Super Mario 3D Land: S1-Castle

We need 110 Star Coins to unlock this level, not a problem when you have 162. We see Luigi locked in the tower. We also have 30 seconds to save him. Fortunately, there are clocks to add time, but they only add 10 seconds. We find the first Star Coin past two spinning gears in the lava, over a long item block. The second Star Coin is past two Hammer Bros, over a clock in a corner. We wall jump behind the second Thwomp for the third Star Coin. I died from a walking spike block.
Take 2- We get the first two Star Coins and a Starman in an invisible block under the second Star Coin. We get the third Star Coin and see that we're not battling Bowser, we're battling his skeleton, Dry Bowser. Great. He spews blue flames. I ran into the lava.
Take 3- We got all three Star Coins and a Statue Leaf, but ran into Dry Bowser.
Take 4- We got all three Star Coins and reached the switch at the end of the bridge. It falls away and Dry Bowser falls in the lava, surfacing twice, and leaving a gray skull puff of smoke. The gate opens and we see Luigi, who jumps for joy. We warp to the flagpole with the orange Mystery Box and get a 1-up at the flagpole.

We hear Luigi say, "Thanks, Bro!" as he and Mario run out of the castle. We saved Luigi! We get a message: "You can now play as Luigi! Tap (L) on the Touch Screen." Cool! Luigi's on the team!

Super Mario 3D Land: S1- Mystery Box

For this Mystery Box, we get a Tanooki Leaf to kill one Goomba. We stomp on the Goomba and pick up the Tanooki Leaf, as well as all of the coins. The Mystery Box becomes inactive.

Super Mario 3D Land: S1-4

It's time for a beach level. We find the first Star Coin over a rock to the right near the start. There are two Boomerang Bros on the bridge. We cross a tightrope and get a Statue Leaf from the Red Coins. At the end is a Boomerang Bro and the second Star Coin. We wall jump to get it. We reach the midpoint and warp using an orange Mystery Box. The first item block has a Poison Mushroom. We bounce from the tightrope to a higher tightrope for the third Star Coin. Over the bridge to the flagpole are three more Boomerang Bros. We reach the flagpole. That was easy.

Super Mario 3D Land: S1-3

This level looks significantly different. There's a cannon on an 8-bit item block. From there, we can see an 8-bit Goomba, Cheep-Cheep, and fireball, as well a fireworks. We aim for the ring and land on the Goomba. There are a couple of blocks that make Goombas pop out. We long jump down to the fireball for the first Star Coin, warping back to the item block cannon with an orange Mystery Box. We hop into the cannon at the top of the Goomba and aim for the ring in front of the 8-bit cloud. We collect all of the Red Coins for a 1-up. We hop into the cannon and aim for the Star Coin over a fireball, but we aimed too low and fell.
Take 2- We fell trying to reach the first fireball.
Take 3- We got the first Star Coin and a 1-up from Red Coins. We aim for the ring in front of the 8-bit Bullet Bill and land. We duck into small holes, one of which has a purple Mystery Box with lots of boxes. We take the cannon to the Cheep-Cheep, where we get a Coin Block over our head and hit the P-Switches for coins and Super Mario 3 musical notes, which give us a Statue Leaf- the gray leaf that lets us become a statue. We aim the cannon for the fireball for the third Star Coin and warp to the Cheep-Cheep. We aim, this time, for the highest 1-up, taking us to an 8-bit flagpole area with fireworks. We land at the top of the stairs and get a 1-up at the flagpole. We also get balloons.
Take 4- We get a 1-up from the Red Coins and aim for the fireball from the cloud. We aim above the Star Coin and successfully land and get it. We get a 1-up from the musical notes. We reach the flagpole.

Super Mario 3D Land: S1-2

Before the level starts, we see a purple Mario with yellow eyes running towards the screen. The Cosmic Mario/ Luigi/ Clones music plays. We die from a Spiny.
Take 2- We move forward and the purple Mario appears, copying our every move like a Cosmic Clone. We get the first Star Coin on the cracked stone bridge. I ran into him and died.
Take 3- We get the first Star Coin and reach the midpoint. I got the last two Star Coins, one over swinging rolling spikes, and the other over a springy mushroom. I fell from jumping off the bridge to dodge rolling spikes.
Take 4- I got the second Star Coin and died from rolling spikes.
Take 5- I fell after getting the third Star Coin.
Take 6- See Take 3.
Take 7- After getting the last two Star Coins and crossing the bridge, we bounce up a springy mushroom to go near the ceiling, and run to the right, like in Super Mario Bros. 1-2, where you'd go to reach the Pipe Zone. There's a pipe there that takes us to the flagpole. We defeat the Cosmic Clone with a nearby Starman for a few coins and get a 1-up at the flagpole.

Super Mario 3D Land: Special 1-1

Going through the pipe is like going down the rabbit hole. Mario falls towards the light in the first time we've seen the inside of a warp pipe! We land in what looks like World 1, but with remixed music. This should be interesting.
The level layout looks the same, with a sunset background. We grab a blue striped Tanooki Leaf and get a Tanooki Suit with a red bandana around the neck. This allows us to become a statue, like in Super Mario 3, when we ground pound. This should save us some time when we need to ground pound. There are also purple Poison Mushrooms, like in the Lost Levels of Super Mario Bros. They follow you around. We get a Starman and take out the Spinies for 1-ups. I died from a walking spike block.
Take 2- The first Star Coin is on the green ledge to the left, over a brick block. We Triple Jump to reach it: two to the block, and one from the block. The second Star Coin is over the springy mushrooms, on the left side. We get a 1-up at the flagpole.
Take 3- We find the third Star Coin on top level and jump towards the screen to a floating block off a patch of land jutting out from the top of the castle. The Star Coin is a few blocks away. We reach the flagpole.

Well, that was interesting. Nintendo said that the special worlds would be more challenging, and they are, although they seem to be very generous with the Starmen here (3). The Star Coins are in all new locations, so this won't be just a repeat of the game. I look forward to it.