It's time to play a Mario game at last! This was the first one that I beat as well as the first one that I really got into back then.
Overworld map by Rick Bruns. All other maps by Stefan Mahrla.
Ah, yes, the first game I ever had as my own when I was seven years old. It was the first game to come out for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan, Europe and North America, and it brought a lot of new places, new faces and new things to the Mario universe, much of which are still used to this day.
Not only can you save your game, but for the first time, the Mushroom Kingdom does not factor into the plot. Sure, Princess Toadstool/Peach is still kidnapped by Bowser, but now you are in Dinosaur World, which has a score of new antagonists and allies to introduce.
When you enter the overworld, you can use the Control Pad to move Mario from one course to another. When you see a course you want to enter, press A and you'll go in, much like in Super Mario Bros. 3.
Yoshi's House
There's nothing you can do here. If you jump into the blue block with the orange circle from underneath, you'll get a message from this individual named Yoshi, who has gone to rescue their friends who were captured by Bowser. It seems Bowser has kidnapped more than just Princess Toadstool.
Walk off either end of the screen to leave. From here, Yoshi's Island 1 is to the left, and Yoshi's Island 2 is to the right. Let's start with Yoshi's Island 1.
Yoshi's Island 1
The sliding shell-less Koopa at the beginning of the level is just one of numerous new enemies you'll meet in the game. Also included in the new enemies you will meet here is the Banzai Bill that follows afterwards. It's big enough to make 7-year-old me think I was fighting a mini-boss at the very beginning of the game. Thankfully, you can take both down with a single jump.
The controls are simple. Left and Right on the Control Pad let you move around, Up lets you look up and Down lets you crouch. B lets you jump, while A lets you do a spin jump. Holding X or Y lets you run.
The purple dinosaurs that slowly walk forward are Rexes. You can kill them in one hit with a spin jump, but you can also use a regular jump to hit them twice, flattening them on the first one (which also makes them move faster). It's pretty funny.
Sometimes, you can walk past a bush and a power-up like a mushroom will pop out of it. Mushrooms turn you into Super Mario, while Fire Flowers will turn you into Fire Mario, just like in the old games. Getting hit in either form turns you back into Small Mario, and if you get hit as Small Mario, you will die.
The HUD on the top is pretty simple. From left to right, you have the number of lives you currently have, the number of Dragon Coins you have (more on those later), the number of Star Points (more on those later), the current power-up you have in reserve, the amount of time you have, and the amount of coins you currently have followed by your score.
The Dragon Coins are larger coins that have a dinosaur's face on them. There are five of them in any given level, and if you find all five before you leave, you get a 1-Up.
The blue box has the power-up you have in reserve. Let's say you're already Super Mario, and you pick up another Mushroom. You will still get the points for it, but it also shows up in the blue box on the top. You can press Select to cause it to come down so you can collect it - especially if it is another power-up like a Fire Flower - but in case you get bumped down to Small Mario, it will drop down automatically. The catch? You still have to catch it as it comes down, or you will lose that power-up. You'll then have to get another one in the box somehow.
You can be Super Mario and pick up a Fire Flower, and the Mushroom will still show up in the box, so in case you get hit, you have a third hit, provided you can grab the Mushroom as it comes down. You won't have your fireballs, but you still have a second hit again nonetheless. The blue box at the top can be very useful.
If you see yellow blocks with short vertical lines for "eyes," press A to spin jump while on top of them when any Mario other than Small Mario to break them from above.
Just like in the NES games, you can press Down while standing on the center of a pipe. Sometimes, you can go down a pipe and see what's below. You can also jump up into a pipe while holding Up to go up a pipe in the ceiling.
The small blue barber poles with the tape in between them is a checkpoint. Jump into the tape and you'll continue from that point when you re-enter the level after you die.
To pick up an object like a Koopa shell, move into it while holding X or Y. Keep holding the button to keep carrying it, and let it go to let go of the item. If you're moving when you do that, you will kick the item forward. You can also throw an object up by holding Up and letting go of X or Y (depending on which button you were using). This will let you hit the box above the red Koopa shell shortly after the continue point, which will award you with a green 1-Up Mushroom (which obviously gives you a 1-Up).
The Fire Flower is back, and it turns you into Fire Mario. To shoot fireballs, press Y. You can also shoot fireballs if you press A to spin jump.
The Piranha Plants are now free from their vines, and will now shoot out of pipes before jumping right out of them. You'll also see Chargin' Chucks - the football players - throughout the game. Some jump up and down, others run at you for a tackle, some throw balls of various sorts at you, but they're all annoying.
The big blue striped poles with the moving tape at the end is the goal. The higher the tape is if and when you touch it, the more Star Points you get. Get 100 Star Points, and you will enter a bonus stage at the end of the level. (More on that later.) The most you can get is 40, but it has to be at its absolutely highest point to get it. More often than not, you'll probably get 30.
When you beat Yoshi's Island 1, you will open up a path to the Yellow Switch Palace, complete with a ladder going up a mountain and a pool to swim through.
Yellow Switch Palace
There is a P Switch at the beginning of the stage. If you leap on it, coins will cover the room for a limited amount of time. Grab as many as you can before they disappear. You'll be able to get at least one extra life.
After that, go through the pipe, make your way to the end and jump on the switch to turn all the yellow dotted-line squares into yellow ! Blocks. If you hit one from underneath, it is an instant Mushroom.
