History UnwinnableByMistake / SuperMarioBros

[[AC: VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1]]

* In World 1-2, players are taught that jumping onto the ceiling and running past the exit takes them to a hidden WarpZone. Any unfortunate player who attempts to do the same in a castle level will find that they cannot run past Bowser - the screen simply stops scrolling there, and the RatchetScrolling prevents them from going back.
* If Mario ends up inside a block (usually as a result of sliding, jumping, or swimming from a crouched position while Super), the game will push you to the right until you're outside the wall. Usually, this is enough to prevent you from getting trapped; however, if you do this at the end of one of the underwater stages (2-2, 7-2, or the optional underwater section of 6-2), you'll get pushed forward to the edge of the screen and be unable to escape. Later versions of the game (such as ''Vs. Super Mario Bros'' and the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars'' remake) usually add a block above the ending pipe to prevent this from happening.
* In World 3-3, it's possible to jump past the flagpole by raising one of the linked platforms as high as you can without breaking the cable and jumping off it over the flagpole (it requires precise timing but it can be done), but unlike in ''The Lost Levels'' where some levels have a WarpZone past the castle, you will find nothing but endless castle walls and once again the RatchetScrolling will prevent you from going back.

[[AC: VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels]]

* Jumping onto the ceiling in a castle level to try to sneak past Bowser that way will get you stuck, just as in the original game. It's also much easier to do in this game with Luigi and his high jumps.
* If you go to an underground bonus room in World 3-1, you'll come out of a pipe below some blocks that you must break to continue. Since only Super or Fire Mario (or Luigi) can break blocks, there's a hidden block with a power-up. However, if you pick up the power-up and then get hurt by the nearby Piranha Plant, you won't be able to get out.
* C-3 and D-2 both have massive jumps that can be cleared only when Mario jumps on a springboard. Sometimes, these springboards fail to spawn due to sprite limits.
** Also happens in the original ''SMB''. If you jump into where the springboard would be, you get stuck until the timer runs out.

[[AC: VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2]]

* In the [=PRG0=] version of the cartridge, if you get hit by one of Fryguy's pieces while throwing a mushroom block at another, that piece will be [[DeathThrows thrown off the screen]] rather than disappear, and the game will register it as still alive, so the exit door fails to appear. The only way out is to reset or use the [[PressXToDie suicide code]] (Up+A+B with the second controller on the pause screen).
* After Wart is defeated, scrolling gets disabled, so if you're too far to the left, you won't be able to enter the door under where Wart was standing. You can't die if this happens, forcing the suicide code to be used. Worse than that, this error was not fixed for the ''All-Stars'' version! It wasn't until ''Super Mario Advance'' that this was finally fixed.

[[AC: VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3]]

* A glitch can cause the game to be unwinnable. In World 5, it is possible for the airship to land on the land-based portion of the map, displayed in miniature in the upper left corner of the sky map. When you then chase it down to ground level, it's nowhere to be found. This would be a good airship to use an [[JunkRare anchor]] on if you've acquired any. Fortunately, it is also one of the easier airships, and the ''All-Stars'' version fixes the glitch entirely.
* If you're ''really'' unlucky, then you can trigger an N-Spade to appear on top of a Hammer Bro on the map, causing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3lznozAfYo this]] to happen.
* An example thankfully restricted to one level - in World 7, one level has a Hammer Bros. Suit in it (other than this one, they're only available as world map items found in mushroom houses). If Mario is in statue form from the Tanooki Suit when he grabs it, he becomes [[GlitchEntity a greyscale version of the usual Hammer Bros. Suit]] that can't use the pipe needed to continue the level. Fortunately, this only makes it impossible to clear that level on that life[[note]]There is also a Hammer Suit obtainable in World 6-10, but it requires a Fire Flower to access and therefore is impossible to collect with a Tanooki Suit on[[/note]]. This was corrected in the SNES and GBA remakes.
* World 7-Fortress 1 requires you to obtain a Tanooki Suit (if you aren't already Raccoon Mario) from a secret room accessed by P-Switch. If you trigger the switch but for some reason let it time out before you reach the bottom of the room, it's [[PermanentlyMissableContent unobtainable]] and you can't beat the level on that life. A similar situation can happen at the end of the World 8 fortress, where the boss door is triggered by the switch. In cases of really bad timing, you can get entombed in the blocks until time runs out.
* A mistake of Creator/{{Galoob}} rather than Creator/{{Nintendo}}: there was a set of UsefulNotes/GameGenie codes for the NES version that allowed Mario to be, and remain, in a certain suit. However, these codes overwrote additional data that was part of the door animation after the final fight with Bowser, causing the game to freeze if you did not enter the door immediately. The Game Genie code book warned the player to do so, or else they would be [[HandWave "caught in Bowser's Time Trap, and the game will pause forever!"]]
* In World 7-5, there's an area where you fall into a room where the way out is a one-square-high gap to slide through (if you're big) or walk through (if you're small). If you enter wearing a Frog Suit and don't keep one of the Bob-ombs to deliberately get hit and therefore get rid of the Frog Suit, you're stuck and have to wait for the timer to hit 0. While this would usually be UnwinnableByInsanity [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman considering the Frog Suit's purpose and general rarity outside of it]], 7-4 happens to be a water level and the room in 7-5 appears fairly early on, meaning it's not unlikely you'll forget to dispose of the Frog Suit before you enter.
* In the room before the Bowser fight, you can crouch and fly into the gap over the Bowser statue to slide through the wall, leading to different layouts of the boss fight. You can do this a couple more times before you are permanently stuck inside the blocks and you have to time out to continue.

