Hints
Castle: Secret Star
Stand on the sun platform in the middle of the main room in the castle as Mario. Gaze up at the sun above the final Boss door. You must perform this trick with Mario because he is the only person that can fly. Inside, you must collect eight red coins and a Star will appear on the center platform. Note: You can only receive this star after you reach a certain point in the game. You will know you have reached this point when the sun shines through onto the platform.
Hazy Mazy Cave: Secret Star
Go to the Hazy Mazy Cave course. Go to the left and follow the path to the underground lake. Jump on the dinosaur and grab the Wario Cap. Point in the direction of the metal doors and he will take you there. When you get inside, jump in the metal pool. Collect eight Red Coins to get a Star. Note: Use Wario's Power Flower to help you get the underwater coins.
Mirror Room: Secret Star
Once you have access to the second floor, visit the Mirror Room with Luigi. Grab a flower and walk into the mirror to pass through it. Go straight to the door in the background and it will open, bringing you to a completely white room with a star in it. To get back into the main area, grab another flower or go to the right to free Wario (if you already have not done so).
Peach's Castle: Secret
Enter the room where you can change into different characters (Before the room with the Toad and pastel colors). Jump into the glass window of Peach next to Yoshi's door (on the right). You will enter a Castle Secret. You can get three Stars here. Make it to the bottom of the slide to get the first. Make it to the end of the slide in under twenty seconds for the second. Get every coin in the level (including blue ones) for the third.
Princess' Secret Slide: Extra life
If you get the first 1-Up mushroom, there is a second 1-Up behind the Star Box's platform.
Ship: Secret
Got to the room on the first floor with the entrance to the level with the sunken ship picture. There all small square holes on the walls. Jump in the one on the left to get a 1-Up. Jump into the one on the right to enter the Castle Secret. To earn a Star you must swim through the tank and get all eight red coins. To get air, you must grab the other coins -- their is no way to get out of the water.
Tick Tock-Clock: Star
As you enter the room with the Tick-Tock-Clock level, there is a Toad standing against the right brick column. Talk to him as Mario and he will give you a Star.
Whomp's Fortress: Star
Use the following steps to get the sixth Star in course 2. Go into the cannon by the water. Aim the cannon by the far, thin wall. Hit the corner and the wall will break. Soon after that, a Star appears.
Secret Underwater level:
When you enter the castle, go to your right. There will be a door with a "3" on it. Enter it. There will be a painting with bubbles inside. Go to your right. There will be a raised box up in the wall. Jump inside and it will take you to an underwater level. Collect all the red coins and a Star will appear in the center, on the bottom.
Fight Bowser without using Mario
When you collect the numbers of Stars to open the Star Door with Mario, switch with Luigi, Wario, or Yoshi. Note: Yoshi will not grab him, but Bowser will spit out a Luigi cap.
Defeating the Goomboss
As Yoshi, run around the arena as fast as possible and try to get behind the Goomboss. Swallow a Goomba that follows him. Wait for it to become an egg and throw it at him. Repeat this two more times.
Fun with Goomboss
Go back to the place behind the Princess's Drawers to the door with an 8 on it with Mario. Enter the fight with Goomboss, and eventually he will throw a mushroom. Touch the mushroom and Mario will grow tall, just like in the classic Mario games.
Defeating King Boo
Get to King Boo by going through the Luigi picture in the Boo House. You can tell where he is when he disappears in the mirror by looking for his shadow on the floor.
Defeating Koopa the Quick
After you challenge Koopa the Quick, run up the bridge as usual. However, when you get past the bridge, run over to the flower patch near the red block. If you go to around the middle of it, you should teleport directly in front of the mountain. From there, instead of going to where the rolling bowling balls are found, go up the steep hill. This may not seem it is faster, but it is. Continue running up the mountain until you reach the first hole where the bowling balls are coming from. Jump into the hole. You should be teleported to the second bowling ball hole. Then, run up to the flag. If done correctly, this should be an unbeatable strategy for defeating Koopa the Quick.
Defeating Lethal Bombs
To kill the Lethal Bombs, either jump at them or punch/kick them ahead of time.
Getting Luigi
Go to the courtyard with the fountain and the ghosts. Look for one ghost that larger than the others. Use Mario to stomp him. Enter the small object that it drops to reach Boo's mansion. Get the first Star. On the second one, go up to the second floor. Continue on to defeat Big Boo and get Luigi's key.
Getting Mario
To rescue Mario, you need at least 8 Stars. Go into the castle version of the rec room, where Toad is worried about losing Peach's rec room keys. Open the 8 Star door. Go forward, jump across the platforms, climb the pole, and reach the top of the huge tree. Jump down the hole on top of it. To defeat the following Boss, Goomboss as Yoshi, just run behind him, swallow a minion, and throw it back at him. After each hit, he will grow and redden. After three hits, he will be defeated and you will get the key to Mario's room. Then, just unlock the door and go inside.
Getting Wario
Play as Luigi in the Mirror Room. Jump into Wario's painting and defeat the Giant Ice Bully to get Wario's key.
Stronger Wario
As Wario, find a Power Flower. Fight enemies and you will be slower, but stronger. Note: By doing this you can also walk on lava.
Glowing rabbits
There are eight glowing rabbits that randomly replace each of the character's mini-game rabbits. Once you catch all eight, you will receive a key that unlocks the white door to the right of Wario's. You will receive a Star.
After you catch all glowing rabbits you will get a key that unlocks the door in the character changing room.
Note: In order to find the glowing rabbits, you must find all the regular rabbits for each character. Also, the glowing rabbits can be caught in any order.
To unlock to glowing rabbits, you must find all seven rabbits for each character. Note: Luigi only has six, as his seventh one is on the roof of the castle which cannot be accessed until all 150 Power Stars are recovered. After this, eight white rabbits will appear at random. For the most part, each character has about two rabbits, but at the very least one. Generally, the glowing rabbit for each character can be found by going to all the rabbits, then the last one is the glowing rabbit. Once a rabbit is found that is glowing, you do not have to go to that one to make the last one glowing. There is no order on the characters; just start with Luigi and go to all rabbits until a glowing rabbit or all have been checked. Then, switch to Mario, Yoshi, and Wario. Continue until the final rabbit is found. The eighth glowing rabbit will give you a key that will open the door next to Wario's refereed to as "The Empty Room." This room contains a Power Star and nothing else.
