Super Mario Bros. Special

This article is about a work that used to be available to the public, but is now partially or entirely inaccessible. Details: The SPC-1500 version has not resurfaced in the modern day.
However, the subject is thoroughly documented here. Only remove this notice if the complete work is recovered and made available publicly.

The title of this article is official, but it comes from a Japanese source.
If an acceptable English name is found, then the article should be moved to the new title.

This article is about the game. For the 1990 album, see Super Mario Bros. Special (album).

Not to be confused with Mario Bros. Special.

Super Mario Bros. Special
For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developer	Hudson Soft
Publishers	Hudson Soft (Japan) Static Soft (South Korea)
Platforms	PC-8801, X1, SPC-1500
Release dates	PC-8801: September 1986 X1: September 1986 SPC-1500: March 1989
Language	English
Genre	Platformer
Mode	Single player
Format	5.25-inch floppy, Tape

Super Mario Bros. Special is a platform game that was developed by Hudson Soft and released in 1986 for the NEC PC-8801 and Sharp X1 series of Japanese computers, and released later for the Samsung SPC-1500, a South Korean clone of the X1. Super Mario Bros. Special was the second Nintendo-licensed follow-up to Super Mario Bros., released around three months after Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. The game serves as an adaptation of the original Super Mario Bros., featuring returning elements from previous games in the Super Mario franchise, such as Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong.

Story

While the manual of the game lacks a dedicated story section, the character descriptions for Princess Toadstool, the Mushroom retainers, and Bowser are identical to the descriptions given in the Japanese manual of the original Super Mario Bros., and thus describe an abridged form of the events of that game. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool, as well as her seven Mushroom retainer servants, and placed a spell over the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario must rescue Princess Toadstool, so she may undo the magic spell Bowser has placed.

Gameplay

Super Mario, as seen in World 1-1.

The gameplay and progression structure of Super Mario Bros. Special is similar to the original Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. Special features 32 levels, with eight sets of worlds containing four levels each. The object of the game is to get to either the flagpole to advance to the next level, or the ax required to defeat Bowser. While on his way to the goal, Mario encounters many enemies and power-ups, including ones originating from Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Mario has a limited amount of lives. He can gain extra lives by collecting various items or defeating enough enemies in a row, and if he runs out of lives, the game is over and the player must restart from the start of the game.

The game features a unique method of screen-scrolling, in which the game segments the level between different screens and scrolls between them, similarly to The Legend of Zelda, with some overlap between screen segments. The PC-8801 version handles this by turning the display black briefly while loading the next screen, while the X1 handles it more smoothly by visually sliding to the next screen.

Super Mario Bros. Special's physics for various actions, such as jumping and dashing, are distinct from how they function in Super Mario Bros.. Actions usually happen slower and last longer. In addition, the stage time also ticks slightly faster. Super Mario Bros. Special features every enemy, item, and obstacle from the original Super Mario Bros., with the exception of the gray Cheep-cheeps and fake Bowser. The gray Cheep-cheeps are instead replaced with green Cheep-cheeps (or yellow Cheep-cheeps in the PC-88 version), which function identically to gray Cheep-cheeps. The fake Bowsers are instead replaced with the normal Bowser. Enemies and obstacles function similarly to how they behave the original Super Mario Bros.

Multiple enemies, obstacles, and items appear from other games in the Super Mario franchise. There are Barrels and Fireballs based on the original Donkey Kong, which are both resistant to Fiery Mario's fireballs, though the Barrels may be defeated by Hammers. From Mario Bros., there are Sidesteppers which function similarly to Spinies, Fighterflies which leap towards Mario, and Icicles that fall from the ceiling and can be destroyed with a Fireball.

In addition to the objects originating from previous games, there are multiple fully-original items, such as the Wing, which allows Mario to fly in the air by way of swimming through it for a limited period of time, the Clock which adds time to the stage timer, the Hachisuke which gives additional points, and the Lucky Star, which instantly defeats all enemies present on-screen when collected.

Similarly to the later-released Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, the game lacks a two-player mode compared to the original Super Mario Bros. However, unlike Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. Special has only one playable character, with Luigi being entirely absent. Instead, a color scheme similar to Luigi's is used for Fiery Mario and Invincible Mario.

