e-1 Wild Ride in the Sky
The first e-Reader level takes you on platform rides, across the clouds and into a crossfire of bullet bills.
Jump on the moving platform and on to the next stationary platform to begin a long autoscrolling section. The first two floating platforms have coins on them, but the third has a power-up in the right block above it. Be quick to hop on the next couple of moving platforms; the scrolling speeds up dramatically.
Ride the platform to the top to reach the second half of the autoscroll section. Follow the cloud platforms to the right and watch out for the red Koopas, one of the few enemies in this course. After passing a small pillar of wood blocks, drop to the clouds below to grab an Advance Coin, then get on to the cloud platforms above. What follows are some donut blocks, with coins to collect below for the daring. On the cloud platform with the Koopa, drop down with the donut blocks to get the next Advance Coin.
Some more cloud platforms mark the end of the autoscroll. Just before that, be sure to drop down on to a platform of smiling clouds below the cloud with the red Koopa to get another Advance Coin, as well as a multi-coin block. Hop on the wooden block for the final challenge of this course. Four bullet bills regularly attack in a diagonal cross formation. Your ride is fast enough to evade them, but the track often puts you in the path of stray Bullet Bills as they leave the screen. Grab the Advance Coin at the center of the spiral track, then ride the platform to victory.
e-2 Slidin' the Slopes
There's almost no flat ground in this sandy nightscape. Many foes grew wings to adapt to the rough terrain.
Green Paratroopas are the first enemies you confront. Approach them carefully, their hopping attack pattern becomes quite unpredictable with the uneven terrain. An easy Advance Coin hovers at the peak of a hill followed by a long slide down. Smash through the enemies along the slope like bowling pins, then make a timely jump over the gap with the note block, grabbing the second Advance Coin in the air.
Time to take a detour. Hop on the note blocks from the flat piece of land to reach a warp pipe that takes you to a forest clearing. Triangle blocks work the same here as in Super Mario World; run up to one with enough speed to walk on walls and ceilings. Hold the dash button and follow the trail of coins as you wind around the interior of this wooden block formation until you get to the ceiling. You can jump for the coins here, but make sure to remain at full speed with your feet on the ground as you run off the right edge. Hesitate and you may fall into a pit of Munchers. Your physics-defying jog will be rewarded with an Advance Coin.
Returning from the warp pipe, your next task is an uphill climb where you shall be menaced by Paragoombas and Buzzy Beetles. Grab the Advance Coin along the path as you climb. The Paragoomba at the peak bombards you with Micro Goombas. From here, you can slide down a massive slope, carrying enough momentum to go over the small bumps in your way as well as any unfortunate enemy. After that is a large e+ symbol made of coins and a fight with a Boomerang Bro.. Defeat him to claim his boomerang, a handy weapon for defeating enemies and collecting coins. Unfortunately, it doesn't carry over to future courses.
e-3 Vegetable Volley
Vegetables prosper on these fertile plains. In a throwback to Super Mario Bros. 2, pluck patches of grass for throwable veggies, valuable coins and deadly mushrooms.
The course starts off flat with a few plants to pull. A red mushroom is encased in a bubble; throw three vegetables to pop the bubble if you need it. On the tall platform next to the bubble, you can pluck the first instance of a Poison Mushroom, enemies that move like normal mushrooms but are harmful to the touch. Following it is a crossover with Super Mario World instead in the form of a Chargin' Chuck. Bounce on them a few times to knock em out.
Travelling further along the jagged landscape, you shall see an Advance Coin hanging over a pit. Pluck a vegetable nearby and toss it into the pit to collect the coin safely. After the Advance Coin pit is a trio of grass, one of which gives you a massive vegetable when plucked. Next is a valley with two Goombas and a Koopa, as well as a Chain Chomp obstructing the way forward. A well-aimed vegetable toss will defeat it.
Further ahead is a pair of Spinies that you can kill with vegetables. Pluck the patch of grass they were roaming near to get several coins in one pull. A Chargin' Chuck can be found in the next valley, with an Advance Coin above its head. You can find another Advance Coin in a basin between two Chargin' Chucks. Defeat one to reach it and remain mindful of the other Chuck.