Some locations of the rabbits are as follows.
Luigi: Rabbits
Go to the area with all the ghosts and where the door is located. Jump, then grab the ledge. Climb it, then jump up again. There should a green rabbit up there.
Secret Stars
When you go up the stairs and have one Star, you can go through a door with a number one on it. When you go in, go through one of the pictures of Peach. One of them contains a level with a secret Star.
As Luigi, from the main hallway go into the door at the top of the first staircase. Go up the stairs and into the door at the top of this staircase. Then, go into the door with red carpet around it. There will be a room with a huge mirror in it. Get a flower on one of the pedestals and go through the mirror. Enter the door in the reflection. You will be in a room that is all yellow, with a lone Star.
Go to the rec room where you play mini-games. Jump into the painting in that room. Collect the five Blue Stars to get the real Star to appear. This is also a level that appears when you play in multi-player mode.
Finish the secret level in the character selection room in less than 21 seconds to get another Star.
Go into the basement with Wario. Go to the entrance to Hazy Maze Cave but do not jump in. Go all the way around and down the steps. You should see a Toad in the left hand corner. Speak to him for a Star.
Go to the second floor with Luigi. There is a Toad across from the Tall Tall Mountain entrance, located directly behind the steps that go to the third floor. Speak to the Toad and he will tell you about the mirror room. Before he finishes, he also gives you a Star.
In all the levels leading up to a Bowser fight (the levels that bring you to a transport pipe), there are a possible of two secret Stars. One is to find all eight red coins. The other is to find a switch Star by stepping on a Star button.
On every course in this game, you are able to get a Star if you collect 100 Coins.
When you go into Luigi's picture frame (located in the ghost place), get Luigi's cap. Find a "?" box after killing everything in there (because you will need to go very fast). When you use a Power Flower and you are invisible, in the final room where you enter the hole to face King Boo, there will be a Star on the map. Because you can go through walls, go through the ghost picture and there will be a Star.
There are secret Stars in the hole in wall across from rainbow place. You can get one by collecting red coins and one in a black brick. First, fly to the place with Wario's cap then use the canon. Aim it to the tree and put it slightly higher. Break the black brick and a Star will appear.
Secret area
When you have a good amount of Stars, go to the part of Peach's castle, where there is a flame-like painting on the wall. Then, go down the left hallway until you reach a dead end. Jump through the wall at the dead end. If done correctly on the correct wall, you will access a secret level.
Drain water under bridge and Star
After getting Wario, go to the basement type place. Go though one of the doors with no star on it. You will reach a sign that says something about the two pillars in front of you. Ground Pound both of them, and the water will sink. After that, go outside close to under the bridge. There will be a one of those black brink type things -- make sure you have Wario. Then, ground pound it. You must collect all the red coins to get the Star in that secret spot.
Mario loses hat
Go to the level where you can see the snow level in the mirror. Climb the mountain when you get to the head where the penguin is found. The snow head guy will blow you off. If you are Mario, your hat will fall off and you can leave the level without it.
More mini-games
To unlock more mini games in the rec room, catch a rabbit with the character you want more mini games with. For example, catch a rabbit with Luigi to get another Luigi mini game.
After you have been in Princess Toadstool's (Peach's) room with the big dresser and all the drawers, go outside in the front yard of the castle. You will need to be playing as Yoshi. You will see three rabbits grouped up together. If you go near them, they will run away very fast. Run after them and catch them with your tongue. The rabbit will plead to let it out. You will automatically spit it out. After it complains about you about almost swallowing it, it will give you a key to the drawers, which will unlock more mini games in the rec room for Yoshi. You will get three keys, because there are three rabbits.
Luigi's 5 Card Draw Poker mini-game
To get a very high score, exit the game and come back to it if you get a bad hand. Doing so will not effect your coins or winning streak.
Psyche Out! mini-game
The mini game tests your psychic abilities. There is a trick to beating this game. If you look carefully at the waving card, you should see a faint outline of the image that is on the back of the card. If you can not see the image immediately, wait a few seconds and you should get a glimpse. This will happen more frequently on the harder levels.
Character power-ups
Feather: Jump three times to make Mario fly.
Flower: Make mario inflate and float slowly; handles easier than the feather.
Yoshi Flower: Makes Yoshi's mouth full of flame and can breath fire. If you ever see fire, such as in the basement, you can eat it and can spit fire once.
Luigi Flower: Makes Luigi invincible to most things. He can go through screens and other objects.
Wario Flower: Metal Wario; he is invincible and can stay underwater.
Mini-game requirements
Obtain all 150 stars and go outside the castle. Climb inside the cannon opening that is now located where the grating was near the Fish Pond. Aim to land onto the roof, to get three lives and a red block for flying Mario.
Hazy Maze: Easy lives
Go to the part with the poisonous gas maze. Get to the section aboveground that has two gopher holes on it. Near that area should be a breakable box with a Super Mushroom inside. Get the Super Mushroom and run to the two gopher holes. Walk over the holes, killing the alternating gophers back and forth until the mushroom wears off. It is possible to get 40 lives this way. Note: This works best with Wario.
Snowmans Land
Go in the mirror room and find the snowman painting in the mirror. You will see that it is only in the reflection. Jump in the wall that the snowman painting should be on and you will be in Snowmans Land.
Stop the clock level
To stop the clock level on the third floor of the castle, jump in at exactly 12 o'clock.
Go in at 3, 6, or 9 o'clock to make it slow, medium, or fast; respectively.
When you go up to the clock, instead of entering it, wait until the big hand goes around once.
Shifting Sand Land
To get to Shifting Sand Land you must enter through a wall hidden down near the Lethal Lava Land level.
Tall, Tall Mountain: Mysterious mountainside
Go to the top of the mountain and get the Wario hat. Jump down until you see a group of coins on the side of the mountain. Jump through the wall to enter a secret slide game, in which the reward is a Star.
