Top Secret Area

The Top Secret Area is a level filled with power-ups able for use by Mario and Luigi during the events of Super Mario World. The area is situated behind the Ghost House of the Donut Plains. To unlock it, the player must find the secret exit to the level Donut Ghost House. Exiting this level will not end the player's turn in two-player mode.

Overview
The level consists of a single area with five ? Blocks. The two ? Blocks on the left hold Fire Flowers, the two on the right Cape Feathers (when Small Mario hits the ? Blocks, he will get a Mushroom first). A Yoshi Egg will appear when the center ? Block is hit (a 1-Up Mushroom appears if the player already has Yoshi). It contains no enemies, and can be accessed an infinite amount of times, allowing Mario and Luigi to acquire the maximum amount of extra lives. In the SNES version, the area has no Time Limit. In the GBA remake, the area has a time limit of 200 counts.

Trivia

 * The level's location icon changes in the two versions. The SNES version had it as a yellow space, but the GBA remake had a happy bush.
 * Besides Yoshi's House, the Top Secret Area is the only level in the game that cannot be "completed" (in a way that changes the progress on the file select screen).
 * The Top Secret Area acts similar to the Toad Houses of other games, as it contains free powerups for Mario to use.