Past a bottomless pit is a red Koopa that can roll over some Spinies, as well as one more Chargin' Chuck. After the next pit is a red Koopa Troopa, but plucking the grass on the ground it is patrolling nets you a 1-Up. Hop on to the ledge above and over the ceiling to find a secret area with a bunch of coins. Drop down into the narrow pit to pluck up a rare Mushroom e-Coin! Jump by the right wall to reveal a note block that will get you out.
One more Chargin' Chuck lies before a wide pit of Spinies. The ground where the Chargin' Chuck roams contains several massive vegetables that will clear out most of the Spinies, which will let you grab the Advance Coin above the Spiny pit. There's another Advance Coin over a bottomless pit soon after, which you can also pick up with a vegetable. Finally, get past the Chain Chomp to reach the exit.
e-4 Doors o' Plenty
Ghost Houses makes their first appearance in Super Mario Advance 4. Navigate this mansion's labyrinthine rooms with its many doors.
Run to the right of this massive hall until you reach the center. You can find a huge multi-tiered wooden structure, arranged in such a way that you can only go from a lower tier to a higher tier. The top door is the only choice you have, taking you to a large room, much of which you can't access. Grab the key in this room and exit out the bottom door to return to the middle tier of the main wooden structure. The middle door on this tier leads to a dead end, so head for the right door.
You're back in the huge maze-like room where there are quite a few Advance Coins to be found. Drop down to the floor below the door you came in from to get the first Advance Coin. You can get the next Advance Coin by going up and to the right, then looping back around to get it between two wooden platforms. Wind your way to the lower-right corner to get the third Advance Coin.
Return to the top of the room and seek out a locked door that you can use your key on. Be sure to hop over the pinball paddles leading up to the door, or else you have to reenter this room and try again. You'll find yourself in a mostly empty room with an inaccessible floating door. The coin block on the left produces a coin trail that you must lead below the midair door. Press the P-Switch to turn it into blocks and enter the mysterious door.
Hit the P-Switch in this new room and drop down the shaft. Ignore the door to your left and jump up the platforms to the right. Next, you must drop down in such a way that you collect just enough coins to clear a path above the door while leaving at least one coin below the door. You can enter this door once the P-Switch expires to get an elusive Leaf e-Coin! If you mess up, you can use the lower-left door to try again.
Returning to the maze room, you should get to the lowest floor possible and head left until you hit a wall. Jump up the shaft here to reach one more door that will leave you at the lowest tier of the wooden structure. To the left is an Advance Coin and to the right is a yellow switch. Bring the switch to the right side of the room and hit it to cover the large pit with blocks. Hit the center brick block above the yellow blocks to sprout a vine into the ceiling you can climb. Grab the Advance Coin at the top and head into the final door.
It's a Big Boo boss fight lifted straight from Super Mario World, complete with a floor of ice blocks that you must use against it. You can't throw blocks straight up, so you must wait until Big Boo is more level with you to harm it. Three ice blocks to the apparition's face will end the course.
e-5 Bombarded by Bob-ombs
Boom Boom has a new stronghold: an underground base protected by massive turrets and a never-ending supply of Bob-ombs.
At the very start is a new kind of block that gives you a counter when you hit it. If you can collect 110 coins in this level, you'll be rewarded with a 3-Up. The above ground cannons will soon scroll into view, firing cannonballs and protected by Monty Moles. Collect the coins behind the turrets if you're aiming to complete the counter. An Advance Coin can be obtained behind the largest, three-cannon turret. The above ground section ends at a tower with a warp pipe leading into the rest of the level.
The course will start to live up to its name, as Bob-ombs can be found both patrolling the ground and fired out of cannons. An Advance Coin can be found next to the first cannon, but the Bob-ombs fired from the cannon also happen to rest right under it, requiring you to knock them out and grab it quickly. The screen will scroll past inaccessible alcoves in the ceiling where Bob-ombs stream out of the cannons. Be sure to hit all the coin blocks here for the extra lives.
You will see the next Advance Coin later on once you get to a pit bombarded by two cannons pointing at each other. Slip through the Bob-ombs to get underneath and hit the coin blocks while you're at it. After one more cannon, the level appears to stop scrolling as you reach a warp pipe, but notice that there is a small opening to the right. Jump into it to reach a secret area with an Advance Coin and three multi-coin blocks to finish counting down your coin counter. Head into the warp pipe to a room with the last Advance Coin and go through the pipe at the bottom for the typical Boom Boom fight.