I decided to use a tile map for the first level as this made creating new levels and worrying about hitboxes very simple. I implemented this by creating a file with different numbers. The different numbers would then represent different things like an object, no object or the edge of the screen. This file was then parsed and the appropriate tile map was created. I then lined a sprite up with the created tile map to give the appearance of platforms. This also helped with the koopa AI as it meant when they hit a tile with a certain number they turned around.