Talk:List of Super Mario 64 glitches

Are you kidding me?
Super Mario 64 is one of the glitchiest games around and pretty much anyone who still plays it today will tell you they play it for either 1) speedrunning, which exploits glitches, or 2) for the discovery of new glitches. This is one of the worst pages on this wiki because not only does it have a whole bunch of minor glitches that are worded poorly, but also it lacks one of the most famous glitches in any game ever! And that's hardly an exaggeration! It lacks the backwards long jump. If you don't know what that is, look it up. If you do, write it in the article because I can't. I am not a wiki editor but I can complain over the quality. So there, someone please fix this atrocious little stub of an article. 15:42, 30 December 2009 (EST)

It doesn't lack the backwards long jump glitch. Read the article more closely next time you look at 'the worst article on the website'.

Random letter
It's not a glitch! It's Bowser's trapdoor as it looks from bottom. See clearer, its like two squares from another angle.


 * M'kay, thanks.

Bob-ombs glitches
In this video, there are many bugs with Bob-ombs. 19:08, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

The Black Room Of Death
It's also possible to get on the castle without 120 stars, you need to climb on it from the sides, though it's not that easy. You can watch the action from here or here.

Is This a glitch?
Non-Completable Mission (Almost!) is not a glitch because that if nintendo want to fix this glitch they would put infinity number of thoose enemies

I agree. I think Nintendo did it on purpose to add some challange.

Remove all cartridge tilting glitches
This includes Flip'd-up Mario 1, Flip'd-up Mario 2,Flip'd-up Mario 3,Flip'd-up Mario 4, Mario lying on the floor and Xylophone Music (optional). They are unnecessary, and beside that, they aren't really glitches.

Proposer: Deadline: July 11, 2013, 23:59 GMT

Remove

 * 1) - Per proposal
 * 2) - Per Megadardery

Keep

 * 1) First, harmful effects caused by fiddling with the game cartridge does indeed qualify as glitches (they are programming errors that result in unintentional effects including no clipping and sputtering noises). Second, why do you think they are unnecessary? It's nice to know what glitches happen to your game when the cartridge gets moved around, and it doesn't hurt to include glitches caused by that. I don't see a great reason to remove these glitches.
 * 2) Per. These are still glitches, no matter how you phrase it.
 * 3) Per LGM and TT.
 * 4) Per Time Turner
 * 5) Per LGM and TT.
 * 6) Per LGM and TT, even if it's caused by something outside of the game.
 * 7) Per LGM and TT.
 * 8) Per LGM and TT.
 * 9) Per LGM and TT.
 * 10) Per LeftyGreenMario.
 * 11) Per LGM and TT.
 * 12) Something goes wrong because of tilting a cartridge. IT'S STILL A GLITCH. What I just was pretty much per LGM.

Comments
Cartridge tilting glitches are similar to errors that happens in the Files when the CD is scratched. Does they count as global problems in all CDs?!--

@LGM Read the first paragraph here, And then I'll tell you tilting the cartridge is some sort of damage to the physical media, beside I don't agree with your sentence: "they are programming errors".--
 * It's not technically damage (as in, the disc is scratched to begin with), per se, though, but this can result in damage. They're still programming errors since the game is acting in a way that isn't intentionally programmed to do (e.g. no clipping). 18:11, 28 June 2013 (EDT)
 * If I tilted the disc in the CD-rom, the files will be corrupt.--
 * How can you tilt a CD in a Nintendo console to find glitches? I don't think it's a good example you're giving. 12:44, 29 June 2013 (EDT)
 * When tilting a cartridge, you disallow the console to read all bytes and information. and bout my example: I mean in computer If I tilted a little to the top(so it couldn't be full read), Most files won't work, and others may be corrupt..--
 * More examples: if the cartridge is made by four parts "1111" (the first is animation, the second is mapping controls, the third is reading data, the fourth is for Converting data) and I tilted it to the left (so it would be "--/" instead of ""), what do you think will happen? The data won't be converted or the data will be converted into corrupt data. That's what i mean.--
 * That's true, and tilting the cartridge is making the game read it incorrectly.
 * But, isn't tilting a cartridge sort of replicating a glitch? Many times when you're performing a glitch, you're deliberately exploiting something that can also damage the game. Cartridge tilting is something physical, isn't it?
 * You're trying to argue that this doesn't qualify as a valid glitch that can be replicated. Yes, it can be replicated. There are directions to perform the glitch in the first place. The other glitches that don't qualify (like graphical glitches caused by damage) seem to happen randomly and beyond the players' control. That's the main point of my argument. 19:17, 29 June 2013 (EDT)


