Points depend on how you kill the enemy
I. Multiple Kills
When enemies approach you in great numbers, get them in a row to score high points. Points will double (100, 200, 400) for each enemy you get. Goombas are the best foes on which to test this technique.
II. Double Kills
When you stomp on two enemies at a time, your score increases accordingly (100 + 400).
III. Kick and run
When you use the stomped turtle to defeat the other enemies, your score will increase with each additional kill (500, 800, 1000, 2000, 4000, 5000, 8000, 1-up). If you do this enough times, you'll get an extra life!
IV. Other secret tactics
There is a tactic called "wait and re-stomp" where you can wait for the turtle to revive after you stomp it, and then stomp it again for a high score. This "double stomp" tactic will change the 100 + 400 score into a 100 + 500 score.
Other variations of this tactic can also increase your score. One example is the "triple kill and kick." This high-level tactic will give you 100 + 200 + 400 + 1000 points. Depending on your skill, you can combine your attacks to increase your score. If you're going to do it, do it in style!
Score with the flagpole and fireworks
Every time you clear an area, you are presented with a flagpole. The higher you jump, the higher you score. Instead of jumping on the flagpole from the ground, stay on the staircase and use the 
button jump sequence to jump to the very top of the flagpole for 5000 points! It's safe and easy to make points in a big way.
When you enter the castle at the end of a level, fireworks may go off. The number of fireworks varies from time to time, but usually there are none at all.
The secret is this: when you clear the area and the time clock has a 1, 3, or 6 as the last digit, that number of fireworks goes off. Each firework is worth a 500 point bonus, so landing on the flagpole when the last digit is a 6 nets you 3000 additional points.
How to use the Warp Zone
There is a warp zone in World 1-2 and two in World 4-2. The first one in World 4-2 leads to World 8-1, and the other, found at the end of the level, sends you to World 5-1. The warp zone is useful in avoiding enemies, and offers a speedier route to Princess Toadstool. By using the warp zone, you can bypass many of the "Bowsers", and skip over especially troublesome worlds.
Although very useful, there is a negative aspect to the warp zone. For instance, if a beginner tries to use the warp zone without enough practice, he/she will not be able to go much beyond that point due to lack of experience.
The worlds gradually become more difficult; each builds onto the next, providing you with new situations to improve your skills. Exploring new worlds, meeting new challenges, and seeing new enemies can be fun for some people. You miss a lot of action by skipping worlds just to get to World 8.
The identity of Bowser
Bowser, the evil King of the Koopas has been defeated by our hero, Mario! But why did he have to fight against eight different Bowsers? This secret is only revealed when you kill each one with Fireballs. In reality, the Bowsers you defeat in Worlds 1 through 7 are other creatures disguised as Bowser. In other words, they are fakes.
- World 1: Goomba
- World 2: Troopa
- World 3: Buzzy
- World 4: Spiny
- World 5: Lakitu
- World 6: Blooper
- World 7: Hammer Bros.
Mazes
There are some levels that are considered to be mazes. You are required to clear the right path, or you will be trapped forever! If you look close enough, there are hints in Castles 4-4 and 8-4 that might tell you that you are about to get stuck in a loop.
- Castle 4-4 - In the first part, there is a fire-bar on the bottom of the screen that will disappear if you clear the path wrong. In the second part, you will be lucky to find that if you clear the path correctly, the other two routes are actually dead ends.
- Castle 8-4 - In the first part (Except for All-Stars), the two Piranha Plants may disappear way too early (This is the end of the road here!). In the second part, the hanging Piranha Plant and the Parakoopas will disappear. In the third part, the final Piranha Plant and the Cheep Cheeps will disappear.
- Hint: If you take the wrong pipe in Castle 8-4, you will discover that the screen is mostly an empty hallway (Except for the one pipe you returned from) until you move forward.
