Mario Adventure/Desert Dares

Desert Dares is World 7 in Mario Adventure.

Map Music: Koopahari Desert Level Music: Plains

After doing the first 6 worlds, you might already be fearing what World 8 has to throw at you. Well, don’t worry about World 8, because you might not be seeing it for a while! World 7 consists of a large number of very small levels that play out as stunts. As first, these stunts aren’t too bad, but soon enough Mario will be putting Evel Knievel to shame.

+Dare 0-2: Perilous Bounce Location: move down once from the start. It’s the leftmost level in the middle row. Time Limit: 100 It takes some good music note block bouncing to clear this level. Just climb up the blocks. When you make it to the top, take a big jump to get over the spikes below. Then finish your act by defeating a Boom-Boom.

+Dare 0-3: Bull’s-eye Location: move down twice from the start. It’s the leftmost level in the bottom row. Time Limit: 100 Defeat the koopa and grab its shell. Kick it into the tight passage from a distance, near the top of your jump. If you miss, Walk into the door and the level resets. Once you get the potion, move on to the Boom-Boom.

+Dare 1-1: Spike Hurdle Location: move right once from the start. It’s in the top row, second level to the left. Time Limit: 100 Jump between the spikes. The spikes actually cover a block of width. The safe areas are two-blocks wide, so these spikes aren’t too hard to pass.

+Dare 1-2: Koopa Climb Location: move right once and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, second level to the left. Time Limit: 100 This one isn’t easy. You have to jump on the flying koopas to reach the wooden ledges to climb the wall. Go just right of the first spike, then as the koopa approaches you, run and jump at it to bounce on the ledge. Now, wait for the next koopa to pass over you, and turn around and move away. If you jump on the koopa while it’s moving right, the third koopa will be doing the same and will hit you when you bounce. Then just bounce on the third koopa to get over the wall. Oh yeah, and there’s spikes in the Boom-Boom area, so just avoid them.

+Dare 1-3: Leap of Faith Location: move right once and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, second level to the left. Time Limit: 100 You’ll see a platform over a pit, and under the platform is some coins. Jump onto the platform. Watch of for the Fake Glass Blocks. Run to the end for a power-up, then go back to the pit. There’s a platform below the coins, just jump for the coins and then jump off where the coins end. Run all the way left, then go right and you’ll see a door before the pit. This is a good level to get a free power-up if you need one.

+Dare 2-1: Spike Hurdle’s Revenge Location: move right twice from the start. It’s in the top row, third level to the left. Time Limit: 100

I’m not great at this level. It’s basically a floor littered with spikes. First a spike, then a block of space, repeat a few times. Remember, the spikes actually take up a block of space. Rain makes this easier to visualize.

How many spikes should you jump at a time? Surprisingly, I have more luck jumping two at a time than one at a time. It’s a more natural jump, and of course it covers twice the ground. Whatever works for you, though. If you do better playing it safe, you have plenty of time, and if you can jump three at a time, more power to you. Another level with a power-up.

+Dare 2-2: Double Trouble Location: move right twice and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, third level to the left. Time Limit: 100

Two Boom-Boom’s attack from above. Do a find on “? Boom” without the space if you still need help on this. Let them drop before you fight them. You can use the neighbouring level Dare 2-1 to power-up Mario for this fight.

+Dare 2-3: Three-On-One Brawl Location: move right twice and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, third level to the left. Time Limit: 100

Here’s a good level to avoid. But if you want to play it, you might want to power up. Beating three Boom-Booms starting out small is no easy task. Try to bouncing from one to the next to the next.

+Dare 3-1: Three-On-Raccoon Brawl Location: move right three times from the start. It’s in the top row, fourth level to the left. Time Limit: 100

You get a free leaf here, but it’s surprisingly hard to leave this level with more than you come in with. The best way to beat those guys is bouncing on one, then the next, then the next. If you get the rhythm right, you can hit them all a second time this way. They move fast after that so the third hit will be trickier. Just remember to keep moving after that third hit to avoid those mushrooms. As always, they’ll make Mario a sitting duck!

+Dare 3-2: Cheep-Cheep Waterfall Location: move right three times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, fourth level to the left. Time Limit: 100

You have two choices: try to swim under the cheep-cheeps or hop over them. I think hopping over is easier. Just pay attention to their patterns.

The Boom-Boom is really hard with this waterfall. Jump out of the waterfall and land on the Boom-Boom to hit him. The key is to get on top of the waterfall quickly after the first jump on the Boom-Boom so you can hit him again before he flies off.

+Dare 3-3: Waterfall Jumps Location: move right three times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, fourth level to the left. Time Limit: 100

I’ll just say the key is to jump out of the water right at the corner, running forwards at full speed. The Boom-Boom is the same as the last level.

