New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-Cannon

Before we tackle Star World, let's find out where those cannons lead. I recommend bringing a Super Leaf to make the platforming easier. There is no time limit to these levels. Jump into the cannon to start the countdown. Mario will automatically start running, so all you have to do is jump. You get applause for every set of coins you collect completely. The coin trail is a guide to when and where to jump. At some points, you will have to bounce off a Parakoopa if you're not flying. If you fall, you lose a life. There are Red Coins on the way. Once you reach the large arrow, you'll move to the next world. This cannon leads to Mushroom World.

Coin Total: 52,745
I completed this level after finding all of the Star Coins in worlds 1-6.

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-A

We need 5 Star Coins to unlock this level. On the bright side, we get a free save. This is mainly a pipe area. Kick the Koopa shell into the gap to get an item when it bounces off the brick block. Pound the bricks over the one-way arrow door and go down, and you find the first Star Coin over the brick blocks at the bottom. Go right and take the green pipe cannon to the midpoint. For extra coins, go back left and hit an invisible block next to the pipe on the right. This will allow you to hop over the pipe on the left and collect coins on the way down. Walk over to the one-way door to the right and drop down. You'll find two Gold Rings over some Koopas. Activate the first Gold Ring and throw the Koopa shell to the right. Be sure to get the coins coming out of the pipe where the Piranha Plant was. A little farther right is another Koopa and Gold Ring. Send the gold Koopa shell into the stacked Goombas. The brick block under the pipe has the potential to become a Gold Block, so let the Koopa shell hit it. Stand on the pipe directly over the Gold Block to collect the coins that will come out of it. Then pound the brick block above you to turn it into a Gold Block that you can wear. Go right for a pipe cannon up. Go left and kill the giant Piranha Plant, then drop down to where it was to make coins appear above. More coins will appear if you drop down to where the Koopa is. Go back right and kill the Piranhas. Drop down the one-way door and let it close. Then go right for the second Star Coin. Drop down to the ground where you'll find two Piranhas. Go down the pipe, where you'll find a Gold Ring, a Koopa, and some Piranhas. Activate the Gold Ring and kill the Piranhas with the shell to make lots of coins appear from the pipes. Go through the pipe and you'll come out from a pipe stair case. You're near the flag. The third Star Coin is pretty tricky to find. At the top of the staircase, you'll find four pipes floating in the air with Piranhas. Drop down near the one on the left and hit the invisible block under the opening to the pipe to the left of it. Enter that pipe and kill the giant Piranha. (There's a Koopa there, if you need it.) Behind the Piranha is the third Star Coin. Go back through the same pipe, then go to the flag.

Coin Total: 38,876
I didn't play through this level THAT many times. I moved on after trying to find the third Star Coin and came back and found it before I beat the game, and the above total is when I came back. When I gave up, my total was 8871. There are a lot of coins in this level, especially if you start the level with a Gold Block.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-5

A Gold Block appeared on the map. We're going underwater this time. Near the blue Cheep-Cheep and some bricks lining a gap below is the first Star Coin. There's a random coin block so you can try your luck. We take a yellow pipe down by accessing through a ring of Cheep-Cheep from the right side. The second Star Coin is down in a strong current, so swim up quickly once you get it. Take the green pipe up and you'll be right next to the midpoint. There's a random item block. Swim up through a tiny gap in the ceiling past the rings of Cheep-Cheep for the third Star Coin. There's a giant Cheep-Cheep near a P-Switch that makes Silver Coins. Avoid it. Nearby is the pipe to the flagpole.

Coin Total: 2779

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-4

It's a mushroom platforming level! The first Star Coin is over the yellow mushroom near the Gold Ring. The Gold Ring will turn enemies golden temporarily, allowing you to get coins for defeating them. If you defeat them in series, such as by combo-stomping or using a Koopa shell, you can get up to 50 coins per enemy. Throwing shells will also leave a trail of coins. We take the blue pipe up and find the second Star Coin at the end. We drop back down to the main level near the midpoint. There's a Red Coin Ring nearby, with the last Red Coin appearing with a parachute. There are some invisible blocks near some regular blocks. The one in the middle has a vine. It takes you to a P-Switch that makes Silver Coins. Hop up for the third Star Coin. We drop back down near the vine. There's another Gold Ring before the flag.