Super Mario Bros. Special has inferior graphics and audio in both the PC-8801 and X1 releases, as both computers have less powerful graphical specifications than the Family Computer, but still attempt to replicate the graphics of Super Mario Bros. nonetheless. The X1 version contains partial scrolling and slightly more colorful graphics, featuring all eight colors possible with 100% and 0% RGB, including, cyan, magenta and white. The PC-88 release of Super Mario Bros. Special uses only black, red, yellow, and blue, including dithered results with those four colors, and it does not use internal eight-color palette of the PC-88. Further, sprites in the PC-88 version exclude the use of blue, which is utilized for transparency in the sprites. This leads to yellow being used as a stand-in for white and swapping with red for recolored enemies, notably causing the "green" enemies to appear with red eyes.

Controls

While the PC-88 release of the game can be controlled both with the computer's keyboard or with a joypad, the X1 version can only be played with a X1-compatible joypad.

Action(s)	Input
	Keyboard	Joypad
Move; enter sideways Warp Pipe	Number Pad (4, 6)	(left/right)
Duck; enter Warp Pipe	Number Pad (2)	(down)
Jump; swim upwards; start game	Z
Run; throw fireball; start game	X
Pause (PC-88 only)	Esc	N/A

Worlds and levels

World	Level	Setting	Enemies found
World 1	World 1-1	Overworld	Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa
	World 1-2	Underground, Overworld	Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa
	World 1-3	Athletic	Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa
	World 1-4	Castle	Fire-Bar, Bowser
World 2	World 2-1	Overworld	Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa
	World 2-2	Underwater, Underground	Bloober, Cheep-cheep, Little Goomba
	World 2-3	Athletic	Cheep-cheep
	World 2-4	Castle	Fire-Bar, Podoboo, Piranha Plant, Bowser
World 3	World 3-1	Underwater, Overworld	Bloober, Cheep-cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, Little Goomba
	World 3-2	Overworld	Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa
	World 3-3	Athletic	Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa
	World 3-4	Castle	Fire-Bar, barrel, Podoboo, Bowser
World 4	World 4-1	Overworld	Piranha Plant, Lakitu, Spiny, Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa
	World 4-2	Underground	Icicle, Little Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Sidestepper
	World 4-3	Athletic	Koopa Troopa, Koopa Paratroopa, Piranha Plant, barrel
	World 4-4	Castle	Icicle, Bowser
World 5	World 5-1	Overworld	Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa, Little Goomba, Bloober, Fighterfly
	World 5-2	Overworld	Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa, Fighterfly, Buzzy Beetle, Bullet Bill, Sidestepper, Bloober, Little Goomba, Hammer Brother
	World 5-3	Athletic	Cheep-cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Bullet Bill, Piranha Plant, icicle
	World 5-4	Castle	Fire-Bar, Podoboo, Bowser
World 6	World 6-1	Overworld	Lakitu, Spiny, Piranha Plant
	World 6-2	Overworld	Piranha Plant, Buzzy Beetle, Lakitu, Spiny, barrel
	World 6-3	Athletic	Piranha Plant, Koopa Troopa
	World 6-4	Castle	Fire-Bar, Icicle, Barrel, Piranha Plant, Bowser
World 7	World 7-1	Overworld	Bullet Bill, Buzzy Beetle, Piranha Plant, Little Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Hammer Brother, Koopa Troopa, barrel
	World 7-2	Underwater, Overworld	Bloober, Cheep-cheep, Fire-Bar
	World 7-3	Athletic	Cheep-cheep, Koopa Paratroopa, Sidestepper, Piranha Plant, Hammer Brother
	World 7-4	Castle	Piranha Plant, Podoboo, Koopa Paratroopa, icicle, Fireball, Bowser
World 8	World 8-1	Athletic	Koopa Troopa, Little Goomba, Koopa Paratroopa, Fire-Bar, Sidestepper, Fighterfly, Buzzy Beetle
	World 8-2	Underwater, Overworld	Bloober, Cheep-cheep, barrel, Fighterfly, Fireball, Hammer Brother
	World 8-3	Underground, Overworld	Icicle, Fire-Bar, Fighterfly, Koopa Paratroopa, Sidestepper, Hammer Brother
	World 8-4	Castle	Fire-Bar, Koopa Paratroopa, Buzzy Beetle, Piranha Plant, Bowser

