New Super Mario Bros Controls

As New Super Mario Bros is, by heart a mix up of the content from Super Mario Bros 1-3 and World, there are a lot of different abilities, moves and general stuff Mario has to learn to proceed on his quest. This is when you can find out about those, especially if you've lost the manual.

Controls (Basic)

In levels:

A/B- Jump (can be switched to X/Y)

X/Y- Run, Throw Fireballs

D Pad- Move Mario/Luigi through the levels

Down on D Pad- Duck

L- Scroll camera left

R- Scroll camera right

Start- Pause

Outside of Levels:

D Pad- Move Mario/Luigi across map between levels.

A- Enter level/Toad House

Start- Pause

More Specific Controls and Abilities Mario has

Ground Pound

Hold down in mid air to make Mario ground pound. This attack is twice as powerful as the normal jump on head/Goomba Stop against enemies, and can be used as Normal Mario/Fire Mario/Shell Mario to break bricks underneath Mario. As Mini Mario, this is his only way to harm enemies.

Hit Block

Jump up at the block from underneath to make the coin or Power Up come out the top of the block, or pound it from below to make it fall out the bottom of the block. This also determines which way a vine will grow.

Kick Shell

After stunning a Koopa Troopa by jumping on it's head, walk/run into the shell without holding down any buttons to automatically kick the shell away from you. If the shell goes through eight or more enemies, you will also start getting extra lives.

Pick Up Object

Hold X/Y while moving into a Shell/Springboard to pick up and carry it. Release the button to throw the object if holding a shell, or hold a direction and release the button to throw any other kind of object.

Use Touch Screen Item

In a normal area of a level (aka, not bonus rooms), tap the icon of the Power Up on the bottom screen to make it fall into the actual level and be able to be collected by Mario/Luigi.

Go Down Pipes

Stand on/under/next to the pipe, then press the direction which the pipe is facing (if down or to the side) to enter the pipe and the next area in the level.

Cannon Pipes

Same as above, except when you enter, Mario or Luigi will be shot into the air in some fashion like a cannon.

Duck Jump

Hold down to duck, and while holding down, press A or B to jump.

Jump off enemy

Jump on top of an enemy, then press A/B as you bounce off their head to jump higher/further.

Enter Door

Press up while standing in front of a door to enter.

Wall Kick

Press A/B as you hit the wall from a jump to wall kick, which allows Mario to kick upwards off to the other side. You can use this to scale tall pits, and sometimes get Mario out of a bottomless pit.

Move on Rope

Jump on a rope to carefully move across it. When it tilts down furthest, jump to jump higher than normal. Be careful though, since after roughly three seconds of standing on a rope without moving, Mario/Luigi will lose his balance and fall off.

Climb Net

Hold up when it front of a net to climb the net/fence.

Punch Net

Press X/Y to punch the net/fence, defeating any enemies climbing on the other side.

Go through gate on Net

When above a clear panel on a net, punch it to rotate the panel and send Mario or Luigi to the other side of the fence.

Jump off Net

Press the jump button while hanging from a net, rope or vine.

Swim

Keep pressing A/B and a direction while Mario's in water to swim. He'll swim upwards if no direction is pressed and you tap one of those buttons underwater.

Press Switch

Jump on a switch to press it in and make something happen. Orange switches change part of the environment of the level. Blue Switches turn blocks into coins and coins into blocks.

Use Item to aid swimming

Jump into a pool of water while holding a shell or other object and Mario will float at the surface while holding it, but go a bit faster and swim differently.

Double and Triple Jump

Run, and jump each time as you land from the previous jump. Each jump is slightly higher than the last, and the triple jump comes with neat little somersault in mid air animation.

Spin off of Screw

Stand on a screw like platform and press A or B to jump off of it to make Mario do a high spin jump into the air and slowly glide down like a helicopter.

Drill Kick

Press down on the D Pad after doing one of the above spin jumps to make Mario quickly come down with a drill like motion, defeating enemies and breaking any bricks he touches on the way down.

Balance on Rope (type two)

On certain ropes, Mario will stand with his front facing the audience. Move to make him slowly balance on the rope. You can do a very short jump from these ropes by pressing A or B.

Hang from Rope

Press down while on the above type of rope. You can press down again to fall off, or up to climb back onto the rope. If you jump onto a rope from solid ground nearby or a decent height, this happens kinda automatically.

Note: You can only fall from ropes above solid ground.

Slide Down Slope

Hold down to slide down a slope and defeat any enemies you touch. After eight enemies in a row, you'll start getting extra lives for every enemy you defeat.

Swing from Rope

Jump to a swinging rope, and you can swing from it by holding right and left to gain momentum, and jumping with the right timing. To climb up a rope, hold/press the D Pad upwards, to slide down, press/hold the D Pad downwards while on said rope.

Shell Dash

As Shell Mario, run by holding X/Y and the D Pad in a direction, and you'll begin charging in shell form automatically after a short time. This will defeat enemies, and you can press A/B at any time to jump.

Objects of Interest in Levels

Donut Blocks

Donut shaped blocks which fall after Mario stands on them for long enough. You can tell if you're standing on them and they'll fall because they turn red.

Moving Platforms

Platforms on a line guide, these move to the other end of the line. If the line has a red circle at the end, they turn back the other way, otherwise they just fall into the bottomless pit/ground.

Moving Ropes

Ropes that move like moving platforms. These otherwise act identically to the normal 'swinging' types of ropes.

One Way Doors

Small manhole type covers found in some levels which can be passed through by ground pounding while above them. As the name says, you can't backtrack through these.

Arrow Doors

Doors that when hit from the direction the arrow comes from make Mario go through them. Ones pointing down act like one way doors, while ones pointing left or right act like temporarily platforms when walked into.

Wooden Blocks

Small smashable blocks that can be destroyed in various ways. The ways of destroying them are:

1. Walking or touching them as Mega Mario
2. Using a Bob-omb's explosion.
3. Making a Water spider type enemy drop a bomb while above one.