Editing Minus World

The '''Minus World''', or '''World -1''', is an impassable [[glitch]] [[level]] in ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' that can be accessed from a [[Warp Zone]]. It is an underwater level, exactly like [[World 7-2 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 7-2]] in geography and enemy locations. However, the destination of the [[Warp Pipe]] at the end is not updated, so it returns the player to the start of the level. As a result, once the player is there, it is [[Unwinnable state|impossible to leave]] without getting a [[Game Over]] or resetting. The Minus World is well-known, and it has been referenced in several later games.

The glitch was given its name by fans because its number displays as <code>&nbsp;-1</code>. The actual number is '''World 36-1''' in {{wp|decimal}} (World 24-1 in {{wp|hexadecimal}}), but the game displays a blank graphic for the number 36, so all the player can see is the -1.<ref name=world36>{{cite|quote=The 'Minus World' isn't a secret bonus level, and in fact isn't really numbered "−1" at all. The level is actually numbered "36–1", but the number "36" happens to be represented by a blank tile in the game. This gives the impression that the screen reads 'World −1.'|deadlink=y|archive=web.archive.org/web/20071013035344/http://www.transmissionzero.co.uk/computing/mario-minus-world/|title=Super Mario Bros. “Minus World”|publisher=Transmission Zero|language=en-gb|accessdate=July 6, 2024}}</ref> The glitch was described in the [[Nintendo Power issue 3|third issue]] of ''[[Nintendo Power]]'',<ref>{{cite|date=November/December 1988|title=''[[Nintendo Power]]'' Volume 3|page=55|language=en-us|publisher=Nintendo of America}}</ref> and it was later featured in its 100th issue.<ref>{{cite|date=September 1997|title=''[[Nintendo Power]]'' Volume 100|page=68|publisher=Nintendo of America|language=en-us}}</ref>

 

[[File:SMB How to Get to Minus World.gif|How to pass through the wall and reach World -1|thumb|Performing a variation of the wall-clipping glitch to enter the Minus World]]

The player can access the Minus World from [[World 1-2 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 1-2]], using glitches to reach the Warp Zone without scrolling it completely onto the screen, namely by clipping Mario (or [[Luigi]]) through the wall before it. The [[Super Mario (form)|Super Mario]] or [[Fire Mario]] form is required to perform this glitch.

A very common setup is to break most of the [[Brick Block]]s forming the ceiling near the Warp Pipe leading to the normal exit, so that it leaves one Brick Block hanging near the vertical portion of the pipe. Next, the player has to face left, then [[jump]] backwards towards the bottom left corner of the single Brick Block. [[Crouch]]ing while jumping is optional, but it can be used to avoid accidentally breaking the Brick Block while performing the setup. If the action is done correctly, Mario/Luigi will clip through the block and slide through the wall, and from there, the player can enter the first pipe without showing the "Welcome to Warp Zone!" text to access the Minus World.<ref>[https://youtu.be/TqtSXD3JKcE Video by "selsine gaming" on how to perform the glitch]</ref>

Another setup is that the player must jump right at full speed while crouching and without breaking any Brick Blocks forming the ceiling, then land in a very precise spot on the vertical portion of the normal exit pipe. Due to the more precise nature of this setup, this often takes several tries before the player can successfully clip inside the pipe and into the wall. In all setups, the camera has to scroll enough for even one pixel of the first Warp Zone pipe to show, otherwise the player is [[Unwinnable state|softlocked]] until the [[Time Limit|time limit]] runs out.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptsqEvqmuz0 A video of the glitch performed, on YouTube]</ref>{{dead link}}

Once the player is in the Warp Zone room, entering the left or right pipe leads to the Minus World. The middle pipe leads to [[World 5-1 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 5-1]]. (This advances the player further than normal, although it skips past the Warp Zone from [[World 4-2 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 4-2]] to [[World 8 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 8]].) However, if the screen is scrolled all the way over so that the "Welcome to Warp Zone!" message appears, the Warp Zone is correctly loaded and the pipes lead to their intended destinations.