That's all for the left end of Yoshi's Island, so it's time to go to the right and enter Yoshi's Island 2.
Yoshi's Island 2
You have a free shot at a 1-Up at the beginning. Grab the Koopa shell, kick it to the right on the above platform, then run to the right so the shell hits all the nearby Koopas.
If an egg comes out of a block, then congratulations! You found Yoshi! Yoshi is a dinosaur with a saddle on his back, and you can jump into him to ride him. Press Y to grab things with Yoshi's tongue and hold them in his mouth, and press Y again to spit it out in case Yoshi's can't swallow it. Some of the things that Yoshi cannot swallow include, but are not limited to, Koopa shells and P Switches; however, he can swallow them if left in his mouth for too long.
To get off Yoshi, press A to spin jump off. If you are in the air when you do this, you will do a superjump. Remember this for later.
In case you are hit while on Yoshi, you will be knocked off Yoshi and Yoshi will run away. Jump on him before he falls into a pit (or something) and you'll be able to ride him again.
After the Chargin' Chuck, you'll meet a new enemy: Monty Moles. These little moles will pop out of the ground and out of platforms in the background, and they will do one of two things: chase after you, or move in one direction. They can be easily taken down either way.
Sometimes, you can find a vine in a block. If you're not riding on Yoshi, you can get in front of it and hold Up on the Control Pad to climb up. Hold Down to climb down. You never know what you might find at the top...or in-between.
Oh, and don't worry about Yoshi disappearing if you go of-screen. That won't happen unless you are very far away from him.
There is a pipe you can go down where you can grab some blue blocks and kick them upwards into other flying blocks. One of them will carry a 1-Up. When you grab the Blue Blocks by walking up to them and holding X or Y, they start glowing. When the glowing slows down, they are about to disappear, so you do not have long.
The P Switch at the end will allow you to skip the Chargin' Chuck on the way to the goal.
Yoshi's Island 3
Watch out in this level. There are plenty of bottomless pits, even though there are plenty of moving platforms to keep you in the air. There are some that expand and contract (sometimes vertically), and other that rotate if you stand on the center of them for a while.
If you go down after meeting the first Koopas, you'll find a yellow pipe. Go down it, hit the P Switch, and take the temporary coin block bridge to get a Dragon Coin.
If Yoshi eats a Red Koopa and spits it out, Yoshi will spit out a three-way fireball attack. Different colored Koopas give Yoshi different abilities.
The green block with the white star will give you a 1-Up if you have collected 30 coins in the stage; otherwise, you will only get one coin.
Yoshi's Island 4
If a course marker on the map is in water, it means that water will be involved in the level somewhat.
The blue pipe takes you to a land-based area where you will meet Pokey from the Western version of Super Mario Bros. 2. If you have Yoshi, you can eat him segment by segment. Whenever Yoshi swallows something, it counts as collecting one coin. It should also be mentioned that Pokey has five segments if you are riding Yoshi; if you are not, Pokey only has three.
The sea urchins in the water can be eaten with Yoshi, and you can spin jump on top of them (and some other spiny enemies) to bounce off of them.
Pressing Start to pause the game followed by pressing Select in a level you have completed will allow you to exit back to the overworld.
By holding Up when pressing Y to get Yoshi to eat something, Yoshi will not duck as he extends his tongue.
If you can hit the P Switch and then get the Starman - which gives you temporarily invincibility - you can run into enough enemies to earn a few 1-Ups.
If you fall into the bottom of the screen, you will die.
#1 Iggy's Castle
Iggy's Castle is the first of quite a few special buildings such as castles, fortresses, and other places that you will see in the game. The first screen will always show you going into the building, but you can always skip it. If you bring Yoshi with you, you will drop Yoshi off at the front door before going on. Thankfully, you get to keep him even if you die in this stage.
Here, you'll be climbing on fences. Position Mario in front of the fence, then press Up to start climbing. From there, you can move in eight directions with the Control Pad and press Y to punch. If you see a door, you can press Y to punch the door and swing over to the other side. If an enemy is on the same side of the fence as you, they can hurt you; otherwise, they can not. Press B or climb down to a floor
If anything like a Koopa is on the other side of the fence, you can punch them with the Y button to knock them off and score some points. If they're on the same side of the fence, you can climb downwards onto their heads to take them out. The game considers you to be in the air as long as you are on the fence, and as long as you stay on the fence, you can get an extra life if you can defeat enough enemies this way.
Unlike you, if Koopas ever reach the end of a fence, either horizontally or vertically, they will climb over to the other side.
The lava is obviously death, so don't fall into it. Speaking of fiery things, the Podaboos (the fiery things that have been known to leap in and out of the lava dating all the way back to Super Mario Bros.) make their first in-game appearance here. Avoid them at all costs.
If you see a doorway, move in front of it and press Up to go through.
The second section is auto-scrolling. Watch out for the crushers that come down from the ceiling, and be careful not to fall into any pits along the way.
The boss here is Iggy, one of the seven Koopa Kids from Super Mario Bros. 3 (and named after Iggy Pop). You will have to jump on him to push him back, and hope the ground behind him is sloped downward as the platform you will be fighting on will be rocking back and forth. When you knock him into the lava, the boss fight is over. Be sure to stay on the platform, so you don't fall off, especially at the end.
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