Desert Land

Desert Land (alternatively Desert Hill, the Koopahari Desert, or the Desert World ) is the second world of Super Mario Bros. 3. It contains five levels, two Boomerang Brothers, one Fire Brother, a fortress, three Toad Houses, two Spade Panels, special desert and pyramid stages, and a castle that has been taken over by an airship. Most of the levels have quicksand or Firesnakes. The last Magic Whistle can be acquired by defeating the hidden Fire Brothers level behind a rock in what appears to be the upper-right corner of the map.

Desert Land is home to some of the rarest enemies in the game, including the Fire Brothers, the Angry Sun, and a tornado (an obstacle that is exclusive to the desert level). Morton Koopa Jr. guards this area and is the boss of Desert Land. The king of Desert Land is an older bald man, with a white beard and a crown. During the events of the game, the Koopalings turn him into a spider; the SNES and Game Boy Advance versions of Super Mario Bros. 3 see him turned into a Hoopster.

Going by the world map included in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Desert Land is bordered to the south of Grass Land, and is northwest of Water Land.

Desert Hills, a race course in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, is based on this world.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Desert Land (as it was usually called) was the setting of several episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. Much like in the game, it was depicted as a vast desert filled with pyramids and palm trees.

Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas: After the Koopalings conquer Giant Land, Cheatsy suggests that the next land they take over should be Desert Land.

Mind Your Mummy Mommy, Mario: Hip and Hop enter the Mushroomkhamen family tomb to steal the sarcophagus of Prince Mushroomkhamen. The theft awakens Queen Mushroomkhamen, who chases the Koopa twins through Desert Land, but loses them when they hide in a pipe, and starts wrecking havoc. Mario and his friends travel to Desert Land to stop Queen Mushroomkhamen, but the mummy mistakes Mario for her son and takes him back to her tomb, where she expects him to stay, despite what Mario tells her. Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad buy a map to the pyramids from Toad's cousin, and notice that Mario resembles Princess Mushroomkhamen. This leads to them getting the stolen sarcofagus back from Kastle Koopa, which they return to Queen Mushroomkhamen to prove that Mario is not her son. Despite this, Queen Mushroomkhamen mistakes Luigi for her husband, and proceeds to chase him through Desert Land.

The Beauty of Kootie: While taking a bath in his palace, the Sultan of a palace (implied but not stated to be in Desert Land) is startled when oil comes gushing out of the faucet. Mario and Luigi are called in to investigate, and they conclude that the pipes connected to the nearby oasis have gotten crossed with pipes from a nearby oil well. It turns out to be a plot by the Koopas to steal oil for the Doom Ship, with Cheatsy and Kootie Pie working on the pipes in the basement of the palace. After a long series of events, Mario and Luigi chase the Koopas out of the palace, and finally out of the palace, accidentally destroying the palace in the process. Luigi then uses a wand that one of the Koopalings dropped to restore the palace back to normal.

Do the Koopa: When Bowser gets ahold of the Doom Dancer Music Box, he uses its power to make everyone in the Mushroom World dance endlessly. At one point, the trees, a sphinx and even the sun in what appears to be Desert Land are all shown to be dancing.

Crimes R Us: As part of Crime Wave Clyde's plan to get rid of Mario and Luigi, Cheatsy blackmails a mushroom boy in the desert into luring the Mario Bros. into an underground dungeon. Crime Wave Clyde and Big Mouth Koopa lock Mario and Luigi in the dungeon, where they are pursued by a Boom Boom, Ptooies, Sledge Brothers and Thwomps. After being double-crossed by the Koopas, Crime Wave Clyde frees Mario and Luigi from the dungeon to help him get revenge on them.

Also, when Bowser is about to announce the ultimate crime for his children to pull off, Cheatsy suggests pilfering the pyramids of the "Koopahari Desert". This is the only instance the desert is referred to as such in the cartoon series.

The Venice Menace: While walking through Desert Land, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad are taken by surprise when a gondolier from Venice drops out of a pipe. He explains that a sea monster (actually the Doom Sub) is scaring everyone out of the city. Mario and Luigi then head to Venice to sort out the issue. In the end, Mario gets rid of the Doom Sub by warping it to Desert Land, possibly damaging it in the process.

Nintendo Comics System
Though never identified by name, the desert featured in the Nintendo Comics System story Just Deserts is presumably Desert Land. In the story, Bowser has set up a base in a hard light holographic pyramid, which Mario and Luigi destroy by pressing the deactivation button after rescuing the kidnapped Mushroom King.

Nintendo Adventure Books
The Koopahari Desert appears prominently in Double Trouble; after Iggy Koopa invents a cloning machine called GLOM, he, Bowser, and Wendy O. Koopa set up shop in Fort Koopa, their desert fortress, since GLOM creates its clones out of sand, which the Koopahari Desert obviously has an abundant supply of. Creatures that can be encountered by Mario among the sand dunes on his way to Fort Koopa include Shyguys, a nest of Firesnakes, some Dry Bones, and a single Chain Chomp. Upon arrival, Mario also recognizes the distinct smell of Fort Koopa, which suggests that it is the same fortress he had previously visited. In the book's successful ending, it crumbles in an explosion of smoke, lightning and strange machine parts.

After putting on a pair of cursed sneakers secretly given to her by Ludwig von Koopa for her birthday in Pipe Down!, Princess Toadstool is forced to travel from her castle to the Koopahari Desert, and the Mario Bros. can choose to follow her, though they quickly lose track of the princess, possibly after learning from her that they need to get a special pair of boots out the castle. In this book, an underground tunnel the Mario Bros. can discover in the desert leads to Pipe World, and enemies they can encounter on the surface include a flock of Tweeters and a lone Shy Guy.

Super Mario Bros. film
The desert appears in the live-action Super Mario Bros. film, where it makes up most of the barren alternate Earth.