you can, and make sure you aren't hit by a stray fireball or one of those crazy flying koopas. Note: If you're feeling cheap, you can fly through the entire level from the beginning. If you mess up in the middle, you can always land on the clouds and take off again. You'll smack right into the secret exit if you keep going, and any further gets you to the end of the level. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 08) Plenty of coins to be collected up high, as well as quite a few flying koopas. Go to: 13. Donut Plains 2 08. DONUT PLAINS 1 (Secret Exit) You can choose to get this exit before or after hitting the green switch, but if you choose to do it after it is considerably easier. If you want to try it before, simply start running from where the last Dragon Coin was, and try to fly between the last yellow and green pipes in the sky directly above the volcano flower. It's even possible to do it riding Yoshi. If you hit the green switch, then you can simply run up the side of the green block column with the red triangle. Either way, take the key and jam it into the keyhole. Go to: 09. Donut Secret 1 09. DONUT SECRET 1 (Difficulty: Very Easy) Your first completely submerged water level! I prefer fire flowers for projectile power, because the cape can be a handicap sometimes by giving you a false sense of security. It tends not to hit the fish as reliably as the fireball. Yoshi may or may not help, depending on how skilled you are with eating fish. You can use him to step on them, as well as retrieve the key for the secret exit. (Y1) Guarded by a Rip Van Winkle atop 4 [?] blocks. (Y2) Enter the first purple pipe. Use the ballon power-up to propel yourself up. A dragon coin awaits on the upper left side of the chamber. Be careful not to get hit by any of the flying koopas. (Y3) Directly to the right of Dragon Coin 2. If you run out of gas, there's a [?] midway on the left side that can supply more of that special floating power. The one on the right yields a fire flower. (UP) The right yellow block at the top of the chamber contains a 1-up mushroom. As you are coming down, you can also attempt to hit as many flying koopas as you possibly can. The feather helps in attempting this. (Y4) Right after you come out of the orange pipe, there's a dragon coin right below you between some rocks. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 10) (Y5) It's surrounded by 2 purple blocks and a Rip Van Winkle. (Y6) Strangely enough, there's a 6th dragon coin. Collect it for an extra 1-up. It's located a little after the POW, in plain sight. Go to: 16. Donut Ghost House 10. DONUT SECRET 1 (Secret Exit) Carry the POW and swim to the keyhole. Hit it there, get the key from the [?] nearby, and go through. Note: Swimming physics are changed for the worse when you start carrying items underwater. You have a natural tendency to float, and you'll move a lot faster. You also can't use any special power while carrying anything, so you're a lot more vulnerable to random species of fish. So, you may want to clear the enemies ahead of you before attempting to get this exit. Go to: 11. Donut Secret House 11. DONUT SECRET HOUSE (Difficulty: Medium) This might be your first haunted house, depending on your route. I think getting the green switch before this level makes it much easier, but you certainly don't have to. Haunted Houses are more puzzle-solving than action, as most loop you in a room until you've satisfied some twisted condition. This house is no different. Ghosts generally can't be killed, unless with a starman. Most Boos, including the Big Boo won't move if you're looking at them. (Y1) In the beginning of the level, to the left of the first circle of ghosts. Use the POW to get the spring above, which you can use to jump over a Big Boo. Enter the small door you see afterwards. Here's where it gets a bit tricky. Don't enter the door all the way to the left, it'll just loop you back to the first room. There's a POW block worth taking all the way on the left of the room. (Y2) Above the POW on the left, climbing many 2-block steps. It's hard to jump off exactly at the edge, and turn in mid-air and land on the platform above you. The cape makes it so much easier, as you can just fly up and nab it. (Y3) Grab the POW, and hit it near the yellow blocks and the floating door. Enter the door, which is now on top of 3 [?] blocks. Move towards your left, grab the coin. (Y4) Right after Dragon Coin 3, enter the door to your left. This will warp you to the first room, but you're below the staircase now. The coin is in plain sight. (UP) Not only can you hit the block where Dragon Coin 3 was and collect a bunch of coins, after Dragon Coin 4 there's a yellow block that gives a 1-up. (Y5) This is most easily gotten on the way to the secret exit, if only because it's right next to it. Hit the POW near the floating door like when getting Dragon Coin 3, but instead jump and hit the middle yellow block to expose a a vine. It's possible to hit the block with your cape, but it's a less risky this way. Climb all the way to the top, and run to your right. Slide under the wall to get the final dragon coin. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 12) Several coins to the left of the floating door outline a secret door. Get them before hitting the POW nearby. Once you've done so, enter the blue door. Go to: 18. Donut Secret 2 12. DONUT SECRET HOUSE (Secret Exit) While getting Dragon Coin 5, this should be pretty obvious. Just go through the blue door that appears next to the coin, and you'll proceed to fight the Big Boo. Smack it with 3 purple blocks, to win and go to Star Road! Yay! Go to: 79. Star World 1 13. DONUT PLAINS 2 (Difficulty: Easy) Your first experience of the forced side-scroll. The screen moves to the right at a constant speed, and you must keep up or get crushed against walls and such. Cape helps much in this level, as well as Yoshi, who can eat most of the enemies that come from the right. The cave setting off-sets most attempts at flight (Y1) On top of the first yellow platform, hard to miss. (Y2) Right after the second green pipe, next to another yellow moving platform. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 14) (Y3) Right after the last one, blatantly obvious. (Y4) Begging you to take it as it is in your way towards the exit, right before the longest yellow platform. (Y5) Another ridiculously easy one, directly following Dragon Coin 4. Go to: 16. Donut Ghost House 14. DONUT PLAINS 2 (Secret Exit) You can enter the second green pipe you see. It comes down from the ceiling, so it may be a bit hard to hit especially with 3 bats flying at you, but it's not particularly challenging. There are 4 yellow blocks in a step-like manner. You can either choose to fly up there, or take the blue shell to your right and throw it to release the vine in the last yellow block and climb up. The key and keyhole are right there. An interesting note, if you choose not to get the key and exit the pipe to the right instead, you'll be transported immediately to the exit. This means that you can't get Dragon Coins 3-5 if you haven't gotten the full set yet. Go to: 15. Green Switch Palace 15. GREEN SWITCH PALACE (Difficulty: Very Easy) Not much in the way of a palace, but whatever. The 1-up strategy should be clear in this one. The green switch turns all outlined green blocks into solid green ones, which yield cape feathers. Extremely useful. 16. DONUT GHOST HOUSE (Difficulty: Easy) A swarm of ghosts hover above you and randomly come down. If you're running or ducking, they shouldn't be a problem. (Y1) In plain sight as you run to your right. Here's the ghost house trick: enter the door at the end of the first room, and also at the right side of the second room. You will be teleported beneath the staircase, where you can nab (Y2) Dragon coin 2. Can't miss it unless you're blind, in which case you'd have a hard time playing this game anyway. Hit the yellow block for a POW. Once you activate that, you'll see an arrow of coins leading to a blue door to the left. Go through. (Y3) On top of the block that releases the coin train, you can jump straight up to hit an invisible [?] block, and on top of that is the third Dragon Coin. Once you've done that, you're back in a room that should seem familiar. But wait! It's a different room! (Y4) The dragon coin is waiting behind the staircase again, but this time there's a trick. When you go through the door on the right, you're back in room 2! Annoying, but now you go through the door on the right to get back to room 3, where the coin is easily within reach. (Y5) Hit the yellow block next to dragon coin 4, and a vine will pop out. Climb up, and it's right on your left. Enter through the yellow door to the left of dragon coin 5 to leave this house. Go to: 19. Donut Plains 3 17. DONUT GHOST HOUSE (Secret Exit) For starters, you need the cape. In the first room, start running left from the right edge of the first platform, and fly up to the secret "roof," which will lead to 4 yellow blocks and a door. (UP) Each yellow block contains a 1-up mushroom, for 4-ups. Through the door is the second exit. Go to: NA. Top Secret Area 18. DONUT SECRET 2 (Difficulty: Medium) This level gives you a sneak peak at Bowser Valley, although you can't get there yet by normal means. This level is covered entirely in ice, so there may be a problem with Luigi and his sliding. You also used to be able to eat the start of the coin trains with Yoshi, but nothing came of that. Skidding is the main issue here. Note: Yoshi can stand on the small black flowers without any trouble. (Y1) On top of the first two ice hills, a bit to the right. (UP) Right after the first dragon coin, bounce on the spring to release the vine. Climb up, and there's a yellow block which releases a star. Get it, and proceed to the systematic destruction of baddies. (Y2) Simple enough, right next to the said yellow block. (Y3) How much easier can it get? In plain sight. (Y4) Right after the above, but just as easy to get. (Y5) Nintendo isn't making this too difficult. Stick to the bottom path after the pirahna plants and you'll get the last Dragon Coin. (UP) At the end, kill all the koopas without landing to claim a 1-up. Go to: 19. Donut Plains 3 19. DONUT PLAINS 3 (Difficulty: Easy) Not much of a challenge. Specializes in mobile platforms, but then again, they're not so hard. Yoshi can be used to great effect in this level, as there are plenty of blue koopas. (Y1) Should be obvious. It's on one of the arms of a spinning gray platform-contraption. (Y2) Use the spinjump to break some yellow blocks underneath two flying koopas. The left-most block contains a vine, which you can use to walk on the clouds to your right, and grab the coin near the end. (Y3) In plain sight, while you're riding on a yellow platform hitting switches, grovin' to the beat... Right before the halfway mark. (Y4) After the halfway, ride the upper yellow platform to get it enroute to... (UP) Bonus round! Enter the yellow pipe. (Y5) Once you come out, head to your left to find a dragon coin rotating on one of the grey tri-platforms. Go to: 20. Donut Plains 4 20. DONUT PLAINS 4 (Difficulty: Easy) You might want a Yoshi so you can eat the flashing yellow shells. They give you and your Yoshi a combination of all the Yoshi powers. (Y1) On top of the first hill. Jump from the first green pipe. (UP) At the slanted hills, get the shell from the first koopa and use it to knock over the enemies on the bottom for a 1-up. Make sure you get the naked koopa though, or otherwise it'll only be 7 hits. (Y2) Dragon coin right after, impossible to miss. (Y3) Enter the blue pipe after dragon coin 2, and it's also impossible to miss in the cave. (Y4) In a ditch with 2 flying Gombas. (UP) Hit the clear box for the changing powerups, grab the star, and run over everything you see! Watch for those parachuting Gombas. (Y5) Along your way as you charge around with the star. (UP) Since the rampage takes you on unbroken ground, run and fly up to nab a 3-up moon. It's directly above the second valley, or downhill as you will. Go to: 21. #2 Morton's Castle 21. #2 MORTON'S CASTLE (Difficulty: Easy) Thwomps, Mini-thwomps, Chomps, ahh... classic Mario. Not particularly challenging, although a step up from Lenny. A small step. (Y1) Shining very obviously on your way up in the first room. (Y2) Above the 3rd Thwomp in the second room. Hard to get without getting hurt, but doable. (Y3) In the third room, it's being pushed out by a wall on the left. (Y4) This is the only hard one. After the spring, hit the yellow block second from the right, and climb up the vine to receive the dragon coin which will pop out from the wall. (Y5) Pushed out near the top by another wall on the left. BOSS: Morton. Flatten him repeatedly, and don't give him a chance to run up walls and fall on you. 3 hits is all it takes. When he falls, he'll stun you. So, you should try to always try to be at the far right, then run to his left when he tries to fall on you. You'll get stunned, but you'll have more time to hit him as he tries to make his journey left. Simply jump and land on him. Also, if you have a lot of space, you can him again. Just wait for him to stop being so squishy (yummy) and then you can hit him again. In fact, you can hit him three times in a row before he even knows what happened to him. This is an easy boss. Take advantage of it. Once you hit him three times, you save a blue Yoshi. How nice. Go to: 22. Vanilla Dome 1 C. VANILLA DOME 22. VANILLA DOME 1 (Difficulty: Medium) Underground level with a plethora of bats and turtle- like things. Yoshi can jump on the red spikey crawlers, and eat the turtles as if they have no shells. Only thing now to watch out for is the terrain shape. Some pits and holes can be hard to spot until it's too late. Note: You can do a spin jump to break the blocks and STILL ride Yoshi. Just land on him at any point and keep jumping. Now you can break blocks with your dinosaur friend! (Y1) In the aparment complex of yellow blocks, the third one on the upper row houses a dragon coin. (UP) The first yellow block in the next row contains a 1-up mushroom. (!!) Secret Exit (UP) After entering the green pipe to the right, you'll come across a [?] with a star. By now this should be second nature, as the game naturally provides enough enemies for it to be effective. (Y2) Near the end of the sinking yellow plateau. After the massacre of many a turtle. (Y3) A bit after the midway point, you'll come across a small tunnel that only regular Mario can enter. The coin sits in a little niche inside. If you want it, you must lose your powerups. Don't worry though, there's a [?] with a mushroom inside right after. (Y4) Right above a flying koopa, between a red and green pipe. (Y5) When the path splits, take the bottom route. A dragon coin can be easily seen, but you have to slide and duck under the brown blocks to get it. Go to: 26. Vanilla Dome 2 23. VANILLA DOME 1 (Secret Exit) This is tricky to get without hitting the red switch first, but definitely possible. It involves getting Yoshi safely to the two yellow pipes from the ceiling with a blue shell in his mouth, so he can fly up and around to the right for the key and keyhole. If you hit the red switch, then all you have to do is to jump up and release the vine, climb up, and do a little jig. No wait. That comes later. Go to: 24. Vanilla Secret 1 24. VANILLA SECRET 1 (Difficulty: Easy) A myriad of secrets in Vanilla Dome, and among them this vertical level. If you had a blue Yoshi, you can be the ultimate sleaze and fly straight up. There are plenty of Koopas along the way, so you don't even need to worry about swallowing your shell. (Y1) As the level starts, head left and jump onto the springy green things. A dragon coin is on top of a small platform to your right, next to a horizontal green pipe. Make sure you don't fall all the way down to the start. (Y2) From the green pipe, hit the middle yellow block to create a vine. The coin is all the way up, a little to the right. (!!) Secret Exit found here. See #25. (Y3) After climbing the second vine, fall down the gap farthest to the left with green circle-platforms jutting out. The coin is all the way on the bottom. As you head up, you'll see a spring and above, 6 flying koopas. The goal is to jump up through the gap between them. Since there are only 6 of them, you can't get a 1-up this way. (Y4) After the 6 koopas, there's a spring lying to your right. Grab it and climb up the platforms to your left. When you see a flaoting platform to your right, jump on it and bounce on the spring. (Y5) On top of another platform to the right of dragon coin 4. You can use the spring, or simply jump up from the last platform to get it. Go to: 32. Vanilla Secret 2 25. VANILLA SECRET 1 (Secret Exit) To the left of the 6 flying koopas is a green pipe. Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to fly up there using any means available and enter that pipe. For this assignment, you have a choice of a blue Yoshi or cape feather. Go to: 81. Star Road 2 26. VANILLA DOME 2 (Difficulty: Medium) Half-underwater, half on land. A maze of tunnels and waterways, so both the fire flower and cape feather are useful (the level provides both). (Y1) After the vine, it's in an arrow pointing downwards. You have to be totally incompetent to miss it. (Y2) Thoroughly wet, come up to hit the lone [?] with a fire flower, and jump up on the hills above. A dragon coin sits right above you. (Y3) Get the POW sitting on some brown blocks to your left. Don't hit it there though, or you'll fall and lose the opportunity to get both a dragon coin and the secret exit. Run through the coin wall on the left, and hit it when you get to the brown block wall right next to where the coin arrow downwards was. If you didn't get those coins, it's still possible to make the jump. Fall through the gap where you couldn't before. The coin and the key are sitting in a tunnel above the water. Wait, a key!? (!!) Wow it's a key! Must lead to a secret exit! See 27. During the straightaways, you can use the flying stomp to kill Chucks behind those yellow blocks. You can't really fly though, so that's pretty much all you can do. (UP) There are an obscene amount of coins in the level, especially underneath the first POW button. Also, there is a star on the upper tunnel which you can use to kill a few enemies and get a small amount of lives. (Y4) From dragon coin 3, backtrack to where dragon coin 2 was, and head right. It's on a hill sloping downwards after the star, next to a brown block wall (too many of these...) and a POW. (Y5) Continuing to the right, the last dragon coin is on top of a hill. You can jump to it from the green pipe right below it. You can chooes to enter the green pipe, but that gives you absolutely nothing, and 4 bats assault you as soon as you come out. So, not such a great idea. Go to: 29. Vanilla Ghost House 27. VANILLA DOME 2 (Secret Exit) From where the key was in the guide above grab it, and head downwards. The keyhole is right there, but you have to navigate past several Cheep-Cheeps, and with the twisted swimming-with-item physics, it's hard to navigate past them. I would take out the fish before going for the exit. Also, be cautious of falling to your doom... underwater. Go to: 28. Red Switch Palace 28. RED SWITCH PALACE (Difficulty: Easy) As soon as you enter, you're greeted by a bunch of multi-colored koopas trapped between brown blocks. The goal is to hit the POW, and let the invincible flashing shell kill all of them. After that, use your Yoshi to eat it and collect all the remaining coins. After hitting the Red Switch, all dotted red blocks will turn to solid but worthless red blocks. 29. VANILLA GHOST HOUSE (Difficulty: Easy) Duck below the two ghosts at the start, as it is more reliable than jumping through them. (Y1) Inside a circle of Boo Buddies. Highly visible. (Y2) Equally visible, on one of the small platforms right after the Boo Buddies. (Y3) When you see the Big Boo surrounded by yellow blocks, you can hit the block under the second gap in the top to make a vine. Head up, and to the right for a dragon coin. (Y4) Inside another circle of Boo Buddies, immediately after the halfway mark, right before the door. Green bubble time. Their bouncing patterns are fairly predictable, so they shouldn't be too hard. You can also fly up from the beginning to avoid most of them. The worst thing you could do is to turn around since then 2 bubbles which cover most of the screen will fly at you from both directions. Not fun. (Y5) All the way to the right of the level, between the exit door and the trick door. The trick door leads back to the first room, so you want to take the POW you should have gotten from a yellow block and smash it once you've gotten the coins outlining the door. That's the real exit. Go to: 30. Vanilla Dome 3 30. VANILLA DOME 3 (Difficulty: Medium) Lava level! Ooo...Ride the skull raft in the beginning, and watch out for those lava monsters that pop out every once in a while. Their eyes will stick out first, then the rest of them. Yoshi can just step on their faces, but you'll need to jump over them or spin jump Yoshi-style. This is somewhat unreliable though, so I don't suggest it. Note: You can only spin jump and survive if you hit their eyes. If you hit their mouths isntead, you'll take damage. Yoshi seems to be exempt from this rule. (UP) The higher flying [?] contains a 1-up mushroom. Jump on the stationary one to get it. (Ignore the lower flying one, it's more of a distraction) (Y1) Right before the second skull raft. Gotten to the 2 orange pipes without the feather and can't get up? No worries. Just walk up to the first one and jump right next to it. A [?] block will appear, which you can use to get the feather in the middle (or mushroom). (UP) The ledges from the orange pipes should be just enough for you to fly, so fly up to the ledge on the right. Enter the green pipe for a bonus round! Score! (Y2) After you come out of that, head to your left and enter the yellow pipe. You'll be in an ice place, and the dragon coin is in plain sight towards the end. In between the orange pipes this time is the midway mark, and a red shell with a naked koopa. It just kicks it around, so stop the red shell and kill the koopa. Afterwards, aim it up to get Yoshi. Flying won't get you much here, unfortunately, so get on the skull raft. (Y3) Right after the lava fall from the skull raft you're on. Jump on the floating block, and then to the right to get it. (Y4) On a low platform between with a few turtles. Obvious. (Y5) Before the skull raft with the upside-down pirahna plants above it, fly a bit to the upper left, and then float right to land on a ledge with several black flowers. If you run into them, you won't lose Yoshi but will lose a power. The coin is between 2 flowers, and you really can't miss it. Hit the POW to make a [?] staircase, to the exit. Go to: 31. Vanilla Dome 4 31. VANILLA DOME 4 (Difficulty: Medium) If it weren't for those Bullet Bills flying at you randomly... But of course, they make the level challenging and more fun. However, because of the constant barrage of bullets (which Yoshi can eat) the level layout has been simplified a bit. You can't go wrong with a blue Yoshi here either. (Y1) As soon as you start, it's just to your right. If you miss this coin... (Y2) Equally hard to miss. Between some radishes (?!?) and their green springy protrusions, right after a green flying koopa. After the unusually tall midway gate, the pirahna plants after summon a bullet from each directions at you. The blue pipe can be entered for a lava obstacle course, at the end of which you get (Y3) a dragon coin. Yoshi is bad for the obstacle course, since he can't duck under any of the brown blocks. Ditch him or die a horrible scalding death. (UP) Out of the exit pipe, head left for a row of [?] blocks with a yellow block in the middle. In order to get these, go all the way left and fall down. You should land on one of those bouncy green stems. From there, you can bounce up to hit all the blocks. The yellow block gives a 1-up mushroom. (Y4) Again, highly visible, but surrounded by bullets. (Y5) Ditto above, but surrounded by red flying koopas. Go to: 35. #3 Lemmy's Castle 32. VANILLA SECRET 2 (Difficulty: Medium) You'll want Yoshi for this level. At the start, fly up immediately to hit some clouds and a bunch of coins. (Y1) It's on the second cloud. Blue Yoshi's rock, as there is a ridiculous amount of koopas in this level, especially in the beginning. (Y2) Fall down from the cloud. It should be only a little bit to the right of you, and pretty obvious. AGH! So many koopas! (Y3) Between two purple pipes, after the koopa barrage. Interestingly enough, if you lose Yoshi facing right to the koopas, he will run fast enough to get trapped between the two pipes. It soon gets hectic though, with a pipe Lakitu throwing spikeys and bob-ombs parachuting in. You may want to run like hell in order to avoid any problems. Also, the third note block above the first Lakitu features a power-up. If you really need it, grab it. (Y4) In plain sight, between a brown block and a [?] block. (UP) In the pit of spikeys, the second yellow block contains a white POW, which will turn all the spikeys in to black coins which you can collect for lives! It works the same as invincibility and multiple hits though. You need 8 coins for it to work. What you should do is kill the ones in the pit, and then run back to where Lakitu was, and there are quite a few along the way. (Y5) Enter the green pipe with a Lakitu in it, hit the POW, and run to your left. A dragon coin waits at the end. Go to: 33. Vanilla Secret 3 33. VANILLA SECRET 3 (Difficulty: Very Easy) Dolphins, dolphins. We love dolphins. Unfortunately, they have a habit of going in the opposite direction of the exit. That's ok though. We like 'em anyways. The only danger is that fat spiked fish in the water, but Yoshi can eat him. Also, Yoshi can bounce off of him without any problem. You can actually play the entire level, bouncing off the fish. Also, Yoshi can eat the dolphins too... (Y1) Use the third dolphin to get on top of the ledge, and the dragon coin is on the right. Or, you can just ride on any of the other few billion dolphins that come your way. (Y2) Very, very obvious. On a green platform between many many many dolphins. (Y3) Between vertical-jumping dolphins. (They're the funny-looking ones) (Y4) In an arrow as you're heading right. (Y5) Right before the pipe at the right, extremely obvious. (Y6) The rare 6th dragon coin! It's located right above you as soon as you come out of the green pipe. Go to: 34. Vanilla Fortress 34. VANILLA FORTRESS (Difficulty: Medium) I hate fortresses. I hate underwater fortresses more. Good thing there's only one in the game. Bad thing is that this is it. You'll have to finish this ghost-house like level AND beat 4 Renzors at the end. You have to contend with bony fish, dry bones, spiked balls, and falling spikes. Ugh. If you're small, you can walk under a set of spikes near the beginning. This'll get you directly to dragon coin 3. (Y1) In a room with many bony fish, dry bones, and 2 falling spikes right before it. What a party. There are also these weird shell things on the bottom. Enter the pipe to the right. As soon as you come out, head left. (Y2) Guarded by a thwomp to your left. Get with care. Keep swimming left and soon you'll end up at a downward orange pipe. (Y3) Under the orange pipe. (Y4) Head back to the right, and this time go up to the midway gate. Keep heading right and the coin is under a ball and chain. (Y5) Swim down, and another dragon coin is being guarded by more ball and chains. BOSS: Reznor - This will most likely be your very first trip to a fortress, although it is possible to avoid all four of them in the game. Each fortress will end up with Reznor: four beasts on rotating platforms. They're always the same, so you should have no problem with them later on. First of all, Reznor's shoot fire balls at you. They move very, very slow so you can easily avoid them. How to you defeat them? It's easier said than done: hit them from below! So, when you start off, run and hit one from below, avoiding any fireballs. But now it gets tricky: the floor will start to collapse from underneath you. It starts to disappear from the middle, so you don't have to panic! After you hit one, try to let the next one go above you and hit the one that rotates in after that. This way, you'll have a pattern of one free and one with a Reznor. This set-up makes it easier for you to jump onto a free platform and also easier to destroy the Reznors. After you destroy the second Reznor, jump on a free platform before the bridge gets entirely destroyed. Then, when a Reznor is above you, hit it. It gets really easy here: just avoid the fireballs and destroy the Reznors. Beware: there is a strange glitch sometimes that will cause you to fall into the lava and die a firey death. Try to avoid hitting a Reznor when you're at the bottom right. You'll somehow go through the platform and end up at the lava. Sucks to be you, huh? Also: make sure you have enough time! It takes about 3 seconds for the victory screen to show up after you beat Reznor. Once you got rid of all four, you have conquered one of the mighty-annoying fortresses. Go to: 40. Butter Bridge 1 35. #3 LEMMY'S CASTLE (Difficulty: Medium) Magikoopas make their debut in this annoying castle constructed out of too many yellow blocks and coins. The fifth yellow block on the top from the right contains a feather upgrade. Use it if those magikoopas zapped you with their geometric figures. You also can't kill them with your cape. You can kill this dude by jumping on top of him, but he'll usually hit you before you have the chance. YAY! Annoying... Also watch out for the ludicrously low water, as well as koopas made by the magikoopas from yellow blocks. The midway mark is in the floating door. You'll have to hit the POW to reach it. For this effort, you get a (UP) 1-up mushroom. Water, and now LAVA? This castle must be hell to maintain. Then again, this is a video game. (Y1) On a lower tier in the first sinking block. (Y2) Clearly visible, easily gotten. (Y3) These are packed so closely together. This one comes from the ceiling as the blocks lower. (Y4) On the lowest step of another block that comes from the lava. (Y5) This one is hard to get. As you ride the last block elevator after 2 dry bones up, you'll notice that a coin pops out of the lava at it's peak. Get it, and use the little alcove above it to jump out. BOSS: Lemmy - Maybe the weakest of the koopas, along with Wendy. He hides in those yellow pipes, but comes out regularly. The trick is that two dummies also pop out, and a fireball is flying around. So, how do you beat him? Well, first: never stay standing on the pipe when they are about to come up. They'll come up a few seconds after they go down. You'll want to jump (but not into the fireball) or else you'll take damage. Jump on the big yellow dude. This is really, really easy and you should have no problem dealing with the lone fireball bouncing around. It only takes 3 hits on the noggin to drop down into the lava. In case you have a hard time distinguishing him, he's the one who's making faces at you, and occasionally moons you. The yellow Yoshi egg thanks you for your bravery. Go to: 36. Cheese Bridge Area 1 D. COOKIE MOUNTAIN 36. CHEESE BRIDGE AREA (Difficulty: Medium) You can fly through this level, or you can ride the yellow platforms and get some dragon coins. Yoshi is good in this level, not only because he can be used to reach the secret exit, but the saws won't hurt him. Set the 3 platforms in motion at the beginning at approximately the same time. NOTE: Try to keep all 3 on the screen at once. If you don't, there's a chance that one or more will disappear. (Y1) Ride the bottom one. It's in a little bend in the wire. (Y2) Right after the first dragon coin, jump to the top one and it's right there after the [?] block. Stay on the top one to reach the midway gate. If you're flying, you don't really have to do any of this... If you have Yoshi, you can hit the [?] block right when you get off to reach a bonus stage! (Y3) In the bonus stage, in your direct line of sight, as you can't control the screen's motion. (Y4) Ditto above, next to a bunch of black fuzzy blobs. (Y5) A lot of dragon coins in the bonus stage... (UP) Which can be used for a few extra lives! (Y6) Dragon coins 5, 6, and 7 are on the screen at the same time, with dragon coin 5 being all the way to the left, 6 is in the middle, and 7 is on the right. Eat the black fuzzies for an easier time. (Y7) See above. If you fall at anytime before the end, you'll still beat the stage, strangely enough. If you didn't have Yoshi, or you want the secret exit, you'll have to contend with a maze of saws. (!!) Secret Exit found here! Go to: 39. Cookie Mountain 37. CHEESE BRIDGE AREA (Secret Exit) If you have Yoshi, this'll be much easier. If you don't, you better have ridiculous flying skills. In both cases, you'll need a cape. With Yoshi, float down right before the goal underneath the green platform. When you're past it, dismount and hopefully you'll be beyond the goal. Go forward to reach the secret exit. It's the same if you're flying, you'll have to go under. Use Luigi for an easier time. (UP) There's a 3-up moon on the way. Go to: 38. Soda Lake 38. SODA LAKE (Difficulty: Hard) The background here is different from the others... And so are the enemies. This is the only level where you can find Torpedo Teds, which are underwater versions of Bullet Bills. These can't be killed