Unfortunately, there are no preemptive indications in Castle 7-4 that you took the wrong path. In addition, if you try to make multiple guesses on the correct path, you may run out of time. You can click on any of the three links to find the correct routes. Castles 4-4 and 7-4 only consist of the entrance, two maze divisions, and the exit to Bowser. However, there are no platforms above Bowser when you face him. You need to either jump straight over, sneak under him, or use fireballs.
A new quest awaits Mario!
The story has come to an end, and Mario and Princess Toadstool are surrounded by a glowing light. The light spead, growing outward to envelop the entire Mushroom Kingdom and free all the creatures from the evil spell of Bowser.
Finally, peace returns to the Mushroom Kingdom, and the faithful subjects are restored to their rightful places. But listen, Princess Toadstool is trying to tell Mario something!
"Thank you Mario! Your courage has freed our Kingdom, and your long journey is now over. To show our gratitude, we have prepared another quest for you." Mario, totally astounded exclaims, "I have to go on another journey? That's crazy!" Dizzy with the news, Mario keels over.
When Mario regains consciousness, he finds himself in another land. It's like the Mushroom Kingdom, yet different. Again Mario must save the Princess held captive in a castle far away.
While the title screen is on, you can use to select the world you want to play. For now, take a look at what World 1 looks like. Although completely exhausted, Mario gets back on his feet.
The first enemy approaches! Buzzy? What's this? The first enemy is supposed to be Goomba! That's all right, let's get them all. But something is strange here!
"Mario, Mario, don't take this world lightly! It's a totally different world, and you enemies are placed differently, too!"
Did Mario hear the Princess' parting words? Maybe not, but you did. Use StrategyWiki as your guide to challenge the under world!
Notable Differences
- All Goombas are now replaced with Buzzy Beetles. All Ground Koopa Troopas and Buzzy Beetles move faster than before.
- The first 10-coin block in Bonus World 1-2 is dangerous to approach. A Buzzy Beetle will make it harder to collect any coins.
- All platforms that were originally 6 holes long are shortened to 4 holes. All other platforms remain unchanged.
- Bonus World 1-3 is identical to 5-3, but you will find Buzzy Beetles instead of Goombas.
- Bonus Castle 1-4 is identical to 6-4, except Bowser does not throw hammers here.
- Bonus Worlds 2-2 and 2-3 are identical to Worlds 7-2 and 7-3, respectively.
- Bonus Castle 2-4 is identical to 5-4.
- Your flagpole opportunity in Bonus Worlds 3-3 and 4-3 is significantly altered. You will need to jump a longer distance to score 5000 points.
- The secret swim area in Bonus World 5-2 is identical to the the one in 6-2. You don't need to swim quickly any more.
The Minus World (Level -1)
This is a glitch world. In the NES and Game Boy Advance versions, this is a never-ending underwater world. When you reach the end of this "level", you are taken to the start of the level. There are no powerups and the only way to end the level is to die or run out of time. When you die, you are taken to the start or middle of -1. In the Famicom Disk System version, this is a three-level world with some strange quirks. The game ends after the third world as though you completed the game at world 8. The Minus World is only available in the NES, Famicom Disk System, and Game Boy Advance versions.
To access this glitch, become either Super Mario or Fire Mario. Go to the end of World 1-2 and stand on top of the pipe. Go all the way to the right, and then one square left. Knock the brick above you, and the one to the left of it, out. There should now be the wall with one brick attached and a gap.
Walk to the edge of the pipe without falling off. Now for the tricky part: crouch, then while crouching, jump and hold right so the brick attached to the wall pushes you down in the air slightly. When done right, you will go through the wall. Do not move; you will slide through the wall automatically. Once you are through the wall, enter the first pipe (beware the piranha plant!). Do not walk all the way to the right or the area reverts to the normal warp area when "Welcome to Warp Zone!" appears (the middle pipe takes you to world 5, and the leftmost pipe also takes you to the Minus World). This was removed in Vs. Super Mario Bros.
Weird Bullet Bill
Go to Level 6-1. When you get to the part where a floor appears, keep jumping on Bullet Bills. Once you hit one that makes you bounce up and down, the Bullet Bill you just hit was the weird one! It will cost you a life due to time.
