World 8 Tanks-**1/2-Super Leaf-must be played

Like all Dark Land levels, this is going to be dark and harder than usual. First, if you’re a cheater and have lots of P Wings, like four or more, then use one here and move on. But if not, you’ll start out by jumping past the first tank and on to the second, longer one, with the screen scrolling quickly behind you. Watch out for the cannonballs, then jump over the Bob-ombs. Make sure you don’t get hit at all, because then you’ll be in
grave danger very early on. After this tank comes one with a Rocket Engine, the only Rocket Engine you’ll
find. Then you’ll see a few basic tanks: one straight-firing cannon and one Rocky Wrench each. Then comes a bigger one, with a propeller and ? Block. Duck underneath to get the item, a helpful Super Leaf. You’ll come across a few more similar larger tanks, until reaching a little bit of wide open space, where a Bob-omb will follow you. You’ll see a tiny tank. Jump on it and duck, because you’re about to be blasted by a huge cannonball! Duck the whole time, avoiding it, then jump on the tank it’s on, avoiding more cannons and flying wrenches. There is another similar tank before you get to the exit pipe. That pipe leads to a Boomerang Brother battle. Beat the Boomerang Brother for a spare Starman, and move on!

World 8 Battleships

***-Super Leaf-must be played

This level is great to be mini-Mario as well, so consider getting hit if you want to take a extremely risky but
awesome shortcut. First, watch out for the Rocky Wrenches, as these are of the “regenerating” variety, ones that come back after being killed. Cannonballs will also make your life miserable. If you somehow are able to get to that ? Block as small Mario (under the big overhang), which I’ve never gotten to, then hit it
from the bottom left corner and make it travel right. Hold down the Down button while it comes to you, standing in front of the cannon barrel, so when you grow large, you are able to avoid its blasts, and immediately move on. (Don’t even try to get the Flower as Super Mario.) Now you’ll have to jump from one ship to another, so watch out for a huge cannonball immediately coming your way from the right. Jump over
it, or try the water trick. This is most easily done as little Mario. Fall into the water, and keep on hitting A and to the right to stay afloat. Now try to let yourself get underneath the boat, which is hard to tell thanks to the scrolling screen. If you let go of A for about half a second, you should be able to get underneath, but it’s still very tricky. Once you think you’re underneath it, start hitting A repeatedly and rapidly and Right the whole time. If you come up above water, then jump out quickly and get on the next boat, as you want to at least survive. The second boat is just four Rocky Wrenches. They come back after being killed, so you’ll need to check back to your left at times, and it’s best to go slowly here. That way, the ones on the left won’t be able to haunt you as you go to your right. After this ship, you’ll find two large cannons, with those huge cannonballs coming at you. Make your jump from ship to ship just as the right cannon goes off, hopping over the cannonball. If you’re swimming, you’ll need to do the same thing for the next ship to make it underneath again. On the third ship itself, you’ll have to jump over the three small cannons, then watch out for more cannons and Bob-ombs, and a final Rocky Wrench. There’s another huge cannon, and a Bob-omb that goes off by itself. Strange. Anyway, just time your jump and land on the pipe. Coming up from the water, wait for the Bob-omb to go and the big cannon to scroll off the screen, then jump out of the water on to the ship’s deck (A + Up + Left). Inside the pipe is a Boom Boom battle, something you’ll get used to in Dark Land.

The Original Master Hand

You’ll come across a bridge after entering the pipe after the Battleships. This bridge has five squares on it (you only land on three of them, as you walk over two of them). Three squares have mini-worlds in them, with the prize for each being a Super Leaf. You may or may not be trapped by a huge hand when going across them. I suggest you hit the A button on the first two you can land on, because they are easy Super Leaves. The third should be skipped if you aren’t grabbed.

World 8 Hand Trap #1

*-Hammer Brothers Suit-may or may not have to be played (play it)

This world contains a Fire Brother, two Hammer Brothers, a Boomerang Brother, and a Sledge Brother. It’s so easy, as you must just jump over the Fire Brother and avoid his fire, beat the Hammer Brothers as usual (with some coins and a Super Leaf found in the bricks), and then run and jump over both the Boomerang Brother and the Sledge Brother. Enter the pipe for a Super Leaf.

World 8 Hand Trap #2

*1/2-Hammer Brothers Suit-may or may not have to be played (play it)

This world has a bunch of broken and uneven bridges with lava below and Podoboos coming from the lava and the sky. With hammers, you can destroy the lava balls before jumping. It’s quite easy as long as you take your time.

