New Super Mario Bros. 2: Star-2

This level is much brighter and features platforms on loopy paths. Get the Super Leaf; you'll want it. Over one of the higher paths near the start, past the POW blocks, is the first Moon Coin. There are triple item blocks with a couple of Red Koopas. The brick block in the middle has a 1-up. Next is a Red Coin Ring. The Red Coins come in via parachute. There are two brick blocks on donut lifts below. The right one can become a Gold Block. You'll soon reach the midpoint and the second Moon Coin in a gap. Use a shell to get it. The P-Switch will make Silver Coins appear around the donut lifts it sits on. The third Moon Coin is over the gap below three donut lifts. Stand on one to drop down to get it, then jump up to safety. The brick block above it can become a Gold Block. Keep going right to reach the flagpole.

Coin Total: 65,146

New Super Mario Bros. 2: Mushroom-Castle

This level takes place on stone blocks over spikes. A giant spike ball destroys the floor, so move quickly and carefully. Trip the Thwomps and jump over them. Pound the brick blocks over the first Star Coin to reach it. Jump over the Whomps, or defeat them if you like. At the end, you'll see a green pipe. Before you take the pipe, go to the right for the second Star Coin. The green pipe leads to the midpoint. The pipe below will take you to the next stage, which is similar to the first. There are rotating brick blocks here and skulled Piranhas. At the end, get enough of a running start with the Raccoon Tail to fly over the boss door for the third Star Coin. Approach the area from the left. This world's boss is Larry Koopa. There are pillars appearing from the ceiling and floor in an alternating pattern. The pillars will allow you to reach the platforms above and will limit Larry's movements during his shell cycle. Three hits will defeat him and the key will appear. The path will open to World 3.
Coin Total: 57,272

New Super Mario Bros. 2: Mushroom-Ghost House

This Ghost House is a maze of doors. Use the Raccoon Leaf to reach the Gold Ring above. The Boos will float away, trailing coins behind them. Some parts of the level have Gold Rings. The door to the right leads to a room with some coins and six ? Switches. The switches are in two sets of three. Hit the left switch of the lower set to make a platform appear, so you can reach the higher set. Hit the left switch there to make the blocks in front of the coins disappear. Hit the right switch of the lower set to make a door appear and hit the middle switch of the higher set to make a platform appear underneath it. The left door in the first area leads to the first Star Coin. Hit the right ? Switch to make platforms appear to it. Let that switch run out and hit the switch to the left to make a door appear and some platforms to reach it. Both doors will lead to the second area, which has a random coin block high above. The middle door leads to a room with the second Star Coin. Move towards the center of the room to activated the diamond springs. This will make Mario bounce around. Go to the left side and hit the switch to make the second Star Coin appear below, but you'll have to backtrack. The switch will make the door appear, as well. Stand on the platform over the door at the top of the stairs to make coins appear. Go through the door at the top of the stairs. This will lead to a room with three switches and three paths. Hit the right and middle switches to reach the top path. Fly up the second gap in the ceiling and hit the ? Switch to the left. Drop down and fly up the first gap before the switch runs out to get the third Star Coin. Hitting the swith again will make a door appear to the right. This leads to the Red Goal. Hit the middle brick block behind the giant Boo for a ? Switch to make blocks to the flagpole appear. This leads to Mushroom-B. In the last room with the three switches, hit the left and middle switches to access the middle path to the regular goal to Mushroom-3.

Coin Total: 54,699

New Super Mario Bros. 2: Bowser's Castle

It's finally time to deal with Bowser. Be aware of the jet engines and Podoboos that are below the platforms you stand on. Use your Raccoon Tail to fly up over the lone jet engine in its own alcove for the first Star Coin. Go past the giant Dry Bones and avoid the jet engines moving vertically as you platform up. Drop down with the Donut Lift and avoid the jet engines until you reach a door. This will take you to a room with a snake platform and more jet engines. Once the snake platform starts moving, the lava starts rising. Stay towards the front of the platform and jump off to get the second Star Coin. Jump back on quickly. This will take you to a door and the midpoint. You'll see the Koopalings in the background on the clown copter. The copter's eyes will change shape and start flashing. This is your cue to get behind a wall (where you can't see them) immediately. The flash will turn Mario into stone. If this happens, jump quickly several times to get out of it. If Mario is caught on a conveyor belt, grate, or donut lift, he's a goner. Some of the walls are near conveyor belts, so run to stay on the other side of them. Drop down from a donut lift to the third Star Coin and retreat to the wall for safety. The P-Switch makes a line of Silver Coins to follow to the boss door. The Koopalings will go away once you reach the wall of the boss door. There is another midpoint here. The first two item blocks have Fire Flowers and the last one has a Super Leaf. I recommend having two Super Leaves for the upcoming fight. Go up the stairs and you'll see fireballs approaching from the right. Drop down into the alcove until they pass, like in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. There are three alcoves and one lone fireball afterward.

