Living life to the fullest in New Super Mario Bros.

Mario has a never-give-up attitude. He’s willing to take chances and he’s willing to fail and then try again. But all this bravery comes at a price: he needs extra lives to rectify his mistakes of the past. Luckily for Mario, the Mushroom Kingdom has plenty of second chances on offer. Earning extra lives in New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS isn’t a challenging feat – although keeping them is. Read on to find out some of the ways to keep Mario in eternal supply.

Old-School Rewards
Earning extra lives has always been an integral part of Mario adventures, and New Super Mario Bros. is no different. Grabbing 100 coins has always netted Mario an extra life, and the new adventure is overloaded with coins. Mario also has a new move for maximising his coin count. For blocks that yield multiple coins, instead of jumping and punching them, jump on top of them and ground pound them. Not only will the blocks give a few more coins, they will also drop an item. 

Often, Mario can find green 1-Up Mushrooms , which give Mario an extra life, hidden throughout the kingdom. For example, in World 1-1 after the first Green Pipe, Mario can jump over the hole in the ground and walk to the last block before the next hole. If he jumps on top of that block and then jumps into the air, he’ll punch a hidden block, which will reveal a vine that leads Mario into the air. The first block Mario finds contains a 1-Up Mushroom. New Super Mario Bros. is loaded with hidden blocks and hidden 1-Up Mushrooms so don’t hesitate to punch blocks or simply punch into the air.

Mario is often rewarded when his stomping goes above and beyond the norm. He can earn extra lives if he can defeat a number of enemies within a certain time limit – as if he were performing a stomping combo. Of course, he needs enough enemies on any given stage to give him that opportunity. The best way to combo is to knock a Koopa out of its shell and kick that shell into other enemies. Starting on the eighth enemy in a combo, Mario will earn extra lives.

Maximum Mayhem
Of the new ways to earn lives in New Super Mario Bros., earning them with Mega Mario is the most satisfying. After Mario eats a Mega Mushroom, he becomes gigantic and like a rampaging bull destroys everything in his path. Mario earns credit for all the damage he does, represented by a meter at the top of the screen. For each section that fills, he earns a 1-Up Mushroom at the end of the rampage. Your first Mega Mushroom encounter is in World 1-1, the first block after the first green pipe. (Don’t forget to grab your secret 1-Up Mushroom, as mentioned previously, before you go on your Mega Mario march of destruction.)

In each world, you’ll find a number of Toad Houses that give you special item bonuses. Items are nice, but you can also make Green Toad Houses appear. These houses give you a chance to earn as many as 12 1-Up Mushrooms. Each house has six blocks to punch: three have 1-Up Mushroom cards, one card gives you three 1-Up Mushrooms, one is a x2 multiplier card and the last is a Bowser card. Once you hit the block with the Bowser card, the mini-game is over, but you win the number of 1-Up Mushrooms you punched prior to that point. You can make Green Toad Houses appear by jumping on a level-ending flagpole when the last two digits of the time end in 44, 55 or 66. (Speaking of flagpoles, you can also earn a 1-Up if you jump on the very top of the flagpole.)

During some levels, you’ll come across a giant red ring. When you go through the ring, eight red coins will appear. You have a limited amount of time to get these eight coins, and if you do, you’ll be rewarded. If you‘re playing as Fire Mario  and have a Fire Flower  in reserve, the reward you’ll get is a 1-Up Mushroom.

More Lives than a Cat
If you’re one of the fortunate few in this world who can make it all the way through New Super Mario Bros. on one life, we salute you. For everyone else, make sure you stock up on extra lives because when the going gets tough in the later stages of the game, you’ll need all the extra chances you can get.