List of Super Mario World glitches

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information.

Template:More images This is a list of glitches in the game Super Mario World. For glitches found exclusively in the port, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, see here.

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all names are conjectural.

Graphical

Bouncing on Morton

In either Morton's Castle or Roy's Castle, the player must wait for the Koopaling to run up the walls. The player must jump on the boss's head as he starts climbing the wall, when either Morton or Roy is invulnerable. If they continue to bounce on their head until they reach the ceiling, the player will be bouncing upside down onto them.

Fence bug

The glitch happening.

To do this very minor glitch, all the player has to do is duck and jump on a fence. As long as Mario or Luigi doesn't touch the ground, he'll be ducking each time he jumps off the fence.

Glitched smoke graphic

Glitched smoke.

In order to do this glitch, the player must go to Yoshi's House and keep pressing the and buttons. Sometimes the birds and berries will pause and the smoke from the fireplace will skip. If the player's lucky, the smoke will be glitchy. If the player can't reproduce the glitch after about a minute, they must re-enter Yoshi's House and try again.

Glitchy key

This upside-down Cheep Cheep was originally a key.

To make this glitch, the player must have already pressed the Red and Green ! Switches. The player must have Cape Mario and a Yoshi in Star World 4. At the level's secret exit, they must make Yoshi keep the Key in his mouth and fly with Cape Mario to hit all green ! Blocks at the left. If the player drops the Key, it will be an item that changes from a Yellow Beach Koopa and an upside-down Cheep Cheep.

Glitchy graphics from defeated enemies

The glitch in Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World.

The balls on Iggy's and Larry's platforms can be destroyed by the sliding attack, as can the Grinders (using a triangle block). This results in glitchy graphics, most likely because the developers did not intend for these enemies to be defeated. The same thing happens if Mario does a nose dive while a Big Steely is present; the Big Steely is defeated, though its sprite appears as Princess Toadstool's head colored red. Also, a Blargg defeated will result in a part of a Chargin' Chuck.

In Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, Iggy's ball can be defeated normally, however, a defeated Grinder is still glitchy and turns into a half of a wooden plank or a Magikoopa's magic.

Key glitch

The player can do it in Donut Secret 2. To do this, the player must have a blue Yoshi. Eat the Yellow Koopa Troopa next to the 4 spiked enemies. Fly to the left of the pipe near the exit and if the player did it right, the wings will disappear and when the player spits it in the pipe, then it will turn into something glitched.

Misplaced Tongue

The glitch in action

This glitch can be done in Vanilla Dome 3. The player needs to stick Yoshi's tongue, then immediately drop him to lava. While sinking, the tongue will be a little above Yoshi's mouth.

Miscolored overworld

The glitchy overworld.

In order to do this glitch, the player must go to the end of Chocolate Island 3. Under the goal, the player must jump off Yoshi to the Giant Gate so that the screen does not scroll up. If done correctly, Mario is barely seen when he finishes the level, and because Mario is not present on the bottom of the screen, the screen begins to flicker in many colors as the stage begins to fade out. When he comes back to the overworld map, the entire world is glitchy and colored with red and blue. If Mario visits Forest of Illusion or Valley of Bowser and comes back to the main overworld, the entire world will be ivory colored instead but the sprites will have their normal palettes. The glitch ends if the player completes a level, visits Star Road or enters a pipe.

Miscolored Pipe

The orange-green Warp Pipe.

In Donut Secret 1, Mario must enter the Warp Pipe to the secret underground area. While Mario is on the ground, the pipes are orange, however, when Mario flies up and comes down, both pipes are miscolored green. Sometimes, the pipe gets only one half green-colored.

Hurt while on Yoshi

Mario gets hurt by a Wiggler.

Eating a Wiggler while on Yoshi will cause Mario to get hurt if he's running at full speed. This is because sprites are still active even while they are on Yoshi's tongue.

Audio

Eat Control Coin glitch

If Yoshi were to eat the leading coin in a Control Coin before it collides with platform objects or blocks, such as the one at the very beginning of Donut Secret 2, the P Switch theme will play indefinitely. The overlapping music only stops until the player runs out of time, loses a life, warps to a different location in the level via Warp Doors, Pipes, or other methods, or completes the level. This is fixed in Super Mario Advance 2.