Tall, Tall Mountain: Slide
Go to the bridge at the top of the mountain. Go underneath. There should be a cloud that is trying to blow you down. Follow the coins. At the end of the slide, you should end up in a cage. There should be a Star here.
Wet Dry World: Flood
After getting the key from the second Bowser, go upstairs and walk through the door that leads to the room with all the pictures. Stop when you get through it and look around. In front of you is a picture of a spider. It is Wet Dry World. To flood it, jump very high into the picture. If you time the triple jump extremely well, you will flood Wet Dry World.
Wet Dry World: No water
This trick is very similar to the "Wet Dry World: Flood" hint. The only difference is, instead of jumping high into the picture, jump very low into it. You should try to jump directly into the bottom of the picture.
Whomps Forest: Blast away the wall
Go to the canon located near the water. Go in, and if you move the canon to the correct place, you will see two walls. Aim the canon to one wall. Aim it to the tip/corner of the wall. When you press [A], you will see that you have chipped a piece of the wall. Chip the other wall in the same place and a Star will appear.
Extra lives in third Bowser battle
Walk behind the top left pillar to collect an extra life if you lose a life during the battle.
When you get to the pipe where Bowser is on, there is an extra life at the last pillar on the left. Get it, and every time you fight Bowser and lose go to the same location and get the extra life.
Easy health refill
When Mario's energy is low, find water, swim underwater, then get some air.
If you are low on health, just find a body of water and jump in. Stay at the surface and your health meter will refill.
To regain health, just collect coins. You can also try to destroy an enemy to see if an item appears.
Easy lives
Play a level with a 1-Up, such as Bomb-Omb Battlefield. Collect the 1-Up mushrooms, leave the level, then go back in and repeat. You can do this as many times as desired.
Go up to the room with each character's door. There will be a stained-glass portrait of Princess Peach. Jump into the portrait on the right hand side of the of the room to access a Secret Star room. Go down the slide in front of you and about halfway down, you will run into a 1-Up. Repeat this as many times as needed.
You must have at least 8 Stars and Mario unlocked for this trick. Go to the area where you unlocked Mario (past the character selection, through he door that required eight Stars to unlock, in the portrait of Mario) as Mario. Go down the tree stump to fight Goomboss, then kick the back of his head to get the mushroom. Eat it and wait for him to turn. He will create three Goombas at a time. Because you are big, you will automatically kill them. Continue to stand there and you will start racking up lives (three at a time). You can get up to fifteen lives at a time by doing this. Once the mushroom wears off, kill yourself and jump back in, repeating the process.
If you die during the final battle and need lives, go behind the pillar to your left to find a 1-Up. If you die at Bowser, it will be there again.
Easy Stars
Some very easy Stars appear when you talk to some Toads in different rooms around the castle.
1-Up Mushrooms
When you get a power-up mushroom(that makes your character bigger), start plowing down enemies, signs, etc. A number will appear after every object you hit. After the number "8" appears, you will earn a 1-Up for each enemy hit.
When you enter the castle, go to your right. There will be a door with a "3" on it. Enter it. There will be a painting with bubbles inside. Go to your left. There will be a raised box up in the wall. Jump inside and there should be a 1 Up Mushroom.
Shortcut to King Bomb-Omb
When you get past the gate, you will see hill with a red coin. The only way to get up that hill is to hold [Y] (dash). Every once in a while, change the camera angle. Another way is by transportation. Go along the normal path of the level and you will eventually see a hole in the wall. Stand in that hole and do not press anything. You will be instantly warped to the second top layer of the mountain. The last way are the cannons. Just blast yourself up there, but be careful. Mario flies slightly below the target. Make sure you raise the cannon a little above your target. This will save some time.
Send Goomba fying to the air
As Wario, jump kick a Goomba. He will go flying into the air.
Avoid death from high falls
If you fall from a very high location, wait until you are just above the ground and press [R]. You will do a butt slam and will not get hurt.
Drawing
When the game starts and Mario's head appears, touch him. The screen will draw Mario. To draw your own picture, touch the pencil on the bottom-right. You have a paint meter at the bottom. This determines how much more you can draw before it automatically makes it into an object.
If you cannot figure out what to draw, press [R] or [L] before you start drawing. A faded image of Mario will appear. The same happens for Yoshi if he was on the screen that was touched at the start.
Press [B] at the title screen to take a still picture of Mario for you to trace.
When you are drawing on "Touch Draw", press [Up] or [X] to bold, [Down] or [B] to un-bold, [Left] or [Y] to delete, and [Right] or [A] to undelete.
In order to free draw Yoshi or Mario in any position desired, start the game and hold [Start] + [Select]. When you have Mario looking around the screen, press [B]. This will copy the face, and you can now free draw Mario and Yoshi in your desired position.
At the main screen, press [B] for tracing. You can also touch Mario or Yoshi at the touch screen then press [L] or [R] to also enter tracing mode.
Alternate Mario or Yoshi introduction drawings
At the first time on the start up screen, you will see Mario.
Drawing controls
Note: This is with standard mode.
At the main menu, when Mario's face is looking around, tap his face the first time he turns and faces all the way to the right. It will draw Luigi's face instead of Mario's.
When you first start the game touch Mario's face three times. When the drawing of Mario appears, it will be Luigi with a "!" over his head.
Classic Mario game reference
When the game starts, go to the rec room. You will hear the level selection screen music from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Glitch: Walk while underwater
Play as Yoshi and find Wario's hat. Then, get his power-up so that you are metal. Before it runs out, get hit by an enemy while near a slope like the sunken ship. For example, jump off the bow to the wall and get hit by the eel. Yoshi will lose his cap, but not swim. You can walk around on the bottom slowly, but can still drown.
Glitch: Disappearing water
As Mario, enter the Wet-Dry World painting at the lowest point to make the water the lowest. Once in, get to the top of the stage with the red "!" block. Do not raise the water level. Get floaty and make your way to the tunnel that takes you to the second area of the level. Touch the crystal that lowers the water and get the "!" block. Float back up through the tunnel where you came from. At the end of the tunnel, triple-jump to get up. Note: You must wall jump on the side of the tunnel leading up. You will suddenly hit water as if you were swimming. Swim back down the tunnel, and eventually the water will disappear and you will hit solid ground.