Little Fiery Mario
Internal to the game, Mario's powerup state is recorded in two independent variables; one describes size (0=regular; 1=super) and the other tracks the 'upgrade state' (0=need mushroom; 1=need flower; 2=has flower). The 'size' decides the sprite (small on 0; big on 1) used for Mario; the 'upgrade state' decides what powerup will come out of a block (mushroom on 0; flower on 1 or 2) and what will happen when Mario is hit (die on 0; switch 'size' and clear 'upgrade state' on 1).
These states can be knocked out of synchronization. The game checks for all sprite collisions, knocks the 'upgrade state' to 0 if it hits, and switches size only when all checks are done. If Mario's sprite strikes the King Koopa sprite and the bridge release sprite in one frame, the game will register the collision between Mario and Koopa, knock the 'upgrade state' to 0, register the collision between Mario and the bridge release, and jump into the level complete loop that causes Mario to walk to the right -- and never switches the 'size' variable.
If Mario was naturally large (state 1 or 2, size 1) when he hit the switch he will stay large (state 0, size 1). If he strikes an enemy he will die (because his 'upgrade state' is 0), but he can break blocks. If he gets a mushroom, he will shrink and be unable to hit blocks; if he is hit now, he will grow again. If he gets a fire flower, his palette will be changed and he will be able to shoot (but the game will use the large image for shooting; it will, however, keep Mario's small feet if Mario is moving.) Mario will now be Little Fiery Mario.
If Mario was naturally small (state 0, size 0) when he hit the switch he will appear to die but the level will still be beat and he will not lose a life. If Mario was unnaturally small (state 1 or 2, size 0) when he hit the switch (that is, if he does this trick twice), he will revert to his normal form. When Mario dies his size is set small and his state is set unupgraded, no matter how he died or what his state was before.
Using the third part only of a 3-code Game Genie code for "Always Stay Big" will produce similar results (the code is SZLIVO). As long as Mario has gained a power-up, he will become small when hit, then grow when hit a second time. This is a much simpler way to view the "Little Fiery Mario" quirk.
This glitch, originally discovered by gamers Grady Haynes and Tom Shoemake [citation needed], appears to have been fixed in the Super Mario All-Stars version, though you can still see it with a cheating device.
Alternate method to the 4-2 warp zone
On level 4-2 (an underground level), an above ground coin area and warp zone is reachable via an ivy vine/beanstalk. However, a variation of the 1-2 trick to get to world -1 may be used to reach the coin area in an alternate manner. Before the area where the vine is accessed is a long corridor with a lower corridor at the beginning of it. From this lower corridor Mario may be made to slide through the lower bricks in a manner similar to the -1 trick. (During the crouch-jump Mario's head must pass through the "?" block to the left of the opening to the upper corridor). After the slide, as in the -1 trick, Mario will be at the right side of the screen, ahead of usual play triggers. An experienced player with knowledge of the level can then maneuver Mario (without dying or backtracking) to the coin-area pipe beyond the vine area. If Mario enters the pipe here, instead of being transported to the normal coin area, he will find himself in the above-ground coin/warp area.
This trick can also be done by accessing the vine, scrolling it halfway off the left-hand side of the screen (using the block it grew from as a guide), getting on the vine, and pressing left. This will cause Mario to switch to the extreme right-hand side of the screen, where the earlier method takes over.
Game Genie Codes
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
| OZTLLX + AATLGZ + SZLIVO | Player is always big |
| SXIOPO | Infinite lives for both Mario & Luigi |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + PEAPYA | Game starts on World 2 |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + ZEAPYA | Game starts on World 3 |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + LEAPYA | Game starts on World 4 |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + GEAPYA | Game starts on World 5 |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + IEAPYA | Game starts on World 6 |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + TEAPYA | Game starts on World 7 |
| YSAOPE + YEAOZA + YEAPYA | Game starts on World 8 |