[[AC: VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga]]

* When you hammer Luigi into a slot on the beach or on the Oho Jee and Oho Jee mini-game islands, Luigi becomes a surfboard for Mario to ride. However, if you slide onto the beach and an enemy runs into you, just as Mario jumps off Luigi for Luigi to become normal again, both will be frozen in that position once the battle finishes and you have no choice but to reset due to the glitch.

[[AC: VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon]]

* Happens in many, many [=ScareScraper=] games, mostly because a necessary key fails to spawn due to a well known glitch and the ghosts you need to defeat are on the other side of the door.
** Sometimes, a player with the key will leave during a game, making the level unwinnable for the other players.
* Also seemingly happened to some poor soul who saved and quit between the Tough Possessor and King Boo battles. The game counted the former as complete, but not the latter, meaning that whatever he did, the game would never progress to the final boss. [[http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/nintendoarticles/should-nintendo-release-a-patch-for-luigis-mansion-dark-moon/#comment-17125 Hear about this tale of woe here.]]

[[AC: VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash]]

* When Kamek enters a normal battle and messes around with your inventory, some of the effects he causes include removing all but six cards from your deck or changing every card you have into a certain attack until the end of the battle. The problem is that the game does not check to see if the cards you get are capable of beating the battle. So, for example, you might end up fighting flying enemies with only hammer cards. Since running and the ability to get new cards in battle are disabled, the only things you can do are either use up all your cards or reset the game.

[[AC: VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing]]

* A softlock can happen late in the game due to a GameBreakingBug found in Shangri Spa. To proceed with the story, the player must bathe in four spas and stamp a stamp card for each spa to earn a VIP ticket. If a player receives the ticket, enters the area that requires it, and leaves, the ticket will be removed from their inventory. The game will now think that the player still needs to stamp their stamp card, even though they don't have the card either, and with no way to regain the VIP ticket or stamp card, there's no way to move forward. If you've saved after that, then theres no choice but to delete your file and ''start from the beginning.''

----
To return to the index, click [[UnwinnableByMistake here]].
----

* In World 7-5, there's an area where you fall into a room where the way out is a one-square-high gap to slide through (if you're big) or walk through (if you're small.) If you enter wearing a Frog Suit and don't keep one of the Bob-ombs to deliberately get hit and therefore get rid of the Frog Suit, you're stuck and have to wait for the timer to hit 0. While this would usually be UnwinnableByInsanity [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman considering the Frog Suit's purpose and general rarity outside of it]], 7-4 happens to be a water level and the room in 7-5 appears fairly early on, meaning it's not unlikely you'll forget to dispose of the Frog Suit before you enter.

* A mistake of Creator/{{Galoob}} rather than Creator/{{Nintendo}}: there was a set of VideoGame/GameGenie codes for the NES version that allowed Mario to be, and remain, in a certain suit. However, these codes overwrote additional data that was part of the door animation after the final fight with Bowser, causing the game to freeze if you did not enter the door immediately. The Game Genie code book warned the player to do so, or else they would be [[HandWave "caught in Bowser's Time Trap, and the game will pause forever!"]]

* One could make the game unwinnable by crouching and sliding into a passage of only one-block height. Since the player can't auto-slide out as in the rest of the games, the character gets stuck permanently; since there's no time limit, you will have to use the suicide code or reset the game and start again. The Super NES ''All-Stars'' version fixed this so you can attempt to duck and jump whilst pressing left and right.
* In the [=PRG0=] version of the cartridge, if you get hit by one of Fryguy's pieces while throwing a mushroom block at another, that piece will be [[DeathThrows thrown off the screen]] rather than disappear, and the game will register it as still alive, so the exit door fails to appear. The only way out is to reset or use the [[PressXToDie suicide code]] (Up+A+B on the pause screen).
* After Wart is defeated, scrolling gets disabled, so if you're too far to the left, you won't be able to enter the door under where Wart was standing. What's worse is that you can't die if this happens. Even worse than that, this error was not fixed for the ''All-Stars'' version! It wasn't until ''Super Mario Advance'' that this was finally fixed.

