Thanks to a recent discovery from out-of-bounds explorer Shesez, Super Mario Bros. 3 appears to have a glitch that allows players to replace Mario with Luigi. Super Mario Bros. 3 released in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console, and since garnered the reputation as one of the best series installments to date – so much so, that an original copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 held the record for highest-sold video game, later beat out by The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario 64.
Venturing outside the limits of a video game’s screen often leads to fascinating results, like new speedrunning tricks or interesting glitches. This strategy is also referred to as “boundary breaking,” a method that aims to deliberately break a video game in order to utilize its subsequent bugs or discover hidden features. Such efforts are occasionally applauded by game developers themselves – like the team behind Solar Ash, which encouraged players to “break” the game and find ways to traverse as quickly as possible. That said, sometimes bending the game does not always produce glitches helpful to a player’s progress through the title at hand – rather, some bugs only bring bizarre results or cosmetic changes.
When venturing beyond the boundaries of Super Mario Bros. 3, players can apparently discover a glitch that leads to a unique – and very entertaining – cosmetic change. Thanks to the efforts of game-breaker Shesez, players can now swap their playable Mario for Luigi if venturing out of bounds. In a recent tweet (via Game Rant), Shesez revealed players can discover the bug if they move their Mario to the “upper left hand corner of the map [where] the Mario Bros. stage is stored.” The player is then transported to underground stage with tunnels and five coins. If Mario successfully takes all five of the coins, then he will be replaced by Luigi (who is also present at this stage).
Out-of-bounds glitches don’t always lead to fun or helpful discoveries, though. An entire Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War team found themselves in an area beyond the game’s boundaries, and subsequently met a terrible end. The team accidently spawned out-of-bounds, and the timer to return to the game’s playable area appears to have started prior to their spawning. As a result, the entire Black Ops Cold War team died instantly. Although they were respawned in a non-restricted area within game boundaries afterward, players were understandably irked by the incident.
For those who prefer Luigi over Mario (and, perhaps, wish there were more opportunities to choose between the two characters – after all, the franchise is called the Super Mario Bros.), this Super Mario Bros. 3 glitch could be an exciting development. That said, playing as Luigi in lieu of Mario does not yield any new gameplay or specific advantages. As a result, this bug is a fun cosmetic change, but otherwise won’t lead to anything new.
Sources: Shesez/Twitter, Game Rant