Characters

Name	Image		Description
	X1 image	PC-88 image
Mario			The game's protagonist, and only playable character. Mario ventures across the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool and the Mushroom retainers from Bowser's castles.
Mushroom retainer			The seven servants of Princess Toadstool, which were kidnapped by Bowser and are held hostage in his castles at the end of Worlds 1 to 7. When rescued, they inform Mario that Princess Toadstool is in another castle.
Princess Toadstool			The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, who was kidnapped by Bowser and is held in his final castle. She is capable of breaking the spell Bowser has placed over the kingdom. When rescued, Princess Toadstool compliments Mario for clearing every world.

Items and objects

Power-ups

Power-up	Image		Form		Points awarded	Description
	X1 image	PC-88 image	X1 image	PC-88 image
N/A	N/A	N/A			N/A	The base form of Mario, which Mario starts at whenever a new game is initiated or after losing a life. Small Mario cannot break bricks, but can fit through narrow passageways without needing to crouch. If Mario is damaged in this form, he loses a life.
Magic Mushroom					1000	Magic Mushrooms can be found in blocks, and move slowly once revealed. They can be grabbed to transform into Super Mario. As Super Mario, Mario can break bricks, though he cannot fit through narrow passageways without crouching. If Mario is damaged in this form, he reverts to the standard Mario.
Fire Flower					1000	Fire Flowers can be found in the same blocks that house Magic Mushrooms if Mario is Super Mario, and are stationary once revealed. They can be grabbed to change into Fiery Mario. Fiery Mario retains the same attributes as Super Mario, in addition to being able to press the Run button (either X on the Keyboard or on an X1 Joypad) to throw a Fireball, which bounces along the ground and can damage most enemies.
Starman					1000	Starmen can be found sporadically in bricks, and bounce right when revealed. They can be grabbed to briefly change into Invincible Mario, who flashes red and green and can defeat enemies on contact.
Hammer (Hummer)					1000	Found in Hidden Blocks in Worlds 3-4 and 5-1, and are stationary when revealed. Mario rapidly swings a hammer in front of him, just like in Donkey Kong. Wielded temporarily by Mario, and does not change Mario's current form.
Wing					1000	Found in Hidden Blocks in Worlds 3-2 and 4-1, and are stationary when revealed. Collecting this allows Mario to fly in the air temporarily, using the game's swimming controls. Does not change Mario's current form.

Items

Name	X1 image	PC-88 image	Points awarded	Description
1 up Mushroom			0	If Mario collects one, he gets an extra life.
Coin			200	Collect 100 coins for an extra life.
Hachisuke			8000	The bee from the Hudson Soft logo. If Mario finds this item, he is awarded 8000 points. Found in World 1-1.
Clock			1000	Upon picking this up, Mario gets an additional 100 seconds added to the timer. Found in World 8-3.
Lucky Star			1000	Resembles an atom. If Mario collects it, all the enemies on-screen are defeated and award their normal point values as if hit by a Starman. It is similar to a POW Block except it also affects airborne foes, like a POW Block in Super Mario Bros. 35. Found in World 4-1.

Objects

Objects are interactable elements of the environment that cannot be picked up or collected. Unlike items and enemies, which are sourced from multiple games, every object is from the original Super Mario Bros.

