Part 2

Discover P Switches, POW Blocks, Yoshi, and enemies like Goombas and Koopa Troopas in Super Mario Bros. Learn their mechanics and how to defeat them.

P Switch

When you hit a P Switch, all bricks will become coins and all coins will become bricks for a short period of time. This can allow you to reach other areas more easily if you didn't grab too many coins before hitting the P Switch. Sometimes these switches also reveal some blue coins that disappear after the effects of the switch wear off.

POW Block

These blocks are an old favourite from Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3. When you hit one, all enemies on the ground will die and now all on-screen coins in the air will fall to the ground. This makes them easier to collect all at once.

SNES Originals

These items all showed up in Super Mario World 1 or 2.

Yoshi Egg

When you reveal a Yoshi Egg, then a Yoshi dinosaur appears. Jump on Yoshi to ride him and use his tongue to eat fruit and enemies. If you get hit, Yoshi runs away, but you can catch him if you're fast enough. Yoshis can jump pretty high and also do a flutter kick if you hold the jump button down, to get some extra height and distance. You can also shake the remote to jump off Yoshi, which can mean an extra high double-jump of sorts if you do it while in the air already.

Red Coins

There are eight red coins in some stages of the game that only show up when you pass through a nearby ring. If you can collect all eight before the brief timer runs out, then you will receive an item to help you along.

Newer Items

These items showed up in more recent Mario games.

Mini Mushroom

These blue mushrooms first showed up in New Super Mario Bros DS. They allow you to shrink even smaller than normal. This means that you are weaker and can only damage enemies by stomping them with your ground-pound. On the plus side, you can take a lot of tiny paths, perform long floaty jumps and even run across the surface of water. So it's not all bad being short, right?

Ice Flower

The blue Ice Flower is new to the series and allows you to throw iceballs ahead of you. If an iceball hits an enemy then they are frozen in an ice cube like a novelty plastic fly. You then have the choice of leaving them alone, using the cube as a platform, picking it up and throwing it, or stomping them.

Star Coins

Each stage has three Star Coins hidden somewhere. The Star Coins can be spent at Peach Castle in World 1 of the game to unlock hint movies and make the game easier. You can also throw enemies into some Star Coins to collect them more easily.

Propeller Mushroom

This new mushroom has a propeller growing out of its head, but don't say anything, it's kind of self-conscious. Instead you'll want to send yourself spinning into the air and slowly glide back down when you have one of these. You can also do a spinning stomp that allows you to turn giant screws in some stages. In multiplayer, if you lift up someone who has the propeller power and then shake your remote, you will both spin jump.

Penguin Suit

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. After being fed up with sliding down icy paths against penguins in the past, it's time to try being a Penguin. This allows you to throw iceballs, like the Ice Flower. You can also move across ice and snow more easily and you can also swim easier in water (much like the Frog Suit of old) and slide over water. Just remember that penguins can't fly! Also when sliding on flat ground, you won't fall into pits if they are two spaces wide or less.

Enemies

If you know the correct names of any of these enemies, please feel free to email me.

Old Enemies

Goomba

These walking mushroom-looking enemies are not your friends. Instead you want to jump on top of them to squish them flat. Of course you can also use the fireballs, iceballs and other tools at your disposal.

Micro Goomba

These tiny goombas are easily killed, but if one or more of them jump on you, then you can't jump as high until you shake them off.

Koopa Troopa

These turtle/bird hybrids walk along the ground and hide in their shell if you jump on them. The shell can be picked up if you hold the 1 button, or you can just walk into it, to kick the shell forward. A moving shell will take out most enemies in its path, but it can also damage you. So don't get hit if it rebounds off a wall or block. The green shelled koopas walk off the end of a ledge, while the red ones turn around when they hit the end of a ledge. Some (koopa paratroopas) also have wings which allow them to get a bit of air and survive one more jump from you. Be careful because a koopa will shake and come back out of its shell if you leave it long enough, even if you're holding the shell at the time!

Buzzy Beetle

These enemies behave a lot like koopas and you can carry their shell and kick it in the same way. The big difference is that they are immune to fireballs, so don't waste your time using them.

Parabeetle

Parabeetles are beetles with wings that fly horizontally. You can use them as moving platforms of sorts, depending on their size. The small ones dip a little as you land on them, before rising up into the air. The big parabeetles slowly sink as you land on them, so don't linger too long on their backs.

Piranha Plants

These deadly looking venus fly trap inspired plants lurk in pipes and can't wait to take a bite out of you. The trick is to either stand right beside the pipe or stand on top when they are hidden inside. In either case they won't come out, but if you move away from the pipe a bit, they will. They can also be burned or frozen with your attacks, just don't jump on them or you'll regret it! Some piranhas in later worlds can walk around and stretch up higher, but the same strategy applies.

Munchers

Munchers are small black plants that are invincible. They can't be killed and you can't touch them without taking damage. So try to jump over them whenever possible or use a Power Star.

Hammer Brother

This enemy can be a real pain at times, but he throws three hammers in an arc followed by one more and then jumps higher.