Pipe Land
Pipe Land, also known as the Pipe Maze, is the seventh world in Super Mario Bros. 3. Pipe Land consists of nine levels, two Fortresses, three Toad Houses, and two special Piranha Plant levels. The overworld map consists of many islands linked by a confusing network of pipes. Just getting from one level to another on the map can prove difficult. The levels themselves often have an even more complex pipe network.
The labyrinth world of Pipe Land is headed by Ludwig Von Koopa.
Brief Level Info
- 7-1: Work up the pipe platforms, dodging Piranha Plants and Koopa Troopas galore along the way.
- 7-2: Escape the heat and enjoy a plunge in an underground reservoir.
- 7-3: String Starmen through the level for a 1-Up jackpot.
- 7-4: Swift currents threaten to dash Mario against jagged rocks and nasty creatures.
- 7-5: Take it easy to work quickly and efficiently through the vertical maze of pipes.
- Piranha Plants: Piranha Plants have overgrown the path. A sharp set of gardening shears would sure come in handy, but Mario must make do with his jumping skills.
- Fortress: Raid the royal treasury and pull off the biggest heist in Mushroom Kingdom history. Then put the hurt on Boom Boom.
- 7-6: Only a plumber can navigate a tangled mess of pipes, spikes, and Piranha Plants.
- 7-7: The only hope to cross this acre of man-eating crops is to collect every Starman along the way.
- 7-8: Bloodthirsty foliage of every kind lie ahead. Weed-whack 'em!
- 7-9: Find the way out of a gnarled pipe maze to reach the Goal Panel before time runs out.
- Fortress: Piranha Plant-infested pipes form the only bridge across a sea of bubbling lava.
- Piranha Plants: The tyrannical botanicals appear again! Dodge them and jump all the way to the end.
- Airship: On an Airship with plenty of moving parts, a battle with the cruelest of the Koopalings looms ahead.
In-Depth
7-1
This is a wraparound level, meaning if Mario goes out of one side of the screen, he'll reappear on the other. The only secret comes when Raccoon Mario sees a huge stretch of thin pipe, with a gap the size of one block. Mario can boot off the Koopa, then fly back and forth until he gets enough momentum to fly up to a pipe to pocket around thirty coins. Plus, if Mario, in the huge room of wooden blocks, stomps the red Koopa Paratroopa when it's at its highest, he'll go high enough to expose a block with a 1-Up Mushroom!
7-2
Only Frog Mario can clear this level with enough Coins for a White Toad House with a P-Wing! The second pipe in the level leads to an underground pool, and all the way to the left, a P-Switch! First, Mario must collect all the coins above it, then stomp it, hurry to the left, grab all the new coins, hurry father to the left, and collect all the others. Only Frog Mario can grab them, and even he doesn't have a 100% chance. And remember, Frog Mario must also gather all 46 coins in the level! Anyway, if Mario wants to beat the level the conventional way, he should march on to the right, jumping over the pit with a crack in it. After a wooden block and a Nipper Plant, Mario must duck in the highest pipe, then make his way to the right pipe, going up it. Afterwards, he's in a nice valley of pipes...or is he? Above, there's a ton of invisible ♪ Blocks! Mario must hit them all, for a good reason, too. Afterwards, duck in the pipe to the right, grab a power-up, come out, duck in pipe to the left, go out the one on the right. Now, cross the valley on the newly made bridge of ♪ Blocks On the sixth Block from the left, Mario can jump extra-high to grab a 1-Up! After that, the lowest pipe from the left of the right wall is the pipe to the exit pipe.
7-3
This stage is very simple, except for the Lakitu, halfway through. But a Starman chain can make this easier. Hit the first ? Block, dashing to the right, hitting the leftmost block on the bottom row, finding another on, and repeating the procedure until he sees a ? Block with a block under it (the ordinary block has the star). Also, later in the level there is a pipe with unlimited Goombas, which invincible Mario can kill for many 1-Ups. Each of the ? Blocks on the sides of the pipe has a Starman, so grab one, kill some Goombas, then grab the other before the invincibility wears off. Lakitu will lead Mario on a merry chase through lots of little pitfalls, so watch your footing.
7-4
This water stage introduces Spiny Cheep-Cheeps (the spikes make no difference, however). Also, this level boasts a huge maze of Jelectros! The Big Bertha and Blooper Nanny infesting the water dont help the maneuvering process.