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Green Berries and music speed

Music speed increases when the Timer reaches 100, warning the player of the time limitation. Usually this can only happen once in a given level. However, on Funky, where the green berries appear, the player is given 20 extra seconds for each berry eaten by Yoshi. If timed correctly, the player can eat all 9 green berries, each when the Timer is somewhere between 81 and 99 seconds, and it increases the music speed up to 10 times, making it very fast. For a hacked ROM, the music has been discovered to speed up to 20 times. However, as the music speed modulator overflows the 21st time it gets modified, it overflows, slowing down the music drastically.

The glitch was fixed in the Super Mario Advance 2 remake, as the music does not speed up should the player attempt to try this glitch.

Spin Jump sound glitch

In #4 Ludwig's Castle, in the room with the spiked ceiling falling down, the player must wait for it to touch the ground. If the player Spin Jumps afterward, the sound played is the one that plays when the ceiling hits the floor, instead of the normal Spin Jump sound.

Freezing

Freeze glitch

The glitch in action.

The player must find a Fire Flower and Feather in purse (or vice versa), Yoshi and level with berries, like Yoshi's House. By collecting the stored item while eating a berry with Yoshi at the same time, the game stops responding, as well as causing Mario to flash from red to green like if he touched a Super Star. It can also have a more helpful effect of infinitely raising the player's coins, giving the player up to 99 lives in the process. The only way to end the glitch is by exiting the level, if a level is completed; otherwise the player must reset the game.

Physics

Anti-gravity room

Glitch in action.

This is a glitch in Vanilla Dome 2. Mario must be Super, Cape, or Fire Mario. The Switch Block must be active; when the player sees a rectangle-shaped structure of coins sitting on the ground, Mario/Luigi must duck while running, and wait for the P Switch to become inactive. After that, he must stop ducking. He will be in the floor. Even more worth noting, Yoshi and any grabable items will slide and will not react to gravity. This glitch is not possible in the GBA remake.

Corner death

In Chocolate Island 4, the player must be small and jump into the right corner of the wall at the very start of the level. If done just right, Mario or Luigi will glitch through the wall and die.

Falling through the floor

Cape Mario falling through the floor in Donut Plains 2.

Mario through the floor

In Vanilla Dome 2, it's possible to fall through the floor via a glitch in both the original game and the Game Boy Advance remake. Towards the end, the player has to take a left and go through the "secret" passage. Then the player has to get a Buzzy Beetle shell and toss it at the first two blocks. Then the player has to quickly get a running start and slide under the blocks before they harden. Once there, the player must not release the button. Once the player is completely surrounded, if the player presses , Mario will Spin Jump through the floor, leading to his demise.

In the Pipe

Shell and Switch Block trapped inside a Pipe

This glitch occurs in both the original game and the GBA port. In any level with a pipe that extends and retracts into the ground, the player must get an item that Mario can carry around (Koopa Shells, Switch Blocks, etc.) and drop it on the pipe. When the pipe retracts, the item falls normally, however, when the pipe extends, the item gets stuck in the pipe. The item "vibrates" back and forth and eventually move out of the pipe after a few seconds. Yoshi can also be in the pipe, as long as Mario isn't riding him.

Mushroom block glitch

The Mushroom in the blocks.

In Star World 5, the player should fly up to the area with the blocks that are activated by switches near the secret exit. They must be Cape Mario or Cape Luigi and spin with the Cape at the end of the yellow switch blocks while standing on the green ones. The bottom block will be hit and produce a mushroom, however, due to having a block placed directly above it, will begin glitch in through the blocks. The player can still acquire it, but they will not go through the blocks.

Smashing item

In both versions of the game, in a level with an object such as a Switch Block or Key, the player can dash to the direction of a wall holding the object. To do the glitch, Mario or Luigi must throw the item and swiftly dash to the wall, or drop it while standing next to a wall. The player will get stuck between the wall and the object and start to shake. The glitch will end by jumping or grabbing the item.

