Quick points
Either be Fiery Mario with a Cape Feather in reserve, or Caped Mario with a Fire Flower in reserve. Find a high platform, get directly under your item reserve box, and keep pressing Select. You'll get 1000 points every time you get the Cape Feather.
Multiple 1-Ups
For each enemy you stomp without touching the ground, you'll earn more and more points, and eventually 1-Ups. The score for each enemy stomped will be: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, then 1-Ups for each enemy thereafter. Remember: Fences and vines don't count as ground! Similarly, when you kill enemies with a Shell, from invincibility, or when you go through Goalposts, the score for each enemy increases the same way. But when you activate a Gray P-Switch, Gray Coins collected will increase up to 8000 points, then a 1-Up, a 2-Up, and 3-Ups for any more you get.
Mega 1-Ups: Vanilla Secret 2
Get the Gray P-Switch from the second block by those Spinys, and take it back to the Midway Gate. Stomp it, and run to the left. All those Winged Koopa Troopas from the beginning become Gray Coins! Getting over 50 extra lives at once in this level is not uncommon.
Memories...
Stay on the Special World map screen for a while, and eventually a steel-drum version of the famous Super Mario Bros. theme will play.
Coin formations
Some groups of Coins take the shape of arrows. If you find one of these "coined arrows," follow it! The Coins at the end of Funky spell: YOU ARE A SUPER PLAYER!!
Eight it up
When you get 100 stars total from breaking the tape at the Goalposts, you'll enter a bonus game. Look at the item that's in the middle, and keep pressing Start to see where it shows up in the other blocks. Then go to that spot, and when the blocks come directly above you, jump. You'll get the item you want every time, and eight 1-Ups every game!
The magic number
For an extra 1-Up at the Goalposts, match the the tens and ones digits of the time remaining to the tens digit of the number of stars you got from breaking the tape.
Example #1: 133 left on timer, and 30 stars from the Goalposts.
Example #2: 200 left on timer, and 4 stars (equivalent to 04 stars) from the Goalposts.
Firepower
Mario's fireballs can take out three Koopa Kids: Morton, Ludwig, and Roy. This kills them nice and fast...
Carry-on
Put an item down where Yoshi is standing. Hold X or Y as you jump onto Yoshi. If the item was in the right spot, you'll now be carrying the item while riding Yoshi!
Cool lava
Vertical walls of lava are harmless. Experiment in Vanilla Dome 3.
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