'Super Mario Run' World 4 walkthrough and coin locations: How to beat 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4
What you'll find in this guide:
Now that we're in World 4 of Super Mario Run, we've officially reached the back half of Nintendo's new mobile game, which has only been live on iOS for about a week.
By way of a quick recap: Previously, in World 3, we took a break from dodging over Spinies in the desert to goof off in the clouds (and dodge Bullet Bills). Prior to that, we spent time in a haunted house and a cave in World 2, and we started our run in World 1, which was a variation on the first world of the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES.
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World 4 will introduce a novel new level design for us (with the last truly new assets of the game), another level with a contrivance and our third cave level. It finishes with another Airship to bust up.
If you're new to the game, why not start with our guides for World 1, World 2 and World 3? Then you can read below for tips on World 4. Without any further delay, let's launch right in!
Super Mario Run 4-1 walkthrough: "Cutting-Edge Spire"
From the moment you start level 4-1, you'll notice that it's... tall. We've seen vertical portions previously in the second room of 2-1, "Ghost-Door Deception," but "Cutting-Edge Spire" is unique in that it's almost entirely vertical, save for a small bit at the end of the level.
Getting Mario to reverse his direction will require you to take a page from your fight with Boom Boom on the airship back in 2-4: When Mario wall-kicks off a wall, the direction he runs will reverse, allowing you to traverse the level and grab the pink coins. This is pretty easy for the first half of the level where all you're contending with are some Dry Bones (the skeletal Koopas you've seen in Bowser's Castle Hangout back in 1-4) and some platforming that'll only cost you time if you flub it. It becomes decidedly trickier when you reach the second half of the level, which introduces gauntlets of mobile and immobile buzzsaws (because why not).
Once the buzzsaws are introduced, you'll have to be more careful in your timing when it comes to climbing the spire. You can stall out some of the moving buzzsaws by not wall-kicking off the walls when Mario reaches them, and this will be necessary for some of the pink coins.
To offset a lot of this, you get 99 seconds (as opposed to the 90 you get in other levels), and "Cutting-Edge Spire" gives you not one but two timer blocks (first seen in "Sky-High Lifts and Leaps") for an additional 20 seconds.
Super Mario Run 4-1 pink coin locations
Getting all the coins in "Cutting-Edge Spire" will take some practice. The level has ways of denying you the ability to try multiple times for each coin, which comes as a surprise since it's one of the few levels that isn't scrolling horizontally.
The first coin is hidden behind a series of brick blocks, but by hitting the blue P switch to the right of them, you'll turn those blocks into coins. This one is hard to miss because chances are you'll already be running toward the switch when you get up to the platform it's on, and it's easy to vault off it and activate it.
The second coin utilizes the P switch as well, but for the opposite purpose. A little farther up the level, you'll see three brick blocks on the right side of the stage, and a bunch of coins in a conspicuously platform-like formation — don't grab them yet! If you hit the block farthest to the right, it'll create another blue P switch. Activate it, and those coins will turn into bricks, allowing you to cross them and grab the second pink coin, which is sitting on top of a yellow pipe.
Getting the third coin requires you to do some artful buzzsaw dodging in the latter half of the level. There's a platform below these two buzzsaws that'll allow you to nail the timing down. What you want to do is get a big enough gap to where the lower buzzsaw is to the left of you and the higher one is to the right. That'll allow you to pass through both and grab the coin. The upper buzzsaw is much faster than the lower one, though, so don't take too long!
The fourth coin rests in a small covered alcove in a group of coins, which would normally be cause for celebration. However that alcove is surrounded by two rotating buzzsaws, so you not only need to avoid them as you're getting inside but also after grabbing the coin and leaping out. If you hop onto the side of the alcove where the coin is and jump near the very bottom, you can collect the coin and give yourself a few seconds to time your escape.
Finally, the fifth coin is perched atop the door leading out of the Spire in the shape of a clock. Simply avoid the the door and wall-kick up to the perch where the coin is. It's a well-earned break after the last four coins.
Super Mario Run 4-2 walkthrough: "Slope to Success"
Remember way back in 1-2 when you had the opportunity to slide down a long hill and knock out a bunch of Goombas, but you had to cut it short if you wanted to collect the third pink coin in that level? Well, the designers of Super Mario Run sure did, so 4-2 is an entire level dedicated to letting Mario slide down hills and knock unsuspecting enemies out of the way.
