Super Mario Bros.

Warp Zone 1

World -1 (also known as the "Minus World") is a looping water level, only accessible through World 1-2. Here's how to get there: As Super Mario, go all the way to the green pipe at the end of 1-2. Stand on top of the pipe and smash the blocks above you except for the very last block on the right. Next, stand on the end of the pipe and face left. Jump straight up, then press and hold Right on the directional pad. You'll notice that Mario kind of "slides" through the bottom left corner of the block backwards. (You can also try ducking before jumping so that you don't risk breaking the block.) If you jump at the right angle, Mario will be pulled through the wall. Wait for Mario to pop out of the other side of the wall, then go down the first pipe before the "Welcome to Warp Zone" message appears. Instead of warping to 4-1, you will go to -1 (technically, it's "World [blank]-1"). World -1 is just like 2-2, but the pipe at the end takes you back to the beginning. You cannot beat -1, but it does give you lots of swimming practice. As for the other pipes in the Warp Zone, if you enter them before the welcome message appears, the second one takes you to 5-1, and the third one also takes you to the Minus World.

Cheats and Glitches

Bullet on a string

In World 6-3, stand on the gray platforms after the first two pulley lifts and keep jumping on the Bullet Bills that fly by. Sometimes, the Bullet Bill you stomped will stay alive, and a line will appear above it. If you're lucky, the Bullet Bill will stop in midair! Mario can bounce on the motionless Bullet Bill to make it descend slowly, and the line will get longer as the Bullet Bill goes lower. The stopped Bullet Bill will fall if you scroll the screen a little bit to the right.

Note that no points are awarded when the Bullet Bill survives the stomp. This glitch appears to be caused by the nearby pulley lifts.

Double Jump

After grabbing a Mushroom in mid-air, Mario can pull off another jump as long as you're not pressing the A button when you first touch the Mushroom. Hold A when Mario is transforming, and he'll jump again when his transformation into Super Mario is complete.

This trick will also work if small or Super Mario drops or jumps onto a Fire Flower.

Inside the Enemy

As Super or Fiery Mario, run into an enemy. While you're blinking with post-damage invincibility, get right up inside the enemy, and try to mimic his movements. When the invincibility wears off, you'll be inside the enemy without getting hurt! Once you move out of the enemy, you're fair game again.

Koopa Troopa Factory

This might work in all similar situations, but an good place to try this is World 1-1. Near the beginning of the stage, there will be two Goombas walking down from a high platform onto another platform with a Question Block in the middle. Run underneath the platforms until the lower one is about half a block width away from the left side of the screen, then turn around and run back to hit the left-most block from below as the last Goomba walks over it. The Goomba will turn into an upside-down green Koopa shell as he dies! If you knocked the Mushroom out of the Question Block as you ran by the first time, the shell will be red.

A somewhat easier place to pull this off is World 6-1, in the area with the hidden 1-Up Mushroom (see screenshots 3 and 4). Leave about half a block between the left side of the screen and the block that you'll bump from below, and you can consistently turn Spinies into Koopa shells. Since Spinies survive knocks from below, the Koopa shells that appear will also survive, and will turn into live Koopa Troopas on the ground. It's interesting to note that the red Koopa Troopas made with this glitch can walk off of platforms, unlike the normal red Troopas.

Mario Sliding on the ground

Fiery Mario can pull off this cool stunt: During the "World x-x" screen that appears before each stage, press and hold A and B. When the level begins, start walking or running to see Mario slide along the ground on one foot! He'll start to walk normally again after about 10 game seconds. This also works when Mario is coming out of pipes -- just hold A and B as he is emerging from a pipe.

Mushroom Magic

In World 1-1, bring small Mario to the second power-up. Hit the question block to release the Mushroom, then get on top of the high platform. As the Mushroom falls in the pit, try to jump so that Mario goes off the top of the screen as the Mushroom goes off the bottom of the screen. If Mario and the Mushroom are lined up perfectly, Mario will collect the Mushroom off-screen.

Mushroom going through the block

With a shell sitting on an "unused" Question Block, have a Mushroom slide onto that same block, then hit the block and the Mushroom will fall through it. Try this in World 2-1.

Small fire mario

As either Super or Fiery Mario, get behind Bowser and let him walk towards you. Jump, and try to land on the axe and Bowser at the same time. You will defeat Bowser and move on as Super Mario. In the next world, the next power-up you'll get is a Mushroom, which will make Mario small! The power-up after that will be a Fire Flower, which will turn you Fiery, but you will remain small. Note: This will not work in 8-4.

Fanfare interuption

Grab the flagpole while invincible with Starman power, and the overworld theme will interrupt the "course clear fanfare" and continue to play until the game moves to the next level. The ideal level to try this in is World 1-1. Hit the block with the Starman in it, have the Starman follow Mario up to the first small staircase, then grab it and head through the rest of the level as fast as possible.

