Super Mario 3D World: Crown-Crown -- Champion's Road

This is one of the most difficult levels in the game. There are no powerups or midpoints, so you have to bring all of your powerups with you and start the level over every time you die. Playing with others can help, especially because you can hold more items in reserve. For this level, you'll want to be wearing a Tanooki Suit with a Cat Suit (either Super Bell or Lucky Bell will work) in reserve. Peach and Luigi can be very useful here with their extended jumps.

The Gusty Garden music plays here. You'll start off on crystal blocks. Some of the crystal blocks move and have Octoombas on them. Cross the gaps between the blocks, then go through the clear pipe. This will take you to an area with three Fire Bros. You can ignore them or defeat them. At the top of the stairs with the Fire Bros. are a set of narrow crystal blocks. Stand on one to make a Chargin' Chuck charge at you. Stomp it, ground pound it, or run away. You can run over the crystal blocks without jumping. There are more narrow crystal blocks ahead. Stand on one to make three Chargin' Chucks charge. Run on the set of narrow blocks farther from the wall and jump over the Chargin' Chuck at the end. There is a warp box here.

The warp box takes you to an area with Beat Blocks moving in double time. This is where the Tanooki Suit really comes in handy. To deal with the Beat Blocks, remember to jump normally to a Beat Block of a different color than the one you're standing on, but jump and hover with the Tanooki Suit when jumping to a Beat Block of the same color you're standing on. For the first group of Beat Blocks, I recommend walking onto the first blue set as soon as they appear, jump and hover while moving forward, then land when it comes back. Jump immediate to the pink set, then to the next blue set. Jump and hover to solid ground, or land back on the blue set if you need to. The next set forms a set of stairs, but they do not form sequential steps. Line yourself up on the right side, wait for the blue set to appear, then jump straight ahead and land on the sole pink block on the second set of steps. Immediately jump to the blue set, then the lower blocks of the pink set. Jump from the lower blocks of the pink set and hover over the higher block. Land, then run and jump, then hover to solid ground, ignoring the blue blocks to the side. The final group of Beat Blocks form stairs. In order, it goes: blue, pink, blue, pink, pink, blue, blue. Jump up the first four quickly, then jump and hover over the higher pink block in the set of two. Do the same for the set of two blue Beat Blocks. At the top of the stairs is the first Green Star. Use the clear pipe as a cannon and launch.

You'll land in an area with four fire bars and three Magikoopas. You must defeat all three Magikoopas to make the warp box appear. To make things difficult, each tile of the floor you stand on will start sinking and disappear. It will reappear fairly quickly. When you land, the Magikoopas will fire at you, so jump out of the way to avoid taking damage. Try to defeat the Magikoopas quickly and avoid the fire bars. Warp to the next area.

The next area has spike bars as swinging pendulums and Fuzzies. Past the first spike bar is a Potted Piranha Plant. Jump to it and pick it up. It will make dealing with the Fuzzies easier. If you still have the Tanooki Suit, get a little running start, grab the Potted Piranha Plant, then jump and hover to the next set of pendulums. Stand on the narrow ledge between them, then run into the path of the back pendulum, then run and jump to the area with many Fuzzies. The Potted Piranha Plant will eat them. If all Fuzzies on this platform are defeated, many coins will appear. Next are two more pendulums over moving yellow platforms. Stand on the yellow platforms when they are close and the pendulum is swinging away. Jump, then land on the platforms when they meet in the middle, then jump over the last pendulum towards the warp box. Grab the second Green Star (the Potted Piranha Plant will get it for you if you're still holding onto it). Warp to the next area.

Here's where the Cat Suit comes in handy. It's best if you still have the Tanooki Suit at this point. First, you'll have to spring from a springboard onto the wall in front of you. There are many Spiked Ant Troopers walking down the side walls. After you spring onto the wall, run up it as far as you can go, then wall jump to one side and run up higher. Keep wall jumping and bouncing off ants until you reach the top. Without the Cat Suit, you'll have to wall jump and bounce off ants unaided. Ahead is another springboard. The wall you will spring two has four Piranha Creepers on it. Center yourself, then spring up and run as high as you can. You should be able to run past the third Piranha Creeper. Run over it, then slide down on it to bounce. Continue running up the wall and jump to reach it if you have to. Without the Cat Suit, you'll have to spring, then bounce from Piranha Creeper to Piranha Creeper. At the top is a block of water and many spike blocks. Get into the water block and it will start moving to the right. Swim with it. On the back wall are two colors. Gold areas mark where most of the spike blocks are or where they can move. The white areas mark what is mostly safe. Swim to the right until the water block reaches the end of the wall, then quickly swim up and to the left. You'll have to drop down at points to deal with the maze. At the end is a clear pipe cannon, periodically blocked off by a moving red spike block. When the path is clear, you may want to ground pound in the water while over the pipe so you can reach it before the spike block returns. Launch to the next area.

