A guide to completing the World 4 Airship in Super Mario Bros 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

How to Clear the World 4 Airship

Go to the right and you find two Jet Engines with large flames going to the right. Note that in the original NES version, if you still have the Tanooki Suit, you can hold Down and the run button to turn into a statue, and as a statue, you can actually stomp the flames to permanently get rid of them.

Get the three coins above the two Jet Engines, then go to the right, where you can see some coins down below. You can get those coins if you wish, but there are two paths you can take, the upper path and the lower path.

The upper path has a Bolt Lift that you can jump up and down on to move it to the right, allowing you to avoid the flames below (but you may need to make a running jump to reach the other side, since the Bolt Lift moves more slowly than the airship). To the right of the Bolt Lift, there is a Rocky Wrench that comes up from a small raised platform, followed by a ? Block that contains a Super Mushroom or Super Leaf.

If you took the lower path instead, you have to jump over three Jet Engines whenever their flames disappear, then you have to get past a set of three Jet Engines, one that shoots flame to the right, one that shoots flame down, and one that shoots flame to the left.

Whichever path you chose, you arrive at another split path, where there is a rightward flame on top and a downward flame below. If you go on the upper path, you can try to make a running jump to the platform on the right, where there isn't any Jet Engine. Beneath the platform without a Jet Engine, there are several Jet Engines to get past. If you're Raccoon or Tanooki Mario, you can try to stand on the highest horizontal Jet Engine, wait for a high wooden platform to appear on the right, then make a running jump to the right, then tap the jump button to reach that high platform. If you don't make it, you'll have to get past four Jet Engines.

Before you go down the pipe to the airship boss, there is a ? Block after the pipe that contains a Super Mushroom or Super Leaf. Go down the pipe when you're ready.

Iggy Koopa

Iggy will shoot magic rings at you from the magic wand. The rings get bigger as they move farther away. Dodge the rings, and jump on top of Iggy, or hit him with Fireballs.

After Iggy is defeated, pick up the Magic Wand and you will clear World 4. You'll get a letter from the Princess, who gives you a P-Wing. This is an item that you can use on the World Map by pressing B. If you use it, you transform into Raccoon Mario with a P on your chest (only on the World Map), and when you enter a level, your P-Meter will be filled during the entire level, so you can fly the entire time (but you lose this ability if you get hit). This effect wears off after the level is completed, and you turn into normal Raccoon Mario.

Now you'll automatically go to World 5, where you can start with World 5-1 (which is a good world to use a P Wing, to make it easier to get a lot of coins and 1UPs in the level).