Live Blogging - Super Mario Bros - The Lost Levels

[Evan]

I decided to try something different, and get into the whole live blogging thing. Tonight I am playing The Lost Levels.

The Lost Levels

World 1 - standard opening for the hard version of Super Mario Bros.  Opportunities for mushrooms are rare, let alone Flower Power.  I managed to get through the entire world without death.  First level is above ground, and not too difficult.  The second level is undeground, and there are sections that you can skip by getting to the top level bricks.  There is a hidden mushroom just after that opportunity.  The third level is a aerial level, that introduces you to the new flying Bloober.  The level four Bowser stage is fairly challenging, and if you are using Luigi, you will quickly learn that ducking does not protect you from the fireball chains.  On the whole, World 1 is on part to about World 6 or 7 in the original Super Mario Bros.

World 2 - things quickly got more difficult here.  It is nighttime scene in World 2.  The first part of stage 1 involves a series of flying green koopas.  It is easy enough to avoid them all, however you have to kill them in order to get to the mushroom there.  If you are using Luigi, there is a water gap that can probably be jumped over, but it is likely better to use the girder platform here.  Onto stage 2.

[Evan]

Level 2-2 got me hitting some snags, and I used my first continue.  There is a one up opportunity just after the starman, if you can get to the turtle before it falls down the hole.  I stupidly got killed at the goombas at the end of the stage staircase.  The level is very reminiscent to level 6-2 in Super Mario Bros.

[Evan]

Stage 2-3 is a flying Cheep Cheep bridge level.  The first half isn't too hard.  I died just after the halfway save point when I foolishly fell down a hole trying to avoid a Cheep Cheep.  It is a short level, and didn't give me too much of a hard time.

[Evan]

The first part of 2-4 starts with close quarters and a koopa.  If you can manage to fall down the hole behind the koopa, there is a one-up opportunity.  Shortly before the first fireball chains is a hidden mushroom (against the hanging wall), however the narrow corridors with multiple levels of firball chains and podoboos make it very difficult to keep that extra power.  One thing I noticed is that the fireball chain that is right after the group of koopas doesn't always show up.  I ended up using 2 continues on this level.  I managed to keep my biggness by taking the bottom route in the hall of fireball chains, and managed to not hit any of the seemingly random podoboos.  I got hit by Bowser, but I had my bigness to shield me.

[Evan]

Level 3-1 is a snow themed level.  It is also the first level with Hammer Bros, which I of course perished on when I first got there.  The level is pretty easy, though I ended up dying a second time, because when you hit the green springboard, if you go over the goalpost, there is a warp to World 1!  I also died trying to get the mushroom just after the halfway point, which is a pretty suicidal point with bullet bills and three turtles.  On the whole, the level is not that hard.

[Evan]

Level 3-2 is the first swimming level.  One thing new you will find over Super Mario Bros is the presence of koopas.  I used up a continue worth of extra men trying to get past the second half of the level, which is made quite difficult with the abundance of enemies (typically at least 3 Cheep Cheeps and a bloober), while the currents that suck you towards the holes are very strong.

[Evan]

Level 3-3 is a sky level.  It wasn't that hard, though using Mario would likely make some of the jumps a nightmare.  The only time I died was a stupid mistake of landing right next to the red koopa after hitting the para-koopa near the start of the level.

[Evan]

Level 3-4 is the first Bowser level maze.  The order:

-Bottom
- Bottom
- Top (made especially hard, due to the pipe, make sure to wait for the Pirhana Plant to go down).  The jump after the pipe problem is quite tricky
- Top (easier, though watch out for the firebars)

There are no bricks impeding the ceiling (like in 2-4), so this level is an easy one to beat Bowser.

[Evan]

Level 4-1 is a happy spring level.  Like the original, there is a lakitu in this level, but it also introduces the dreaded red pirhana plant, that is much quicker at popping up than the green version, and cares little about you being beside the pipe.  This level is very short, and I managed to get through without dying, and even managed to get my first fire flower!

[Evan]

Level 4-2 has bullet bills and buzzy beetles.  It kind of makes the fire flower pointless.  It kind of comes in handy later in the level when you have to fight off a lakitu along with lots of koopas.  It also makes short work of the hammer brothers near the end of the level.  Of course, I screwed it all up by falling in the lake at the end post.  Second time was a charm, although I jumped over the end post (though it has little consequences, unlike level 3-1.

[Evan]

Level 4-3 is a sky level, which starts you off with a huge gap.  There are red springboards, which don't work very well.  Shortly after the first one, there is a nice leap-of-faith, where you have a huge gap, and you have to bounce off a red para-koopa in order to make the gap.  The fun really starts halfway through when the random bullet bills start coming out.  I died a couple of times when I didn't make it to a high platform due to me trying to avoid the bullet.  The end "staircase" is basically two solitary blocks suspended over a giant gap.  I died the first time, because Luigi sucks at stopping, but second time was a charm.

[Evan]

Leve 4-4 starts off with the introduction of the giant, really fast, firebar.  It isn't too hard to pass, and if you are lucky, you will hit the box with the mushroom.  I actually finished this level first try.  There is a second giant firebar, but if you are quick, it is not too hard.  Midway through, there is a vertical shaft with a smaller firebar and some koopas coming your way.  I waited for the koopas, and it was pretty easy to pass.  The last part of the level features a hammer bros, and many koopas and red piranha plants.  They are easily avoided by taking the top route.  The hardest part is Bowser, where there is a pillar coming down from the ceiling that doesn't give you much room to maneuver over Bowser.  I timed it right and jumped over.

[Evan]

Level 5-1 is a snow themed level.  It starts off with a parade of buzzy beetles.  The upside down pipe with red piranhas are introduced here, just in a nice spot where you have to time your jumps very carefully.  The middle part of the level is fairly easy.  Later in the level, you get an introduction to strong gusts of wind, which make you jump farther.  And in a scene reminiscent of a dungeon in World 7 in Super Mario Bros 3, there is a spot where two piranha plants block your way, one in an up-pipe, and one in a down-pipe.  If you stand on the up-pipe, the bottom piranha plant does not come up.  There is a beanstock in some blocks near a bunch of red para-koopas, which takes you to a warp to level 6.  I let time expire, as I did not want to ruin my chances of getting to World 9.  After the part with the red para-koopas, there is a giant wall.  The hidden block is three over from it.  The goal is right after.

[Evan]

Level 5-2 comes back to the underground.  The first set of ? boxes provide nothing but a poisonous mushroom.  When you reach the elevator point, it is highly adviseable to get to the upper part of the level, as it is tricky to make it to the end pipe otherwise (involving narrow platforms and an upside down piranha plant).  Just in case you were wondering, if you continue on the upper route, there is a warp to World 7.  Of couse, like the last level I let myself die.

[Evan]

Level 5-3 is a sky level.  A narrow girder moves across the entire level, and you would be advised to keep up with it.  It is a maze level, so you have to alternate between girder and other platforms.  Actually, scratch that, you have to get into the pipe at start (jump off the red para-koopa).  The second part of the level has bullet bills, which makes the tricky jumps involved very difficult.  I went through two continues worth of men there.  Probably the most challenging level so far.