When playing Super Mario Bros. on Nintendo DS, maxing out on lives can go a long way. This can be done by utilizing three techniques:
- Jumping over the flagpoles when completing levels
- Taking advantage of the giant mushroom in World 1-1
- Obtaining all large coins in each level
Help Mario Jump Super High for Extra Lives
As Mario ascends from one level to the next, players familiar with the game knows that he concludes each board by taking down Bowser's flag. Players who can clear the flagpole will get an extra life for doing so.
This is in contrast to the original Super Mario Bros. on the 8-bit Nintendo where clearing the flag simply meant less points since Mario and Luigi could only jump halfway up the flagpole from the ground, earning a measly 800 points.
Maximize Extra Lives on World 1-1
The other alternative to such Olympian feats is to simply stay in World 1-1 for a little while. Halfway through, Mario will come upon a set of nine bricks that are in sets of three like the corners of a triangle. When the top middle brick is struck from below, Mario can climb a vine into the clouds where he will obtain an extra life by collecting eight red coins.
But before doing this, Mario will have an even better opportunity to get more lives. One-third of the way through the board, Mario can hit a "?" box that will emit a super large mushroom. Once collected, players will be so big that they can crash through everything in their path to include bricks and pipes. The farther a player advances and destroys in this manner, the more lives he will obtain up to a maximum of five.
Green Mushroom Houses Offer up to 14 Lives
There are three green mushroom houses in the first two worlds. Mario cannot enter them without having collected large coins along the way. Each level offers three of them and entrance into these houses cost five each.
Once in the green mushroom homes, Mario will be presented with seven "?" boxes. All of them offer the opportunity for extra lives except one that has Bowser's face. In order to max out on collecting up to 14 lives, the Bowser box must be avoided.
In the first green mushroom house, Bowser is in the middle box. In the second house, he is in the sixth box, which is second from the right (sixth when reading left to right). In the third house, located in the second world, Bowser is hiding in the third box from the left, which is just left of the center box.
Maxing out on lives helps Mario defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach, so when all else fails, players can simply replay level 1-1, get huge, and crash on through for up to five lives every time. This is possible no matter how far along Mario is on his journey to include Bowser final castle in the eighth world, because he can travel from one world to another with the touch of a screen.
Already passed worlds 1 and 2, use cheats for worlds 5 and 6.
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