 * Let's see everything you said:

--
 * This is obviously a glitch, and you can't call it "real" or not. Even if you think it doesn't qualify as a glitch to be listed, it's still a glitch. I said the reason some graphical glitches aren't covered is that they're caused by CD/cartridge damage, and they're beyond the player's control, not because there was an exploit in the game's coding. Finally, I don't go on chat, sorry. It's not my thing. 15:37, 2 July 2013 (EDT)

DS?
If N64 one organized,why DS not?-- 20:03, 29 June 2013 (EDT)
 * It just isn't. There is a group effort dedicated to cleaning up glitch pages, and I think that page you were referring to has yet to be organized. 21:03, 29 June 2013 (EDT)

Why is this page protected?
There are errors in this page and I want to fix them and also add more glitches. Please let me temporary edit the page to fix a bunch of mistakes.


 * It is protected because the vast majority of anons vandalize these pages repeatedly by adding false glitches. If you want to edit it you must create an account and become autoconfirmed.
 * If you want to add something to this page, just request it here and it will be edited if applicable.
 * -- 17:59, 20 July 2013 (EDT)

"Jump n' Kick"
Is this even a glitch? It sounds more like a simple shortcut to the star, in my opinion.

09:01, 12 October 2013 (EDT)

Doesn't seem like a glitch at all to me. 09:05, 12 October 2013 (EDT)
 * I agree that it doesn't sound like a glitch. Should we remove this? 09:22, 12 October 2013 (EDT)


 * Yep. Deleted the images as well, as there were no longer a use for them.


 * 09:32, 12 October 2013 (EDT)


 * But remember to add that to each star mission Ok?-- 12:32, 12 October 2013 (EDT)

Cannonless glitch
Where did it go? SuperFlameGuy

Mario lying on the floor
Can this glitch be performed on real console? I mean similar to Stop n' Swap from Banjo-Kazooie, this is supposed to be impossible, because originally, the player would have had ten seconds to swap game cartridges, but due to revisions in the Nintendo 64 hardware, this time was reduced to only one second. Same issue here. Can any one prove this?-- 09:09, 31 January 2014 (EST)

Another Ukiki freeze!?
I grabbed ukiki and it stole Mario's hat and then I caught is again then I moved across the log and i missed the platform and mario had 0 lives and before the game over came up the game froze.(takes deep breath) is that a glitch? Is this even because of Ukiki?Shroomed (talk) 19:19, 7 April 2014 (EDT)

swimming in air glitch
its not a cheat cuz i can only do it in one area  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDSlNtNpPLI

Cloning?!
One of the most famous glitches is the cloning via grabbing fake items glitch, and I think it should be here. For an explanation, see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xE2otZ-9os Videos of it are all over YouTube, so there is loadsa proof Mistop (talk)

Hat-in-hand glitch
Can someone add the fact that if you grab objects with hat in hand they bug out and teleport when dropped?

Pole with star glitch
Hello I think I found a glitch in Super Mario 64, in Dire Dire Docks, when you are on pole, and you get red coin while on pole and grab star, you will teleport underwater and animation of getting star will happen, but after this you will instant teleport upwards. I can't believe nobody found that earlier. Matriks404 22.08.2014 00:59 GMT+2


 * A similar glitch is already known, refer to 100-Coin Star Glitch-- 14:59, 5 April 2015 (EDT)

Is this a problem?
One time, my game froze during the black transition into VCutM. Another time, the game bugged out and made weird noises when I went next to Dorrie in HMC.