Glitch: Hazy block
Enter the Hazy Maze Cave level and into the gas filled area. You will find a block. Jump into the block to go off an edge that you cannot see. If you look at the map after you fall off the "edge", you'll see yourself going flying to the north for about thirty seconds. Note: You will lose a life.
Glitch: Mario's floating power in Bob-Omb Battlefield
Select Mario and collect either Wario's or Luigi's cap to turn into that character. Then, lure an enemy to the red power-up box. Break the box while wearing Wario or Luigi's cap and a Power Flower will appear instead of the Feather. Then. get hit by an enemy to turn back into Mario and collect the flower. Mario will float instead of getting the Wing-Cap. This trick can also be done in other levels that will give Power Flowers to Wario or Luigi (but not to Mario), as long as you can get hit to lose the other character's cap and collect the Power Flower as Mario before it disappears.
Glitch: Mario, Luigi, or Mario acting like Yoshi
When playing as Yoshi, get anyone's cap. While flashing blue, use Yoshi's tongue power. You will see Mario, Luigi, or Wario bending over like Yoshi when he uses his tongue attack.
Glitch: Get on top of the roof without 150 Stars
Change your character to Luigi and go outside near the waterfall. If you are in the correct place, which is near the fence, turn your back to the little piece of land across the water. Do a backflip ([R] + [B]) and you will start twirling. Try to twirl to the little piece of land (not the steep side). Turn your back to the steep part of the hill and change the camera position so the it is showing your back. Jump and scuttle while holding [Down] and you will get up the hill a short distance. Then, just as you touch the ground press [B](2) and hold it while pressing [Down]. Keep doing this until you get to flat surface at the top. Jump onto the red roof. It is steep, but it has a lot friction so that you will not slide down. There will be a rabbit, a "?" box, and three 1-Ups here.
Change your character to Mario, go outside, then keep going to the left. You will see that there is a corner formed by the castle. Do a triple jump, then wall jump kick on the wall. Then use another wall jump kick on the other wall and continue until you reach the top.
Change your character to Yoshi. Go near the waterfall, but not in it. Turn your back to the steep hill. Press [B], then when you touch the ground press [B] (2) (Luigi's technique). Keep doing this until you are high up the hill. Try to slide down onto the little piece of land. Do the same thing up the hill and you will be there.
Glitch: Alternate roof
In versus mode when you get a Luigi, Yoshi, or Mario cap and get onto the roof, the friction is different, and there are no 1-Ups or the "?" box.
Glitch: Glowing rabbits
When you catch all the normal rabbits, shining/glowing rabbits usually appear. However, if you catch all normal rabbits for one character ( for example, Mario), you can catch more than two rabbits with him. You can actually catch all the glowing rabbits with one person. They appear in locations where other rabbits are found; check where you have seen rabbits for that person. Once you catch eight, the door beside Wario's door will open, containing only one Star.
Stand on the sun platform in the middle of the main room in the castle as Mario. Gaze up at the sun above the final Boss door. You must perform this trick with Mario because he is the only person that can fly. Inside, you must collect eight red coins and a Star will appear on the center platform. Note: You can only receive this star after you reach a certain point in the game. You will know you have reached this point when the sun shines through onto the platform.
Hazy Mazy Cave: Secret Star
Go to the Hazy Mazy Cave course. Go to the left and follow the path to the underground lake. Jump on the dinosaur and grab the Wario Cap. Point in the direction of the metal doors and he will take you there. When you get inside, jump in the metal pool. Collect eight Red Coins to get a Star. Note: Use Wario's Power Flower to help you get the underwater coins.
Mirror Room: Secret Star
Once you have access to the second floor, visit the Mirror Room with Luigi. Grab a flower and walk into the mirror to pass through it. Go straight to the door in the background and it will open, bringing you to a completely white room with a star in it. To get back into the main area, grab another flower or go to the right to free Wario (if you already have not done so).
Peach's Castle: Secret
Enter the room where you can change into different characters (Before the room with the Toad and pastel colors). Jump into the glass window of Peach next to Yoshi's door (on the right). You will enter a Castle Secret. You can get three Stars here. Make it to the bottom of the slide to get the first. Make it to the end of the slide in under twenty seconds for the second. Get every coin in the level (including blue ones) for the third.
Princess' Secret Slide: Extra life
If you get the first 1-Up mushroom, there is a second 1-Up behind the Star Box's platform.
Ship: Secret
Got to the room on the first floor with the entrance to the level with the sunken ship picture. There all small square holes on the walls. Jump in the one on the left to get a 1-Up. Jump into the one on the right to enter the Castle Secret. To earn a Star you must swim through the tank and get all eight red coins. To get air, you must grab the other coins -- their is no way to get out of the water.
Tick Tock-Clock: Star
As you enter the room with the Tick-Tock-Clock level, there is a Toad standing against the right brick column. Talk to him as Mario and he will give you a Star.
Whomp's Fortress: Star
Use the following steps to get the sixth Star in course 2. Go into the cannon by the water. Aim the cannon by the far, thin wall. Hit the corner and the wall will break. Soon after that, a Star appears.
Secret Underwater level:
When you enter the castle, go to your right. There will be a door with a "3" on it. Enter it. There will be a painting with bubbles inside. Go to your right. There will be a raised box up in the wall. Jump inside and it will take you to an underwater level. Collect all the red coins and a Star will appear in the center, on the bottom.
Fight Bowser without using Mario
When you collect the numbers of Stars to open the Star Door with Mario, switch with Luigi, Wario, or Yoshi. Note: Yoshi will not grab him, but Bowser will spit out a Luigi cap.
Defeating the Goomboss
As Yoshi, run around the arena as fast as possible and try to get behind the Goomboss. Swallow a Goomba that follows him. Wait for it to become an egg and throw it at him. Repeat this two more times.