Stuck in the water

If you are Super or Fiery Mario, you can pull this off in any water level. Stop right before the pipe in the water that takes you to the flagpole. Press and hold Down to duck, then press A to swim. You can then let go of Down. As long as Mario's feet don't touch down anywhere, you'll notice that his head goes through the bottom of blocks because the game thinks he's still ducking. Swim to the right and keep pounding Mario's head on the blocks above the exit pipe. He will soon be pulled behind the pipe to the right side of the screen. The only way out is to reset the game, or wait for time to expire.

Thanking a dead person

As small Mario, get behind Bowser and let him walk towards you. Jump, and try to land on the axe and Bowser at the same time. Bowser will hit the lava, as usual, but Mario will "die" and fall off screen. Toad thanks him anyway, and you'll move on to the next level without losing a life. Note: This works in 8-4 also.

Magic Koopa

If you stomp a Koopa Troopa 1 or 2 blocks above the bottom of the screen, his shell will be floating in mid-air! Try this on a Koopa Paratroopa hovering over a pit. For a real challenge, try to land on solid ground after double-stomping the Paratroopa. When the Koopa pops back out of his shell, he'll start walking in mid-air! It's not the easiest glitch to pull off, but a good place to practice this is with the Paratroopa in World 4-3.

Walk in walls

In 1-4, go past the first Firebar and stop on the next platform, where the ceiling drops down and almost forms a wall. Slowly go to the right until there's about half a block length between the left edge of the screen and the wall. Next, walk all the way to the left and jump. Mario should hit his head on the ceiling and get stuck in the wall. From there, hold Left on the Control Pad and jump repeatedly until Mario is pulled through the wall. Now you'll be able to walk through to the end of the low ceiling (beware of Firebars). It is possible to do this trick anywhere you find similar conditions.

Warp to World 2, 3, or 4
In World 1-2, use the elevator platforms to jump onto the ceiling above the end pipe. Behind the wall you'll find a Warp Zone, where you can warp to World 2, 3, or 4.

Warp to World 5
In World 4-2, walk on the ceiling past the end pipe to find the Warp to World 5.

Warp to World 6, 7, or 8
This is the second Warp Zone you can reach from World 4-2. After the first elevator lift, there is a pit and three brick blocks above you. Jump around, and you'll find four hidden coin blocks under the three bricks. Use the hidden blocks you just uncovered to hit the first brick, which will sprout a Vine. The Vine leads to some bonus Coins and the Warp Zone.

Invisible 1-Up Mushrooms
If you collect all the coins in an x-3 world, the next x-1 stage will have an invisible block containing a 1-Up. For example, getting all the coins in World 4-3 will activate the 1-Up in World 5-1. Alternatively, you can trigger the invisible 1-Up in the x-1 stage by warping to it. Even though you can't do any of those things before World 1-1, it has a hidden 1-Up in it anyway. (Note: For the hidden 1-Up in World 2-1, you only need to collect 21 of the 23 coins in World 1-3.)

Multiple 1-Ups: World 3-1
At the end of World 3-1, two Koopa Troopas walk down the staircase leading to the flagpole. Let the first one go by, then move as far to the right as possible on one of the steps. As the second Koopa Troopa comes down, jump straight up to stomp it, then don't hit another button on the controller. If done correctly (a quick, short jump usually works), Mario will kick the shell into the stair and stomp it again as it ricochets, starting a chain reaction. The points will start to rack up, eventually awarding you 1-Ups for the consecutive stomping. If the chain reaction stops, which may happen sometimes, just press A and the cycle will start again. Try not to get more than 128 extra lives in reserve or your game will end next time you lose a life.

Bonus fireworks
If you touch the flagpole when the last digit of the timer is a 1, 3, or 6, fireworks will go off, giving you 500 points each. The number of fireworks you get matches the last digit on the timer.

Stupid squids
In water levels, the Bloobers can't touch you as long as you're walking on the sea floor.

Buzzy Bowser
Killing Bowser in 3-4 with fireballs reveals that he was really a Buzzy Beetle. The interesting part is that Buzzy Beetle's first appearance as an actual enemy is in 4-2, and he can't be killed with fireballs...

Mario and the beanstalk
After you climb a Vine into a secret area, get back on the Vine, climb up to the top and keep holding Up on the Control Pad. This creates a weird effect, like Mario is dancing on the Vine!

The downside to polesitting
If you jump over any flagpole (it's possible in 3-3 or in any level with the right Game Genie code), you won't find anything special. The level goes on forever, there are no obstacles/enemies, and you have to wait for time to expire to get out of it.