Minus World

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Minus World
SMB Minus World.png
Game Super Mario Bros.
Level(s) Alternates
<< List of worlds >>

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 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 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  -1. The actual number is World 36-1 in decimal (World 24-1 in hexadecimal), but the game displays a blank graphic for the number 36, so all the player can see is the -1.[1] The glitch was first described in the 3rd issue of Nintendo Power,[2] and it was later featured in its 100th issue.[3]

The Minus World glitch has been removed from remakes of Super Mario Bros. In Super Mario All-Stars, if the trick is performed, the Warp Pipes will still take Mario to their respective worlds as if the pipes were reached by walking along the ceiling. In Super Mario Bros. Deluxe and Super Mario Bros. 35, the ability to perform the trick is removed entirely. However, the glitch remains in the Nintendo PlayChoice-10, the Classic NES Series and Virtual Console ports, the NES Classic Edition and Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online, and Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., as they are direct emulations of the original game.

Methods of access

Warp Zone

In World 1-2 of Super Mario Bros., Fire Mario runs, lands on the front of the exit pipe, and quickly crouches and jumps to reach a peak where the exit pipe crosses the ceiling. At that moment, Mario stops crouching and is ejected through the wall to reach the warp zone and ducks into the pipe to World 36.
Performing a variation of the wall-clipping glitch to enter the Minus World

The player can access the Minus World from 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 or Fire Mario form is required to perform this glitch.

A very common setup is to break most of the Brick Blocks 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. Crouching 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.[4]

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 softlocked until the Time Limit runs out.[5][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. (This advances the player further than normal, although it skips past the Warp Zone from World 4-2 to 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 beanstalk are shown to lead back to the beginning of that section while the pipe leading to World 5-1 functions normally.[6]

Cartridge swapping

Another method of accessing glitch worlds, including the Minus World, involves swapping cartridges with Tennis while the power is on, which can potentially damage the console's hardware.[7] 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.[8]

Cause

The first 48 characters of the second CHR table (PPU pattern table) from the internal data for Super Mario Bros.. The portion highlighted in red corresponds to Tile 36 of the said table, being the basis for the Minus World glitch (which is identified internally as "World 36").(Technical details: table is read from left to right, top to bottom, count starts at 0)
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."

Related glitch worlds and levels

File:Sm64-glitch-world-twominus1.png
"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), World 9, and onward are glitched and reuse pointers from other levels in the level data. The Minus World (36) is the only one that can be accessed legitimately in the Western 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 Poles 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.[9]
  • Incorrect graphics and palettes used in the level - for example, World -2 (36-2) loads World 3-4 loads a level 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.[9]
    • 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.[9] 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.[10]
  • 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.
  • For unknown reasons, some glitch levels may also end up crashing the game if enough progress has been made into the level.[10]

In glitch worlds above 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 B Button, and Hard Mode will also be triggered as usual.

"World 9"

A glitch level 9-1 from Super Mario Bros.
"World 9-1" in Super Mario Bros.

The existence of these glitch levels created a rumor that sparked in Japan where 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 (9-1 is an underwater version of World 6-2 that requires waiting a little to complete).[11] According to an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto in Family Computer Magazine issue 9 on April 1986, the creation of World 9 in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was inspired by all the commotion surrounding the World 9 glitch.[12] World 9 in this game also contains levels that are designed like overworld levels but with underwater properties, graphics and palette, which allude to the aforementioned descriptions of these glitch levels.

Other versions

It is possible to perform the Minus World in other versions and direct emulations of Super Mario Bros., even in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. This does not include remakes of the game, which completely remove the Minus World glitch due to various differences in the games' technical data.

While the glitch can also be performed in the challenge Mario Master in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, the game will detect doing the wall sliding glitch for the Minus World as a prohibited strategy and will rewind the player back to World 1-1.[13]

Family Computer Disk System port

Minus World, the glitch from Super Mario Bros. (Disk System version).
The Family Computer Disk System version of the Minus World

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[14] due to the game loading different data as level data.

World -1 is just like World 5-3 but with underwater gameplay (despite lacking actual visual water) and some unusual elements, such as multiple floating Princess Toadstools without hitboxes, a floating headless Bowser, a misplaced Hammer Bro, as well as all objects using the "underwater" palettes (that is, green is replaced by gray), causing odd visuals. If the player defeats the headless Bowser, the game will crash near the flagpole, though there is a small chance for the game not to crash and the player will instead receive a few fireworks.

