PrinceWatercress plays Super Mario World - Part 2 of 17

Our adventure in Dinosaur Land continues in Donut Plains!

Overworld map by Rick Bruns. All other maps by Stefan Mahrla.

Overworld

Donut Plains

Up until this point, every single normal course you have seen has had a yellow course marker. This signifies that there is only one exit. Donut Plains 1 is the first instance of a red course marker, which signifies that there is two exits. One of them is the traditional end of level goal, but the other one is located somewhere else.

Donut Plains 1

Map

The first enemy you will meet here are the Caped Koopas. These guys wear capes, and they will run at you before jumping up and flying forward. There will be others that swoop in out of the air. Some of these Caped Koopas will have flashing capes, and when you stomp on them with a normal jump, you will receive a Cape Feather. You can then stomp on him again to destroy him.

Grabbing the Cape Feather will turn you into Caped Mario, which allows you to fly in the air for longer than you could as Raccoon Mario...if you know what to do.

Run forward until Mario has hands to his sides. (This is harder than in Super Mario Bros. 3 due to the lack of a P Meter and the lack of an audio cue saying you're at full running power.) Keep holding the run button, and then press and hold the jump button. From there, you have to alternate between Left and Right on the Control Pad in order to fly. You have to get a certain rhythm going to stay in the air without going all over the place, but once you get it down, you can use it sail over some levels and look for hidden things in mid-air.

The first Charging Chuck you see throws baseballs forward. Some will be high, some will be low. The throwing of balls in sports that have them will be a theme with these guys.

The plants that spit tiny fireballs that gently float down are Volcano Lotuses. You can easily destroy them with a Koopa Shell, or you can spin into it by moving into it while spinning as Caped Mario. To spin as Caped Mario, press Y while on the ground or in the air. Keep pressing Y to constantly keep spinning. You can also perform a spin attack by pressing A. Fireballs will not work on Volcano Lotuses, so forget about burning them to a crisp with Fire Mario.

The Paratroops - the Koopas with wings - make their debut here. Sometimes they hop around, sometimes they fly in a certain simple pattern. They take one hit to de-wing and another to de-shell.

With the cape, you can hold A or B to gently float downwards. Using the regular B button jump gives you better results, since you can hold that in conjunction with Y and sometimes bounce off stuff if you know what you're doing.

There are two blue pipes that you can go through. The first one that is connected to four stone blocks takes you to a bonus game. Here, you have a few chances to hit three ? Blocks in a certain order. If you hit the right blocks in the right order, they will all have O's on them and the third one will give you a 1-Up. If you get any one of them in the sequence wrong, the remainder of the blocks in the row will also turn brown, meaning you messed up. You will have to activate the switch at the Yellow Switch Palace in order to enter this area, though.

The second set of blue pipes, which is just after the checkpoint, takes you to a wide-open area where you can practice your skills with Caped Mario, if you so choose. You'll also see the Triangle Blocks. If you see these, you can run into them and then keep running forward to run all the way up the nearby wall. If you're on Yoshi, you will merely bounce off the top of it. There are a ton of coins in this room, so you can get a few 1-Ups here. (If you collect all the coins in this area in the Game Boy Advance version of the game, the four birds from Yoshi's House will fly around you until you leave the room as a reward. This takes a lot of time to do, though.)

Near the end is a bunch of green-dotted line blocks as well as a Triangle Block. If you can get up there, you will reach a key and a keyhole. Grab the key like you would a Koopa shell, then carry it into the keyhole. If you did it right, the keyhole will expand and suck you in, and you'll be able to enter another course. In this case, it will be Donut Secret 1, which is in the lake to the north.

Donut Plains 2

Map

If a course marker has dirt around it, it means that the stage will take underground.

The screen is an auto-scroller, so be ready to pay attention, move and avoid things when necessary. Ememies here include the Swoopers (the green bats that swoop down and then fly forward when you get close enough), the Buzzy Beetles (the blue-shelled turtle like enemies who are impervious to Fire Mario's fireballs just like in games past) and Spike Tops, new turtle-like enemies who debut in this game and slowly walk forward. They have the ability to turn corners on floors, walls and ceilings as well as they can walk on them.

The yellow floors and ceilings will slowly move up and down.

You'll also see the winged ? Block for the first time. It's just a ? Block that has wings that allow it to fly around. Hit it from below to get something. Stand on the top of it to move around as it flies (though there's no reason to do so here).

Thankfully, the auto-scrolling here is pretty slow, and if you're patient, you should be able to get through this course without a problem.