+Dare 4-1: Wacky Sky-jinx Location: move right four times from the start. It’s in the top row, fifth level to the left. Time Limit: 100

I never have a problem with this one The odd-numbered platforms are affected by Mario’s weight, the even-numbered ones spin as they enter the screen but will not be spinning by the time you reach it, as long as you’re keeping the pace. Just get the rhythm and it’s not too hard. One good way may be to pretend the platforms aren’t moving, and try to do it nice and fast.

+Dare 4-2: Whip over the wall Location: move right four times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, fifth level to the left. Time Limit: 300

You have to use the spinning platforms to move up. For the first one, I jump on the wooden block just to the left of the spinning platform, then jump and move slightly right, so the edge of the spinning platform whips me up to the ledge. For the second one, you can try to use the spinning effect of the platform, but I find it easier to hop while it’s stationary and hop off over the wall.

There’s spikes by this Boom-Boom, but don’t panic. There’s just one, so hop onto it as normal. The spikes don’t affect the Boom-Boom.

+Dare 4-3: Thwomp Madness Location: move right four times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, fifth level to the left. Time Limit: 100 Move right when you start the level, or a thwomp will get you right away. Do a nice, short, running hop over the spikes and you’ll avoid the next thwomp.

To get past the thwomp combo afterwards, move towards the thwomps, and then as the sideways moving one approaches, run a few steps back. Aftehr thwomp starts moving right again, lure the other thwomp down, then as it goes back up, quickly sneak under it. This level has a power-up at the end.

+Dare 5-1: Bombitu Dash Location: move right five times from the start. It’s in the top row, two levels left of the central mushroom house Time Limit: 100

Not only is there a Bombitu in the bottom of the screen, but bombs drop from the top of the screen as well. It’s pretty hard if you’re small, but if you actively avoid the bombs, you can do it. I recommend a power-up from another level though.

+Dare 5-2: Bombitu Survivor Location: move right five times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, two levels left of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 50 to win)

The dare in this level is to survive in a small area for 50 seoncds while a bombitu drops bomb after bomb from above. It takes some slick running to avoid all these bombs and their big explosions.

First, run to the right side of the screen, then wait for three bombs to explode, and run to the left side (wait so you don’t hit the explosions, though). Then wait another 3 explosions, and run to the right side. Do this over and over and survive for 50 seconds.

+Dare 5-3: Bombitu Survivor MAX Location: move right five times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, two levels left of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 50 to win)

This one is like Bombitu Survivor, but with two spikes, it’s presumably much harder. However, there’s a good strategy you can use in this one to survive the onslaught of bombs while maneuvering past the spikes. It’s best to formulate your own strategy, but if you’re really stumped, here’s a foolproof strategy:

The Bombitu starts the level in a position where he won’t hit you if you don’t move. Just stay still for 50 seconds and you’ll win.

+Dare 6-1: Bombitu Survivor MAX Oni Location: move right six times from the start. It’s in the top row, one level left of the central mushroom house. Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 50)

Same as Dare 5-3: Bombitu Survivor MAX, but now there are four spikes! Try to beat it on your own, but if you need help, refer to Dare 5-3.

+Dare 6-2: Bombitu Survivor… with Bullet Bills Location: move right six times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, one level left of the central mushroom house. Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 50)

Not this again. This one works just like all the other survivors, but now there are bullet bills. The same strategy from Dare 5-3 works yet again, except bullet-bills add an element of luck sometimes.

+Dare 6-3: Hang In There Location: move right six times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, one level left of the central mushroom house. Time Limit: “300” (Survive for 25)

Here’s a good jumping one. There’s a couple of those platforms that spin at intervals. You have to jump in the air when they spin so you don’t fall off. The clouds below are fake.. There are two platforms, but it’s simpler just to stay on one. Just keep the rhythm for 25 seconds.

+Dare 7-1: Tilt of DOOM Location: move right seven times from the start. It’s in the top row, directly above the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 50)

Move right when you start or you’ll fall. This level is just one platform that tilts to Mario’s weight. Keep yourself on it for 50 seconds. The key is jumping just as you hit the platform to minimize the time your weight affects it. If you land and stay dead center on the platform while it’s perfectly flat, you’ll balance on the platform, but it’s a little tricky to pull off.

+Dare 7-2: Tilt of DOOM… with bullet bills Location: move right seven times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, directly above the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 50)

Same as Dare 7-1, except another tilted platform is on the other side, but there’s no reason to use it. Bullet-bills are fired from both sides, don’t run into them! Just keep a little right-of-center of the left platform and jump as soon as you land on it each time and hope the bullet-bills don’t get in your way. Use shorter hops if one is fired above you.