though, which utterly sucks. (Y1) In plain sight, between 2 Torpedo Teds. (Y2) It's right next to a Torpedo Ted, along your way. (Y3) In a gap right after that, before 4 Torpedo Teds. (Y4) Near the bottom, next to a lone Torpedo Ted. (Y5) Between 3 Torpedo Teds this time. Go to: 83. Star World 3 39. COOKIE MOUNTAIN (Difficulty: Medium) Those sumo koopas can be pretty tough, but they're always standing on blocks you can hit, so use that to kill them or swipe at them with your cape. Moles sure like cookies. (Y1) Right above the first of the slanted hills. (UP) Can't be riding a Yoshi for this. At the end of the slanted hills, there are 4 layers of platforms that have 8 moles in them. Hm... 8 moles. And look! There's a shell at the bottom of the hill right before them. The key is to make all the moles pop up. Do so by flying over each segment and jumping back making sure not to kill any. What usually happens is that they pop up 4 at a time, so this method is kinda iffy. (Y2) Beneath some music notes with 2 sumos on top. (Y3) After a large mole-infested hill, hit the 3rd yellow block in the row of 4 for a vine. A coin near the top on the right. (UP) A 1-up mushroom is in a block on top of the mole hill. (Y4) After Yoshi and the two music notes, it's on top of another hill. (UP) Eat the two pink berries, and a cloud will appear. Get all the happy faces from the cloud for a 1-up. (Y5) On some green blocks before the two sumos. Go to: 42. #4 Ludwig's Castle 40. BUTTER BRIDGE 1 (Difficulty: Medium) One of those automatic camera levels. The thing to watch out for is that the small thin green platforms come in pairs. If If one goes down, the other goes up. (Y1) On the first falling grey platform. (Y2) Jump on the flying koopa to reach this and the "butter" platform. (Y3) In between 2 green platforms. You can't miss it. (UP) Jump on each of the green koopas as they come into view. Keep jumping on the landed koopas for more ups! You come across a double set of platforms that's too high to jump to. The solution is to simply raise the last platform of the first set so you can jump on it to reach the second. Afterwards, the screen shifts downwards so you can easily get the (Y4) Dragon coin that waits right there next to some flying koopas (UP) In the series of yellow block rows, the second block in the top row yields a 1-up mushroom. (Y5) Next to a falling grey platform near the end. Go to: 41. Butter Bridge 2 41. BUTTER BRIDGE 2 (Difficulty: Easy) Another flyable level, filled with Superkoopas. After the last one, this level is surprisingly easy. (Y1) Start flying from the beginning. You'll see a cloud, with a few coins and the dragon coin on top. (Y2) Fall down and you should see a trail of single coins leading up to a dragon coin. Bounce on a superkoopa to get it. Watch out for the naked koopas on top kicking shells at you! (Y3) After 2 butt-naked koopas kicking blue shells. It's right next to them. For some reason, the superkoopas now switch to normal red capes. No feathers though. There's just an endless amount, so ignore them and go down the second blue tube. (Y4) In the bonus round in the blue tube, on top of a slab of "butter." (Y5) Near the bottom of the broken path, with naked koopas walking and red/yellow superkoopas flying around. If you don't have the cape, time it so that you land on a superkoopa and boucne back up when you get it. The spin jump does wonders against the hordes of superkoopas. You'll be invulnerable while jumping, and come down hard on any of the buggers too. Just be sure you don't ram your head into one. That's never good. Go to: 42. #4 Ludwig's Castle 42. #4 LUDWIG'S CASTLE Claustraphobia! This castle is so restrictive, as you barely have room for any big Mario as it is. The enemies are either invulnerable or can only be killed by cape Mario, so it's in your best interest to carry a few feathers coming in. And that's only the first room. (UP) You can access a bonus mini-game in the castle, although it is a bit time consuming. Before you reach the final door, jump through one of the blocks in the ceiling. Jump to the right and then continue jumping up. There is a pipe that will lead you to the game. Thanks to Sailor Bacon for pointing this out and shame on Dean for not putting this in! In the second room, the ceiling slowly falls, which doesn't bode well for our intrepid hero. There's a switch midway that makes the ceiling rise to the top, but at that point it starts falling again. Bah. Fireballs and lava pits don't make this easier. (Y1) Along the way in the second room. Make sure you don't hit the ceiling. (Y2) After the switch. It's pretty high, so you may want to wait a second before getting it in case the ceiling's already really low. In the third room, head to the right immediately for the midway. It's another fence-climbing escapade, so therefore we have (UP) a 1-up strategy! Don't go into the first alcove to the right unless you need a mushroom/feather. (Y3) Behind a fence. Seriously, there's a revolving section right there, so you'd have to be stupid to miss it. (Y4) All the way to the right, start heading downwards. There are small pieces of fencing with 1 koopa each, and underneat is a spikey floor with a gap. And guess what's in that gap. (Y5) Move up and to the left, and there's a dragon coin sitting in your way. BOSS: Ludwig. An easy castle deserves an easy boss. I had more trouble with Lemmy. Anyway, he's the only one who has a long battle screen. Run to the right, and there he is, spitting fireballs at you. Jump on him, and then dodge when he spins at you. After a few seconds, he'll bounce (he flies surprisingly far, so watch out) and revert back to step 1: shooting fireballs at you. Jump on him, then dodge when he spins at you. After a few... You get the idea. 3 times and he's toast. You save a ... green Yoshi?!? Oh well. At at least he's grateful. The cinematic shows the castle smacking the nearby hill. My question is, where did the hill get the bandage from? Even Mario is mystified. Go to: 43. Forest of Illusion 1 E. FOREST OF ILLUSION 43. FOREST OF ILLUSION 1 (Difficulty: Easy) Yoshi is a must-have in this level, as he's the only one who can kill those darn wigglers. Mario, when he tries to step on them, only makes them turn beet red and angry. The only way around it is to eat them, and that's what Yoshi's for. This is also one of the best levels to gain lives, as the game practically throws enemies at you once you get the star midway. Hazards include trees blocking your vision, and a lot of gaps to watch out for. (Y1) Take the spring when you see it, and you get to a bunch of music-blocks shaped in an L. Actually, you don't really need the spring unless you're small Mario. (Y2) Between the thick trees with 3 wigglers. (UP) After the midway, you come to the power-up box. Grab the star, and destroy Tokyo! Er... Enemies pop out from yellow blocks right in your way, so jump and kill them before they hit the ground for more efficient carnage. (Y3) This one is hard to see. In fact, it's impossible to see. Right after you get the star, you'll run across a flat platform with a bunch of trees in the foreground. Behind the second thick tree, Jump up to grab the coin. It's pretty high in the air. (Y4) You should still be flashing when you get here. It's on top of the floating yellow logs. Easy to see. (!!) Secret Exit found here! (Y5) Under the Hammer Bros. towards the end. Can't really miss it. Go to: 45. Forest of Illusion 2 44. FOREST OF ILLUSION 1 (Secret Exit) After the series of yellow logs, you'll get to a [?] block that contains a balloon. Get it, and go under the logs to the left. Eventually, you'll come to a flying koopa, a keyhole, and a block which contains the key. Simple eh? Go to: 50. Forest Ghost House 45. FOREST OF ILLUSION 2 (Difficulty: Medium) Boo... sea urchins. Yoshi wouldn't hurt in this level either, as he can eat the fish and step on the urchins. You can also take an extra hit with the Yoshi, although I think that's rather poor use of your dinosaur friend. One downside to having Yoshi is that you can't use the purple blocks. But that's ok, I'm sure you've figured out by now that Yoshi can be dismounted. When trying to get the dragon coins, make sure you don't run out of time. They're so completely out of your way that it's a pain to get them all. (Y1) It's very visible, near the beginning. The only problem is that an urchin is guarding it. The solution? Smash it to bits with a purple block conveniently located to your right. (Y2) After heading upwards and a [?] block containing a flower, fall all the way down to where the Rip van Winkle is, and swim to the right. The coin is all the way to the right, in a dead end. (UP) While you're getting the coin, you come across a small gap above you. From the RIGHT, swim up and left, and you'll hit some invisible [?] blocks. There are 4 in total, and they completely seal off the gap. Hit second one from the right, making sure that you leave at least a gap of 2 spaces. 1-up Mushrooms, moving slowly in the water, need 2 spaces to fall. So much work for one measly life. (Y3) Go back to where you were before you headed down, and all the way on the right, guarded by 2 urchins and a Rip van Winkle is the coin. Make your way past the 2 urchins, and cross the midway gate! Yay! (Y4) Another purple block is conveniently next to another urchin guarding the fourth dragon coin. (!!) Secret Exit found here! (Y5) Next to the second to last Rip Van Winkle falling from the top of the screen. Look out for the others before him. (UP) This is kinda strange, but you can get all of the fish to follow you to the regular exit, and if all of them are on the screen when you cross, they'll be turned into coins. If enough of them cross, you'll get a few lives! Cool. Go to: 48. Forest of Illusion 3 46. FOREST OF ILLUSION 2 (Secret Exit) Right before the row of falling Rip van Winkles, head left on the bottom path. You'll see a yellow [!] block, and you can swim through the wall on your left, to find the lock and key! Go to: 47. Blue Switch Palace 47. BLUE SWITCH PALACE (Difficulty: Very Easy) The final switch palace. Not only is this one of the easiest, you also can get 3 lives instead of the 1 you get from the other palaces. Simply get the coins before hitting both P switches, collect the coins formerly known as spikeys, for 3 lives! Yay. 48. FOREST OF ILLUSION 3 (Difficulty: Medium) The only thing that annoys me about this level is how all the bad guys are encased in bubbles that pop when you touch them. This is a Yoshi level, since as soon as you start, you see berries in the trees. Yoshi can also handily eat the darn bubbles. (UP) The purple pipe right next to Yoshi can be entered for a bonus round. (Y1) As soon as you start, you see 2 green pipes. It's between them. (Duh) (Y2) After two tall yellow pipes, which you need a spring to jump over. (Y3) Between two more yellow pipes, this one over a gap. Be careful when getting it without the feather, you'll have to time your jump carefully. (UP) There are 3 pink berries in this level, one right after getting Yoshi, another one over a yellow block, and a third at the start of the large maze of [?] blocks. Eat them all to start the happy face cloud with happy face coins all over again! Collect a 1-up for all the happy faces. (Y4) In the maze of the [?] blocks. You can't miss it. (!!) Secret Exit here! (Y5) Right after the green pipe, leaning against it. Go to: 50. Forest Ghost House 49. FOREST OF ILLUSION 3 (Secret Exit) Enter a tall green pipe after the Chargin' Chuck x 3. You'll have to be a form of Super Mario to break the yellow blocks and to get the key/keyhole. Go to: 56. #5 Roy's Castle 50. FOREST GHOST HOUSE (Difficulty: Medium) It's almost as confined as Ludwig's castle, but not quite. You'll have to manipulate the peekaboo principles of ghost movement in order to make your way through the level. The large ghosts follow the same rules as the small ones. At the first gap, look back and duck or the ghosts will get you while you're avoiding the ghast. (Y1) Between the first two [?] blocks. (Y2) In the second room, the ceiling is covered in ghosts which descend once in a while. A dragon coin is on your way. (Y3) Clearly in your way, you'd have to be a fool to miss it. (Y4) Ditto above, only more so. After getting the POW, hit it only after you've gotten all the coins covering the two gaps. Hit the POW, and go through the blue door that appears in the second large gap. Now look where you are! It's the first room all over again, but this time you're standing on top of the ceiling! (!!) Secret Exit found here! (Y5) After the door that leads to the exit, keep heading left to grab this coin. Keep going left, and make the Big boo fly away from the door. Go through and there's the exit and a (UP) 3-up moon in front of it. 51. FOREST GHOST HOUSE (Secret Exit) Enter the first door you get to when you're on the roof. It's that simple. Go to: 52. Forest of Illusion 4 52. FOREST OF ILLUSION 4 (Difficulty: Medium) First of all, you have Fishin' Lakitu above you, offering a 1-up mushroom. Unless you want to make your life more difficult than it should be, don't get it. He'll only start throwing spikeys at you instead. Of course, you could knock him off and go for a cruise in his cloud, but why bother when you can just fly. (Y1) After a step-wise series of yellow blocks, it's right next to an exposed mushroom, and next to some regular coins. (Y2) Below some [?] blocks, between Pipe Lakitus. (Y3) After the extending pipe, it's on the top. Make sure you still don't hit that Fishin' Lakitu though. After the midway gate, Fishin' Lakitu will disappear for a while. (!!) Secret Exit found here! (Y4) When that silly Fishin' Lakitu reappears, there is a series of yellow blocks with some coins leading upwards. The dragon coin is all the way up there. (Y5) Lakitu conveniently disappears again. Anyway, this one is right after a Chargin' Chuck comes at you over a green pipe. Go to: 46. Forest of Illusion 2 53. FOREST OF ILLUSIONS 4 (Secret Exit) Go into a floating purple pipe, with a pipe Lakitu in it. There's a POW right under it. The key and keyhole are right there. Go to: 54. Forest Secret Area 54. FOREST SECRET AREA (Difficulty: Easy) This entire level is based completely on two flying grey platforms. The dragon coins are on either path, and there are koopas flying around. Really, it's not that hard. Just sit on your platform and everything should be fine. The regular coins should guide you to which platform to take. Take the second platform as it descends in the beginning for a few coins, then switch to the first as it goes down for (Y1) Dragon coin number 1. (Y2) Stay on that as it rises. Jump for the coin. Rise with the second platform for some coins, but no dragon coin. Switch back to the first again as it comes up for (Y3) This dragon coin. (Y4) Once again, switch to the one heading upwards for another dragon coin (You should be passing a blue block platform with a few flying koopas) (Y5) Switch back to the other platform as it flies up. Notice a pattern here? Just ride the platforms to the end. (UP) 2 1-up strategies actually. One of them nets you 3 1-up mushrooms, the other one just gets you 1-up. If you stay on the platforms, as you pass you'll get 1-up just for having 5 objects on the screen at once. If you go to the higher one however, you'll go over and you can grab those 3 1-up mushrooms. Go to: 55. Forest Fortress 55. FOREST FORTRESS (Difficulty: Medium) Be careful, this is an automatic-scrolling fortress. Which means as soon as you start the level, (Y1) JUMP! It's almost off the screen already! Avoid the thumping stuff. The screen here scrolls quite fast actually, so the buzz saws are actually a danger somewhat. (Y2) In the path of the second buzz saw. Obviously caution is the keyword here. You know, the thumping and the saws gets routine after a while. This fortress is a whole lot easier if you hit all 4 switches, cuz then you have platforms to stand on instead of jumping Houdini style through chain saws. (Y3) Over the green blocks. Enter the doors and... now the saws are rolling on the ground towards you. The fun just doesn't stop. (Y4) There's a triangle and 2 saws. Jump from the middle of the wall to get this very obvious coin. You don't really need to jump from one small stone to another. It doesn't really make it easier, although the castle blocks are mercifully coated in sand, increasing friction and reducing the slipping and sliding that usually goes on. (Y5) Right before the red door, head up over it on the stone ledge. Keep going right and you'll see it next to some lava. (UP) Hm... lava with fireballs instead of a wall. Well, intuitively, you should have no regard for your own safety and SEE WHAT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE! Luigi is extra handy for this, because he can hug the top wall much better than Mario. Your reward? 