Next is the room with Bowser and Peach. She calls to Mario from a cage. Bowser roars and the battle starts. Bowser will breathe fire, throw hammers, and jump. When he jumps, run under him and hit the switch. Fireballs will also work. Hitting the switch will make the floor fall. A fanfare will play. Peach's cage is then taken away. Platforms appear from below and Mario hops up them. They start to fall when he lands on them. Peach is taken away and the Koopalings appear, using their magic to make a giant Bowser appear and knock them away, just like Kamek did. Bowser roars, similar platforms appear, and the lava rises. It will continue to rise. Bowser will track your movements, and when his eyes turn orange, he will swipe away the platforms in your vecinity, be it left, right, or center. Keep moving. The Raccoon Tail will help control your decent. I tend to stay in one area until Bowser is poised to strike. Once you see arches on the right and left sides, jump up as high as you can. The is a wall-to-wall platform here, with some coins. Bowser will catch up to you and breathe fire on the floor from one side to the other. Jump over the flames. He'll roar again and you'll start platforming again. The Bowser heads on the walls will periodically breathe fire, so be aware. The second set of arches signals another platform overhead. This time, Bowser will breathe fire in both directions. Once he roars, you're on the path to the top. The Bowser heads breathe purple fire, which can move at angles. Stay near the walls. You'll see a small arch on either side. This marks the small platforms on the left and right sides. Jump up to reach the large ! Switch. Peach, above the switch, will call out to Mario. Bowser looks around and falls. A victory fanfare plays. Peach floats down from the cage. Mario spins, then jumps for joy. Roll credits!

During the credits, Mario carries Peach as they run back to the castle. Periodically, coins will appear from above and below, and in shapes. Collect them to add to your total. I got 279. As the credits roll, you'll see the Koopalings dragging Bowser from the clown copter and crashing. Once the credits finish, you'll get a couple of messages. There is a new world available in the Star Pack for Coin Rush. Gold Flowers can now be stored in Coin Rush. Star World has appeared. We can now save anywhere. There is now one Star on our file.

Coin Total: 47,750
Not bad for a first run. But there's more to explore. Let's see where those cannons lead.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-Castle

In this castle, there are pillars rising out of the lava that are topped with spikes. To get around them, hang from the tightrope above. Drop down from the second tightrope when the pillar without spikes is visible for the first Star Coin. Over the item blocks near the Dry Bones are some invisible blocks. Go up and to the left for a Raccoon Leaf. Get a running start and fly, following the trail of coins for the second Star Coin. Slowly descend to the midpoint. Swing from the rope for coins and to cross the lava. There are Thwomps in the area, so be careful. Let the giant Thwomp break the stones below to access the third Star Coin. Fly up above it for lots of coins. Just to the right is the boss door. Roy Koopa Jr. appears. He'll charge you, despite carrying a wand, and the walls will slowly close in. Stomp him to send him into a shell cycle, where you must avoid him. He'll come out of the shell cycle after bouncing off the walls about three times and you can stomp him again. Hit him three times to defeat him. The key will appear, so get it. The right wall will rise up, revealing Iggy Koopa and Peach. Iggy slaps himself and takes Peach to the Fort of World 2.

Coin Total: 9148
We get a message saying "Coin Rush is now available from the Main Menu!" We save and continue to World 2. We'll deal with the cannon later.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-Fort

Our first Fort of the game. There are some new enemies here wearing skulls. They're otherwise like other enemies. We get a Raccoon Leaf and use a snake platform to get up. There are snake platforms near many platforms. There is a hidden 1-up under the Red Coin Ring. Go to the left for the first Star Coin. Avoid being crushed by the snake platform below it. Above is the midpoint and a door. You'll find snake platforms moving into a gap to the right. Go into that gap to find a yellow pipe. It will take you outside to a snake platform staircase and the Red Goal. This opens path to World 1's cannon. If you do not go to the Red Goal, there are snake platforms over the door. They allow you to reach a red pipe on the left. There's a P-Switch in the room that makes Silver Coins appear within the snake platforms. The Silver Coins are only a distraction, however. Once you hit the P-Switch, quickly go to the platform above the snake platforms. Here, you'll find brick blocks that allow you to reach the second Star Coin. You must collect the Star Coin before the timer runs out, as it will disappear. It's a tricky one to find. Keep climbing and you'll find the third Star Coin surrounded by a snakeplatform and guarded by a skulled Piranha Plant. Approach with caution. Take the snake platform above to the boss door. This game's Mini Boss is Reznor, first seen in Super Mario World. It's standing on item blocks in a ferris-wheel configuration. All you have to door is hit the block underneath it. Do this quickly, as it will make the floor disappear. Hop on the blocks if necessary. This Fort has two. After you take out both of them, Roy will drop in from a chain, roar, and leave. He'll take Peach to the castle.

Coin Total: 2194

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-3

After leaving a level some number of times, either by death or completion, a Gold Block will appear on the world map and follow you around. This means that when you enter a level, there will be a Gold Block floating around near the start or midpoint. Collect for extra coins. In this level, we get the Raccoon Leaf, which give us the Raccoon Tail, allowing us to fly and hit ground level blocks. You'll find several snake platforms near the ground in the gaps. As Raccoon Mario, fly up near the arrow pointed to the upper right for the first Star Coin. Fly up to all of the tree tops for lots of coins. There is also a random coin block up there. Go back to the ground for the midpoint. On top of one of the trees is a pipe cannon to Coin Heaven. Fly for coins and the second Star Coin. Drop back down to the main level and you'll find a Red Coin Ring and the third Star Coin. Use shells or your tail to break through the brick blocks. The Red Coins drift down to the ground with Parachutes. After that is a random coin block and the flagpole.

Coin Total: 1138
We get a message saying we've collected 1,000 coins.