Aside from where you land, the next part is completely made up of boost pads. The Tanooki Suit is especially useful here. Making your life difficult are the numerous lasers in the area. The first set of them fire square lasers and the second set fire circles. When you start, you'll run forward, left, then forward. You'll then have to jump across the gaps to more boost pads. The Tanooki Suit will allow you to hover and slow down, so you can avoid taking damage from the lasers. The boost pads will initially give you two spaces to move forward on, then one. Once you pass those boost pads, the lasers will fire circles and will be closer together. Run to the left to find the third Green Star and the next challenge. The boost pads are arranged in a square with four lasers. There are five Key Coins to collect: one in the middle and two on each side. They can be very tricky to get. The Tanooki Suit will allow you to slow down and hover over the lasers and line yourself up to collect the Key Coins. If playing alone, I recommend getting the Key Coins on one side first, running back up the middle (towards the screen), then getting the other two on the other side. If playing multiplayer, you can try to have everyone go for a set of Key Coins, have one player collect the Key Coins while the others are in bubbles, who can drop in in case the player collecting Key Coins falls off or dies, or have one person collect the Key Coins will the others stand on the lasers to stop them. This will unlock the warp box in the back. Carefully aim for the warp box.

The warp box will take you to a set of clear pipes. You can relax now: the hard part is over and you don't need powerups. All you need to do is not fall off the level. Enter the clear pipe and it lights up like a neon sign. Follow the path to the right and more of the pipe will light up, revealing the message "THANK YOU!!" There is a warp box at the end.

The warp box takes you to the flagpole. Many friends are gathered here, including Sprixies, Captain Toad, with a few piles of coins, some bunnies and Plessie. Slide down the slide and grab the coins. The stamp is on the second step of the stairs. The top of the flagpole is easy to reach. Congratulations, you're done!

The stamp is of Cat Mario holding a coin.

You may notice that you're missing a few stamps. The last stamps you need can be obtained from completing every level with each character (as in, complete all levels as Mario to get the Mario stamp. The stamps will be each character's portrait from the Character Select menu. To see which levels you completed with which character, go to the map using the (-) button and check the level completion.

Even though I ultimately completed the level by myself, several individuals helped me try to beat it. Thanks to Derek, Tony, John, and Tareq! I really appreciate the help!

And with that, we complete Super Mario 3D World. It was a fun game and those last two levels were especially challenging. I highly recommend this game. Stay tuned to see what I play next!

Super Mario 3D World: Star-1 -- Rainbow Run

After beating Bowser, a new world opens up. The Sprixie Princesses are gathered around a rock in World 1. Approach them and the rock reveals a rocket that takes you to a bonus world, World Star. Lumas float about this world.

The first part of the level involves running around rainbow-colored discs. The first few discs have ring lasers, with mice jumping over them. Over the second disc is an invisible block with a Super Bell. Grab it and go over the rainbow-colored cylinders past the Biddybuds. When you get to a set of brick blocks over a cylinder, stand on the bricks and climb up to an alcove above. The pipe in the alcove takes you to a room with a P-Switch near you and two in the background. Hit the P-Switch to make the Green Star balls appear. Only manipulate one ball at a time and move the flip-switches to make them land on the P-Switches. The balls can go onto either switch, but both switches must be activated to make the first Green Star appear. Ahead are more mice running on cylinders in front of the warp box.

The warp box will take you to the midpoint, where Plessie awaits. Stay on the right side of the water, which isn't fenced off to prevent you from falling off. On the right side is the stamp. At the end, see if you can steer Plessie into all off the Biddybuds. If you clear them all out, you'll get a lot of coins. On the back wall, directly ahead, is an unlit torch. Also on the back wall invisible block with a Fire Flower. Light the torch and the wall drops away, revealing a cloud cannon. It blasts you to an area of tiles to light up. Hit the POW Blocks to clear them faster, as well as use the Mega Mushroom in the invisible block on the lower right. Or use the Touch Screen. Either way, once all of the tiles are lit up, it reveals 8-bit Link. The Legend of Zelda music plays and the second Green Star appears. Grab it and drop down the main level. Up ahead are more rainbow discs. One of them has a Green Ring, which will give you the third Green Star. Cross over more cylinders, swing on the trapeze and go past the Biddybuds to reach the warp box. There are P-Switches leading up the stairs to the flagpole. The last one will rain coins.

The stamp is of the flagpole.

