Ahhh onto the final Mario series part of our NES Remix 2 guides, and we've saved the best til last.... if your definition of best is "most gruelling" anyway. The Lost Levels was a platformer similar in appearance to Super Mario Bros, but 10x harder.
This is the title that Japan got as 'Super Mario Bros. 2' where English speaking regions like the U.S, Europe, Aus etc would've had the rehashed Doki Doki Panic version of Super Mario Bros. 2 set in subcon; it's believed that it wasn't released as a standalone title outside Japan because of the games frustrating level of difficulty... I concur.
There are seven challenges based on Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels in NES Remix 2 for Wii U and this is our guide on how to get Rainbow star rank in all of them... some quite confidently; and others by the skin of our teeth.
Some of the challenges utilise Mario whilst in others you'll have to play as Luigi - whose physics are comparatively rather horrific, it takes him a long time to stop running so prepare to fall down some holes and run into enemies; he does however jump higher than Mario.
Our video guide featuring every Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels Challenge in NES Remix 2
That awkward moment when the Wii U finally turns against you
Challenge 1 - Picking up items, and setting fire to Bowser
- Stage 1 - Collect the Super Mushroom, bash the second from left block. Run straight to the right and jump from ground to Mushroom, don't use the blocks on the right, it loses you a second or two taking the extra jump.
- Stage 2 - Bash the third block and collect the Poison Mushroom
- Stage 3 - Don't hesitate, jump straight onto the platform the first time it comes to the right and hit the Block as soon as you are under it, grab fireflower. Easy.
- Stage 4 - Defeat Bowser: Yep, theres a fireball coming, but dont hesitate jump straight over the first wall and you should be just beneath it, Repeat and keep running, jump on platform then hit the axe to send Bowser to his fiery demise.
My best time: 20 seconds
Challenge 2 - Itsa me!!! and I'ma invincible!!
- Stage 1 - Defeating 10 enemies as invincible Mario. For the best time simply run through the first eight Koopa Troopas and jump so you hit the Piranha plant, run straight off his pipe and land on the Koopa beneath for the best time.
- Stage 2 - Defeat 10 enemies as invincible Mario... again. OK theres two bullet bills flying in the same direction you are going, kill everything on ground level and try to jump so you come down and take out the bullet bills, keep running killing everything at ground level til you come to the pipe and you should be on 9 kills; you can either get shot by a bullet bill for the tenth by the pipe, or jump to catch a spiny that Lakitu is throwing at you.
- Stage 3 - Defeat 10 more enemies as invincible Mario. The crucial part here is to kill the Koopa Paratroopa in good time, jump right before the chasm and kill the two koopa troopas who are on the platform in the air, jump down quickly as possible to kill the three Goombas below and then just keep running, you'll take out a Hammer Bro as #10
My best time: 24.1 seconds
Challenge 3 - Jumping Master Class
- Stage 1 - Dash and jump to clear the gap. Go slightly to the left for a better run up and then jump as late as possible to clear the gap comfortably.
- Stage 2 - Use the trampoline to clear the gap. You will need to land on the tower of brown blocks, don't just try and jump straight over or you'll die in the water. Carefully jump from the top of the brown block tower to the other side.
- Stage 3 - Clear another gap. Go back for a better run up and time it so that you jump on the Koopa Paratroopa. Get this right and the bounce will get you clear to the other side.
- Stage 4 - Jump over the goal pole and warp. For the best time, run and
jump on the Koopa Paratroopa, bounce straight off him onto the trampoline and
you'll really go flying, not only will you pass the goal pole and castle, but
you'll be more than half way to the warp - this is the only way to get the
best time here and achieve rainbow star rank.
My best time: 25.8 seconds
Challenge 4 - Goal Poles, Pipes and Warp Zones
- Stage 1 - Get to the goal pole. Pause for a moment to follow the Piranha plants to go back into the pipes then jump straight from one pipe to the other. Jumping over the last few bits is fairly easy.
- Stage 2 - Collect the Super Mushroom. Run and jump right at the last second to ensure you clear the Piranha plant, bounce on both Goombas and catch the mushroom in the air to get the best time.
- Stage 3 - Enter the second pipe. OK so the screen you start on has a pipe, thats pipe one. As soon as the platform you start on gets to its highest point run and jump off it and run along the top. You'll then see two pipes, the first one you see is pipe two. Wait for Piranha to go back in and jump straight down and enter the pipe.
- Stage 4 - Warp to World 4. Just next to the waters edge there are TWO
invisible blocks. Hit them to reveal them and use them as platforms, run along
the top of the bricks and jump straight in the pipe.
My best time: 32.9 seconds
Challenge 5 - Vengeance of the Goal Pole
- Stage 1 - Get to the goal pole. Try to pretend Lakitu isn't there, run and stay on the high bricks to get the best time (see video for what I did)
- Stage 2 - Get to the goal pole. Jump straight onto the brown block platform and run and jump straight over the Hammer Bro without hesitation. There are a couple of brown blocks in the air, jump block to block to block and to the finish!
- Stage 3 - Get to the goal pole again!! Run, ignore the Koopa Paratroopas and jump brown block to brown block.
- Stage 4 - Defeat Bowser. Theres a lot of stuff flying about at this point, might be an idea to watch the video.
My best time: 38.4 seconds
Challenge 6 - The March to Glory.
- Stage 1 - Follow the shell to get a 1 Up. Kick the shell and run behind it. As soon as you see the second silver pipe JUMP or the shell will come back and take you out.
- Stage 2 - Get to the goal pole. There are two invisible blocks where you start, hit them both before trying to proceed and get to the goal pole as quickly as you can.
- Stage 3 - Stand on the edge of the lower level and hit the rightmost block above you - it contains the beanstalk. Jump straight onto the soonest available platform and from that to the beanstalk. Climb, climb like there is no tomorrow.
- Stage 4 - Warp to World 8. Collect the coins on the first three platforms, ignore the fourth (higher) platform and jump straight to the fifth then onto the brown block pile and warp as quick as you can for a purple star rank.
My best time: 33.7 seconds
Challenge 7 - You Win or You Die.
- Stage 1 - Get to the Goal Pole. Quite a nasty goal pole challenge.
- Stage 2 - Run and jump cloud to cloud to goal pole.
- Stage 3 - Jump onto and run along the first two blocks, jump onto the first platform and RUN off (not jump off) and you'll land on the second platform.
- Stage 4 - Defeat Bowser. I found this horrible. The first hammer throwing Bowser is a nightmare and its dreadful trying to get through him alone before we even think about the second one. As I can't put into words how vile this is please refer to the video on this page! It will most likely take you quite a few attempts. It IS possible to run underneath them, but I found this was even harder than finding a gap in the hammers and jumping over.
My best time: 34.4 seconds
The lost levels was always a notoriously hard platformer and these NES Remix 2 challenges do it only semi justice. The Defeat Bowser part of the last challenge was really horrible, and beaten maybe by sheer luck on my part, the rest of it should be quite easy to achieve your rainbow star ranks if you follow the guide.
Let us know how you did, or anything we could have done better in the comments below.