+Dare 7-3: Military Testing Zone Location: move right seven times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, directly above the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 25)

There’s quite a lot to avoid here. Cannon-balls drop from the sky; one from the center, and one from the left. I like staying to right not only to avoid those cannon-balls, but because the bullet-bills to the right can be ducked under (you run under them if you’re small). The main challenge is those fast moving giant cannon-balls. Try to stay low so you can jump out of the way of these things when you have to. Even though you should keep to the right, stay away from the edge so you’ll have time to react. Without power-ups, it might take some luck, but you only need to survive for 25 seconds.

+Dare 8-1: Bullet Bill Waterfall Location: move right eight times from the start. It’s in the top row, one level right of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 75)

Keep swimming in the waterfall without dropping below the bottom of the screen. Move right to the center of the screen. The bullet bills are pretty infrequent, so this level isn’t too hard, it’s just long.

+Dare 8-2: Tilt of DOOM… with Cheep-Cheeps Location: move right eight times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, one level right of the central mushroom house. Time Limit: “100” (Survive for 25)

This one isn’t easy. Like the other tilt of DOOMs, jump off the platforms as soon as you land on them. Keep on the left platform. Pay attention to their arc. The Cheep-Cheeps from the right will usually fly over you if you stand or do short hops on the right of the platform. Keep the platform tilted so the right side is pointing up. Then you can stand on the right side for a while without dropping. So you can stand under, hop under, jump over, or jump onto Cheep-Cheeps to avoid them. Luckily, you only need to survive for 25 seconds.

The platform doesn’t count as solid ground, meaning that if you jump on Cheep-Cheeps, you’ll score more points for each one. Jump on enough and you’ll start getting 50-coin bonuses! If you’re very good, you can keep bouncing on Cheep-Cheeps in the middle of the screen without even using the platforms.

+Dare 8-3: Coin Climb Location: move right eight times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, one level right of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (Fail after 10)

Collect all the coins in under 10 seconds to win this one. You actually have a little spare time to work with so don’t get flustered or you’ll fall. After a few tries it shouldn’t be a problem.

+Dare 9-1: Coin Fall Location: move right nine times from the start. It’s in the top row, two levels right of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (You fail after 30)

You need all the coins to win. At first, go to the top, and try to collect all the higher coins by dropping in between the two columns (hence collecting both). Then, near the bottom, you’ll probably want to jump back and forth a couple times to get ‘em all without falling off the screen. You’re not really pressed for time at all.

+Dare 9-2: How does he do that? Location: move right nine times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, two levels right of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (You fail after 15)

You need all the coins above the lip of the waterfall. I don’t know anyone who can jump out of water like that, but this is Mario we’re talking about! Rapidly press jump to swim up, and hold Up on the d-pad, then hold jump the button as you approach the lip, still holding Up. If you’re jumping out but not high enough, hold the jump button earlier.

+Dare 9-3: Gotta Catch ‘Em All Location: move right ten times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, two levels right of the central mushroom house Time Limit: “100” (You fail after 27)

Tons of coins in this level, and you have 27 seconds to get them all. Jump up to the right side, and get all the coins as you move up, around, and back down to where you started. It’s easier to collect them if you’re Super. Otherwise, keep hopping to collect the coins. Just make sure you don’t leave any behind.

This isn’t a bad

+Dare 10-1: “Four”-letter words Location: move right ten times from the start. It’s in the top row, third level to the right. Time Limit: 100 (Survive for 50)

WTF? Four Boom-Booms? This is getting a little out of hand ;). Remember you can always go back to levels like Dare 1-3 to power-up Mario and give him a chance.

This is a survival stunt. You can try beating them to thin out their numbers, but it makes them more aggressive. Stay in the center, and after they’re all on the ground, jump over one pair of them (either to the left or right edge or the screen). If you’re lucky, they’ll sort of move as a group. Keep jumping over the group until the 50 seconds is up.

+Dare 10-2: It’s even easier in the rain Location: move right ten times and down from the start. It’s in the middle row, third level to the right. Time Limit: “100” (Fail after 25)

Not really much of a dare. There’s an invisible coin block below the outer sides of each of the two higher platforms. Get those, then move onto those platforms and hit each of the invisible coin blocks above the inner sides of the platforms.

+Dare 10-3: Freebie Location: move right ten times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, third level to the right. Time Limit: “100” (Fail after 25)

Whether you fail the level or not, you get a power-up. Get all the coins across the bottom. Then time your jump onto the first platform so it’ll be flat when you land on it. Get the coin, and run to the tilty platform, and balance on that until you can jump on the next spinning platform, then jump back and you’ll have all the coins. Alternatively, you can fly and get them with the Raccoon suit.

+Dare 11-1: Bounce Around Location: move right 11 times from the start. It’s in the top row, second level to the right. Time Limit: 100 (You fail after 30)

No strategy in this one. Just bounce your way up and down the three columns to get all the coins. Watch out for the effect of the sideways bounce.

