Alternate Ending

What the princess says to Mario at the end of the game will vary depending on whether or not it’s your first time through the game.

Control the Toad Bonus

Once Bowser kidnaps Toad, if you find him in a one-up block and carry him to the end of the level, you’ll get a bonus mushroom house. What may not be obvious is that you can actually control what type of house you get! Watch the time when you hit the flag; on a 0-3 you’ll get a 1-up cannon game, on a 4-7 you’ll get a match game, and on an 8 or 9 you’ll get a star.

Lose Your Hat

Getting extra lives is pretty easy in the early levels, but don’t think you can just rack up a few hundred; the number of lives tops out at 99. Additionally, if you get up to 99…Mario loses his hat! Not to worry, though, as he’ll get it back when you lose a life.

Save Anywhere

Not really an easter egg, but if you’ve beaten the game, quick save goes away and you can now do a full save whenever you like.

Save Menu Stars

On the menu that shows your saves, you can get stars on your save file. You’ll get one star for each of the following:

• Beating the game
• Beating every normal level in the game
• Collecting every star coin in the first 8 worlds
• Collecting every star coin in world 9
• Beating every level and finding every secret goal and using all warp cannons

Finally, you can also make the stars sparkly, but to do this you have to get all five of the stars without making a Luigi block appear (that is, don’t die eight times in a row on any level).

Unlimited Goodies

In your first time through the game, you’ll likely use up most of your power-ups from the Mushroom houses; fortunately, beating the game brings them back for a second use. Once you’ve collected all the coins and used every warp cannon, though, they’re back for good. Let the mushroom kingdom rejoice!