Was this on real hardware or an emulator? Also if N64 is it in good condition?

Crash and soft locks
The "dead Mario freeze" by grabbing the star with 0/8 hp doesn't erase the saved file at all. It actually soft locks the game (crash has random results AND freezes). It just freeze and nothing impacted.CoinBro (talk) 23:13, 23 June 2015 (EDT)
 * Where does it mention that it erases the save file? Just need some clarification. 23:15, 23 June 2015 (EDT)

It says it impacts the save file just at the cartridge tilting part: I thought the warning applies and continues until the next title appears. Do you think it's a good idea to put what impacts the save file in the warning box, so readers can see the "range" where it applies the warning on these glitches. CoinBro (talk) 14:05, 25 June 2015 (EDT)
 * According to the table of contents, "dead Mario freeze" isn't in the subsection of "Cartridge tilting", so it's not a glitch involving tilting the cartridge. I'll move the cartridge-tilting section to the bottom of the "freeze" section then. 16:44, 26 June 2015 (EDT)

Okay, nevermind CoinBro (talk) 22:47, 29 June 2015 (EDT)

On bbh(big boo's haunt) if you blj on the elevator the leads from the basement floor make to the ground floor it soft locks on n64 have not tested on emulator

Bullys get stuck in walls (played on emulator)
I'm not sure if the actual Nintendo 64 game and the emulator differ from each other, but I found a glitch involving a Bully which occurred when I kicked one towards a wall (specifically, I was in the volcano of Lethal Lava Land) and it got stuck there. It seemed to be in the animation for when it's hit by Mario and I was kinda close to the wall when I did it. I didn't try getting it out of the wall, though.

Yin10Dou (talk) 15:36, 17 October 2015 (EDT)Yin10Dou

Fake Cap
I feel like this is just Cap in Hand but with less info. Other opinions? Sauzels (talk) 02:33, 28 January 2016 (EST)

broken link
I seen several dead links.

When the next time a user adds a link, can you add a notice that if its a youtube: "please include the username". Bulbapedia seems to do that. Here is the broken link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNJCJaIGX5E (don't know who made it)

Ugh
Camera zooming in Pause Menu

I have no idea how to use wiki... sommeone please just put this into the article. This glitch can be done anywhere. If the player waits until mario is asleep/falling asleep, the camera will start to zoom in. If the player wakes Mario up, the camera zooms back out. The player must pause while the camera is zooming out, it will continue to zoom while in the pause menu. The player can also do this while Mario is falling asleep. (citation needed)

Zero stars glitch is most likely wrong
I will start off by saying that I am no expert, but in watching the newest world record TAS that was released on November 24th, They still have to get at least one key. If the glitch was as simple as go to the main stairs in the castle and shoot back through them that would greatly reduce the time needed to do the run as they would have no need to go get the key from the fire sea, and would just shoot straight up through that door, up to the third level, and up through the endless stairs.

Fly guy glitch
On this page, it just says there is a glitch to reduce fly guy's size. It should say how to do the glitch (run back and forth underneath him) and why the glitch happens (something to do with the fact that he puffs up a little when he shoots fire)


 * We do have a reference to a video, but I added some additional information. 13:58, 4 April 2017 (EDT)

I foresee this article needing some structural changes to be done.
I love this page, probably because I wrote ~97 of these ~151 glitch entries. (I wrote more than half of this page, in other words.) But some recent discoveries have led me to believe that for this page to grow in scope, it needs to be restructured again.

Super Mario 64 is the first page that seems to require this future planning, because it is also the most-developed Glitches page. The distinction between specific glitches (limited to one location in the game) and general glitches (can be done anywhere) makes it difficult to determine if the glitches should be organized according to the player-minded qualifiers (specific levels) or programmer-minded qualifiers (objects and level geometry). I am committed to making this page so well-structured as to be the paradigm for all the Glitch pages.