+Dare 11-2: ? Block Marathon Location: move right 11 times and down once from the start. It’s in the middle row, second level to the right. Time Limit: 100 (You fail after 99)

Jump, jump, jump. You have 99 second to empty 6 rows of ? blocks in seconds. It’s easy but takes so much time. Or, if you have a Raccoon suit (you can get one in Dare 10-3, among other places), you can fly into the blocks which is a lot faster.

+Dare 11-3: Dangerous Coins Location: move right 11 times and down twice from the start. It’s in the bottom row, second level to the right. Time Limit: 100 (You fail after 16)

Don’t move at the start, you want to drop into the top-rightmost coin. The left platform will spin, so get the coins on it and jump off to the middle platform. It’s a titling one, so balance on it and jump on the left platform again to get the coin in the air to the left, but time the jump so the platform won’t be spinning when you land.

Then jump back on the middle one, get the coins above it if you haven’t yet, and then do another well-timed jump to the right to get both coins to the up right, and land on the right platform when it’s not spinning. Then get those coins and you should be done.

+Dare 12-1: Free (money) fall Location: move right 12 times from the start. It’s the top and right-most level Time Limit: 100 (You fail after 3. Not a typo)

Tough one. This one is a quick drop, in which you must collect every coin. The coins swerve left, and then right. I think it’s set to fail so quickly for two reasons. One, so you can’t use Raccoon Mario. And two, so you don’t die every time and lose your power-up (if any).

I prefer to run right, then hold left as soon as leave the platform, then right to follow the trail of coins. Just hit the very left edge of the first coin. It’s much harder but not impossible if you’re small. It’s nigh impossible in icy conditions.

+Dare 12-2: Not Dangerous Coins Location: move right 12 times from the start. It’s the rightmost level in the middle row. Time Limit: 100 (You fail after 3. Not a typo)

I think DahrkDaiz ran out of ideas for stunts, but there’s still one space for him to fill! Climb the platforms, hit the potion, and get the coins. This one’s easy, because you don’t even need all the coins. It would be harder if he had like four columns and you had to collect most of them, because you’d have to climb the platforms really quickly the second time around. As it is, it’s a nice break to enjoy before the fortress, unlike the other entrance, Dare 11-3.

+Desert Dares Fortress Location: move right 12 times and down once from the start. It’s the rightmost level in the middle row. Time Limit: 400

Ok, forget about the door and ? block to the left, and watch out for the podoboos (move right when you start or one will hit you!) The second ? block in the row has a power-up for you, but watch out for the second podoboo. For the thwomps, show some guts and do running jumps past the platforms they’re guarding.

Now, the moving platform (watch out for boos!), you have lots of routes. Take the platform to take the up-left route (ie go above where you came from). Watch out for the podoboos (the same ones from the start) after the spikes! Then hit all the invisible blocks that are blocking you from going futher.

Now go back to the platform. The platform is waiting for you at the center of the bottom side of the octagon, so jump for there. Now use the platform to take the high route to the right. The spikes on top of upside-down spikes are harmless (they are the non-laser shooting statues from the last castle in SMB3, but with different art), so run across the “statues” to zip past the harmful spikes underneath.

When you have to go down and left, make sure you hit the row of invisible blocks. To get to the platform again, you’ll have to face plenty of obstacles, a shooting “statue” (two spikes; just take a good-sized hop over it), and boo bars. You’re probably meant to do this route on the way there, too, but I’d say the up-right route is easier.

Now when you get to the moving platform, take the up-right route again. This time the invisible blocks will take you to a higher area. Look near the top for those thwomps. Watch out for boos up there and don’t get careless at the pool of lava. Watch out for podoboos (the same ones yet again) after the spike pits. Work your way down the music note blocks. The last one is actually a dropping block. Hit the two invisible coins that are below the door. Now you’ll be able to enter it!

Before you can, you have to run all the way back to the start. If you’re Super, Duck-sliding across that pipe can be a bit tricky since you’re approaching form the right this time (see ? duck without the space for help). Remember again that the platform waits for you at the center of the bottom side of the octagon

Once you get to the door, you face just one Boom-Boom, and you get a leaf and a fire flower. Try to retain as many power-ups as you can to help you against Lugwig.

+Battle of Desert Dares Location: The one in the bottle right corner away from the others. Time Limit: 400

No airship or tanks or what have you here. Just a battle with Ludwig. Four pits of lava, two flamethrowers and plenty of shaking. My advice: keep yourself in the air when Ludwig is about to land. It’s pretty hard to survive very long in this arena, so don’t be afraid to take some risks, after all, you can always try again. Once the shaking gets you, you’re in trouble.

Keep in mind that you do have some space on the platforms next to the flamethrowers, and the added height of these platforms is helpful. I like to jump on him, run to a raised platform, then jump on him and run to the other side, etc.

You can beat this level small, it’s just not particularly easy.