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Backstory: what the game’s world was supposed to mean
1. The Mushroom People became the scenery
Orland quotes the original instruction booklet describing how “the quiet, peace-loving Mushroom People were turned into mere stones, bricks and even field horse-hair plants.” The grim reading—that breaking bricks means harming transformed Mushroom People—is Orland’s playful inference, not an explicit instruction to the player. Ars Technica, September 14, 2015.
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2. Bowser’s disguises reveal a parade of enemies
According to Orland, defeating Bowser with fireballs in worlds 1 through 7 exposes a smaller enemy in disguise. The sequence is Goomba, Koopa Troopa, Buzzy Beetle, Spiny, Lakitu, Blooper, and Hammer Bros.
Design inspirations and ideas that did not make the game
3. A remarkable score appeared in the first Nintendo Power
Orland reports that the first issue of Nintendo Power printed a Super Mario Bros. high-score entry for Cliff Bleszinski: 9,999,950 points.
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4. A dash through World 1-1 reportedly helped inspire Sonic
Orland attributes to Yuji Naka the story that trying to race through the first level of Super Mario Bros. helped inspire the fast-paced design of Sonic the Hedgehog. This is an attributed account in Orland’s article, not a separately reviewed interview transcript.
5. Mushrooms drew on folk tales
Orland attributes to Shigeru Miyamoto an explanation that the idea of mushrooms making Mario grow came from folk tales about people eating mushrooms in forests. The article does not reproduce a primary interview transcript for this point.
6. Early concepts included a rocket pack and a beam gun
Orland says early design documents considered a rocket pack for midair dashes, a beam gun, and hand-to-hand combat. These were reported concepts, not abilities in the released game.
Glitches, quirks, and the Minus World
7. Mario can bounce off an enemy from below
Orland describes a collision quirk in which Mario, while descending after striking an enemy from underneath, can bounce off it. The effect is one of the game’s less intuitive interactions.
8. Two-player pausing can leave Luigi in control
In the original two-player behavior described by Orland, player one can pause the game while player two controls Luigi. He says Super Mario All-Stars changed this behavior.
9. The turtle-stomp extra-life chain was reportedly intentional
The repeated enemy-bounce sequence that awards extra lives is often treated as a glitch. Orland attributes to Miyamoto the view that the chain was intentional rather than an accident.
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- Classic action game
- Save the Mushroom Kingdom from Bower's Koopa Kids
- Run, jump, and smash your way to victory
- Lots of hidden treasure and power-ups
10. More than 128 lives can lead to an unexpected Game Over
Orland reports that pushing the extra-life counter past 128 can cause a Game Over at the next death, attributing the behavior to a buffer overflow. It is a version-specific technical quirk, not a normal consequence of simply collecting a few extra lives.
11. The Minus World is displayed as “-1”
The familiar Minus World display reads “-1.” Orland says the game internally associates it with World 36-1, using a blank character-table entry that appears as a minus sign.
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The Disk System version’s Minus World is not the same as the original’s looping underwater stage: Orland describes a three-level sequence that ends in Game Over. Details of the Minus World therefore depend on which version is being played.
13. Glitch demonstrations show exploits, not a full technical explanation
Orland points readers to a YouTube creator’s demonstrations of extra-life glitches across levels, including a two-player vine exploit. The videos illustrate the behavior; they should not be mistaken for an authoritative technical account of how every exploit works.
Hidden mechanics and secrets
14. Unused code reportedly includes a climbable brown ball
Orland says the cartridge contains unused code for a “brown ball” object that Mario could climb like a vine. It does not appear as a usable object in the released game.
15. Bushes and clouds reuse the same sprite
The article reports that the game recolors the same basic sprite to draw bushes and clouds, a memory-saving measure.
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- Two buttons control all the action
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16. A growth-time trick can produce a high jump
Orland describes a timing trick involving a mushroom in midair and the A button: Mario can jump high after growing. Its precise execution depends on timing, rather than being a standard move the game explains.
17. Hammer Bros. can leave their posts
If Mario waits, Hammer Bros. can reportedly break from their usual positions and pursue him, turning a familiar fixed threat into a moving one.