Coin Total: 2461

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.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-2

This level has a lot of POW blocks. You'll use it to access the pipe. Before you do that, take a Koopa shell and use it to hit the POW on the left for some coins. Go up the ledge to make more coins appear. In some levels, if you go to certain areas, coins will magically appear. Now we take the pipe underground. The two POWs can be used to get an item and lots of coins. Use shells to hit the POW blocks so you can get the first Star Coin. Go down the yellow pipe. Hit the P-Switch and run to get the second Star Coin. Once you get back to the main level, you'll find the infinite rising and lowering platforms. Activate another POW block to reach a black pipe with a fire sign in front of it. If you don't have a Fire Flower, one will be available after the midpoint. Once you have one, shoot as many fireballs as quickly as possible into the pipe. Lots of coins will come out the other side of the pipe, as well as a Mega Mushroom. Get it and run. You'll be able to get the third Star Coin encased in stone. Go up the blue pipe and hit the POW for the stairs.

Coin Total: 940
The game will give you a message every time you reach a coin benchmark. This time we get the message: "You've collected 500 coins! The reason my total is so high is because coins are added to your total when you exit the level because you reached the flagpole or you died. They are not added to the total if you decide to exit the level.

New Super Mario Bros. 2: 1-1

It's time to get some coins! We get a Super Shroom in an item block, as well as some coins. The first Star Coin is over some music note blocks. Go past the three stacked Goombas and a Koopa and you'll find a lone brick block. Hit it repeatedly or pound it for a while for lots of coins. If you trigger it enough times, it will become a Gold Block and go on Mario's head. The faster you move, the more coins you get. It acts like an extra powerup, so if you run into an enemy, it falls off and you take no damage. If you keep it on until it falls off on its own, you'll get applause. The second Star Coin is encased in brick blocks, so you'll need to be super to reach it. There is a brick block level with the ground. If you pound it, you'll get lots of coins and a gold block, as well as drop into a new area underground. Sliding increases the number of coins you'll get from a Gold Block. Here, you'll find a new kind of block: the random coin block. Like the random item blocks, it will cycle through a number of different coin values. The number that you hit will make that many coins appear: 5, 10, 30, 50. The larger increments will come out as 10-coin coins. You get applause if you hit 50. Go up the pipe at the end and go left for a pipe cannon to Coin Heaven. There's a line of coins and a P-Switch that makes Silver Coins (which look more blue than silver). The third Star Coin is at the end. The stairs at the end are rainbow-colored. Pound the stack of eight Goombas for a 1-up. The flagpole is nearby.
Coin Total: 492

New Super Mario Bros.: 1-5

This level features pink springy mushrooms, which can be a lot of fun or a lot of trouble, as you cannot run on them. The first Star Coin is over one of the earlier pink mushrooms in the level. Next are some balancing platforms, where one goes down when you stand on it and the other goes up. Don't stand on them for too long, or they'll fall off. The second Star Coin is on a small red mushroom that you can stand on. There is another set of balancing platforms. We use this platform to reach a green pipe to Coin Heaven, where the third Star Coin is. We ride a moving red mushroom to the right, where we can get coins and the third Star Coin at the end. It's in a set of coins shaped like a mushroom. Back in the main level, we get a Fire Flower from the Red Coins, which can be tricky to collect when bouncing off of spring pink mushrooms. Next is nearly uncontrollable bouncing to the flagpole. Be careful here and time your bounces so you can cross the gaps. The path opens up to the castle.

