A speedrunner publicized a route into further glitched stages in the Super Nintendo version of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, part of Super Mario All-Stars. The stages are sometimes called a “Minus World,” but that is an analogy: the level counter rises beyond its normal range rather than turning negative. The finding concerns the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, not the different game released under that name in North America.
What was found in The Lost Levels?
On October 2, 2025, Nintendo Life reported that speedrunner Kosmic had publicized an unusually complex route through glitched stages in the SNES Super Mario All-Stars version of The Lost Levels. The route uses unintended warp behavior and, in this version, save-and-reload behavior to get past a stage layout that would otherwise block progression. Nintendo Life’s report and GamesRadar’s explainer describe the route as a discovery in the SNES collection.
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“Found after 40 years” is a rounded headline framing, not proof that no one had encountered any related glitch before. The original Japanese game was released in 1986, and GamesRadar framed the finding as coming 39 years later.
Why the Minus World comparison is imperfect
The famous Minus World is associated with an unintended route into glitched content in the original Super Mario Bros.. The newly reported Lost Levels stages evoke that phenomenon, but they are not technically negative-numbered worlds: the counter advances beyond its normal range rather than going below zero. HotHardware makes this distinction in its coverage.
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There is also a naming trap. The Lost Levels is the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. It is not the separate game that Nintendo released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in North America.
How the route reaches further glitched stages
Warp behavior can send Mario to an unintended destination
GamesRadar’s explainer attributes the technical explanation to Kosmic. He describes the games as being built from “sections called areas and pages,” and says that entering a warp pipe before the warp zone has fully loaded can send the player to “whatever destination is currently loaded into memory.” These are statements GamesRadar quotes from Kosmic’s video, rather than an independently reviewed transcript.
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The SNES version’s save-and-reload behavior extends the route
In the original Famicom release, the glitched numbering described in the reports resolves to familiar levels. In the SNES All-Stars version, save-file behavior makes it possible to continue through further glitched values and layouts. Saving, quitting, and reloading are part of the reported workaround for an impassable stage; this is a demanding sequence, not an ordinary hidden route or stage selection.
What the glitched levels look and play like
The stages draw on existing layouts, but progression can distort their presentation and behavior. Reports describe increasingly corrupted visuals, altered enemy behavior, and underwater layouts functioning as land levels. HotHardware says that pushing farther can eventually crash the game, so this is unstable glitch content rather than a reliable alternate campaign.
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Which version is relevant?
| Version | What the reports describe | Progression and stability |
|---|---|---|
| Original Famicom The Lost Levels | The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2; glitched warp behavior can reach unintended numbering. | The numbered stages resolve to familiar levels in the account summarized by GamesRadar and HotHardware. |
| SNES Super Mario All-Stars version | The version in which Kosmic’s further route was publicized; save-file behavior is part of the route. | Progression can reach further glitched values and layouts, with visual corruption and reports of eventual crashes. |
The comparison is based on the version distinctions in GamesRadar and HotHardware; it does not establish that every copy or playthrough will produce identical behavior.
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What to take away from the discovery
- It is a route into glitched content in the SNES All-Stars edition of The Lost Levels, not a newly released official world.
- “Minus World” is a useful comparison, but the reported counter does not become negative.
- The route depends on unintended warp behavior and version-specific save-and-reload behavior; the reports do not provide a verified, universal button-by-button guide.
- Deeper progression can produce corrupted presentation and unstable behavior, including crashes.
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