Fun with Goomboss
Go back to the place behind the Princess's Drawers to the door with an 8 on it with Mario. Enter the fight with Goomboss, and eventually he will throw a mushroom. Touch the mushroom and Mario will grow tall, just like in the classic Mario games.
Defeating King Boo
Get to King Boo by going through the Luigi picture in the Boo House. You can tell where he is when he disappears in the mirror by looking for his shadow on the floor.
Defeating Koopa the Quick
After you challenge Koopa the Quick, run up the bridge as usual. However, when you get past the bridge, run over to the flower patch near the red block. If you go to around the middle of it, you should teleport directly in front of the mountain. From there, instead of going to where the rolling bowling balls are found, go up the steep hill. This may not seem it is faster, but it is. Continue running up the mountain until you reach the first hole where the bowling balls are coming from. Jump into the hole. You should be teleported to the second bowling ball hole. Then, run up to the flag. If done correctly, this should be an unbeatable strategy for defeating Koopa the Quick.
Defeating Lethal Bombs
To kill the Lethal Bombs, either jump at them or punch/kick them ahead of time.
Getting Luigi
Go to the courtyard with the fountain and the ghosts. Look for one ghost that larger than the others. Use Mario to stomp him. Enter the small object that it drops to reach Boo's mansion. Get the first Star. On the second one, go up to the second floor. Continue on to defeat Big Boo and get Luigi's key.
Getting Mario
To rescue Mario, you need at least 8 Stars. Go into the castle version of the rec room, where Toad is worried about losing Peach's rec room keys. Open the 8 Star door. Go forward, jump across the platforms, climb the pole, and reach the top of the huge tree. Jump down the hole on top of it. To defeat the following Boss, Goomboss as Yoshi, just run behind him, swallow a minion, and throw it back at him. After each hit, he will grow and redden. After three hits, he will be defeated and you will get the key to Mario's room. Then, just unlock the door and go inside.
Getting Wario
Play as Luigi in the Mirror Room. Jump into Wario's painting and defeat the Giant Ice Bully to get Wario's key.
Stronger Wario
As Wario, find a Power Flower. Fight enemies and you will be slower, but stronger. Note: By doing this you can also walk on lava.
Glowing rabbits
There are eight glowing rabbits that randomly replace each of the character's mini-game rabbits. Once you catch all eight, you will receive a key that unlocks the white door to the right of Wario's. You will receive a Star.
After you catch all glowing rabbits you will get a key that unlocks the door in the character changing room.
Note: In order to find the glowing rabbits, you must find all the regular rabbits for each character. Also, the glowing rabbits can be caught in any order.
To unlock to glowing rabbits, you must find all seven rabbits for each character. Note: Luigi only has six, as his seventh one is on the roof of the castle which cannot be accessed until all 150 Power Stars are recovered. After this, eight white rabbits will appear at random. For the most part, each character has about two rabbits, but at the very least one. Generally, the glowing rabbit for each character can be found by going to all the rabbits, then the last one is the glowing rabbit. Once a rabbit is found that is glowing, you do not have to go to that one to make the last one glowing. There is no order on the characters; just start with Luigi and go to all rabbits until a glowing rabbit or all have been checked. Then, switch to Mario, Yoshi, and Wario. Continue until the final rabbit is found. The eighth glowing rabbit will give you a key that will open the door next to Wario's refereed to as "The Empty Room." This room contains a Power Star and nothing else.
Some locations of the rabbits are as follows.
Rabbit 1: Caught with Luigi. It is found in the underground hallway near the Lethal Lava Land course.There is no particular order to the glowing rabbits. The fastest way to catch all eight glowing rabbits is to use Yoshi and go outside (not the Boo courtyard). Yoshi has five rabbits outside alone. Go outside, catch all the glowing rabbits, re-enter the castle, then exit again. Keep repeating this until you catch all eight glowing rabbits.
Rabbit 2: Caught with Yoshi. It is found in the garden on the outside of the castle near the bushes.
Rabbit 3: Caught with Wario. It is found in the hall of the Tiny-Huge Island course.
Rabbit 4: Caught with Mario. It is found on the staircase leading up to the Tick-Tock Clock course and the Rainbow Ride course.
Rabbit 5: Caught with Luigi. Found in the Bob-Omb Battlefield hall.
Rabbit 6: Caught with Wario. Found in the same place you found it with Wario. It is found in the hall of the Tiny-Huge Island Course.
Rabbit 7: Caught with Mario. Found in the Jolly Roger Bay hall.
Luigi: Rabbits
Go to the area with all the ghosts and where the door is located. Jump, then grab the ledge. Climb it, then jump up again. There should a green rabbit up there.
Secret Stars
When you go up the stairs and have one Star, you can go through a door with a number one on it. When you go in, go through one of the pictures of Peach. One of them contains a level with a secret Star.
As Luigi, from the main hallway go into the door at the top of the first staircase. Go up the stairs and into the door at the top of this staircase. Then, go into the door with red carpet around it. There will be a room with a huge mirror in it. Get a flower on one of the pedestals and go through the mirror. Enter the door in the reflection. You will be in a room that is all yellow, with a lone Star.
Go to the rec room where you play mini-games. Jump into the painting in that room. Collect the five Blue Stars to get the real Star to appear. This is also a level that appears when you play in multi-player mode.
Finish the secret level in the character selection room in less than 21 seconds to get another Star.
Go into the basement with Wario. Go to the entrance to Hazy Maze Cave but do not jump in. Go all the way around and down the steps. You should see a Toad in the left hand corner. Speak to him for a Star.
Go to the second floor with Luigi. There is a Toad across from the Tall Tall Mountain entrance, located directly behind the steps that go to the third floor. Speak to the Toad and he will tell you about the mirror room. Before he finishes, he also gives you a Star.
In all the levels leading up to a Bowser fight (the levels that bring you to a transport pipe), there are a possible of two secret Stars. One is to find all eight red coins. The other is to find a switch Star by stepping on a Star button.
On every course in this game, you are able to get a Star if you collect 100 Coins.
When you go into Luigi's picture frame (located in the ghost place), get Luigi's cap. Find a "?" box after killing everything in there (because you will need to go very fast). When you use a Power Flower and you are invisible, in the final room where you enter the hole to face King Boo, there will be a Star on the map. Because you can go through walls, go through the ghost picture and there will be a Star.