Super Mario 3D World: Bowser-5 -- Deepwater Dungeon

This level takes place largely underwater, where the water level rises and falls. There are more Madpoles that only stay on the surface, so drop down to the bottom to avoid them. Swim to the right and up the narrow channel. Wall jump up if the water level falls before you reach the alcove. From there, a moving block of water will allow you to swim higher. The water block will reach another, larger water block. Swim up, past the spikes, and you'll find the stamp in the upper left corner. Drop down to the lower right corner to get a Super Bell. Swim up the narrow channel above, or wall jump. At the top, climb up and to the left for the hidden first Green Star.

Go to the right for the midpoint and Plessie. It's a short rice across the water with some Madpoles to run into. At the end, climb up the wall to find the second Green Star on some donut lifts. Cross the donut lifts below and swim up to the water's surface, avoiding the moving spike blocks. Cross the donut lifts and swim in the water block. Transfer to a water block above. Transfer to one below to reach a pipe. Climb up above the pipe to find a cloud cannon. Run across the clouds and jump on the springboards. Dive past the Biddybuds and use the springboard to reach the third Green Star. There's a water block in front of the flag.

The stamp is of a Madpole.

Super Mario 3D World: Bowser-2 -- Plessie's Dune Downhill

Plessie is back and will carry you over sand this time. The bouncy fish from the water are here. Start sliding downhill. You'll find the first Green Star high above. Bounce off of a fish to get it. Up ahead is a tube. The path ahead swerves and has boost pads. Steer carefully. Back on the sand, you'll find Biddybuds traveling with the second Green Star. Run into the Biddybuds to get it. On the left are a couple of Bowser sand sculptures. Go between them for an invisible path to the stamp. Up ahead are many boost pads leading up to a series of short jumps. Hit the Bowser sand sculpture to make a trail of coins that leads to the third Green Star. The dunes end at an oasis. Take the warp box and slide down, following the coin trail to the flagpole.

The stamp is of an item block.

Super Mario 3D World: 5-1 -- Sunshine Seaside

It's time for a walk on a long stretch of beach. There are Biddybuds and Koopas here, as well as orange disks with a key symbol. These are Key Coins. Collect five of them to unlock a warp box to move on. Walk to the right and you'll see sand sculptures. Stand on the right Goomba sand sculpture and ground pound it for the first Green Star. There are clear pipes along the beach. Go up one of them to reach a cloud for a Key Coin. There's another under a sand hill near three Koopas. Go out into the water and you'll find a hole. There's a pipe down there that leads to a room with Koopas on a tile floor. Clear the tiles for the second Green Star. The pipe will take you near the locked warp box. You'll find a Key Coin in a nearby tree and a 1-up in a clear pipe. Ahead is a Red Coin Ring, which will give you a Boomerang Flower. Use the boomerang on the nearby Chargin' Chucks, who are guarding the last Key Coin. Alternatively, ground pound the right Goomba sand sculpture for a Goomba Mask, which will make all enemies ignore you. There's a Gold Shell in the Bowser sculpture, which creates coins. Go all the way to the right and you'll find a hole in the wall. Inside, Biddybuds are chasing Captain Toad. Defeat them all for the third Green Star.

Go through the warp box to the midpoint. There's a Moneybag in the area. Take the pipe underground, where Plessie is. There's a narrow waterway here and you must cross narrow passages and moving bridges. On the right side are some high planks with the stamp. Jump at the top of the slope to reach them. At the end is the pipe that leads to the flagpole, where there are Biddybuds and a Koopa.

The stamp is of a Koopa kicked out of its shell.

Super Mario 3D World: 1-4 -- Plessie's Plunging Falls

At the start of the level, you'll meet Plessie, a sea monster. You must steer Plessie to the goal and press forward or backward to speed up or slow down. Press (A) or (B) to jump. Once out of the gate, you'll find many fish in the water. Jump and land on them to bounce. The first Green Star is over some fish in front of a ramp. Bounce off the fish to get it. It can be a little difficult to line up Plessie to get Green Stars and other objects. The path splits ahead and you can go through a tunnel, over the bridge for Red Coins, or under the bridge for coin rings. Further along, you can either bounce up the steps for a 1-up or bounce off the fish for coin rings.

Ahead you'll see a waterfall. The path splits here. If you do not go through the waterfall, you'll go through a narrow path with fish and the stamp. If you do go through the waterfall, you'll find the second Green Star and a Starman. The paths rejoin on a downward slope with fish and boost pads. Try to hit each boost pad, especially the one at the end. Line yourself up with the center and jump off the ramp. If you aim correctly, you'll get the third Green Star and many coin rings. At the bottom, Plessie lets you off on the beach near a pipe. The pipe takes you to the flagpole, which has a boost pad nearby.

The stamp is of Plessie.