Enemy Course
- This article is about a type of course. For its associated musical composition, see Enemy Course (theme).
Enemy Courses[1] (also known as World Obstacles[2] or Enemy Battles[3]) are a type of battle course found in Super Mario Bros. 3, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and New Super Mario Bros. U. Enemy Battles in Super Mario 3D World work in a similar fashion to Enemy Courses. KO Arena levels in Super Mario Bros. Wonder also play a similar role to Enemy Courses; Unlike the formers, however, these levels have multiple enemies rather than one. Additionally, New Super Mario Bros. has a similar system of map-roaming Hammer Bros., though these are encountered as additions in normal stages and do not force an encounter when crossed on the map.
History
Super Mario Bros. 3
Each of the first six worlds of Super Mario Bros. 3 features at least one Enemy Course. An enemy will patrol the world map, moving when the player loses a life or clears a level, and the player must fight it if they cross paths. Depending on where they meet, the arena and any block contents may change (ex.: meeting on a water tile in World 3 will have the ground submerged underwater). If the player wins this battle, they will be rewarded with an item, such as a Starman or Music Box. In this game, Enemy Courses consist solely of Hammer Brothers and their variants. These courses can be skipped if the player uses a Music Box, which puts them to sleep until the player clears a level and/or loses two lives in a row.
When encountered on specific map spaces, a brick in an Enemy Course will contain an item. These are very rare and are missing from Desert Land and Giant Land due to a lack of bricks in those courses. Most (with two rows of bricks) contain a Super Leaf (or Super Mushroom if playing as Small Mario), though the ones in Grass Land instead contain a Fire Flower. In the original game, this one notably changes to an odd color with a white outline and black leaves when the chest appears due to the Starman inside of it overwriting the typical "green" palette once it appears, though this is no longer an issue in the enhanced versions.
The Hammer Bros. can travel over most of the map, moving one space at a time every time a stage is exited by completing it or failing it. They can only ever stop on the blank areas on the map resembling coins, and will skip over any stages, Mushroom Houses, fortresses, or castles they may walk into, consecutively as needed, though when these lead to dead ends they will simply return to where they began that turn. Also, if two overlap, they both will continue moving so they are on separate spaces. They are blocked by rocks, gates, and open drawbridges like the player is, but also cannot cross or even move onto Start Spaces, Spade Panels (including completed ones), pipes, destroyed fortresses, the "tree" space in Desert Land, or the tower in Sky Land. They will also not move onto the space where the player starts out on that turn, such as a completed stage. If one gets "trapped" between the player and a space it cannot walk (such as a Spade Panel), it will not move that turn.
If the tens digit of the player's score and both digits of their coin count match upon clearing a level (zero does not count) in Grass Land, Water Land, Sky Land, or Ice Land, a Hammer Brother Enemy Course will become a Treasure Ship (the prize for clearing the ship remains the same).
In the Game Boy Advance version, once every level is beaten, the Enemy Courses can be replayed indefinitely, and the player is not forced to enter them, though they will also move if the player visits a Toad House or Spade Panel.
| World | Spawn location | Enemies | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grass Land | One space west of World-1 Castle | A Hammer Brother | A Starman |
| Desert Land | One space east of World 2-3 | A Boomerang Brother | A Music Box |
One space north of World 2- Pyramid
|
A Boomerang Brother | A Hammer | |
| Two spaces south and one space east of the hidden Mushroom House | Two Fire Brothers | A Magic Whistle | |
| Water Land | Two spaces south of World 3- Fortress 1
|
Two Hammer Brothers | A Hammer |
| One space east of World 3-4 | Two Hammer Brothers | A Starman | |
| Giant Land | One space west of World 4-3 | A Sledge Brother | A Lakitu's Cloud |
| At the fork in the road east across a river from World 4-Fortress 2
|
A Sledge Brother | A Starman | |
| One space west of World 4-Fortress 2
|
A Sledge Brother | A P-Wing | |
| Sky Land | One space east of World 5-3 | Two Hammer Brothers | A Starman |
| Two spaces south of the previous Hammer Brother | Two Hammer Brothers | A P-Wing | |
| One space west of World 5-7 | Two Hammer Brothers | A Music Box | |
| Ice Land | One space north of World 6-3 | Two Hammer Brothers | A Hammer |
| One space east and one space north of World 6-5 | Two Hammer Brothers | A Lakitu's Cloud | |
| Two spaces east of World 6-5 | Two Hammer Brothers | A Starman |
| Hidden item locations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| World | Item | Brick | Space |
| Grass Land | Fire Flower | Furthest right | One space west of World 1-Fortress
|
| One space north of World 1-6 | |||
| Water Land | Super Leaf | Lower row, center | One space west of World 3-3 |
| One space south of World 3-3 | |||
| One space south of World 3-Fortress 1
| |||
| One space east of World 3-5 | |||
| Sky Land | Super Leaf | Lower row, center | One space east of the Spade Panel on the ground |
| One space west of World 5-5 | |||
| Ice Land | Super Leaf | Lower row, furthest right | One space west of World 6-2 |
| One space west of World 6-5 | |||
| One space east of World 6-6 | |||
Similar, but immobile courses also appear in the later worlds of the game, being World 7-
Piranha Plant 1, World 7-Piranha Plant 2, World 8-
Tank 1, World 8-
Ship, World 8-
Hand Trap, World 8-
Jet, and World 8-Tank 2. Of them, only the Piranha Plants can be passed with a Music Box.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
An Enemy Course is found in all worlds except for World 9 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The player needs to collect eight Toad balloons, while enemies attack them, to release a chest that contains a Toad in it. Once all balloons are collected, the Toad thanks the player for rescuing him and will give the player three Super Mushrooms. These courses are played at designated areas of the Map where an enemy is found; they move when players do. In Worlds 6 and 8, the player can do their Enemy Course infinite times. The enemies do not need to be defeated, and are automatically defeated when the game is won. The players cannot quit these courses, so in order to get back to the World Map the player has to complete the course or lose a life. However, if the player loses a life, they will be knocked back to the space where they were before on the World Map.
