You start off World 1 with 4 lives. But, to get 1-Ups, there are no 1-Ups just scattered around in ? blocks in Watery Super Mario Bros. 3. (This is completely intentional.) Instead, you’re expected to gain 1-Ups by collecting two main collectibles: pink coins and big coins.

Pink Coins

All of these pink coins are COMPLETELY OPTIONAL, and do not bar progression on any of the 40 levels in the game.

3 of these pink coins in each level are required to be found by the player, just like you would dragon coins, star coins, green stars (in 3D World), etc.

So, most of these pink coins require you to search off the main path of the level, or do an extra challenge to get them, like this one where you have to not get hit so that you can keep the super leaf to fly up to this spot with clouds.

If there isn’t a pink coin located very close to the very end of the level, then there’ll be a 4th coin located above a key door.

This is meant to act as a “safety coin”, an extra pink coin that many Super Mario Maker builders add at the end of their levels to prevent what’s called a “key death”. That is, when you die after collecting all pink coins, you will not get the key back, and the pink coin meter disappears. It is not intended to act as the “fourth pink coin” for each level, but rather a safety net to combat how pink coins are designed in Mario Maker. As such, they’re all very easy to get in comparison to each level’s 3 normal pink coins.

If you manage to find all of the 3 main pink coins in each level, then you’ll be able to open the key door at the end of each level to access a bonus room to receive some 1-Ups.

The earlier levels in the game have bonus rooms that will give you 2 1-Ups, whereas the later, more challenging levels will give you 3 1-Ups.

If you collect all of the pink coins in the 5th level of each world (the boss levels), then you’ll get an extra 50 coin alongside your 2-3 1-Ups, as these levels are meant to be some of the harder levels in each world.

There are 120 pink coins in total for the player to find in the game. Can you find them all?

Big Coins

Each level in Watery Super Mario Bros. 3 has 3 pink coins that you can find and collect, and all of the levels are specifically designed to fit in challenges to get these 120 coins.

However, for casually exploring the nooks and crannies of each stage, you may find a big coin, which may help out your life count just a little bit.

There is not a set amount of big coins in each level. Their placement, unlike the 3 pink coins in each level, is mostly random. Some levels may have 3-4 hidden big coins, some may only have 1-2, and some may have none, depending on how the level design allows them to remain hidden from the player.

The amount of coins that you’ll be rewarded for each big coin depends on how difficult they are to find.

For example, you’ll find a 10 coin for easier challenges like jumping on this ship’s flag.

30 coins are reserved for intermediate discoveries, such as using the flat space right below the level’s roulette gate to fly to the top of the stage.

Likewise, 50 coins are rewarded for extra hard discoveries, such as finding this one tucked away behind this stalactite, and the roof of the building by the roulette gate.

I’ll be surprised if you can find them all. Some of them are quite well hidden.