Editing Dark Land

'''Dark Land''' (also known as '''Bowser's Castle''') is the eighth and final world in ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]''. Dark Land is a sinister land where volcanic clouds cover the skies and block out the sun's light. One of the areas in the map is so dark that it appears to be completely black, except for a circle of light around [[Mario]] or [[Luigi]]. 

 

Dark Land is Bowser's kingdom, and is the place where his main castle stands. It is also the [[Koopa Troop]]'s main base of operations. Because of this, the area is heavily defended by the Koopa King's military forces. Large numbers of [[tank]]s and airships patrol these lands. It is located to the south of [[Iced Land]], and to the north of [[The Sky|Sky Land]]. The place's location was also top secret, as Bowser alone knew its location, and even the Koopalings were forbidden to know the location. The music that plays bears some possibly intentional resemblance to the Mars movement of ''[[Wikipedia:The Planets|The Planets]]'', fitting as this movement is subtitled "The Bringer of War" after Mars, the Roman god of war.

 

It is possible for the [[player]] to obtain two [[Warp Whistle]]s from World 1 and use them to reach Dark Land without having to play through the other levels.

 

[[File:Smb3mariotank.jpg|thumb|right]]The large tanks are similar to [[airship]]s, only on they are on the ground. Here, the player will meet up with [[Rocky Wrench]]es, cannons, and [[Rocket Engine]]s. There is also one power-up in this [[level]]. At the end of the level awaits a blue [[Boomerang Bro.]].

 

In ''[[Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', this level was made shorter by removing two of the tanks that came after the [[Question Block|? Block]].

 

 

 

 

 

===Bowser's Airforce (Airships)===

A ton of tiny, Rocket Engine-equipped jets patrol the night sky. Rocky Wrenches are found on most of the jets. At the end, Boom Boom awaits to battle. After the player attacks Boom Boom twice, it'll start to fly. Most of the ships have the same form.

 

At the start of the level, there is a Switch Block in the air, which reveals many blue coins closer to the ground. The player can use a [[Super Leaf]] or [[Tanooki Suit]] to fly from the very first platform to a pipe way up high where three 1-Ups are. Further into the level, a [[? Block]] near a [[Venus Fire Trap]]'s pipe withholds a power-up. A row of bricks is soon found. In between the tall multi-[[Bill Blaster]]s, within a ? Block, there is a [[Star|Starman]]. A hidden [[1-Up Mushroom]] can be found within a long line of blocks. Then, the player must use a red [[Koopa Paratroopa]] to leap over a very tall Bill Blaster. The player can jump out between the two Blasters. The [[Jump Block]] nearby will send the player across the gap. After this, the player needs to leap over the [[Piranha Plant]] and the level will be completed.

 

 

The level starts out with an area with blocks and a door. Further on, the player must maneuver on conveyor belts; however, there is [[lava]] below. To the left is a power-up, needed to complete the level. The player must repeat this process until he has secured a Super Leaf, which is to break the bricks to the right. To the right, the player must avoid the [[Thwomp]] and smash a way through the blocks. Next, the player must enter the third door to the right, entering the next room; here, the player must avoid the Thwomps moving diagonally. Then the player must enter another door. Then, the player has to keep right, entering the door placed on the metal blocks. The player must then press the P-Switch and run right, entering the door at the end without stopping. After coming out of the door, the player has to keep moving, until two coins, unmoving, wedged between the metal blocks and a conveyor belt, are spotted. The player must wait until the P-Switch wears off, sneak under them, and hit the right one for a P-Switch again. The player can then enter the door that appears to the farthest right. Then, the player must wait again for the P-Switch to wear off, and duck as the belt carries the player safely under the spike ceiling before reaching the area where Mario (or Luigi) will battle Boom Boom.

 

 

In the final level of the game, Bowser has set up several traps. Near the start, statues with laser vision attack in place; if the player jumps over them, he or she can reach brief safety. Then, ride the platform up, taking the [[Donut Lift]] down. Here, ascend the staircase, avoiding the [[Roto-Disc]]s. At the top the player must go back down to the ground on the other side. Alternatively, there is an extra life at the top right of this section, in a hidden block. If the player ducks and jumps on top of this block, they will float through the wall, skipping the descent. Afterward, a lake of lava with Donut Lifts and Podoboos looms. In an alternate route, the player can go up and head right. If the player keeps heading right, avoiding the pool of lava and dodging [[fireball]]s, a door awaits. Once again, there is a room with statues and fireballs. Then, the player must go through the door at the far left. This is where the battle with Bowser takes place.

 

[[File:SMB3 Bowser Battle.jpg|thumb|left|The Bowser boss.]]

King Koopa can be defeated with either hitting him with twenty fireballs or at most four [[hammer]]s, depending on the player's precision. In battle, the Koopa King will leap up occasionally, crashing down into the weak floor, making an indent. King Koopa's only other attack is his ability to breathe fire. If King Koopa breaks through the whole floor, he's defeated. The door to the right will open and flash. Entering this door, the player will find [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]] hiding in fear. Mario/Luigi will approach her, and she will tease him by saying "Thank you, Mario! But our Princess is in another castle...Just kidding." (In the Japanese and GBA versions, she has a more heartfelt line). The curtain then goes down, and the credits roll.

