Super Mario 3D Land Easter Eggs & Secrets

Our Super Mario 3D Land Easter Eggs and Secrets guide will show you exactly how and where to discover nifty secrets and fun Easter Eggs, like references to Zelda and Donkey Kong and how to unlock Luigi!

Index of Super Mario 3D Land Guides:

How To Play As Luigi

Mario’s eternal understudy is a playable character in Super Mario 3D Land! However he won’t be playable until you reach the end of the main quest. Once you do so, and beat what is effectively World 8-7 (I call it Bowser’s Keep), you will then open up a new quest! And at the epilogue, you will see that Luigi has been captured! It is now your duty to rescue your bro! To do so, simply play all the way through the first World until you reach World 8-Bowser’s Castle. Defeat Dry Bowser and you will unlock Luigi! You can play as Luigi by tapping the “L Icon” on the lower right hand corner of the map screen. And switch to Mario by tapping the M Button in the same location. True to form, Luigi can jump higher than Mario. GO-WIGI!

Here’s a video showing Luigi in action!

The Legend of Zelda Reference

You can find a reference to The Legend of Zelda within Super Mario 3D Land! This reference is found on level 5-2 of the first quest. You’ll find the secret when searching for the second Star Coin. This Star Coin is hidden behind a gate. To open the gate you will need to light all four torches in the four corners with a Fireball. Do so and you will hear a familiar tune! ?This is the same tune that plays in Zelda when you solve a puzzle! Sweet!

Donkey Kong Reference

You can find a reference to Donkey Kong in Super Mario 3D Land while facing off against the final confrontation with Bowser! The Koopa King himself will resort to all kinds of tactics in order to stop his rival. These include rolling spike balls at you, shooting fireballs and…. THROWING BARRELS!

How To Restore Your Power-Ups and Keep From Losing Them

There’s a trick you can do in Super Mario 3D Land to keep yourself from loosing a Power-Up! As long as you don’t die, it is possible to pause the game and select “To Course Selection”, where you will return to the Map Screen with both Power-Ups back in your possession. Even if you lost these Power-Ups while playing the level, they’ll be returned to you. Keep in mind though that this trick doesn’t work if you die at all during the level and it will only work if you are standing still. So if you are in the act of falling, it won’t let you pause and restart. Bummer!

Do you know of any more Secrets or Easter Eggs in Super Mario 3D Land? If so leave us a comment and we’ll add your tip to this page and give you credit!