Coinless Coffers

[Tangle the Lemur]

Welcome to the series where I complete coinless runs of Mario games! Enjoy! These are the completed runs (completed coinless or not, as long as the minimum has been determined):

 

[Tangle the Lemur]

...And this is the point when I realized that I was, in fact, not in the clear for World 1.

I noticed that I had collected a coin when beginning 2-1, and was confused. But when I finished the level, I saw the coin counter go up again. I realized this was due to a Pile Driver Micro-Goomba being on screen when I ended the level. It was automatically killed and became a coin that I picked up. A similar instance occured in 1-5 with a Paratroopa, though I didn't notice at the time. So that's a load of crap. Now I have to lead all enemies away from the Goal square before ending a level. Hopefully this doesn't become too much of a problem later on, but I'll have to see. Luckily, 1-5 and 2-1 are still perfectly beatable, but I'll need to keep an eye out.

World 2

Level 2-1 Oh what fun. Pile Driver Micro-Goombas. These are infuriating to deal with, but the level's possible. Make sure to get rid of one near the Goal square, or it will turn into a coin you automatically collect.
Level 2-2 I took the underwater route for this level, since there's a lower chance of running into any enemies or coins.
2-Midcastle No coins, but this was my first encounter with a Boo, and god they move fast in this game.
Level 2-3 *screams of agony commence* This level is really tricky to get through. There's a segment at the end where you have to break some blocks with a Koopa Shell to uncover a pipe leading to the exit. Unfortunately, some of these blocks contain coins. To avoid hitting these blocks, I had to enter the level with a fire flower, kill the koopas, then return with a Tanooki Leaf and break the blocks myself, avoiding the ones with coins. Overall, very frustrating.
2-Quicksand No respite here! The Angry Sun plauges this stretch of sand, and while it's rather easy to avoid, it turns into a coin at the end of level. Luckily, I can use a Koopa Shell to kill it, avoiding any unnecessary monetary gain.
Level 2-4 I opted to skip this one and take the path through 2-5 instead. It seems possible, but there are some tricky jumps I don't feel like getting around for now.
Level 2-5 This level is fairly easy until the end, where a Chain Chomp lies. I once again need the help of a Koopa Shell to dispatch of it without earning any coins.
2-Pyramid Not too much difficulty here, though I made sure to use my Tanooki Tail to break the blocks, in order to stay on the safe side. The Boomerang Bro near the end shouldn't get close enough to be coin-ified.
2-Airship Once again, not too many coins. Morton's a bit more eager to use his wand, so watch out! The princess gave me a cloud, which is likely to save the run later on.

 

[Tangle the Lemur]

World 3

Level 3-1 This is one of the few easier levels in this world. It's a pretty short water level, with not much coins, just make sure to avoid a pipe that pushes you toward some cash, and take the top route at the end of the level for a coin-free trip.
Level 3-2 And now the "fun" begins. This level normally has you ride a platform over cheep-infested water, but for the first half of the level, I instead have to grab a star and swim for it, as there are coins all over the platform's route. Then I have to get on the platform for the second half, but it requires a very precise jump to avoid a row of coins.
Level 3-3 The first half of the level is fine, but the second half has tons of coins that are very hard to avoid. I opted to use the P-wing for this one, instead.
3-Midcastle Like all the other castles, this one is no harder than normal.
Level 3-4 This one is fine, except for a Lakitu I need to dispatch in order to avoid getting coins from it at the end of the level. I used a fireflower for this.
Level 3-5 I decided to skip this one as its on yet another split path, and just went straight to 3-6.
Level 3-6 This one had me scared at the end with a tight jump, but I somehow managed to stick the landing. Other than that, not too difficult.
Level 3-7 A nice respite from the previous few levels, this one was surprisingly easy.
Level 3-8 After studying the map, I have determined this level is probably doable, but extremely hard. I decided to use my cloud to skip this one.
Level 3-9 Like 3-7, this one was refreshingly easy, with few problems.
3-Airship As with all other Airships so far, this one was a cakewalk.

