o-------oo---+---oo-------oo-------oo-------o | || | || || || | | -----|| | || | || -----|| | | | || | || || || | | || | || +---o| || | | |----- || | || | | -----|| | | | || || | | || | | o-------oo-------oo---o o-------oo-----+-o o-------oo-------oo-------o o---o o-------o | || || | | | | | | || | || | | | | | | | | | | || || | | | | | | | | | || | || | | | | | | | | | | || | || | | | | | | | | | | || | || | | | | | | o--+-+--oo---+---oo-----+-o o---o o-------o o--+-+--oo-------oo-------oo---o o-----o | | | || || || | | \ | | | || | || | || | | | | | | | || | || || | | | | | | | || | || | || | | | | | || | || | || +---o| | | FAQ/Walkthrough v1.1 | || || | || || / Written by Snow Dragon (C) 2003 o-------oo-------oo-----+-oo-------oo-----o All rights reserved. Any questions concerning this walkthrough, the information within it, or permission to use it on your site should be directed to my e-mail account at . If your question is related to a particular level or point about the level solutions, triple-check to make sure you're not asking something the walkthrough answers in plain text right under your nose. Enjoy reading my walkthrough and please pardon the tepid ASCII title. Well, at least _I_ think it looks good. ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= I. Updates II. Intro and Story III. Basic Controls IV. Items & Power-ups V. Special Techniques VI. Bestiary VII. Walkthrough of All Areas a. Yoshi's Island b. Donut Plains c. Vanilla Dome d. Intermediate Levels (4th Castle) e. Forest of Illusion f. Chocolate Island g. Sunken Ship h. Valley of Bowser i. Star Road j. Special World k. Bowser's Castle/Back Door VIII. Epilogue **SPOILERS WITHIN** IX. Credits and Legal Jazz ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= UPDATES ======= 9-28-03: Finally! After seven long months, I've gotten around to telling how to get the three 1-ups in the Forest Secret Area - with a little help from my e-mail friends =D The following people e-mailed me with the method for getting those bothersome 1-ups, and here are their names, in no particular order: Wayne Kao Jason Praditbatuga Christopher P. Langevin Azrial Borden Joe Val'Istar Seth Strife Dave Stocker (twice!) Drew Smith Jesse Anderson Jordan Leung Karri Holmberg Santeri Saarimaa and two others who just supplied an e-mail address, which I won't reprint here because I'm not stupid. Also, I fixed a formatting problem that occurred near the end of the document, causing two of the headers to stretch out into infinity and make a pesky horizontal scroll bar appear at the bottom of the screen. This has been rectified as well. ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= INTRO AND STORY =============== Hello, and welcome to my 28th FAQ, an exhaustive, encyclopedic walkthrough for Super Mario World, the SNES's very first release which introduced Yoshi into the scheme of things and remains one of the greatest, best-selling 16-bit titles to this very day. I've taken a four-month sabbatical from writing FAQs to focus on my reviewing talents (which I've found I have a definite niche for), but after a hearty examination of more of my favorite games from days of yore and finding they have quite lacking coverage yet still, I'm ready to end this hiatus and get back in the game with this totally in-depth look at the 96 levels of Super Mario World. Super Mario World took the series into further uncharted territory, sending Mario and Co. to a prehistoric archipelago known as Dinosaur Land. Bowser Koopa, that mean old Mushroom Kingdom dictator and single father of seven, has captured Princess Toadstool (Peach, Princess P.T., or what have you) AGAIN (yawn) and carted her off to his seemingly impenetrable fortress, presumably to make him his ever-loving wife through the bonds of holy matrimony. In order to thwart any attempt by the islanders to stage an upheaval, he's encased the indigenous reptilian life, known as Yoshis, inside spotted eggs to keep them from rising up and defeating him themselves. Ever the intrepid hero, Mario crashes bravely onto the island and brings along his brother Luigi, who stands in the shadows for yet _another_ turn, to save Peach from Bowser, his seven ugly, dwarfish Koopa runt kids, and the gruesome aftereffects of unholy Koopa love. Are they up to the challenge? Of course they are! They're the Mario Bros., and plumbing's their game! They found the secret warp zone while they were workin' on the ....... sorry, it was a profound nostalgic moment. Couldn't resist. Anyway, on with the walkthrough! ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= BASIC CONTROLS ============== On the D-pad ------------ Up ___ | | ___| |___ Left | | |___ ___| Right | | |___| Down Left/Right ---------- -> Walk left and right. -> When riding Yoshi, make him go left and right. -> Move left or right on the overworld map. -> Shift the window to the left or right after pressing Start to look at parts of the island that are to your left or right. Up/Down ------- -> Climb or descend vines, etc. -> Select a game file on the title screen. -> Move up or down on the overworld map. -> Shift the window up or down after pressing Start to look at parts of the island that are above or below you. -> Slide down slopes on your bottom. The Buttons ----------- _________ _________ (____L____) (____R____) ___ __ ___ (___) __ (X_) (___) Start (Y_) __ Select __ (A_) (B_) L and R Buttons --------------- -> Hold down to cause the screen (inside a level) to shift left or right. This allows you to see potentially dangerous enemies or objects both in front of and behind you. -> Press both at the same time to enter a castle you have already completed. You will not fight the Koopa Kid boss at the end if you do this. Select ------ -> When the game is paused, press this to instantly exit a level you have already completed. -> If you have an item in the box at the top of the screen (see the section entitled The Status Bar for details), you can make it drop instantly in order to gain that item's power. If you get the item, the item you have currently, if applicable, will be transferred to the spare item box. Start ----- -> Confirm menu choices, like choosing a saved game file. -> Pause the game. -> Press this button on the overworld map to bring up arrows that will allow you to move around and take a look at the entire map of Dinosaur Land. Press it again to return to your position on the map. B Button -------- -> Jump. A Button -------- -> Execute a spin jump. If you are equipped with a Fire Flower, you will spit two fireballs, one in front of you and one behind you. -> Dismount Yoshi. -> Enter a level. Y Button -------- -> Throw fireballs. -> Make Yoshi stick his tongue out to eat certain enemies. By the same token, press this button to make Yoshi spit out an enemy. -> Hold down to glide slowly to the ground (only if Cape Feather is equipped). -> While on the ground, press this button to spin Mario's cape if he is wearing one. -> Enter a level. ** In Super Mario World, the X Button has no distinct use; it can serve as a substitute for the Y button and some tasks of the A and B buttons. ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= ITEMS & POWER-UPS ================= Mario has many power-ups to assist him on his journey through Dinosaur Land. Though this section will be of little interest to aficionados of the game, it should be a great help to those just digging into the game who want to know what kind of help they've got to back them up. ---- Coin ---- What would a Mario game be without a bunch of coins to collect along the way? As per the usual, 100 coins equal one extra life. Coins can be received by picking up those that can float or from question blocks, or they can also be collected by shooting certain vulnerable enemies with fireballs or through the help of certain other items (e.g. the silver P-switch). ------------------- Multiple Coin Block ------------------- Depending on how fast you hit this block, you can usually cadge anywhere from two to 22 coins out of a block like this. If you find that you've stumbled upon one, keep hitting it until you've totally exhausted the supply that it held. Twirling your cape is the fastest way to get coins out of one of these blocks. -------- Mushroom -------- The Mushroom is an essential item in Mario Bros. lore. It serves its purpose in this game as well as it does in all the others: to turn a pitiful and weak 2-foot-tall version of Mario into a strapping plumber who can jump higher, hit harder, and eat more pasta in one sitting. The Mushroom is the most basic power-up in the game: most other more powerful items will override its ability by giving you some other power in addition to making you big (i.e. the Fire Flower, the Cape Feather). When you complete the Yellow Switch Palace, all yellow blocks with an exclamation point on them will contain Mushrooms. ----------- Fire Flower ----------- Another perennial item of the SMB universe. Mario's outfit will revert to warm colors (red, white) for the occasion when you pick up one of these. Fireballs can be fired rather rapidly with repeated tapping of the Y button, but you can shoot two at a time by performing a spin jump with the A button. ------------ Cape Feather ------------ Changing over from the raccoon tail pinned to his butt (SMB3) to a more practical cape adds a whole new dimension to Mario's flying capabilities. Whereas in that game Mario's tail petered out after a couple of seconds of flying, the cape gives Mario the ability to fly indefinitely with the right button combination. (See Special Techniques for details - this really is a handy maneuver, and one you ought to learn if you want to get some of the more well-hidden secrets the game has to offer.) Of course, when you're tired of flying, you can also glide slowly back to the ground by holding Y. When you complete the Green Switch Palace, all green blocks with an exclamation point on them will contain Cape Feathers. ------- Starman ------- Starmen have made Mario temporarily invincible since time immemorial. With one of these equipped, you'll find it best to blow through a level without any regard as to anything you might have missed (you can always replay it and take your time later). If you kill enough enemies while invincible, the points multiply and eventually add up to extra lives. A couple of levels, mentioned in the walkthrough as you go along, really facilitate this kind of extra life hoarding. ------------- 1-Up Mushroom ------------- They have the same basic shape and appearance as a normal Mushroom, but they are a light green on the cap. If you've played SMB1 or SMB3 at all, you have a general idea of what they look like already. 1-up Mushrooms come to you in a variety of ways. You can get them out of question blocks and bonus game blocks, and there are even enemies who lure you to them by putting a 1-up Mushroom on a fishing rod! Unbelievable! --------- Yoshi Egg --------- There are a couple of different kinds of Yoshi Eggs. The most common are green ones, out of which appear a fully-grown adult green Yoshi. When you board Yoshi, he serves as a way to get to some hidden areas and as an extra hit (he'll take off running and leave you in the dust if you get hit while riding him). Yoshi's tongue maneuvering and ability to eat enemies are his most practical skills. Some enemies he will just swallow and be done with them, which is equivalent to grabbing one coin. However, when he brings a Koopa-Troopa shell into his mouth, it can have one of many different effects when spit out depending on its color. RED SHELLS will come out as a trio of fireballs that expand outward to cover more surface area; these fireballs will turn any enemy that they come into contact with into a coin. YELLOW SHELLS are best used while staying in Yoshi's mouth. When he jumps on the ground and his cheeks are puffy from the yellow shell, two dust clouds will squeeze out from his feet, killing most weaker enemies and turning those such as Koopa-Troopas and Goombas over on their backs. BLUE SHELLS probably have the greatest effect of all: when they are in Yoshi's mouth, he'll be able to fly. Use this to get over some particularly tricky levels. Green Yoshis do not comprise the only color in the dino spectrum, though. Along the Star Road you will find Yoshi Eggs of different colors - namely, red, yellow, and blue. These three Yoshis will take the color of Koopa-Troopa shell they correspond with and derive that ability from ANY color shell. For example, if you are riding a red Yoshi, all shells that you swallow will be regurgitated as fireballs - not just red ones. Similarly, a blue Yoshi can fly when he ingests any color of shell, as opposed to all the other Yoshis who can only fly when they eat a blue shell. These red, yellow, and blue Yoshis all start out as babies that you carry around as you would any other item, such as a key or a Koopa-Troopa shell. To make them grow into adults, feed them five enemies or one item, whether from your spare item box or somewhere in the level. The only exception to this is Blue Yoshi, which you can procure by getting a pair of Yoshi's Wings and completing the subsequent bonus stage. The Yoshi you took into the level will exit as a blue Yoshi, regardless of what color he was before entering the bonus stage. ------------ Dragon Coins ------------ In every level with a goal there are five Dragon Coins (occasionally six, but it's rare), which can be distinguished from regular coins in that they are larger and have Yoshi's likeness shamelessly plastered on each and every one. They are worth 1000 points for the first one, 2000 for the second, 4000 for the third, 8000 for the fourth, and will net you an extra life if you collect all five, plus another one if there happens to be six in a level (which, again, is rare). ----------- Key/Keyhole ----------- On the map, levels with two separate exits are identified by a red dot. You must beat the level both ways to receive credit for completing it, and often the second exit comes via keyhole. Where there is a keyhole in a level, there is a key. Find the key and take it to the keyhole to complete the level. Not all levels with two exits have a keyhole as one of the exits, so keep your eyes open for those annoying exceptions. ------------------------------ Exclamation Point ("!") Blocks ------------------------------ If you haven't completed the Switch Palace that goes with a certain color of "!" block, the block will show up as a dotted-line square. These will be filled in when you complete the corresponding Switch Palace. Yellow "!" blocks will always always ALWAYS have Mushrooms in them, and Cape Feathers can be found in green "!" blocks without exception. Red and blue "!" blocks have nothing in them and can be used as separate ledges in their own right or as stepping stones to previously inaccessible areas. ------------- Yoshi's Wings ------------- Rare but wonderful, these godsends of relief will instantly whisk you out of a level and take you to a bonus stage wherein you will fly on a blue Yoshi attempting to grab either normal or Dragon Coins. They will only work if you're onboard a Yoshi, so be on top of one for those occasions when you locate some. --------- P-Balloon --------- When you touch one of these babies, your body will inflate to a morbidly obese circumference and you'll be able to float slowly upward through the air. Controlling your body while inflated to such an enormous width is quite a tall order, so make sure you know what you're doing when you grab one of these. You cannot ride Yoshi while your body is inflated. If you are hit while inflated, you will both deflate and lose your current power-up (if applicable). ------------- Blue P-Switch ------------- Making a return appearance after debuting in SMB3, the blue P-switch turns all coins into brown "used" blocks. It is necessary to use these newly formed brown blocks to cross wide chasms in some levels. By the same token, brown blocks that are present in the level when you hit a blue P-switch will be turned into coins. The blue P-switch only lasts for a few seconds, so take advantage of it while you can. --------------- Silver P-Switch --------------- Here's an item that's got a bit of a pleasant twist on your everyday namby-pamby blue P-switch. This meaty item will turn any enemies present into silver coins, which will grant you extra lives by multiples of two if you can grab enough of them up within the time limit of the switch. Since silver coins don't show up as normal objects in a level, don't expect to see enemies appear out of the blue when you hit one of these. You're totally safe. ------------ Silver Coins ------------ Silver coins come about as the result of hitting a silver P-switch (see above). If you grab enough within the silver switch's time limit, you can gain 1-ups and even 2-ups. --------- 3-up Moon --------- These are often well-hidden from the basic ground view that many of the levels provide. Many take an extra special bit of burrowing or flying high to locate, and they are few in number, so look extra hard for them. As is stated by the name of the item, you'll gain three extra men at a pop if you procure one of these special rarities. ---------------- Green Star Block ---------------- If you receive 30 coins throughout the course of a single level when you hit this block, a 1-up will pop out. If you have 29 or less, it will act as just another regular old coin block. ----------------- Transparent Block ----------------- Inside these blocks are four items that rotate at one-second (real time) intervals. Depending on the position it's in when you hit it, the item will keep changing and you can get either a Mushroom, a Fire Flower, a Cape Feather, or a Starman. Transparent blocks do not change shape or color when hit. ---------------------- Directional Coin Block ---------------------- Many, many coins will pop out of this block, but they don't stop, oh no. They'll keep coming out in whatever direction you hold, whether it be up, down, left, or right. The chain will only stop when it hits another object or runs into itself, despite the music that plays when you hit one of these blocks. In a big room, this item has the potential to be worth at least one 1-up. ------------ Empty Shells ------------ Sometimes you'll find empty Koopa-Troopa shells just lying around, waiting to be picked up, kicked, or inhabited by a naked turtle. They are often sitting around by themselves as a subtle hint that something near you can be reached with it, or naked turtles may be sitting right in front of them ready to hop in and attack you. ----------- Red Berries ----------- Yoshi can eat red berries that grow on bushes if you stick your tongue out at them or simply run his mouth into them. If he eats enough of them, he'll poop out an item (usually a mushroom). ------------ Pink Berries ------------ Pink berries also grow on bushes and take a lot fewer to activate the special prize associated with them: a stupidly grinning cloud that drops coins sporting an even goofier grin. They act as normal coins but will yield 1-ups if you follow the cloud around long enough. Eventually the cloud floats back up to the firmament, so get those happy coins while they last. ------------- Green Berries ------------- Only one level sports these elusive jade wonders, but you don't need them much of the time except in that one level, seeing as how every green berry you swallow adds 20 seconds to your time for that level. If you're strapped for seconds and there are a couple of these in your neighborhood, then you would do well to chow down on a few of them. -------------------- Portable Springboard -------------------- Unlike the springboards of days since past that were stationary and didn't allow for very much jump support, many bounce pads in this game allow you to carry them around and take them to areas where they are needed. Either you can carry them or Yoshi can carry one in his mouth, but be warned: he will swallow it if it stays in his cheeks long enough. ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= SPECIAL TECHNIQUES ================== The following moves often take more than one button press or a series of smaller techniques that add up to one big one to perform. With these moves you can reach more of the very well-hidden areas in the game or find different ways around levels. Let's look at some of the special techniques. SOARING IN THE AIR ------------------ HOW TO EXECUTE: Run by holding Y and moving forward, then press B to jump. EFFECT: Mario will jump higher than normal. If you have a cape on, then he can often soar far above the screen in most cases. GROUND POUND ------------ HOW TO EXECUTE: If you have the cape, do the soaring high-jump, then hold Y and Down at the same time. EFFECT: Mario will hit the ground and cause an earth-shattering tremor that will kill most landlubbers and cause Koopa Troopas to retreat to their shells. FLYING ------ HOW TO EXECUTE: If you have the cape, do the soaring high-jump, then hold Y and press both Left and Right in a fluid motion. To gain altitude, press the buttons somewhat faster and at even intervals. EFFECT: Flying reveals some of the best secrets this game has to offer, and improves on the temporariness of the raccoon tail power-up from SMB3. By holding onto the cape and pressing the buttons above, you can literally stay in the air indefinitely. Remember that while flying you can hold Y and Down simultaneously to do the Ground Pound, which in addition to killing people is also a great way to get yourself down to Earth in a hurry. MIDAIR DISMOUNT --------------- HOW TO EXECUTE: While on Yoshi, jump with B, then press A. EFFECT: Instead of spin jumping off Yoshi as you do when you're on the ground, you will execute a jump that is a little higher than your normal jump but not as high as Super Mario's running jump. Use it when you're about to fall to your death into the abyss and you feel the sudden urge to spare yourself, or to get items that are normally far out of your normal jumping reach. EXTRA LIVES THROUGH INVINCIBILITY --------------------------------- HOW TO EXECUTE: Get a Starman and then kill at least nine enemies by barreling through them with your invincible self. EFFECT: For every enemy you kill after the ninth, you will gain another extra life. Some enemies are big enough as to yield two extra lives (e.g. Wigglers). There are a few levels that facilitate the use of this fun trick quite nicely (Forest of Illusion 1, Awesome). LIFE TRADING ------------ HOW TO EXECUTE: In two-player mode, press L to bring up a menu displaying Mario's and Luigi's total lives. Press B to transfer lives from Luigi to Mario, and Y to transfer lives from Mario to Luigi. Press Start to close the menu when you have the correct amount of lives set. EFFECT: This is sort of a handicap for the one of you playing that isn't as good as the other. The better player can obviously operate on fewer lives and can find a way to replenish his or her supply, leaving the not-as-good player with some insurance lives in case they happen to die a lot. ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= BESTIARY ======== What follows are (for the most part) encyclopedic entries on every enemy in the game arranged into appropriate categories. If it's against you at some point in this game, it's located right here in this section. Sure, you can choose to skip over it and you probably will, but it's useful as a reference in case you ever need it. A. Classic SMB Standbys ** New Variations B. Dinosaur Enemies C. Chucks D. Aquatic Life E. Cave Dwellers F. Ghost House Tenants G. Bowser's Minions H. Miscellaneous Enemies A. CLASSIC SMB STANDBYS ======================= Koopa Troopa ------------ Back from the 8-bit days, these turtle enemies can now come already in their shells or totally naked and ready to hop into one. They come in shells of green, red, blue, and yellow. Green and yellow Koopa Troopas will have a tendency to walk like lemmings off of any edge while red and blue Koopa Troopas will stay true to their own ledges. Several of them may also have wings, in which case the green and yellow ones will only be able to bounce along the ground while the reds and the blues can actually fly in formation. Goomba ------ Taking on a decidedly more rounded appearance than in games past, Goombas must now be thrown at each other to be killed - a simple bop on the head won't cut the mustard any longer. Yoshi can also eat them if you need to get rid of one in a fix. There is a winged variant of Goombas that bounce along the ground rather than actually fly. Bullet Bill ----------- As in the olden days, Bullet Bills can either shoot at random heights from an undetermined source or come fresh out of a bullet machine. Now they can even come at you four at a time from all sides of the screen! Piranha Plant ------------- Piranha Plants actually only appear in a select few levels in this game, and even then they do not come out of pipes facing upward at all. They are only seen as upside-down regular Piranha Plants, and are fairly easy to dispatch of. Bob-omb ------- These are of the Mario 3 variety that walk around calmly until their fuse is expended and then blow up (as opposed to the Mario 2 variety that run around chaotically before exploding). You can pick them up and kick them into other enemies. Buzzy Beetle ------------ These reclusive bugs wisely choose to remain as cave dwellers. They are impervious to fire but can't seem to withstand being jumped on. As with almost all other walking enemies, you can pick them up and kick them when they've retreated to the insides of their shells. Spiny ----- Best known as Lakitu's lackeys, they can cause quite a sticky situation if too many are on the ground at one time. As you can see, it would hurt quite a bit to jump on them, so rely on a good old fireball or the shell of another enemy to bring them down. Lakitu ------ Often before releasing his endless hordes of Spinys on you, Lakitu will carry a fishing rod with a 1-up attached to the end. Grab it and then he'll start releasing them, or ignore him to stave off the onslaught just that much longer. If you kill Lakitu with a Koopa Troopa shell or other throwable object as opposed to jumping on him, his cloud will stay behind and you can ride in it temporarily. Use this time to access new areas or secrets that are nestled way up in the clouds. Hammer Brothers --------------- The hammer-tossing turtles of SMB fame have made a landmark change, now assaulting you with hammers from the skies only on gray flying ledges. Bump him from underneath to knock him out. This is the best course of action, as almost any aerial assault is an exercise in suicide. Pokey ----- Remember the annoying cactus from SMB2 that it was a chore to jump over? He's back now, but is more tolerable because Yoshi can eat him segment by segment. The closer you let Pokey get to Yoshi, the more segments Yoshi will eat at one time. Volcano Lotus ------------- No longer waterbound as they were in SMB3, it's easy to get rid of these fire-shooting menaces with either a graceful twirl of your cape or the almighty tongue of Yoshi. They do, however, often plant themselves (no pun intended) in very annoying spots, so watch how you cross them. **VARIATIONS ON OLD ENEMIES** Banzai Bill ----------- Like a normal Bullet Bill, but writ extremely large. It is often possible to clear them with a running jump or wait them out by ducking, and a simple bump on the noggin will do them in with ease. Jumping Piranha Plant --------------------- These enemies seem to be Nintendo's answer for not having normal Piranha Plants that come out of pipes as usual. These can appear from pipes that face up and from certain small bushes. There is another version of them that can expectorate fireballs also. Para-Goomba/Para-Bomb --------------------- Goombas and Bob-ombs that parachute from the sky will start walking once they alight upon the ground. Aside from their tendency to fall from the sky, they're no different from normal Goombas and Bob-ombs. Pipe-Dwelling Lakitu -------------------- Some Lakitus prefer to poke their heads out of the pipes every now and then to toss a Spiny your way. They're best eliminated by a quick hit to the skull. Spike Top --------- This altered version of Spiny with but a lone spike on its back has the added ability of walking with ease along any surface, meaning it can climb walls and walk on ceilings without any apparent problems. Fireballs or Koopa Troopa shells are the best way to deal with this menace. Sumo Brother ------------ Gone away are the Boomerang, Fire, and Sledge Brothers of SMB3; here to stay is the Sumo Brother, a heavy tub o' lard who can make lightning fall to ledges below with one stomp of his mighty boot upon the ground. They don't take kindly to having their heads stomped on, so your best choice would be taking them out from below if and when there's an opening between their lightning spurts. B. DINOSAUR ENEMIES =================== Rex --- This dimwit walks forward with little thought for what is in front of him. He can be dispatched of in a variety of ways. One normal jump will squash him down flat and make him walk faster, and the second normal jump will destroy him completely. More effective ways of ridding yourself of him in one hit include spin jumps, fireballs, and having Yoshi digest him. Dino Rhino ---------- A large lumbering beast indigenous to Chocolate Island. They have no defense against you and will turn into the much smaller Dino Torch if pegged on the head with a normal jump. Dino Torch ---------- Dino Torches move a lot faster than their massive Dino Rhino counterparts and can jump to ledges slightly higher than the ones they are on. If you linger above them too long, they can turn their heads skyward and shoot a steady stream of flames at you. C. CHUCKS ========= Chargin' Chuck -------------- "Chucks" in Super Mario World refers to those enemies in the American football get-up whose attacks are based on the themes of a number of sports. Here, Chargin' Chuck represents the sport that's only famous in the United States - football. It's Chargin' Chuck's job to charge at you like a relentless linebacker. A couple of jumps on the head ought to bring him down, but be careful when jumping on a Chuck's helmet. A certain degree of entropy factors into the direction you bounce off in, meaning you can go flying off a cliff if you're not careful. Try to veer back toward him so you can keep bouncing on his head 'til he's dead. Splittin' Chuck --------------- Splittin' Chuck divides into three separate Chargin' Chucks if you get too close to him. Approach this trio with extreme caution. Bouncin' Chuck -------------- As the name suggests, Bouncin' Chuck will leap at you at roundabout a 15-degree arc if you get too close to him. Once you bounce off his helmet one time, he'll revert back to a plain old Chargin' Chuck. Whistlin' Chuck --------------- Depending on whether he is underwater or on land, Whistlin' Chuck can summon either a horde of normal fish or Super Koopas to come after you. One knock to the cranium will make him give up the whistling game and switch back to charging at you. Clappin' Chuck -------------- All Clappin' Chucks do is jump in the air and clap endlessly until you bounce on them, at which point they regress to the charging attack. They pose one of the least threats of all the different types of Chucks. Puntin' Chuck ------------- This football-themed Chuck will kick an endless supply of footballs at you. Because of their shape (the footballs), the way they bounce is very chaotic, so don't try to chance running under them. Go over the footballs, as they can be jumped on and eradicated like a normal enemy (such as a Koopa Troopa). Get to Puntin' Chuck's head as fast as possible to stop the footballs from coming at you. Pitchin' Chuck -------------- Pitchin' Chucks throw baseballs at you six at a time: three on the ground and three in midair, at which time they then pause for a moment. Avoid the baseballs and jump on his head in that short time frame when there are no baseballs being tossed around. Diggin' Chuck ------------- Golf club in hand, Diggin' Chuck will pitch a series of spherical boulders your way. They have very little bounce to them at all, and Yoshi is capable of eating them, so move past them and get him on the head. If you can get rid of this menace, who is usually placed in such a way that it's difficult to get him square on the helmet, consider yourself par for the course. D. AQUATIC LIFE =============== Cheep-Cheep ----------- In this game, they've been reduced to the mere pittance of swimming toward you in underwater levels. Only in one level do they fly at you in the old annoying SMB-style arc. In some levels with water just below the land, there is a variety of Cheep-Cheep that jumps straight up out of the water after swimming around for a little bit. Rip Van Fish ------------ This slumbering fish stays asleep until you get near it, at which point it wakes up and starts to home in on you. Fireballs or cape twirling work best against him, as well as Yoshi's ability to eat him. Urchin ------ These spiky guys float in many kinds of patterns: vertically, horizontally, and counterclockwise or clockwise around walls and suspended ledges. They're practically impervious to all forms of attack, so wait them out and pass them when you have a free moment or float through them if you're endowed with temporary invincibility. Dolphins -------- ALERT! ALERT! DOLPHINS ARE YOUR FRIENDS! SERIOUSLY! They pose no threat to you at all and serve a great purpose as ledges that bounce in formation out of the water like synchronized swimmers. They will allow you to stay in the air in above-ground water levels, keeping you safely out of the reach of some very annoying enemies such as Porcu-Puffers. Make use of their platforming facilities as often as you can. Torpedo Ted ----------- These slyly grinning missile enemies are like an underwater variation of Bullet Bills that are released from their turrets more rapidly. Although they're only found in one level, they are EXTREMELY difficult to bypass without getting hit. Take extreme caution when approaching a Torpedo Ted turret and swim around them as quickly as you can. Fishbone -------- Through they only move in a straight line, these skeletal fish stripped of all their scales can be quite annoying. Ride out their passage by staying over or under them and then pass on as usual. Porcu-Puffer ------------ These are fat fish who float along the surface of the water in above-ground water levels, waiting for you to fall into their deadly grasp. If you get in a bind, spin jumps ought to protect you from the lethal spikes gracing its back. If at all possible though, stay very far above their range. E. CAVE DWELLERS ================ Swooper Bat ----------- Hanging out on the ceilings of cavernous levels, there are two types of Swooper Bats; one that waits for a little bit before coming down at you and one that will swoop down as soon as it appears on the screen. They can be easily conquered with just about any type of hit, from normal jumps to cape twirling to Yoshi's tongue. Mega Mole --------- A larger cousin of the annoying little Monty Moles can be found in a couple of the game's later cave areas. Not even Super Mario can bring these guys down by crashing down on their heads. Consider them invincible (though there are ways of eliminating them) and bypass them whenever you encounter them. Bony Beetle ----------- Though they can also be found in some of the Koopa Kids' castles, you'll mostly see Bony Beetles in dank cave-like areas. They can be jumped on and disposed of temporarily a la Dry Bones, but only when their shells are normal. They can duck to reveal some dangerous, pointy spikes that should by no means be jumped on. Cape twirling will destroy them indefinitely. Blargg ------ Here's one insane googly-eyed dinosaur that you don't want to (PUN ALERT!) fall in lava with! Baha! Now that that bad joke is behind us, the thing is that you don't want to cross paths with this stark-raving lunatic. He waits in the magma pits mainly while you're riding along the skull platforms. Jumping over him is always the best course of action. F. GHOST HOUSE TENANTS ====================== Boo Buddy --------- The regular ghost as seen in SMB3 (where they operated there under the moniker Boo Diddly). Boo Buddies will follow you when your back is turned to them but will freeze in place if you are facing them. Use this to your advantage where possible, but if you must turn your back them, get away as fast as possible. Big Boo ------- A large version of the smaller Boo Buddies you find. Leap over him with the help of a springboard or avoid him altogether - he's usually high enough in the air that you can sprint under him. Big Boo Boss ------------ The boss of the Boo Buddies. Peculiarly, unlike all other ghosts, this Big Boo seems to be susceptible to injury dealt by tangible objects such as blue throwing blocks. You'll meet up with him in the infamous Donut Secret House, where he takes three hits to destroy. Once you beat him, you can move on and never worry about facing him again, because that's the only place where he appears. Eerie ----- These are the ghosts of dead dinosaurs that prefer to inhabit the strange ghost houses. They move in a variety of ways and numbers. Some move stright forward while others zig and zag about in a wavy pattern. They can also move like this in groups of three and five. Gas Bubble ---------- While these spheres of methane may seem imposing and intimidating, they can be easily passed by spin jumping on them. While they are impervious to any damage that might be dealt, you aren't hurt either, so it's the best way to get past them if ducking and cowering in fear aren't available options. Fishin' Boo ----------- Unlike Lakitus sporting fishing rods, these don't have a 1-up on the end, but rather a hot blue flame that follows you relentlessly. Avoid Fishin' Boos at all costs. Boo Blocks ---------- When you face these Boo Buddy variants head-on, they will turn into blocks of cement. Often you can find them in groups of two or three, meaning that if you position them just so and then turn to face them, you can often boost yourself to new areas. Intriguing... Reflecting stream of Boo Buddies -------------------------------- Here you find five Boo Buddies in a line, bouncing at 90-degree angles off of whatever surfaces they happen to hit. They are easily avoided at any altitude. Circle of Boo Buddies --------------------- A circle of ghosts that, conveniently enough, contains a hole just to allow you through when the opportunity comes around. The circle of ghosts can spin both clockwise and counterclockwise. G. BOWSER'S MINIONS =================== Magic Koopa ----------- This turtlish enemy donning the stereotypical wizard's robe and hat pops up in the most annoying places and has the ability to fire magic that can turn ordinary yellow blocks into Koopa Troopas. Even if you get rid of him, he will appear moments later at another inconvenient juncture, so deal with him as needed. Magic Koopas are the most easily anger-inducing enemies in the game, but I can't be held liable if you destroy your Super Nintendo while working your way around them. Thwomp ------ Thwomps premiered in SMB3 as large concrete blocks with faces that came crashing down to the ground when you came too close to them. You could kill them with a Starman or the Hammer Brother Suit in that game, but here neither of those are readily available, so you're better off speeding past them. Thwimp ------ A more infantile version of the classic Thwomp enemy. They don't fall from the ceiling and crush you, but they do have the ability to jump in a steep arc. Run under them when they're in the air and you should do just fine. Dry Bones --------- These guys are skeletal Koopa Troopas who will come back to life if you jump on them. Some have the ability to throw a never-ending supply of bones your way, so duck or jump over those when the opportunity arises. Whacking them with a spin of your cape can get rid of them forever. Podoboo ------- Not only do they pop up out of lava pits as per the usual, they also have the ability to float around a room bouncing off any walls they hit. They are also placed in more crafty areas in this game than in games past, so keep your eye peeled for them. Ninji ----- Making a return from SMB2, only the variety that sits still and hops up a few inches appears here. No walking ones (thank God). Grinder ------- These are line-guided chainsaws that move around on the lines provided for them. If the line they are on has no end and they come to the last of it, they will fall to the ground and roll along any path they can down there. Jump over or run under them as necessary. Mechakoopa ---------- Bop these wind-up nutcases on their heads and then throw them at each other to kill them. Or, let them walk mindlessly off of the ledge they're on and watch them fall into the lava like the witless lemmings they're obviously programmed to be. Sparky ------ This small ball of electricity can move in a clockwise or counterclockwise path around castle ledges. You can't really kill electricity, so move around them when they're on the opposite side of the ledge that you need to cross. Hothead ------- A version of Sparky writ large, they move significantly slower than Sparky but can still move in both directions around a ledge (clockwise or counterclockwise). It is often better to jump over them than cross under them - you'll see why ;) Bowser Statues -------------- Some Bowser Statues sit still and either blow fire at you or do nothing - others take on a tan tint and are possessed by some otherworldly force, jumping at you constantly! Fortunately, there are few incidents in which you have to worry about these clowns. The silver ones are more easily avoidable than the tan ones (for obvious reasons). H. MISCELLANEOUS ENEMIES ======================== Hopping Flames -------------- Found mainly in the Forest of Illusion, these small licks of flame hop around and leave small burning fires in their wake. They would be impossible to destroy were it not for the fact that Yoshi has no problem with becoming a fire-eater. :) Monty Mole ---------- This is the smaller cousin of the Mega Moles mentioned earlier in the Cave Dwellers section. Monty Moles can burrow out of the sides of pass-through cliffs and the ground itself, and can be disposed of with but one blow to the head. Monty Moles practically infest some areas and can pester you to an ungodly degree at times. Make sure you have either Yoshi or a cape to handle large groups of them. Fuzzball -------- You'll mostly find Fuzzballs in places where you find ledges that move along a guided line. They can inhabit those guided lines or some blocks along which they scurry in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. If you must come into contact with one, spin jump on its head so you don't get hurt. Wiggler ------- This caterpillar monster is normally quite docile and wants only to walk around in peace until you pull a jump off its head. At that point, it turns from a calm yellow to a furious red and will roam around chaotically in an attempt to bring you down. Either take a long running jump over them, barrel through them with a Starman handy (they'll give out 2-ups if you have enough points from invincibility KO's racked up prior), or have Yoshi eat them in one fell swoop. ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= WALKTHROUGHS FOR ALL AREAS ========================== I. Yoshi's Island II. Donut Plains III. Vanilla Dome IV. Intermediate Levels (4th Castle) V. Forest of Illusion VI. Chocolate Island VII. Sunken Ship VIII. Valley of Bowser IX. Star Road X. Special World XI. Bowser's Castle/Back Door ** Each time a new area is listed, where new map symbols are introduced, there will be a miniature legend to familiarize you with the new symbols. The new symbol will only be put in the legend once, so if you need to find a symbol that you don't understand, try referencing it on a previous area map. Capiche? ** When certain very cool secrets can be found in a level, they will be listed in a separate section bracketed off with rows of "===" (equal signs). ** Some levels contain an invisible sequence of four checkpoints that, when crossed through in the proper order, will yield an extra life. These 1-up checkpoints will be described in thorough detail at the end of levels that have them, and will be bracketed off with rows of equal signs as well. ==-==-==-==-== ~~~AREA ONE~~~ YOSHI'S ISLAND ==-==-==-==-== Area Map -------- To Yellow To Donut Switch Palace Plains | | | | | Iggy's | Castle-o / \ / | / 4 / | | / | 3---o | | | | 1-------Yoshi's House------2 LEGEND OF NEW SYMBOLS Numbers - Where a level is titled something such as "Yoshi's Island 1" or "Vanilla Dome 4" or some other such name, it will be referred to on the map only by its designated number. Yoshi's Island Walkthrough -------------------------- YOSHI'S HOUSE There is quite literally nothing to do here except read the message Yoshi has left behind for you in the message box. These blue boxes with a red globe inside of them can contain hints that are helpful to the fledgling Super Mario World player and totally useless to the rest of us. Read what he has to say, then exit on either side of the level and head left on the map to Yoshi's Island 1. YOSHI'S ISLAND 1 At the beginning of the level is a naked Koopa Troopa sliding off a hill; pounce on him or go over him and onto the sloped ledge. Jump off to the right to get the first Dragon Coin in the game, then either jump on or duck under the Banzai Bill to your right. The flying question block contains a Mushroom, so bop it and turn into Super Mario. A very spaced-out Rex trio lies in wait to your right. Kill all three with normal or spin jumps, then hop across the three consecutive sloping ledges for the second Dragon Coin. If you run fast enough right here, another Mushroom will pop out of the bush you just ran past. Grab it. It will go in a spare box at the top of your screen. If you get hit at any point, that Mushroom will fall and you can get it to restore your Super Mario status; or, you can press Select to make it fall at any time you wish. Go past the jumping Piranha Plant and spin jump on the two yellow blocks that guard access to the small blue pipe. Enter and navigate the simple cave level here, spin-jumping the three blocks to get the Dragon Coin. When you exit, you will be shot out of a pipe facing diagonally to the right. Let the wind carry you to the level's midway point, indicated by a marker strung across two poles. NOTE: If you touch this marker as Small Mario, you will instantly become Super Mario. Otherwise, nothing special happens other than you start at that point if you die. Continuing right from the midway marker, you'll see a yellow square made of dotted lines. When you head to the Yellow Switch Palace in a minute and hit the big yellow switch, all those yellow dotted lines will be filled in, and all blocks with yellow exclamation marks will contain Mushrooms. Hop up the plateaus ahead for a fourth Dragon Coin and slide down the hill by holding Down to club Rex on the head with your butt. Duck under the Banzai Bill in the alcove there or jump on him, then kill the Rex behind him and grab the turtle shell. Hold Y and Up, then release Y. The shell will go up and hit the turn block, which contains a 1-up. Discard the shell and follow it as it rolls along the row of Jugem's Clouds above you. Catch it as it falls off the edge or it will roll in the pit (no yellow switch hit yet, remember?). Along to the right you'll find a question block suspended above three symmetrically arranged turn blocks. If you're Super Mario, it will be a Fire Flower, and it will be a plain old Mushroom if you got hit somewhere along the way. Head farther right and jump on the ledge to avoid the Banzai Bill, then jump past the airborne Piranha Plant and get the last Dragon Coin. Bounce off the Clappin' Chuck and make for the exit. These kinds of goals are at the end of most levels that aren't castles or fortresses (most ghost houses have them). A marker moves up and down between the two striped columns. The higher you hit the marker, the more Bonus Stars you get. The number of Bonus Stars that you have is represented by the number next to your spare item box. When you get 100 of them, you will get to play a bonus game for an opportunity to win up to nine extra lives. You can get anywhere from 1 to 50 Bonus Stars depending on where the marker is when you hit it. If you don't hit it at all, you get no Bonus Stars. ============================================================================= YOSHI'S ISLAND 1 SECRET: HIDDEN 3-UP MOON You wouldn't expect one to be in the first level, of all places, but, well, there you are then! Return to the row of Jugem's Clouds where you kick the empty shell up to get the 1-up when you have a Cape Feather. Soar up to that cloudy ledge, then run to the left and go up in the air to find a 3-up moon hidden on a higher row of Jugem's Clouds! Excellent! ============================================================================= YELLOW SWITCH PALACE Though this place is technically located on the Donut Plains map, you have to access it by beating Yoshi's Island. Plus, when you beat it, all the yellow exclamation point (!) blocks will have Mushrooms in them! Cool! Hop on the blue P-switch at the beginning and tear your way through the room grabbing all the possible P-coins that you can. If you're good enough, you can squeeze two or even three 1-ups out of this room. When the coins disappear, enter the pipe to the right, run, and pounce on the giant yellow switch to turn all the yellow dotted-line squares into blocks containing nothing but Mushrooms. Save your progress when asked and then head back to Yoshi's Island. YOSHI'S ISLAND 2 Grab the shell to your right and jump up to the ledge near you. When you let the shell go, it'll kill all eight red Koopa Troopas on the ledge, giving you a free 1-up. In one of the two question blocks located after that is your first Yoshi. Eat some of the berries off of the bushes and get the Dragon Coin located in the middle of the five-coin arc. A small red Koopa will jump into the empty shell in front of you. If you eat it and spit it out, Yoshi will blow three fireballs that fan out to cover more air. Use it on the green Koopa Troopa ahead and get the second of the level's five Dragon Coins. Hop up the ledge steps and bounce off Chargin' Chuck's head, then jump up to get Dragon Coin #3. Just ahead is the midway marker; break it and move onward. If you still have Yoshi, the middle of the trio of question blocks after the yellow pipes will contain a 1-up. Get that, or the Yoshi if you lost him once already, and prepare to eat some Monty Moles that pop up out of the cliff sides and ground ahead. The right one of the two turn blocks has a vine inside of it. Dismount Yoshi to climb and grab the Dragon Coin found up there. Come back down and get back on top of him. The fifth and final Dragon Coin is just to the right; grab it for an easy extra life. Eating the pink berry up ahead will make Yoshi poop out a cloud that will drop coins with goofy grins on them. Collect enough of them and you'll add yet another 1-up to your quickly rising number. If you don't want to play the coin game, go in the blue pipe just in front of him. Here you can toss some blue throwing blocks up to the flying blocks to get some coins and still another 1-up, or you can use Yoshi's Midair Dismount (see the Special Techniques section) to find the one that contains the 1-up if you run out of throwing blocks. When you exit the cave, hit the turn block located under the blue P-switch and let yourself hit it. The coins that turn into brown used blocks will help you reach higher up on the goal in order to get more Bonus Stars and avoid Chargin' Chuck to boot. YOSHI'S ISLAND 3 Hop up to each successive plateau and go right to the ledge that swings around 360 degrees when you stand on it. Get the coins just by standing there, then jump across to the yellow exclamation block, containing (of course) a Mushroom. You'll now encounter some ledges that expand and contract horizontally. Wait for them to expand and then jump on them to get the first Dragon Coin of this stage. Keep on going right, freeing the Yoshi from the question block along the way, until you come to a very high plateau past two large gray checkered platforms. Fall off the right edge of that plateau to hit a yellow pipe that you can enter. Hit the blue P-switch inside and run across the brown blocks for another Dragon Coin. When you exit, hit the midway marker to secure your progress thus far. Just past the midway point is another Dragon Coin followed by a series of five turn blocks, the last of which contains a coin. Leap up to the next question block, which contains a Fire Flower that you should be able to get, even if you were small and passed through the midway marker (that turns you big, remember?). Go from the gray checkered ledge to the next cliff to the spinning platform. Six expanding/contracting turn block platforms await you, and half of them alternate between growing horizontally and vertically. Watch the pattern until you make it to the end of the line and to another Dragon Coin. Up ahead is the first of a block you don't see many of in this game: the Star Block. If you managed to collect 30 coins throughout the course of the level (Dragon Coins included), you'll get a 1-up from this block. Any fewer, and it just gives you a normal coin. Ride the two spinning ledges to the natural staircase and the last Dragon Coin, then hit the bonus tape to net yourself some more Bonus Stars to go toward your 100-Star bonus game. YOSHI'S ISLAND 4 If you're small, this level affords you a great opportunity to get back on track with a yellow exclamation block in front of you and a Fire Flower block just after that, plus two Dragon Coins right in front of you. Jump across the orange grassy ledges that sag under your weight until you find a blue pipe. Enter it to face some Pokeys, an enemy Nintendo fans will remember from SMB2, the black sheep of the 8-bit trilogy. If you're on Yoshi, eat all five of his segments, including his head. If you're by yourself, he'll only be three segments high, and therefore easy to run and jump over. There's a multiple-coin block of note in here, but that's the only thing really. When you exit through the shiny blue pipe to the right, go to the left, grab the red shell, and kick it up to the turn block to make the blue P-switch come down. Get the third Dragon Coin to your left while you can, then run to the right and jump on the newly formed brown blocks for the fourth one. From here, the rest of the level is jumping across floating ledges and avoiding floating spiked balls (i.e. kid stuff). Go in the pipe at the end and finish out the level with ease. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: YOSHI'S ISLAND 4 At the beginning of the level, with Yoshi, walk to the right of the mushroom ledge that you start out on. Run to the left, jump, and do a midair dismount. Yoshi will probably disappear off the left edge of the screen, but you should no longer be able to see yourself. You're on top of a higher mushroom ledge. Run to the right and off the ledge, as the four checkpoints are all located in sequence right next to each other. When you fall off, make sure you find safe ground, then catch the revealed hidden 1-up as it falls. ============================================================================= IGGY'S CASTLE #1 For some easy 1-ups, jump right onto the fence and start clubbing Koopa Troopas with your feet by hitting them on the head as they climb by you. As long as you stay attached to fences - even if you jump across from fence to fence - your Koopa Troopa KO's will add up, leaving you in position to score quite a few extra lives. Ignore the blue P-switch on the floor and stay on the fences all the way through this room. Touch the midway marker and enter the door. This next room scrolls very slowly but has a dangerous element - the stone piston-like smashers that come down from the ceiling. Very few important things are in this room except for a mushroom in a flying block and a horizontal expand/contract ledge you need to work your way around. At the end is a huge red door, which is always your indicator of a major boss just ahead. This Koopa Kid happens to be Iggy, whose main line of defense is ducking into his shell and popping a bouncing fireball out at you every now and then. The ledge he is on teeter-totters back and forth, and jumping on his shell will make him roll part of the way toward the lava. Use the seesaw motion of the ledge to your advantage and calculate the times when it is best to jump on him. When you bop him off the edge of the cliff and into the lava, you'll have conquered your first castle. Congrats! Now you can move on to the second area, the Donut Plains. ==-=-==-=-== ~~AREA TWO~~ DONUT PLAINS ==-=-==-=-== Area Map -------- Top Secret Area To Vanilla | Dome | | o--Ghost House-------3- | / | \ | | | ^ \ Morton's | | 4---Castle Green | | ^ Switch----2 Secret 1----o < P2 Palace | | \ | | \ **VALLEY OF BOWSER ADD-ON** | | | \ | Secret---*1 Donut------P2 o--------1-----Ghost House Secret 2 Yellow | | | Switch | P1 | Palace To Yoshi's P1 | Island | To Yoshi's Island LEGEND P# - Refers to the pipe number. Pipes are numbered by the order in which you encounter them. There are two of each P#, meaning that they will both lead to each other. Unlike in SMB3, entering a pipe does not result in an action scene. *# - Refers to a Warp Star, those places on the map that will warp you to the lovely celestial Star Road. To see which star will take you where on the Road, just cross-reference the Star Road point and the map that the other star is seen on (as with the pipes, there are two of each Warp Star number on my maps). NOTE: The arrows (< and ^) coming from P2 indicate the arrows that actually show up on the map once you complete Donut Secret 2. Donut Plains Walkthrough ------------------------ DONUT PLAINS 1 This level introduces you to Super Koopas and then crams them down your throat with two different varieties. It's easy to bounce off the yellow ones with no problem, but the ones with flashing capes will give you a Cape Feather if you pull a normal jump on them. Jumping on flashing Super Koopas with Yoshi will kill them without wielding the feather. In any case, hop off Yoshi if you're on him and go up to the Super Koopa just ahead. Squeeze a feather out of him. Go back to Yoshi and get the Dragon Coin that's there that you probably saw, then go forward and clear the Pitchin' Chuck with a clean running jump. Another flashing Super Koopa lies just beyond that. Get another feather to keep in your spare item box for security purposes, then go up to the Volcano Lotus and either eat him or whack him with your cape. Leap up to the next highest plateau and get the second Dragon Coin. Here you will find a blue pipe that you can enter. It will lead to a special type of bonus stage (described in greater detail at the first bracketed-off section after this level's walkthrough). You can go in and get extra lives, but you will come out past the midway point if you take it. The choice is yours. If you go to the bonus stage and come out of the exit, enter the blue pipe immediately to your left upon exiting the bonus stage. You will get a free feather and the chance to learn how to fly. Run up the side of the first green pipe via the purple smiling triangle and jump off when you get to the end of the pipe tower. To fly, hold Y and press Left and Right in a fluid motion (a bit faster if you want to go up). There are enough coins in the air here to provide you with roughly five extra lives, so keep yourself airborne if you want them all. If you find time lacking or you get all the coins that can satisfy you, leave through the pipe to the far right of this area. You will come out of the same pipe that brought you back to this level from the bonus stage. Go right, pounce the Super Koopa, and eat the Volcano Lotus. A Yoshi is in the question block at the top of the cliff. Skip the troublesome Pitchin' Chucks by going along the floating turn blocks, then go to the Super Koopa column up ahead. Jump to the top row unless you need a feather, then get the Dragon Coin next to the pipe. Now, up ahead, there are two different exits you can take. One will lead you along the Donut Plains' normal course, and the other will lead to an expansive branching path that is chock full o' secrets. Here's a rundown of those two exits: NORMAL EXIT: From the pipe with the Dragon Coin next to it, just head forward to the exit, avoiding the Volcano Lotus and the final Pitchin' Chuck (an easy task if you stand on the yellow exclamation point blocks, which also allows you to reach higher up on the Bonus Star marker). KEYHOLE EXIT: Beginners may want to unlock the green exclamation point blocks first, but experts should be able to get up there with a Cape Feather and possibly Yoshi while also using the midair dismount as needed. Either way, the purple triangle and the soaring high-jump with the cape will allow you to reach some skinny yellow pipes doubling as platforms. Grab the key and take it to the keyhole to make it expand and suck you in, effectively taking you to Donut Secret 1. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: DONUT PLAINS 1 At the spot just after the Yoshi block, where you jump across the turn blocks to avoid the wrath of the Pitchin' Chucks, there is a 1-up located around the only lone turn block in the path. Jump on top of it to activate the first checkpoint, then fall off to the left of it and hug the block for #2. You'll probably land right under it, but that's okay; that's checkpoint #3. Finally, brush up against the right edge of the turn block to unlock #4 and the 1-up. ============================================================================= DONUT PLAINS 1 SECRET: HIGH-ALTITUDE COINAGE If you choose to fly over the entirety of the level, you'll find 91 coins scattered about in the air and on some rows of Jugem's Clouds (including those of the Dragon variety). With even just a few coins already in your stock, that'll net you an extra life, so keep watching the skies! ============================================================================= DONUT PLAINS 2 This level scrolls very slowly and in addition contains some rising platforms, so don't get crushed, whether it's on the side of a cave wall or in the ceiling. The second question block in the row of four has multiple coins in it, which you really don't have time to mess with, while the one to the right (actually an exclamation point block) obviously has a Mushroom in it. Wait for the first bright yellow-orange cliff to rise so you can get Dragon Coin #1, then watch it sink and move on ahead for a feather and another question blocks containing multiple coins. Up ahead are many Swooper Bats, many of which will descend upon you the second they appear on the screen. Whack them with your cape-twirling finesse until you find an upside-down green pipe located just past a dotted outline of a green exclamation point block. Go in it. Get the Mushroom if you've been turned small and make your way past the Puntin' Chuck, heading over the natural staircase as you do so. You'll see a row of turn blocks that make a natural progression upward. The last of those blocks contains a vine, which you'll need to bump if you don't have a Yoshi. Fortunately, the encased blue shell to the right shall provide for you whether you have Yoshi or not. If you have him, eat the shell and fly up through the narrow hole above the block with the vine. Spit out the shell and eat the key, then touch the keyhole to activate it. Just as a neat little side trick, you can spit the key out with Y or X while the keyhole is opening and closing. If you don't have Yoshi, break the turn blocks with a spin jump (which you must be Super Mario to perform) and grab the shell, then look up and kick it up to the block with the vine. Climb the vine by climbing the makeshift turn block staircase in the area. And, well, if all else fails, exit through the pipe to the far right, which will take you straight to the level's normal exit. GREEN SWITCH PALACE For a little bit of fun here, grab the shell and then hit the P-switch. Go down through the new hole and either kick the shell down onto the ground yourself or have the naked blue Koopa Troopa do it. If you follow that shell all the way to the end of the room (making sure to avoid falling in the pit at the end), you'll have a 1-up thanks to point multipliers. Cool! Now follow the routine as usual and hit the giant green switch at the end, which will turn all green dotted-outline exclamation point blocks into solid green ones containing nothing but Cape Feathers - possibly the game's most useful item. Save your game when prompted to make sure you don't lose anything you've gained. DONUT GHOST HOUSE Now it's time to mix it up a little by entering one of the game's most illusory types of levels. There are many places where you can go in this level, but there are only two proper paths. The first is the easiest to locate so long as you have a Cape Feather, and possibly a spare in tow if something should happen to go awry. Walk as far to the right of the wooden block ledge that you start on as possible, then run to the left and soar upward against the left edge of the screen. Run along the wooden ceiling to a room that shall reward you with four 1-ups and a door that leads straight to the level's first exit. When you beat the level by taking this path, you will gain access to the Top Secret Area, a safe haven where you can go to get free Yoshis, 1-ups, Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, and Cape Feathers at will. For the second exit, go all the way to the right of the initial room, avoiding the so-called solid Boo Buddies (the translucent ones will not hurt you). Enter the door and head into the door to the right of the next room as well, since it's all you can do. You'll end up in what appears to be the same room, but you now start below the area where you came in the first time. Hit the turn block and hit the blue P-switch that pops out. Ignore the coins that point you to the silver door to the left and go in the door to the right that it looks like you just came through. Those coins are liars! You'll end up in what appears to be yet again the same room, but rest assured it is not. Hit the turn block to reveal a vine this time. Jump up through the floor and climb it, taking the door that it leads you to to the level's other exit. TOP SECRET AREA When you take the secret exit out of the Donut Ghost House, you'll reveal this area. Its basic setup is one screen that allows for side exits (much like Yoshi's house). You start under the middle of the five question blocks, which will contain Yoshi if you don't have him and a 1-up if you do. If you are small, all of the other question blocks contain Mushrooms, and if you are Super Mario, the two to the left hold Fire Flowers while the two to the right house a pair of Cape Feathers. Use this place anytime to stockpile some quick lives or equip yourself with some necessary items. It's here when you need it. DONUT PLAINS 3 Jump to the gray trio of rotating platforms and up to the mushroom ledge that will grant you access to a Cape Feather if you've beaten the Green Switch Palace. Go to the line-guided brown platform and over to the next set of moving platforms that has a Dragon Coin over it. At the next set of mushroom ledges, get the two coins from the question blocks and crunch the destructible turn blocks. One of them can't be spin-jumped because it has a vine in it. When you get below where the turn blocks are, hit the second turn block from the right to reveal the vine that will take you up to a Dragon Coin. When you fall off the Jugem's Cloud platform, you'll face a challenge you haven't seen before now: line-guided ledges whose paths YOU determine. Allow me to explain. Jump on the platform moving in the octagonal pattern. It will continue to move in that path without some divine Mario intervention. Hit the fuchsia ON block to turn it to a light-blue OFF block. One of the lines in the octagon will change direction, meeting with the lower path that will take you farther. You'll see another OFF block leading to what appears to be a bottomless pit. Unless you're a very sadistic gamer, you don't want to fall in that pit, so hit the OFF block to turn all the others ON again. Done correctly, you'll find another Dragon Coin and the midway point. Go past the line ledge shared by the Fuzzball and the set of turning ledges with a question block as its center (it's got a feather in it, if you're feelin' lucky) to the line-guided ledge. Trust the ledge - as it falls off of one line, it will reflexively hop to the next one. Stay on until you pass the third one, after which you have a pipe to jump to that will lead to a bonus stage. You'll come out in front of an octagonal line with no ledge and a Fuzzball on it. Avoid him stealthily by hopping across the triple rotating ledge. If you got thirty coins over the course of the level, you can get a 1-up from the Star Block at the end. Jump from the brown platform to the marker to finish out the level. DONUT PLAINS 4 As soon as the level starts, run up and hold Y. You'll grab a shell and knock out the small naked Koopa Troopa that was about to jump in it. This prevents a nasty situation; if any shell-less Koopa finds a yellow shell and jumps in it, that shell is invincible to all of Mario's attacks, including jumping on it, fireballing it, and twirling your cape to turn it over. On the plus side, Yoshis can eat them, and will gain all three special abilities at the same time if they do (that is, they'll be able to fly _and_ stomp the ground really hard, and when they spit it out it will come out as fireballs). Anyway, hop up to the plateau and get the first of the five Dragon Coins, then go forward past the growing and shrinking pipe to the Hammer Brother. Destroy him by knocking his flying ledge from below with your head, or pass him and run up the cliffside using the purple triangle nestled in the corner. Head for the blue pipe with the Dragon Coin set just in front of it and duck into it when the Piranha Plant is out of your way. Get the Dragon Coin with the help of the line of red Koopas and exit through the pipe to the right, which will blast you out diagonally over the Hammer Brother and right into the midway point. The first question block after the midway marker contains a Yoshi - an invaluable asset to continuing through this area. Just after that, in a dip with two winged Goombas, is yet another Dragon Coin. Get it and find the tramsparent block ahead, waiting until it changes to a star to get it so you can barrel ahead through the wave of parachuting Goombas ahead. Rush along the flat slopes to the end of the level, where the end goal is located past a fairly long pit with a Hammer Brother cruising over it. Bump him off of his safe ledge and use it as a means of getting more Bonus Stars. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: DONUT PLAINS 4 At the part with the first Hammer Brother (where you also see the purple triangle up against the wall), run up the triangle with a cape equipped. Abandon Yoshi if you have him to do it, of course, and rush up the wall, jumping when you get to the top to hoist yourself to a row of Jugem's Clouds. At the end is a seemingly lonely cement block. Cross under it to unlock the first checkpoint, then jump and hug the right side of the block to get #2. Checkpoint #3 is on top of the block, and the fourth and final one is up against the left side of it. ============================================================================= DONUT PLAINS 4 SECRET: ANOTHER 3-UP MOON After the transparent block on the flat-topped slopes where the Goombas keep parachuting, fly around up in the air to find a sort of Jugem's Cloud pedestal with a 3-up Moon perched on it. ============================================================================= DONUT SECRET 1 Now that the normal levels are out of the way, you can go back and cover the ones that need to be unlocked via key and keyhole. This is the first of those, and you must take the keyhole exit from Donut Plains 1 in order to access it. You'll come out of a pipe into a very watery area. Swim past the slumbering Rip Van Fish if you're ill-equipped to face him; otherwise, shoot a fireball his way or smack him with a 360 from your cape. Swim all the way to a blue pipe with the end facing down and go in to access a cavernous area with a very high ceiling. Use the P-balloon in the question block to inflate Mario to a height sufficient for him to float up in the air and hold Up to make him gain altitude. Along the way, if you veer to the left, you'll find another balloon, which you should get because that trip to the top isn't possible with one balloon. At the top are two turn blocks. The one on the left contains nothing, whereas the one on the right has a 1-up in it. There are also two Dragon Coins and a Fire Flower to pick up while you are in here. You'll come out of an orange pipe with another Dragon Coin nearby. Grab it and stroke onward, getting the Dragon Coin encased in blue throw blocks if you can. Shortly following that is a blue P-switch that you should pick up if you intend to exit the level both ways. Notice that your control over yourself is a bit wonky when you grab the P-switch, so swerve around enemies as necessary until you come to a row of five brown blocks capped off by a question block. Drop the blue P-switch and hit it so you can open the question block, which reveals the key you need to access the Donut Secret House. Your handling is of the same awkwardness with the key as it is with the P-switch, so get a grip on it and steer Mario to the keyhole to get to the secret exit. The normal exit is not far ahead of that for when you come to this level again to beat it the other way, and the only thing that might trouble you is the Rip Van Fish lazing about in front of the arrow sign. The normal exit will take you to the original Donut Ghost House. DONUT SECRET HOUSE Go up the stairs and wait for the circle of Boo Buddies to turn its hole toward you so you can pass through. Make it through and hit the blue P-switch ahead to cause a portable springboard to fall from the brown block. Use the springboard to bound over the Big Boo blocking you. Run up the next two flights of stairs to the door and enter it. The question block to the left hides a flower, which is really of little use here, so ignore it you have something better like a Cape Feather. Wait on the gap in the next Boo Buddy circle and clear out the formation of five coins that looks somewhat like the outline of a door (hmm...) before heading all the way to the left side of the room. There is a P-switch over there. Carry it over here. There are two constructive things you can do once you hit it, both of which are conducive to finding a way out of here. The first is to hit it and enter the silver door that appears on the wooden pedestal, which you can only get to if you got that five coins out of the picture like I said earlier. It will lead to the normal goal marker exit, which will take you to a pipe on the overworld map leading to a secluded corner of the Valley of Bowser containing the Donut Secret 2 level. The other exit, which is more important in the big scheme of things, can be found just to the left of the silver door. You'll notice some new question blocks and a door that appears between the turn blocks. Do not go in that door, but rather hit the turn block above it to reveal a vine that leads up to another silver door. When you go in that door, you will encounter a boss that you will see here and in no other levels. It's a Big Boo, and it's somehow susceptible to tangible objects where other non-corporeal enemies are not. Fortunately, with a floor coated in nothing but throwing blocks, it's pretty hard to lose this battle unless you make a hole through to the bottom of the floor. When he appears, take a throwing block and hold Up and Y to aim up at him, then kick it and hope it clocks him right in his ugly mug. If it does, he'll fade into the background for a moment and move to another place before re-appearing. Knock him in the face with a blue block each time he materializes in a new spot. With only three hits to his name, it shouldn't take long to bring him down for the count. When you beat the level, you'll reveal one of five Warp Stars located in all of Dinosaur Land, which will transport you immediately to the Star Road if you press A, B, Y, or X while standing on one. P.S. Watch out for the small Boo Buddy lackeys tagging along with the Big Boo Boss - they're more of a nuisance than he is. DONUT SECRET 2 There's no point in getting the directional coins out of the block on the ground at the beginning. Hop up the icy plateaus to get the first Dragon Coin, then use the springboard to get the vine out of the turn block and climb up to the turn block with the Starman in it. With that spurt of temporary invincibility, run as fast as you can and barrel through the Spike Tops piddling along all surfaces. Go as far as you can with the Starman in two, then find a very long upside-down green pipe. Jump up into it and get the P-balloon, controlling Mario to get the coins scattered about in the sky until you're at the blue pipe to the far right. There's another Starman inside the turn block in front of you, which should last long enough for you to get to the goal and nab a 1-up in the process. MORTON JR'S CASTLE #2 Avoid the Thwimps at the beginning by jumping over them during their momentary groundedness. Run up the escalator to the door while evading the swinging balls-and-chains along your ascent. There's a Mushroom in a yellow exclamation block if you need it. Go in the door and make your way up and to the left, waiting on the Thwomps to rise before moving past them (no way you're going to crash past one of those things!). The final room of Morton Jr's castle is slow goings - you have to make your way up past a bunch of blocks that come out of and sink back into the wall. The first point of note is a row of three question blocks, the middle of which contains a feather if you're Super Mario. Shortly after that, you'll see a portable springboard that takes you to both a dead-end with a 3x4 block of coins and a row of turn blocks, depending on where you bounce up to. In the row of five turn blocks you find in the left fork of the path, hit the second one from the right to reveal a vine that will take you up to a hidden 1-up (it's in an invisible block guarded by a Dry Bones). Once you get it, head back down and resume your ascent to the top, where you'll find a Cape Feather before the Big Red Mean-Looking Door(tm). When you enter, the walls will come crashing down on either side of you, leaving you to face the single-horned Morton Jr. If you fail to hit him on the head, he'll walk up the wall like some kind of evolved Spike Top and go to the ceiling, where he'll attempt to crash down on you once he gets directly over you. Run away and jump before the moment of impact so that you don't get frozen, then hit him on the head. This will incite some sort of weird motion in his body, as if a belt has just been quickly tightened to its maximum hold around his stomach. However, he's so moronic that you should be able to bounce on his head the required three times before he can even get up the wall one time. When you defeat him, his body will expand, contract, flop around, and eventually disappear into the infinity of time and space, and you'll have another castle under your belt. Now you'll find yourself in the vast Vanilla Dome. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: MORTON JR'S CASTLE #2 Across from where the hidden 1-up is in the room with the ledges that move in and out from the wall (in the only real tight squeeze of that room, with the cement blocks that you stand on), jump out of the narrow top to meet a Dry Bones on the jutting platform to the right. Get him out of the picture, then run all the way up against the wall. Seeing as how the checkpoints are in sequence, you'll uncover a 1-up once you find yourself pressed up against the right wall. ============================================================================= MORTON JR'S CASTLE #2 SECRET: A VERY-WELL HIDDEN BONUS ROOM This is kind of hard to do, what with the Thwimps in your way at the beginning, but to make it easier, head all the way to the top of the first room, but don't go in the door. Instead, run all the way to the bottom and jump when you're back at the start. Veer right to hit a ledge that starts off a short path to a pipe hidden up in this "attic" sort of space. Inside is one of those bonus rooms where you hit the question blocks in the correct sequence for 1-ups. When you leave the bonus room, you'll get taken directly to the aforementioned room with the invisible 1-up checkpoints. ============================================================================= IF I MAY INTERRUPT FOR A SECOND..... ------------------------------------ It's safe to assume you've gotten at least 100 Bonus Stars by this point, so if you're not sure how the bonus game works, here's a quick explanation. In the middle of the 3x3 spinning block game, there is a block with a certain power-up imprinted on it - either a Mushroom, a Fire Flower, or a Starman. The point is to hit the other eight blocks so that the item on them matches the one in the center. The more matching rows you can create, the more extra men you'll get. The easiest way to make them all match is to jump in a sort of rhythm, tapping B to get the motion down to make them all appear the same. At the end, if you have one matching row of icons, you'll get one extra life; if you have two, then two 1-ups; three, three; and if you match all the symbols perfectly, you'll net a whopping nine extra lives. How's that for a bonus? ~AREA THREE~ VANILLA DOME ==-=-==-=-== Area Map -------- P3 Vanilla | Ghost House-------o | | \ # | | | *2#---VS1 | 3 # | | | | 2------ 4 | | \ | | | \ | \ / RSP | \ / / o-----1----o Lemmy's----o | Castle To Donut / Plains P4--o ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outside the Vanilla Dome ------------------------ P3-------VS2-------VS3-------Vanilla Fortress----To Butter Bridge 1 LEGEND # - Here the pound signs are meant to portray the rocks surrounding Warp Star #2 before you find the second exit in Vanilla Secret 1. Crude, yes, but plausible. VS - Stands for Vanilla Secret, not Versus. I did that to save a little bit of space. Vanilla Dome Walkthrough ------------------------ VANILLA DOME 1 Head down the steps and watch out for both the Swooper Bats on the ceiling and the lone Spike Top on the ground. In the middle of all the Swooper Bat miscellany is a flying question block that contains a Mushroom should you happen to be small. At the turn block fortress up ahead, take the bottom row the whole way, whacking Buzzy Beetles with a Cape Feather as necessary, or taking the first one, hitting him, and using his shell to eradicate the others. There's an invisible mushroom that will pop out from behind the small platform behind you near the turn blocks at the end. Jump out through the top and head right. You'll see some red outlines of blocks. Once you find the Red Switch Palace (located in the Vanilla Dome, incidentally), you'll be able to get up to the keyhole exit that they lead to a bit easier, but you can do it now if you have Yoshi - use the midair dismount trick to hit the turn block with the vine in it, and do it again to get to that vine. You'll have to leave Yoshi behind to do it, sadly, but we must all make sacrifices in the quest to beat all 96 levels. If you can't get to the keyhole exit at this time due to extenuating circumstances, then keep on truckin' to the pipe up against the wall that you have to go in. Get the Starman provided and haul butt across that yellow-orange rock before it plunges all the way into the lava. A Dragon Coin awaits you at the end if you make it successfully. When you come out of the pipe, hop across to the midway marker to secure your progress through this level. Hit the turn blocks and navigate the sort of miniature maze going on here. You have to be small to get the Dragon Coin in the barely accessible chamber at the top, so if you really want it that bad, you should sacrifice an item by voluntarily hitting a Buzzy Beetle or Spike Top. Go across the pipes when the maze expands into open air (so to speak) for a moment and head up the steep slope to get back into another maze, which is just as easy to get through as the last one was. The blue shell is your indicator that you're on the home stretch; if you take it to the exit and hold it when you hit the goal marker, it'll turn into a 1-up! Sweetness! Other shells turn into various power-ups if taken through a goal marker, such as Mushrooms and Fire Flowers. VANILLA DOME 2 Take the big plunge into the still water and hop out, kicking the floundering fish to kill it with ease. Jump over the Buzzy Beetle and get the second of the four question blocks just over the next pond to reveal a flower - a very useful acquisition here. Swim around to the next open area and get the vine out of the turn block. You'll have to ditch Yoshi if you have him at this point in order to get up the vine. Go across to the right and drop where you see the coin-formed down arrow with a Dragon Coin serving as the tip of it. There's a feather in the third question block down here and a hidden 1-up to the far left against the wall under the large brown-block area. Swim to the question block opposite the very steep incline. Jump onto the hill and over to the left; keep going left until you see a P-switch. Carry it as far left as you can and hit, jumping across to the left of where the Dragon Coin-tipped arrow used to be. There are now coins where once the brown blocks were. The key is on dry land to the left of a Dragon Coin that doesn't matter very much. Take it down into the water and steer your way to the keyhole to find the exit that will lead to the Red Switch Palace. If you want or need to take the normal exit, keep going up that aforementioned steep incline to a row of turn blocks. Don't worry about them too much; before long, a Chargin' Chuck will plow his way through them. Pounce his head and move quickly past him to the midway marker. Let another Chargin' Chuck tunnel through more turn blocks for you and get a Starman out of the transparent block ahead if you can. Cruise down the hill and hit the blue P-switch without picking it up. Being invincible should give you time to get to the green pipe (which you can go in) with minimal friction. This leads to an icy sub-level with a multiple coin block - the only thing of note. Coming out of the subzero mini-area, you'll be in the middle of a horde of Swooper Bats with a Splittin' Chuck at the end of them to cause more trouble. Head past them all to the normal exit. RED SWITCH PALACE Jump on the P-switch immediately, then jump over the invincible Koopa Troopa shell. If you stay along the top row of brown blocks and move all the way to the right, following it as it goes, you can get a 1-up from the point multipliers the moving shell creates. When you have the 1-up, go in the pipe and hit the switch to turn the red outlines into red exclamation point blocks. These do not have items in them, but rather can be used as ledges and stepping stones at certain points in the game. Once you're on the map, save your game and beat Vanilla Secret 1 the keyhole way if you haven't already. VANILLA GHOST HOUSE Duck under the bottom of the two Eeries and wait for the circle of Boo Buddies to open up to you. Go for the flower in the top block if you're mostly defenseless, and opt for the Dragon Coin if you have a flower or feather equipped. Hop across the series of platforms of varying height until you find a second Dragon Coin. Ahead are two rows of turn blocks separated by very narrow holes. On the bottom row in the second section of turn blocks, hit the third one from the left to reveal a vine. Climb it after dodging Big Boo to skip a whole lot of messy traps down below. When you fall to the ground, you'll be at the door to the next room. Go back and get the Dragon Coin in the circle of Boo Buddies if you're going for all five of them, then head into the door. The green gas bubbles in here are not easily hurdled, so keep yourself from being damaged by spin-jumping them. They won't pop or anything, but you won't get hurt, and that's the main thing. Find an arrangement of three turn blocks and hit the middle one to reveal a blue P-switch. Take it all the way to the right, getting all the coins in the door formation before dropping it and hitting it. Enter the new silver door to reveal the exit. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: VANILLA GHOST HOUSE After the first Dragon Coin there is a series of platforms of varying heights in front of you. Along these platforms are located all the checkpoints you need to get the 1-up. The first of these is on the tall one right next to the first short one. Drop immediately down to find the second one. Hop up to the next two platforms that get successively taller and jump to the next tallest one to the right, upon which you'll find the third one. Finally, backtrack to the shorter one below you and to your left to reveal checkpoint #4. As there are several Boo Buddies surrounding you as you try to get this one, it is advisable to not go for this one unless you REALLY need it. ============================================================================= VANILLA DOME 3 Jump onto the skull raft to get it moving and jump over the Blargg as he surfaces from the lava - you should be able to notice his eyes peeking out before he jumps up. Two flying blocks will cross your path, and the top one contains a 1-up. It's tough to get, so you might as well skip it as you head for the pipes that form a sort of staircase. Slide down the steep slope, get the Dragon Coin, and board the skull raft in one fell swoop. Ride across the river of lava to dry land. Hug the orange pipe and jump to reveal an invisible coin block that will help you over it. There's a feather in the opposite question block - grab it and move on to the next skull raft. Up ahead are several upside-down classic Piranha Plants - cape-whack or fireball them on your way to a yellow pipe that you can go in. There's nothing of importance inside - just go on ahead to the purple triangle and hop down in the hole to get the midway marker, risky as it is. There is a Yoshi in the block directly above the midway marker, so you may want to risk testing the water, so to speak, if only to get him. Pass the red shell and board another skull raft that will take you up some gravity-defying lava hills. At the big flat drop-off, hop to the square rock and wait a minute before getting the Dragon Coin (easiest if you have a feather because you float down to the raft without having to guess where you're landing). Move through the Spike Top brigade with care and get the next Dragon Coin located just before a question block with a feather in it. The feather is a sign that there might be something above you, and there is: the final Dragon Coin. Hop over each individually placed black Piranha Plant and hit the P-switch to reveal a downward staircase of coins that will put you in good position to get a whole lot of Bonus Stars from the goal marker. ============================================================================= VANILLA DOME 3 SECRETS: ANOTHER 3-UP MOON AND A NEARBY BONUS STAGE Where you find the invisible coin block right beside the orange pipe, run to the left and jump if you have a feather. You'll soar up to a tunnel that has a 3-up Moon on a cement pedestal at the end. From there, run to the right and fly to another ledge directly across from where the 3-up Moon was. After you dip your way through a sort of naturally carved half-pipe, you'll come to a green pipe that leads to one of those 1-up block bonus stages. The exit will put you right near the midway point for your convenience. ============================================================================= VANILLA DOME 4 Immediately down and to your right is the first Dragon Coin in this ironic level (in that it appears to be outdoors but Vanilla Dome takes place inside ... ahh, whatever). Springboard upward to the top of the polka-dotted column and go right. If you need a quick power-up, there's a Mushroom at the bottom of the next two pea-springboards. Keep moving, getting the next Dragon Coin and the feather along the way, until you find the high-up midway point. Hit the marker and prepare for a Bullet Bill assault as you advance forward. The onslaught won't last long - you can go in the blue pipe with the jumping Piranha Plant in it that takes you to a lengthy skull raft cave, at the end of which is another Dragon Coin. When you come out, the Bullet Bills return in full force, shooting at you from all four sides of the screen simultaneously. Fortunately, the attack doesn't last too much longer, and before you know it you'll have completed another level. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: VANILLA DOME 4 There's another block in this level that the checkpoints are all centered around. In this case, it's the brown block below the feather (just after the second Dragon Coin). Do a counterclockwise 360 around the block starting at the bottom to make this extra life pop up for you. ============================================================================= VANILLA SECRET 1 On the other side of the Dome you'll find this new batch of levels entirely. It'll take you in another direction with some more variety, but you will end up at the same point eventually (Ludwig's castle). As with the Vanilla Dome itself, there are two sides of the path you can take on the way up through this level, but the right side is the one you need to take to get somewhere in a hurry. Take the left side first if you need a feather, though - there's one in the second of the two question blocks opposite the pea-like springboards. In the middle of the three turn blocks above the pipe is a vine; climb it, making sure to grab the springboard at the top. The idea, in order to get the secret exit anyway, is to take it to the left and place it on the blue exclamation blocks (which aren't there yet because you haven't had a chance to explore the Forest of Illusion thus far). You can still get to the secret exit with a feather, however - just get a running start on the ledge to the left of the vine if you have a feather and soar up to the pipe. Go past the Puntin' Chuck and get to the goal marker to unlock the Warp Star to the left of this level that is blocked by the rocks on the map. You should be able to get straight to Star Road 2 upon taking this exit - a handy level if you need a Yoshi that can fly stat. Moving farther up from the springboard to get to the normal exit requires leaving the springboard in its original spot and taking a boosted jump off of it when there's a clear spot between the flying Koopa Troopa brigade and the hole up there. Use the next springboard to get the two Dragon Coins in the big empty expanse above (which only matter if you've gotten the others). Take the boingy wall springboards to the left up to the pipe, which leads to a variation on the other room with the Puntin' Chuck. Pass him and hit the goal marker to close out the level. VANILLA SECRET 2 In the first question block you'll find Yoshi. Use him to get through the almost-never-ending horde of green bouncy Koopa Troopas and get the Cape Feather from the grounded green block along the way. After you clear them, you'll be right in front of the level's midway point. Bob-ombs will start to parachute out of the sky once you get a little bit farther ahead. Avoid them and the Spinys on the hillside. Jump through the blocks to get a Dragon Coin and get the silver P-switch from the second turn block in the row of four. Hit it to turn the Spinys into silver coins - enough to give you a 1-up, as a matter of fact. Go in the green pipe with the Lakitu inside and hit the blue P-switch for buku coins. When you come out, you'll be shot out of the diagonally positioned pipe on top of a couple of red Koopa-Troopas, or at least enough to get you to the exit anyhow. VANILLA SECRET 3 Do the Vanilla Secrets ever end? Fortunately, they do with this watery level, and this one is an easy one if ever there was one. Basically you want to stay on top of the snorkel-clad dolphins the whole way through. Get the feather on the tall mushroom ledge near the beginning of the level, then board the dolphins and let them carry you to the right. A little bit short of the midway marker, you'll start being harassed by a Porcu-Puffer. He's not a problem if you stay on the dolphins. Once you find the large arrows formed by the masses of coins, you'll know you're at the end of the level. Go in the pipe and hit the goal tape to finish this one out. VANILLA FORTRESS When you come out of the pipe and into the water, you'll be faced mainly with balls-and-chains and Fishbones, annoying little skeletal enemies that swim straight toward you, and often in the most inconvenient positions. Shortly into the level you'll notice a pipe that you have to be small to get to. All it leads to is one of those goofy bonus stages, and you end up in the same place anyway, so it isn't really worth it at all. Swim onward to the blue pipe at the very end, getting the feather along the way so that you have some form of defense against the Dry Bones and Bony Beetles in the falling spike area. Once out of the blue pipe, you'll be put in the middle of a mass of aquatic foes plus some Thwomps. Swim to the big red door, before which you'll notice a yellow exclamation block. Get it if you need that or you just want a spare power-up and don't have one. Inside the Big Mean-Looking Red Door(tm) is Reznor, the boss you'll face in every level with the word "Fortress" in its name. Reznor consists of four fire-breathing dinos on a rotating platform. Hit each one from under to knock it out. When you have two of the four - half of them, in other words - eliminated, the bridge below you will start to crumble away. Destroy the other two as fast as you can, moving to the rotating ledge if the bridge becomes too precarious to stand on. When you beat Reznor, you'll go on to the Butter Bridge and be asked to save your progress so far. Of course, you want to say Yes - why wouldn't you? ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: VANILLA FORTRESS This is a really tough one to get, so don't go for it unless you have one life left and you're the daredevil sort that can get away with anything. Just before the Big Mean-Looking Red Door(tm), you'll notice two balls-and-chains swinging around. The upper left one of the two has a 1-up waiting around its center block. Swim a counterclockwise 360 around it starting from the bottom of the block to uncover it. Make sure to hug all sides of the block as you go around; for this reason, it's easiest to get this one as Small Mario, of all types. ============================================================================= LEMMY'S CASTLE #3 Once you've beaten all the Vanilla Dome has to offer, come back around to this castle and finish out the Dome with style. This is by far the most annoying castle yet, as you have to start out facing the omnipresent Magikoopas. Their magic can transform turn blocks into yellow Koopa Troopas. Instead of spin-jumping the turn blocks and eliminating the middle man (not a good idea at all, trust me), wait for Magikoopa to appear at the bottom and shoot his magic up at you. Fall through the hole that forms and trudge forward, killing Magikoopa at any available opportunity to stave off his constant attacks for awhile. When you come to the turn blocks over the water, find a blue P-switch and hit it the minute you see it. Continue forward to a door that's on top of some brown blocks. It won't be there for long, according to the timer. Go in before the time runs out and you'll find yourself at the midway point rewarded with a 1-up for your timeliness as well. Upon exiting the solitary midway marker room, you'll find yourself in a room where ledges rise out of and sink into the lava. All this requires is decent timing and a way around the many Dry Bones that infest the area. Watch the movement of the rocks and get as many power-ups along the way as you can, such as the Mushroom sitting right out in the open in a tiny corner and the green exclamation point block at the end of the line. In the boss room, you'll fight Lemmy, who as you recall rolled along on a beach ball shooting them from his wand in SMB3. Here, he's nothing but a pipe dream. However, you'll soon be asking yourself, "Will the real Lemmy please stand up?" Three different Lemmys will pop out of the unevenly arranged pipes. One is the real one; the other two are decoys. If you hit the correct one, you'll be met with a reassuring chime. Any other Lemmys hit will result in a dull "thud" noise. When you hit the real deal three times, he'll plummet into the lava, never to bother you again. You'll move on to a short series of miscellaneous levels before entering the Forest of Illusion. Make sure you complete them all, because there are secrets aplenty crammed in them. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ~~~~~AREA FOUR~~~~~ INTERMEDIATE LEVELS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Area Map -------- From Ludwig's Vanilla---------BB1-------BB2----------Castle---o Fortress | \ | \ | | Cookie | o------Cheese Bridge Area-----Mountain To / | Forest of / | Illusion / | P4 Soda Lake | | / / | *3 | \ / o--o LEGEND BB - Stands for Butter Bridge. Again, it's a space saver. Intermediate Levels Walkthrough ------------------------------- BUTTER BRIDGE 1 This level will scroll all the way through, so you'll have to be one step ahead of the screen's inexorable movement at all times. When you jump to the parallel mushroom columns, notice that the one you're on sinks and the other rises accordingly. You'll have to use these ledges to your advantage to get through. Just jump across the first two pairs of them to the gray platform that falls under your weight, and get the Dragon Coin if you're in the mood. Use the next red flying Koopa-Troopa to give yourself some momentum to the floating log bridge. If you've beaten the Red Switch Palace (which you should have by now), they will be here to help you get to the log bridge, although jumping from green Koopa to green Koopa is actually easier and can net you a 1-up thanks to point multipliers if you hit them all. The mushroom column pairs get increasingly taller at this point. Jump to the one on the right in the third pair (i.e. the sixth one) and let it sink as the screen scrolling takes a downward turn. The screen will scroll up again at the four rows of turn blocks, which all have one multiple coin block hidden somewhere within them. In addition, the one at the top holds a 1-up in the second block from the left. Grab it if you have time to before the screen starts heading right again. From here, make your way slowly down and to the right, moving in time with the screen, until you get to the blue pipe leading to the exit. BUTTER BRIDGE 2 The second half of the Butter Bridge will go a bit easier on you by not scrolling, but it is packed to the hilt with Super Koopas. Knock the first one that comes running at you in the head with a normal jump to squeeze a feather. Use the green shell up ahead to get the feather out of the high-up block if you need a spare one for the old item box. Watch out for the Koopas that kick the red and blue shells at you - it takes some crafty jumping around to avoid this heavy arsenal. Thankfully, the midway point is located just after them, so hit it and proceed as normal. Go forward, obtaining the Cape Feather from the green block, and go in the second blue pipe you find. You'll go to a fun sub-level where you climb up and down a line-guided rope in order to get a few normal coins and a Dragon Coin. You'll come out of a green pipe once you return to the level only to find yourself swarmed by Super Koopas with red capes (they don't flash, so no Cape Feathers). From here it's not a far trip to the exit. CHEESE BRIDGE AREA You'll start out this level, located on the bridge under the Butter Bridge, by finding a Cape Feather in a question block. Ride the ledges on the lines. To save yourself some hassle, ride along just the top one. You'll give yourself a headache hopping from one to the other trying to get all the Dragon Coins, even if you're fanatic about collecting them. Riding the top one also allows you to reach the midway point easier, but you can jump on top of the nearby question block to get to it also. The question block under the midway point contains the elusive Yoshi's Wings. If you have Yoshi, consider this the normal exit; if not, just keep moving. Climbing along the ropes is not an easy task what with the chainsaws in your way. If you're going solo on the ropes, you can avoid taking a hit by spin-jumping them as you did the green gas bubbles in the Vanilla Ghost House. The part before the exit is crammed chock full of chainsaws, so climb up and down as needed or fly by with Yoshi and a Cape Feather and avoid getting hit by normal-jumping on them with Yoshi. At the end of the level, you'll be on the two mushroom ledges facing the goal marker. If you go ahead and touch that goal marker, you'll go on the normal path to Cookie Mountain, but you'll see an arrow sign pointing onward still as the screen irises in and goes back to the overworld map. What could possibly be beyond a level exit? Another exit, that's what. You can't get to it by going over it; this is where you need to have completely mastered the midair dismount by now. With Yoshi as your noble steed and a cape on your back, float _under_ the exit (make sure it's at running speed so your angle of floating is more acute) and press A while holding the buttons necessary to make your descent slower. If all goes well, you should find a 3-up Moon as your reward sitting right in front of the second secret goal post. It will lead you right on down a new vine that goes to...... SODA LAKE The main thing about this level is all the Torpedo Teds. They're like Bullet Bill machines that don't wait a little bit to fire one at you; the hand keeps going in and coming out with more and more of them. Get the flower at the beginning; it will be useful when you have to maneuver around the swimming snorkeled fish as well as Torpedo Ted. The level is pretty much nothing but evading these underwater missiles and fish that swim mindlessly swim forward. If you survive, you'll be taken to the Warp Star that leads directly to Star Road 3, the shortest of all the levels in the game. Remember that the Fire Flower will aid you more than other item in this level possibly can and you'll do great. COOKIE MOUNTAIN Jump on the sliding Koopa Troopa when he shoots off the ramp and skids to a halt right in front of you. You'll soon have your first encounter with a Sumo Brother, a fat guy who can stomp the ground and make lightning appear below himself. Knock him out from beneath him and jump up to where he was, getting the feather out of the question block. There are several slanted ledges here, and many sliding Koopas to go with that. Grab the red shell tucked away in the corner and save it for when you get over the wall. Kill all the Monty Moles that pop out of the sides of the small cliffs. You should get a 1-up from point multipliers if you're lucky. Move forward until you get to the midway point near the short green pipe. Just following the midway point, there is a large plateau beside you that many a Monty Mole will come out of. Go in the blue pipe past that plateau once you're away from the Monty Mole infestation. You'll find yourself in an area with a strong river current and a couple of Porcu-Puffers, but nothing to whine and cry about if you're fast with the controller. Move left to the exit pipe and enter, then run across the Jugem's Cloud row to get a nice surprise (see the bracketed section after the walkthrough for this level) and fly across to the top of the very big plateau that had about five Monty Moles hidden in it. There is a 1-up in the single turn block up there. When you've obtained it, float back down to earth. If you have Yoshi, eat the pink berries up ahead to play the coin cloud game and eat whatever prize you want from the grounded transparent block with the changing items inside. Kill the Sumo Brothers on the rows of coin blocks and move forward to get Bouncin' Chuck out of the way. The exit is just past the tall blue pipe. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: COOKIE MOUNTAIN Even if you're not looking for 1-up checkpoints, this one is the one a novice is most likely to find by accident. It's very easy to access. As mentioned in the paragraph prior to this bracketed section, enter the pipe leading to the mini-level with two Porcu-Puffers hounding you. Exit the other side and jump to the Jugem's Cloud row, running straight ahead until a 1-up Mushroom pops out at you. And there's one just across from you to boot! Man, life is good. ============================================================================= LUDWIG VON KOOPA'S CASTLE #4 The tunnel at the beginning of this castle, despite having an awesome background, is a bit hard to navigate as Super Mario or any of his other forms (Fire Mario, Cape Mario, etc.). Mostly it's getting by the balls-and-chains that's such a chore. If you happen to get smallified, however, there's a Mushroom at the end of the corridor to help you out. Grab it if you need it now or as a spare item. The next room has you outrunning an evil falling ceiling. Run as fast as you can without getting hit by the fireballs jumping high out of the lava to the pink ON block. Hit it to turn it OFF and make it go back up. The rise of the ceiling is only temporary - it will start falling again once it reaches the top. At that point, you know it's time to run. Make it to the door all the way to the left by doing nothing but dashing and go in. The final room before Ludwig's lair is a fence room much like the one from Iggy's castle (the first one - was it really that long ago?), except it's vertically oriented. Make your way to the top and kill as many of the Koopa Troopas climbing along with you as you can to stock up on bunches of extra lives. The first side path to the right leads you to an isolated Cape Feather if you need it. Get it before clocking any turtles so you can still get all the 1-ups you're fit to hold. At the very top is, as always, that Big Mean-Looking Red Door(tm). Ludwig von Koopa is the most unique of the Koopa Kids in his approach to fighting you. He'll shoot four fireballs before speeding at you inside his shell, and then he'll jump in a very wide arc to another point on the screen. Jump on him while he's firing his heated breath to start the speeding of the shell instantly and have him follow you near the middle of the room to keep him from jumping off to the side where you can't reach him. Three hits are all it takes as per the usual to defeat Ludwig. That's a shame, because he's the most fun to fight. His post-defeat cinema is also the most entertaining to watch as well. When you defeat him, save your game and head with great trepidation into the Forest of Illusion. ============================================================================= LUDWIG VON KOOPA'S CASTLE #4 SECRET: AN EXTREMELY WELL-HIDDEN BONUS STAGE Just before the door that leads to the room with the automatically lowering ceiling, there is a "fake" block in the ceiling that you can jump right through as if any old hole were there. It allows you to walk on the ceiling above the myriad balls-and-chains. While there's nothing to the left of note (which is a shame), you can go up and to the right to find the same old bonus stage where you can play for up to five 1-ups. Since it takes you to the same room as the door below does, however, it's hardly worth it to go in and play since you're a bit pressed for time in this level. ============================================================================= ===-===-==-===-=== ~~~~AREA FIVE~~~~ FOREST OF ILLUSION ===-===-==-===-=== Area Map -------- To Ludwig's Castle | | o----GH----1---o / | \ | | | | | | Blue 4-----+----------2---Switch | | | Palace | \ / FSA o---3--o | | To Forest / | Fortress--o To Roy's Castle LEGEND GH - Obviously stands for Ghost House, but I figured that since this is the first time I've shortened it, it might require some clarification. FSA - Forest Secret Area, the level you have to beat to access one of the game's four fortresses. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outside the Forest of Illusion ------------------------------ ####################### ########################### ############################### ################################### ################################### ######## ######## ######## Forest of ######## ######## Illusion ######## ######## ######## ################################### ################################### ############################### *4----FF-----------################|######## ##################|###### / Roy's----o Castle | | To Chocolate Island Forest of Illusion Walkthrough ------------------------------ FOREST OF ILLUSION 1 If you have Yoshi, it's good to note that most of the berries here are located up in the treetops, so if you're looking to get a coin cloud game or poop out a Mushroom from eating too many of the red berries, that's the place to look. In any case, get the Fire Flower located above the turn block, then proceed ahead to the next question block with the Yoshi trapped inside. He'll be helpful against the many Wigglers in this level, who are impossible to kill with a normal jump. In fact, provoking them at all turns them red and gets them running around homing in on you. Eat them on sight along with the portable springboard, which you can spit out and use to eat the berries in the trees if you're into that sort of thing. Hit the turn block nestled among the note blocks and bump a note block to get the subsequent 1-up to pop out. Eat the three Wigglers after that and touch the midway marker. You'll now find a transparent block with a changing item. If you know what's good for you, you'll make it a Starman that you get (see why in the bracketed section following this level). With the Starman, run forward until you get to some stacked floating log ledges. Under them you'll notice the keyhole with a question block above it. That question block has the key in it. Unfortunately, you'll have to ditch Yoshi to get it. At the end of the log ledges you'll find a question block next to the gaping chasm separating you from the keyhole. Open it and get the balloon, then force your fat self over to the left side and bump the question block from underneath to reveal the key. When you deflate yourself, grab the key and make the keyhole grow to suck you in. This will take you to the Forest Ghost House. If you're looking to go to the normal exit, it's not far ahead of that. Keep Yoshi, eat the Wigglers, bump the Hammer Brother from underneath, and use his winged gray blocks to get to the goal post. Taking the normal goal exit will take you to Forest of Illusion 2. We'll cover Forest of Illusion 2 first, just to make sure you take the correct path to get to Roy's castle. FOREST OF ILLUSION 2 From the pipe, go right (the only direction you can go). There's no way to kill the Urchins floating to and fro and up and down, so wait for them to open up the one-way path for you. Also, kill the green snorkel-clad fish at any opportunity. Swim along until you have to go far up to a question block with a Fire Flower. From there, go right and take the middle path to go forward through the level. Keep swimming past Urchins until you have to go down, and then at that point let yourself sink like a boulder. You should see a yellow exclamation block, and to the left of that, a Rip Van Fish. Examining his position shows you that you should be able to pass through that rock wall, and you can. In fact, knowing that means you'll have found the keyhole exit. Take the key to the hole and play the Blue Switch Palace, then return to this level and beat it the normal way. That exit isn't too far from the keyhole. Just go right and avoid the Rip Van Fish. They sink pretty slowly but will wake up from their slumber if they notice you around. The Whistlin' Chuck summoning fish from all directions with his shrill whistle doesn't help any, but thankfully the goal is located just past him. BLUE SWITCH PALACE Go through first thing and clear out all the yellow coins that are already there. Now, hit the silver P-switch first to turn the Spinys all into coins, and then hit the blue P-switch to make those silver coins fall. There should be enough there for you to rake in a few more extra lives. Go in the pipe when you're done and hit the final switch to make all the blue outlines turn into blue exclamation point blocks. Like the red ones, they have nothing in them and their only purpose is to give you solid ground to stand on. Save your progress and go back to beat Forest of Illusion 2 the old way. FOREST OF ILLUSION 3 Yoshi's the name, and getting him safely to the end of this level is the game ... if you ever want to get to Roy Koopa's castle, that is. You'll find him in a question block just past a tall blue pipe with a springboard sitting next to it. When you mount Yoshi, eat the springboard by extending his tongue through the pipe you just climbed. Carry it along to a tall yellow pipe that you need to jump over. Ignore all these bubbles - they pop when you touch them, which is really bad considering most of the time the enemy will pop out and hit Yoshi, making him run away in fear and most likely into a pit. The midway marker is important, but not if you lose Yoshi afterward. You need to get him through in one try if you expect this to work. None of the coin blocks in the big random scattering of them carry anything important, and neither does the smaller grouping of turn blocks past that. If you get to the tall green pipe without losing Yoshi, duck down into it and congratulate yourself. Now you need to be big to spin-jump the blocks to get the key. You did get a Mushroom, right? Because they were all over the level encased in bubbles along with the Goombas and Bob-ombs ...... *sigh* But if you didn't, exit through the yellow pipe, which puts you right in front of the goal that will take you in a circle back to the Forest Ghost House. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: FOREST OF ILLUSION 3 That jumble of coin blocks in the middle of the level may only have coins in it, but there's more than meets the eye on top of four of those coin blocks. Jump on top of the one farthest to the left to activate the first checkpoint, then hop up to the next one for #2. Checkpoint #3 is on top of the block nearly opposite the second one but positioned just a little higher. The final checkpoint is not on the block directly below the Dragon Coin, but on the one to the right of and below it just a little. As usual, if you do it in the right order, the 1-up will pop up for you to grab it. ============================================================================= FOREST GHOST HOUSE Now that you've come full circle, you can go ahead and play through this rather easy level. Move through the Boo Buddies, turning your backs to them so that you can move them around strategically and have enough breathing room to maneuver around them. Once out in the open, there's a feather you can get before going into the next room with a ceiling made of Boo Buddies. The main goal in this room is to find the P-switch and take it to the far right. Get some of the coins so that you can drop down into the alcove and then hit the P-switch to make a silver door appear. When you enter it, you will be on top of the corridor that you started out inside. There are two doors here, both of which will allow you to complete the level. However, to get to Forest of Illusion 4, you want to go in the door nearest you. Outside, there will be nothing but a goal post. If you go in the "wrong" one, there will be a 3-up Moon outside accompanying the end-of-level marker, seemingly there to reward you but really only there to inform you that you just forged a path back to Forest of Illusion 1. You should go in this door at some point, but only to get credit for fully completing the level should your goal be to go for all 96. FOREST OF ILLUSION 4 To stave off the Spiny assault, don't get the 1-up dangling from the Lakitu's fishing rod at the beginning. He will chase you around, to be sure, but that doesn't mean you have to fall for it. Keep running until you see a transparent changing-item block. Get the Starman so you can barrel forward with nary a worry. The main goal to reach while you have that blessed star is the midway point, located on top of a skinny yellow pipe lying flat across a muddy brown plateau. Just after that midway point is the part of this level you should be focused on. You'll find a blue P-switch sitting right under a pipe-dweller Lakitu. Hopefully you have a feather; you should get it out of the transparent block instead of getting the Starman if you don't have one just to secure your exit in this level. With that feather, run along the bottom floor below the pipe until you've charged up enough to fly, then jump in the air and land on the pipe. Grab the key and take it to the keyhole, simple as that. This will take you to the Forest Secret Area, which in turn leads to the Forest Fortress. There is very little to get excited about following this point in the level, as the normal goal exit will only take you in a straight line back to Forest of Illusion 2 (as indicated by my pitiful ASCII map above). Again, though, if you're going for a spotless record on your game save, beat it both ways. FOREST SECRET AREA This is probably one of the most, if not THE most, entertaining levels in the game. Once you land on one of the elongated flying platforms, things start cruisin'. Getting the Dragon Coins is a useless venture unless you take the time to plot exactly where both of the platforms are headed, which I won't take the time to do here. Heaven knows I've already wasted enough time talking :) The only real things of note are that 1) if you've beaten the Blue Switch Palace already, you should find a filled-in ledge that will allow you easy access to a free 1-up, and 2) there are three 1-ups located beyond the goal post. I've tried going over the goal post a million and one times though, and I can't figure out for the life of me how to get them. Maybe YOU do? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: Turns out YOU do! Since February I've received 15 different e-mails that explain in full detail how to get those 1-ups located just beyond arm's reach. The long list containing the names of those kind enough to tell me how to do this is located in the Updates section. The general consensus seems to be to get a Blue Yoshi (easily available in Star Road 2, in case you don't know where to get one in a hurry), eat one of the flying Koopa-Troopas along the way, and then fly above the screen and over the exit, remaining invisible the whole way. The goal won't register that you passed it, and you'll be able to get the three 1-ups. Just backtrack and touch the goal marker to show that you beat it. This isn't the only way either; still others suggest using Yoshi and doing the double-jump trick (where you jump while still on him and then dismount with the A button to get even more height), and some suggest using a cape and flying over the level. The main gist is that you need to be out of sight to sneak past the goal marker. So there! Yay! I finally got around to updating it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOREST FORTRESS You'll begin this Fortress in a room reminiscent of the smashing piston room from Iggy's castle so long ago at Yoshi's Island. The Grinders on the dotted lines add a real element of danger to the mix but can be easily ducked under. Stay to the far right, pressing up against the screen as it scrolls. Having all four Switch Palaces conquered will certainly help you through this first part of the level. In the door at the end, you'll find a Grinder coming down off a rock to meet you on the floor. Jump over it and move on with your life and yourself. Be wary of both Grinders and fireballs as you make your way toward the exit. Near the end is a Cape Feather that you'll have to wait patiently to receive. When you get it, go in the Big Mean-Looking Red Door(tm) and fight Reznor, tackling him the same way you did in the Vanilla Fortress. Remember that the bridge starts to collapse bit by bit once you've gotten two of them down for the count. When you beat the level, save your progress and go back to Roy's castle even though the Warp Star leading to Star Road 4 is now open. ============================================================================= FOREST FORTRESS SECRET: WHY PUT IT THERE IF IT'S NOT EVEN WORTH IT? If you'll notice, above the first red bolted door leading to Reznor, there is a cement block path you can walk along. Only take this route if you have a Cape Feather! For here is the true test of your flying skills - most specifically, your ability to maintain the same altitude. With the feather equipped, run and fly the best you know how. It is important that you keep Mario near the ceiling so that he does not run into any of the bazillion fireballs keeping you from getting to the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Here, it's nine 1-ups. However, seeing the potential for faltering and bumping your head against the ceiling as you're flying, you'll probably waste more lives getting over there than you'll receive for getting over there. Just take the exit that's in plain sight and get it overwith in a hurry. You'll be glad you did. ============================================================================= ROY'S CASTLE #5 Keep on the ledge that creates and destroys blocks at the same time in order to not fall in the lava to a molten death. You can get four of the five Dragon Coins you need for a 1-up in here if you make sure to avoid the crusty falling spikes in the spike area. Jump off when it starts to move down into the pit and hit the P-switch. A 1-up will fall from the row of brown blocks above, but so will a fire-breathing Bowser statue. Hurry and get the 1-up without getting caught in the crossfire and get the feather located above the expanding and contracting turn block platform if you need it. Beware the reflecting fireballs as you proceed to the door leading to Roy Koopa. Roy is a repeat of Morton Jr. with one minor exception: if he makes it all the way up the wall and falls down from the ceiling, the walls beside you will shrink in just a bit. He is no tougher to beat than Morton Jr. was, however, and you can beat him in three hits before he even climbs the wall once. When you've beaten him, save when prompted and move on to Chocolate Island. ==--=--==--=--== ~~~~AREA SIX~~~~ CHOCOLATE ISLAND ==--=--==--=--== Area Map -------- From Roy's Castle ********** | * * | * Sunken * GH-----1 * Ship * P5 | * * \ | *** *** \ | | \ | | \ | P6 / \ | | | o-o \| | | / \ \ \ Wendy O's | | |\ **VALLEY OF BOWSER ADD-ON** o--Castle CF-------+ 3------2 \ | | | | \ \ P6-------CS-------P5 | | \ / o-o 5------------4 o-o LEGEND CF - Chocolate Fortress, the third of four fortresses featuring Reznor as a boss. CS - Chocolate Secret Chocolate Island Walkthrough ---------------------------- CHOCOLATE ISLAND 1 Jump on the Dino Rhino twice to kill him before his tiny version can shoot streaming flames at you, then walk in front of the bush at the top of the cliff to make a Mushroom pop out. Grab it and slide down the slope to kill the Dino Rhino in one hit. The flying block will contain a Fire Flower if you haven't already gotten one. When you have fire abilities, proceed forward to the yellow pipe and go in. You'll be instantly fired out of the pipe to your immediate right without going to any sub-levels, and you'll be at a springboard that will take you up to the midway point. Excellent! Hit the P-switch to get over the Munchers and bounce on the Bouncin' Chuck to turn him into a normal Chargin' Chuck so you can get by unscathed. There's another flying question block with a Mushroom/Fire Flower in the bowl slope up ahead and a Yoshi in the question block just beyond the pit. Duck into the silver pipe near the diagonally right-facing pipe and you'll be shot out of that diagonal pipe. Position yourself to jump on the red Koopa Troopa, and that will give you just enough momentum to get to the area where the exit is. ============================================================================= CHOCOLATE ISLAND 1 SECRET: ANOTHER 3-UP MOON - LIKE YOU NEED IT BY NOW THOUGH With a feather, go to the bowl-shaped slope where you find the flying question block with the Mushroom or Fire Flower in it, depending on your current state. Run down when it's clear of enemies and jump to find a 3-up Moon on a Jugem's Cloud pedestal. ============================================================================= CHOCOLATE GHOST HOUSE The main worry in the first part of this Ghost House is the holes in the floor. This combined with the large number of Eeries makes jumping out quite difficult. The Eeries come at you in all sorts of ways - waving around, in groups of twos, threes, and at one point fives. Be especially wary of the Fishin' Boo with a hot blue flame on the end of his rod. It might be wise to get the feather out of the single question block in this room before entering the door to the right. In the next room you'll find some Boo Buddies that turn to cement blocks when you stare them right in the eyes. They are your key to getting out of here alive. Have them follow you to the section where you see the door on the high-up wooden ledge. Keep them up in the air by turning your back to them and constantly jumping. When they're positioned just so, use them as your stepping stones to the door above. If you managed to keep your feather, you don't need these guys at all; just fly up to the ledge with your cape. Watch out for the streams of Boo Buddies that bounce off the walls though, or you will need the cement ghosts to make it up there. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 2 Where you end up in this level is dependent upon the time that you enter a certain region. There are many different places you could end up, and they are all a matter of what time you get to the pipe. As for this one, you want to make sure you get to it as fast as possible. Get to the top of the chocolate mesa range here just as fast as your feet will carry you and grab the Yoshi from the block at the top. Hug the far right wall upon your descent and you'll land on the green pipe. If you do it fast enough, you'll end up in an area with lots of slanted slopes. Speed through this area, using Yoshi to get momentum off of all the red flying Koopa Troopas, and get to the pipe. You should, if you were fast enough, get to an area with a couple of pesky Pitchin' Chucks. Run and jump past them, forgetting about the ample supply of Cape Feathers for the moment and going straight to the key. Grab it or eat it and touch the keyhole. You'll open up a path around to a pipe that leads to the Chocolate Secret. To beat it the normal way (so that you can get to Chocolate Island 3), go to the part of the level with the slanted cliffs and red Koopa Troopas as usual, but wait until the timer drops to about 225 to go in the pipe at the end. You'll find yourself in a place with nothing but bubbles with Mushrooms inside them. Go through the pipe here and complete the final area with the goal post to beat it the normal way. CHOCOLATE SECRET Run and jump off the springboard to avoid the somewhat hidden Blargg and run through the next small corridor with the Buzzy Beetles. Use some of their shells to take out the two Puntin' Chucks up ahead. Slide down the curved hill and execute a smooth running jump up to the question block, which has a Cape Feather in it. Ignore the green pipe that you can go in past the next Puntin' Chuck - it's only a stupid time-waster anyway that doesn't get you any farther. Use one of the final Puntin' Chuck's footballs as momentum to get to the square rock ledge opposite the midway point. Enter the sideways green pipe and slide down all the hills in this room to knock out the Buzzy Beetles, watching out for the Munchers in the small alcove on the fourth slope. Skip the Spike Tops in the next pitch-black room. There are a bunch of them in addition to the sinking ledges that bear a strong resemblance to sharp cheddar. At the long lava pit, jump to each ledge as they get higher in succession. You'll then have six Chargin' Chucks to avoid before having to cross some of the same yellow-orange sinking plateaus that come to points this time around. There are only six of them, and if you let the last one sink low enough, you can jump up to a Dragon Coin. The arrow sign next to the pipe indicates that you're near the exit. Indeed, you are. From here you can now directly access Wendy O.'s castle, although you might want to go back and complete the rest of Chocolate Island first. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 3 This is a fairly docile level; nothing much of interest happens here. It is important that you have a certain item if you expect to get anywhere from here. Come in big so that the first question block you find (between the two high-up mushroom ledges) is a feather. If you can retain that feather throughout the rest of the level, you'll be on Easy Street. Shortly after the feather you'll find a blue pipe that contains the most funnest bonus level of all time! ...Yeah, you heard me right. Ride the swinging ledge around and around for a whole lot of coinage, then hop off to the right and grab the Dragon Coin when you're done spinnin' and spinnin' around. When you come out of the green pipe, go to the right and look for the question block that's real high up in the air. Ride around on the rotating platform, ducking under or jumping over the Fuzzball as necessary, until you can get that feather. It and the green exclamation block up ahead are your last hopes of making it anywhere in this world. If you can get one of those, you're hooked up with the good stuff. The Star Block of course will give you a 1-up if you got 30 coins (not hard with the bonus stage), and the turn block has a vine in it so you can get up to the normal exit. Now, with the feather, fly where the arrow signs indicate. If you have Yoshi, you can also take the baby's way out and eat the blue Koopa provided for you. You'll find three 1-ups upon getting over there and you'll gain access to the Chocolate Fortress. That's a good thing - the normal exit brings you back around in a circle to this level! CHOCOLATE FORTRESS A little of the way into this level, once you're past a couple of the wooden spikes (that you can lean up against the sides of without getting hurt, by the way), fire will start appearing from a mysterious source. Avoid the flames as you dodge the wooden spikes as well, which don't last for very long and are capped off at the midway point. When you enter the door, approach Thwomp to make him fall, then drop down the hole while he's coming back up. This long corridor is full of Thwomps and Thwimps that take a little bit of calculation to get past. Any time you see a Thwimp, walk under the arc of its jump or crouch in a safe place where it is difficult to stand in a decent spot (as with the first one). Having the Red and Blue Switch Palaces by this point is a handy thing to have crossed off of your to-do list, as several Thwimps and Thwomps are held in by them if you've hit those switches prior to this level. A Cape Feather is given to you just before you go in to face Reznor. You've fought them twice by now, and this time is no different. When you win, proceed to Chocolate Island 4. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 4 Ha ha! The lava looks like mud! (ahem) Slide down the big hill and jump on the carrot lift. These things move slowly, so have patience with them as you progress forward through this level. Once you cross the long expanse that contains almost nothing but carrot lifts, jump up the steep long hill and walk along the M-shaped path. Only fall straight down if you've gotten the blue and red switches hit, because there's no way to get over to the three 1-ups sitting in open air if you haven't hit. When you've detoured to get those, find the arrangement of turn blocks with seven of them in a diagonal line. The third one from the top has a blue P-switch in it. Get up to it and hit it, then go down and to the left. The brown blocks have turned into coins and made the way for you to access the previously barricaded silver pipe. There's another blue P-switch here for you to hit. Fall and fall and fall until the P-switch timer runs out. Depending on where you land, you get a number of different items ranging from a feather to a Starman to five (!) 1-ups. Use the floating of the cape to change the speed with which you fall in order to get what you want. You'll come out of a yellow pipe situated on a bone ledge with a Fire Flower across from you. Avoid the two Mega Moles situated here and move ahead to the exit, hitting the Clappin' Chuck if necessary. CHOCOLATE ISLAND 5 Get Yoshi out of the question block surrounded by turn blocks, then board him and have him eat the blue P-switch. Spit it out onto safe ground (i.e. ground where you won't fall to your death upon hitting it) and bounce on it. Enter the first yellow pipe to your right to play a bonus stage for 1-ups. You'll come out right next to the midway point. Hit the marker and jump to each pipe that changes in height. After this, you'll see some turn block ledges that expand and contract both horizontally and vertically. Hop from them to the growing/shrinking pipe. Time your jump so that it coincides with the Clappin' Chuck's descent onto the yellow pipe, then leap past the other three and hit the exit. All in all, a pretty short level. WENDY O.'S CASTLE #6 Watch out for the large spike at the beginning of the level. If it traps you in itself, it can kill you even during the temporary invincibility after losing an item. Bounce all the way up to the top when it moves slowly back into the ceiling. Duck under or jump over the Grinders as they move along the small dotted line as the situation warrants and take a running leap up to the cement block and two red exclamation point blocks. Up next are seven of those huge spikes that can kill you at the drop of a hat. Watch your timing as you move past them while also considering the Grinders around you. Once you've finally passed those, duck and jump at the same time to get past these trickier Grinders. The last set of huge spikes is the worst one. It takes spot-on timing to get past. Wait for their (very short) pauses and run/jump past them in that brief second or so that they're down/up. There's a Mushroom there for you if you need it. If you manage to get past them, hit the midway mark (it makes you big if you're small, thankfully) and go in the door. This next room has scrolling issues that you have to deal with while weaving around some Sparkys - small electrical sparks that move around surfaces - and Hotheads (large variation on Sparky). You shouldn't have any problem getting through this area and getting the Cape Feather at the end of the trail just before the door leading to the boss. Wendy O.'s method of attack dupes Lemmy's, except that she has a straight row of pipes (as opposed to his of random heights) and there are two reflecting fireballs instead of one. Again, the job is to find the real Wendy amongst the decoys. If you hit the real one three times, she'll sink into the lava and you'll be on your way to the Sunken Ship, which is the gateway to the Valley of Bowser. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: WENDY O.'S CASTLE #6 After the seven large spikes situated among the Grinders, there is a cement block below and to the left of a blue exclamation point block. On the left side of the block on the ground, you'll find the first 1-up checkpoint. The second one is on the left side of the block right next to it (in the air), Number Three is on top of the block, and Number Four is on the right side of it in the air. ============================================================================= ==-=-==-=-== ~AREA SEVEN~ SUNKEN SHIP ==-=-==-=-== Coming out of the gray pipe, swim over to the right and be wary of the Bullet Bill machines. There's a feather in the only question block in here, so when you get it, take a dip over to the yellow pipe. The room it leads you to is probably truly the scariest thing in the whole game. As you swim, Eeries will fade in and out of corporeality. One minute they're there, the next they're not. The goal is to halt all activity and tread water the second they pop up. This lasts for quite a few screens, and your thumbs will probably get tired from all the crazy treading you have to do. The fading in and out stops once you get to the circles of Boo Buddies. Wait for the openings and make your way slowly to the blue pipe. When you go in, you'll fall way down through a vast chasm of nothing, but you will have a Starman right there to make it easier. Stay around the middle of the room, which you'll be more or less around if you can't see the cement walls on either side of you. Land right and you'll find another Starman to get out of a singular block. Fall farther through the middle until you pass through a couple of major coin windfalls and through a hole in the middle of some jutting cement platforms. Once you're through that hole, veer to the right and look for a green sphere with a question mark on it. That sphere indicates the end of the level. Touch it to unlock the mystery that is the Valley of Bowser. ===-==-==-==-=== ~~~AREA EIGHT~~~ VALLEY OF BOWSER ===-==-==-==-=== Area Map -------- DS2---P2 | | Bowser's Back P1 *5------Castle Door | | | | Larry's | 4------Castle VF | | | 3--------GH---------2----1----To Chocolate Island P6---------CS---------P5 LEGEND VF - Valley Fortress, the final one of the four fortresses featuring the world's worst at adapting to routine, Reznor. NOTE: Though the Valley of Bowser is technically the final area in the game, the walkthrough for Bowser's Castle/Back Door will be placed at the end of this guide just before the dialogue in its own separate section. VALLEY OF BOWSER 1 If you've beaten the Red Switch Palace (which you really _really_ REALLY should have done by now), the first Mega Mole here won't be able to harass you. Instead, you have a Chargin' Chuck running right at you. Take the upper path at the fork, something this level is all about (forks, that is). Let the Mega Mole in front of you trap himself in the hole so you have stable ground to walk on, then drop down at the top of the rock stairs and take the bottom path. There should be a large pile of turn blocks here. The Chargin' Chucks trapped in the holes will charge their way out so that you can get by them. There is a Cape Feather to the right that's probably a very wise investment. Ahead, a Chargin' Chuck will clear out the throwing blocks in your way. For the remainder of the level, stay along the lowest path possible until you get to the exit (the green pipe right next to the sign with the arrow on it). You'll come out of an orange pipe just near the goal. VALLEY OF BOWSER 2 As each sharp cheddar ledge stoops to your level, jump on it and either dodge or jump on the Swooper Bats that you can't see from the position the screen is in. The feather from the question block is a bit risky to pick up when you see that there's a yellow shell at the top and a naked Koopa about to jump in it. Jump over him and let him fall off the ledge and hit the block himself, then get the feather and keep it for yourself; that's the best course of action. Now just keep going, exterminating bats and picking up coins as you leap across moving cheese platforms, until you find the midway point. Go in the pipe and go up and to the left. Jump and you'll find a feather block out of your line of sight. Get it if you don't have one, then go down to the moving blocks that form a narrow tunnel. If you have Yoshi, go ahead and get the Yoshi's Wings out of the question block and beat the level that way. You'll get a blue Yoshi out of the deal too, so it's win-win - don't have to play the level, you get a blue Yoshi. It's all good! Anyway, if you have to go through the tunnel part, just be able to judge rightly where you can go and where you can't. If you get crushed between two surfaces, you'll die on the spot no matter what item you may have on you. The area is significantly harder with Yoshi in tow - he takes up a lot of room, he does - so ditch him if you have him and make the run yourself. The third and final room in this level is not horribly difficult, but it does take some chops. You'll come out of the pipe and land on a yellow cliff that goes up the moment you step on it. Run and jump if you have a feather and soar to the top of the wall by curving left as you fly up. Run left to find the keyhole exit right there in plain sight. That exit will take you quickly up to the Valley Fortress, which in turn leads to the back door of Bowser's castle. If you have to take the normal exit, you only have to deal with a couple more of those rising ledges. Don't kill the Mega Moles - you'll need them as stepping stones to get to each new one until you reach the end-of-level goal post. VALLEY FORTRESS Run through the enormous spikes before they fall and get the Cape Feather from the green exclamation point block. Float down through the weird arrangement of spikes and start whacking the Dry Bones and Bony Beetle with your cape to eliminate them permanently. You now have to deal with the scary prospect of jumping from ledge to ledge during the short pause that the large spikes provide. Jump without floating, as that will slow you down and make you susceptible to getting crushed like a bug. Once you are past those five, jump from ledge to ledge over the lava. Get the Mushroom only if there is no spare item in your box at the top of the screen. When you have passed that point, the spikes offer very little pause at all, meaning you basically have to study them for a long time, know when they're about to strike, and jump without fear. Try not to skid when you leap to the next platform - you could brake too hard and slide right into a spike. Enter the door at the end if you make it through almost certain death and fight Reznor for the last time. Save when it asks if you want to. You can now take a shortcut through Bowser's castle by directly accessing the back door. VALLEY OF BOWSER GHOST HOUSE Here's your reunion with the green gas bubbles, but thankfully you can jump over them all. The question block at the very beginning contains a Mushroom/Fire Flower, none of which you'll really need for the task at hand (there are no tangible enemies; the items will only serve to give you a free hit). Go in the door and hit the turn block above you to bring the P-switch down to you. Hit it and start running to the right like a madman. There will be a thin corridor with many rows of coins between the doors there. If you can make it to the last one, do that. Failing that, go in the one either one or two before the last one. That's the normal exit that will take you to Valley of Bowser 3. There is also a keyhole exit you need to get to, and it is in the door all the way at the end of that hallway. You'll also nab a 1-up if you make it there, by the way. Grab the P-switch and take it all the way to the right and jump up through the wooden paneling that you can go through. There is a lone coin block in here that contains directional coins. Hit that first, because if you hit the P-switch and then the block, the coin that pops out will cause the chain to end abruptly. Knowing that, hit the coin block and make it go left, up, and right. While you're doing that, drop and touch the blue P-switch to make the coins brown blocks. It takes spot-on timing to pull this off, but hop on top of the brown blocks and make them go up until you see a tiny hole with a key just past that. Make the brown blocks line up with the hole, and then run into it if you're small, and duck and slide into it if you're any form of Super Mario. Grab the key and stick it in the hole that takes you instantly to Larry Koopa's castle. VALLEY OF BOWSER 3 Avoid the bouncing green Koopa Troopas at the beginning, then get the feather out of the block (which will be a Mushroom if you're small). Ride the timed lifts over the green Koopa Troopas. The number in the middle indicates how many seconds that lift will last before falling to oblivion; it will always be either a 1 or a 4. You'll now get some practice with riding them over the great eternal abyss. Jump to each new one until you get to a large polka-dotted vegetable-like column. There are two yellow pipes whose ends face each other. Go in the one you're standing on to go to a bonus stage for 1-ups. When you exit that, use the springboard to get both the midway marker and the Fire Flower next to it. Hop up the successive mushroom ledges and run along the silver wire attached to the vegetable columns. Take the carrot lift down to the 4-second timed lift, then try to stay as high up as possible with the help of the red Koopa Troopas and Banzai Bills. Use the third and final Banzai Bill to boost yourself up to the 1-second timed lift that will help you reach a higher-up 1-up. Whatever happens, go from the timed lifts to safe ground and the end of the level. VALLEY OF BOWSER 4 Avoid the rocks that the Diggin' Chucks scrounge up with their golf clubs and move across the lava with the help of the red Koopa Troopas until you get to a green pipe. It's an icy area you go to, but there's a feather here, so the trip is a bit worth it to be taken backward a few screens. Make up the lost ground upon exiting and hit the turn block to discover a vine. Climb it and get the Yoshi out of the question block. There are turn blocks to the right. To keep Yoshi and still get through them, spin-jump off him with the A button and hop back on him once you've hit a turn block or two. Yoshi will bounce downward through them and onto the stone platform that sinks under their combined weight. If you find this too risky a trick to pull off, take the narrow hole to the left of the turn blocks, because you need Yoshi in order to complete this level both ways. Just past another Diggin' Chuck you'll find the level's midway post. Hit it and move on with Yoshi, bouncing over the Diggin' Chuck just after the short narrow passage and getting the feather out of the question block with the aid of the yellow exclamation block (surely you beat that Switch Palace ages ago - man, I sure hope so). Proceed through the next batch of Diggin' Chucks and keep going all the way to the exit. You'll find that the key is trapped in a small chamber under some cement blocks that no more mortal can access on his own. This is what you needed Yoshi all that time for; if you're still aboard him, eat the key and take it up to the open-air keyhole. If you lost him at any point, just go to the normal exit just past that. The keyhole opens up a direct path to the fifth Warp Star and Bowser's castle. The normal exit will take you to Larry Koopa's castle. LARRY'S CASTLE #7 You've ridden one of these types of ledges already in Roy's castle, though it wasn't nearly so long there as it is here. Ride it along its predetermined hard-coded path. There are some invisible 1-up checkpoints to find here, but they're located around a ball-and-chain's block and aren't nearly worth the trouble it takes to get them. You need to keep up with the moving brown block ledge. When it takes you to the door leading to the next area, don't hop to that door. Ride down into what is supposedly a pit, but you'll find two Dragon Coins, which are a great find considering the other three are easy to get, a Mushroom, and a midway point that you won't get otherwise. Cool! If you don't have a feather, hang your head in shame or gnash your teeth in anger, just pick one. You'll have to rely on the Magikoopa to get you through some parts of this area thanks to the turn block walls impeding your forward progress. Let him destroy enough blocks for you to get through, then kill him so you don't have to deal with him until the next wall. There are only two of these, but that doesn't keep Magikoopa from being a complete and utter nuisance, especially when you consider the narrow corridors you have to navigate and the other enemies in your way, like wooden spikes and Dry Bones. Thank goodness there's a Cape Feather at the end of the line, grab it and go in the Big Mean-Looking Red Door(tm). Larry Koopa's roots go all the way back to the first castle. His arena is a duplicate of Iggy Koopa's, save for the fact that three fireballs shoot constantly upward out of the lava. Know where they come in and keep between them as you jump on Larry's skull to get him to go farther toward the lava. When he's in and down for the count, you'll move right on to the last level: Bowser's castle. Let's go! But wait ... there is one area we haven't stopped by yet. If we want to beat all 96 levels in the game, we need to drop by the Star Road. Walk all the way back to Donut Plains and take the Warp Star located there to Star Road 1. It's a world unlike anything you've seen yet. =-=-=-=-=-= ~AREA NINE~ ~STAR ROAD~ =-=-=-=-=-= Area Map -------- *3 \ \ *2-----2 3 *4 / *6 / 1 | 4 / 5 / \ *1 o---___ *5 Star Road Walkthrough --------------------- ** In each level in the Star Road, there is a normal exit and a keyhole exit. The normal exit will not open up any new roads, but you must still beat it that way in order to receive full credit. The keyhole exit, on the other hand, will open up a road leading to the next one, which will in turn make a complete star-shaped path around the map (only Star Road 5's normal exit will create a new path). Hence the name, Star Road. Each level will have separate section for its normal exit and its keyhole exit. STAR ROAD 1 ----------- KEYHOLE EXIT: Grab the Mushroom at the beginning lest you be of small stature, then drop down through the middle and hug the far right wall. Start spin-jumping and don't stop. Within seconds, you'll have found a key sitting right next to a keyhole. Open it up and head to the second Star Road level. NORMAL EXIT: There are several items hidden in blocked-off (no pun intended) areas in this level. The first you want to go after is down to the far left. Stay against the wall as you spin-jump to find a Cape Feather sitting out in the open. DO NOT TWIRL YOUR CAPE WHILE SPIN-JUMPING! It can cause you to be put down several rows of blocks instantly and get squeezed in between them, resulting in your untimely death. Go down through the hole at the bottom at the rock ledges and stay to the near right for a 1-up, then let yourself go straight down to find a Starman. Don't kill too many of the Koopa Troopas, however, because soon enough down the trail you'll find a Red Yoshi. Red Yoshis will take any shell they eat and expel the remnants as a trio of fanning fireballs. Have him eat five enemies or one item (either a wandering Starman or the spare item from your box) and board him if you want him. Go through the pipe in the bottom right corner when you finish the level. STAR ROAD 2 ----------- NORMAL EXIT: To make the Blue Yoshi grow instantly, let him eat the Starman that floats down from above when he hatches. It will go on a path directly to his mouth, so don't worry about feeding him fish. If you get the star for yourself, however, there is another one in the question block in the middle of the level if you're still invincible by the time you get around to it. This can result in many 1-ups if you hit plenty of fish along the way. The whole point of this level, however, is swimming around eating fish. Board Blue Yoshi and hang onto him if possible. This is one level you definitely want to remember the place of; it's the only place in the game where you can get a Blue Yoshi hatched fresh from the egg. Anyway, get the Blue Yoshi and swim to the green pipe at the end. No questions asked. KEYHOLE EXIT: You probably noticed that the wall doesn't stretch all the way down to the bottom below the green pipe leading to the normal exit. Ergo, swim through that tunnel under the wall and around to the key. Eat it, unlock the hole, and be on your way. STAR ROAD 3 ----------- NORMAL EXIT: You are a fool if I have to tell you how to do this. KEYHOLE EXIT: Now this I understand, it's a bit tricky and requires some decent timing. It is a little easier if you have some help from a Fire Flower. Let the yellow Yoshi chow down on Spinys as Lakitu throws them down. Head up the throwing block staircase and hit Lakitu with a fireball. Killing Lakitu with fireballs makes the cloud stay materialized forever, whereas normally if you kill him with a shell or anything else the cloud will disappear after a short time. Anyway, take the cloud and go up. Jump out to the left to get the key out of the question block, then take it over to the hole to the right. STAR ROAD 4 ----------- KEYHOLE EXIT: Run up to the second mushroom ledge and get the red Yoshi from the egg, or quickly try to salvage the 1-up if you already are riding a Yoshi. Go on to the blue Koopa Troopas and eat them, then immediately take to the skies and fly as far as you can. You should be able to fly to about the middle of the level, where the five red Koopa-Troopas are hovering up and down in the sky. Shortly after that, find the platforms made entirely of green and red exclamation point blocks. If you're riding Red Yoshi, get off him if you don't have a feather - you have to whack the question block from the side to get it to open up with the key. In any event, get the key and end the level. NORMAL EXIT: From the green exclamation point block ledge, go up to the cement sidewalk and use the red shell to get rid of the green one that the Koopa kicks at you. Go forward to the rotating platform triad up in the air, and if you still have a Yoshi, try to eat the blue Koopa Troopa and fly your way to the exit. If you can't, that's okay - the exit isn't too far ahead and there are no other enemies to get in your way. STAR ROAD 5 ----------- KEYHOLE EXIT: Don't waste your time fooling around with all these stinkin' falling platforms. Get the Blue Yoshi out of Star Road 2 and have him eat the first Koopa Troopa you find. Fly to the ledge with the P-switch and the single question block. The question block contains directional coins that you need to keep going to the right. Hit that block and then the P-switch to get the bridge moving, then eat another Koopa Troopa (any color with Blue Yoshi, remember) and fly straight up. This is where you'll need to have all