18. Clearing every coin in a level can affect the next world
Orland says collecting every coin in the third level of a world activates a hidden 1-up in the first level of the following world.
19. Mario can dance in place
A vine-and-cloud sequence, followed by holding up, reportedly makes Mario dance in place.
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Orland says it is possible to jump over the flagpole in World 3-3 with precise timing. Glitches can enable the feat elsewhere; clearing the pole can leave the level in an endless state until the timer expires.
Ports and variants changed the experience
Orland’s 2015 article traces historical releases and appearances rather than documenting what can be purchased today. Its platform list includes Super NES through Super Mario All-Stars, GameCube through Animal Crossing, Wii and Wii U Virtual Console, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and 3DS. Nintendo’s official Japanese record also identifies a later 3DS reproduction of the Famicom cartridge version; neither source establishes present-day store availability. Nintendo Japan’s official title record.
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- New, different worlds!
- New exciting levels!
- New challenges galore!
- Fight monsters and mini-bosses, avoid ghosts and the burning sun. Make your way through water and quicksand. Dodge cannonballs and bullets and rescue the King's Wand!
- In Super Mario Bros. 3, there are more warps, more chances at extra lives, and new special suits! The Raccoon Suit lets you fly and knock out blocks. The Frog Suit helps you out-swim deadly fish. There are suits for every occasion!
21. The game reached many systems beyond its original cartridges
The platforms above represent distinct historical ways the game appeared, not necessarily identical versions or currently available products. A port or reproduction should be identified by platform and edition when comparing its behavior with the original.
22. Super Luigi Bros. reverses the direction
NES Remix 2 includes Super Luigi Bros., a right-to-left version starring Luigi. Orland describes Luigi as jumping higher and stopping more slowly than Mario.
23. All-Stars made several changes that ease play
Orland lists three differences in Super Mario All-Stars: two additional starting lives, higher Podoboo fireballs, and audio hints for maze routes. These changes distinguish the SNES version from the original NES/Famicom release.
24. Super Mario Bros. Special was a distinct computer-game adaptation
According to Orland, Super Mario Bros. Special appeared in Japan in 1986 for NEC PC-8801 and Sharp X1. It had different levels and altered scrolling and palette presentation.
25. Vs. Super Mario Bros. reshaped the arcade challenge
Orland describes the arcade variant as having more enemies, fewer items, and no warp zones to worlds 7 and 8. It is not simply the console game presented unchanged in an arcade cabinet.
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26. The game was framed as a cartridge-era finale
Orland says Nintendo planned the game as a swan song for cartridges before the Japan-only Famicom Disk System, a format intended to make cartridges less central. This is a description of the period’s strategy, not a claim that cartridges disappeared.
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27. The exact North American launch date remains unsettled
Nintendo’s official Japanese record confirms the original release year as 1985, but not a North American launch date. Orland notes conflicting evidence and presents October 12, 1985 as one possible date, not a settled fact. The year and the regional date should not be conflated.
28. A minimum-score full-game run was reported at 500 points
Orland reports a 500-point minimum full-game run that avoids enemies and coins and waits out level timers. The figure describes the reported run, not a general score target or an independently verified current record.
29. Sub-five-minute speedruns were already part of the story in 2015
Orland reported runs under five minutes using glitches. That is a historical snapshot from 2015, not a current leaderboard claim; records can change, and no current ranking is established here.
30. Mario appeared in a 1989 Ice Capades special
Orland says an Super Mario Bros. Ice Capades special aired on ABC in 1989, featuring Alyssa Milano, Jason Bateman, and Christopher Hewett as King Koopa.
What the sales figure does—and does not—say
Ars Technica reported in 2015 that the game had sold more than 40 million copies on NES and Famicom, with millions more through re-releases and ports. The “more than 40 million” figure is attributed to that 2015 article and covers NES and Famicom; it is not a current, all-platform lifetime total. Orland’s 30 facts are best read as a guided selection of lore, behavior, variants, and history, with version-specific claims kept attached to the release they describe.
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