The level has a Goal Pole (without the flag), allowing the level to be completed normally. It can easily stop the game from progressing if touched too high, however. The level eventually leads to World -2, a copy of World 7-3. However, the checkpoint is placed beneath the bridge, leading to an unwinnable state if Mario dies during the level. This level can also be completed normally and leads to World -3, a copy of World 4-4 that lacks its fake Bowser and maze elements, is set underground, and filled with flying Bloobers that can be stomped for 1,000 points. This weakness is otherwise unused due to Mario having different physics underwater, though it does appear in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. In addition, upon the player completing the level, Toad's message of "Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" plays as normal, despite Toad's sprite being missing.

Beating World -3 takes the player to the title screen, as the game treats completing a castle level in World 8 or later as beating the game. If the player starts the game again after going through the Minus World, Hard Mode will be activated as normal.

VS. Super Mario Bros.

Minus World
World -1 in VS. Super Mario Bros.

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[15] or the pipe itself.[16] This version of the Minus World resembles the underwater portion of World 6-2. This room is actually the first level to exist in the Super Mario Bros. code in all versions.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Attempting to do this with the Warp Zone pipe to World 4 in World 1-2 of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels will lead to two possible outcomes. First, it can send Mario or Luigi to the bonus area in another part of the level.[17] Second, it could send him back to the underground bonus area of World 1-1. The game will still recognize the level as World 1-2 and the time will not reset. Completing it will send the player to World 1-3.[18][19]

All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros.

By using the same trick in All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros., if Mario enters the leftmost pipe, he will instead be transported through the end-of-level pipe and be able to progress to World 1-3. If he enters the other pipes, he will be sent back to World 1-1, but it will be labeled 1-2 with the time not having been reset and all pipes hosting Piranha Plants. If he completes this level, he progresses to World 1-3, but dying sends him back to the real World 1-2.[20][21]

NES Remix series

Most instances of Super Mario Bros. throughout the NES Remix series are direct emulations of the original game, meaning that most glitches, including the ability to access the Minus World, can be performed once again. However, due to the short nature of the various challenge stages throughout these games, any instances of accessing the Minus World cannot be performed. Although it is possible to perform the glitch in NES Remix's Remix I-16 (as it is a full run of World 1-2 but mirrored and playing as Luigi), attempting to use the Warp Zone in this stage will count as a miss, and as a result the glitch cannot be performed there.

Super Luigi Bros. (NES Remix 2)

The Minus World can be entered in Super Luigi Bros. found in 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.[22]

Speed Mario Bros. (Ultimate NES Remix)

Speed Mario Bros., a version of the original game that plays twice as fast, is a mode found in Ultimate NES Remix. The Minus World here behaves like the rest of the mode.[23]

Championship Mode (NES Remix 2 / Ultimate NES Remix)

The Minus World as seen in Ultimate NES Remix's Championship Mode
The Minus World as seen in Championship Mode from Ultimate NES Remix

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 coins 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.

References in other games

Gallery

  • Intro card

    Intro card

  • World -2 on the Disk System port

    World -2 on the Disk System port

  • Mario next to some Bloobers on the Disk System port in World -3

    Mario next to some Bloobers on the Disk System port in World -3

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese マイナス面[?]
Mainasu-men 		Minus World
German Minus-Welt[?] Minus World
Italian Minus World[?] -
Spanish Mundo -1[?] World -1
Mundo Negativo (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle)[?] Negative World / Minus World