* A glitch can cause the game to be unwinnable. In World 5, it is possible for the airship to land on the land-based portion of the map, displayed in miniature in the upper left corner of the sky map. When you then chase it down to ground level, it's nowhere to be found. This would be a good airship to use an [[JunkRare anchor]] on if you've acquired any. Fortunately, it is also one of the easier airships.
* If you're ''really'' unlucky, then you can trigger an N-spade to appear on top of a Hammer Bro, causing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3lznozAfYo this]] to happen.

* One fortress requires you to obtain a Tanooki Suit (if you aren't already Raccoon Mario) from a secret room accessed by P-Switch. If you trigger the switch but for some reason let it time out before you reach the bottom of the room, it's [[PermanentlyMissableContent unobtainable]] and you can't beat the level on that life. A similar situation can happen at the end of the World 8 fortress, where the boss door is triggered by the switch. In cases of really bad timing, you can get entombed in the blocks until time runs out.
* A mistake of Creator/{{Galoob}} rather than Creator/{{Nintendo}}: there was a set of VideoGame/GameGenie codes for the NES version that allowed Mario to be, and remain, in a certain suit. However, these codes overwrote additional data that was part of the door animation after the final fight with Bowser, causing the game to freeze if you did not enter the door immediately. The Game Genie code book warned the player to enter the door immediately, or else they would be "caught in Bowser's Time Trap, and the game will pause forever!"

* An example thankfully restricted to one level - in World 7, one level has a Hammer Bros. Suit in it (other than this one, they're only available as world map items found in mushroom houses). If Mario is in statue form from the Tanooki Suit when he grabs it, he becomes [[TheMissingno a greyscale version of the usual Hammer Bros. Suit]] that can't use the pipe needed to continue the level. Fortunately, this only makes it impossible to clear that level on that life[[note]]There is also a Hammer Suit obtainable in World 6-10, but it requires a Fire Flower to access and therefore is impossible to collect with a Tanooki Suit on[[/note]]. This was corrected in the SNES and GBA remakes.

* In World 1-2, players are taught that jumping onto the ceiling and running past the end pipe takes them to a hidden WarpZone. Any unfortunate player who attempts to do the same in a castle level will find that they cannot run past Bowser - the screen simply stops scrolling there, and the RatchetScrolling prevents them from going back.

* Jumping onto the ceiling in a castle level to try to sneak past Bowser that way will get you stuck, just as in the original game. This is much easier to do in this game with Luigi and his higher jumps.

* In World 7-5, there's an area where you fall into a room where the way out is a one-square-high gap to slide through (if you're big) or walk through (if you're small.) If you enter wearing a Frog Suit and don't keep one of the Bob-ombs to deliberately get hit and therefore get rid of the Frog Suit, you're stuck and have to wait for the counter to fall down.

* After Wart is defeated, scrolling gets disabled, so if you're too far to the left, you won't be able to enter the door under where Wart was standing. What's worse is that you can't die if this happens. Even worse than that, this error was not fixed for the All-Stars version!

* An example thankfully restricted to one level - in World 7, one level has a Hammer Bros. Suit in it (other than this one, they're only available as world map items found in mushroom houses). If Mario is in statue form from the Tanooki Suit when he grabs it, he becomes a greyscale version of the usual Hammer Bros. Suit that can't use the pipe needed to continue the level. Fortunately, this only makes it impossible to clear that level on that life[[note]]There is also a Hammer Suit obtainable in World 6-10, but it requires a Fire Flower to access and therefore is impossible to collect with a Tanooki Suit on[[/note]]. This was corrected in the SNES and GBA remakes.

To return to top of index, click [[UnwinnableByMistake here.]]

* Players who dig out every block of dirt in the pyramid levels can get themselves trapped in the left side of world 2-2. [[labelnote:*]]To be fair, that one's kind of [[UnwinnableByInsanity your fault.]][[/labelnote]]

* The players with OCD who must dig out every block of dirt in the pyramid levels can get themselves trapped in the left side of world 2-2. [[labelnote:*]]To be fair, that one's kind of [[UnwinnableByInsanity your fault.]][[/labelnote]]

* A mistake of Creator/{{Galoob}} rather than Creator/{{Nintendo}}: there was a set of ''VideoGame/GameGenie'' codes for the NES version that allowed Mario to be, and remain, in a certain suit. However, these codes overwrote additional data that was part of the door animation after the final fight with Bowser, causing the game to freeze if you did not enter the door immediately. The Game Genie code book warned the player to enter the door immediately, or else they would be "caught in Bowser's Time Trap, and the game will pause forever!"

