A guide to completing Bowser's Castle in World 8 in Super Mario Bros 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

How to Clear Bowser's Castle

Run (don't walk) to the right and you should get past three Bowser Statues that shoot lasers at the floor, but there is a risk that a laser will hit you even if you're running. If want to walk past the statues instead, you have to jump toward each statue to jump over the laser beam until you are close to the statue, which will stop shooting the beam when you're close.

After the statues, don't go through the door. It's a trap that leads to a room with two Dry Bones on the left and a Thwomp on the right. Go left, past the Dry Bones, and go through the door to return to the start of the castle, then read the previous paragraph.

Instead of going through the door after the statues, you need to stand beneath the hole in the ceiling, and a hidden elevator will take you up. The elevator stops at the top. Jump to the right and stand on the Donut Lift, and push to the right as it falls, so that you walk onto the platform on the right instead of falling into the hole below.

A Hot Foot will step off of the candle and walk toward you. Jump over it, then jump up a series of steps while avoiding the Roto-Discs. At the top, stand up against the wall on the right and jump straight up to get a 1UP Mushroom.

Then go to the left and start making your way down the stairs while avoiding the Roto-Discs.

At the bottom, go to the right and you reach an area with lava, and Donut Lifts above the lava. At the right side of this large room, there are four paths. The bottom path is a trap that leads to a room with a Thwomp on the left, followed by two Dry Bones, and a door that takes you back to the start of the castle.

The path below the highest path has a ? Block that contains a Super Mushroom or Super Leaf.

Next, there are two different paths you can go down to reach the final boss. The highest path (which you can only reach by standing on the upper-right Donut Lift, then jump from it when it falls) leads to King Koopa, and the path above the lowest path also leads to King Koopa. The highest path is slightly shorter, but the path above the lowest path has a Super Mushroom or Super Leaf.

The Highest Path

If you choose to go through the highest path, there are four Bowser Statues, but only the first statue shoots laser beams. Jump to land on top of the first statue, or just land in front of it, then jump on top after. Since the rest of the statues don't shoot laser beams, just keep going to the right.

You reach an area where Bowser's Flames will be moving across the screen from right to left. The floor is lava, and there are Donut Lifts that you have to jump across to reach the right side of the room. The statue above the right side of the lava does not shoot lasers, so just jump to the right and go through the door, and you will face Bowser, King of the Koopas.

The Path Above the Lowest Path

If you instead decide to use the path above the lowest path, you have to go past two Roto-Discs, then jump over a low brick after the Thwomp starts going back to the right. Stand on the Donut Lift, but jump if needed to avoid the Thwomp.

When you fall down on the Donut Lift, push to the right to land on the platform below. Jump over the lava pits while avoiding the Podoboos that come out. Then avoid hitting the Roto-Disc as you jump onto the orb that it spins around. Jump over the next two gaps and the Podoboos that jump from them, then go through the door on the right.

To the right, jump on the Bowser statue to avoid the laser that it shoots, or just jump to land in front of it and then jump on top of it. The rest of the Bowser statues do not shoot lasers. Hit the ? Block to get a Super Mushroom or Super Leaf.

Then keep going right to reach an area where Bowser's Flames will be moving across the screen from right to left. The floor is lava, and there are brick platforms you can jump across. There is a Bowser statue near the end of the lava, but it doesn't shoot lasers, so just jump to the right and go through the door, and you will face Bowser, King of the Koopas.

Bowser, King of the Koopas

Go to the right to make Bowser appear. Bowser spits fireballs horizontally, and after two or three fireballs, he will jump high in the air, then try to stomp on you. Get out of the way of his jumps and stomps. If you're Fire Mario, you can try to hit Bowser 35 times with fireballs to defeat him. If you're Hammer Mario, you can try to hit Bowser with three hammers to defeat him. Otherwise, you need to make Bowser stomp on the bricks in the middle of the room. He will break the two bricks that he lands on. Keep making him break the bricks until he breaks all the way through and falls down the hole. After Bowser crashes far down below, the door on the right will open. Go through to rescue Peach, a.k.a. Princess Toadstool. Congratulations! You won! Enjoy the ending sequence, and press Start when it says "The End" to start a new game with 28 P Wings in your inventory!