After the crushing ceiling shortly after the start, there are a couple of pipes in the ceiling. The second green one will take you to a hidden area. Here, you will meet a Chargin' Chuck that kicks footballs at you, and you will also see a couple of blocks followed by a blue Koopa shell located underneath three blocks. You can get the Koopa shell and hit the highest block to reveal a vine, then you can use the lower blocks like a staircase to the vine and climb up it to a key and keyhole. You can also hit the highest block with a cape or a Yoshi super jump. This takes you to the Green Switch Palace.

The auto-scrolling gets a little faster near the end of the stage that leads to the goal post, but thankfully, it's no sweat.

Green Switch Palace

Map

If you can press the P Switch just right, the naked Koopa will kick the Koopa shell to the left. It will bounce off the wall, and if you keep running to the right from there, you can get a 1-Up.

Hitting the Green Switch will changed all the green dotted-line blocks to solid green ! Blocks. Hitting them from below will always give you a Cape Feather.

Donut Ghost House

Map

The Ghost Houses are a maze of sorts, and most of the time they will have two exits. Whenever you complete a Ghost House, you will be allowed to save your game.

Remember those pamphlets that advertised Nintendo Power that appeared in the boxes of every Super Nintendo game ever that started in 1991 and never changed? If you played these games back in the day, there's no way you can forget them. If you can fly up and all the way to the left at the very beginning, you can reach a hidden set of platforms above. Jump over the pits and avoid the ghosts when they turn solid, and at the end you will find a few 1-Ups and a goal post that leads to the Top Secret Area. The Top Secret Area allows you to get your fill of power-ups, and if you ever need a Fire Flower and a Cape Feather, you can find them all here. You can even get Yoshi in the Top Secret Area, which is nice.

Anyway, here's how to deal with the level normally. Run all the way to the right at the beginning, avoiding the Boo Buddies when they turn solid and dive down at you, as well as the pits in the floor. From there, run to the right. You'll end up on the lower level of the next room. Leap to the left to the stairs and go right to the door on the upper level and enter it. From there, you'll be on the lower level of the previous room. Hit the block to the left from below, then go up to the upper level and climb up the vine. That's all you have to do to reach the normal exit.

In the second room, if you hit the block from below there, you'll get a P-Switch. If you hit it, you'll see an arrow made of coins telling you to go to the left. There, you will find a silver door that isn't normally there. If you enter it, you will be in another room. Hitting the ? Block here from below will cause a line of coins to come out, and you can control where it goes with the Control Pad. Mario will, of course, be moving as you do this. If you have Caped Mario, you can fly around and get your fill of coins. Thankfully, it's easy to figure out where to go to exit the level regularly.

PrinceWatercress plays Super Mario World - Part 1 of 17

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.

Overworld

Yoshi's House

Map

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

Map

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

Map

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

Map

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

Map

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

Map

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

Map

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.

GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body - OST and Longplay

Here's the longplay for GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body!

Here are not one, but two versions of the OST: one in a playlist, one not.

PrinceWatercress plays GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body - Part 8 of 8

Here it is: the thrilling conclusion of GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body!

The final boss is pretty easy. Stand just to the side of center for a free overhead swipe in the air, then avoid the attacks. If the boss shoots out lightning from the top of the screen, avoid it. Thankfully, the lightning always lands near her. If she shoots out those blue dragons that track you, swipe them away with your baton. If she drops down, get away so that you don't smacked with that two-pronged spear.

The floor rocks back and forth as the battle progresses, and you can use that to get a little bit of a boost as you fight the final boss. You can simply overhead swipe from the edge when it's leaned upwards and hit the boss without jumping, which can be a plus. Just watch out for everything else.

If you know what you're doing, you can beat this boss in less than two minutes.

After the match, the apartment is a mess, and Mikami is irritated with Yakujin. The statue is in the trash...where it sorta belongs. You've beaten the game!

PrinceWatercress plays GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body - Part 7 of 8

The boss is easy, but the level itself? Not so much. It's still doable, though.

Report 7

This level is probably the most frustrating of them all.

The question mark gives you a gray baton that lets you shoot out platforms you can grab with the overhead shot in mid-air. You must be in the air to create the platforms, and you can only have two on the screen at any time. The platform-creating projectile can also damage enemies, too. so at least you're covered there. Be sure that you are standing on a platform when you create one; otherwise, you may lose the projectile you're trying to land on. Thankfully, if you get hit, you do not lose this power-up; however, it only lasts for the non-boss section. Unlike other levels in the game, there is just the one section followed by the boss.

This ability will prove most useful if you can stay up top. If you don't, you'll go all the way to the bottom, where you'll see enemies such as fairies that shoot projectiles forward, flying clowns with fans, bunny girls that shoot lightning and jumping statues. Probably the funniest ones are the flying ghosts that look like 100-yen coins. When struck, they turn into 50-yen monsters, followed by smaller golden coins.

