Random Things You Never Knew About Super Mario Bros. (19 items)

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  (#14) You Can Thank Excitebike for Warp Zones

  Before creating Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto worked on the racing game Excitebike. For those that don't remember, Excitebike allowed you to choose which track (Easy, Medium, Hard) you wanted to play. Miyamoto loved the idea so much that he wanted to put it in Mario, but he didn't want players to skip to the end. That's when the Warp Zone after level 1-2 was born. 
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  (#20) There Was a Super Mario Bros. Computer Game

  Mario has lent his recognizable visage to numerous educational computer games over the years (Mario's Time Machine, anyone?), but did you know that there was a follow up to Super Mario Bros. released on the PC called Super Mario Bros. Special? It looked an awful lot like the NES game but lacked any of its other good qualities.

  Odd colors aside, the physics of SMBS are a nightmare, and the music sounds like someone trying to learn the Mario theme on a broken Casio. 
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  (#16) Mario Started Out as a Carpenter, Not a Pumber

  Most people are aware that Mario’s first appearance was in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. Less widely remembered: Mario wasn't a plumber, but was a carpenter instead. Mario made a career change because of the pipes and sewers in the original Mario Bros. arcade game. 
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  (#5) Mario Was Named After Nintendo's Landlord

  Long before Mario was Mario, he was called “Jumpman” because they had to call him something. Before that, he was called “Mr. Video” which is actually kind of awesome. Even before that, he was known as “Ossan,” which translates to “middle-aged guy.” And because no one wants to play a game called "Super Middle-Aged Guy," a proper name was sought and found in Nintendo's American offices.

  The story goes that Nintendo was supposedly late on rent and their landlord, Mario Segale, looked the other way. In thanks, he was forever immortalized as the namesake for the most popular video game mascot of all time - Super Segale. 
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  (#7) You Can Actually Jump Over the Flag Pole

  This flagpole rumor has been floating around for years, but thanks to the Internet, you can actually see people jumping the infamous flagpole for yourself. And you thought your big sister was just messing with you. (But it's only possible on a couple specific levels, and at times requires triggering a glitch.)
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  (#1) There Are 256 Glitched Levels in Super Mario Bros.

  If you want to access the 256(!) extra glitch levels in Super Mario Bros. you need to go find yourself a top loading NES system and a copy of Nintendo Tennis. Put your Mario cartridge in, then take it out with the system still on. Put the Tennis cartridge in, then reset. Serve once, run around for a bit, and then take Tennis out with the system still on and put Mario back in. Reset Mario, then press both A and start at once and you’ll be on one of the 256 glitched out “secret levels."

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