The early portion of level tasks you with sliding down long hills and knocking enemies out of the way, taking in the scenery and the music (if you haven't gotten tired of it already).
Until about two-thirds of the way through the level, your main task is sliding when you're able to. You'll also occasionally need to find your way back to the level using wall-kicks or bounce pads, though the latter will only work if you have a mushroom because of the blocks positioned above them. Eventually, though, you'll reach a small blue and yellow cannon that you can (and should) hop into. Once you do, it'll spawn a bunch of blue coins that you can launch yourself through to get some extra cash.
If you're going to die in 4-2, it's definitely going to be at the end when you have to leap from one floating slide platform to another. For whatever reason, the game sometimes has trouble registering your jumps, causing Mario to confidently fly off the side of the stage to his untimely demise. It's sort of funny and weird to see happening in real time, but it can still be frustrating if it costs you a good run.
Super Mario Run 4-2 pink coin locations
Unlike 4-1, "Slope to Success" starts you off with an incredibly easy coin to get. It's over a pit after you finish your first initial slide, and all you have to do is hop over the pit to get it.
The second coin is trapped in a bunch of breakable blocks a little bit further into the level. You can use the bounce pad underneath to break them and get the coin, but only if you're Super Mario. So watch out for the Paratroopa who's floating around just before you get to this coin. It's reminiscent of how you grab the Super Star in "Shell Me the Way" except now not being Super Mario is denying you those sweet, sweet Rally tickets instead of just a power up.
To get the third coin, wall-kick up the path in between the two green pipes and the righthand wall to get to another hill you can slide down. Try to keep your momentum going to get onto another hill to the right of that. You should see the coin floating above the end of the platform. Jump high enough, and it's yours!
You'll have to be ready for the fourth coin because it comes almost immediately after the third. Use the bounce pad as soon as you see it to launch yourself through a long line of blocks and into the pink coin, hidden at the top. Again, you'll need to be Super Mario for this to work. So watch out for enemies.
The final coin is right after the blue coin cannon. As you're sliding down the hill that comes directly after it, you should see the coin at the end of a short jump. The same rules apply from coin 3 here, so make sure you ramp it off that platform to grab the coin.
Super Mario Run 4-3 walkthrough: "Danger High and Low"
Your gut reaction when you start this level might be to say, "Oh, it's 'Shell Me the Way,' just in a cave." You'd mostly be right. However, it's a little more dangerous than its predecessor because this level is rife with enemies and obstacles.
Much like the Koopa Troopas before them, Mario can clamber over Buzzy Beetles (which are still turtles, despite the name) and launch their shells at enemies. However, the Buzzy Beetles will sometimes drop down from the ceiling and launch themselves at him. Additionally, the Munchers from 3-1 are no longer relegated to the end of the level. You'll be avoiding them the entire time you're navigating through "Danger High and Low."
The yellow exclamation switches you find throughout the level will, on the whole, make your journey through this cave much easier. Whether it's providing a path for your Buzzy Beetle shell to hit more enemies or a way forward for Mario himself, it usually pays to hit those switches when they show up. There is one switch where this is decidedly not the case, however, and it comes in the final stretch of the level. Hitting this switch will cause a number of Buzzy Beetles to drop down from the ceiling, some of whom will rocket towards you in their shells and make your life extremely difficult.
And if all that wasn't already enough, once you're out of the cave itself, the final stretch of the level is covered in Munchers! Unlike the previous two cave levels in Super Mario Run, there's actually a chance you could die at the very end of this level. So make sure you're being careful with your jumps or else you risk having to do it all over again.
Super Mario Run 4-3 pink coin locations
The first pink coin of 4-3 is at the end of the first section. You'll simply have to jump above the pipe that takes you to the next area of the level and wall-kick off it to get to the narrow platform where the coin is. It's set up in a similar way to the first pink coin of 1-2 but requires a little more precise timing.
The second coin comes soon after in the second section. Avoid the Buzzy Beetles that drop down to attack you and leap over the Piranha Plant that comes out of the pipe. If you time it right, you'll launch over the plant and onto a small platform where you should see the pink coin hanging out in a group of regular ones.
