Hey, thanks for the reply and nice comment! Appreciate it.
The mushroom is very much optional. Honestly it's meant more to distract on that last drop-down, with people focusing more on it than the drop.
Saving the mushroom allows you to skip the top-most jump of the next set as you can take a hit on the spikes by just dropping down.
If you do the jump (which I always did as I didn't intend the mushroom to be anything other than a free hit if you worked to get it) it's not much of an issue as there's a backboard you can hit safely. Spring section you won't like but it's really manageable if you take your time and calm it down. Just go slow!
There's one more main section (the grey blocks and springs you saw) and a couple of platforms before the goal.
Affectionately named sections of the course:
- Long Jump
- 9-Section
- The Snake (the hardest part imo)
- The Springs