Super Mario Bros. players uncover huge new speedrun glitch
Polygon.com • • technology
Key Points:
- Over 40 years after its release, a new major glitch called Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE) has been discovered in the NES classic Super Mario Bros., allowing players to manipulate the game's code in real time.
- The discovery originated from a game crash in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels shared by user @LuigiSidekick, which sparked investigation by the speedrunning community.
- Speedrunner Kosmic and a team replicated the ACE glitch in the original Super Mario Bros., enabling players to load directly to the game's ending after a complex setup involving the Minus World and other in-game elements.
- Although the glitch currently takes longer to execute than a normal speedrun and requires precise inputs, it represents a significant achievement and could lead to new breakthroughs in speedrunning techniques.
- Kosmic emphasized that while the glitch is mostly "for fun" now, it effectively allows access to any world or level without hacks or cheats, potentially changing how the game is played and recorded in the future.
