A guide to completing World 5-3 in Super Mario Bros 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

How to Clear World 5-3

Go to the right and go down the pipe.

Go to the left, and hit the ? Block to get a Super Mushroom or Super Leaf, but be careful to avoid the Spiny Beetle, as well as the fireballs from the Venus Fire Trap.

Keep going to the left, but don't hit any bricks on the way. To the left, you find a Kuribo's Goomba, also known as Shoe Goomba. (Kuribo is the Japanese name for Goomba, so the name just means "Goomba's Goomba".)

You can steal the Shoe Goomba's shoe by hitting a brick that the Shoe Goomba is standing on. Any other attack will make the shoe disappear. You can jump into the empty shoe and bounce around in it, and it will protect you from things that would normally hurt you. You can stomp Spiny Beetles with it, and you can safely go over spikes and Muncher flowers. If you get hit, you'll lose the shoe.

Go to the left, and if you have the shoe, you can stomp the three Spiny Beetles.

Farther to the left, you find another Kuribo's Goomba. If you didn't get the shoe from the other one, you can try again here. Remember that you have to hit the brick that the Shoe Goomba is standing on. Other attacks will make the shoe disappear. Note that four of the bricks in this area contain coins.

Go to the left, past a pipe and a Bob-omb. Then there are three Spiny Beetles to the left, then a pipe, then some Muncher flowers under some bricks. If you have the shoe, you can get the coins above the bricks, as well as a 1UP Mushroom from the second brick from the left.

Go left, past a Piranha Plant, a Venus Fire Trap, and another Piranha Plant. Go left again, and go down the pipe.

There is another Kuribo's Goomba here. You can let it out if you want to steal its shoe. Go to the right side of its enclosure and take the two Ice Blocks (press the Run button while facing an Ice Block to take it), then wait for the Shoe Goomba to land on top of a brick, and hit the brick that it's standing on.

Get the coins above the Shoe Goomba's enclosure, then go past the Piranha Plant on the right. There are three Munchers in pits on the right, with some coins above them. Then there is a gap, and three Spiny Beetles. After that, there is a Piranha Plant.

Then there are several gaps with Munchers, a few coins, and a Piranha Plant. This is followed by a Bob-omb under some ? Blocks, the middle of which contains a Fire Flower. Get past the Venus Fire Trap on the right and continue on.

There are a lot of pits with Muncher flowers, a green Piranha Plant, a few coins, and a red Piranha Plant. Then there is a gap, and a few coins in the air above a Spiny Beetle.

Go through the pipe on the right to reach the end of the level, then go to the right and hit the Goal Block (which makes you lose the shoe) to complete the level.

After the Level

If any of the Hammer Brothers is in your path, you can fight them to get a Starman or P Wing.

You can optionally visit the Spade House for a chance to get 1UPs.

You can visit the first fortress of World 5, and if you clear it, a bridge will appear on the river, giving you a shortcut if you lose all your lives. Or you can go directly to the World 5 Tower.