Thursday, July 16, 2020

PrinceWatercress plays Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) - Part 1 of 11


Who's ready to rescue the princess again? I know I am.

World 1


On the world map screen, the Control Pad will move you around where there is a path, while A lets you enter courses, fortresses and other areas.

World 1-1


Left and Right lets you move, A lets you jump, and B lets you run when held down.

At the bottom, you have the current world you are in, the amount of lives you have left, your P meter, your current score, the amount of coins you currently have, and the amount of time you have left. Collecting 100 coins gives you an extra life. Running out of time costs you a life.

To the right of all that are three squares, and when you clear a level by jumping into the square that quickly switches between a mushroom, a flower and a star, you can collect whatever happens to be in the square when you jump into it and collect a card of that image. When you collect three cards, you can get at least one extra life, with three mushrooms giving you two, three flowers giving you three and three stars giving you five.

By jumping into ? blocks from underneath, you can get things like coins and power-ups. The red mushroom turns you into Super Mario and gives you another hit and the ability to break bricks from underneath, while the Super Leaf turns you into Raccoon Mario. By tapping the B button, Mario can spin his tail and hit enemies that are right next to him. By holding B to run, you can fill up the P meter, and when it is full, you will be at your fastest speed and the P meter will be full for a few seconds. When that happens, you can press A repeatedly while Raccoon Mario to fly, but when it empties, you'll have to keep pressing A to slowly float down with your new-found Raccoon Mario powers. If you get hit as any form of Mario  other than Super Mario, you'll go back to being Super Mario. If you're Super Mario, you'll go back to being Small Mario. If you get hit at Small Mario, you're losing a life.

Goombas can be jumped on and squashed. Koopas can be stepped on and stunned, then grabbed by simply walking into one a stunned Koopa and holding B. While holding B, you can carry the Koopa shell, and you can let go of B to kick the shell forward. Be careful, as stunned Koopas eventually come to and come back to life, and if you're holding one when it shakes, you'd better let go before it revives. Pirahna plants come out of pipes and cannot be destroyed by jumping on them (though Koopa shells will kill them), and some of them will also try to spit fireballs at you.

By going up shortly after you get the Super Leaf, you can get on cloud platforms (and look at randomly generated mushrooms, flowers and stars in the sky). There is an invisible block containing a 1-Up in this area, and if you fly right from here, you can get on top of the tall pipe near the end, go down and find a hidden room with coins set up to look like the number three. The exit pipe will place you near the goal, where you can get a card as mentioned earlier. When you see the dark area that starts with a zig-zag line, you're at the end. Thankfully, all of the levels are pretty short.

If you choose to stay on the ground, you may find the P Switch. The P Switch turns bricks into coins when jumped on, but for only a limited time. A little ditty plays when you jump on the P Switch, and when the music is back to normal, the coins will become bricks again. 
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World 1-2


In this stage, horizontal pipes will spawn Goombas. If you're Raccoon Mario and you know what you're doing, you can keep floating in the air and keep landing on Koopas to keep yourself from touching the ground, and you can farm some extra lives this way.

There is a pipe on a platform made of two wooden blocks, and if you go down it, you'll find a hidden coin room. If you happen to stand on that pipe leading into that room and jump straight up on the right half of the pipe, you can uncover a hidden 1-Up.

The Starman makes Mario temporarily invincible, and in the game, it also allows him to do wicked somersaults. You'll get special music and a glowing Mario signifying that you are invincible, and when Mario stops glowing shortly after the music returns to normal, you will no longer be invincible.

Holding Down on slopes allows Mario to slide down slopes. 

The Para-Goombas will shoot down mini-Goombas that will slow Mario down temporarily if they latch on, and they can also swoop down before going back up into the air.

World 1-3


The Boomerang Brothers will throw Boomerangs. You can jump on them, but kicking a Koopa shell at them is easier and safer.

Kicking the Koopa to the side shortly after the first Boomerang Brother will break a bunch of bricks. You'll also open up a way to a hidden note block if you jump in a certain spot. Note blocks bounce Mario upwards when he lands on them, especially if you hold B, but the hidden one will take you to an auto-scrolling "coin heaven." If you fly with Raccoon Mario in the coin heaven, you can find a bunch of coins in the sky as well as a brick that contains a 1-Up...but you'll have to hit that brick from underneath first. When you reach the pipe at the end, go down it to return to the level.

Near the end of the level, there are a bunch of platforms you can stand on. One of them is a white one with a red Koopa that walks back and forth. Get it out of the way, then hold Down to crouch on that platform for a few seconds. You'll be behind the background boxes and bushes, and if you run to the right and jump into the goal card, you'll enter a secret Toad House. Press B in front of the chest to find the first of three Warp Whistles. The Warp Whistle takes you to World 9, which is a Warp Zone that takes you to later worlds.

Green Koopas will walk off edges; red Koopas will not.

Toad House

Get in front of a chest and press B to get what's inside. The item will be added to your inventory. Each Toad House will have its own set of items, but the chest that each one is located in is random.

World 1-4


This level is completely optional, but it is fun.

This will be the earliest auto-scrolling level in the game. Use the wooden platforms to get around, but be ready to jump to solid ground when you jump on a platform, as it will drop down when you land on it.