World 8 Hand Trap #3

**1/2-Super Leaf-may or may not have to be played (skip if possible)

This is one of the classic Cheep Cheep-flying fish levels, where you’re on a bunch of broken but even bridges with Cheep Cheeps flying up at you. With a flying suit, you can run at the beginning, take off at the first pit, then fly until you run out of gas, and keep on hitting A (and to the right) to slow your fall and pass up the whole level. Then you can exit easily. Without a flying suit, you should run and jump carefully at the same time. It’s not easy, as running too much will make you fall into the lava, and jumping too much will make you hit a Cheep Cheep. So make sure you take your time while avoiding Cheep Cheeps at the same time.

World 8 Airships

****-Frog Suit-must be played

You read that right, a Frog Suit. One time, with no other useful power-up, I decided to use an extra Frog Suit
on this level. It worked like a charm, because it makes you jump high and far. That’s good for the many small airships here, with most having Rocky Wrenches and/or Rocket Engines. A Super Leaf is good for those of you who haven’t mastered the B button jump yet. But this is a perfect place for a P Wing. In fact, I always use a P Wing now, because this level is sooo hard. I can’t say much more than jump quickly to avoid the quick-scrolling screen, take out all Rocky Wrenches as you go, and avoid Rocket Engines. Then beat Boom Boom. It’s very hard and will require possibly five lives, even for a good player.

World 8-1

****-Tanooki Suit-must be played

You may be thinking, “A real level! This will be a breeze!” If so, guess again. This is one of the hardest levels in this game, just like the previous one. I can’t tell you enough to use a P Wing now. I’ve only beat this
level twice or three times without a P Wing. If you can fly, fly straight up at the top and hit a P Switch for tons of silver coins. Then fly right and up to a tall pipe with three 1-Ups inside. Without a flying suit, you’ll have to take it very slowly with the tons of Piranha Plants, and the Fire Flower in the ? Block is very hard to get. I suggest you skip the power-up and keep on going, as once you get to it, you can’t get out without getting fireballed by one of those Venus Fire Traps. Now keep on going towards the right, watching out for Bullet Bills and Boo Diddly as you go along, about to the place where a big pipe is. You’ll come out in this pipe if you took the three 1-Up route. From there, you must watch out for Bullet Bills and a Paratroopa and jump over a gap. Then you’re going to be in the middle of a bunch of Bullet Bills. Jump past them and let them scroll off the screen. You’ll be with a Troopa and a Note Block. Grab the Troopa, hold it over the Note Block, and let it go, which will kill it for good. Then run on to the NoteBlock, jump on it, then jump from the Note Block into the air, hoping to get enough air to make it over the pit. It’s the hardest jump to make in this game. From there, you’ve got an easy trip to the card, but making it there is the problem.

World 8-2

*-Super Leaf-must be played

Here comes some easiness, for once. Jump into the first quicksand pit and sink. Why? You’re actually taking a shortcut, not commiting suicide! You’ll come out in a place with two pipes. If you’re big or small but have no suit, then go left for a power-up (Super Leaf if big). If you’re fully-powered-up, then go right for a hundred coins. With a tail you can slow your descent into the coins and run and fly for more. Coming out of the pipe
you’ll be surrounded by Venus Fire Traps. Jump just as they are about to fire to make them fire high into the
sky, then run up past the top one. You’ll go down a huge hill here, then cross a pit with two Note Blocks and a Paratroopa. If you can fly, then just fly over it, but if not, then jump from Note Block to Note Block to make it to the finish. Those three jumps aren’t easy. If you didn’t take the shortcut, you’ll have to deal with an Angry Sun and other nasty enemies, not to mention a ton of Note Blocks over a huge pit. So here’s your warning not to go that way!

World 8 Fortress

***1/2-Hammer Brothers Suit-must be played

Here comes some “fun”- a maze-like fortress with two floors to it! Start out by avoiding the Roto Discs with some slow jumps. Then get to a Dry Bones and a door surrounded by bricks in a “H” formation. Break them while avoiding the Roto Disc and enter the door. Now be careful, as you’re on a conveyor belt. Keep on
going right, skipping all doors, until you reach a Thwomp. There’s a ? Block with a power-up here, and if you enter the door below him twice, you’ll come back with the ? Block reset. That’s how to keep on getting power-ups. Now the trickiest part is when it comes to two conveyor belts. Go to the bottom belt and make a
difficult jump on to the next platform. Then go to the long gray platform and drop down through the gap. Jump directly underneath the gap on the very right of it, which will cause a 1-Up Mushroom to appear from an invisible block. Let it fall down to you, then jump up to close out the gap with more coins in invisible
blocks. Then enter the door and run right. Enter the next door and duck. After getting past the spikes on
the conveyor belt, go right up the staircase and run right, avoiding a Boo Diddly on the way. Then go all
the way right to the end of the hall. Go down, avoiding a Thwomp, and continue left to two bricks you just ran over. Hit them for a P Switch. Activate the P Switch, then go all the way right to the wall and enter the door there. Duck, so the conveyor belt will take you underneath some spikes and let you battle Boom Boom.

