Having sold over twenty million copies, and being the game to be originally packed with the Super NES, it's safe to assume that most gamers have at least tried Super Mario World. When you include the ⛎numerous re-releases on Game Boy Advance, on the multiple versions of Nintendo's Virtual Console, and now on the SNES Classic, there is a really good chance that even people who haven't playe♔d the game will have heard of its many secrets and strategies simply by being a gamer with an internet access. With a game of such notoriety, it is an incredibly difficult task to come up with a list of things that people might not already know about it.
Still, we have assembled twenty hidden secrets about the classic platformer which might not be entirely unknown, but which are certainly much harder to come by. I have been playing Super Mario World religiously for over 25 years, and I didn't even know most of these. I have spent more money on the different versions of Super Mario World than most people 🅘would consider ♌reasonable, so you can trust me when I say that there are still a few wonderful discoveries to be made about this SNES launch title.
And if you are one of those obsessive Mario fans who have already read everything there is to read on 🔴this game, then please, let us know in the comment if there is anything more obscure we might have missed!
20 Forever I⛄n The Cloud
It is no secret: Super Mario World makes it very clear that you can ride Lakitu’s cloud if you manage to defeat him. Unfortunately, the cloud itsel⛦f has a tendency to disappear after a 💧little while, leaving you vulnerable should you be above the wrong part of a level when that happens. To make the cloud last as long as you want, follow these simple steps. As Fire Mario, kill Lakitu with a fireball, and do not forget to collect the coin that appears. That is when you get up there and start riding the cloud. From there, it will last forever, or at least until you die or finish the level. An everlasting cloud is a great way to explore your surroundings without fears of being caught off guard by an enemy.
19 👍 Take Your Ti🐎me
This one necessitates very precise timing and a very specific set of circumstances, but it basically gives you the ability to take forever to explore a level should you wish it. As long as you keep an eye on the timer, all you need is a fire flower in your e🐟xtra item box. When the timer gets close to reaching zero, release the flower from its box. Make sure that you catch it at the e𒐪xact moment where the timer expires, and if you did it right, the timer will stay at zero, except that you won’t die. You will be allowed to finish the stage at your own pace, which can be very useful in some of those more challenging Special World levels.
18 Keep Up With The 🐎Rhythm
Everyone knows that there is a jingle in every Super Mario games which activates when there is less than 100 seconds left to finish a level. After the jingle, the music starts going a little faster, a clear sign that it’s time to hurry up. Under the right circumstances, this jingle can play more than once, and the speed of the music will keep increasing with every instance. A good place to explore this new musical dimension is in the Special World level titled “Funky”. The 🐭level contains nine green berries, and each of those berries will add 20 seconds to your timer when consumed. So, if you wait for the timer to reach 99 sec♒onds, then eat one of the berries, you will be back at 110 seconds. Repeat this over and over every time you are back down to 99 seconds, and in the end, .
17 Thos꧟e Switches Are So Useful 🍎
The P-Switches are items which turn regular blocks into coins (and vice-versa). Using one can allow Mario to quickly fill up his coin counter if it is used in the right place. But what if you could use the same one over and over? With your pal Yoshi, that’s exactly what you can do, and all it takes is a little timing. While riding Yoshi, it is possible to stomp on a P-Switch, move slightly to the side with the momentum, and then gobble up the switch before it disappears. When you spit it out, it will appear unused again, effectiv🐓ely giving you an unlimited number of P-Switches, and coins, in stages that have them. This gives you extra tries at difficult switch puzzles, and one crazy coin supply should you feel the need for even more extra lives.
16 𒀰 Kill The Big Boo
This one is fairly recent, but if you have been online at all in the last year, chances are that you have heard about this. But for those who have not, here we go: Did you know that one of the biggest enemies in Super Mario World, the Big Boo himself, is not as invincible as first thought? It was revealed in January of this year that it is actually possible to vanquish this ghastly foe. Just find the nearest set of stairs and slide down, right into the Big Boo, to send him to wherever the after-afterlife is. The problem is tha👍t there aren’t a whole lot of staircases in Ghost Houses around Dinosaur Land, so you can only get rid of Big Boo in a very limited fashion.
15 While We Are At It, Kill The Buzzsไaws!
Though it was a very well hidden secret for a long time, killing Big Boos kinda makes sense, because while they are ghosts, they are still “regular” enemies. They are entities which can be interacted with and react to Mario’s presence. Buzzsaws, however, are rou💝nd blades which travel on a predefined path and will keep cutting through whatever is in their way, no matter who or what tries to stop them. Despite all of this, Mario can still defeat them, once again by sliding into them, though it involves those tiny pink triangular blocks and verꦺy precise timing. Kudos to whoever discovered this one, since sliding butt-first into a functioning circular saw blade never would have been one of my guesses when it comes to defeating enemies.
14 ꦅ 🎃 The Quickest Path
Super Mario World offers plenty of shortcuts to those who would like to defeat the game as quickly as possible. For those who aren’t afraid to cheat, it’s even possible to manipulate the🅺 game’s handling of memory space to get to the credits in less than five minutes. For those who want to keep it proper and use only the game’s intended mechanics, it has been established that the quickest route will take a player through 12 stages, cutting right through Star Road from its Donut Plains entrance to make it to Bowser’s Castle. This should take slightly less than fifteen minutes, and it is a run which is completely doable by mere 🐓mortals such as you and me with a little practice.
13 Every Mario Game Has An Inf꧂inite Lives Trick ꦚ
Every Super Mario game has an infinite lives trick, and Super Mario World is not any different. In this one, an easy trick is to go to Forest of Illusion 1, a level about halfway through the game. Make sure to b☂ring a cape with you,൲ and then go through the stage until you get to a platform with three Wigglers on it. Jump on the first one, then on the other two, while holding down the jump button to bounce really high. After your third bounce, every single Wiggler will be mad, but you will be able to glide slightly off screen with your cape before returning to the platform. The Wigglers will have reverted back to their calmer state, allowing you to stomp them again. Repeat, and after a while, you will be accumulating extra lives with every single bounce.
12 Don’t 🐭Fear The Banzai Bills 𝔉
If you are like me, the one thing that made you realize you were in a brand new world when first playing Super Mario World is the appearance of Banzai Bill early in the game. These gigantic versions of a regular Bullet Bill are big enough that you need a running jump to properly clear them. Otherwise, it’s better to hide in a hole in the ground and wait for this supersized enemy to pass. The one thing that can protect you, however, is Yoshi. While he cannot eat a Banzai Bill, he can help Mario pass by unharmed, on one single condition: While Mario is ridin🌳g Yoshi, his head must be lower than the vertical center of the Banzai Bill. From this moment forward, you shall not give in to fear anymore.
11 🌠 🐓The Mysterious Pop-Up One-Up
In the Vanilla Ghost House, there is a series of platforms near the start which must be navigated with care t🍷o escape the clutch of the various Boos patrolling them. Sometimes, you might be rewarded with a random 1-up which seems to appears on a whim. You might think it is a random occurrence, but there is a method to the madness. As it turns out, not only must Mario land on a specific platform, but he must also follow a specific order in which to travel the area (as shown in the header). The platforms contain four hidden check points which must be touched in the correct order for the 1-up to appear. The game makes no effort to indicate that this invisible maze exists at all, so it is your job, as a player, to spread the knowledge to fellow gamer.