New Super Mario Bros.: 1-3

This level is full of platforming. The platforms are mushrooms, and some of them have springs on them. We can bounce from them into the air, then slowly descend while spinning. Pound the ground to land faster. We take the second spring to a pink, springy mushroom with the first Star Coin. While in the air, there is a trail of coins we can follow to the second Star Coin. We keep going and get a Fire Flower so we can deal with the Koopas and Goombas. Towards the end are moving mushrooms that tilt on their own. The third Star Coin is between the second and third tilting mushrooms. We get a 1-up from Red Coins and run up the last tilting mushroom to the flagpole.

New Super Mario Bros.: 1-2

It's time for the first underground level. As the level is underground, it takes place on the Touch Screen, so you can't access your reserve item. We can pound the brick blocks to drop down for lots of coins. The first Star Coin is on a ledge to the right of the set of three brick blocks. As we keep going to the right, we'll find several brick blocks somewhat shaped like a tower. We can pound the top brick block to drop down to the second Star Coin. We take the first pipe to an area below and find more coins and a Koopa Shell, which we use to destroy the brick blocks under the pipe. This leads us to a new area with some Goombas and a Mega Mushroom. I got 2 1-ups from here. We go back to the main level through the pipe and use a tilting platform to reach an area on top of the rock that forms the ceiling. We run to the end to find the 3rd Star Coin and a pipe to the red flag goal. The red flag goal opens a shortcut to the fort, bypassing 1-3. It also opens access to a Toad House. To reach the regular goal, keep going right. It opens the path to 1-3.

New Super Mario Bros.: 1-1

It's World 1, so we get a simple level to get us started. We find the first Star Coin over four brick blocks. In one of the nearby item blocks is a Mega Mushroom, which makes Mario grow to fill the whole screen. As Mega Mario, he's invincible and destroys everything in his path. If you time it right, you can destroy the stairs and the flagpole. At the top of the screen is a meter. If it fills up, you can get up to 5 1-ups. Destroying everything means you'll probably miss the green pipe to the second Star Coin, which is underground. The third Star Coin is in a gap under some brick blocks. We have to be Super Mario to reach them with a ground pound. From there, we reach the flagpole.

Super Mario 3D Land: 1-Toad House

We stop at the Toad House and get a message: "Welcome to the Toad House! There's a present here for you! I wonder what's inside..." We go inside and open the present. It's a Fire Flower. We have a Tanooki Suit in reserve, so we leave it. The Toad House disappears.

Super Mario 3D Land: 1-4

We need at least three Star Coins to open the black box at 1-4. It becomes a new level. There's a green arrow platform on a track, so we hop on. A Super Mario 3 remix plays. We let the platform go over the geyser to get it on the tracks for the first Star Coin. At tne end of the track is the midpoint flag. We take the next platform and let it drop down, then backtrack to the left, for the second Star Coin. Unfortunately, the track ended and we fell off.
Take 2- We got the second Star Coin and transferred to the next planet. We stop to check out the Mystery Box for a Tanooki Suit and coins. I fell off at the geyser.
Take 3- We got the second Star Coin and fell off the track.
Take 4- We got the second Star Coin, the Tanooki suit, and the third Star Coin, which we reach by a geyser. I fell off.
Take 5- See Take 2.
Take 6- A gold box with a leaf appeared. It's probably Super Guide, so I ignored it. See Take 3.
Take 7- We got the second and third Star Coins. We reach the end of the track, the geysers boosting us so we could land on the lower track. We go through a green pipe for the flagpole.

Super Mario 3D Land: 1-3

This level takes place on a wooden structure in the mountains. We start the level and check out the binoculars. We zoom in on Toad, who throws out a Star Coin over a musical note block. We kick a Koopa shell down the wooden structure for a 1-up. We enter the Mystery Box for coins. We tilt the green arrow platform in the direction we want to go to cross the gap. There's a midpoint flag and Fire Piranha. We pound the right stump to get a Tanooki Suit. We go the right and find a rainbow musical note block, which takes us to Coin Heaven and the second Star Coin. The Red Coin Ring produces only 5 Red Coins, which give a 1-up, which fell off the clouds. We backtrack to where the path forks to the right and forward. We drop down to the clouds for the third Star Coin. We reach the flagpole by dropping down, and crossing the gap with the green arrow platform, with 62 seconds to spare.