References

  1. ^ "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.'" – Super Mario Bros. “Minus World”. Transmission Zero (British English). Archived October 13, 2007, 03:53:44 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  2. ^ November/December 1988. Nintendo Power Volume 3. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 55.
  3. ^ September 1997. Nintendo Power Volume 100. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 68.
  4. ^ Video by "selsine gaming" on how to perform the glitch
  5. ^ A video of the glitch performed, on YouTube
  6. ^ Video of 4-2 Warp Pipe experiment
  7. ^ Experiments with the Tennis cartridge
  8. ^ Access Glitch Worlds in Super Mario Bros. via NES Tennis
  9. ^ a b c YouTube video titled "SMB1 Glitched Worlds" by Kosmic, at 8:41 into the video]
  10. ^ a b YouTube video titled "Glitched Worlds in Super Mario Bros!" by Kosmic, which also features some glitch levels crashing
  11. ^ Legends of Localization Super Mario Bros.: Miscellaneous
  12. ^ April 1986. Famimaga issue 9. Page 68-69.
  13. ^ Video by taktak7095110 on X showcasing that attempting to enter the Minus World is prohibited in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (Japanese)
  14. ^ A YouTube video of the FDS version of the Minus World
  15. ^ A video of the glitch being performed in the arcade version.
  16. ^ Another video with a slightly different method.
  17. ^ Glitch to 1-2 bonus area
  18. ^ Tutorial: How to Beat Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in 7:56
  19. ^ TAS run showing the glitch to 1-1 bonus area
  20. ^ All Night Nippon 1-2 Warp Zone Oddities
  21. ^ All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.
  22. ^ Minus World in Super Luigi Bros.
  23. ^ Minus World in Speed Mario Bros.
[Edit]
Glitches
Super Mario franchise Super Mario Platformers Super Mario series Super Mario Bros. (Minus World) (1985, NES) • Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986, FDS) • Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, NES) • Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988, NES) • Super Mario Land (1989, GB) • Super Mario World (1990, SNES) • Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992, GB) • Super Mario 64 (1996, N64) • Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GCN) • New Super Mario Bros. (2006, DS) • Super Mario Galaxy (2007, Wii) • New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009, Wii) • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010, Wii) • Super Mario 3D Land (2011, 3DS) • New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012, 3DS) • New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U (2012 / 2013, Wii U) • Super Mario 3D World (2013, Wii U) • Super Mario Maker (2015, Wii U) • Super Mario Odyssey (2017, Switch) • Super Mario Maker 2 (2019, Switch)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong series Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004, GBA) • Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (2010, DS)
Ports and remakes Super Mario Advance (2001, GBA) • Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (2002, GBA) • Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003, GBA) • Super Mario 64 DS (2004, DS) • Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021, Switch)
Mario Kart series Super Mario Kart (1992, SNES) • Mario Kart 64 (1996, N64) • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003, GCN) • Mario Kart DS (2005, DS) • Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) • Mario Kart 7 (2011, 3DS) • Mario Kart 8 (2014, Wii U)
Sports games Mario Tennis series Mario Power Tennis (2004, GCN) • Mario Tennis: Power Tour (2005, GBA)
Super Mario Stadium series Mario Super Sluggers (2008, Wii)
Mario Strikers series Super Mario Strikers (2005, GCN)
Other Mario Sports Mix (2010, Wii)
Mario Party series Mario Party (1998, N64) • Mario Party 2 (1999, N64) • Mario Party 3 (2000, N64) • Mario Party 4 (2002, GCN) • Super Mario Party (2018, Switch) • Mario Party Superstars (2021, Switch)
Super Mario RPGs Paper Mario series Paper Mario (2000, N64) • Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004, GCN) • Super Paper Mario (2007, Wii) • Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012, 3DS) • Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016, Wii U) • Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020, Switch)
Mario & Luigi series Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, GBA) • Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005, DS) • Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009, DS) • Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013, 3DS) • Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015, 3DS)
Mario + Rabbids series Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2016, Switch) • Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022, Switch)
Other Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES)
Remakes Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (2017, 3DS) • Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey (2018, 3DS) • Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024, Switch)
Luigi's Mansion series Luigi's Mansion (2001, GCN) • Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (2013, 3DS) • Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019, Switch)
Donkey Kong franchise Donkey Kong Country series Donkey Kong Country (1994, SNES) • Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995, SNES) • Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996, SNES) • Donkey Kong 64 (1999, N64) • Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010, Wii) • Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014, Wii U)
Donkey Kong Land series Donkey Kong Land (1995, GB) • Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996, GB) • Donkey Kong Land III (1997, GB)
Racing games Diddy Kong Racing (1997, N64)
Other Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2004, GCN)
Yoshi franchise Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995, SNES) • Yoshi's New Island (2014, 3DS)
Wario franchise Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994, GB) • Wario Land 3 (2000, GBC) • Wario Land 4 (2001, GBA)
Super Smash Bros. series Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) • Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GCN) • Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii) • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014, 3DS) • Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U) • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Switch)
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