Originally posted by: Guntz
You watched Pop Fiction's video on the 256 extra worlds in SMB, didn't you?...
They're not real levels, they are glitchy combinations of data from at least two different levels. It's exactly like in Pop Fiction's Metroid hidden rooms episode.
This really isn't 100% accurate. Its reading data from wherever - it doesn't need to be level data. SMB uses a run-length encoding scheme to compress levels. A side effect of this is nearly any stream of data will result in a "playable" level. However, these levels can have issues, like pipes too high or gaps too long to jump over, or other oddities that will prevent the player from progressing. Essentially, SMB uses the current level number against a lookup table to figure out where data starts. Any level outside of 1-1 to 8-4 will go beyond this lookup table, and grab a pointer for whatever comes after the level lookup table in the rom. This invalid pointer could literally point anywhere in the rom. The level "decoded" may actually be the end result of the code of the game.
Interestingly, my highest rated comment ever on reddit is on this exact same concept.
http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilea...
