New Super Mario Bros./World 1-1

Peach has been kidnapped once again, this time by the mischievous Bowser Jr. You will need to traverse across World 1 to reach his stronghold. The grassy plains of World 1 are very forgiving for beginners, and this first level will prepare you for the challenges to come.

Level walkthrough

Travel right to face your first enemy, the iconic Goomba! These mushroom minions are Bowser's most expendable infantry, being pretty common and easily dispatched with a single stomp. Two of the first three blocks you see contain coins, while one of them gives you a Super Mushroom if you bump into it. Keep going right and jump up the hill, grabbing any coins along the way, including the one in the block. Just to the right, you can see a pyramidal arrangement of blocks. The topmost block can give you a lot of coins if you hit it fast enough. There's also a new technique you can use on these blocks. If you're powered up with a Super Mushroom or anything stronger, do a ground pound on the block from above, making sure to hold the button. You should get the full batch of coins, and even an extra Super Mushroom as a nice bonus.

Star Coin hunt

In every level including this one, you can find three large rotating coins scattered around in odd places. You need to collect these Star Coins to unlock new paths, as well as to generally work toward 100% completion. Be warned though, as Star Coins are usually hard to reach, and collecting them all is certainly a difficult challenge.

Continue right. Jump to get the 4 coins and be careful of the goomba. There's a warp pipe here, a signature landscape feature of the Mario series. You can't go down this particular pipe, so stomp the Goomba up ahead and jump over the pit, hopefully grabbing the coins along the way. The first ? block you come across after crossing the gap contains a Mega Mushroom! This rare item lets you temporarily turn Mario into a giant, letting you bulldoze everything in your path, from blocks to enemies to warp pipes. Tear through enemies to build up the meter at the top of the screen, as you get 1-Ups depending on how much of the meter you've filled in. You can also get 5 1-Ups if you manage to crush the flagpole while still in Mega form, but you'll need to delay obtaining the Mega Mushroom to reach it in time here.

The unstoppable force of the Mega Mushroom is tempting, but roaring through the course means you can miss a lot of secrets. A bit further to the right after the block with the Mega Mushroom are two blocks next to each other which contain coins. Jump straight up while standing on the right block to cause a vine to pop out. Climb up the vine to reach a platform high up with a block that contains a 1-Up. There are also some coins on the adjacent platform, and jumping down from there will put you right next to the first Star Coin! One of the blocks nearby contains a Super Mushroom, which becomes a Fire Flower if you're already big. You would definitely want to grab the Fire Flower, as it lets you throw fireballs to take out enemies from a distance, even making them drop coins.

A bit to the right, you will see both variants of the Koopa Troopa. Green Koopas simply wander around aimlessly while red Koopas will track you to some extent and will not walk off the edge of the platform it's on. Like in previous Mario titles, you can knock Koopas into their shells by stomping on them or by bumping them from below. You can grab these shells or kick them to attack other enemies, but they also pose a danger to you too. Jump to the left of the blocks the red Koopa was standing on to reveal some hidden blocks. Stand on the center of these blocks and jump straight up to hit another hidden block, this one spawning a vine into the skies. Climb up the vine to reach a new area with a red ring. Go through the red ring to make 8 red coins appear. Collect all 8 and you can get a power-up or, if you're already Fire Mario, a 1-Up! Jump back down along the trail of coins at the end to skip a large portion of the stage. You might wish to backtrack so that you don't miss anything.

Flagpole secrets

Depending on when and how you grab on to the flagpole, you can get different results. The most obvious is the height at which you touch the flagpole, receiving more points the higher you are. If you manage to touch the tip, you get a 1-Up. You can also get a retro level end theme if you clear the level while the last two digits of the times are the same, which also causes a Toad House to appear at the starting point of the world. If your matching digits are 11, 22, or 33, you will get a red Toad House. If the timer ends at 44, 55, or 66, you get a green Toad House. If you finish the level with 77, 88, or 99 seconds at the end of the timer, you get a Mega Toad House.

Back at the blocks where you spawned the vine, move a bit right to reach a warp pipe. You can go down this pipe by pressing , which transports you into a small underground area. There's a bunch of coins here, as well as a block containing a power-up and a Star Coin! The pipe here also skips ahead a pretty significant portion of the stage. A bit past the working warp pipe is the checkpoint, and after that is a triangle of blocks. The topmost block contains a Star, which grants you invincibility just like in past games. It's no Mega Mushroom, but it's a nice alternative. Past a gap, there's another block that contains a power-up.

After the block with the power-up, you will come across some brick blocks covering a Star Coin. If you've collected the power-up from the block just now, you should be Super Mario or greater and can easily ground pound past the blocks to collect it. The rest of the course is uneventful, with nothing very notable. There's the pipe that serves as the exit of the underground area, and a second appearance of the two Koopa variants afterward, with a couple of Goombas along the way. Run up the staircase and jump forward to snag the flagpole, ending the level!

Star Coins

1. This one's out in the open. You can easily run right into it if you're Mega Mario, or reach it by jumping from the nearby warp pipe the platforms to the left of it.
2. Go down the warp pipe right before them midway checkpoint to enter an underground chamber. Get the coin with a simple wall jump. You can't enter the underground area while Mega though.
3. This one is plainly visible beneath some brick blocks. As long as you're not normal or Mini Mario, you can ground pound into the blocks to get it.