As your introductory stage to the game, stage 1-1 shouldn't pose a serious challenge. Rattle the first red pig on the floor, and strike the block to obtain the first heart and extend your health meter to three hearts.
After running below a cake, watch out for a blue flying doll and the black hopping bird, and strike the box to obtain an invincibility bell. Once you pick up this bell, Upa will start running on his feet instead of crawling, and he can crash through any enemy without fear. You will likely reach the next box before the invincibility wears off, but you can strike the box while standing. Don't wait for the invincibility to wear off just so you can collect the apple inside this box. Skip it and run as far as you can while the invincibility is still active.
Take the upper route at the end of this portion of the map so that you can collect the apple from the box on the other side.
World 1-1 boss
Watch out for the pigs on the horizontal popsicle, and jump on the floating candy drop to reach the other side. Rattle the pink pig and the black bird if necessary, and jump up to the top of the cake to obtain a jar of milk which will fully restore your health.
For the remainder of the stage, it does not matter whether you travel high or low. Just shake your rattle at any enemy that approached Upa, and ride on top of them if you want a lift to the top.
Boss: The boss of the first stage is a large pink pig. He walks back and forth a little while before spitting out three red dolls. Stand in the lower right corner, and wait for the dolls to drop to the floor. Rattle every one that falls, jump on the last one, and ride it up to the boss. When one of the floating dolls is close enough to the pig, jump up and push the doll into the pig to damage him. Do this three times, and the pig will be defeated. Then wait for the chest to fall from the ceiling and shake your rattle at it to open it. Two fairies will escape and carry you on to the next stage.
Stage 1-2 is a bit different from the previous stage. It's a digging stage, and in digging stages, you do not jump. Instead, you can crawl and dig in any direction. Additionally, there are a lot of items hidden in the cakes that you must dig through, but there are no item boxes to indicate where they are, so you must search for them.
The first such hidden item is a valuable heart that is hidden right above your starting location. Dig just above the platform over your head to reveal it. The mole to your left will stay in that pocket of the cake unless you dig an access tunnel to him. If you do, you can always rattle him and blow him up. Just be careful if you push him since he is likely to bounce off the walls and strike you.
Another item, a bottle of milk that restores one lost heart, can be found inside the pocket of the blocks shaped like an L. You'll have to dig close to the second mole, so rattle him, but don't push him. Let him float harmlessly to the top of his pocket.
You'll pass another mold between the first and second cakes. When you reach the second cake, dig down to the bottom, and double back to the left. You will reveal a hidden 1-up along the floor. Collect it for an easy extra life, then continue digging to the right.
Not one, but two bottles of milk can be found near the end of the second cake. Find the first one in the small alcove created by the blocks, and then dig straight across to find the second one on the same level before you reach the third cake.
There are multiple pathways to choose while digging through the third cake, all with plenty of moles patrolling them. If you're hunting for more items, take the top path. Close to the platform, you'll find a jar of milk.
You'll find another jar of milk in the bottom right corner of the third cake, just before you exit and make your way to the fourth cake. Watch out for the moles that patrol the space between the two cakes.
There's only one item in the fourth cake, and it's difficult to collect but it's particularly valuable. Seeing the moles near the top may send you digging below, but you can find a heart if you're brave enough to travel above the wall of blocks near the middle of the cake. If you've collected every heart so far, you'll be at the maximum five hearts for the world.
Make your way to the very last cake on the right. There's no boss in this stage, so the treasure chest will simply drop from the ceiling. Before you rattle it, however, you may want to dig along the floor to reveal two apples. Collect them for extra points before you leave.
Now you are back to a stage that is similar to the first. Head to the right and when you see a red pig, rattle it and jump on it's back to ride up to the top. Inside the block is the only instance of a special item known as the Scorpion block. If you push it off a ledge, it will create an earthquake when it lands. Push it to the right, and it will destroy a group of pigs running along the ground below.
Continuing on, some enemies will present opportunities for you to rattle them and ride on top of them to reach higher platforms. You won't find anything up there but relative safety from the enemies that occupy the ground below.
When you reach the red popsicle before a gap, it's a good idea to understand how the red popsicles affect Upa's jumping ability. The red popsicles are sticky, so the first two times Upa tries to jump, he will only hop a small height. However, every third jump will be his normal height. So jump straight up twice before setting Upa up to jump over the gap.
At the very end of this portion of the map is another extremely rare tool that Upa can use to defeat enemies. There is a small cannon-looking object on the floor. If Upa jumps on top of it, it will emit a blast of flame that will fry the enemies. If any enemy is still a live, rattle it and ride it to the top so that you can reach the next item box, which contains an apple.
Use one of the pink pigs on the floor to ride up to the platform at the top. You'll find a box with a heart inside. Even if you already have a full meter of five hearts, collecting a heart will restore all of your health.
After crossing a bridge a green blocks, take the higher path above the cookies to avoid a series of red pigs below. A box on the floor contains a bottle of milk which only restores one heart, so don't risk getting hurt just to collect it.
As you make your way to the red popsicles on the right, a very rare pink flying doll will zoom across the screen. If you're in its path, smack it with your rattle before moving on. After jump over the gap to the right of the popsicle, you will likely need to rattle a flying blue doll and ride it to the top to make it over the green blocks. Then carefully time your jump on the final red popsicle so that you leap over the last gap on your third jump.
World 1-3 boss
Boss: The boss of this stage is very similar to the first boss; a large pink pig that spits out red dolls. The strategy to defeat this boss is the same, except that this boss can sustain five hits from dolls before he is defeated. Stand in the lower right corner, and be prepared to rattle the dolls as they hop over to you. Ride the last one you hit, and push the one above him to the left so that he flies into the boss. There is a chance that a doll will turn into a bottle of milk when they can no longer float, so keep your eyes open for the extra health. Push five dolls into the boss, and not one but two chests will fall down. One will contain the fairies that transport you to the next world, while the other contains an extra life. Which chest contains which is random, so you must guess. If you open the fairy chest first, you will lose the opportunity to collect the extra life.
