Mythbusters
Super Mario Bros. 1
Everyone already knows about the minus world, the continue trick, and those fucking fireworks. But what about…
Little Mario Can Shoot Fire: True
This requires precise timing and immense patience, especially if you’re working without an emulator that has the splendiferous Save State feature. Basically, you have to become fire Mario and work your way to the end of a dungeon level. Get behind the hopping green idiot and wait. He’ll turn around and slowly saunter towards you.
Now, you’re going to jump on the axe to kill him (I must admit I never really did understand that part) as usual, but you must time your jump so that you come down on both him and the axe at the exact same time. This will cause you to shrink back to erectile-dysfunction Mario, but you’ll trigger the victory sequence as well, causing the game to compromise between size and power. When you start out the next level, you’ll be able to shoot fireballs despite your small stature. That is, unless you did the trick in 8-4, in which case the game will be over. (Idiot.)
Some Emulators Can’t Load This Game: True
Blah blah blah…
Multiple Lives from the Turtle Staircase: True
This sort of falls into the category of something everyone probably knows about, but since I only recently took the time to test it out myself (who really fucks around in world 3-1, anyway?), I thought I’d include it here for posterity.
You Can Escape From the Minus World: False
Bacdafucup.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Little Mario Can Jump Over Extremely Large Walls: True
I first learned of this trick from a special Nintendo Power strategy guide back in the early 90’s. The example they gave was the giant ice wall at the very beginning of world 6-9. The wall took up the entire screen, and you were supposed to go down the pipe and have all kinds of autoerotic adventures underground. However, the wall did have a top surface with a strategically-stashed 1-UP (and a fucking turtle), which meant that it expected to be accessed at least some of the time. There isn’t enough runway for Mario to fly up there, so a P-wing seemed like the only logical choice.
But wait!
The Legend of Zelda
There’s a Nazi Symbol in the Game: False
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Mario 64