Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that one of the most integral parts of Mario's kit in the series' 2D games started out as an accident.
As much as Sonic is marketed as the fastest thing alive, and everyone's go-to when you think of speed in 2D platformers, it's easy to forget that the chubby Italian-American plumber from Brooklyn is weirdly fast too. And not just in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games artwork – where Nintendo reportedly "demanded" Mario was a step in front of the blue blur – but he's able to speed through levels and even run over small gaps that are roughly the same size as him with no issue.
Turns out, his airwalking abilities weren't a part of the plan, as speaking to Casa Brutus magazine (via NintendoEverything), Miyamoto explains, "You know Mario’s B-Dash, right? If you hold the B button while running, he can cross small gaps without failing," he reveals, "Truth be told, that was actually a bug caused by flawed collision detection with the ground."
However, rather than purge the unintended power, Miyamoto recalls, "I said, 'No, no! It’s fun if he can dash across – let’s leave it as is!'" And now, 40 years later, Mario can still do the same in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and every other 2D platformer the series has to offer.
Miyamoto also noted that this wasn't the only unintended feature of Super Mario Bros., with the hidden blocks that have remained an iconic part of the series since its inception, beginning their life as a bug where coins would appear in midair when nothing was there.
This isn't even the biggest glitch-turned-feature story either. Some glitches became part of their series, like Hitman's homing briefcase or the myth about a hyper-aggressive Gandhi in Civilization, which led to him being nuke-happy in its fifth entry.
However, none are as massive as Street Fighter 2, which featured an unintentional behavior where players could hit an opponent while they were still stunned, leading to the birth of combos in fighting games. So really, if it's a glitch and it doesn't break the game too much, it may be worth leaving it alone if it's fun enough.
