History UnwinnableByMistake / SuperMarioBros

** 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. This was corrected in the SNES and GBA remakes.

* 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!"

* 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.

* 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!"

* 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!"

* A mistake of Galoob rather than Nintendo, there was a set of Game Genie 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!"

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

* 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.

[[AC:Super Mario World]]
* Valley of Bowser 2. The second room has a rising/falling wall that requires maneuvering a passageway just right so that you don't get crushed. This part is impossible to do if Mario or Luigi is riding Yoshi, as the passages are too small for both to fit through together, so the wall will invariably crush them both. For that reason a block with Yoshi wings exists right before it. Failing to catch them will force the player to leave Yoshi to finish the level.

* Valley of Bowser 2. The second room has a rising/falling wall that requires maneuvering a passageway just right so that you don't get crushed. This part is impossible to do if Mario or Luigi is riding Yoshi, as the passages are too small for both to fit through together, so the wall will invariably crush them both. For that reason a block with Yoshi wings exists right before it. Failing to catch them however...

* Valley of Bowser 2. The second room has a rising/falling wall that requires maneuvering a passageway just right so that you don't get crushed. This part is impossible to do if Mario or Luigi is riding Yoshi, as the passages are too small for both to fit through together, so the wall will invariably crush them both.

* 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.

* 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, the only solution is to 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.

* The MinusWorld.

* 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, the only solution is to reset the game and start again. The Super ES All-Stars version fixed this so you can attempt to duck and jump whilst pressing left and right.

* One could make the game unwinnable by crouching (works with the small characters as well, IIRC) 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, the only solution is to reset the game and start again. The Super ES All-Stars version fixed this so you can attempt to duck and jump whilst pressing left and right.

** 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]]

* 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.

* One could make the game unwinnable by crouching (works with the small characters as well, IIRC) and sliding into a passage of only one block height. Since the player can't auto-slide out like in the rest of the games, the character gets stuck permanently; since there's no time limit, the only solution is to reset the game and start again. The Super ES 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 defeating Wart, 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!

** If you're ''really'' unlucky, then you can trigger an N-spade to appear on top of a hammer bros, causing [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3lznozAfYo this]] to happen.

* One could make the game unwinnable by crouching (works with the small characters as well, IIRC) and sliding into a passage of only one block height. Since the player can't auto-slide out like in the rest of the games, the character gets stuck permanently; since there's no time limit, the only solution is to reset the game and start again. The Super ES All-stars version fixed this so you can attempt to duck and jump whilst pressing left and right.

* 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 ''Lost Levels'' remake) usually add a block above the ending pipe to prevent this from happening.