World 8 Super Tank

***-Super Leaf-must be played

I suggest using a P Wing here and skipping the level easily. If not, then you’ll have to beat this tank. First, avoid the triple cannon early on, then kill the Rocky Wrenches one by one, preferably with your tail, and these ones don’t regenerate. Then watch out for some more cannons and Bob-ombs. If you take your time
and stay to the right of the screen, you’ll easily be able to make it through this level. Inside the final pipe is the last Boom Boom level of the game. Congratulations, you’re at Castle Koopa!

World 8 Castle Koopa

****-Hammer Brothers Suit-must be played

This is it! You’re finally here, and this is one of the most interesting levels in this game. First, use a P Wing if possible, and fly as much as you want. Also, if you don’t have a P Wing, use a Starman so you can make it past the laser-shooting statues easily. After them, go up the staircase, then stop right underneath the large gap above you. Either fly up (with a P Wing) or get lifted up with a previously-invisible lift that will lift you to the top. Then keep on going right. (If you kept going right, you’d come to a door, which you would then have to go back left to go the beginning.) Go down a Donut Lift, and jump off when you see land. Start climbing
the hard staircase with Roto Discs. Try to stop on the block nearest to the circle they go around. Climb up
as soon as they go down and to the right, and always stop next to the circle. Then go up. At the top, you’ll have to turn around and go back down a staircase, to the right of the one you just went up. Before you do, jump up at the top of this second staircase and collect a 1-Up Mushroom from an invisible block. For those of you P Wing users, you can duck and fly, landing on the previously-invisible block. Let go of the down button and you’ll go through the wall! This is a huge shortcut to avoid having to go back down again. If you can’t use this shortcut, then go down the staircase and then go back to your right. You’re now going to have to get across the lava on Donut Lifts, with Podoboos constantly coming in and out of the lava. Try to get up as high as possible on these Donut Lifts so you can take the highest exit possible. Here are the four exits:

The highest one. You can only reach here with a P Wing, running and flying from the platform beneath,
or being small and making a jump from the highest Donut Lift. It leads to a totally different way to getting to Bowser, and even a different Bowser battle. I’ll explain it in a bit.

The second-highest one. This one contains a power-up and a Donut Lift to fall back down to...

The third-highest one. This one has a Thwomp and a Donut Lift under the Thwomp’s path. Ride the Donut
Lift down after triggering the Thwomp to go back. Jump from the lift to real land. I’ll explain it later too.

The lowest one. This leads to a door, which puts you back at the beginning of the castle. Fun, fun!

Now here are the two ways of getting to Bowser:

From the highest exit. You’ll go past some Bowser statues (only the first one fires a laser at you) and a power-up (Super Leaf) in a ? Block, then have to make it across a shorter lava pool than the one from the other exit. You’ll have to avoid Bowser’s fire. Then enter the door for Bowser battle #1! I’ll explain it later.

From the other exit (not the one that goes back to the beginning, but the one above it). You’ll go over some
lava pools with Podoboos and Roto Discs. If you’ve got hammers, then you can get rid of those Podoboos along the way. Enter the door for some Bowser statues, with only the first one firing at you, and a power-up
(Super Leaf) in the ? Block. This room is slightly different from the one above, and then your lava pool
is longer than the one above and has Donut Lifts to climb across. Take it nice and easy while avoiding the
fireballs that Bowser is spitting at you. At the end, you’ll reach a door for Bowser battle #2! I’ll explain it later.

Bowser Battle #1: Run onto the red bricks to commence battle. Unlike the original Super Mario Bros., you
can’t fireball Bowser to kill him. But there is a weapon that Bowser is weak against, and it isn’t your Raccoon tail either. Six or seven hammers does the job, and Bowser will be instantaneously killed. If not, you’ll have to avoid his fireballs, then watch out as he jumps towards you. He will knock out some bricks, and you should stand in the middle, then run away, so he knocks out the middle bricks. Then do the same over and over again. You want to run into the gaps he’s made, so he will continue to crush the bricks and dig a deeper hole. If he falls all the way through, he’s dead, and you’ll have victory at last! Enter the flashing door to the right for Peach.

Bowser Battle #2: This is the same as above, but the gap underneath the bricks is a lot longer than just the middle two. Do the same strategy to win!

Some sources tell me that if you have a P Wing and fly over the wall in the Bowser battle, you fight again,
but Bowser cannot fire fireballs at you. I have yet to try this trick.

After saving Peach, don’t be alarmed at her message, as I once was. You don’t have to free another princess, as she jokes. Then comes the ending music. It’s one of the best tunes in any video game ever.
You’ll see all eight lands, then a final curtain with “The End”. Hit A when you wish to start over. Then you get
to start with 28 P Wings! You can beat the game over and over again, as long as you want or as long as your
NES works. Congratulations, you’ve just beaten the best game ever!

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