Warp Zone (Super Mario Bros. 3)

The Warp Zone is a secret world in Super Mario Bros. 3. It is numbered as World 9 of the Mushroom World in-game, though no actual levels exist on it. The purpose of the Warp Zone, as in other games, is to skip to another world. It consists of a small uninhabited island, littered with Warp Pipes leading to the other worlds in the game. The game cannot be saved while in the Warp Zone. The music that plays in the Warp Zone is the same song that plays in Coin Heaven and the sky section of Sky Land.

The only way to reach the Warp Zone is to use a Magic Whistle. Where the player ends up is dependent on the world they used the Whistle in. If the Whistle is used in World 1, the player can choose from Worlds 2 through 4. If the Whistle is used in Worlds 2 through 6, the player can choose from Worlds 5 through 7. If the Whistle is used in Worlds 7 through 9, the player can choose only World 8 (thus using another Whistle while already in the Warp Zone will lead to the World 8 section). Because of this, even though there are three Whistles in the game, only two are needed to warp directly to World 8.

In the original Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario All-Stars, it is possible to warp from World 6 backward to World 5, and it is also possible to restart Worlds 5, 6, and 8 by warping to themselves. In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the game no longer allows going backwards before beating the game; warping from World 6 to World 5 is disallowed, and warping from World 5/6/8 to itself will keep the player where they left off (e.g., any cleared levels in a half-cleared world remain cleared).