Super Mario Bros. 3/World 3 Part 3

World 3 2nd Fortress

Take a deep breath before diving into a submerged fortress with claustrophobic corridors. This water-filled fortress is the home of another new enemy, Stretch, a ghost who hides under the floor, ready to ooze out and scare you. He can't be defeated, so you have to sneak by him with care.

Part 1

Part 2

• 1: If you can successfully navigate the Cheep-Cheeps and Roto-Discs, you'll arrive at a ? Block containing the stage's only power-up. If you're Super Mario, you'll find a Fire Flower that'll let you fry any fish that swims in your direction. It'll also make the boss battle much easier.

Part 3

• 2: Stretches are ghosts that dwell in weird white blocks throughout the underwater fortress. Watch their patterns and swim either between or around them to avoid touching the ghosts. It's easier to take the outside-paths if you're small.

Part 4

• B: BOOM-BOOM is back, and he's ready to bust out a new trick. Prepare to dodge his flying attack! Floating blocks will get in your way if you try leaping around the room. Fight him in the center.

World 3-8

Raging floods and fearsome fish force Mario to climb a vine to higher ground. This is one of the toughest stages in the game. Boss Bass is back, the tides go deeper and leave you nothing to stand on, and the island are smaller. You have to get to the safety vines fast!

Special Turtle Techniques

• Release a Koopa as you hold it over a pipe or block and it won't return if you back track.
• Holding a turtle in front of you as you run will protect you from a frontal attack.
• Release a turtle one block away from a pipe or wall, and it won't hit you as it bounces back.

• 1: Slam Boss Bass with a Koopa shell to knock him out for a while. He's hungry, so don't expect him to be gone for long.
• 2: Hit the block with a Koopa, an Ice Block, or your Raccoon Tail to make the vine grow. Climb the vine to the safety of high ground. Grab the power-up from the Jump Block—if you're Super Mario, it'll be a much needed Fire Flower. Take a rest at the top until the tide goes down, then run for it.
• 3: Use a Koopa to get this 1-Up. Be sure to pick up this extra life, as lives can be tricky to hold on to around Boss Bass.

• 4: White Mushroom House. Hit the Switch Block to collect many of the 44 coins necessary to open up a secret White Mushroom House. It will also allow you to collect a hidden 1-Up.
• 5: Play the waiting game for 1-Ups. If you're patient, kick a Koopa shell between the Switch Block and the wall, and wait for it to hit Boss Bass many times. The results are points and 1-Ups.

World 3-9

Cannons and Bob-ombs crowd a secretive stage of tricks and traps. There are a couple of neat tricks you can try in this world, but be warned: they are somewhat difficult to pull off!

• 1: Wait for the Para-Goomba to land, then bump it from below. If you bump the sixth block from the left, you'll get a power-up. Be careful if you're chasing a Super Mushroom—watch out for the Bullet Bill cannon to your right.
• 2: Drop Mario into the background by squatting on the white platform until you fall behind the scenery. You won't be invincible, so you'll still need to jump to avoid enemies and cannons!
  • Make Mario invisible!: Take this trick even farther by clearing a path to the pipe which leads to the aquatic portion of this stage. Then return to the white platform, squat on it until you fall through it, then make a run for the pipe! If you're still in the background when you go down, you'll come out of the pipe invisible.
• 3: Unlimited 1-Ups—the easy way. Grab a Koopa shell from the beginning of the stage and run with it until you pass the white block. Stand on the cannon and kick the shell right to break the block wall. As the shell bounces, quickly jump up and stand near the top of the wall to watch. You'll rake in the 1-Ups.

• 4: The second unlimited 1-Up trick (described next) will be much easier to pull off if you jump and break the blocks to widen the hole in the wall between the cannons.
• 5: Unlimited 1-Ups—the hard way. Stomp on the Koopa Troopa at the beginning of the stage and run with its shell through the gauntlet of cannons. Throw it to break a hole atthe base of the block wall (see point 4). Run back to the beginning. Be careful not to get blasted by a Bullet Bill or slowed down by a Para-Goomba. Stomp another Koopa Troopa and carry its shell back to the wall. Jump over the cannon and onto the pipe. Throw the shell left so that it bounces between the cannon and the pipe, knocking Bullet Bills.
• 6: When you enter the underwater section of the stage, swim far to the left to find a pipe leading to a secret area (shown right). As soon as you go down the pipe, hold to land on a platform containing a giant ? Block. Bump the block to reveal a rare Frog Suit.

• 7: If you plunge down the pipe with a shell or an Ice Block in hand, you'll swim with it. You can then use the shell or Ice Block to eliminate a Cheep-Cheep.
• 8: Cheep-Cheeps guard the exit pipe, so either swim carefully to avoid them or eliminate them with fireballs, an Ice Block or a Koopa shell.

World 3 Airship

Wendy O. Koopa awaits you in the fearsom airship. Send her plunging to the water world below! You can jump over some of the walls in this warship, even though the gap you go through is off the top of the screen. This can save you a lot of time and effort.

• 1: Another 1-Up opportunity: Jump on the three Rockys and Bullet Bill without touching the Airship's deck 10 times, and you can score two 1-Ups.
• 2: You'll have to act fast to grab the power-up in the ? Block before you scroll past it. While you're attempting to get the power-up, watch out for cannon fire.
• 3: Use your momentum. If you jump on top of an enemy or cannon ball and hold down , your momentum will give you an extra boost of height to your leap.

• 4: Get used to an unusual mode of transportation. Jump repeatedly on the Bolt Lift to make it take you across the gap. In this case though, it might be easier to take the low road and just avoid the flame jets.
• 5: On airship stages, you often have a choice between an upper and a lower path. The upper path is usually much easier, and it's no different here. If you hold down and jump towards this wall, you can make it over to the other side.

B: Wendy O. Koopa

Wendy O. Koopa is the only girl of the Koopa family, and she's one ferocious female. As the ruler of Big Island, Wendy is known as an unbearably bossy Koopa with a sweet tooth. Get ready to dodge some candy!

• Wendy's wand shoots candy rings that bounce off the floor and walls, making this boss battle much more difficult than previous ones.
• In addition to worrying about Wendy, you'll have to track and anticipate the movement of the candy rings.
• Never fear—just like with her male siblings, stomping on her three times will bring her bossy days to an end.

Onward to the land of the giants

The Island World was tough, but Mario made it through and returned the king to normal. Off in the horizon, Mario can see Giant World coming up. It looks pretty overwhelming!