List of Super Mario Bros. glitches

This page is about the list of glitches found in the game, Super Mario Bros.

In any castle level, the player must go towards the end, but not on the bridge, at about the middle of the platform before the bridge. They must stay there until Bowser appears, and he will have an underground-like color palette.

While going to any castle level, Mario or Luigi should go through the whole level by becoming Small Mario or Luigi. Mario or Luigi will need to touch the axe as usual, but if Bowser touches Mario or Luigi while he touches the axe, he will die and complete the level. If Mario or Luigi does it with 0 lives, he will die and win, but then after the text that says "Thank you Mario! But our princess in another castle!" is over, the Game Over screen will be shown.

Super Mario Bros. was not programmed to have two Power-Ups on the screen at the same time. Thus, if a Power-Up comes out of its block and is not used, and a second one then comes out of its block, the first Power-Up will disappear from the screen at the moment the second one comes out. This was not fixed in Super Mario All-Stars.

Due to graphical limitations of the NES, sometimes the defeat of one enemy meant the spawning or the disappearance of another. This is also notable in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. However, this glitch has been fixed in Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.

The player must jump right next to the block that holds the Flagpole and then jump again. If done correctly, Mario/Luigi will jump onto the flagpole normally, but the flag will remain raised.

Mario must reach a Flagpole after collecting a Fire Flower. He must throw a Fireball the instant he touches the Flagpole. If done correctly, when he walks to the castle, his arms will be raised up as if he was still going down the Flagpole.

In any of the castle levels, the player must go to Bowser or False Bowser and defeat him with fireballs. Then, Mario must run and jump so he will touch the far right side of the axe. The screen will scroll to the Toad but the axe will still be there.

Whenever the player gathers the highest amount of lives and loses the next life, it will receive an instant Game Over, most likely caused due to data overflow by having an amount of lives not properly coded into the game, as developers never thought said amount of lives could be earned via the infinite 1-Up trick, who turns out to be a glitch too.

In World 1-1, when the player gets to the Brick Blocks high above the ground close to a pitfall with two Goombas walking towards it, he or she must stand on the edge of the Brick Blocks and wait until the Goombas appear on screen. Then, the player must back up and wait for the first Goomba to approach the pitfall. As soon as it's about to fall in, the player must start running to the edge and when he falls down, he or she must jump high to the left. The player should go off-screen from the top. If done correctly, Mario or Luigi will die. If the player is Super Mario or Super Luigi or Fire Mario or Fire Luigi, he or she will simply shrink as if he or she has just been hit by an enemy. The timing for this glitch can be difficult.

When the player gets a power-up (except for the Starman) in midair, and presses the button while Mario is transforming, he will jump in midair. If this happens with a Fire Flower, the fireball sound will replace Mario's jump sound.

This glitch also works in World 1-1. In the part where the second mushroom block is in Mario's or Luigi's Small Form, then the player should get the mushroom off the bottom gap. As soon as this happens, the player must jump to the top of the level. If done correctly, the player will become their Super form, even though the Mushroom has fell off the gap. This is because certain objects overlap to the top of the screen as they fall in a hole, only disappearing when the last pixel is down the hole. They can't be seen because Super Mario Bros. has no vertical scrolling.

The Minus World is one of the most infamous glitches in Super Mario Bros., and the most famous glitch in video game history. It is an endless underwater level, identical to World 7-2, and once there, Mario or Luigi is doomed to the death from either running out of time or being killed by enemies. While there is no strategic advantage in performing this glitch, many find it intriguing. The glitch was removed in all remakes of the game, excluding the Virtual Console remakes. Interestingly, the Japanese Famicom Disk System version of the game includes a different version of the Minus World (even through FDS version doesn't have other differences). It contains three levels which can be beaten, and once -3 is complete the player will return to the title screen as if they have beaten the game.

To activate the glitch, Mario must go to World 1-2 and stand on top of the pipe that leads to the above-ground flag, without going in the pipe. Then he must break the second and third block from the pipe, but leave the one on the far right. Then he must stand on the left edge of the pipe (facing left) and duck. He then has to jump while in a ducking position and move right in mid-air (while still facing left). If done correctly, Mario will go through the block on the far right and through the wall to the Warp Zone. Mario must then go through the pipe that would normally lead to World 4-1 (the one on the far left), and Mario will enter the Minus World (world -1; it's actually world 36-1, but the game displays the number 36 as a single blank space).

If World 2-2 or 7-2 is edited in a ROM editor, so that it is possible to beat it during the underwater segment, there is a World -2, an underwater version of 3-4. If World 3-4 is edited in a ROM editor, then, there is a World -3. It is also a version of 3-4 but with overworld graphics.