[[AC: Super Mario Bros.]]

* If Mario ends up inside a block (usually as a result of sliding, jumping, or swimming from a crouched position while Super), the game will push you to the right until you're outside the wall. Usually, this is enough to prevent you from getting trapped; however, if you do this at the end of one of the underwater stages (2-2, 7-2, or the optional underwater section of 6-2), you'll get pushed forward to the edge of the screen and be unable to escape. Later versions of the game (such as ''Vs. Super Mario Bros'' and the ''All Stars'' remake) usually add a block above the ending pipe to prevent this from happening.

[[AC: Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels]]

[[AC: Super Mario Bros. 2]]

* One could make the game unwinnable by crouching and sliding into a passage of only one-block height. Since the player can't auto-slide out as in the rest of the games, the character gets stuck permanently; since there's no time limit, you will have to use the suicide code or reset the game and start again. The Super NES All-Stars version fixed this so you can attempt to duck and jump whilst pressing left and right.

[[AC: Super Mario Bros. 3]]

* In World 7-5, there's an area where you fall into a room where the way out is a one-square-high gap to slide through (if you're big) or walk through (if you're small.) If you enter wearing a Frog Suit and don't keep one of the Bob-Ombs to deliberately get hit and therefore get rid of the Frog Suit, you're stuck and have to wait for the counter to fall down.

[[AC: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]

[[AC: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon]]

[[AC: Paper Mario: Color Splash]]

* A mistake of Creator/{{Galoob}} rather than Creator/{{Nintendo}}: there was a set of ''VideoGame/GameGenie'' codes for the NES version that allowed Mario to be, and remain, in a certain suit. However, these codes overwrote additional data that was part of the door animation after the final fight with Bowser, causing the game to freeze if you did not enter the door immediately. The Game Genie code book warned the player to enter the door immediately, or else they would be "caught in Bowzer's Time Trap, and the game will pause forever!"

* One fortress requires you to obtain a Tanooki Suit (if you aren't already Raccoon Mario) from a secret room accessed by P-Switch. If you trigger the switch but for some reason let it time out before you reach the bottom of the room, it's LostForever and you can't beat the level on that life. A similar situation can happen at the end of the World 8 fortress, where the boss door is triggered by the switch. In cases of really bad timing, you can get entombed in the blocks until time runs out.

** If you're ''really'' unlucky, then you can trigger an N-spade to appear on top of a Hammer Bro, causing [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3lznozAfYo this]] to happen.
** An example thankfully restricted to one level - in World 7, one level has a Hammer Bros. Suit in it (other than this one, they're only available as world map items found in mushroom houses). If Mario is in statue form from the Tanooki Suit when he grabs it, he becomes a greyscale version of the usual Hammer Bros. Suit that can't use the pipe needed to continue the level. Fortunately, this only makes it impossible to clear that level on that life[[note]]There is also a Hammer Suit obtainable in World 6-10, but it requires a Fire Flower to access and therefore is impossible to collect with a Tanooki Suit on[[/note]]. This was corrected in the SNES and GBA remakes.
** One fortress requires you to obtain a Tanooki Suit (if you aren't already Raccoon Mario) from a secret room accessed by P-Switch. If you trigger the switch but for some reason let it time out before you reach the bottom of the room, it's LostForever and you can't beat the level on that life. A similar situation can happen at the end of the World 8 fortress, where the boss door is triggered by the switch. In cases of really bad timing, you can get entombed in the blocks until time runs out.

[[AC: Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon]]

** Also seemingly happened to some poor soul who saved and quit between the Tough Possessor and King Boo battles. The game counted the former as complete, but not the latter, meaning that whatever he did, the game would never progress to the final boss. [[http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/nintendoarticles/should-nintendo-release-a-patch-for-luigis-mansion-dark-moon/#comment-17125 Hear about this tale of woe here]]

[[AC: Paper Mario Color Splash]]

* When Kamek enters a normal battle and messes around with your inventory, some of the effects he has include removing all but six cards from your deck or changing every card you have into a certain attack until the end of the battle. The problem is that the game does not check to see if the cards you get are capable of beating the battle. So sometimes you might end up fighting flying enemies with only hammer cards. Since running and the ability to get new cards in battle are disabled, the only thing you can do is use up all your cards and loose your inventory or reset the game.