Super Mario Bros.

1. Hold B to sprint. Mario’s default walk is slow; hold B while moving to build momentum. Sprint-jumps carry farther than walk-jumps—critical for long gaps and flag-pole timing.

2. Stomp everything. Jump on Goombas and Koopas to defeat them. A kicked Koopa shell slides along the ground and knocks out every enemy in its path—aim it down corridors for chain kills.

3. Hit every ? block from below. Most contain coins; some hide power-ups. In World 1-1, the first Super Mushroom sits in the left ? block of the brick-and-? formation just after the opening block (a Fire Flower appears instead if you’re already big). Big Mario survives one hit before shrinking back.

4. Break bricks for secrets. As Super Mario, certain brick blocks hide 1-Ups, power-ups, Starmen, or multi-coin caches. Some items sit in invisible blocks in open air—1-1’s hidden 1-Up is between the fourth pipe and the first pit.

5. Enter green pipes by pressing Down. Pipes you can enter lead to underground coin rooms or shortcuts. In World 1-2, ride the lifts up onto the roof and run past the exit pipe to reach the Warp Zone—its three pipes skip ahead to Worlds 2, 3 and 4, each numbered above its pipe.

6. Grab the flagpole as high as possible. Touching the top awards 5,000 points. If the timer’s last digit is 1, 3, or 6 you get that many fireworks, 500 points each. Sprint-jump from the staircase for maximum height.

• Hold B through the entire run. Sprint speed carries into your jumps, so a running start is what turns long gaps from pits into makeable jumps.

• Stomp-bounce chains preserve run speed. Landing on an enemy while holding B maintains your velocity into the next jump—useful for back-to-back Koopa sequences.

• Use 1-2’s first pipe for a coin room. It drops you into a bonus room with 27 coins and a 10-coin brick, then a pipe returns you to the main level.

• Castle mazes loop on a wrong turn. In 4-4, take the top path—the bottom path sends you back. In 7-4, go bottom, middle, top in the first puzzle, then top, middle, top in the second.

• Flagpole timer bonuses are digit-based. Landing with 1, 3, or 6 in the ones place of the timer grants that many fireworks (500 pts each); speedrunners route for x1 or x6 finishes when the time allows.

• Vine blocks are fixed per level. The vine positions (4-2’s warp zone, 2-1’s Coin Heaven, etc.) don’t move between playthroughs; memorize them for consistent warp access.

• Swimming is all A-button. Mario sinks on his own in water and each press of A strokes him upward while keeping his forward momentum—tap rhythmically in 2-2 and 7-2 to hold your depth.

• Bowser axe-bridges end every castle. Every Bowser fight can end the same way—sprint under or leap over, hit the axe. Five fireballs as Fire Mario also work, and reveal a fake Bowser’s true form.

World 1-2 hidden exits. The underground level hides more than its exit pipe. The first pipe you can enter drops you into a bonus room with 27 coins and a 10-coin brick, then pipes you back into the main level. Near the end, ride the lifts up onto the brick roof instead of dropping to the exit pipe: run along the roof past the exit to find the Warp Zone to Worlds 4, 3, and 2 (left to right). If you entered the exit pipe, you’ve already passed it.

World 4-1 Lakitu pressure. Lakitu appears almost immediately—once you jump over the first pipe—and tracks Mario relentlessly, throwing Spinies. New players try to outrun him; he follows until the flagpole. Solution: grab the power-up from the lower of the two ? blocks next to that pipe and fireball or stomp Lakitu for breathing room. Another Lakitu eventually appears to replace him, so use the gap to advance. Alternatively, maintain full sprint and jump every Spiny; standing still or slow walking guarantees hits.

World 5-3 Bullet Bill gauntlet. This is 1-3’s island course remixed with smaller lifts, and Bullet Bills fly in from off-screen the entire time. The combination creates a timing puzzle most players fail by hesitation. Watch for each Bill before committing to a lift, then immediately jump across. Stopping mid-lift to assess the next one gets you clipped. A stomp takes a Bullet Bill out of the air, but the timing is tighter than just keeping moving. Casual players burn lives here before internalizing the rhythm.

World 8-4 lava maze wrong paths. Bowser’s castle features multiple pipe routes; only one leads to the final boss. The rule: in each looping room, take the first pipe after that room’s lava gap. Take a different pipe—or none—and the room loops or dumps you back at the start with no indication you chose wrong. The manual offered no help; pre-internet players relied on Nintendo Power maps or trial-and-error across dozens of attempts. Mark wrong pipes mentally—there’s no in-game tracking.