Super Mario Land Glitches and Tricks

Second chance to make a jump (SML1)

Sometimes after just barely missing a jump, the game may still think that Mario is standing on solid ground for one frame. So by jumping at that exact moment, Mario can get a second chance to make the jump. If Mario doesn't take this chance, he'll fall at the faster "walking off a cliff" rate instead of the "descending from a jump" rate.

Forward momentum is lost if the edge is horizontally solid. But if it is a pass-through platform, Mario can make his second jump without stopping at all.

Pushed off-screen in shooter levels (SML1)

If Mario stays behind a solid object, the forced scrolling will eventually push him off the screen. Mario dies if he gets pushed back too far, but if he moves out from behind the object or destroys it at the last possible moment then an interesting situation occurs. The front of Mario's vehicle is barely visible, but Mario can't be hurt by any enemies. Unfortunately, he can't pick up powerups either. His plane or sub shoots normally. Solid blocks can still push Mario back, killing him. This lasts until Mario moves forward.

Mario's head inside blocks in shooter levels (SML1)

Mario can get his head several pixels inside the bottom of a solid object. This is best done by moving diagonally up and left around the object's bottom left corner, then moving to the right. If Mario is small, this will let him shoot a block while leaving the one to the left of it undamaged. This increases the possibilities for sculpting the large arrays of blocks in 2-3.

Score glitches with invincibility (SML1)

Scoring becomes glitchy while invincible. There seem to be two main rules, and seemingly random resets of score values if some enemies are shot and others invinci-killed.

Setting the value of invinci-killed enemies

The score earned for invinci-killing an enemy is not the same as what is earned when shooting them. The value earned for the last enemy shot before picking up the star will be the value earned for invinci-killing enemies while invincible. Thus, score is maximized by shooting a high-value enemy and then getting the star. The best spot for this in 4-3, where the wiggling diamond things can be shot for 800 points before picking up the star.

Invinci-kill chaining

When killing enemies with an invincibility star, there is a hidden multiplier. Enemies invinci-killed one after another give increasing numbers of points. Mario has to invinci-kill enemies within about a second and a half of each other to keep the chain going.

Manipulating moving platforms (SML1)

Moving platforms don't start moving until Mario gets close. This means that by waiting at the right spot, the relative positions of two platforms can be changed by allowing the first to move without the other. The most useful spot for this is the last two moving platforms in 3-3.

Manipulating the bonus stage (SML1)

The setup of the bonus stage is determined at the time the level is finished, so simply wait and finish the level later. If Mario is at least big, the flower animation is fastest. The small->fire animation takes longer, so it might be better to get 1 life. However, fireball power might be needed for the next level, in which case it is faster to obtain here than to pick up in a level. This is due to a minimum wait time between hitting a block and picking up the powerup.

High jumps off of enemies (SML1)

Bouncing off of enemies in SML1 seems to be the same as SMB1 and SMB2j, a small, constant height bounce each time. There is a rare, seemingly random chance that by hitting jump while bouncing off an enemy, Mario will bounce up to the height of his normal jump. Why this happens is unknown, as is how to do it at will.

Poor hit detection on some enemies (SML1)

Hit detection is terrible on the plants that pop out of the various pipes. Mario can jump more or less right through them. The same is true of the world 3 boss, small Mario can actually jump right through him in an impossible-looking feat.

Warping through solid ground (SML1)

If Mario jumps on a bouncing rock and barely squeezes in between the rock and the ceiling, he'll warp up. This isn't likely to be useful in a TAS due to loss of forward momentum.

Cancelling the power-down sound effect (SML1)

This glitch only affects the power-down sound effect. When Mario jumps on a spiked surface, then jumps off immediately, the power-down sound effect may not be heard. Big or fiery Mario will still shrink into small Mario.

Source: http://tasvideos.org

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