the Switch Palaces conquered in order for this to work. The first of the four sections of the ledge is comprised entirely of yellow exclamation point blocks. You'll have to dismount Yoshi to get past the cement block on the green section - run under it if you're small, duck and slide like a pro if you're any sort of Super Mario. Finally, run along the red and blue sets to find the keyhole sitting right next to the exit. NORMAL EXIT: Use the directional blocks in conjunction with the P-switch until you get to the edge of a mushroom column with a yellow egg on it. Eat Spinys and Koopa Troopas until Yoshi grows up all big and stuff, then eat enemies on your way to the exit. This exit wraps back around to Star Road 1 while the keyhole exit will take you to a sixth Warp Star that leads to the marvelous Special World. Take the plunge if you dare....... =-=-=-=-=-=-= ~~AREA TEN~~ SPECIAL WORLD =-=-=-=-=-=-= Area Map -------- To Yoshi's From Island-----Funky----Outrageous----Groovy----Mondo <----Awesome *6----Gnarly-----Tubular---Way Cool---Awesome ---->To Mondo Special World Walkthrough ------------------------- GNARLY Hop on the message block (read it first if you like, it's just a trivial little vignette) to get to the line-guided rope. Jump from the rope to the pea springboard. Use it to curve to the right and hit the turn block against the rope wall. A vine will pop out; spring up to it and climb it, then get off at the note blocks to your left. Go down to the two pea springboards facing each other. In the turn block above the one on the left is a blue P-switch. Getting this will be a great boon to you _if_ you can hang on to it. Go up each series of two note blocks and get the feather out of the top turn block. Jump up to it and lay the P-switch down on the cement peak of the level, then hit it and jump down against the far right wall. You'll land on a question block that wasn't previously there but is during the time you hit the P-switch. You'll come out of a silver pipe next to three Dragon Coins and three 1-ups. If you can't get to that pipe, there's one all the way at the bottom of the screen. You'll come out in the same area but out of a green pipe that doesn't allow for access to the prizes I just mentioned. Hit one of the blue P-switches to make the question blocks appear in the form of a bridge, then hit the silver P-switch to make all enemies during the timer into silver coins (collect enough of them for 1-ups). Use the Hammer Brother's flying ledge to get to the higher ground, then run past the bush to reveal a hidden Mushroom and boogie on over to the exit. ============================================================================= INVISIBLE 1-UP CHECKPOINTS: GNARLY At the top of the level, fall and hug the rope wall on the left when you fall down the right half of the level (so that you go between the rope and the column of four note blocks. The 1-up will meet you at the bottom. ============================================================================= TUBULAR Arguably the hardest level in the game, but you have to beat it if you want credit for all 96. As a word of warning, you might want to bring a feather in with you. It may save you by the skin of your teeth at the end of the level. Carom off the Clappin' Chuck and move along pipes until you find a P-switch. Grab it and curve to the left when you fall to the springboard below. Drop it and you'll hit it the next time you land on the springboard. Hit the question block and fan out to the right to hit a P-balloon. The next one is past the Pitchin' Chuck standing on the single suspended question block, above him and to his right. Float through the red Koopa Troopas and VERY CAREFULLY past the Volcano Lotuses all the way to a Puntin' Chuck standing on a question block. That's the last balloon you need to get in order to get to the exit, and it's very well-guarded. You just have to know when to duck down and get under the footballs. The real kicker (no pun intended) is when the Puntin' Chuck above you kicks a football right down on your head when you finally do get the balloon! Should you run out of air to inflate yourself too soon, that's where the feather comes in handy. If you lose your air at a certain point, you can float successfully to land by holding Y and a direction (right, in this case) and hope for the best. Luckily, you are given the chance to save after every two levels in the Special World. When you finally do beat this one, take the opportunity to do so and move on. WAY COOL Jump on the line-guided platform and don't hit the ON blocks until the third one in your path. After the path switches directions, hit the very next ON block to put it back in its original position. You'll be taken all the way to the top of the level where a yellow pipe sits, isolated from everything else. Go in to find a Yoshi in the single question block seen here. Exit through the pipe to the right and look in the question block to your right. Yoshi's Wings are inside. Grab them and complete the bonus level with ease, making sure to keep your Blue Yoshi all the while. AWESOME Bringing the Blue Yoshi you just got from Way Cool into this level, eat the color-flashing shell to derive every special ability from it. Use this time to fly until you get to a blue P-switch. Hit it and run, hitting or eating enemies as you go, until you get to a platform that looks like a metallic purple arch. Do the midair dismount to hit the question block way above you. A Starman is inside. Grab it and run as fast and far as you can with your temporary invincibility. To keep from sliding, just run and jump without thinking too hard on it or dwelling on where you land too much. If you keep the star on you, the constant Cheep-Cheeps flying in wide arcs from the bottom of the screen (that's cool, very old-skool). At the end of the level, run down the subzero slope and hit the marker. Since this is an even-numbered Special World level, be sure to save your progress. MONDO The rising and falling tide definitely makes this a much harder level, as evidenced by the struggle to kill the first Hammer Brother. Get the feather up ahead once you've finally done him in, then go up and face off with another Hammer Brother. Swim over the green pipe or use the flying ledge that Hammer Brother hopefully was on and proceed to the question blocks that progress diagonally upward. The top one of the trio contains a Yoshi in case you lost yours. Get him and go in the first blue pipe to your right. You'll go to a stratospheric bonus stage where you can slide down a cloudy slope for coins (plus a Dragon Coin at the bottom). You'll start quite a bit farther ahead when you return to Mondo. Go right to a huge assortment of question blocks where you'll find a Fire Flower in the top row. That's a useful asset for killing all the fish floating around if you lack a Yoshi to eat them up. Bonk the Hammer Brother's ledge to knock him off and wait for the tide to rise before you go in the pipe leading to the level's end. GROOVY You might recognize this level even without having played it, and for good reason - it's the level you see in the opening cinema at the game's title screen. If you've seen the computer Mario play through that, you know how the first part of this level goes. Hit the Koopa Troopa and kick his shell forward to reveal a Yoshi in a grounded question block. Each color Koopa Troopa is up ahead, and they're all walking in a single-file line. Discard green and red and eat blue, flying until you get to a transparent item block. Spit at the shell at that point and wait for the item to change to a star, then plow ahead through the Pokeys. You should get far enough to face a literal wall of Pokeys although there are only three of them. Eat all their segments and jump from the top plateau to the blue pipe to the slanted cliff. A couple of Pitchin' Chucks round out the level, and you can eat the Pokeys and the Volcano Lotus restricted to the ground if you need them out of the way. Finally, save when prompted. OUTRAGEOUS Have a Yoshi coming into this level, he'll really help out with some of the enemies you have to deal with here, especially the hopping flames. They leave a trail of baby flames that sit there and make it difficult to proceed along the ground. Fortunately, Yoshi has an iron stomach and can eat the flames with ease. Take the springboard after getting the flower out of the question block and bring it with you in order to clear some of the taller Bullet Bill machines. After clearing the first one, have Yoshi eat the springboard from the other side of the cannon. Keep it in his cheeks, but make sure he doesn't eat it, and spit it out for a moment if he starts with the swallowing reflex. Keep spitting it out to leap over the cannons and eating it again until you get to a very tall orange pipe. Eat the Wigglers and the springboard through the orange pipe to use it again at the yellow pipe you find shortly. Eat it again and keep it with you until you get to a blue pipe near a fairly small Bullet Bill turret (you may need to spit it out a couple of times to keep him from gulping it down). That's the last you'll need of the springboards and Yoshi - if you can make it to the end of the level, then it's in the bag. FUNKY Ah, yes, the last of the Special World levels - practically unbeatable without a Yoshi at your side. With only 200 seconds, you need to hurry up to get out of here with time to spare. Run past the Sumo Brother at the beginning and jump over the green pipe, eating the green berry off the bush. They are the key to your success; each green berry you eat adds 20 seconds to the clock. Don't attempt to eat the blue Koopa Troopas on the thin cliffs. You need Yoshi's mouth free of excess stuff to keep them open for green berries. Bump the Sumo Brother off the question blocks and down the green berry on the next bush. Now is when you should eat the blue Koopa Troopa to fly over the next Sumo Brother duo. Keep low to the ground so you can find the next green berry, which is right behind a Pitchin' Chuck. Spit it out so that the Whistlin' Chuck ahead can't call a swarm of Super Koopas to maraud you. Use running jumps to get across the throwing block platforms, then bump the note block the Sumo Brother is standing on. You don't have time for the multiple coin block above the turn block; instead, eat the green berry, then swallow the blue Koopa Troopa. Don't use him for flying; use him to get rid of the Whistlin' Chuck just beyond him - Super Koopas are not your friend. Eat the green berry after expelling the blue shell from Yoshi's mouth. From this point, you just need to keep running and eating green berries to keep the time up. Your perseverance is eventually rewarded - look for a coin display at the end of the level that reads YOU ARE A SUPER PLAYER !! This should be good for a couple of 1-ups. When you're done getting the coins, hit the goal marker and save when asked. A pipe will now open up, and you'll be taken back to a brave new world..... okay, it's just Yoshi's Island, but you'll now notice that the terrain has changed color in favor of a brighter palette. Some enemies, such as most Koopa Troopas and the jumping Piranha Plants, also experience some facial makeovers. It's not much of a reward, but such is your prize for beating the Special World. Now, you've conquered all 96 levels save for one - Bowser's castle. Now that you've beaten every other place there is (whether with my help or not), it's time to pay a visit to the King of the Koopas. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ~~~BOWSER'S CASTLE & BACK DOOR~~~ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There are four doors you can go in at the start of Bowser's castle - it's kind of like "Let's Make a Deal" in that regard, picking a door to see what's inside. Here's a detailed description of what's inside each door. They all lead to a room that contains doors 5, 6, 7, and 8. You must play through two of the doors in order to get to the last room of the castle (which you can get to instantly via the back door if you've beaten the Valley Fortress). Here's what's inside doors 1-4. DOOR #1 This door harkens back to Iggy's castle with yet more of those rock smashers you know and love. Having all the switches hit will certainly help here, and you'll see the fireballs pop out of the lava ponds between those blocks. After the room's halfway point, the fireballs start popping up in pairs, making your life harder by just a little. The door to the second quartet of mini-levels is not too far ahead though, so you should be fine going in here. DOOR #2 This room is short and is just a matter of getting along the fence without getting hit by reflecting fireballs. There are just enough Koopa Troopas moving along the fence for you to net a 1-up if you hang in there, but you're better off speeding to the exit. DOOR #3 This room is confusing as all get-out. Find the canvases that you can move through and get to the exit as quickly as possible. If you feel like hunting for items, there are a feather and a 1-up to be found in here. The Mecha-Koopas can be jumped on, carried, and kicked into each other to be killed. DOOR #4 Ride the gray back-and-forth block under the tall one with the Sparky moving around it and jump up before you fall off (it will overlap on top of the bluish-gray block). There are two more moving gray blocks to deal with, but they're nothing along with the Sparkys and the one Hothead on the final ledge. Make it to the door to get to the second set of selectable rooms. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you get to the exit of Rooms 1-4, you'll be taken to a hallway through which you can access Rooms 5-8. Here for your FAQ pleasure, the walkthroughs for the next four rooms of Bowser's castle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOOR #5 A simple room. Run as fast as you can and neither the huge spikes nor the Thwomps will get you. DOOR #6 Now _here's_ a tough one. Swim up through the first hole to the right before the spikes can get through and crush you against the wall. The next set of them will probably be against the wall too early for you to swim up through them the first time, so wait for them and retreat if the Dry Bones gets too close for comfort. Get the feather in the question block in the midst of the Fishbones, then swim up through the spike-laced tunnels when the moving portion creates a hole all the way through. The final evil part of this level has you stroking your way through a series of balls-and-chains swinging around haphazardly. Follow the last moving set of spiked walls through its motions and enter the pipe at the top. If you're smart, though, you won't go in this door at all and you'll opt for one of the easier ones. DOOR #7 If you've beaten the Red and Blue Switch Palaces, this one won't be a problem as the two most troublesome stationary Bowser statues will be high enough for you to hop around without worry or care. Just beware the jumping brown Bowser statues and you'll do great. DOOR #8 This room is packed to the hilt with Bouncin' Chucks. Jump on every one you see to reduce them to lowly Chargin' Chucks and get the Cape Feather from the green exclamation point block if you've unlocked the blue exclamation blocks already. Go in the door at the end to get to the last room (the back door). BACK DOOR You'll notice it's extremely dark when you enter the room. This can be remedied by hitting the red question block up ahead. It will turn on the strobe light at the top of the screen that follows you around as you go through this room. Jump on the Ninjis (a throwback to SMB2) to kill them and deal with the Mechakoopas by tossing them into nearby lava pools. When you get to the bridge near the door, you'll find a midway point that will turn you big if you're small. This midway point is only here if you take the front door to get into the castle, not the actual back door that you see on the Valley of Bowser map. When you're ready, take a deep breath and enter the last of the game's Big Mean-Looking Red Doors(tm). Look ahead to the Epilogue to witness the final account of the battle with Bowser. ================================================================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ EPILOGUE **WARNING: SPOILERS** ============================== Here for your reading pleasure is a narrative tale of the final epic battle Mario had with Bowser, as told to me by an onlooking Toad who swears he saw the whole thing. I'll have to take his word after it - after all, I doubt that such a peaceful inhabitant of the Mushroom Kingdom would lie to a guy like me. "The King Koopa was certainly an intimidating sight. I had seen his vehicle before - he referred to it as the Clownmobile, or something like that - and it was scarier to see it in action than idle. Bowser swooped down at Mario - I thought he was never going to stop! But then he threw two Mechakoopas out of his Clownmobile, like they were boggin' him down or somethin'. Mario, though, he's a resourceful guy. He took both Mechakoopas, clubbed 'em on the head with his feet, and kicked them up so that they landed on Bowser's head, both of 'em! Bowser slipped out for a moment to recuperate, looked like, and in that time it rained down some fire from the sky! Mario dodged it though by jumping back behind it where he could, 'cause he's Mario. He's just that awesome. The Princess popped out for a little bit and threw a Mushroom out to Mario - just for support. Then Bowser crammed her back in and came in with a new game plan. He started flipping the Clownmobile upside-down and dropping these huge marbles out of it that would roll at Mario. I don't know where he got the room to fit them all in his goofy little 'Mobile, but he did. Mario blocked them effectively by spin-jumping them like he did the green gas bubbles in the ghost houses. Bowser would clear out some more Mechakoopas, but Bowser was staying higher up this time and it was hard to get them up over the Clownmobile. He eventually figured out that jumping and kicking them up in the air would do the trick if he timed it right. That Mario, he's a genius he is. There was more fire from the sky and another Mushroom from the Princess, which Mario saved in his spare item box for when he might need it. But the Clownmobile got a dirty look on its face, it did, and it started bouncing along the castle roof, shaking the ground as it bounced along. Mario did his best to run under it when it was airborne and waited until he threw out some more Mechakoopas to plan his attack. The Clownmobile was a deceptive vehicle though, and it was hard to stand on the ground and kick up, so Mario repeated the jumping and kicking up thing. After the sixth and final hit, Bowser's Clownmobile went out of commission and he was gone from the lives of Mario and the Princess - for a while anyway. And that's the end of that story!" Congratulations on beating Super Mario World! Now sit back and enjoy the final cinema. (You can't reset at the screen that says THE END, by the way.) ================================================================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================ CREDITS AND LEGAL JAZZ ====================== Ahh, it feels good to be back in the game! After over four months away from FAQ-writing, I've finally finished this enormous comeback project, and the time spent with it has been great. Here's one section I haven't missed, however, and that's the obligatory thank-you's that just have to go at the end of every FAQ. Here mine are, in no particular order of gratitude: ** Nintendo for this great game, the premiere launch title of the SNES. ** FuSoYa, Defender of Relm. He's the creator of a (now defunct) program that contains several detailed maps of all the levels in SMW called Lunar Magic. It's also a level editor, and a very user-friendly one at that. I used the maps extensively in my research of several secrets located in the game. ** Andrew Schultz, a great and mighty FAQ/review writer, whose abilities will always exceed mine no matter how I improve. Talking with him in a couple of AIM conversations, he gave me the encouragement and the motivation to get up and do another FAQ. I like the man, I love his work, and he's a great guy. I tip my hat to thee, good sir. ** Everyone who e-mailed me regarding the three extra lives in the Forest Secret Area. ** Pizza-flavored Pringles and Cherry Coke. They do a body good - at least, when writing FAQs. ** My parents, who, as it turns out, are totally supportive of my FAQ and review writing - even more so because I'm good enough to make money off of it! ** Anyone who has supported my writing talents at any point along the long road to my success. This version of this walkthrough (1.1) is (C) September 28, 2003 by Snow Dragon, all rights reserved. It's been a while since I did this whole disclaimer thing, but I like to lay down a firm set of guidelines for prospective users of my FAQs to abide by. First of all, ask permission if you want to use this or any of my other guides on your website at the account where I answer all my mail: . Just ask me in a short and sweet request for permission to use it, and provide me with a URL so I can check out your site and see if it's "legit" (I know that's a word all the happenin' youngsters are throwin' around these days). If I'm "down with that," I'll let you use my FAQ. Just ask nicely, I'll probably say yes anyway, "homeslice." And if you plan to use my "walkthrough," don't "link" directly to it, but instead link to the "web page" with the "link" on "it." Don't sell this document for a cash profit. Give it freely to those who are without Internet access and need it. They'll appreciate your gift greatly. If you plan to use my walkthrough on your website, you may not change the text in any way, shape, or form, but if you want to add a visual aid such as screenshots or change the structure of the text (font, font size, font color, etc.), that's fine with me. As long as the words stay the same. And above all, don't plagiarize this work. It's my intellectual property and by being published in a tangible form (in this case, on the Internet), it is automatically subject to U.S. federal copyright laws. If you put your stamp on my FAQ, you're stealing. And I have ways to hunt you down. Don't think I don't run some key phrases through Google occasionally. If you're caught burgling my work, I'll find you out so fast and make sure something happens to you. On a final note, remember that the latest version of this walkthrough can always be found at GameFAQs and IGN.com. I really hope the latter is keeping tabs on my updated work. Have a great day, and have fun playing Super Mario World! (C) Snow Dragon 2003. All rights reserved. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------