9-ups! Reznor fight! See 34. Vanilla Fortress for the strategy. Go to: 85. Star World 4 56. #5 ROY'S CASTLE (Difficulty: Medium) Hop on the brown blocks and they'll ferry you to the other side. The only problem is that they twist and turn as they go, so stay on your toes. Watch out for the bouncing fireballs, and the ones from the lava. I would stay on the back half of the "ferry" so I know what's coming up ahead. (Y1) Since you really don't have any freedom of movement in this level, it's right in your way over the first lava pit. (Y2) Ditto above, but between some spikes. (Y3) Right next to #2. It's right under a falling spike. (Y4) Again, same as above. Even the falling spike is the same. Hop off the brown blocks when yous ee the midway gate. Firebreathing stone koopas now! (UP) You can hit the POW for a 1-up from above, although that involves dropping another firebreathing koopa on you. (Y5) Over a series of extending yellow blocks. Head all the way to the right and you'll fight. BOSS: Roy. Nice sunglasses. Same as the battle with Morton, except now the walls crush in a bit faster. Still, only 3 hits is all it takes to send him to his... inflated doom? You save a red Yoshi egg, and blow yourself up. How nice. Go to: 57. Chocolate Island 1 F. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 57. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 1 (Difficulty: Easy) Did you know that this was the last part of the FAQ written? Weird, huh? Hopefully, there will be a behind-the-scenes feature of this FAQ later on... This level introduces you to the dinosaurs. They breathe fire when they stop! The big ones turn into the little ones when stomped on and the little ones will follow you, even jumping up staircases and stuff! They're smart! You can travel through this level quite easily, jumping and destroying these nasty critters. You may want a feather, fire flower or Yoshi for this level. (Y1) You will see this easy to grab coin. Trust me. Enter the yellow pipe to boost out and go towards the checkpoint. Then, you'll reach a POW. If you have a Yoshi, don't bother hitting it and just walk across the pirahna plants. If you don't, then hit it and watch out for the Chargin' Chuck! Don't worry, this is pretty easy! Keep on going and you'll stumble upon (Y2) yet another easy-to-find Dragon coin! YES! (UP) This one comes from Sailor Bacon: Go to the semi-circle shaped area right after the 2nd Yoshi coin and the Charging Chuck. Run and fly straight up for a 3-up on some clouds. (Thanks!) Continue and you'll see yet (Y3) another easy-to-find Dragon coin next to Yoshi! (Y4) This one is right after the previous one. Great! One of the blue pipes in this area can be entered. Destroy the dinos before they get you and enter it. You'll go against the flow of Dolphin traffic, but you can easily make it. Don't forget that Yoshi can bounce off the urchins on the bottom. (UP) The yellow block in this area holds a 1-UP. Once you make it to the end, you will go flying out into yet another and final... (Y5) Dragon coin. That ends this easy level! Go to: 58. Choco-Ghost House 58. CHOCO-GHOST HOUSE (Difficulty: Hard) Pretend this isn't a Mario game. Pretend it is Sonic. This way, the level becomes MUCH easier. Start off with feathers and then just run. Watch out, the gaps of the floor move! Jump over and in between the ghosts that come along, rushing. Why rush? Because a Lakitu-like ghost will come along and if you are just running all the time, it can't catch up to you! Muah ha ha! (Y1) When you see this, jump from the platform to the right to the left and grab it. Keep on rushing towards the end. (Y2) It's at the end. When you feel like going to the door, stay on the far right. Then, you can wait for the platform to come to the right and start moving left. Once it moves left, you follow it and press Up once you are at the door. You'll end up in a room with many new kinds of ghosts. The three gray blocks turn into ghosts when you don't look at them! You'll need to use this to your advantage later. But for now, jump over them and ignore them. The ghosts bounce off the walls. Time your jumps and walking so that you don't crash into them. (Y3) When you see three platforms, you should jump up and this coin will be conveniently located at the top. Watch out for the annoying ghosts. Continue and you'll end up at another set of platforms. At the top is... (Y4) Another Dragon Coin. Once again, watch out! If you head down to the bottom, you'll see a yellow block. (UP) Hit it to release a precious 1-UP. Now, how are you going to get the last Dragon coin and get your butt out of this truly scary place? Go back to the three ghosts that turn into blocks I was telling you about. Make sure that they always stay in your camera range or they will go back to the beginning! Turn around to the right and make them follow you. In the room that you are in, there is another Dragon Coin on top of the room. Wait for them to get close to the middle and look at them, turning them into blocks. (Y5) You can now grab the Dragon Coin with the aid of the ghosts. Continue to lure them to the area with the door. You'll repeat this strategy, always watching out for ghosts. Or, if you have a feather, then you can skip this tedious process and try to fly up. But, usually there are too many ghosts to try and do this. Enter the door to go on your way to freedom! Go to: 59. Chocolate Island 2 59. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 2 (Difficulty: Medium) This level is one of those damn "maze" levels which are really hard to write up on a strategy guide. Oh well. I suggest you try your best to go for the secret exit, because if you don't make it, you'll still get the regular exit. If you do, then you'll be able to bypass the rest of the level. (The following comes from Sailor Bacon: -To get to the secret key exit, you don't need to worry about collecting coins or anything like that. Just go through the second pipe (no matter which place the first pipe takes you to) with more than 250 seconds remaining on the timer and you'll get to the area with the key. -In Area *D* (Mushrooms in Bubbles), I got several mushrooms and still got taken to area *F*. I'm not sure how this area works but it doesn't seem to be either 0 mushrooms or any mushrooms like in the FAQ. -If you take the path *E*->*D*->*F* or *E*->*D*->*G*, you will get the five Yoshi coins, not just the first one. If anyone can confirm this or find out more concrete info on this level, it will be much appreciated. Thanks Sailor Bacon!) (!!) Secret exit can be found here! This level branches based on how many coins you get. Or how fast you do everything. The first room features those dinosaurs. Avoid them and get a nice Yoshi here. (Y1) Easy to spot at the top of the level. (Y2) Towards the right of the level, before the pipe. Now, if you want to get the Dragon Coins or the secret exit, you'll have to get as many coins as you can in this section. The secret is this: next to the spring, jump up and an invisible ? block will be hit. Jump on top of it and then move Mario to the left so that you're half on it. Then, your head should be able to hit the ? block above you. Hit it like a madman and you should get enough coins. You'll end up in one of three areas: *A* if you got enough coins or *B* if you got very little or *E* if you got an average amount. *A* will start off with one of the red triangles that make you run on walls and *B* will start off with a series of sloped platforms and *E* will send you to an area with dinos. *A* If you got enough coins, you'll be in a flying stage. Once again, this one involves how many coins you get. If you want the Dragon Coins, don't get too many; but if you want the secret exit, then you'll have to be the master of flying. Fly at an altitude that lets you get all the coins. It's hard, but possible. If you get pretty much all the coins, you'll go to the secret area with the key or you'll go on with the level. (Y3) On a platform in the middle. Don't land-- but continue to fly with your cape to get this coin. You'll end up in one of two areas: *C* if you got enough coins or *D* if you didn't. *C* will start off with Chargin' Chucks throwing baseballs and *D* will start with mushrooms in bubbles. *B* If you didn't get that many coins, you'll end up at an area with many sloped hills. Jump from platform to platform, avoiding the flying Koopas. My advice is to always keep on jumping, so you won't fall down off the slopes. You don't have to jump anywhere, just jump in place if you have to. Enter the pipe at the end. You'll end up in one of two areas: *C* if you went insanely fast or *D* if you didn't. *C* will start off with Chargin' Chucks throwing baseballs and *D* will start with mushrooms in bubbles. *C* This is the way to the secret exit. If you have the switches, then all you have to do is jump on to the top platforms and avoid all the Chucks. If you don't, then all you have to do is grab the blue blocks and kick them at the Chucks. Either way, you'll get to the key and go on. Go to: 61. Chocolate Secret *D* Mushrooms in bubbles. There are no enemies. However, if you want the Dragon Coins, then you'll have to not get ANY of the mushrooms. This is very difficult. Be quick and don't be afraid to take daring jumps. (Y4) In the water. You'll end up in one of two areas: *F* if you didn't get any mushrooms or *G* if you did. *F* starts off with a POW and *G* starts off with a yellow ground. *E* This is a simple platforming level that has many, many dinos. I'm not exactly sure what the requirements are for this level, but I think you'll always end up at *D* (Y3) While you're jumping past the jumping pirahna plants. Now, go look at *D* when you're done. *F* There is a POW that you will not need if you have the switches. If you unlocked all of them, then just run through, grabbing the coins and (Y5) This is the only way to get the final Dragon coin, easily spotted at the end of this segment. For an overview, this is how you can get here: *A* -> *D* -> *F* OR *E* -> *D* -> *F* I personally think the latter is easier. If you don't have the switches unlocked (why?), then go hit the left yellow block and another POW will pop out. Hit that one and grab the next one. Jump from coin bridge to coin bridge and if you hear the fast music beginning, lay the POW underneath you and hit it to extend your time limit. Good job. Go to: 62. Chocolate Island 3 *G* Another simple area with lots of dino-dudes. You can kill them all, if you wish. And you'll see that there is (Y4) a Dragon Coin, but you don't have 5! Go to the exit and you're done! Go to: 62. Chocolate Island 3 That should be it with this level! If you see any other sections or have different strategies, please feel free to e-mail me! Damn this was hard to write! 60. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 2 (Secret Exit) The strategy is above, in 59. I think the easiest route is: *B* -> *C* Make sure that you are going insanely fast in *C* to get this done. This is easier than perfect flying, in my opinion. Go to: 61. Chocolate Secret 61. CHOCOLATE SECRET (Difficulty: Hard) When you start off, do not move at all, or you'll end up in lava. Then, wait for Blargg to jump out. Afterwards, jump on the spring and go across to the other side. You may want to hit one of the shelled dudes and use his shell. You'll encounter two very, very annoying Chargin' Chucks that will kick footballs at you. Kick the shell that you have to get rid of the first one to make life easier for you. This way, you can avoid the next one by jumping over the bouncing footballs. If you want a Dragon Coin, then enter the pipe hanging on the ceiling. You'll enter an insanely difficult area, so if you don't like risks, read the strategy in between the parenthesis. You'll have to hit the Hammer Bro. Use R to see the distance up ahead. When he is going right, make your way, jumping from platform to platform and then hit him from underneath, avoiding any flying hammers. Continue to the other side. Now, let the camera move closer to the right. The move back and the platforms should have regenerated. Jump on them to get to the flying one the Hammer Bro. was using and (Y1) grab this Dragon coin. If you don't want the coin, just try jumping from platform to platform and enter the pipe. (Rush and then jump over the pit. Yet another football kicking bum awaits! Try rushing him and then hitting it. Even more football madness waits for you later. Try your best (have a feather) to get rid of these pests!) (Y2) Before the checkpoint and pipe. You may want to use Luigi and Yoshi in this level as Yoshi can spit the footballs that he eats back at the Chucks. Cheap, and so good. Use it. For the next part, just hold Down and you'll be sliding down, destroying all enemies in your way. You may even rack up some 1-UPs. Watch out for the gap though. Jump to be on the safe side. Why is there so little time in this level? This section is easy to rush through. You'll need to. Simply jump and avoid the spineys. Don't forget the yellow platforms drop. (Y3) In plain sight along the way. When the yellow platforms start to break up, take the longest jump you can and land as far into it as possible. This way, the platform won't start to fall until you have already gone far into it, giving you more time to jump. There will be a row of Chucks. Don't bother fighting them. Just jump over each one. (Y4) While you are jumping on the yellow platforms, you can grab this one. Keep on going and you'll reach (Y5) yet another Dragon Coin. Enter the pipe to finish this crazy level. Go to: 67. #6 Wendy's Castle 62. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 3 (Difficulty: Easy) This level is much, much, much easier with the blue Yoshi. If you want to get the secret exit (which you need in order to progress through the game), you'll need either a Yoshi (of any kind) or a feather. The level is just basic jumping from platform to platform. If you have a Yoshi, grab the blue shell and use the strategy used in Flying Forever, mentioned at the beginning of this guide. (Y1) In plain sight after the first Koopa. (Y2) Before the pipe you can enter, it's at the bottom half of a rotating platform. The pipe that's hanging from the ceiling can be entered. When you go in, you'll be in a room filled with coins and a (Y3) Dragon Coin, towards the right of this bonus room. Try to get a lot of coins by standing on the middle platform and going around once. After this, the jumping gets a little more difficult. You can grab a shell to the left and fly (but you can't fly forever and this is only applicable to the blue Yoshi). During this half, you'll have to avoid the spinning enemies. Duck if they go flying above you. If you have a Yoshi, you can't duck, so you'll have to do it a harder way: jump onto the center blocks and jump in order to avoid the constant threat of landing on an enemy. (Y4) In between two rotating platforms. Jump carefully, or just fly to it, using blue Yoshi. (Y5) Below the last rotating platform. Duck when the guy goes above you. You're done! (UP) If you went to the bonus area, you'll get a nice free 1 UP from the green star box. Hit the yellow block to make a vine come out. Climb it and you're done. (!!) Secret exit can be found here! (see 63) Like I said before, if you want to progress, you'll need to get the secret exit. 63. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 3 (Secret Exit) If you have a Yoshi, grab the shell and fly all the way to the right. If you have a feather, run and fly to the right, using the advanced flying strategy (press left when you start to fall). You'll end up on a platform with three yellow blocks. (UP) Hit the blocks and you'll get three 1-UPs. Score! Go through these gates to go on. Go to: 64. Chocolate Fortress 64. CHOCOLATE FORTRESS (Difficulty: Very Hard) Jump in between the moving spikes when they are not moving. Watch out for the skeletons. When you have to jump across the lava, don't forget that there is a spike at the top. Don't crash into it. Eventually, when you get to the ? block, fire will start to move at you (a la the original Super Mario Bros). Jump and duck to avoid them. (Y1) Above a moving spike. Easy. When jumping through/above spikes, make sure that there are no flames in your jump radius and where you will land. It may be consuming time, but at least you'll survive. Also, remember that only the tips of the spikes hurt. You can bump and even hug the sides without getting hurt. (Y2) In between two spikes. Wait for them to open and jump. After all of the chaos, run through the checkpoint and enter the door. You'll see a Thwomp. Let it drop and then after it comes back up, rush underneath it while holding B and Right. You'll land on the platform below. Let the Thowmps drop and then you can either jump over them (not recommended) or jump under them while they are traveling back. Eventually, you'll meet with some Thwimps, tiny versions of these. They will jump around the Thwomps. Get close so that the Thwomp drops then go back and let the Thwimp jump and then jump through quickly. You can do it. When you see the ? blocks, wait for the Thwomp to drop and then run. When you land, you can get the power-up above you. (Y3) Wait for the Thwomp to land once again and then jump onto the ? blocks. The Dragon Coin awaits you. Next, you will see a Thwimp. When it jumps right, follow it right. Position yourself in between where the Thwimp landed and the Thwomp that's about to land on you. The Thwimp will miss you when it returns and you can run through. Eventually, you'll reach a Thwomp that smashes over a pit of spikes. Jump right so that the Thwomp smashes down, but land back to your left. While it is down, jump over it. Then, you'll reach a series of Thwimps. Follow one so that it bounces above you and then position yourself so that you won't get by the next one. Or, you can do a long jump into it, hope not to get hit and then do another long jump. Even if you do get hit, you'll get temporary invincibility. Run. (Y4) In the collection of Thwimps. Be careful. Next, you'll meet a Thwomp that comes after a pit. Jump to the right so that the Thwomp will land but jump back to your left. Then, jump as it starts going up. (Y5) Underneath the Thwomp. You know what to do. Now, if you didn't get the blue and red switches, this will become a challenge. If so, you can pretty much casually jump from platform to platform. If not, you'll have to make the Thwomp fall, jump back then jump onto the platform and the one after that. Can your reflexes handle all of that? No? Then, go unlock the switches! Go through the door to face Reznor yet again. Check 34. Vanilla Fortress for the strategy on how to beat them. Go to: 65. Chocolate Island 4 65. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 4 (Difficulty: Easy) You'll end up going down a hill. Simply jump from platform to platform, making sure you don't fall into the boiling chocolate below. (Y1) After the first large pit, you will see this easy coin. Continue across the next series of platforms. (Y2) Once you cross the second large gap, you will see three regular coins. Jump up and you will grab this coin. Make your way down. If you have the switches unlocked, you can grab a couple of 1-UPs. (UP) Next to the checkpoint. You'll get one if you got the yellow switch and two more if you have the red switch. You'll see a staircase made of yellow blocks and you will see (Y3) another Dragon Coin on top. If you hit the third block, a POW switch will appear. Grab it and then hit it. If you remember, to your left there was a Dragon Coin locked up by coin blocks. (Y4) Once you hit the POW, you can grab this coin. Hit the POW and grab the Dragon Coin. Then, go down and enter the blue pipe. Hit the POW and start to free fall. If you have a feather, just free fall to your left or right. This way, if you want to, you can grab everything that you miss. The first path will only have a few coins. The second path will only have a feather. (Y5) The third path will have coins and a Dragon Coin. Score! (UP) The fourth path will have a 1-UP. The fifth path will have a useless star. The sixth path will have a useless mushroom. (UP) The seventh path will have 5 1-UPs. Score! The eighth path will only have a feather. The ninth path will have a useless fire flower. The tenth path will only have a few coins. (UP) The eleventh path will have a 1-UP. The bottom path will have nothing. If you have a feather and stayed falling down on either extreme ends of the wall, you can run fly through the hole, up to the level above you! This is great, especially if you want to get the Dragon Coin and the 1-UPs. But be warned: this technique wastes a lot of time in a level where you don't really have that much. If you want to get the Dragon Coins, make sure you hold A once in a while while you are falling in order to time your fall so that you land on the third platform. When you get out, all you really have to do is make your way to the end of the level, simply jumping over the giant moles and pits of doom. A Chargin' Chuck blocks your way. If you have a feather you know how to rid of it. Jump on top of it when it goes down and bounce off to get a high score. Good job. Go to: 66. Chocolate Island 5 66. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 5 (Difficulty: Easy) This level seems strange at first. Grab the POW and you'll have many choices. Hit it and enter the pipe to go to a bonus game. (UP) The yellow pipe leads to a bonus game. Fun! For the most fun (and Dragon Coins), you'll want to carry the POW until you see the box that gives a random item. Let go of the POW and then hit it. Using your cape, hit the box when it turns into a flower, or a feather and then grab it when it turns into a star. (Or, if you're on a Yoshi, lick the box when it has a star and you will become invincible) You know what to do when you're invincible. (UP) Kill kill kill while invincible! Of course, don't forget that now you can get a Dragon Coin. (Y1) This first one is locked in a box of coins. Use the POW in order to grab this coin. While you're running free, enter the next yellow pipe. (Y2) Another Dragon Coin in the world of floating fish. The fish in the bubbles can't hurt you until they enter the water so don't worry about them too much. Just jump from platform to platform. At the end is yet another (Y3) Dragon Coin, located next to the blue pipe. As you head right, you'll be jumping from moving pipe to moving pipe, moving platform, etc. You should be used to this. (Y4) In plain sight while you are jumping. (Y5) Underneath the Chargin' Chuck. When you see a Chargin' Chuck jumping on a pipe, wait for him to jump so that you'll land right on top of him when he falls back down. You don't have to destroy him, but jump off. You'll see a row of three Chargin' Chucks. If you have the feather, just destroy them, or bounce off the first once into the goal. If you want a high star count, bounce off the last one and time it so that you hit the bar when it is at the top. Good job. 67. #6 WENDY'S CASTLE (Diffiuclty: Very Hard) I hate castles-- this is one of the ones that I especially hate. Start off with double feathers and a clear mind. Also: you should have hit the colored switches by now! If you haven't, go back and do it now! It makes life just that much easier. When you begin, there will be a lone bones. Destroy it and then wait for the drill to fall down from the ceiling. When it makes its way back up, jump and then bounce to the right, avoiding the next drill. Don't worry: you should have plenty of time (just don't mess up!). Then, float down, holding A, avoiding the spikes and safely landing on the platform below. Then, rush to the gap on your right and press Down to avoid the moving chain. When it goes above you, rush to your right and jump to avoid the next chain and grab (Y1) A conviently placed Dragon Coin. Great! Continue rushing right and then let the fireball jump out of the lava. After it has, jump to the platform. After the next fireball jumps out, jump safely to the other side. Now, it gets challenging. When you see the moving chain, rush down and Duck. A drill will fall down, trying to kill you. Don't worry. Once it goes back up, rush until you go past a chain that runs above you. When it does, you'll want to stop as three drills are about to fall down. Just stand there (avoiding drills, if you didn't follow my directions), jumping/ducking over any stray chains. After this, you can pretty much run across, do a high jump in order to avoid the next set of chains. If you do get hit, rush through as you will be invincible. You'll be done with this section. Once you're past this, you'll see some more chains. Jump on the gray block when the chain is not coming towards it. Then, duck and it fly above you. Jump to the blue switch block when neither of the chains are blocking your way. Then, duck. When that chain has gone past you, jump to the next gray block and then jump to the platform above you. This next section involves very fast drills. Don't panic and take this one drill at a time! After the first one pounds, rush to the direct right of that drill, and avoid the next one. You can stand in between the drills. Repeat this continuously, waiting for it to pound and then make its way up. You'll have to do this four times. Hopefully, your reflexes will be up to the challenge. (Y2) You will see this Dragon Coin beneath you as you make your way through the drills. Go down, wait for the drill to go back up, run and grab it. Then, wait and then run when the drill clears once again. Easy. Checkpoint! Rush through the door to enter the next area! Now, you'll notice that you have pretty much no time left. You'll really have to rush through this area in order to get to the boss in time. Yikes. Rush through from platform to platform, avoiding any of the moving flames. It's much easier than the drills. (Y3) As you are jumping from platform to platform, you'll grab this easy to reach one. When you see the giant flame for the first time, wait on the platform. You'll see that the ceiling crushes you on the next area. Wait for it to go down, while jumping over that hothead. When you have room, make the jump! (Y4) Another easy one that is in plain sight. Eventually, you'll stumble upon moving gray platforms. Jump on the first one and then land on the next platform. The one below you is very tricky and makes it all too easy to die now. When you get on the platform with the flame, jump down and press left and you should land on it. Press Down to duck and avoid the flame above you. Then, jump to the next platform. (Y5) You'll see this one. Wait for the platform to come down and then jump. Destroy the bones, and then rush to the left and jump as high as you can. You should reach the platform and get your coin. Then jump to the right, avoiding any enemies along the way. The platform with the bones is tricky. You'll want to jump onto the platform as quickly as you can, because once he starts throwing things, your life becomes so much more complicated. Go right and you'll see three platforms with moving flames. I like to jump on the one with the big one as once he goes down, he takes his sweet time. Make sure you jump low and duck once in a while to avoid the suns that are above. Jump to the next platform and get your feather. Enter the door-- it's boss time. BOSS: Wendy. Does this seem familiar? It should because it is the exact same boss from 35. #3 Lemmy's Castle. Only this time, the playing area is flatter and there are two flames. Easy, easy, easy! Just use the same strategy for Lemmy: watch where you jump and make sure you are not standing on the pipes when they come out. Hit the one with the red bow three times, and you win! (Don't worry if you hit her cronies-- they don't hurt her, but hitting them doesn't hurt you either!) Rush to defeat her (look at the time!) and then you'll be on your way to the end of this game. Go to: 68. Sunken Ghost Ship G. VALLEY OF BOWSER 68. SUNKEN GHOST SHIP (Difficulty: Medium) So, you're probably wondering: is this the last level of the game? I mean: it doesn't seem like there's any other way to get around on the map... and this place is quite mysterious. Well, no. It's just like a ghost house, only underwater... If you want to get the Dragon Coins, you really, really will want a feather and a blue Yoshi (check Star Road and Flying Forever for more info on this elusive creature). Also: bring Yoshi along anyway. It's pretty cool watching the dino-dude chill with the endless supply of ghosts in this level. When you begin, you'll start to swim. Just continue, avoiding the easy to avoid bullet bills (oh-- Super Mario Bros. 3! Tear...). Make your way, getting the power-up from the ? block if you want to. End up at the pipe at the end and bottom of the level. The next room is pretty tricky, but easy if you take it slow. As you swim, the entire screen will fill with ghosts. I find it easiest to swim towards the top of the screen and when they appear, I just stop. If you see a large gap within the ghosts, you can fly through them. Continue doing this for a while (it's really, really easy! Don't panic: stop if you want to, pressing A once in a while to keep the same height) until the ghosts disappear. There will be a narrow passageway on the bottom. Always facing right, a circle of ghosts will appear. Wait for them to provide an opening for you, and swim through. If you have a Yoshi, then you'll be able to just stand on the painful spikes. If not, you'll have to press A lightly so you don't crash into a ghost or land on the floor beneath you. Always be facing left in order for the moving ghosts not to get to close to you. When there is a gap above you, swim up and then head right. Look left as the circle of ghosts appear again and then enter the pipe. Easy, huh? Now, you'll be free-falling with a star. If you want the Dragon coins, you'll want to hold A the entire time with your feather to slow your decent. Of course, you don't have to. If you don't, just free-fall, crashing into as many enemies as possible. (UP) You're invincible. Kill kill kill!!! (Y1) As you are falling, it will be underneath you, a small degree off to the right. If you have a blue Yoshi, you can swallow one to gain flight abilities, so if you mess up in your coin-hunting, you can fly up. Also, there is a last-resort: the Yoshi jump, by hitting R. (Y2) Continue falling down, and it is slightly off to the right (but not much). Holding A and moving left to right can be helpful if these instructions are too vague. Don't make your search radius too wide, or you may easily miss these coins. (Y3) Keep on falling down, and it will be in the middle. Eventually, you'll see a ? block in the middle. Hit it and a star will come out. If you were already invincible, this will extend the time and really rack up the 1-UPs. Cool. Of course, if you're trying to get the Dragon Coins, you don't care. Jump off to the left of the ? block. (Y4) After the ? block, it is off to the left. You'll end up falling through a row of coins. This is where the last Dragon Coin is!!! (Y5) Off to the right where the coins are. Past the coins, spiked balls will start to fall. Don't get hit by them! If you're invincible, continue falling, but if not, hold A to use your feather and let them continue their free fall down. You'll see a green orb in the middle of the level. Touch it to finish this level. (UP) If you keep on falling down into the water, two 1-UP mushrooms will also fall. You can try to grab them (but once the camera stops moving, that means you can't go further down! Don't die trying to get these! Go to: 69. Valley of Bowser 1 69. VALLEY OF BOWSER 1 (Difficulty: Hard) You will want to bring a Yoshi and a feather for this level as it can get quite tight in these passages. The level itself isn't that hard, but the fact that the time limit is small and the level is a long, winding, maze-like level, you'll want to rush. Of course, trying to get the Dragon Coins at the same time doesn't make life much easier for you, does it? Start off by running and flying. This way, you'll avoid the mole (which may be encaged by some red ! blocks) and the Chargin' Chuck. Now, when you land, make your way down to the bottom platform. You'll reach a wall made of blue blocks. You can grab one, then press R. A Chargin' Chuck will make his way at you. Move a little back and let go of the block and destroy him. Easy, huh? Or you can just pounce on him to death. Rush down and hit the the yellow block underneath the mole to get rid of this pest. (Y1) Where the mole once was. Grab it and go back. Make your way to the top level, rush and eat the mole with your Yoshi. If you don't, then you'll have to go back and wait for it to fall in the pit. You'll have to repeat this strategy many times in the level, if you don't have a Yoshi. Going up will bring you to another conflict with another mole. Eat it. Continue following the top path to (Y2) find a Dragon Coin. This one is easy to get. Then, go back and drop down. You have a couple of choices. If you want the checkpoint (which I think is unnecessary), continue following the top path. As you continue, you'll end up finding it. Of course, this also brings us to a 1-UP strategy... (UP) If you have Yoshi, this is easy. Eat the mole and just walk across the bed of pirahna plants. If you don't, jump on the mole and wait for it to go to the other side. Then jump across the gap and get your 3-UP moon. From the point of the 3-UP moon, you can drop down. You should land in a gap or on top of a very confused mole. Head right and you'll see the level branches up