Super Mario 3D Land: 1- Mystery Box

We hop into the Mystery Box and get a message: "Welcome to the Mystery Box! Clear the room and get the item before time runs out. You might even find a Star Coin! The clock is ticking!"
We get a Fire Flower to destroy two Goomba cutouts in under 10 seconds. The Bonus Area music from Galaxy 2 plays. Once we do, a Star Coin and a bunch of coins drop down. I grabbed the Star Coin and got all but three coins before time ran out. We get a message: "Did you get the Star Medal? Mystery Boxes you play will be sent with your Mii to other players from now on, if you're using StreetPass. You might also receive new Mystery Boxes from them through StreetPass! That's it for now. See you in the next Mystery Box!" We leave the Mystery Box and it becomes hollow and inactive.

Super Mario 3D Land: 1-2

We start the level and walk past a spike ball swinging from a chain. A remix of the Underground theme plays. We get a Fire Flower and lose it to an Ink Piranha, who spits ink blots onto the screen. We lose our Super Shroom to another Ink Piranha. Killing them removes the ink blots. We can stomp on them to take them out. On the spinning platform with the second Ink Piranha, we find the first Star Coin. We died from a Goomba.
Take 2- We get a Fire Flower and the first Star Coin. We lose the Fire Flower to a torch. We pass the four stacked Goombas by ducking into the alcove in the wall and reach the midpoint. The lone coin in the corner makes more coins. We get applause if we get them all. Along the left wall are some coins. They hide blocks, one of which has a Starman. We run around, taking out Ink Piranhas, Koopas, Goombas, and a spike ball for 1-ups. The second Star Coin is here, over a yellow moving platform. We carefully cross the narrow wooden bridge, then walk to the back wall and kill the Ink Piranhas for the third Star Coin. We get a 1-up at the flagpole.

Super Mario 3D Land: 1-1

It's time for our first level! We cross the bridge and get some coins, then hit a block for a Tanooki leaf to become Tanooki Mario. Towards the front is the first Star Coin over a tight rope near the broken bridge, which bears a strong to the Comet Medals in Galaxy 2. I will try to collect all of these, hopefully on my first try. If we stay towards the front of the screen, we'll find a hole in the wall blocked by a crate. We break it with our tail and go through the tunnel for a 1-up. We go up the yellow platforms and find the midpoint, which is a Bowser flag. We run through the puffy flowers to pick up an extra Super Shroom. Then, we go into the tunnel. In one of the brick blocks is a gear we can spin as Tanooki Mario. The gear raises the platform outside, where we find an extra time clock and some coins. Unfortunately, I jumped down too close to the screen and fell off the edge.
Take 2- We get a Tanooki Suit from a Tanooki Goomba and spin the gear again. The clock adds 100 seconds to our time limit. We find some binoculars we can look into without time penalty. We see the flagpole as well as a Toad, who tries to reach the flagpole, but falls short. We find the third Star Coin over a tight rope by the colorful blocks accessible using the music note block. We slid off again.
Take 3- We get the 1-up in the tunnel and go onto the block overhead for another 1-up. We find a green pipe by climbing the tree near the left fence on the same level as the midpoint flag. We do a handstand and jump to the musical note blocks. Here we come to the optical illusion room, with the second Star Coin. The brick block with the eye is lined up with the block the Star Coin is on, so jump from there. We get a Starman and kill some Goombas before heading to the flagpole. We reach the flagpole with 50 seconds left. The game automatically saves.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 1-4 QSC

I got the 2nd Star Coin by freezing a Cheep-Cheep and riding it up between the pipes. I got the 3rd Star Coin by freezing the Urchin, so that it falls and rests on the pipe. After reaching the goal, I got a message saying that all of the Star Coins in World 1 have been collected, so I can play a course in World 9.

92 down, 115 to go