Name	X1 image		PC-88 image		Description
Blocks
? Block					Floating blocks which contain items and power-ups, which releases its contents when Mario hits it from below. Some ? Blocks are invisible, and must be jumped into can reveal both the blocks themselves as well as their contents. These blocks can be struck by regular Mario.
Brick					Floating blocks that can be broken by Super Mario or Fiery Mario if struck from below, and may occasionally hide items or other power-ups.
Bridge					Thin, roped platforms that Mario can walk across, usually found in athletic stages.
Coral					Coral pillars of various sizes appear in water, blocking Mario's movement.
Small cloud					Cloud-shaped blocks which primarily appear in Coin Heaven bonus areas, or over large pits.
Stairblock					Unbreakable blocks that can be found either on the ground or floating over pits, forming climbable staircases or other bumpy formations.
Platforms
Island					Platforms usually situated above pits or in athletic courses, which can be stood on top of. Unlike in the original Super Mario Bros., however, Islands can appear in standard courses, on top of ordinary ground, such as in Worlds 5-2 or 6-1.
Jumping board					Jumping boards that Mario can use to launch himself into the air. Found exclusively in Worlds 2-1 and 7-1.
Lift					Floating, moving platforms which commonly appear in athletic stages and fortresses. Some lifts move side-to-side, others move as part of an elevator, some falling if stood on, and some coming in pairs, balancing on one another.
Pipe					Pipes that can serve as columns with differing heights, occasionally housing Piranha Plants, or can be entered either from the top or from entrances on their sides, entered by Mario either crouching on top of or pressing against them.
Super mushroom					Tall, mushroom-shaped platforms with wide caps that Mario can stand on top of, commonly found in athletic stages above pits.
Goals
Ax					Large axes that function as the goal for castle levels. Upon touching the ax, Bowser is immediately defeated, and Mario automatically moves to the following chamber. Unlike Super Mario Bros., there is no animation of the bridge collapsing behind the ax.
Flagpole					Tall flagpoles that function as the goal for most ordinary levels. When Mario touches one, he slides to the bottom before finishing the level. The higher Mario lands on the pole, the more points he obtains.
Miscellaneous
Beanstalk					Tall beanstalks that can occasionally emerge from ? Blocks, leading to secret areas.
Horsehair plant					Tall, stalk-like plants that grow in the backgrounds of some stages. Occasionally, the tips of shorter Horsehair plants are used for other pieces of scenery, such as in a secret area in World 2-2.

Enemies and obstacles

Enemies

Hudson Soft's staff brought over enemies from Super Mario Bros. as well as earlier Super Mario games. All are referred to by their Japanese names in-game, with a typo in one case (or called by new names in the case of the earlier games' enemies), and ordered per their listing in the cast and credits:

Name	X1 image	PC-88 image	Origin	Description
Little Goomba (Kuribou)			Super Mario Bros.	The most basic enemy, they can be defeated by stomping on them from above, bumping them from below, hitting them with a fireball, hammer, or kicked shell, or running into them while invincible. Found in Worlds 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 5-1, 5-2, and 8-1.
Koopa Troopa (Nokonoko)			Super Mario Bros.	Walking turtles that continue forward until they run into an enemy or obstacle. Red Koopa Troopas also turn around at the end of a ledge, but green Koopa Troopas continue and fall. A stomp or bump cause them to hide in their shell (which can be kicked); fire, hammers, kicked shells, and invincibility defeats them instantly. Green found in Worlds 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1, 4-2, 5-1, 5-2, 6-3, and 7-3. Red found in Worlds 1-2, 1-3, 3-3, 4-3, 5-2, 6-3, and 8-1.
Koopa Paratroopa (Patapata)			Super Mario Bros.	Winged Koopa Troopas. Green ones hop on the ground while continuing forward, and red ones stay in the air, flying up and down in a straight line. Stomping on them makes them lose their wings; fire, hammers, kicked shells, and invincibility defeats them instantly. Green found in Worlds 3-1, 3-2, 4-1, 5-1, 5-2, 7-1, 7-3, and 8-1. Red found in Worlds 1-3, 5-3, 7-3, 8-1, 8-3, and 8-4.
Buzzy Beetle (Met)			Super Mario Bros.	Hard-shelled turtle-like enemies that act similar to Koopa Troopas. Fireballs do not harm them. They can be knocked into their shells with a stomp or bump, and can be defeated with a hammer, kicked shell, or invincibility. Found in Worlds 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-1, 8-1, and 8-4.
Hammer Brother (Hummer Bros)			Super Mario Bros.	Turtles that jump and throw arcing hammers. They can be defeated with a stomp, bump, fireball, kicked shell, or invincibility. Found in Worlds 5-2, 8-2, and 8-3.
Lakitu (Jugemu)			Super Mario Bros.	A cloud-riding turtle that drops Spiny's eggs. It can be defeated with a stomp, fireballs, the Lucky Star, or invincibility, after which it does not respawn. Found in Worlds 4-1 and 6-1.
Spiny (Togezou)			Super Mario Bros.	Spiked turtles that hatch from eggs dropped from Lakitus. They can be defeated with fireballs, the Lucky Star, invincibility, or being bumped from below.
Piranha Plant (Pakkun Flower)			Super Mario Bros.	Biting plants that go up and down in pipes. They can be defeated through fireballs or invincibility. Found in Worlds 2-1, 2-4, 3-1, 4-1, 4-3, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 7-1, 7-4, and 8-4.
Spiny's egg (Paipo)			Super Mario Bros.	Eggs dropped by Lakitu that hatch into Spiny when they land. They can be defeated with fireballs, invincibility, and the Lucky Star. Found in Worlds 4-1 and 6-1.
Bullet Bill (Killer)			Super Mario Bros.	Bullets shot from cannons in infinite amounts. They can be defeated with a stomp or invincibility. Found in Worlds 5-2, 5-3, and 7-1.
Cheep-cheep (Pukupuku)			Super Mario Bros.	Fish that swim in groups at the same speed regardless of color, with a few at a time bobbing slightly. Red ones also hop from the water in land levels. When underwater, they can only be defeated with fireballs or invincibility, but in the air they can also be stomped or hit with a shell. Green found in Worlds 2-2, 3-1, 7-2, and 8-2. Red found in Worlds 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 5-3, 7-2, 7-3, and 8-2.
Bloober (Gesso)			Super Mario Bros.	Bobbing squid found underwater. They can be defeated with a fireball or invincibility. Found in Worlds 2-2, 3-1, 5-1, 5-2, 7-2, and 8-2.
Podoboo (Bubble)			Super Mario Bros.	Hopping lava balls that can only be defeated with invincibility or a hammer. Found in Worlds 2-4, 3-4, 5-4, 7-4, and 8-4.
Sidestepper (Chokichoki)			Mario Bros.	Crabs that walk in a straight line and can be defeated with a fireball, invincibility, or a bump. Found in Worlds 4-2, 5-2, 7-3, 8-1, and 8-3.
Fighterfly (Nakaji)			Mario Bros.	Flies that move by taking small hops, pausing in between and able to change directions whenever on the ground. Can be defeated with a fireball, hammer, invincibility, or a bump. Found in Worlds 5-1, 5-2, 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3.
Barrel (Tarusar)			Donkey Kong	These barrels roll down ledges and can be defeated with a hammer or a bump. Found in Worlds 3-4, 4-3, 6-2, 6-4, 7-1, and 8-2.
Fireball (Sigebou)			Donkey Kong	Fireballs that move horizontally, tumbling down ledges the same as barrels. Found in Worlds 7-4 and 8-2.
Icicle (Tsurara)			Mario Bros.	Falling icicles that can be defeated with a fireball. Found in Worlds 4-2, 4-4, 5-3, 6-4, 7-4, 8-3, and 8-4.
Bowser (Kuppa)			Super Mario Bros.	The villain, he appears in every castle level (those ending in -4). In Worlds 1-5 he only breathes fire, in Worlds 6 and 7 he only throws hammers, and in World 8 he does both. He can be hitting him with five fireballs, a hammer, or by breaking the bridge with the axe. None of the Bowsers are fake Bowsers; in each world, when defeated with fireballs, Bowser simply disappears.

Obstacles

Obstacles, unlike Enemies, are not given names in the Cast list in the game's ending.

Name	X1 image	PC-88 image	Origin	Description
Fire-Bar			Super Mario Bros.	Bars made of stacked fireballs, rotating around a central block, damaging Mario on contact. Found in Worlds 1-4, 2-4, 3-4, 5-4, 6-4, 7-2, 7-4, 8-1, 8-3, and 8-4.
Lava			Super Mario Bros.	Pools of molten rock, killing Mario if he falls into them. Found in Worlds 1-4, 2-4, 3-4, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4, 7-4, 8-3, and 8-4.
Turtle Cannon			Super Mario Bros.	Cannons that fire Bullet Bills from a distance. If Mario stands next to them, they stop firing. Found in Worlds 5-2, 5-3, and 7-1.