quite a lot here. Make your way to the second-to-top platform and you'll spot (Y3) another Dragon Coin easy for the pickin'! Afterwards, go back two levels below you. Continue down and you should see the level above you have a gap. Hit the gap and the invisible ? blocks will be activated. When you do this, you'll be creating a bridge which you can cross. Good job. Oh, and keep on walking down this path to find (Y4) another Dragon Coin! Wow! Now, walk across the bridge you made by going up to the level above you. When you do, you'll find that you're going to have to face a Chargin' Chuck. Destroy the first one before you go on as it will make life much easier. Jump up and continue and destroy the second one. Now, you'll end up in an open area with a yellow block below you. If you hit it, a vine will come up, leading you to a 1-UP bonus game. If you are running out of time and/or don't want to lose your Yoshi, ignore it. (UP) Hit the yellow block to make a vine grow. Climb it and enter the blue pipe that you'll see. You'll go to the bonus game. The level splits up again. This time, go to the second-to-top platform and make your way to the end. You'll meet another (Y5) Dragon Coin, completing your collection. This is a dead-end. Go back and let's look for the exit out of this dreary place. Go to the bottom and head right. Once again, you'll end up at a wall of blue bricks. Destroy the Chuck and enter the pipe. You're on your way to FREEDOM! Go to: 70. Valley of Bowser 2 70. VALLEY OF BOWSER 2 (Difficulty: Easy) Why don't you bring a Yoshi along? Trust me, if you do it this way, life becomes MUCH easier. A little TOO easy, in my opinion. All you have to do for this level is jump from platform to platform, watching out for any flying bats from the top (twirl with your feather all the time, just in case). Also, try to carry a shell and when you see the ? block, let it go, so that it bounces underneath you. A homing yellow shell will fall from the right and hopefully, the shell will take care of that pest. Keep on moving. If you're with Yoshi, or without, you are in NO RUSH. Also, there are no pits, so there are no worries. (Y1) On top of the moving yellow platform before the checkpoint. Refreshingly easy. Make your way into the pipe. If you have Yoshi, hit the ? block to get wings and fly! You'll go to a ridiculously easy bonus area with no enemies and lots of Dragon coins. Once you're at the end, float down and you're done! Stupid, stupidly easy! (Y2) Right in front of you in the bonus area. (Y3) Towards the bottom of the screen as you go on. (Y4) Also towards the bottom of the screen. (Y5) Towards the top of the screen. (Y6) Towards the bottom of the screen. Wasn't that stupid? You're done and you're gone! If you do have a Yoshi, you NEED to use that exit, or you'll get smashed by the moving floor. What? You don't have Yoshi??? Why??? Okay... you can go for the secret exit then... (!!) Secret exit can be found here! (see 71) You'll want this secret exit so you can go to the hardest fortress of the game and make your way to the Back Door of Bowser's Castle. Sounds good, no? Go to: 73. Valley Ghost House 71. VALLEY OF BOWSER 2 (Secret Exit) You may want a feather, just in case you mess up this invaluable secret exit! Those crazy game developers sure are clever! It took me forever to find this one... Anyway, make your way to the area with the moving yellow floor and ceiling. Wait for the pathway to be at the bottom. While it's moving up, hold Right until you reach a wall. The platform will go down, and make sure you aren't going to get smashed (you shouldn't if you followed directions!). Just stay where you are, waiting for it to go down (don't waste your taste/effort/life trying to grab coins!). On the way back up, run right and stop at the small cave above you. Run all the way to your right once it heads down again. Wait for the platform to move up and then on its way down, hold right and stop at the little cave (get your Dragon Coins the other, easier way-- TRUST ME!). On the way back up, run Right once again until you can not anymore. Then, on the way down, hold Right, entering the cave once again (this is easy, repetitive and... boring...). On the way back up, rush Right. But, on the way down, move to the left so that you'll end up not squished by the ceiling. Stay there, without moving and wait for the platform to move up. Once it does, rush right into yet another small alcove. On the way down, hold Right once again and rush towards the end. By the time the platform starts to move up, stop where there is a passage above you (do not go further because you won't make it!!). On the way back down, wait until you are all the way down and rush right once again (boring, boring, boring...). On the way up, rush right but wait so that you go to the top passageway. You should see a pipe. On the way back down, enter it quickly. Finally, you're in a new room! Once you land on the floor, RUN! The floor will start to rise. Rush but stop right before you fall into the pit with the giant mole. The platform should rise up underneath you. Jump on top of the exposed portion, and then jump left. You won't be able to see yourself, but run left. You'll end up with a key and a keyhole. Congrats. But wait-- there was a bug/glitch that won't let the platform come up? This is where you may want to use your feather. Go back to the passageway and run. Gain speed and fly up and to the left. Now you can access the key. But wait-- you don't want the secret exit? Why? Just keep on going the regular way (it's not hard-- just RUSH!), and you'll see your favorite gates. Go to: 72. Valley Fortress 72. VALLEY FORTRESS (Difficulty: Very Hard) I hate this fortress. It is the bane of my existance. Anyway, run like crazy down to where the green ! block is. Wait for the drills to come down. As you can see, they come down very quickly. Be afraid. Very, very afraid. You'll want the feathers for the rest of this fortress. Once they go up (not all the way-- you need the time!), make your way carefully. Then, jump down, holding A to guide your fall. (Y1) Let the spike on top fall. Then, carefully jump up and grab this one carefully. There is a skeleton dude with falling spikes. Crouch to avoid the bones being thrown at you and make sure you get close enough to the spikes to make them fall down without hurting you. If you have the feather, it is a wise idea to kill the skeletons that you'll pass. When you make it to the end of this passage, you'll realize you'll make some of the most difficult jumps of your life. If you don't have double feathers now, you'll probably die before you even get to Reznor. Make sure you always use R to see the drills ahead of you and learn the timing. Let them come down and then when they start to make their way up, jump as little as you can: instead of jumping from platform to platform, try to take the longest jumps as possible. They are the fastest ways to get out of trouble. (Y2) Unfortunately, most of the Dragon Coins are in insane places. For this one, you'll need a feather. Do a pretty low jump, hold A and glide your way to the next platform. Jump to the other side out of the way of the drill. The next has a set of three drills coming down at the same time. And to make your existance worse, the Yoshi coin is up at the top next to one of them. (Y3) Jump high and grab this one and then jump back to the platform. Trust me, you'll get smashed if you don't. Use the same technique as above: jump once the drill is slightly off the ground and take as long jumps as possible. If you get hit, use your temporary invincibility period to make your way to the end. If you make it alive, you'll reach the checkpoint. Do NOT hit it if you want to collect the Dragon coins as you really can't go back, can you? You'll eventually end up over lava. Fireballs shoot out of the lava, so make sure that you wait for them to jump before you do. You do NOT want to mess up now! After you make it across the lava, you'll see even more drills that go insanely fast. Make sure you don't hold A when you jump, or you'll go slower and be an even easier target. Ugh. Jump when they are slightly off the ground and try to stay in the middle of any multiple ones if you can. (Y4) Yeah. Life sucks. This one is high in between two drills over a pit of boiling lava. FUN! Wait for the platforms to go slightly up, run and jump high and land on the other side without getting killed. Easy enough, right? When you land, make sure you're inbetween the tiny space between the two drills. You know what happens if you don't. (Y5) The last Dragon Coin!!! Too bad it is the most insanely difficult one. Wait for the drills to go down and the lava to shoot up. Then, the drill should start their way up and aim for the coin by jumping a little bit lower than what you would expect. Don't fall in the lava! If you miss, you'll end up in the lava, dead OR you'll end up on the platform, nice and safe, but unable to get the coin. Make it a good jump. Make your way to the red door, after jumping over the last drill. It's time to fight Reznor. Never fought him before? Check out the strategy in 34. Vanilla Fortress. Go to: 75. Valley of Bowser 3 73. VALLEY GHOST HOUSE (Difficulty: Medium) You'll start up with meeting those damn floating green balls of death. They should be no problem for you, oh valient warrior. Jump over them and grab your Dragon Coins along the way. Enter the door at the end to continue. (Y1) In the set of coins at the first jump. You'll end up in a room with a yellow block above you. Hit it in order for a POW to fall down. Do not hit the POW yet and wait for the yellow block to stop spinning. Once it does, jump on top of it in order to find... (Y2) Above the yellow block in the POW room. Now, you have a choice: to go left or right. If you want the Dragon Coins, it is best to go left. If you want to get the hell out of here (either the secret or normal exits), go right. I'll detail the going-left part first. When you hit the POW, a star should fall down (but sometimes it doesn't-- do NOT wait for it! You simply don't have the time!) If you do, then you can run through the ghosts no problem. Anyway, the ghosts will bounce up and down and you'll want to run through them without getting hurt or getting hurt and not caring. Jump up to the top and you'll see a Dragon coin at the end of the passage. (Y3) At the top of the coin area. You don't have much time! Grab it and rush! Once you get the coin, you'll really need to rush left. If you're good enough, you'll make it to the door on the left. If this is too difficult for you, then try having a feather for easier control and ability to fly. When you go through the door, you'll end up with a room with ghosts. Just enter the door without any question. Trust me, you'll be here later. When you enter the door, you'll end up in the room with the POW again. Hit it and run to your right. You can fly above all your problems or just jump really fast. All you know is: be very, very fast. When running down the passage of coins, you'll run past many doors. Here's where they go: the first one sends you back to the beginning. The second one takes you to a room with ghosts and a ? block with a row of coins. Do NOT hit the ? block if you want to get the secret exit! Entering the door in this room will take you back to the room with the POW. The third door takes you to the exit. Yes, sweet glorius exit. The fourth door will take you to the exit as well. But the last door is the most interesting... (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 74) (UP) There is a 1-UP at the end of the string of coins. This is just wonderful! Also, the tons of coins you're getting by running is good too. Also, every time you come back to this room, the coins and 1-UP regenerate, so repeat to your heart's consent! The last door will take you to another room. If you want the secret exit, you'll have to hold on to the POW and grab it. (and read the next entry) If you don't, you can get a delicious Dragon Coin, by hitting the switch and walking across your makeshift bridge. (Y4) On top of the coin bridge. Jump into the next room to grab another Yoshi coin. (Y5) At the connecting area between the two rooms. You'll want to leave. The door in this room will take you back to the room with the POW. Now that you got all your Dragon Coins, make your way to the exit by hitting the POW and running right. Make sure you go through either the third or fourth door! Good job. You're so much closer to Bowser... Go to: 75. Valley of Bowser 3 74. VALLEY GHOST HOUSE (Secret Exit) Get yourself to the second room (the room with the white background and a POW above you). Grab it and hit it and make a mad dash right. If you have a feather, you can pretty much fly above everything, then slamming down. You'll see a row of coins. Run like crazy!!! Run to the end and make it to the last door. If you don't make it, go back to the first or second door and make your way through the ghost house again (sucks to be you). Once you get to the last door, you'll see a POW. Do NOT hit it! Rather, grab it and make your way to the adjacent room. You'll see a ? block. Drop the POW next to the ? block and hit it, while facing right. The moveable row of coins will appear and you should press Right and Up continuously. Once the music stops, hit the POW and run up the new set of stairs you made. It's time to do an annoying thing that will no doubt hurt any mortal man (but not Mario!). Press Down, then press A and Right to go through the tiny hole that is in the wall. If you are regular (tiny) Mario, you can most likely just go through. However, if you're not, you'll end up stuck in that area. Continue holding Down and Right while repeatedly pressing A. You will make it to the other side (and if the ghosts hit you, you'll eventually turn into regular Mario. All the more power to you!). Grab the key and you'll be on your way to the end! Go to: 78. #7 Larry's Castle 75. VALLEY OF BOWSER 3 (Difficulty: Medium) This level is stupidly easy with blue Yoshi. When you begin, the Koopas that jump high are your main concern. Let them get close to you and then when they are going down, jump over them. Then, you'll see platforms that have numbers on them. They will move right and then fall down once they reach zero. Jump from platform to platform, avoiding any Koopas. (Y1) Use the platform to get this one on the top. (Y2) It's a little lower, a little later on. (Y3) After the white hill, go to the platform until it falls down to grab this coin. Then jump to the next platform. You'll see a Koopa on a yellow pipe. Jump on the Koopa and go down for one of those crazy 1-UP bonus games. Once you're done, you'll be at the checkpoint. Use the spring to get to it. Then, there will be lots of jumping Koopas. There is no reason to deal with all of them. Once they are low, just jump over them. (Y4) Jump down to get this when on the next set of platforms. Bonzai Bills will come. Just jump over them. (Y5) In plain sight towards the end. (UP) Stay on the top. Eventually, you'll see a 1-UP. Jump and grab this mushroom at the very last second before the platform falls down. You're done with this much too easy level! Go to: 76. Valley of Bowser 4 76. VALLEY OF BOWSER 4 (Difficulty: Hard) The Chucks here shoot rocks at you. Wow. Jump over the lava, avoiding the Chuck. If you have a blue Yoshi and/or a feather, the jumps are MUCH easier. Time your jumps so that you can avoid or bounce off of the flying Koopas. Enter the blue pipe if you want need the dragon coins. If not, skip the pipe. (Y1) In the water. If you have a power-up, clear the enemies around it before grabbing this one. If you want to access the secret exit and you have a Yoshi, now is a good time to get rid of it. Jump off of it and enter the next pipe. You'll find that you are back at the beginning of the level. Go to the end and hit the yellow block to make a vine come out. At the top, there will be a ? block with a Yoshi in it. Spin jump on the right side of the blocks. (Y2) After spin-jumping, you'll see this on the top level. Jump across the lava and watch out for the Charging Chuck on the platform. (Y3) Next to the Chargin Chuck For the next Chuck blocking your way, jump over the rock he digs and then hit hit. He will chase you and will probably fall into the lava. Continue and don't try to aim for the next ? block unless you opened up the yellow switch. (Y4) Above the lava. Jump to the coin, then the platform and back. For the next part, wait for the Chuck to dig a rock then go down on the platform and jump. You'll see a flying Koopa later on. Wait for it to be of good (not close but not far) distance away from you and bounce off of it in order to make the next platform. Jump again, watching out for the awaiting Chuck. (Y5) Only if the blue switch is open: Grab it on the bridge. Run like hell to the finish. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 75) Go to: 78. #7 Larry's Castle 77. VALLEY OF BOWSER 4 (Secret Exit) You must have a Yoshi by the end of this level. Swallow the key and simply jump into the keyhole. Use the blue Yoshi as he can fly and make the jumps much easier. Use the same strategy as above, but be GOOD. Use Yoshi's tongue to swallow the rocks that the Chucks throw at you to make life a little easier. If you're a total coward, jump off of Yoshi before you do battle with anything, although this IS time consuming. Go to: Star Road 78. #7 LARRY'S CASTLE (Difficulty: Hard) The blocks will start to move. Stay to the left in the beginning to avoid confrontation with a swinging chain. Then, after you pass it, move to the right side to avoid the next one. Continue this path, jumping over the chains that get in your way. Soon, the platform will start moving up. Just jump and stand on the top block to go up easier. (Y1) Right above you when the platform goes up. Jump on the other platform that you see, following the one that you were on, while avoiding the chains. Eventually, it will start to move again. Once again, aim for the top block. (Y2) Above you when the platform turns into a staircase. Eventually, the platform will turn around. Try standing on the block of the last rotating chain you see and duck. Once the platform is a little farther away from you, drop down back on it. It will then turn back up. (Y3) When you are above the spikes at the top of the castle. Continue, but DO NOT ENTER THE DOOR. Drop down and push Right and you will enter an area with the checkpoint and a mushroom. (Y4) Next to the checkpoint. (Y5) Next to Y4. Walk in the door. A skeleton will walk towards you. If you don't have a feather, duck to avoid the bones and then stomp on him. Continue and that annoying Magikoopa will appear. Stay near the wall at the bottom and jump up after he shoots. Continue, and be careful for the moving spikes. If he ever appears directly in front of you, duck and the spell will fly above you. When you get to the yellow block wall, either spin with your feather, or wait for Magikoopa to appear and make his spell hit a block. It will turn into a Koopa. Duck and jump (or just jump as regular Mario) through the hole, repeatedly press B, A and Right to jump in. At the end, you'll cross a bridge of fire. Rush through, making sure not to get hit by jumping lava or any of Magikoopa's spells. BOSS: Larry - Look familiar? Same strategy as Izzy's (see 06). Only this time, there are three balls of fire that shoot from the ground. Don't worry about these. Just hit Larry and just never, ever stand or stay idle in the middle. That's all. You've beaten the last of Bowser children castles. Go to: NA. Front Door NA. FRONT DOOR (Difficulty: Varies) It's time for Bowser's castle baby! You may want to power up. You have a long battle ahead of you. When you enter, you must choose one of four doors, marked 1-4. I recommend 2. ROOM 1 (Difficulty: Hard) This auto-scroll room is much easier if you have all the switches opened. Stay left and let the smashing thing (from Castle 1, see 06 for more details) stomp down. Continue this strategy, making sure you doon't fall into any pits or jump into fireballs that fly out of the ground. ROOM 2 (Difficulty: Very Easy) This is the easiest room. Climb the fence (A then Up) and avoid the fireballs. They go in a diagonal fashion and are very easy to avoid, especially if you stay near the top of the room. Do not attack the Koopas as they are distractions and can take away precious time. ROOM 3 (Difficulty: Medium) This room is tricky because you can't see much. If a large chunck of the curtain is ripped, then you can jump through (and enemies can fall down on you). Jump up into the first one and don't forget to use L-Up to see what's above you. Let the Mechakoopa drop down. Continue and jump up. At the very top, run to the left for a pleasant surprise. (UP) A 1-UP is hidden behind the curtain at the far left. On your way right, be careful as there is a Mechakoopa hidden behind a curtain. Make sure you go slowly and jump into each curtain, so if there were an enemy, you would land on it. The Mechakoopas take a spin jump to destroy! Go down, avoiding the baddies along the way. On the top right, jump up and a feather will be hidden behind a curtain. Head down to the right and cross the bridge over the lava to the door. ROOM 4 (Difficulty: Easy) You'll want a feather to control your jumps. Time your jumps so that you'll make the platforms without getting burned. For the first moving platform, wait once and drop down. Hold Down to duck and when it reaches the right, jump up. Try to take as big jumps as possible, so that you can avoid pretty much all the enemies in this room. Now, you must choose one more room, from 5-8. I recommend 5. ROOM 5 (Difficulty: Easy) Wait for the stompers to go down once. When they are slightly up (enough for you to go under), run like hell. If you make it, good. If you don't, you're dead. This is an easy, but risky room. ROOM 6 (Difficulty: Hard) It's time for an underwater level! Go up, and duck to avoid any flying bones. If you have a feather, you know how to kill. This room will provide a power-up. Make sure you don't get hit by a fish trying to get it! When swimming in between the moving spikes, make sure your A taps are light or you'll end up dead. Don't rest on the floor as Mario takes time to get all the way. The first set of swinging spiked balls go in unison. When they go up, so should you. Manuever your way to the right and go diagonally up to the top, where there is another chain. Bang your head constantly on the gray block holding the chain and it will circle around you. When the spikes above you have moved all the way to the right, swim up, avoiding the spikes and the chain. Finally, go up and enter the door. ROOM 7 (Difficulty: Easy) There are fire-breathing Bowser statues in this room. The first statue is inactive. Just run to it. The colored ones move and chase after you so you should be careful! Let them get close and jump over them. After the first colored one, the next statue shoots two flames at once. Stay underneath it until it fires and then jump on top of it. Another colored one will follow. Jump over it and then the fire, watching out for any jumping flames. On the other side, there is another jumping statue and you should leap over it to the door. ROOM 8 (Difficulty: Hard) You'll want a feather if you're thinking of attempting to do this one. The Charging Chucks will spring towards you when you get close. Go slowly and when you see them jumping at you, jump high above them! Keep on going. The one on the hill is stupid. Get next to the hill and it will fly off. The last part of the room will feature three Chucks. Make the first one jump past you and then jump past the next two. Quickly run towards the door. Once you have completed these two series of rooms, you will go to the Back Door (although it may not be accessible). Read the Back Door strategy for how to beat this room and BOWSER. NA. BACK DOOR (Difficulty: Hard) If you came from the Front Door, you will end up in this room. But if you actually unlocked Back Door (see 70 and 72 to find out how), you'll start here without the troubles of the eight rooms. And, there will also be a checkpoint at the end. Cheap, huh? Hit the ? block to make a light come on. For the first jump, a long jump should make it. When you see a Mechakoopa coming at you, stomp on its head to disable it and spin-jump it to destroy it. Remember this for Bowser. Continue your way through this easy room and the red door will lead to... BOSS: Bowser, Part One - This is the big one baby! Bowser will come down in a clown vehicle. Be afraid! Especially of the fan on the bottom as it can damage you. Although Bowser's body won't hurt you, do your best to avoid him as you will bounce off him violently, usually into an enemy, a ball or his fan of death. In general, stay far away from Bowser. If he's at the left, you should be at the right. If he's moving right, you should move left. Bowser has three stages and in each stage, he must be hit twice. The first stage is easy. Make sure you're running opposite to Bowser. Then, when Bowser stops, he will throw down two Mechakoopas. If you feel cowardly, spin-jump on the first one to get rid of it, so you have less enemies to deal with. Stomp on the next available Mechakoopa and grab it. When Bowser is coming at you, throw it up in the air and make it land on Bowser's head. VampireHunterD points out that after you hit Bowser twice, you should get rid of any remaining Mechakoopas. In order to do it, spin-jump using R. This will make your life easier later on. After two hits, Bowser will fly away into the screen and flames will start to fall from the sky. When a flame has stuck to the ground, be exactly next to it so that the next one will fall down next to you. Once the flames start disappearing, you should move away from the new group of falling fires. After this the Princess will throw a mushroom that you most likely don't need. Bowser, Part Two - Bowser will come flying back and this time, he has a new toy. Make sure that you are always far away from him. When he stops, he'll turn around and drop a giant bowling ball that will head towards you. Jump so that you go in between the ball and the fan. After he drops the ball two times, he shall drop two more Mechakoopas. Once again, it is the same strategy as before. After two more hits, he goes flying away, the flames fall down from the sky and the Princess throws a mushroom. Bowser, Part Three - This is when things get hard! Bowser will stomp up and down while chasing you. Try to position yourself so that when Bowser lands, he'll miss you. Keep on running around, making him go from one side to the other. Eventually, he'll throw two Mechakoopas. I recommend that you destroy the first one as it is too dangerous to have an extra enemy walking around while a giant dinosaur is bouncing up and down trying to kill you. Grab it and throw into the air. After two more hits, Bowser will be defeated for good. You'll save the Princess, the Yoshis and the game. Now enjoy the credits. Good job. H. STAR ROAD 79. STAR WORLD 1 You'll want to have a feather when you start this level, especially if you're trying to get the Dragon Coins. Why? Well, you can change the direction of your spin-jump through the blocks by holding A and a certain direction. (Y1) Go to the right and spin jump 7 blocks from the right. (Y2) Go to the left and spin jump 5 blocks from the left. (UP) Go to the right and spin jump 5 blocks from the right. Do not use this if you are trying to get the Dragon Coin. (Y3) Go to the right and spin jump 5 blocks from the right. (Y4) Go to the left and spin jump 5 blocks from the left. (Y5) Move a few blocks to the right after Y4 and grab it. There are stars near the bottom of this level. Grab them and go! (UP) This 1-UP strategy is not easy. Grab the star on the left, run and kill the Koopas below. Go back up to the right, jump up and grab the star before your juices run out. Then, spin jump down, grabbing the next star to continue your invincibility and 1-UP run. You will meet red Yoshi in this level, an unimportant Yoshi. He shoots fire regardless of what shell is in his mouth (which means you can't do the fly-forever trick with the blue shell). If you want him to turn into an adult, hold him and make him eat five enemies. Or, if you want to meet up with him later, go to 85. Star World 4. I like to just drag him into the pipe, jump into the gates and get a free 1-UP. Evil? Yes. But so good... Also: You'll realize that getting any of the regular exits in Star Road will make you just go backwards. It sure does suck, but these exits also count towards your final score, so you'll want to get them as well. In order to progress to Star Road (and make it to Bowser or Special), you'll need to get the key hidden inside each level. Good luck! 80. STAR WORLD 1 (Secret Exit) When you begin, go all the way to the right. Spin jump down the right and you will end up at a key. You know what to do. Go to: 81. Star World 2 81. STAR WORLD 2 (Difficulty: Easy) You will meet blue Yoshi in this level, the best Yoshi of them all. It flies whenever it has a shell in its mouth. Run to it quickly and let the star fall into its mouth. This will make it grow into a full-sized Yoshi automatically. While doing this, make sure that you don't get hit by a fish! Come back here whenever you need a blue Yoshi. (Once you beat the level, you can press START and choose Back to leave). (Y1) The top right of the pipe at the beginning of the level. (UP) Get the star and swim as soon as you can to the next ? block while killing as many baddies as possible. If you get there before your invincibility runs out, another star will come out, letting you get even more 1-UPs. If you don't make it there on time, let the star bounce a few times and grab it when you finally see enemies that you can kill. I got 17-UPs. You can do just as good or better. (Y2) In the next school of sleeping fish. (Y3) In the next school of sleeping fish. (Y4) Nearby Y3 in plain sight. (Y5) To the top right of the green right at the end. The pipe is your way out of this place, unless you get the secret exit. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 80) 82. STAR WORLD 2 (Secret Exit) Swim to the end of the level, but do NOT enter the pipe. Rather, swim down to the gap on the bottom right of the screen. Keep on swimming until you reach the key. Go to: 83. Star World 3 83. STAR WORLD 3 (Difficulty: Very Easy) You will meet yellow Yoshi in this level. It stomps out sand when it has a shell in its mouth. Feed it five enemies and it will turn into an adult Yoshi. All you have to do is run to the end, unless you want the dragon coins. (UP) This is obvious: hit the silver POW and it will turn all the spineys into silver coins, which you can collect for 1-UPs. Try to get as many on the screen as possible and hit the switch. (Y1) To your left at the beginning. (Y2) On top of the staircase. (Y3) Use the strategy mentioned in #82 to get Lakitu's cloud. Ride up to where the secret exit is, but keep on going up and to the right, while staying in the cloud. Come down past the gate and you'll get your three coins. (Y4) Next to Y3. (Y5) Next to Y3. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 82) 84. STAR WORLD 3 (Secret Exit) Grab a blue block (hit B) from a two-layer area (or else you'll plummet to your doom). Throw it up to hit Lakitu. Jump on the cloud and go strait up. The key is in the ? block to the left and the hole is to the right. Go to: 85. Star World 4 85. STAR WORLD 4 (Difficulty: Easy) You will meet red Yoshi in this level. It spits out fireballs no matter what shell is in your mouth. (Y1) On one of the rotating platforms. (Y2) On the platforms before the first column of flying red Koopas, head down to the bottom (use L and Down to see). There is a well-hidden coin down there. When facing the wall of red Koopas, use red Yoshi's fire breath, your spinning feather jump or time your jump if you don't have either power-up. (Y3) On the next set of rotating platforms. Eventually, you will see a set of gray blocks and a red pipe. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 84) Jump on the rotating platform and jump on top of the red pipe in order to avoid the ricocheting shell. (Y4) There is a coin on top of this pipe. Drop down carefully, making sure you don't get hit by an enemy. (Y5) On the last rotating platform before the exit. 86. STAR WORLD 4 (Secret Exit) You will need to have unlocked the red and green switches. Or, you can get a blue Yoshi (see 79). When you get to the gray area of blocks, jump down to the green and red switch blocks. Or, using blue Yoshi, grab a shell and fly down. There will be key in the ? block. Use your feather to get it loose. Go to: 87. Star World 5 OR to: NA. Front Door (Bowser's Castle) Once you get this far, the next Star Road will take you to Bowser's castle. This is how you beat the game in thirty mins. 87. STAR WORLD 5 (Difficulty: Medium) You can be cheap and use the blue Yoshi method to fly through this stage (and many others). Wait for a flying Koopa to come, eat it and fly away. However, Yoshi will eventually swallow the shell and fall down. To prevent this, every reasonable time you see a safe platform, land and press Down B to spit out the shell in front of you (will not work on red shells). Swallow it again and fly. Easy, huh? If you don't want to be cheap, then all you have to do is jump on the platforms. Don't worry. Jump over or on the Koopas and be quick! (Y1) After the first few falling platforms. Eventually, you'll reach a POW. Do'nt hit it yet. Rather, hit the ? block and a row of coins will come out. Press Right on the Control Pad and just wait for the music to end. Once it does, hit the POW and walk on the newly-made bridge. (Y2) At the end of your coin bridge, it can be found a little off to the right of the yellow blocks. (!!) Secret Exit can be found here! (see 86) You'll eventually reach an area with pipes and spineys. Don't worry. It's easy! You know what to do by now. (Y3) On top of a falling platform. (Y4) Stay on the falling platform and jump off to get this. When you get off the platofrm, use the Koopa shell and kick it to get rid of the spineys. The next shell you see must be kicked as well. However, if you don't have any power-ups, you'll have to walk to your left and make the game forget that the shell was ricocheting. The shell will be gone and so will the spineys. After this, jump through the pole. 88. STAR WORLD 5 (Secret Exit) You must have unlocked all four switches. Or, you can get a blue Yoshi (see 79). When you get to the POW, hit the ? block and immediately hit Right. Once the music stops, hit the POW and run on the bridge. The third yellow block will have a vine on it. Climb it and you should see a bridge made up of different switch blocks. Slide under (run then Down; if you get stuck, hold Right and press A repeatedly) each block and make your way to the key. If you have a blue Yoshi, use the blue Yoshi strategy to fly up to the key. Go to: 89. Gnarly I. SPECIAL 89. GNARLY (Difficulty: Easy) Just make your way up any way you can. Also, you can't use Yoshi here and the blue Yoshi strategy doesn't work either. Boo hoo. (Y1) There are four vines. Take the far right one up and you will see it on top of a yellow block. (Y2) Continue your journey up and you will see a flying red Koopa. This one can be found to its right. When you see the red flying Koopa, the left yellow block has a POW inside. You have one of two choices: go for the 1-UP or save it for a 3-UP later on. You'll should save it, but if you don't: (UP) Hit the POW and climb up the newly solid blocks. When you get to the top, you will find a 1-UP. If you save the POW, then follow this strategy. Hold B so you carry the POW. Then go to the top of the level and before you make your way down, hit the POW. A few ? blocks will appear. Do NOT try to destroy them. Jump down to your far right and you'll land on a ? block in front of the pipe. Enter the pipe. (Y3) To the left of the pipe. (Y4) Next to Y3. (Y5) Next to Y3. (UP) When in this area, just run to the end (don't jump) and three 1-UPs will go flying out. Get them. If for some reason you don't want to do this, this is how you get the Dragon Coins the other way. IF you have a feather, hold A to make your life easier. (Y3) The first one down will be on the right. (Y4) The next one is to the left, in between two note blocks. (Y5) The next one will be slightly to the right. When you land, there will be a blue Koopa. Make sure you don't carelessly get hit by it! Enter the pipe to continue. This is where both routes merge. You will see three POWs, one silver and two blue ones. Hit the blue one and carry the silver one. A bridge will be formed to the right. Run and kill the Hammer Bro. and get up. Eventually, Lakitu will come flying by. (UP) Get Lakitu to drop a lot of spinys. Hit the silver POW to transform them into silver coins. Or, you can ignore him and run to the end. If you have the POW in your hand, it will turn into a 1-UP. Either way, you win. Go to: 90. Tubular 90. TUBULAR (Difficulty: Insane) This is one of the hardest levels in the game! Interestingly, this level is easier if you're tiny Mario because you're a smaller target! Don't worry: you'll die and become small Mario anyway. Jump from pipe to pipe, avoiding the enemies. (Y1) Above the second Charging Chuck. Hit the POW and jump down onto the spring, hit the ? block and grab the balloon. If you get hit, you will plummet to your death. Fun. (Y2) Underneath a ? block after getting the balloon. (Y3) Near the top of the screen. After the third dragon coin, you should see a ? block. Make sure you're not wasting time trying to hit all the ? blocks! This is the only one you need right now as it contains another balloon which will refill your... gas? You should see two fire plants. Fly in between the fire of the top and bottom ones, going for the dragon coin. (Y4) In between two fire plants. After this, start to float low, going under the jumping pirhana plant. Go under the Charging Chuck while avoiding his football and hit the ? block: another balloon will fly out. Grab it without getting hit by the footballs flying from above. (Y5) There will be two more dragon coins. You only need to get one of them. I prefer the first one, as it is less dangerous. Keep on flying, avoiding all enemies and you'll make it to the end of this insanely difficult level. Go to: 91. Way Cool 91. WAY COOL (Difficulty: Very Easy) The folks of Nintendo are playing with your mind. After the insanely difficult Tubular, this level is a breeze: as long as you have a Yoshi. Trust me, just come here with a Yoshi. Ride the cart, making sure you hit every ON/OFF switch that comes above you. (Y1) In plain sight on your ride. (Y2) In plain sight on your ride. Once you get to the end, hit the ? block and wings will come out. If you have the Yoshi (which you should because you're obviously a good player if you made it this far), just jump into the wings. You'll be in an enemy-free bonus area, where you will pick up three more dragon coins. (Y3) In the bonus level. (Y4) In the bonus level. (Y5) In the bonus level. Just fall down into the arrow and you're done. Easy! Go to: 92. Awesome 92. AWESOME (Difficulty: Very Hard) Now it's time for another very hard level! You'll really want to have a Yoshi, preferably blue, as there are MANY shells in this level. A feather would also help. Each ditch you enter, a Koopa shell will be kicked at you. Avoid them. Don't forget the yellow ones follow you around and are invincible. Fear! (Y1) In the first row of coins. (Y2) After the ditches, in plain sight. Eventually, you'll come across a yellow pipe. After this, all of the annoying fish will fly out of the water trying to kill you. Grab a shell, or use the Yoshi jump to hit the ? block high up in the air. A star will come out. Grab it and go! But remember: the floor is slippery! Also, hold B at all times or you may pull out the floor underneath you. Stop before each jump and think. Don't be afraid of the giant Bullet Bills that come after you. (Y3) While you're invincible, they will be in the way. (Y4) While you're invincible, you can jump and get this. (UP) Don't forget to kill as many enemies as possible. If you have the feather, the jumps are much easier. Hold A to slow down your fall and aim. If you already have the feather, make sure you don't pick up the flower during the level. (Y5) After the flying red Koopa. Time your jump! Time your jump so that you bounce off of the red Koopa and you will be done! Go to: 93. Groovy 93. GROOVY (Difficulty: Medium) This is the level in the intro! It's a little to easy. (Y1) In plain sight, after the ? block. If you don't have a Yoshi, grab a shell and hit the ? block, just like in the cinema! You should be able to rush through the level with no problems. You'll end up at the box that can give you a random item. Make sure you hit it when it's a feather so by the time it gets to you, it will be a star. Now that you're invincible, kill everything in your way! (Y2) After getting invincible, it is under the fire plant. (Y3) Jump after the flying pirahna plant. (UP) You're invincible! You know what to do! If you're good, you should have reached the hill with lots of cactii. You should be able to get rid of all of them. The next blue pipe has a jumping pirahna plant, so make sure that you let it drop before you jump into it and die. After the pipe, there will be a Charging Chuck. Avoid its attacks. (Y4) To the left of the Chargin Chuck. This final area is the most annoying, and it is the sole reason why this level isn't Easy. Take each enemy one at a time (especially easy with Yoshi). (Y5) Above the last fire plant. At the end, there will be two Charging Chucks. They throw four balls each, so time your jumps. Or, if you have power-ups, you can rush into them and use the invincibility that you have to run to the finish, or kill them off with your feather. Goal! Go to: 94. Mondo 94. MONDO (Difficulty: Medium) Once again, a Yoshi will be helpful in this level as he can walk on those spikey dudes with no problem. The water in this level features a strong current and goes up and down. Remember this! Try to avoid the fish until the water drains away and do not do battle with Hammer Bros. until the water is gone. It's easier this way (although there IS a time limit...) (Y1) In plain sight after the Hammer Bro. (Y2) On top of the hill with the Koopas. If you have a Yoshi, you can use the shells to fly, fly, fly. Use the advanced strategy for flying (which doesn't work for red Yoshis). (UP) The next yellow block, stuck to a pipe has a 1-UP. The blue pipe, which is to the left of the 1-UP can be entered. And enter you shall. Just run down and get the coins. (Y3) In this special area, it can be found at the end. You will reach two rows of ? blocks. Don't bother hitting them all: you don't have the time. (Y4) Below the two rows of ? blocks is where this one lays. Hit the Hammer Bro. that follows, avoiding his hammers and the other enemies. (Y5) Below the final Hammer Bro. If you have a feather, you can avoid the Hammer Bro. and just run on the top row and fly to the pipe. The pipe is the exit! Go to: 95. Outrageous 95. OUTRAGEOUS (Difficulty: Insane) You will want to be completely maxed out for this level: double feathers and Yoshi. This is THE HARDEST LEVEL IN THE GAME. Use L-scrolling to your advantage. Scroll to the left or right in order to remove some Bullet Bill launchers from the screen. They can't shoot if they're not on screen. Also, destroy the flames as they are quite annoying. Finally, the best strategy I can give for this level is: BE GOOD! (Y1) After some bullet bills and before a caterpillar. (Y2) Where the next fire is. Be careful not to land on it! If you have a feather, always use A to slow down your falls and always land on top of the bullet bill launcers. You deactivate them temporarily this way. (Y3) In plain sight. Eventually, you'll end up at a big red pipe. You have options: use your Yoshi jump (A and then R), but you will lose your Yoshi in the process. Or, you can jump back to the top of the previous launcher and jump slowly to the right. If you time it right, you can bounce off a bullet and go over the pipe. You can even do this with Yoshi. After the pipe, the level gets slightly easier. The yellow blocks after the Hammer Bros. have enemies inside. Be careful! (Y4) Where the yellow blocks are. The next Hammer Bro. gets rid of his hammers much faster! Be extra careful! Also, make sure that you don't scroll too far to the right, or a Bullet Bill may fly at you: hammers and bullets flying at you at the same time doesn't make this game easier for you! You should also realize that there isn't that much time. Don't panic! The following pipes will have flying pirahna plants that shoot fire. You know how to deal with this. Also, there will be a gap that has a caterpillar and fire. Just jump over this to avoid any conflict. Eventually, you'll see the arrow that points to the goal. Watch out: there is a pit before the Bullet Bill which is much to easy to miss as you really can't see the ground that well. Do NOT die after getting so far! (Y5) Pretty difficult: in between two Bullet Bills. Unfortunately, the exit isn't the easiest thing to reach. Get rid of the flying Hammer Bros. and avoid the bullet bills, the catterpillar and fire by jumping a lot in between them. Somehow manage to get on to the Hammer Bros. platform without dying and then make a leap of faith to the goal. Or, if you have Yoshi, you can jump over all these enemies and do a Yoshi Jump to hurl yourself into the goal. Good job. Go to: 96. Funky 96. FUNKY (Difficulty: Very Hard) Time is the killer in this level with only 200 seconds to beat level. You really, really will want to bring a Yoshi along with you for this level as each green berry he eats adds 20 seconds to your time. If you bring a Yoshi, bring a blue one. Run past the sumo dude. Long jump across the gap, landing on the second koopa and boost your way to the other side. (Y1) After the two Koopas on the gap. (Y2) Underneath the note blocks. Eventually, you'll reach an area with note blocks. Kill the sumo guys before they killl you. Then spin jump on the yellow blocks in the middle. Do not bother hitting the ? blocks as they are all coins and you don't have time to waste. (Y3) Above the Charging Chuck. Make sure you are always holding B. Like before, you'll need speed but you won't be able to press on top of the blue blocks, or you shall plummet to your doom. When you see a Koopa, stomp on it and grab the shell. You'll want to save it for the Charging Chuck that blocks your way. (Y4) To the left of the next Charging Chuck. Get rid of him grab this coin. When you're up to the baseball throwing Chucks, try to make the biggest jumps possible. (Y5) At the top of the Charing Chuck trio hill. If you make it through alive, you will see that you are a super player. Rush to the end! V. VERSION HISTORY v.1.08 - 03/17/02 - Paul Davison points out a numbering mistake and we fix it! See what happens when you point things out? And VampireHunterD (Bloodlust is available on DVD. Go buy it!) gives a hint for Bowser. And Sailor Bacon (again?! you rock!!!) adds some info for Chocolate Island 1 and 2. And Matt Hill points out a little something about Luigi. v.1.03 - 03/11/02 - Neoseeker and Gamespot both get permission to host this file and Sailor Bacon points out a missing 1-UP strategy in 42. v.1.00 - 03/10/02 - The guide is done! WOO HOO!!! Or is it really done? If we're not too lazy, expect some secrets, some fun stuff, glitches and that damn character list that everyone complains about. Thanks for all your support and don't forget, if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail (not IM) us! Thanks! v.0.86 - 03/09/02 - Where are you Dean??? The guide was supposed to be done today but Forest of Illusion wasn't sent in. Oh well-- I guess all of you will have to wait until tomorrow. v.0.73 - 03/06/02 - Editing is fun! Even more info was added to some levels and some structural problems were fixed. Also, some extra level strategies added. Now we have a deadline for this thing: Saturday, the 9th. Can Andrew (who has to finish Bowser and Chocolate) and Dean (who has to finish Forest) do it? Find out next time! Also: special props to all the people e-mailing us. We really appreciate your feedback and it always helps and is a great motivator to finish our guide! Keep on sending the e mails! v.0.68 - 03/04/02 - It was my birthday so I was too lazy to work on the guide. But Dean did. So he is the man. Cookie Mountain is added. v.0.61 - 03/01/02 - Dean adds all of Vanilla Dome to this guide, making it bigger than (I'm sure this would be edited out somehow). v.0.47 - 02/27/02 - Let me just say that I am utterly grateful for Dean and his wonderful contribution to this guide. He did the awesome guide for Donut Plains. He is now THE MAN(TM). And at last, this guide has gotten so big, you must use WordPad to open it! Muah ha ha... v.0.31 - 02/26/02 - Added the Cheap Tricks section and finished Star Road. Also added Bowser's Castle and some of Valley of Bowser. v.0.24 - 02/25/02 - Reformatted the entire document to follow GameFAQs standards, which was quite honestly: a pain in the ass. Also, all of Special is chronicled and most of Star Road has been added. And, Dean Hu joins me in the creation of this strategy guide. Hopefully, this will speed things up. v.0.07 - 02/24/02 - Finally, I decided to start the strategy guide for this game. It includes the basic layout and the strategies for all of Yoshi's Island. VI. CREDITS/CONCLUSION > Andrew Yoon wrote the strategy for levels 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 Dean Hu wrote the strategy for levels 2, 3, 4 and 5 > This guide may be posted on: http://anyo.topcities.com/ (anyo) http://www.gamefaqs.com/ (GameFAQs) http://www.cheathappens.com/ (Cheat Happens) http://www.neoseeker.com/ (Neoseeker) http://www.gamespot.com/ (GameSpot) > Legal Info: This Guide is for personal and private use only. It may not be sold, altered, and reproduced in any manner without permission from the author. This Guide may also not be placed on any web sites without the permission of the author. This guide is owned by Andrew Yoon and Dean Hu. (C)2002 Andrew Yoon and Dean Hu. All characters, game data and other trademarks are owned by Nintendo. Special props to them for making and reviving such a great game!