 

As it is home to Bowser and the [[Koopalings]], Dark Land appears in quite a few episodes of ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', where it is depicted as a gloomy wasteland. Lava-filled caverns are shown to be beneath the surface of Dark Land in a few episodes as well. However, most of what goes on within Dark Land happens either near or inside [[Bowser's Castle|Kastle Koopa]]. Not counting episodes in which all the Dark Land scenes were restricted to events within the permiters of Kastle Koopa, Dark Land appears in the following episodes:

'''[[Reptiles in the Rose Garden]]''': In order to give [[Wendy O. Koopa|Kootie Pie]] rulership of the [[United States of America]] as a birthday present, Bowser transports the [[White House]], along with everyone inside, to Dark Land. Bowser later sinks the White House to the bottom of the [[Mushroom Sea]]. However, Mario managed to raise the White House to the surface, and with Luigi's help, was able to return the building to its proper spot to [[Washington, D.C.]].

'''[[Mind Your Mummy Mommy, Mario]]''': Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad travel through Dark Land via a [[Steam Cloud Balloon]] to recover [[Prince Mushroomkhamen]]'s stolen sarcophagus, only for it to get flung into a tower of Kastle Koopa by a [[Tweester|Mushroom Kingdom Twister]]. Luigi then uses the remnants of the Steam Cloud Balloon to construct a [[Steam-Powered Mummy Sled]], which he, Princess Toadstool and Toad use to escape from Kastle Koopa, and subsequently, Dark Land.

'''[[Princess Toadstool for President]]''': After discovering that Bowser in ahead in the polls for leadership over the [[Mushroom Kingdom]] only by using a [[Nice Guy Potion]], Mario and Luigi travel to Dark Land in order stop [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky]] and [[Larry Koopa|Cheatsy]] from making another dose before the election. Upon arriving in Dark Land, Mario and Luigi are purused by [[Rocky Wrench]]es in tanks, which chase them through a pipe into a lava-filled cavern. From that point, Mario and Luigi then have to deal with [[Fire Chomp]]s, [[Hot Foot]]s and a [[Fire Snake]] before making it to Kastle Koopa.

'''[[Never Koop a Koopa]]''': When Bowser announces that he's giving up his evil ways, he donates Kastle Koopa to Princess Toadstool. Wanting to turn Kastle Koopa into a retirement home for elderly [[Toad (species)|Mushroom]]s, Princess Toadstool travels to Dark Land with Mario to check the place out. However, Luigi is wary of the whole thing. He and Toad travel to Dark Land after Mario and Princess Toadstool, where they wait in a boat on the Mushroom Sea for their friends to return from Kastle Koopa. When Mario and Princess Toadstool fail to come out after waiting for a long time, Luigi forcefully drags Toad through the Mushroom Sea and enters Kastle Koopa via a drain pipe. While the whole ordeal turned out to be a trap, the group of four later escape from Kastle Koopa after obtaining [[Raccoon Mario|Raccoon Power]].

'''[[Do the Koopa]]''': Princess Toadstool discovers a map leading to the [[Doom Dancer Music Box]], which is hidden in the underground [[Temple of Gloom]]. Mario, Luigi and Toad accompany Princess Toadstool to Dark Land, but they are immediately spotted by a [[Dry Bones]], who heads to Kastle Koopa to warn Bowser of their arrival. As Bowser is sick, he orders [[Roy Koopa|Bully]] [[Morton Koopa Jr.|Big Mouth]] and Cheatsy to follow the Dry Bones, who leads them to where the heroes are travelling. Mario's group brave the cavern's many traps and ultimately make it to the Temple of Gloom, where they succeed in obtaining the Doom Dancer. However, a trap set up by Bully causes Mario to lose the Doom Dancer, which winds up in Bully's hands. Bully then brings uses the Doom Dancer's power to bring everyone back to Kastle Koopa, where Bowser, who is unable to hear well due to his cold, takes the Doom Dancer from Bully. Bowser then uses the Doom Dancer to force everyone in the [[Mushroom World]] to dance forever, but the Mario Bros. foil his plan.

'''[[The Venice Menace]]''': Although Dark Land is unseen in this episode, Bowser's intention is to scare all the [[human]]s out of [[Venice]] so that he can warp the entire city to Dark Land and turn it into a water park for Kootie Pie.

Dark Land is the setting of the fourth [[Nintendo Adventure Book]], ''[[Koopa Capers]]'', where Bowser has a [[Magic Carpet]] bring Luigi to the kingdom to help (whether he wants to or not) in the search for Wendy O. Koopa after the Koopaling disappears. The two main areas of the region that can be explored in the book are a gloomy and trap-filled fortress, and a highly volcanic area known as the Magma Pits.

In the proceeding book, ''[[Pipe Down!]]'', Dark Land (though here referred to as '''Dark World''') is mentioned once by [[Ludwig von Koopa]], who states that he intends to take his new opera, ''Dribbling Beauty'', on a seven year tour of the kingdom.

File:Dark_Land.jpg|<center>[[Raccoon Mario]], [[Bowser]], and one of his tanks in Dark Land.

File:Castle of Koopa NES.png|<center>Map in NES version of ''Super Mario Bros. 3''

==Names in Other Languages==

{{foreignname

|SpaA=Reino de las Sombras (''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3'')

|SpaAM=Shadow Kingdom

*In the Japanese versions, Dark Land is known as "Castle of Kuppa". In the initial worldwide NES release and English ''[[Super Mario All-Stars]]'', this was corrected to the standard Castle of Koopa. It was again corrected to Bowser's Castle in the Game Boy Advance version. It is only known as Dark Land in the International NES re-release and supplemental materials.

*In the Bowser's Navy level, the player can simply swim under the ships to get to the boss, safely bypassing all of the hazards. This hasn't been fixed in ''Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3.'', where even though the final ship is one block higher, it is still possible to jump over the side.

*This world has more names than any other: Dark Land, Castle of Kuppa, Bowser's Castle, and Castle of Koopa.

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