Staff

Main article: List of Super Mario Bros. Special staff

The game was developed by a team of nine employees at Hudson Soft, with the same development team working on both the Sharp X1 and PC-88 versions. The game was produced by Takashi-Takebe, programmed by Yukio-Takeoka, with levels designed by Ichirou-Sakurada. One of the sound designers, Fumihiko-Itagaki, would later serve as Technical Support for the Mario Party games on the Nintendo 64.

Notable mistakes and errors

Despite the majority of the game's script being written in English and Romanized Japanese, there are several typos which are found in both the X1 and PC-88 versions of the game, located in the game's ending sequences.

• On the ending screen, "congratulations" is spelled as "congraturations", likely due to the "l" and "r" sounds sounding the same in Japanese.
• During the credits, Sugata-Morimoto is credited under "Enemy Dispoed".
• During the cast list, Hammer Bros are spelled as "Hummer Bros".
• On the "New Characters!" screen, "Characters" is spelled as "Charcters", and the Hammer is spelled as "Hummer".

Pre-release and unused content

The Mycom BASIC Magazine flyer ad.

In a full-page magazine advertisement from Mycom BASIC Magazine, the screenshots depict level segments not seen in the final game, including a version of World 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros. with additional coins and a brick wall to the right, an underwater stage with Mario able to jump, an underground stage with pillars of Hard Blocks staircasing downwards leading to two Little Goombas with one being embedded in a pipe, and a flagpole next to a hill.

Reception and legacy

Reception of the game in contemporary sources is unclear, owing to the title's general obscurity, and a lack of contemporary reviews. Retrospective reviews of the game lean mixed-to-negative, primarily citing the game's poor visuals. Bad Game Hall of Fame gave the game 2 stars, praising the game for being technologically impressive for its hardware and for being a unique take on the original Super Mario Bros., while holding issue with the game's sluggish physics, as well as the game's poor graphics, especially in the PC-88 version.

The SPC-1500 version was a Top 20 seller for home computers in South Korea for July and August of 1989.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Super Mario Bros. Special.

• 

  Title Screen
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Title Screen
  (PC-88)

• 

  Hachisuke
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Wing
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Hammer and barrels
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Lucky Star
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Icicles and Sidesteppers
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Fighterflies
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Fireball
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Clock
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  Ending screen
  (Sharp X1)

• 

  "New Charcters!"^[sic] screen
  (Sharp X1)

Multimedia

For the complete list of media files for this subject, see Multimedia:Super Mario Bros. Special.

Ground Theme - PC-88 version

File info 0:30

Underwater BGM - Sharp X1 version

File info 0:30

Starman - PC-88 version

File info 0:30

Castle BGM - Sharp X1 version

File info 0:20

Lost a Life - PC-88 version

File info 0:03

Help:Media file • Having trouble playing?

Glitches

Main article: List of Super Mario Bros. Special glitches

Due to both the PC-88 and X1 being weaker compared to the NES/Famicom, as well as working off a largely different engine, glitches and tricks are largely unique to this game, and are independent from those in the original Super Mario Bros.

Missing objects

On occasion, failing to either defeat select enemies or otherwise despawn objects causes other enemies or objects later in the stage to not appear. This glitch occurs in both versions of the game, and is very unpredictable. Most notably, the second Flimsy Lift in the wide pit in World 4-3 fails to load if the second Scale Lift is not destroyed, causing the pit to become impossible to cross and requiring Mario to lose a life.

References to earlier games

Donkey Kong

• Hammers appear as power-ups, and barrels and Fireballs appear as enemies.

Mario Bros.

• Several enemies such as Fighterflies and Sidesteppers originate from this game.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	スーパーマリオブラザーズ スペシャル Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Supesharu	Super Mario Bros. Special

External links

• Universal Game List entry for Super Mario Bros. Special
• More information on the X1 version