So let me first discuss the upcoming problems that I foresee.

This page is getting rather long. A solution may be to divide it into separate pages linked from a central article. This would be a mostly unprecedented move, notwithstanding the Minus World. The length of the article, however, is not a problem unless navigation becomes confusing. That is why restructuring may be necessary for it to be properly read. It will also make it easier to contribute glitches after making sure that they are not duplicates.

But the informal and technical description divide seems to be the deepest problem. (I am indebted to Pannenkoek2012 for all the work he has done. Most of the glitches that I added were from him.)

Some glitches are exclusive to one location, but can also be explained using technical terminology. For the proper restructuring, there needs to be a certain consistency in the description of glitches.

Walls, floors and ceilings all behave differently. So my "Invisible Walls" entry really should be divided into three, et cetera.

So I propose that Glitches should always be described first in general terms (and organized as such), preferably using an accurate description of why they occur, and how to trigger them, (if it is possible for the unskilled, then in a simple manner). So the technical description should come first, along with informal directions. If the cause of the glitch is still unknown, I do believe that it is permissible to give a good conjecture on why it occurs.

Next should come the specific locations that the glitch occurs. These should use the official names (level names) first. Then specific areas in the level can be named, or the location can be described based on its proximity to the other named things, like level geometry and enemies. Finally the vague descriptions of "that wall next to that wall" come into play, along with directions to perform that glitch, if they are unique to that location. A picture is worth a thousand words. So for each "specific glitch", I place the unofficial requirement that at least one picture be included. (I suppose that I shall start to work on that task.)

Lastly can come an informal explanation of the glitch, or a good conjecture on why it happens.

So to recapitulate what I have said:

I love this article. It has the most content.

This article is long enough so that it may be split, but it is not required.

Pannenkoek2012 has by his discoveries made it possible to give a more technical explanation of glitches than ever before.

Both the technical and informal descriptions of glitches need to be included.

Technical descriptions should come first, for accuracy.

Informal descriptions should come, wherever possible, for clarity.

Glitches should be organized firstly from the technical descriptions and secondly from the informal descriptions.

For this article to grow in scope and be a good paradigm, it needs to be restructured according to these principles.

(Now that I think about it, I realize that this isn't so much a specific proposal as it is a general guideline.)

If there's anybody who's the most likely to do the restructuring, it's me. --Glitchfinder (talk) 17:12, 18 June 2017 (EDT)
 * It's the first venture for Nintendo into 3D gaming, so there's going to be some mistakes. The page currently has a rewrite template, so it is asking for help from those that can provide it. 17:48, 18 June 2017 (EDT)

Please remove semiprotection; 0 star method wrong
Hello,

I'm new here (maybe I had an account here years ago, but I can't remember) and want to edit this article, but it is semi-protected for apparently no reason, so that I can't edit it. It would be nice if an admin unprotects the page.

Also, the paragraph “beat the game with 0 stars“ is wrong. You can't glitch through the door to the second floor with a BLJ, because there's just a loading zone behind it - and you would most likely end up in a BRoD if you manage to clip through the door. This means you need to get at least the second bowser's key to complete the game.

The correct way to beat the game with 0 stars is the following one:

Either use the Moat Door Skip to enter the basement (which currently is only possible with TAS) or use the BLJ in the BRoD next to the stairs leading to the locked basement door to skip through the big star door into the first bowser level. Beat bowser, unlock the door in the basement.

If you've done the Moat Door Skip, you're already in the basement.

Go to the small set of stairs in the hall where the 30 star door is and do BLJs on them to build up speed and skip through said door and the DDD loading zone into the second bowser level.

Beat Bowser, enter the level again and leave the course via the pause menu to respawn in the castle's main hall. Use the second bowser's key to enter the second floor, and use BLJs to clip through the 50 star door and to reach the end of the endless stairs.Semako (talk) 12:37, 25 September 2017 (EDT)


 * The page (and all glitch pages, for that matter) are protected to avoid potentially invalid or theoretical glitches. You will be able to edit the page once you become autoconfirmed. Or would you like someone to add the information for you? 12:43, 25 September 2017 (EDT)
 * Ok, thanks for the explanation, this makes sense. As I'm now autoconfirmed, I rewrote the 0 star route, the bob-omb clip (was named Mario behind the gates before, but it is usually called the Bob-omb clip) and the Moat Door Skip; but especially for the Moat Door Skip, I would have to write much more than I can in a single paragraph here on the glitches page, as it is fairly complicated (I've not done it myself as I run console only, not TAS) and also it would be nice to explain why it works. For now, I have provided Ref-links with videos of the glitch and the PU route and a detailed description about said route and why the glitch works. Shall I write a new article about this glitch or isn't it relevant for the MarioWiki, as it isn't a speedrun wiki? ;-) Semako (talk) 13:39, 2 October 2017 (EDT)

Keep Playing After Collecting a Star
I found a glitch hat let's you keep playing after collecting a star. In rainbow ride, go to the star that can only be reached by a cannon. Break the box containing the star. Stand directly under the star. With luck, You'll collect the star while the chuck-ya picks you up. If you manage to stay on the island after he throws you, (I used a moon jump code for that) you can run around, even though you collected the star.--LittleLum (talk) 22:45, 22 March 2018 (EDT)

Minor Error
The Backwards Long Jump was fixed in the Shindou version of the game, not the DS remake. The shindou version came out before the DS remake. --100.11.121.44 12:48, 3 August 2018 (EDT)

Where should this image go?
As a result of the Pannen-pocalypse of this page, is now unused. It's certainly a valid glitch, but where should it go? Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 20:53, 5 September 2018 (EDT)
 * Looks like it could fit at List_of_Super_Mario_64_glitches. 20:56, 5 September 2018 (EDT)
 * Hm. That section needs to be rewritten more in English and less in Pannenkoek-ese, to be frank. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 21:02, 5 September 2018 (EDT)
 * So you call what I did to the page a "Pannen-pocalypse"? I was the one who added most of the more complicated glitches, which mostly - but not all! - were discovered during Pannen's researches. I'm sorry, as I am from Austria, English is not my mother tongue, so of course my English is not as good as yours. But what do you mean with "Pannenkoek-ese"? I never finished my work on that page, there were multiple reasons for that, I lacked time and motivation, and when I started to reproduce the glitches on my own, I immediately got criticized for image quality, file format and size, which toned my motivation down further. Originally it also was planned to split up that article, right? I also asked in the forums about that, as far as I can remember. Eventually I'll finish my work here, but for now the German Wiki has priority for me. I am also going to write a glitch list for SM64 in that wiki soon, but there I'll try to focus on the more important and big glitches. ;-) Semako (talk) 06:45, 23 February 2019 (EST)

Glitch in SSL pyramid
There's a glitch in the elevator inside the pyramid that i don't know if works on console. Basically, when the sides of the elevator encounter the tube to the Eyerok boss, push against the wall and Mario will be stuck in midair. Again, it's only emulator confirmed. --Cauan Vinícius (talk) 13:04, 14 October 2018 (EDT)

Whoever made this article needs to learn how to spell
I found several spelling errors in this article, just saying :\ --Flux3on (talk) 01:17, 4 November 2018 (EST)
 * Glitch articles tend to be added to on-the-fly and loosely moderated, it seems, though this page went through a massive hiccup after Pannenkoek went from pleasantly obscure and interesting to an overblown meme. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 01:21, 4 November 2018 (EST)
 * Waht do you mean with "hiccup"? When I added the glitches discovered by Pannenkoek and also restructured the page, my work was praised? I think we should shorten or remove some of the less important glitches and focus more on the real big, important ones. That shouldn't be a list of every single glitch found in the game, especially when there are so many of them, it should provide explanations for the most importand and big glitches, probably with short sub-points to explain what these glitches make possible (like cloning can be done by disappearing crate, loading zones... and makes inifnite coins possible, hyperspeed makes phasing through walls possible, HOLP manipulation can be done by hat-in-hand PU movement makes 1Key runs possible). Semako (talk) 06:52, 23 February 2019 (EST)