It is not possible to enter the Minus World from either of the Warp Zones in World 4-2. Through hacking, the pipes in the zone above the [[vine|beanstalk]] are shown to lead back to the beginning of that section while the pipe leading to World 5-1 functions normally.<ref>[https://youtu.be/1bEgOm84dFE?t=347 Video of 4-2 Warp Pipe experiment]</ref>

Another method of accessing glitch worlds, including the Minus World, involves swapping cartridges with ''{{wp|Tennis (1984 video game)|Tennis}}'' while the power is on, which can potentially damage the console's hardware.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik0LY8LVsM0 Experiments with the Tennis cartridge]</ref> This glitch is due to the coincidental usage of the same RAM area between the two games that prevents a fail-safe from clearing the value that would normally store the most recently played world, which is used when the A Button is held down on the Start screen to continue a world after a Game Over. This value is overwritten by a footstep sound effect counter in ''Tennis''.<ref>[https://youtu.be/hrFHNgJlJSg Access Glitch Worlds in Super Mario Bros. via NES Tennis]</ref>

[[File:SMB 2ndCHRMap World36.png|thumb|right|The first 48 characters of the second CHR table within the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' data, with tile 36 (blank) marked in red]]

The graphic that enumerates a world appears in the heads-up display and Warp Zone, and it is unbounded to the actual number graphics. For any world higher than 9, the game will start using graphics for text and level objects. This is used intentionally in World 4-2's Warp Zone, which has only one pipe in the center, even though all Warp Zones are designed to support travel to exactly three worlds. The left and right pipes have destinations set to World 36, corresponding to an empty background-colored tile in the second CHR table.

 

Entering the Warp Zone in World 1-2 without activating the "WELCOME TO WARP ZONE!" text causes the Warp Zone to behave like World 4-2's, with the center pipe sending the player to World 5. Since World 1-2 has three pipes, the player can actually enter the pipes corresponding to World 36, sending them to a level indicated with "World 'Blank Tile'-1."

 

[[File:SMB World --1 Glitch.png|thumb|"World --1" (actually World 40-1), one of the 256 worlds]]

''Super Mario Bros.'' actually has 256 worlds in total; however, World 0 (which starts with an underwater version of [[World 4-4 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 4-4]]), World 9, and onward are glitched and reuse pointers from other levels in the level data. The Minus World (internally World 36) is the only one that can be accessed legitimately in the original versions of the game, and the rest can only be accessed via hacking, cheats, or via performing the cartridge swapping glitch.

 

It is possible for each world to have up to 256 levels, however most of these levels beyond the ones that can be normally accessed are glitched and either require hacking the game to access them, or by completing the fourth level and so on by using [[Goal Pole]]s as exits. Common descriptions of these glitch levels include:

*Duplicate levels - some glitch levels simply reuse the original data, including the exact enemy layouts and properties, however warps do not work properly and send the player back to the beginning of the level instead.<ref name="Kosmic">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Eev2YdrKY YouTube video titled "SMB1 Glitched Worlds" by Kosmic], at 8:41 into the video]</ref>

*Incorrect graphics and palettes used in the level - for example, World -2 (36-2) loads [[World 3-4 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 3-4]] with the palette and tilesets used from underwater levels

*Randomized enemy and level layouts, sprites and properties as a result of the game loading garbage data as a level

**Sometimes, a glitch level could involve spawning into a [[Coin Heaven]] with a blank timer, which causes the player to instantly lose due to the game thinking the time is up.<ref name="Kosmic"/>

**It is possible for glitch levels to also load the pipe entering cutscene (which is normally used before underground and underwater levels), usually up to three times before the level actually begins.<ref name="Kosmic"/> The player may also end up being in the cutscene state in some glitch levels and walk in an endless hallway until Mario/Luigi collides with an enemy or falls into a [[bottomless pit]].<ref name="Kosmic2">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMIvFqZi8-o YouTube video titled "Glitched Worlds in Super Mario Bros!" by Kosmic], which also features some glitch levels crashing</ref>

*Black screens or instant death due to bottomless pits or no timer, which put the player in an [[unwinnable state]] until they either reset the game or (if the game is still playable) lose all their lives.

*Sometimes, there are glitch levels that the player cannot move around in, such as World -A (36-10).