 

[Tangle the Lemur]

As World 4 and World 5 were fairly easy, I'll just let you know about the levels I skipped and will investigate later:

World 4-5
World 5-3
5-Tower (Used P-Wing)
World 5-6
5-Midcastle 2 (Used P-Wing)

I used the P-Wing in 5-Tower to avoid annoying placed coins in the top half of the level, and again in 5-Midcastle 2 to avoid coins placed right above a platform I had to step on.
By the way, there were lots of clutch jumps in the second half of World 5.

World 6 was also fairly easy, though 6-5 had a puzzle that took a while for me to solve. These levels were skipped:

World 6-6
World 6-9

Side note: If Buster Beetles throw a block, and it hits a ? block, you get the item inside, so avoid that in case its a coin.

 

[Tangle the Lemur]

I'm sorry to report this...
It is not possible to beat Mario bros. 3 coinless.

After reaching 8-2, the angry sun plauges the level. I can't kill him with a tanooki tail, and there are no koopas in the level to kill him with.
I have no clouds left, it's over.

...Or is it?

What if I had beaten one of the levels that were difficult, but not impossible, without a cloud, or gotten an extra one from a Hammer Bro fight?
This IS possible, so if luck had turned out better for me, I could have used a cloud to skip this.
So let's proceed imagining I had, and see if the run is possible.

As is probably obvious, I got through World 7 and most of World 8 coinless.

8-Midcastle is very much doable, as with Tank-3!
And SO IS 8-Final Castle!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS POSSIBLE TO BEAT MARIO BROS 3 COINLESS!
Seeing this screen was a sweet reward:

I hope you enjoyed this, I know I did (most of the time).
That's why I shall be continuing this as a miniseries called Coinless Coffers.

Next up in our soon to be growing repetoire of challenge runs... Super Mario Land!
Tune in soon to see it!

 

[Tangle the Lemur]

So, Mario Land is an interesting game.
The controls are weird, and the hitboxes are wack.
Let's jump in.

Birabuto and Muda

Birabuto-1 is pretty easy, as is the nature of first levels. There are a whoppin 12 levels in this game, so I'll only be needing two posts to cover all of this.
Birabuto-2 has quite a few tight jumps, but its all doable. I have to be small mario when entering the level in order to crawl under some coins (thx janky hitboxes), then grab a power-up later on for...
Birabuto-3 which has tight corridors but fairly easy until reaching a three way path. By breaking the blocks barring the top path then losing the power up, I can just manage to make the jump past a row of coins.
Muda-1 When passing over a bridge I'm walled by some tight jumps with coins. Apparently its possible to clear them, but I couldn't manage it and was forced to collect 2 coins.
Muda-2 Luckily this level is much more forgiving and I can blast through, as with...
Muda-3 No problems here besides a few tight maneuvers.

So technically you can make it this far with no coins, but hold on to your hats, there are still 6 levels left to go.

 

[Tangle the Lemur]

Easton and Chai

Easton-1 This is where our run ends, unfortunately, as there are some impassable coins. But let's go on and see just how many are required!
Easton-2 And this one has 2 impassable coins as well. There's a shortcut in the level, but it doesnt extend far enough to skip the coins.
Easton-3 At least this one's doable (though tough).
Chai-1 Wow, yet another impassable coin wall. Gee, the devs sure decided to be generous.
Chai-2 This one has a tricky segment where you have to kill or damage boost through an enemy without collecting the coins directly above it, but otherwise its fine.
Chai-3 GAAAAAAAH! Even more coins! There are two giant impassable blocks of coins near the end we are forced to collect. This is evil, truly evil.

And the grand total is... 21 coins. UGH.
At least this run is wrapped up, onto another fairly short one, the original Super Mario Bros!