Complete the first 8 worlds as Mario, unlocking the special worlds. Then complete Castle S1 and Luigi will be unlocked, select him by clicking "L" on the touch screen while selecting a stage.
Complete Worlds 1-8 to unlock the Special World.
Here are the Star Coin requirements for each level:
Get a 5 Star Profile described in detail below to unlock the Final Level.
| Star 1 | Beat Bowser in World 8. |
| Star 2 | Collect the gold flag on every level. |
| Star 3 | Collect all the Star Coins from every level excluding Purple "?" cube bonus levels. |
| Star 4 | Clear Special World 8 then return to and Clear 2nd World 8-Castle. |
| Star 5 | Clear every level once as Mario and also as Luigi. |
A quick way of getting many 1ups is to find the purple warp box (the one with the "!" on it) in stage 1-3. When you first start the stage you should be able to see it in the top left-hand corner. Follow the path down to this question box, and jump into it. As soon as you enter the room with the 3 question boxes head underneath the one located all the way to the right. Keep jumping and hitting it to recieve coins, you can easily gain at least 30 coins this way. When time runs out quit the stage and then start it again. Do this process repeatedly, and you can quickly gain hundreds of coins and earn 1-Ups.
In the level 1-2 there is a glitch that you can exploit where the 1up is, once at the 1up jump on top of it, but don’t move in any direction. If done properly, Mario will keep jumping on top of infinitely spawning 1ups. Another location where this can happen is in 4-1. Near the beginning of the stage, there is a patch of water. There is a Koopa Troopa in front of the water. Stand in front of the water spot, staying in front of the thinnest water part. Once the Koopa comes, jump on it and send the shell flying into the thin water stretch. If done correctly, the shell should be hitting walls back and forth extremely fast. Time your jump and jump on the shell. If you jump on the Koopa, the shell should be coming back and forth extremely quickly, Mario getting a life every jump. No extra moving is needed to keep Mario jumping on the shell. It may take a few tries before this works.
In S4-1 if you hit the 2 pairs of Goombas stacked up on each other with the boomerang from the Boomerang Suit and than hit he last one with the Koopa you will get a 1-UP. Another trick is every single time the boomerang hits the bombs there and back, you will earn 1-Up for every single time it hits them.
Anytime you enter a boss battle against Boom Boom or Pom Pom, extra lives await for you. Once you stump on their heads, they retreat into their shells and try to spin attack you. In Boom Boom's case he spins around within the room so you must quickly jump on top his shell. If you jump enough times, you will be rewarded with 1-ups. Pom Pom on the other hand is easier to do this with. Since she spins upwards, If you jump on top her shell and stay there you will be rewarded a ton of 1-ups!
Another quick way to get 1-Ups is in World 5-5. After getting the Propeller Box, go to the platform with the five Beetles. Jump on one but keep "A" held down. Move in mid-air (without letting go of the "A" button) and step on the next Beetle. Without touching the ground, continue doing this until all five Beetles are dead. You'll get a 1-Up. Then go up to the next platform. Jump to the small raised square on the platform and fly up. Holding the "A" like in the last platform, fly over the tower of Goombas, and then ground pound them. If done right, you'll get six lives in two seconds. That's 7 lives in the first 30 seconds of the level!
A fast way to get many 1ups is to rack up kills with the star power ups in World S1-1. The technique here is to grab the first power up and kill as many spiked koopas as possible. After you have killed the 4th enemy, you will start getting 1ups for every consecutive kill afterwards. If you are fast enough, you should be able to get the second star power up to extend your starman streak. Continue along the path to rack up as many 1ups as possible. Finally, at the peak of the level, there will be one final star that will net you another three 1ups. Assuming you grabbed the top of the flagpole, you should have gotten an additional 13 lives in less than 2 minutes!
The fastest way to gain a lot of 1-Ups is in World 1-2. Just past the mid-level flag, you'll enter a corridor with three Koopa Troopas. Stand directly in front of the first one you encounter and jump on top of it. The shell will bounce between the wall and the "?" block on the ground. With proper timing, you'll continue to bounce on the Koopa shell as long as you don't move in any direction. With proper timing, you can get up to 3 1-Ups per second!
If you know any more 1-Up secrets, share them here!
Play as Small Mario with Hat or Super Mario without a Hat
Reach the maximum amount of lives (1,110) and Small Mario will have a hat. Super Mario will also be without a hat.
To return to the title screen anywhere in the game hold down. "L" and "R" then press either "select" or "start".
Save and quit while you are playing any of the special worlds. The title screen will play a different video. To revert back to the normal title screen save and quit in any of the first 8 worlds.
