Minus World

The Minus World is a glitch level found in Super Mario Bros. It is  an underwater level that has no end, meaning that once there, Mario or Luigi is doomed to die by either running out of time or being killed by enemies. The level got its name from fans because, when in the Minus World, the top screen says that Mario is in World -1 (or Minus World). This is because of a glitch in the panels displaying the numbers. Because the Minus World is actually world 36, the game displays a space for the World number, leading to -1.

Mario can get to the Minus World by going to World 1-2 and standing on the pipe that leads to the flagpole at the end of the level. Mario should break two blocks, leaving the one on the far right. Now, Mario should move to the far left end of the pipe, then duck while facing left. While ducking, jump. While in the air, Mario should move right, so that when he comes back down, he moves through the wall and appears in the warp room. If everything was done correctly, Mario should see three pipes in front of him. If Mario enters the pipe to the far left, he will find himself in the Minus World.

The Minus World glitch has been removed from remakes of Super Mario Bros., inlcuding Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. However, the Super Mario Bros. that is available for download off the Wii's Virtual Console is an exact copy of the original game, meaning that gamers can once again enter the Minus World.

Oddly, if one is to use a gaming tool that can set the level that Mario is on, the Minus World goes all the way to -8. These levels are very strange and may have been used as test levels when the game was being developed.