Some bricks contain multiple coins. You'll have to jump quickly to get all ten; otherwise, you'll get less than ten.

If you can collect 44 coins here, the White Mushroom House will pop up on the overworld map. If you go to it, you can pick up a hard-to-get item, but I don't mention it in detail for a while.

Spade Mini-Game

By going in here, you'll have to press B at the right time to get the segment of the thing you want - the mushroom, the flower or the star - to stop and be in the center. A mushroom gives you a 2-Up, a flower gives you a 3-Up, and a Star gives you a 5-Up. Mixing things up gives you nothing.

World 1 Fortress


The lava is dadly to the touch. So are the Podaboos that leap in and out of the lava as well as the "disco waffles" that fly around in circles around what looks like a rubber ball. At least the rubber ball platform doesn't hurt you. (They're actually called Rotodiscs, but I'm going to keep calling them disco waffles.)

The Fire Flower lets you throw fireballs that defeat enemies with the B button, but I don't get it just yet.

The Koopa skeleton is called a Dry Bones. If you jump on it, it falls apart, but will eventually pull itself back together again. You will have to go beyond conventional means to kill a Dry Bones.

When you reach the door, you can use Raccoon Mario to fly above the ceiling and go all the way to the right. When you can't go to the right anymore when you get on the ceiling, press Up and you'll enter a hidden room. Touch the chest to find another Warp Whistle.

If you can't go up there, you're forced to use the door. Stop moving and duck down to avoid the spikes. When the door rises up, press Up to enter it.

You'll then have to face Boom Boom. Boom Boom will move back and forth quickly and also jump every so often. Jump on his head to stun him, get away from him for a few seconds, then get ready to jump on his head again when he starts moving again. Boom Boom will always go down after three hits. When you beat him, grab the ? Ball that pops up to clear the fortress. If you beat Boom Boom, you'll get rid of the wall with the keyhole in it.

World 1-5


Hold Down to slide down and take out the Buzzy Beetles. Yes, they're back from the first Super Mario Bros. game, and they're as fire-resistant as ever, meaning you can't hit them with Fire Mario's fireballs.

To swim, hold Left or Right and keep pressing A. Pressing A at the surface of the water to jump out.

If you take the upper path after the first pipe, you'll find a hidden note block that takes you to another coin heaven section.

By holding Up while jumping upwards into an upside-down pipe, you can attempt to go up it to enter another area.

You'll also meet the traditional Piranha Plants that come in and out of pipes while biting for the first time here.

World 1-6


You'll have some more platforming...and some more wooden platforms. This game really likes wood.

The moving platforms on the paths will never stray from the paths they are on as they move back and forth.

Watch out in goal areas sometimes; enemies can show up in them.

Hammer Brother

You'll some times see Hammer Brothers running around on the map; running into them starts a battle. Jump on them or hit them from underneath by jumping up into the block they are standing on to defeat them, but watch out for the hammers they throw as well as the Hammer Brothers themselves. Sometimes a brick will hide a power-up, sometimes not.

When you beat the Hammer Brother(s), you'll get a chest with a random item for your inventory.

Card Mini-Game


Every 80,000 points, you'll cause a card with a spade with an "N" on it to pop up. Walk into it, and you'll start a card matching mini-game. The cards will be laid out in one of eight possible lay-outs, and if you know what you're doing, you can match all the cards with ease.

Use the Control Pad to select a card to flip over, then press A to flip it. Select two cards. If you match two cards, the thing that they have will be added to your inventory (if it's coins or extra lives, you'll have them immediately). As long as you keep matching, you'll keep going. Miss twice and the game is over. In case you miss twice, the game will keep track of what you've matched and what you haven't, and you can go back to the same set of cards to try again when you get another 80,000 points and get the mini-game to show up again.

World 1 Castle


The king has been changed into a dog. You'll have to get his magic wand back from the Koopa Kid on the airship to change the king back.

World 1-Airship


The airships that make up the end of every world are all auto-scrolling, and as you get through them, you'll have to be ready to deal with Bullet Bills and cannonballs that get shot out of cannons. Standing in front of Bullet Bill cannons will stop a Bullet Bill from firing, but you'll have to be ready avoid stuff when it comes to the cannonballs.You'll also need to be ready to jump from one place to another when necessary.

When you go down the pipe at the end of the level, you'll face a Koopa Kid. Here, you'll face Larry. Three jumps are enough to take him down, and he is pretty slow and shoots every so often with the magic wand. (Obviously, you don't want to touch the magic wand projectiles.) Jumping on Larry's head makes him hide and jump around in his shell, and you'll want to stay away from him and wait for him to poke his head back out before jumping on him again. After three jumps on the head (or five Fireballs, if you're Fire Mario), you'll beat Larry and get the magic wand back, and the king will be back to normal.

Beating this airship give you a letter from Princess Toadstool telling you that ghosts will give chase if you turn away. You'll also get a jewel that helps protect you in the form of a P-Wing. The P-Wing lets your P meter flash for a whole level, and also makes you Raccoon Mario. You can fly as much as you want for as long as you want until you either get hit or clear the level.

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