If you save and quit when you have the maximum number of lives (1,110) Super Mario without his hat will run through the title screen level (including the 3D Demo Stage). If you save and quit while in the special worlds, but without the maximum number of lives you will be Tanooki Mario.
Upon dying several times in one level, You have the option of hitting a block which shoots out a statue leaf which gives Mario the White Tanooki Suit. This suit has the effect of a regular Tanooki suit with the effects of a star. However, the star effects last for the entire level.
You can unlock Super Mario 3D Land Photos after beating certain levels and even save them to your SD card in which you can view them in the 3DS' camera app. There are 11 to get in total. Shake the 3DS up, down and side to side on each photo for different photo sounds and effects.
| Photo # | How To Unlock |
|---|---|
 | Start the game |
 | Complete World 1 |
 | Complete World 2 |
|
Comp''''lete World 3 Shake the 3DS up and down to see a goomba or Luigi jump up from behind the fortress wall. |
| Complete World 4 |
| Comple'te World 5' |
| Complete World 6 |
| Complete World 7 Shake the 3DS left and right to make Princess Peach swing in the cage. |
| Beat game with Mario |
| Beat game with Luigi |
| Unlock Special World |
| Photo 12 | Finish the Special World, then beat the game |
A quick way to defeat Hammer Bros. or Boomerang Bros. is by using the Tanooki suit. One thing to note is that the while your walking towards it, it will still throw the hammers and boomerangs at Mario. Using this method you will no longer need to take a long time to dodge hammers or boomerangs. All you need to do is get within the proximity of the Hammer Bro. or Boomerang Bro. you're looking to beat. Press "A" to jump, and hold "A" to be suspended in the air. However over the Hammer/Boomerang Bro. , and release "A" , to hit the enemy.
The maximum number of lives you can have is 1,110. Once you get 1'000 there is a sound effect and applause, and the hundreth place in your lives count will turn into a crown. And this will happen again once you get 1,110 lives.
Warp to World 2 without completing World 1:
In World 1-2 right after the checkpoint flag there will be some coin blocks. Jump onto one of the coin blocks then jump higher while pressing up to find a ledge. Run right while on the ledge until an orange pipe appears. Heading down the orange pipe warps the player to World 2.
Warp to World 5 without completing World 4:
In World 4-2 go all the way to the end of the level and just before the green pipe leading out. Bounce to the left off of the top jump platform then wall jump back to the right and on top of a ledge. Follow the ledge to the right to find an orange pipe. Taking this pipe warps the player from World 4-2 to World 5.
Idle when on the title screen and you will be brought to a Demo stage that demenstrates the use of 3D in completing specific levels.
Source: Resetting Super Mario 3D Land
At the end of the level on every Airship, instead of immediately jumping up the stairs/boxes to the Flag Jump, walk out along the Bow of the Airship, to the end of it. Once there, Mario/Luigi should start looking up at the empty air. Jump for a Coin Block, 10-Coin Block, or 1-Up Block. If it's a Coin-Block, there's a chance that there's a 1-Up Block above it. Of course, Be Careful! You can still fall off the ship and lose a life.
In level 5-2, halfway through the stage there is an area where you can hit 4 torches with fireballs from a Fire Flower. Once all 4 torches are hit, the game will play the 'puzzle solved' chime from the Legend of Zelda!
In the final battle with Bowser in world 8, after you defeat him the first time and he comes back and transforms into giant Bowser, there will be a platform in which he will throw barrels at Mario while you try to advance up the falling platforms.
The stars that appear on your profile can become shiny if you beat the main game without a Super Tanooki Suit appearing. You can't die more than 5 times in one level. If you see the Super Tanooki Suit, there is no way to get shiny stars unless you create a new file.
If you are going for the Shiny profile stars you can avoid the limit of five deaths by pressing the power button followed by the home button as soon as it is apparent that you will die. This will return you to the home screen and close the game. Since the game only saves after completeing a level, your death will not have been registered.
Another quick way to reset the game is to hold "L + R + Start" at the same time, this will initiate a soft reset. this will take you back to the title screen. This way is faster than resetting the system.
For those who fail at harder levels, you can stock up on power ups (tanooki suits on 1-1 or S1-1) and use this to continually restart a level with power ups, returning to the home screen everytime you taste fail, and then restarting the game. You should still have what ever power ups you had prior to attempting the level.
Another easier way to get back a power up is to return to the course selection screen after getting hit while using one. It will return you to the state mario was in prior to attempting the level. This only works if you had a power up prior to starting the level, and assuming you only lost it getting hit (but not dying).