The third pink coin is on top of the second breakable platform in the following section. It's not a hard jump to make and you'll likely see the coin before you have to make the leap, so you have plenty of time to course correct and grab it.
The fourth coin requires you to jump onto a solitary block and then from that block to another platform where the coin is. As long as you get within spitting distance of the first block, Mario should automatically climb onto it. If you do miss the initial jump, you can use the backflip blocks to get another attempt.
The final coin is at the end of the first red block section in the final underground section of the level (the part with the exclamation switch we warned you not to hit earlier). At the end of that section is a Piranha Plant. If you can manage to jump off the pipe it comes out of at the right time, you'll land on a small platform with a yellow exclamation switch on it: vault over that switch to grab the coin.
Super Mario Run 4-4 walkthrough: "Firing the Airship's Burners"
Ready or not, it's time for another airship level. Let's not keep our favorite Koopaling waiting.
If you hated the cannons from 2-4, you're in luck! They're gone. Unfortunately, they've been replaced with burners that shoot giant jets of flame out of them with only about a second of warning. You're either going to have to be a pro jumper or take advantage of the level geometry in order to catch your breath.
Thankfully, very few of the burners are difficult to avoid if you're just trying to get through the level. You can usually jump over them even when they're firing. There are a few exceptions, but until you get the layout down you should always use the pause blocks to check out what's happening up ahead before moving forward.
Again, as you approach Boom Boom's boss room, the game gives you a final chance for a Super Mushroom in case you're still not sure you can take him without getting hit. Just don't jump too high while trying to grab it or you'll get burned by the sets of downward-facing burners that have been installed on this part of the airship.
As for the boss battle, Boom Boom the Koopaling is basically unchanged from his appearance in 2-4: you hop on his head three times and wall-kick off the walls of the arena to change direction. The only thing that's different now is the burners positioned on either side of the room, which fire intermittently. You shouldn't really even notice them if you're making sure to jump high and jump often while fighting Boom Boom, but it's still another nuisance.
Super Mario Run 4-4 pink coin locations
Unfortunately, ignoring the nooks and crannies that the burners are often stuffed in is not going to be an option if you want all the pink coins in this level.
The first pink coin is on a strip of burners shooting skyward near the beginning of the level. The timing is definitely tight, but it's not hard to get to. You can also wait on a well-placed diagonal pause block until the flames die off and then make a run for it.
The second coin is in another burner trap, but this time they're shooting to the right. If you don't feel confident about your ability to get down there and back out with the coin before the burners turn back on, you can wait against the side of a pipe to the left of the coin while the burners are firing and time your approach.
The third coin is a little bit of a crapshoot. It's on top of a box that sits between two sets of burners that fire alternatively up or down. If you get lucky, the bottom burners will be firing while you cross and you'll be able to collect the coin without getting singed. If not, then you'll either have to take the hit or ignore it this time around.
The fourth coin is guarded by yet another jet trap, but you're likely to miss it if you're on a roll. Once you're done with the blue P switch and the coins it spawns, try to stick as low to the ground as you can. You should see the fourth pink coin in the path of a small burner. If you're not jumping, you can wait it out against a pipe, but if you're flying high you'll probably end up grabbing onto the burner on the other side, causing you to miss the coin and get hurt in the process.
The fifth coin comes right after the fourth. Jump off a Ninji and hit one of the translucent coin blocks that it'll allow you to get to. The coins will point a path down and to the right that you can use to put yourself on a collision course with the final pink coin of the level.
And if you've followed our guides up to this point, you should now have 80/120 pink coins in the entire game! Only 40 more to go to unlock a secret level!
Complete walkthroughs
Super Mario Run tips, tricks and hints
Can't get enough of Mario, Peach, Bowser and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom? Check out Mic's coverage of Super Mario Run, including how to unlock new characters like Toad, Peach and Yoshi, how to get different colored Toads to come back to the kingdom, how to find the game's secret levels, how to play the game on your Apple TV, our coverage for the Android release date and some knock-off versions to tide you over until it drops, as well as some cheats for the new game if our guides aren't enough (we won't tell anyone if you don't)!