There are secret Stars in the hole in wall across from rainbow place. You can get one by collecting red coins and one in a black brick. First, fly to the place with Wario's cap then use the canon. Aim it to the tree and put it slightly higher. Break the black brick and a Star will appear.
Secret area
When you have a good amount of Stars, go to the part of Peach's castle, where there is a flame-like painting on the wall. Then, go down the left hallway until you reach a dead end. Jump through the wall at the dead end. If done correctly on the correct wall, you will access a secret level.
Drain water under bridge and Star
After getting Wario, go to the basement type place. Go though one of the doors with no star on it. You will reach a sign that says something about the two pillars in front of you. Ground Pound both of them, and the water will sink. After that, go outside close to under the bridge. There will be a one of those black brink type things -- make sure you have Wario. Then, ground pound it. You must collect all the red coins to get the Star in that secret spot.
Mario loses hat
Go to the level where you can see the snow level in the mirror. Climb the mountain when you get to the head where the penguin is found. The snow head guy will blow you off. If you are Mario, your hat will fall off and you can leave the level without it.
More mini-games
To unlock more mini games in the rec room, catch a rabbit with the character you want more mini games with. For example, catch a rabbit with Luigi to get another Luigi mini game.
After you have been in Princess Toadstool's (Peach's) room with the big dresser and all the drawers, go outside in the front yard of the castle. You will need to be playing as Yoshi. You will see three rabbits grouped up together. If you go near them, they will run away very fast. Run after them and catch them with your tongue. The rabbit will plead to let it out. You will automatically spit it out. After it complains about you about almost swallowing it, it will give you a key to the drawers, which will unlock more mini games in the rec room for Yoshi. You will get three keys, because there are three rabbits.
Luigi's 5 Card Draw Poker mini-game
To get a very high score, exit the game and come back to it if you get a bad hand. Doing so will not effect your coins or winning streak.
Psyche Out! mini-game
The mini game tests your psychic abilities. There is a trick to beating this game. If you look carefully at the waving card, you should see a faint outline of the image that is on the back of the card. If you can not see the image immediately, wait a few seconds and you should get a glimpse. This will happen more frequently on the harder levels.
Character power-ups
Feather: Jump three times to make Mario fly.
Flower: Make mario inflate and float slowly; handles easier than the feather.
Yoshi Flower: Makes Yoshi's mouth full of flame and can breath fire. If you ever see fire, such as in the basement, you can eat it and can spit fire once.
Luigi Flower: Makes Luigi invincible to most things. He can go through screens and other objects.
Wario Flower: Metal Wario; he is invincible and can stay underwater.
Mini-game requirements
YoshiStar bonus
Hide And Boo Seek: One rabbit
Puzzle Panel: Two rabbits
Boom Box: Three rabbits
Tox Box Shuffle: Four rabbits
Which Wiggler?: Five rabbits
Mario
Sort Or 'Splode: One rabbit
Trampoline Time: Two rabbits
Shuffle Shell: Three rabbits
Bounce And Trounce: Four rabbits
Connect The Characters: Five rabbits
Shell Smash: Six rabbits
Trampoline Terror: Seven rabbits
Wario
Coincentration: One rabbit
Bingo Ball: Two rabbits
Psyche Out!: Three rabbits
Slots Shot: Four rabbits
Lakitu Launch: Five rabbits
Intense Coincentration: Six rabbits
Giant Snowball Slalom: Seven rabbits
Obtain all 150 stars and go outside the castle. Climb inside the cannon opening that is now located where the grating was near the Fish Pond. Aim to land onto the roof, to get three lives and a red block for flying Mario.
Hazy Maze: Easy lives
Go to the part with the poisonous gas maze. Get to the section aboveground that has two gopher holes on it. Near that area should be a breakable box with a Super Mushroom inside. Get the Super Mushroom and run to the two gopher holes. Walk over the holes, killing the alternating gophers back and forth until the mushroom wears off. It is possible to get 40 lives this way. Note: This works best with Wario.
Snowmans Land
Go in the mirror room and find the snowman painting in the mirror. You will see that it is only in the reflection. Jump in the wall that the snowman painting should be on and you will be in Snowmans Land.
Stop the clock level
To stop the clock level on the third floor of the castle, jump in at exactly 12 o'clock.
Go in at 3, 6, or 9 o'clock to make it slow, medium, or fast; respectively.
When you go up to the clock, instead of entering it, wait until the big hand goes around once.
Shifting Sand Land
To get to Shifting Sand Land you must enter through a wall hidden down near the Lethal Lava Land level.
Tall, Tall Mountain: Mysterious mountainside
Go to the top of the mountain and get the Wario hat. Jump down until you see a group of coins on the side of the mountain. Jump through the wall to enter a secret slide game, in which the reward is a Star.
Tall, Tall Mountain: Slide
Go to the bridge at the top of the mountain. Go underneath. There should be a cloud that is trying to blow you down. Follow the coins. At the end of the slide, you should end up in a cage. There should be a Star here.
Wet Dry World: Flood
After getting the key from the second Bowser, go upstairs and walk through the door that leads to the room with all the pictures. Stop when you get through it and look around. In front of you is a picture of a spider. It is Wet Dry World. To flood it, jump very high into the picture. If you time the triple jump extremely well, you will flood Wet Dry World.
Wet Dry World: No water
This trick is very similar to the "Wet Dry World: Flood" hint. The only difference is, instead of jumping high into the picture, jump very low into it. You should try to jump directly into the bottom of the picture.
Whomps Forest: Blast away the wall
Go to the canon located near the water. Go in, and if you move the canon to the correct place, you will see two walls. Aim the canon to one wall. Aim it to the tip/corner of the wall. When you press [A], you will see that you have chipped a piece of the wall. Chip the other wall in the same place and a Star will appear.
Extra lives in third Bowser battle
Walk behind the top left pillar to collect an extra life if you lose a life during the battle.