7-5
This level is a series of rooms. The first and second have nothing worthwhile, but in the third room, hit all the invisible blocks in the gaps in the floor. Then, at the last gap, jump through. The second pipe from the right has a exit not blocked by a block, and if Mario goes all the way to the left and goes in that pipe, he'll be lead to a power-up. After the pipe, Mario must go left, then fall through the second gap and go through another pipe. As a powered-up Mario, he must smash through the blocks to a pipe, then hop in. In this room, ario must expose invisible blocks to make a solid path on the top, from platform to platform. Then, at the very left, Mario must smash through Ice Blocks, go down a pipe, on the left, make a solid road of blocks, go back up, race to the right, and walk across his bridge of blocks on the top platforms. And right by the pipe at the end, to the left, is a block with a 1-Up. Mario can then exit through the pipe, go across the other bridge he made, then take one last pipe into the fresh air.
Piranha Plants
This stage is optional, but helpful. Mario must adventure over Munchers and all kinds of foliage. If he has a spare Starman, use it! It'll aid him greatly. The smallest pipe at the end leads to a room with a P-Wing!
Fortress
This castle has a very cool secret. If Mario enters powered-up, he can smash away the fourth row of blocks by the metal block, eventually uncovering a P-Switch that when stomped will turn the floor into a coin smorgasbord! Also, if he stays still when he stomps it, he can jump from the block he's on to the metal ones, which a door has been opened on. In this room, he can duck into the first pipe to get a Tanooki Suit! Then Mario must exit, leap across the lava, and then run back and forth on this floor. Soon, he can fly, high enough for him to reach a pipe on the ceiling to the Boom Boom fight. For unpowered adventurers, keep to the right, go through the door, keep left, go through another door, grab powerup by jumping from the row of ? Blocks to the little alcove where a power-up is in another ? Block, go all the way back to the first part, and see the top part of walkthrough for further instructions.
7-6
This is another wraparound stage, but fairly simple. It'll have Mario on some shaky lifts, but he'll be fine if he remembers that arrowed platform go where their arrow is pointing, and ones with exclamation points on them change direction whenever jumped on. They all will disappear if Mario hits his head, so be careful! Also, remember that this stage is wraparound, so unreachable goodies may be reached by traveling through the screen to the other side.
7-7
This stage is much like the Piranha Plants level, but has, fortunately, a Starman chain. His only hope for beating this stage is to sprint and grab every Starman along the way! Mario must hurry, hurry, HURRY to reach the end before he meets his end. He can let the Stars roam for a bit before grabbing them, effectively heightening his invincibility time.
7-8
This stage has MORE Piranha Plants and Venus Fire Traps! It's been said that Starmen and/or a P-Wing work great here... There is a Starman in the first ? Block, allowing Mario to weed-whack 'em. Plus, the second walking Ptooie guards a pipe to a secret room, which has a Hammer Suit! Use it to smash Mario's way to the exit, and doge fire attacks from Venus Fire Traps and Nipper Plants.
7-9
This level is a maze of tubing. Muddle through it as best you can, Mario! There are quite a few secrets, and quite a few baddies. Mario can collect coins by smashing the blocks below them. There are many several rich coin deposits in this stage, so try and take them all, but watch the timer!
Fortress
Hammer Mario can breeze through this befuddling Fortress, but other Mario aren't as lucky. Almost all the Fortress enemies are here! There's lava and pipes, too, of course. Boom Boom is still the big wimp he's always been, so Mario should hand him a stomping and head on out.
Piranha Plants
This level is just a remake of the previous one. Mario can jump right over the first stretch of Munchers, and any weapon will mow throw the other plants down. Cross a field of Muchers using sparsely-placed ♪ Blocks and claim the mediocre Super Mushroom prize at the end.
Airship
An Anchor is highly recommended, as the Airship can traipse all over the world, and Mario cannot. And guess who the King now is? A Piranha Plant! (A Yoshi in the Super Mario Advance version) Anyhow, this Airship is brutal, with Rocket Engines waiting to singe Mario's rear as he balances on Bolt Lifts but he can cheat by hopping onto the solid platforms the Cannons are on. And Rocky Wrenches, too, make life hard for Mario. Ludwig von Koopa, the freaky mad Koopa sceintist awaits you. Mario can tackle him like all his other siblings, but be aware that, like Roy, he'll paralyze the plumber by jumping around. Additionally, at the end of the airship Mario will get a letter from Bowser, saying "I kidnapped the princess!"