You'll also notice the background switch between a blue hue and a red hue. When the background is blue, gravity is normal. When it turns red, gravity is reduced and you will have some floaty jumps as a result. You may have to wait a while for the gravity to lessen before you can make a move if you're at the bottom, where you'll have to watch out for pits.

At one point on the bottom path of level (assuming you even reach it), there is a point where Yokoshima drops down from above and grabs onto you, slowing you down tremendously. If that happens, mash Left and Right on the Control Pad rapidly until he lets go.

After smacking Yokoshima again, a purple werehorse appears. He creates his own version of Mikami with a much more modest dress and her own baton. She can easily be trapped on the side of the screen and smacked repeatedly. Then, you have to whack the purple guy out of the air. When you do, he will crawl around the screen. This is your cue to duck down and smack him with your baton. Just like the evil Mikami clone, you can trap him on one end of the screen and repeatedly whack him.

After you grab the green jewel, you'll instantly go back to the apartment before putting the jewel in. The bust will have more macabre eyes, a snake wrapped around it and a skull in its hand. All of a sudden, a demon with a trident will appear, and you will have to fight it...

PrinceWatercress plays GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body - Part 6 of 8

We take on our hardest case yet as we head to a construction site for another jewel for the bust!

Report 6

This report sees Mikami entering a construction site. The blue curtain ghosts will swoop down at you, spirits in construction hats will throw spackle at you, and rats will squeak by that you can only hit when you duck down. Cement bags will flop back and forth, and when they start moving, move back, duck down and strike. It will hit them.

The leaping one-eyed rocks are indestructible. You will have no choice but to jump over them. If you strike them, they will be stunned for a moment. Be sure to stay close before you jump over them.

You'll also see conveyor belts here. Pay attention to where the lines are moving to see where they go.

The balloon bombs with the skulls on them quickly count down from three to one before they explode into a six-way shrapnel shot. 

When you see Okimu, back away. She will either drop a couple of power-ups or she will drop a couple of cement bag enemies.

The question mark power-up gives you something completely random.

In section two, you'll see purple blobs that stay put on the conveyor belts as well as ghost hands carrying lanterns that slowly move in one direction. You'll eventually drop down in some sort of murky material that will slow you down unless you keep jumping. Watch out for the monsters that pop out and throw rocks at you. Wait for them to stop throwing stuff to get closer and hit them.

Later on in the section, you'll be surrounded by lantern hands and shrapnel bomb balloons. Be ready to swing your baton like crazy. When you reach the bottom again, strike the jumping rocks when they reach the bottom so you can jump over them.

The boss here is a ghost clown. When he appears, jump up and hit him with an overhead swipe. Be sure to hit him before he can back away, otherwise you will have to avoid the fireballs that he drops down. You can stand between two fireballs if you need to, but you can also stand at the left edge of the screen.

After enough hits, he starts riding a mouse holding a needle. Destroy the miniature clowns before they shoot out an unavoidable attack. Also, watch out for the projectiles that the clown ghost shoots towards the floor; otherwise, they will turn Mikami into a little girl and you won't be able to attack until you change back. This attack will hurt you and cause you to lose your power-up. The weak spot will be the mouse's head.

If you do have a projectile, stand where the vertical girder in the background is on the left side of the screen, and shoot at the head from there.

When you beat this boss, you'll get the gray gem which adds to the knee pads on the best and also creates a crown. The armor is starting to look more demonic.

Back at the apartment, it is revealed that the seventh gem is in the dream world. In order to get there, we have to whack Yokoshima hard enough to whack him unconscious.

PrinceWatercress plays GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body - Part 5 of 8

And we have the flying level, which can be tricky if you're not sure what to watch out for.

Report 5

The first thing you will find out is that the broom in this level is pretty slow. It does not change direction on a dime, either.

At the beginning, there are two demons carrying power-ups. Hit the lower one, since the red wave projectile it carries will be more useful here.

Other enemies you will meet are brown masks that dive down, green which that shoot projectiles, skull dragons that take two hits to kill and fly quickly at you after the first hit, blue dragons who dive upwards after blowing fire, yellow dragons that dive upwards and tiny green spiked guys who come at you in groups.

Be sure to keep an eye on the entire screen at all times; you never know when you'll be ambushed.

The boss here is some sort of vampire. When he spins around, move in circles, and keep striking at the boss. Keep an eye all over the screen afterwards, so you can avoid him as he flies from one end of the screen to the other multiple times. Keep attacking, too. You never know when you'll beat him.

When you beat that vampire, you'll see gauntlets, a skull and a scythe on the stone bust.

Next time, we're going to a construction site.