A guide to completing World 1-2 in Super Mario Bros 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Get a Magic Carpet

Jump on the hills at the beginning of the level, and you find a Pidgit on a magic carpet. When the Pidgit swoops down (or if you do a Power Squat Jump by pressing Down until you flash), jump on top of the Pidgit and throw it, and you can then use the directional pad to move the flying carpet around, but be warned that the flying carpet will eventually start flashing, then disappear.

Go to the right on the flying carpet, but beware of the Beezos that swoop down from the right side of the screen. There are four of them, and they adjust their flight path based on where you are on the screen. Carefully get past them but don't be too slow or the flying carpet will disappear before you reach safety.

Get a Mushroom and Key

Get on a hill after you fly past the Beezos, then jump to the right until you're on grass. The first tuft of grass is a Potion, but you might not want to use it. Here's why: there are three Potions in this level, but you can only get coins from the first two Subspace areas you visit in a level. You can use the third Potion to get 9 coins if you skip one of the first two Potions, whereas if use both the first and and second Potions instead, you can only get at most 7 coins, and the coins in the second area are hard to get. However, the first two Subspace areas have Mushrooms, and the third does not. In short, you have to decide if you want to skip one of the first two Subspace areas to get more coins, or visit both of the first two Subspace areas so you can get two Mushrooms.

If you wwant to get the 9 coins from the third Potion, it is recommended to use this first Potion and skip the second. To do so, stand to the left of the second vase, then press the button to drop the potion, and it will land on top of the vase. Go in the door to enter Subspace, and if you're really quick, you can get the cherries, the Mushroom, and the three tufts of grass before you are returned to normal space. Try crouching as soon as you go through the door and do a power jump to reach the cherries, then quickly go to the right to get a Mushroom, and go to the left and pick the three tufts of grass.

Go to the leftmost vase and press down to go inside. There is a Tweeter down below, and if you pick the tuft of grass at the bottom, you get a 1UP. Jump back up through the ceiling to exit the vase.

Now go to the vase on the right. If you didn't already get the cherry above it, you can stand on the left or right side of the top of the vase and crouch, and if you're not centered on the vase, you won't go down it and you can do a power jump to get the cherry.

Now go down the rightmost vase, but before you pick up the key, be warned that one of the masks on the wall (which are known as Phantos) will start chasing you as soon as you take the key. When you have the key, jump up through the ceiling to leave the vase.

Use the Key

You can drop the key on the ground to stop the Phanto from chasing you. The key won't disappear. You can even throw the key at the Ninjis to defeat them. The grasses to the right of the vase are just small veggies, so feel free to ignore them. Get the cherries, then take the key to the right, and you will see a locked door. While holding the key, stand in front of the door and press Up to unlock the door and go through.

Go through the Cave

Get the three cherries. The first grass is a bomb. You can't get a stopwatch in this level, so don't worry about picking the second and third grass to get the large veggies if you don't feel like it.

The next platform has a Snifit walking back and forth. It occasionally spits a bullet at you, so be prepared to jump and dodge it. Try to pick up and throw the Snifit to the left or into a pit.

On the platform that the Snifit was on, pick up a tuft of grass, jump to the right, and drop the bomb on the bottom left broken block. Step back and wait for the explosion, then use one of the two grasses near the broken blocks to bomb the remaining block on the floor.

To Potion or Not To Potion

There is a Potion in one of the grasses at the top of the ladder, but as with the first Potion, you might not want to use it. Feel free to use it if you didn't use the first Potion. But if you did use the first Potion, then you have to choose whether to get the Mushroom from this second Potion, or get 9 coins from the third Potion, which is later in the level.

Option 1: Use the Second Potion

If you do want to use the second Potion, pull the remaining tuft of grass that is to the left of where you bombed through the broken blocks, then run to the right and throw it past the Snifit that is jumping up and down. Dodge the bullets while you wait for the bomb to go off. If you did it correctly, there will now be a gap in the broken blocks to the right of where the Snifit was. Then go up the ladder and pull the second grass from the left to get a Potion, but don't drop it yet. One way to try to get as many items as possible in the Potion door is to go to the left to fall down to the lower level, then go to the right, but beware of the Snifit, if it has reappeared. Drop the potion in the same spot where the Snifit is (five squares to the right of the ladder), then throw the Snifit somewhere else and go through the door into Subspace. Run to the left and pick up the Mushroom, run to the right and pick the grass, then jump and climb up the ladder, and run to get the three grasses up there. With luck and skill, you can get the potion and four coins.

After you exit Subspace, go through the broken blocks on the right (pull grass for more bombs if you didn't actually break through the ones on the right side).

Option 2: Don't Use the Second Potion

If you want to skip the second Potion instead, you can just pull grass to get bombs, and use them to break through the broken blocks on the right to reach the area on the right.

Continue On

Whichever option you chose, go to the right and jump up the ledge, and get the Cherries, but beware of the Ninjis to the right that are running back and forth.

After the Ninjis, jump up the ledge (you may need to do a Power Squat Jump to reach it: press Down until you flash, then jump), then go through the door.

If you skipped one or both of the first two Potions, then jump up onto the hill above the door, then go left past a Ninji and a Snifit. Get the cherry, then pull the grass to get a Potion. Take it to the right, go down to the area with the tufts of grass (beware of the two Shyguys), then drop the potion on the sixth grass from the left. Go through the door and pull all the grass (including the grass that is hidden behind the door) to get 9 coins.

Go to the right from the cave exit and enter the door that you find. This will lead you to the miniboss, Birdo.

Birdo

This Birdo behaves the same as the one from World 1-1. Jump on the eggs it spits, throw the eggs at Birdo, then pick up Crystal Ball and go through the mask gate on the right.

After you play Bonus Chance (if you got any coins), you continue to World 1-3.