Ahhh...the classic game, released in 1996, it's one of my favorite games on my Wii VC (Virtual Console). While I believe the Galaxies are better, with Super Mario Galaxy 2 being one of my all-time favorite games, and being a large part of my childhood. Yet, I still love the classic that released 7 years before I even existed, and now I'll show you this photo that you might not believe to be true, if you've played the game before.
(https://i.imgur.com/BYLzvHXg.jpg)
Yes, I only have 59 stars, yet I'm at Rainbow Bowser, which requires 70 stars.
What I did was use a basic trick called BLJ (Backwards Long Jump) up the looping stairs to get pass the teleport system, and shoot up to the top.