Losing a life in any level will cause enemies to reappear on the map. Using a Star when on the map and running into one of the enemies will immediately defeat them without having to enter these courses, however, the player does not receive three Super Mushrooms for doing so.
| World | Location | Enemies |
|---|---|---|
| World 1 | After World 1-4 | Eight Goombas, four Hefty Goombas and two Giant Goombas |
| World 2 | After either World 2-5 or World 2-6 | Three Spinies and four more Spinies |
| World 3 | After World 3-2 | Three Ice Bros. and four more Ice Bros. |
| World 4 | After World 4-1 | A Porcupuffer |
| World 5 | After World 5-1, and after either World 5-Ghost House or World 5-5 | Four Stalking Piranha Plants |
| World 6 | After World 6-3, and after World 6-6 | Infinite Bullet Bills |
| World 7 | After World 7-Ghost House | A Lakitu that throws Spinies |
| World 8 | After World 8-3 | Five Lava Bubbles, six more Lava Bubbles and eight more Lava Bubbles |
New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
After being absent in New Super Mario Bros. 2, Enemy Courses return in New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe; there are seven Enemy Courses this time around. As with the courses in Super Mario Bros. 3, the enemies must be defeated in order to retrieve the prize, which is a Super Star this time around, instead of three Super Mushrooms given by Toad, but if the player does not open the chest for 30 to 45 seconds, Nabbit will jump out of nowhere and steal the chest's contents. (If a player is playing as Nabbit in New Super Luigi U or either game of the port, the screen simply fades to black.) In New Super Luigi U, the prize is either a Propeller Mushroom, a Mini Mushroom, or a Penguin Suit. If the enemy cannot be defeated by normal stomps, such as Boos, a Flying ? Block holding a Super Star floats by for Mario and co. to use. Upon clearing an Enemy Course in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, the player may receive a Super Crown in either base game, as well as the rewards from New Super Luigi U no longer being exclusive to that game in the port.
| World | Enemies |
|---|---|
| Acorn Plains | Piranha Plants |
| Layer-Cake Desert | Goombas and/or Hefty Goombas and Fire Bros. |
| Sparkling Waters | Cheep Cheeps |
| Frosted Glacier | Cooligans |
| Soda Jungle | Boos |
| Meringue Clouds | Fuzzies |
Music
 Super Mario Bros. 3 Enemy Course theme | File info |
| New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U Enemy Course theme | File info |
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 敵コース[4] Teki Kōsu |
Enemy Course | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 敌人关卡[6] Dírén Guānqiǎ |
Enemy Course | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 敵人關卡[7] Dírén Guānqiǎ |
Enemy Course | |
| French (NOE) | Niveau ennemi[5] | Enemy level | |
| Italian | Livello nemico[?] | Enemy level |
Trivia
- In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Spinies are the only enemies that appear in Enemy Courses not to be seen on the world map.
- An oversight in Super Mario Bros. 3 may randomly cause an Enemy Course to overlap with an N-Mark Spade Panel on the overworld maps that Enemy Courses appear in, causing them to combine and move around indefinitely, thus causing a softlock.
References
- ^ 2009. New Super Mario Bros. Wii instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 8.
- ^ Bueno, Fernando (November 15, 2009). New Super Mario Bros. Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-307-46592-4. Page 11.
- ^ Stratton, Steve (November 18, 2012). New Super Mario Bros. U PRIMA Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-307-89690-2. Page 11.
- ^ New スーパーマリオブラザーズ U デラックス : ステージ | Nintendo Switch | 任天堂. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved June 28, 2024.
- ^ 2009. New Super Mario Bros. Wii French instruction booklet. Nintendo (French). Page 11.
- ^ 新 超级马力欧兄弟U 豪华版 | Nintendo Switch | 任天堂 | 腾讯. Nintendo (Simplified Chinese). Retrieved June 28, 2024.
- ^ 新 超級瑪利歐兄弟 Wii - 香港任天堂網站. Nintendo HK (Traditional Chinese). Archived July 11, 2010, 13:14:57 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