Walk through the floor

In some of the underground levels, it's possible to walk through the floor to the exit. First the player must grab a Koopa Shell or flipped Buzzy Beetle, then move between platforms that can defeat Mario almost closed in. The player must jump on it and Mario is able to walk through the ground until they reach an area requiring a jump.

Wall death

The player must go to Donut Secret 1 and access its bonus area. The player must get the Power Balloon and hold left and right on the directional pad. Mario travels very swiftly, and if the player holds left and right with the Power Balloon and touches a wall on the side of the screen, Mario loses a life.

Yoshi in a Warp Pipe

The player must place a Yoshi on an extending and retracting pipe. Whenever the pipe moves, Yoshi moves blocky. This glitch occurs in both the original SNES game and the GBA port.

Scripting

Berry relocation

If the player has Yoshi grab a berry on his tongue while it is extending, and then the tongue later attaches to an enemy in the same motion, the berry will be left where the enemy was, without being swallowed. The berry will also lack animation, but can still be eaten. In some cases, the berry will actually change color (and behavior). For example, on Funky, the first green berry (after being moved) will sometimes turn into a red berry if Yoshi eats the nearby Jumping Piranha Plant or another berry.

Credits warp

By defeating enemies and loading and placing objects in precise locations in Yoshi's Island 2, it is possible to warp directly to the game's ending sequence. This is caused by the placement of the objects, which writes data into the game's memory and can be exploited to cause the warp.

Duplicating block

Mario duplicating block

By throwing an enemy or object at a block very close to it, the block can be duplicated near it, unveiling the item, leaving the original block untouched. This can be done to either side of the block, above it, or above-diagonally to either side.

Also the game differentiates certain items by the block's horizontal position in the level. For example, blue Switch Blocks and gray Switch Blocks are actually the same object, but their type depends from the horizontal position of the blocks that contain them. Thus, by duplicating a block to the side with a Switch Block inside, it will give a Switch Block of the other color.

End the game with Yoshi

This glitch happens in Yoshi's Island 3. The player must go with Yoshi into the Yellow Warp Pipe. Once they are there, the player must press the Switch Block and Yoshi must eat the pressed button and spit it out. It causes a Cheep Cheep to appear and the player must do the same nine more times. Doing this, Mario must leave Yoshi on the line of blocks and leave the area holding the secret button. The player must to find Yoshi, press the Switch Block, eat and spit, then let him fall and ride an invisible Yoshi near the edge. The invisible object in his mouth must be spat, and Mario becomes Cape Mario. In the area near the Koopa Troopa, the player must make Yoshi to eat the shell in the same time Mario becomes Fire Mario. They must, then, drop Yoshi and throw a fireball, and ride Yoshi again. Drop the Cape Feather and use it. After this, the game's end screen appears, but the level music still plays.

Everlasting cloud ride

The player must shoot a fireball at a Lakitu who is riding in a cloud, and then make sure to collect the coin. The player must then jump in his cloud and it will last forever.

Everlasting items

This glitch occurs in both the SNES and the GBA versions of the game. If the player takes a Grab Block and go through any pipe, it will never disappear. The player can take any carryable enemy (like Galoombas) through a pipe and it will never jump on Mario, and a Bob-omb will never explode. If done with a Buzzy Beetle shell, it will be colored gray, not blue.

Grabbing two objects

(top) Mario holding a Switch Block and Trampoline.
(bottom) Mario holding Shell and Trampoline.

If two things (like Switch Blocks, Shells (two shells doesn't work), Springs, etc.) are placed in the same place and Mario/Luigi runs (pressing without dropping), he will catch the two things, then crouch and slide to grab the objects (the cause of dropping not button), the player will take the two things at the same time. A side effect of this occurs if the player stops holding Y and if Mario is small, killing him between the two items (though this must happen with the two items being identical, like two keys).

In the Pillar

This requires precise timing. If Mario or Luigi spin jumps at just the right time while a pillar is falling in a castle, he'll be inside the pillar.