When you get to the pipe where Bowser is on, there is an extra life at the last pillar on the left. Get it, and every time you fight Bowser and lose go to the same location and get the extra life.
Easy health refill
When Mario's energy is low, find water, swim underwater, then get some air.
If you are low on health, just find a body of water and jump in. Stay at the surface and your health meter will refill.
To regain health, just collect coins. You can also try to destroy an enemy to see if an item appears.
Easy lives
Play a level with a 1-Up, such as Bomb-Omb Battlefield. Collect the 1-Up mushrooms, leave the level, then go back in and repeat. You can do this as many times as desired.
Go up to the room with each character's door. There will be a stained-glass portrait of Princess Peach. Jump into the portrait on the right hand side of the of the room to access a Secret Star room. Go down the slide in front of you and about halfway down, you will run into a 1-Up. Repeat this as many times as needed.
You must have at least 8 Stars and Mario unlocked for this trick. Go to the area where you unlocked Mario (past the character selection, through he door that required eight Stars to unlock, in the portrait of Mario) as Mario. Go down the tree stump to fight Goomboss, then kick the back of his head to get the mushroom. Eat it and wait for him to turn. He will create three Goombas at a time. Because you are big, you will automatically kill them. Continue to stand there and you will start racking up lives (three at a time). You can get up to fifteen lives at a time by doing this. Once the mushroom wears off, kill yourself and jump back in, repeating the process.
If you die during the final battle and need lives, go behind the pillar to your left to find a 1-Up. If you die at Bowser, it will be there again.
Easy Stars
Some very easy Stars appear when you talk to some Toads in different rooms around the castle.
1-Up Mushrooms
When you get a power-up mushroom(that makes your character bigger), start plowing down enemies, signs, etc. A number will appear after every object you hit. After the number "8" appears, you will earn a 1-Up for each enemy hit.
When you enter the castle, go to your right. There will be a door with a "3" on it. Enter it. There will be a painting with bubbles inside. Go to your left. There will be a raised box up in the wall. Jump inside and there should be a 1 Up Mushroom.
Shortcut to King Bomb-Omb
When you get past the gate, you will see hill with a red coin. The only way to get up that hill is to hold [Y] (dash). Every once in a while, change the camera angle. Another way is by transportation. Go along the normal path of the level and you will eventually see a hole in the wall. Stand in that hole and do not press anything. You will be instantly warped to the second top layer of the mountain. The last way are the cannons. Just blast yourself up there, but be careful. Mario flies slightly below the target. Make sure you raise the cannon a little above your target. This will save some time.
Send Goomba fying to the air
As Wario, jump kick a Goomba. He will go flying into the air.
Avoid death from high falls
If you fall from a very high location, wait until you are just above the ground and press [R]. You will do a butt slam and will not get hurt.
Drawing
When the game starts and Mario's head appears, touch him. The screen will draw Mario. To draw your own picture, touch the pencil on the bottom-right. You have a paint meter at the bottom. This determines how much more you can draw before it automatically makes it into an object.
If you cannot figure out what to draw, press [R] or [L] before you start drawing. A faded image of Mario will appear. The same happens for Yoshi if he was on the screen that was touched at the start.
Press [B] at the title screen to take a still picture of Mario for you to trace.
When you are drawing on "Touch Draw", press [Up] or [X] to bold, [Down] or [B] to un-bold, [Left] or [Y] to delete, and [Right] or [A] to undelete.
In order to free draw Yoshi or Mario in any position desired, start the game and hold [Start] + [Select]. When you have Mario looking around the screen, press [B]. This will copy the face, and you can now free draw Mario and Yoshi in your desired position.
At the main screen, press [B] for tracing. You can also touch Mario or Yoshi at the touch screen then press [L] or [R] to also enter tracing mode.
Alternate Mario or Yoshi introduction drawings
At the first time on the start up screen, you will see Mario.
Touch Mario the first time for a front portraitAt the introduction screen, touch the floating power star when it drops down to the touch screen. The game will draw the characters' pictures differently. For example, if you do it for Yoshi, a heart or a star will appear by his drawn head. As for Mario, his head is drawn at a different angle, or Luigi's head is drawn instead.
Touch Yoshi the first time for a side portrait
Touch Mario a second time for a side portrait
Touch Yoshi a second time for a side portrait with a heart
Touch Mario a third time for a side portrait of Luigi with an "!".
Touch Yoshi a third time for a side portrait with a star.
It then cycles again.
Drawing controls
Erasing: To erase what you drew, press [Left]. To put it back, press [Right].Mario's basic techniques
Thicker lines: To make your picture's lines thicker, press [Up].
Thinner lines: To make your picture's lines thinner, press [Down].
Keeping picture still: If your picture starts moving around strangely, press [L] or [R] to snap back in place.
Stretch: Press [Left] or [Right] to spin the image(s) to the left or right in a cyclone type pattern. If you press [Down], the image stretches apart. If you press [Up], the images will come together.
Grabbing your drawing: You can use the touchpad to play and animate the drawing.
Reviving: If you accidentally press the pencil and want the same one back, just click the glove. Your picture is drawn back.
Switching: You can switch the image in the background by clicking on the Yoshi square on the other side. This also applies by clicking on the Mario square for the other side.
Note: This is with standard mode.
Run: Press any direction then [Y] to accelerate. Hold [Y] to remain that way.Luigi drawing
Dash: Do not press any direction and hold [Y]. Mario will charge up and run in place. Then, hold any direction to dash off.
3 hit combo: Press [A](3) while standing still to do two punches and a jump-kick.
Run Dive: Start running then press [A]. Mario will do an instant dive, then slide on his stomach. While sliding it would be best to press [B] to hop quickly back on his feet.
Run Jump Dive: Start running, then press [B]. Mario will jump with medium acceleration. Then, press [A] and Mario will dive in mid- air. Note: This works best for gaps that you can get the triple jump to work. Then as you slide on your stomach, press [B].
Double Jump: This requires timing. When standing still, press [B] to jump. Just as you land, jump again. You should go higher. Note: It will not work a third time.
Triple Jump: You must be moving. Do the same thing as the Double Jump, but time it correctly one more time to do a super high jump.