In any level with a ceiling that has a hole in it, the player must scroll the screen to the left so half of Mario can fit there. Mario must go to the left side of the screen, jump, and not fall. Holding down left and repeatedly jumping will cause Mario to get inside of the wall, allowing the Mario Jackson glitch to occur, where Mario begins to moonwalk like he is Michael Jackson. Moonwalking is possible in NES and SNES versions.

This works in World 1-1. Mario or Luigi must hit the block with the Star inside, then they must go to the bit with the half pyramid with 10 blocks on each half, without touching the Star. Then they let the Star touch them, and as quickly as possible, the player must run to the flagpole. If done correctly, when the invincibility wears off, the music from the level will play instead of the usual flagpole fanfare.

In some levels, it is possible to jump over the flagpole. Beyond the flag pole is nothing but an endless path. There is nothing to do; all that can be done is wait for the timer to get to zero. To do this glitch in World 1-1, right after the second pit, Mario needs to wait for the Koopa Troopa to about to fall into the pit and simultaneously jump at the top of the level right above the Koopa. After that, the Koopa will be stuck underneath the level, but the player will still be able to see it. When the Koopa starts to walk under the level, Mario should follow it to the end. Along the way, it's required to grab a Super Mushroom. When the Koopa is halfway between the staircase and the Flagpole, the player must do the glitch again and Mario will jump above the flagpole.

To do this glitch in World 3-3, at the end of the level the player must stand of the last lift until another one has completely lifted, before falling off. After that, the player must accelerate as fast as possible and jump from the far edge of the lift. The lift should not lower while doing so.

It should be noted that there's a brick right after the Fortress' or Castle's first door, which stops Mario from going past the Fortress at the end of the levels.

In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, this is actually exploited to hide a Warp Zone.

On a side note, this glitch was fixed in the SNES version of the game.

This glitch/trick was featured in the 25th anniversary super play.

This glitch can happen in World 3-1. After avoiding three Koopa Paratroopas below the Brick Blocks with a Green Koopa, it's possible to make a Red Shell appear. First, the player should attack the Green Koopa from below the bricks. Then, when the Koopa is about to come out of its upside down shell, the player should hit the bricks again. If it is done at the right time, the green shell will turn in to a red one. It can also happen in 6-1. At the ending, there are two Question Blocks. The player must make the Lakitu throw a Spiny Egg aiming above the blocks. If the player hits the block while an egg lands on it, it will still become a red shell.

If Fire Mario jumps and shoots a fireball right when a level starts, he will not move his feet when he walks. This glitch wears off after a few seconds or if he gets hit.

The Small Fire Mario glitch is performed by having Super Mario, Fire Mario, Super Luigi, or Fire Luigi hit the Ax in a Fortress level. If Bowser hits the player while the player hits the Ax, Mario will flash but stay Super Mario. Bowser will be defeated, and then the player will move on to the next level after rescuing the level's Mushroom Retainer. The game continues as normal, except when the player gets hit, they die. Collecting a Super Mushroom will make the player Small Mario, and when they get hit they'll become Super Mario again. When the player grabs a Fire Flower as Small Mario, the player will become Fire Mario, but in the smaller body. When Mario shoots a fireball, he will become large, then, when the animation is complete, he returns to the small size. If Mario dies, the player will need to repeat the glitch in order to play as him again. A similar variation on this is to do the same thing with Small Mario. Mario will do his usual dying animation, but the screen will scroll over, like normal, to the Mushroom Retainer, even though there is no Mario.

Also, in the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, the player can get Small Fire Mario like this; When the player is Fire Mario and hits an enemy, the player must pause and click save, Small Fire Mario will appear. However, Mario will lose a life in one hit, unlike Small Fire Mario in Super Mario Bros.

In the end of swimming levels, there's a one block sized space above the Warp Pipe that leads to the exit. If the player crouches as Super Mario and then swims into the space while still crouching, Mario should walk backwards and get stuck in the far right side of the wall. After pulling off this glitch, it is impossible to move. This is a great chance to pull off Mario Jackson (see below). This works in the NES version, but not in the Super Mario All-Stars version, as the space directly above the Warp Pipe has been filled up with a block. This also cannot be done in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.

If the player touches the vine at the extreme left edge of the screen, Mario or Luigi will be teleported to the right edge.

In any level with walls just above the ground, the player must scroll the screen far enough so half of Mario can fit in it. Then they must jump in it, holding left, and jumping rapidly. They will slide through the wall. In levels like castle levels, Mario can access the ceiling this way.

If Mario's foot catches on a wall or pipe, he can jump again to do the Wall Jump. However, Mario has to be moving toward the wall with some velocity. The reason this glitch works is because the game mechanics are bad: when Mario hits a wall, he goes slightly into the wall. The bricks in the wall count as individual surfaces, so Mario has a surface to jump off.