New Super Mario Bros.: 2-A

This alternate level is a water level. In this level is a Porcu-Puffer that will try to hit you with its spikes. It can be killed with fireballs, but will respawn after a while. All the while, we will be walking on logs. The thin ones will drop away after a short while. To get the first Star Coin, I recommend killing the Porcu-Puffer first, before dropping down to a lower set of logs where it is. After the first Star Coin are some spin springs so you can collect coins and avoid the Porcu-Puffer. We spring to the second Star Coin, under a log, near a pipe. Towards the end of this section, while spinning, bounce from the red Koopa on the grass to the ledge above with the yellow pipe. This leads to the red flag goal, which opens up access to the cannon. If we take the green pipe below near the red Koopa, we reach the goal, which leads to the pipe to the castle.

New Super Mario Bros.: 2-3

Time to underground! We take a pipe underground into a pipe maze. We walk to the right and wall-jump up for the first Star Coin. To progress, we have to ground pound the brown platforms with Star designs on them. There are bats in the area, so be careful. In the next part of the maze are one-way walls that fold down when you approach them, then close behind you. This can make navigating a little tricky, but just check the arrrows to see how they open. We go left, then down to a maze with a Piranha Plant, where the 2nd Star Coin is. To the right is a new area. We go down for an orange switch, which raises the water level then up for some coins. To the right is a new area with a giant Piranha Plant. If you have a Fire Flower, a few fireballs should take it out. We continue through the maze, going up, left, take the right path up, and then run down across the gap to the third Star Coin. There is a Piranha Plant in the lower left corner here. To the upper right is a red switch that makes blocks to go over the Piranha Plant. This path takes us to the main exit to 2-4. If we go back through this level and raise the water level and swim up, we find another orange switch that briefly raises the water level, allowing us to reach a higher part of the maze. This will lead us to teh Red Goal to 2-A.

Nintendo 3DS Update

Nintendo gave us some news on Saturday. There is a new Mario game coming out this August titled New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS. As with New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, this will be a 2D sidescroller. From the few screenshots revealed, Mario can now climb spider webs, and Mario and the enemies can have a golden color. This makes three Mario 3DS games slated for a 2012 release. We can expect to get word on the release dates of Luigi's Mansion 2 and Paper Mario on the 3DS at E3 this June. Also, later in April, the 3DS will receive an update, which will include patches to currently available software. For example, it will eliminate unfair shortcuts in Mario Kart 7 online gameplay. Hopefully, this will take care of some of the lag. 2012 looks like a great year for Mario games. We'll just have to wait and see if any Mario games are included in the Wii U's first party launch lineup. We'll have to wait to see until then.

New Super Mario Bros.: 2-2

This level features some arcade-style platforms. After a short distance, Lakitu appears to cause chaos with his Spiny eggs. Stomping on him will get rid of him temporarily, but if you kill him with a fireball, his cloud remains and you can hop in and float around for a while. There are coins high above. We can reach Lakitu from some blocks early on. Straight up from that point is the first Star Coin. For the second Star Coin, we need to ground pound some brick blocks between a green anad red pipe. To reach the third, we need to take Lakitu's cloud past the midpoint and follow a trail of coins to a yellow pipe in the sky. This takes us to Coin Heaven, where the third Star Coin is. Hop into a green pipe, which serves as a cannon to reach it. The flagpoile is nearby.

New Super Mario Bros.: 2-1

World 2 is a desert level, complete with Egyptian-themed music. This level has Pokeys and Spinies. To go over the Pokeys, we hit the yellow blocks three times to create a stack of four blocks, making it easier to hop over the Pokeys. The first Star Coin is between the second and third Pokeys. The second Star Coin is over quicksand, beneath a Pokey on a small, moving platform. The quicksand will slowly drag you under to your death. Farther along, there is a platform over the abyss and the third Star Coin floats above a lower platform. We have to jump over another Pokey and reach a pipe. There is a P-Switch in a block, so we can jump over a Pokey and reach the flagpole. That wasn't so bad.

New Super Mario Bros.: 1-Castle

Time for the first castle! There are lots of tightropes, which allows us to bounce high. The castle has lots of lava and there are stone platforms that appear from and disappear into the lava. There is a spiked ceiling that raises and lowers, so don't get caught between it and the floor. In one of the gaps, we can wall-jump up for the first Star Coin. After the spike ceiling are more stone platforms. The second Star Coin hovers over the lava. There is a small stone platform underneath it, but it can be completely submerged by the lava, so time your jumps carefully. We can reach the third Star Coin using the last tightrope. Bounce from its center to reach a green pipe overhead which leads to the third Star Coin. Exit using the same green pipe and go through the boss door. We run into the battle room to find Bowser. We can defeat Bowser using two methods: jumping over or running under him and hitting the switch, which destroys the bridge and opens the gate, or with fireballs. Either way, he falls in the lava, surfaces as Dry Bowser, and goes back into the lava. I used fireballs. Afterwards, we hit the switch, the bridge falls away, and the gate opens. We find Peach and Bowser Jr., who grabs her and runs off to World 2. We can now save.