Cool, Cool Mountain glitch
Just something I didn't see on the glitch page there is a glitch in cool cool mountain where if you get in the canon you use to go over to the wall kicks will work section if you aim the canon towards the wooden bridge/ramp thing that brings you down the mountain if you shoot at it as soon as Mario comes into contact with the hit box he glitches on top of it and is in his sliding animation like he just landed after a canon shot. Just something I saw wasn't there.

Save selection screen crash
The original N64 version of the game has a bug, where if you happen to open the scores table quickly enough during the fade in on transition between title screen and file selection screen, you'll get non-fading message that the save file doesn't have any data while no file was selected. Selecting "Erase file" option will bring the confirmation dialog. Once the dialog is confirmed, the game crashes shortly after making the "Falling Mario" sound. This bug will fit in "Freezing" section, since the console locks up once the glitch is performed.

--Titanic4 (talk) 08:21, July 11, 2020 (EDT)

HMC Toad glitch
In the room with the enterance to Hazy Maze Cave, get behind the Toad that gives you a star, talk to him at an angle where you and him are facing about the same direction before pressing a/b (might be optional)... When Toad gives you the star, Mario will end up on top of the railing above, then after choosing to save/don't save, Mario will fall off the railing using his ground pound animation (which looks kinda weird despite being intended).

I think I just figured it out. Mario has no room to do his V-Sign (due to Toad), so the game puts him to whatever the first solid thing is above him (in this case the railing, which makes him slide off). I wonder if there's anywhere else this can be performed, because if i'm right there could be ways of getting upstairs early (I doubt it though, as there are no Toads that give you stars on the first floor as far as I know.)

No, actually that is what's known as a "star dance clip". If you look that up, you should find something about it. It is not specific to the toad star, and can actually be done with any star, and the way it works is because Mario is able to grab a ledge when he grabs a star (just without the ledge grab animation). TurkeyCookTime (talk) 13:55, December 29, 2020 (EST)

Inconsistency
I noticed that in the article, it refers to the player by saying "the player", "one", or "he". I think that only one of these should be used for more consistency. I would probably say "the player" would be the best choice, as "he" assumes the player's gender and "one" can be kind of confusing in this context. TurkeyCookTime (talk) 14:03, December 29, 2020 (EST)

Grabbing onto Cap Switches
I need someone to confirm this, as I was on emulator and I didn't get video proof, but I was hitting the Wing Cap switch but whatever way I hit it (I think I hit it at an angle where Mario hit the corner of one of the polygons in the switch), Mario grabbed onto the switch, which somehow activated it. The textbox didn't show up until I ungrabbed the switch. I'm playing a randomizer so I can't just go and check Metal Cap (I have Vanish Cap), but if I find Hazy Maze cave I'll try to replicate it while recording.
 * Yep, that's totally possible, and I do that in just about every playthrough. I don't think it qualifies as a glitch, though, just an oddity with how Mario interacts with his environment. The switch's collision box is a square, I believe. 00:22, January 10, 2021 (EST)
 * The grabbing part really isn't the glitch, more the part where the textbox fails to show up until you let go.
 * I think that's just due to the game checking to see if Mario is on solid ground first. 19:11, February 1, 2021 (EST)

Lava sidekick PLEASE FIX.
Someone needs to PLEASE fix the description. I wrote the description of this glitch when I was like 5 or 6. I didn't know (and still don't really know) how video games work. At least I know now animations are a result of damage being taken and not vice versa. It would bring me immense closure if someone with actual SM64 knowledge finally fixed the description I made however many years ago.

--Tovlink (talk) 20:25, June 22, 2022 (EDT)