 

In glitch worlds above [[World 8 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 8]], beating a glitch level with a castle exit (hitting the [[Axe]]) will cause the ending to be treated as if the player has completed the game, even if it only displays the [[Mushroom Retainer]]'s "Thank you Mario! But the princess is in another castle!" line. The player can return to the title screen as normal by pressing {{button|NES|B}}, and [[Hard Mode]] will also be triggered as usual.

 

[[File:Super Mario Bros.glitch world 9-1.png|thumb|"World 9-1" in ''Super Mario Bros.'']]

The existence of these glitch levels created a rumor that sparked in Japan: a lightning strike on a [[Family Computer]] was said to create a ''Super Mario Bros.'' level never seen before, thought to be part of a secret World 9 (World 9-1 being an underwater version of [[World 6-2 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 6-2]] that requires waiting a little to complete).<ref>[http://legendsoflocalization.com/super-mario-bros/misc/ Legends of Localization Super Mario Bros.: Miscellaneous]</ref> According to an interview with [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] in ''Family Computer Magazine'' issue 9 in April 1986, the creation of [[World 9 (Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels)|World 9]] in ''[[Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels]]'' was inspired by the commotion surrounding the World 9 glitch.<ref>{{cite|url=archive.org/details/family-computer-magazine-issue-9-april-1986/Family%20Computer%20Magazine%20-%20Issue%209%20-%20April%201986%20%28Compressed%29/page/69/mode/2up|title=''Famimaga'' issue 9|date=April 1986|page=68-69}}</ref> World 9 in this game also contains levels that are designed like overworld levels but with underwater properties, graphics, and palette, alluding to the descriptions of these glitch levels.

In the [[Family Computer Disk System]] port of ''Super Mario Bros.'', the Minus World is accessed the same way, but it is very different in design<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB2i-QOsBpw A YouTube video of the FDS version of the Minus World]</ref> due to the game loading different level data than the cartridge version.

In ''[[VS. Super Mario Bros.]]'', some bricks located above the end pipe are removed to prevent the trick from being performed. However, it is not impossible to access, as the player can clip through the bricks under the pipe<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzoziO7geG0 A video of the glitch being performed in the arcade version.]</ref> or the pipe itself.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3fl8xvzm7Y Another video with a slightly different method.]</ref> This version of the Minus World resembles the underwater portion of [[World 6-2 (Super Mario Bros.)|World 6-2]]. This room is actually the first level to exist in the ''Super Mario Bros.'' code in all versions.

The Minus World can be entered in ''[[Super Luigi Bros.]]'' from ''[[NES Remix 2]]''; however, due to Luigi's higher jumps, it is trickier to do so than in the original game. Like the rest of this mode, it is mirrored so Luigi has to swim from right to left.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSngR733xdE Minus World in ''Super Luigi Bros.'']</ref>

The first stage in Championship Mode in ''NES Remix 2'' and ''Ultimate NES Remix'' is set in ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', starting at World 1-1 then progresses as normal until 50 [[coin]]s are collected or if the mode's timer is up. With this setup, it is possible to visit World 1-2 and perform the glitch to access the Minus World in this mode. Notably, because the coin counter is saved across worlds, it is possible to collect coins in advance in the first two levels to get enough to easily complete the stage while in the Minus World.

===''Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition''===

Various challenges in ''[[Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition]]'' are direct emulations of the original games, which also include ''Super Mario Bros.''. However, while the Minus World glitch can be attempted in the challenges In the Zone and Mario Master, the game will detect doing the wall sliding glitch for the Minus World as a prohibited strategy, then rewind the player back to a point prior to doing the glitch, or (in the case of Mario Master) back to World 1-1. The timer will continue to run in these circumstances.<ref>[https://x.com/taktak7095110/status/1813615874760470913?s=46 Video by taktak7095110 on X] showcasing that attempting to enter the Minus World is prohibited in ''[[Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition]]'' (Japanese)</ref>

*''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'': The instruction manual's description for [[Plus and Minus Barrels|Minus Barrels]] has [[Cranky Kong]] jokingly attribute them the ability to send the player to the Minus World, only to realize he was talking about the wrong game.

*''[[Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle]]'': One of the [[List of weapons in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle#Boomshot|weapons]], the Splatformer (which has various sprites from ''Super Mario Bros.'' on it), references the Minus World in its description: "Send your enemies to the Minus World with this groundbreaking boomshot. The end."