Super Mario Bros.

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This article describes glitches in Super Mario Bros., a game outside the Pokémon franchise. See Non-Pokémon glitches for a list of non-Pokémon glitch articles.

This article must comply with the non-Pokémon glitches guideline.

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Super Mario Bros.
Wikipedia link Super Mario Bros.
Developer(s) Nintendo Research & Development 4
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Platform(s) Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom), Famicom Disk System, Arcade, Game Boy Advance (Classic NES Series)
Release date(s) September 13, 1985 (Japan, Famicom)
February 21, 1986 (Japan, Famicom Disk System)
1985 (North America)
1987 (Europe)
1987 (Australasia)
Some parts of this article have not yet been fully reviewed by a member of this wiki's staff or QC team.

Data from the Internet can be inaccurate or false, and it is easy to misremember information. For this reason there is more likely to be incorrect information in this article. This template will be removed once the information is peer-reviewed and tested by a staff or QC member.


Super Mario Bros. is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which popularised the Mario series and platform games in general.

The game features Mario; a character in red overalls and a blue shirt and his brother Luigi, who are tasked with saving Princess Peach from the turtle-like Bowser; king of the Koopa race.

The game was so popular for its time that it persistently had the status of the best-selling game until the introduction of Wii Sports in the early 2000s.


Clipping through walls

It is possible to walk/clip through walls under specific conditions.


Duplicate vines

A glitch that involves both a two-player game and beating the game first. Mario needs to lose a life on World 1-2 while Luigi has to lose a life while climbing a vine on World 5-2. If done correctly a vine will appear unexpectedly in World 1-2, and can be used to gain infinite lives from the Buzzy Beetles. (however this is not the only trick to obtain multiple lives (see "turtle tipping"; below))

It is said to have been discovered over 30 years since the game came out, though the veracity of this claim is unknown.

YouTube video by Guiz and Jerome


Midair jump

It is possible to jump in mid-air by pressing the A button while Mario is undergoing transformation from a Mushroom or Fire Flower.

Minus World

Main article: Minus World (Super Mario Bros.)

The Minus World is one of the most infamous video game glitches, and involves Mario entering the World 36-1 glitch course (commonly known as "World -1" or the "Minus World").

It can be accessed by exploiting a wall clipping glitch at the end of Stage 1-2. The most popular method involves breaking the second and third blocks to the right from the end pipe, but leaving the last block unbroken.

If Mario faces the left and jumps backwards to touch the pipe towards the block, it is possible for him to clip through the wall to the first warp pipe. If he later enters the pipe before the "Welcome to Warp Zone!" message appears, he can enter Stage 36-1.

This glitch course was later referenced as an Easter egg in the game Super Paper Mario.

Jump damage glitch

A glitch where jumping off the top of the screen while facing left the moment an enemy falls off the bottom of the screen can cause Mario to take damage even though he doesn't touch the enemy.

Over 99 lives

After Mario collects over 99 lives (through the officially acknowledged 'turtle tipping' or 'infinite 1-Up trick'), glitch characters may represent the left and/or right digit, including a crown symbol that was later referenced as an Easter egg in Super Mario 3D Land as a hidden lives digit (and in which three crowns represent 1110 lives).

YouTube video by MaximRecoil


Game Over glitch

Losing a life with exactly 128 can cause a Game Over to occur.

Small fire Mario

A glitch where after hitting both the axe and Bowser in a castle stage at the same time, Mario will remain as Super Mario, but become small Mario after taking a mushroom. Obtaining a Fire Flower will then allow Mario to become small fire Mario.

This glitch was referenced in the downloadable Wii U game NES Remix as part of a challenge where the player has to defeat 20 enemies as small fire Mario.

Spiny behavior glitch

In the final game, Spinies will only fall vertically after being thrown out by Lakitu. However, this is actually the result of a bug, and Spinies are meant to have velocity in other directions as well, based on the player's speed, Lakitu's speed and a pseudo-random value.

YouTube video by Pixels Lw


(Thanks doppelganger's Super Mario Bros. disassembly, and The Cutting Room Floor, GoldS for reporting this)

Tennis cartridge exploit

A cart-swap exploit that allows the player to access Super Mario Bros. glitch worlds, documented by Japanese gamers and published in Family Computer Magazine.

It involves removing the Super Mario Bros. cartridge while the power is still on, replacing it with Tennis, tossing the ball twice and serving, and then walking a specific number of steps.

Next after replacing the cartridge with Super Mario Bros. again, continuing the game with A+Start will allow the player to access a glitch world based on how many steps the player made in Tennis.

YouTube video by ex-writer


(Thanks Legends of Localization for this)

Wall jumping

This glitch allows Mario to jump off a wall or a pipe. On the exact frame Mario touches the wall/pipe, the player can press A to jump up in mid-air as long as Mario already has gathered some speed.

External links

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