Infinite points

The glitch in action

The player must bring Cape Mario to an area with at least two Wigglers (three is better); the best place is Forest of Illusion 1, and jump on the yellow Wigglers to make them angry, and float back and forth so that the angry Wigglers are calm again. The player needs to keep jumping on the Wigglers, and the player will gain points as usual. After the player gets 8,000 points, they will get a 1-Up, 2-Up, and then a 3-Up. On the next bounce, the game will display strange symbols that represent five extra lives. More glitchy graphics will appear and they will give large amounts of points in addition to numerous coins.

Order: 200, 400, 800, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, 1-Up, 2-Up, 3-Up, 5-Up, 5 coins, 10 coins, 15 coins, 20 coins, 25 coins, then random amounts of coins.

This glitch was fixed in the Game Boy Advance version.

Infinite time

It is possible to avoid the death imposed by the timer if the player drops a Fire Flower while on a Yoshi and being with a cape, and eats the Fire Flower at the same time the timer counts 0. If done correctly, the player can continue after the timer hits zero seconds.

Item Storage glitch

A successful attempt.

A failed attempt.

In Yoshi's Island 1, the player must have Yoshi and Fire power. On the part with the Jumping Piranha Plant and a Rex near the Giant Gate, Mario or Luigi must shoot the Rex with a fireball (), Yoshi must stick out his tongue to grab the coin generated (), and Mario/Luigi must collect the coin while on Yoshi's tongue (). Since nothing will be in his mouth, the game will place the nearby Chargin' Chuck in Yoshi's mouth. Chargin' Chucks aren't supposed to be eaten, so the game won't know what to do with it, thus assuming it's a "powerup", It will place a glitchy item in the player's Item Storage. Depending on the level, it can show up as many things when dropped with , including a Magic Ball, a green Bony Beetle, a green Cheep Cheep, or a glitchy sprite not resembling anything, floating in midair. Regardless, it will act like a Magic Ball. Once collected, it will trigger the level clear script, even in unclearable levels, such as Yoshi's House. Most of the time, due to programming quirks, the game may crash (Time Limit doesn't count down anymore) while the music still plays, likely displaying glitchy graphics. This glitch was fixed in all remakes, but remains in the Virtual Console versions.

Item after the Giant Gate

This glitch occurs in both the original and GBA port of the game. Mario or Luigi must go to a level with a Super Mushroom in the ? Block until the Giant Gate. The player must drop the item and wait it to go through the gate, and, after it is in the other side, finish the level. If Mario walks before the screen changes, he collects the Power-Up.

Invisible Yoshi

In the level Chocolate Island 5, if Mario/Luigi grabs the two Switch Blocks (how to do it can be read here) and bash the Yoshi block with it, the block will create two Yoshis, but only one appears. When the Yoshi falls into an abyss, the other one appears. If the player falls into an abyss and waits until Mario and Yoshi disappear while jumping, he is riding on an invisible Yoshi. Also, in Yoshi's Island 2, if the player jumps and hits the question block containing Yoshi at the same time as hitting the question block with a shell, an invisible Yoshi will be spawned along with Yoshi. Yoshi will also hatch twice as quickly as normal when the glitch is done correctly. Riding the invisible Yoshi will make the player virtually invincible, as getting hit will not make the player get off of Yoshi like it normally would. The invisible Yoshi cannot stick out its tongue, nor eat anything. Entering a pipe or completing the level will cause the Yoshi to disappear, as well as getting off of the Yoshi. The glitch can be done in other levels such as Funky.

Switch Block color swap

The player must take a grey Switch Block and go into the pipe. Though the Switch Block has still its grey coloration, it acts like a blue Switch Block.

Renewing a Switch Block

To get this glitch to work correctly, the player must be riding Yoshi. Yoshi must press the Switch Block and eat it before it disappears. When Yoshi spits it out, the Switch Block will be back to normal and the player is able to press it again.

Shell through the floor

This is a very simple glitch that is easy to do in various levels of Vanilla Dome. If Mario or Luigi throws a Koopa Troopa or Buzzy Beetle shell while on a very steep slope and faces the slope, it is not be able to climb it, so it goes right through it.

Stomp after death

If Mario or Luigi loses a life above a Wiggler, he will stomp it, and even gain points, on his way off-screen.