Triple Jump Dive: Perform the Triple Jump, then press [A].
Ledge Grabbing: When you grab a ledge quickly press [B] to get up or [R] to descend.
Tree Climbing: When climbing on a tree, hold [Y] to accelerate up. When at the top of the tree, do not move then press [Up]. You will do a hand stand on top of the tree. Press [B] to go flying high into the air. Note: This is useful for places that you cannot reacy by foot.
Power Dunk: When in mid-air at almost any time, press [R]. Mario will stop in mid-air for a full second, curl up, then descend at a good speed directly downward. This is useful for boxes that need smashing.
Crawling: Hold [R] and press in any direction to crawl. Crawling works best in small narrow spaces where it is easy to fall.
Super Backflip Somersault: Hold [R] and make sure you are crouching, then jump. You can maneuver slightly while in the air.
Super Hop: Long jump when needed to get to the other side of a gap. Run or jog, then hold [R ]and jump.
Wall Jumping: Jump on a wall at a certain angle. Mario will slide down the wall. Press [B] to jump very high off of the wall.
Breakdance Sweep Kick: Remain still, then hold [R] and press [A]. Mario will sweep his feet around, then get back in crouching position.
Running Slide Kick: Start running, then hold [R] and press [A] while still moving to do a sliding kick towards an enemy.
Ducking: Press [R] to duck, crouch, or get down.
At the main menu, when Mario's face is looking around, tap his face the first time he turns and faces all the way to the right. It will draw Luigi's face instead of Mario's.
When you first start the game touch Mario's face three times. When the drawing of Mario appears, it will be Luigi with a "!" over his head.
Classic Mario game reference
When the game starts, go to the rec room. You will hear the level selection screen music from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Glitch: Walk while underwater
Play as Yoshi and find Wario's hat. Then, get his power-up so that you are metal. Before it runs out, get hit by an enemy while near a slope like the sunken ship. For example, jump off the bow to the wall and get hit by the eel. Yoshi will lose his cap, but not swim. You can walk around on the bottom slowly, but can still drown.
Glitch: Disappearing water
As Mario, enter the Wet-Dry World painting at the lowest point to make the water the lowest. Once in, get to the top of the stage with the red "!" block. Do not raise the water level. Get floaty and make your way to the tunnel that takes you to the second area of the level. Touch the crystal that lowers the water and get the "!" block. Float back up through the tunnel where you came from. At the end of the tunnel, triple-jump to get up. Note: You must wall jump on the side of the tunnel leading up. You will suddenly hit water as if you were swimming. Swim back down the tunnel, and eventually the water will disappear and you will hit solid ground.
Glitch: Hazy block
Enter the Hazy Maze Cave level and into the gas filled area. You will find a block. Jump into the block to go off an edge that you cannot see. If you look at the map after you fall off the "edge", you'll see yourself going flying to the north for about thirty seconds. Note: You will lose a life.
Glitch: Mario's floating power in Bob-Omb Battlefield
Select Mario and collect either Wario's or Luigi's cap to turn into that character. Then, lure an enemy to the red power-up box. Break the box while wearing Wario or Luigi's cap and a Power Flower will appear instead of the Feather. Then. get hit by an enemy to turn back into Mario and collect the flower. Mario will float instead of getting the Wing-Cap. This trick can also be done in other levels that will give Power Flowers to Wario or Luigi (but not to Mario), as long as you can get hit to lose the other character's cap and collect the Power Flower as Mario before it disappears.
Glitch: Mario, Luigi, or Mario acting like Yoshi
When playing as Yoshi, get anyone's cap. While flashing blue, use Yoshi's tongue power. You will see Mario, Luigi, or Wario bending over like Yoshi when he uses his tongue attack.
Glitch: Get on top of the roof without 150 Stars
Change your character to Luigi and go outside near the waterfall. If you are in the correct place, which is near the fence, turn your back to the little piece of land across the water. Do a backflip ([R] + [B]) and you will start twirling. Try to twirl to the little piece of land (not the steep side). Turn your back to the steep part of the hill and change the camera position so the it is showing your back. Jump and scuttle while holding [Down] and you will get up the hill a short distance. Then, just as you touch the ground press [B](2) and hold it while pressing [Down]. Keep doing this until you get to flat surface at the top. Jump onto the red roof. It is steep, but it has a lot friction so that you will not slide down. There will be a rabbit, a "?" box, and three 1-Ups here.
Change your character to Mario, go outside, then keep going to the left. You will see that there is a corner formed by the castle. Do a triple jump, then wall jump kick on the wall. Then use another wall jump kick on the other wall and continue until you reach the top.
Change your character to Yoshi. Go near the waterfall, but not in it. Turn your back to the steep hill. Press [B], then when you touch the ground press [B] (2) (Luigi's technique). Keep doing this until you are high up the hill. Try to slide down onto the little piece of land. Do the same thing up the hill and you will be there.
Glitch: Alternate roof
In versus mode when you get a Luigi, Yoshi, or Mario cap and get onto the roof, the friction is different, and there are no 1-Ups or the "?" box.
Glitch: Glowing rabbits
When you catch all the normal rabbits, shining/glowing rabbits usually appear. However, if you catch all normal rabbits for one character ( for example, Mario), you can catch more than two rabbits with him. You can actually catch all the glowing rabbits with one person. They appear in locations where other rabbits are found; check where you have seen rabbits for that person. Once you catch eight, the door beside Wario's door will open, containing only one Star.
What's new:
- NieR: Automata PlayStation 4
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Wii U
- New York Mysteries: High Voltage PC
- The Legacy: Forgotten Gates PC
- Mario Sports Superstars 3DS
- LEGO Worlds PlayStation 4
- Blaster Master Zero 3DS
- Fire Emblem Heroes Android
- Dark Romance: The Swan Sonata PC
- Disc Jam PC
- Dragon Age: Inquisition - Game of the Year Edition PC
- Eventide 2: The Sorcerer's Mirror PC
- Eventide: Slavic Fable PC
- Ghost Blade HD PC
- Labyrinths of the World: Changing the Past PC
Search for a game:
Platform: