 The floor may not be a robot. Mario, in all capitals, is a Super Mario World rum hackpasta by SMW Central user, Adam. The hackpatch can be downloaded here. The patch itself is made by SMW Central user Mario, all spaces and caps, whose avatar is an SMW Mario without a face. He or she used to not to be seen as inactive one month of no activity makes you inactive on SMW Central, as he or she posted mysterious and eerie things every now and then, just before he or she would turn inactive. As of recent, the SMW Central account has been disabled. You can find the original thread at www.smwcentral.net. Note, this is a true story, and sums up what was going through my mind as I was playing this, and I had no idea I was about to be bullcrapped the way I was when I played this and I can say it is by far the creepiest hack I've played. If you were an IRC you would have heard me talking about it as well, but anyways it's late at night, and I don't have a lot of time, and I need to get to sleep, so this is all I have time for. So it all happened, on tonight of all nights. I was bored, obviously contemplating what I thought I could do to waste time as I chatted with the people in hashtag SMWC. We had good times, and shared a few laughs together. Out of boredom, I decided to patrol the hacks waiting to be moderated section. Seems that we had quite a bit, 33 if I recall correctly. The first few hacks I saw when I sorted them by date were a couple really horrible ones with bad screenshots to boot. Naturally showed these hacks to the centralites currently on hashtag SMWC. We were laughing at how bad some of them were, but then I got to a hack called Mario. Just that, nothing more, nothing less. The description seemed quite odd, as if some Japanese hacker was trying to translate the original plot of Super Mario World into English and failing horribly. I showed this to Kieran and he started laughing at the description. It read as follows. As you play the role of Super Mario Plumber, verify that you are beautiful Kieran Sasuda Zudorou, again Bowser kidnapped the evil king. It is your job to save her. This hack includes six levels of very long. I simply dismissed this as someone trying to act Japanese and release a crappy hack with some edits, or so that's what I thought this was at first. Curiosity got the best of me. I decided to download the hack, not knowing what I was in for, since the single screenshot of the hack was the title screen with nothing but the letters Mario from Super Mario World's title screen. I thought it was a little odd how there were no dates or anything either, as hackers usually place their names and dates on the titles to mark when the project was started. So when I opened the hack, I was greeted by two files. One called 307,014, a simple text file 27 kilobyte in size, and the IPS file, simply named Mario. For some odd reason I wanted to see what the offer of the hack had to say, but when I opened the hack in Notepad, there was nothing but indistinguishable symbols letters and punctuation, sort of like how when you open a ROM in a text editor like Notepad. Seems like the offer just completely copied his ROM to text form, though I could be wrong. Taking a closer look, at the top of the text file next in with the gibberish I found the only thing that looked like English there. Here is a piece of what I found. Find me, find me, find me, find me, find me, find me. To be honest I didn't know what to make of this, and I thought it was to simply waste some of my time by making me find some text in the gibberish file. That I willing to bet, no one will ever be able to make sense of. I decided that, because my interest was growing steadily, I would start looking through my horribly disorganized download folder for a copy of a clean ROM, which I had downloaded a great deal of time before the events of tonight been folded, and an IPS patcher, of course my choice for the job was Lunar IPS. So I then proceeded to move the ROM and the IPS patcher to the folder with the hack. I patched the ROM, not knowing what to expect next, and I quickly hurried to drag it to ZSNES and play what I thought was to be terrible in the form of a ROM image. I noticed on boot up that the offer had taken the time to change the header of his hack. Instead of the usual Super Mario World you normally see when booting up a ROM in ZSNES, it just had the letters Mario there again. At this point I gained a little hope, because normally people who do horrible half-assed edits to the ROM generally don't know enough to change a header title. I thought I wasn't wasting my time with this, and my mood brightened slightly at the thought of seeing what the offer had to offer in his interesting little hack. So the title screen loaded, exactly like it would with Super Mario World, except it had just Mario on the title like I had mentioned earlier. Something else had grabbed my interest more so than the unusual absence of layer 3 tiles on the title screen. Mario's normal bright colored and happy palette seemed, how can I put it? Duh. What was once violet like red was now what seemed like gray with a slight red tint to it, and I'm fairly sure his pants were looking more gray than blue too. I thought this was strange, and I wondered why he had decided to give Mario such a dull palette. Regardless as to what his intentions were, I felt that something was wrong. Not in the sense that the palette was slightly bad, but that the hack was empty like something had happened. Upon pressing start and selecting a new file, like a lot of other countless Mario hacks I have played in the past, there was some sort of intro screen that basically described the entirety of the plot in a short paragraph just small enough to fit into a small black box. I began reading, and for the most part, the message stayed the same, but there was one key factor that made this interesting. Apparently the main antagonist of this hack wasn't Bowser at all, it was. Mario. The message read as follows. Welcome. This is Dinosaur Land. In this strange land we find that Princess Toadstow is missing again. Looks like Mario is at it again. What the? This wasn't the original message from Super Mario World. I thought to myself, normally I wouldn't think anything of this, seeing as how, over my nearly two years at SMW Central, I have played countless hacks and have seen many different intro messages, but this one really stuck out. At this point, I definitely knew there was something odd about this hack. Upon letting the intro level music play, I pressed the start button on my controller to finally get to the overworld and begin my journey into this unknown hack. Upon entering the overworld, everything seemed normal. Same old level paths, same old music, but the level names were different. Instead of Yoshi's house like it always has been every time I've ever played Super Mario World, it was now simply just Yoshi's. The house part was gone. I thought that this was strange, and I began to lose hope in the hack because it had seemed like barely anything had changed at all from the original. I was hoping to see something new. Well, unluckily for me, I got my wish, as you'll see when you read on. I decided to enter the level out of curiosity. When I entered, the whole house that's normally there was gone. No more smoke, no more fire, no more little birdies, no more treehouse. All that was left was the message box. I decided to get it. Upon opening, the message I expected to be there was replaced with what seemed like binary. Apparently it says notepad. At this point I was on IRC telling everyone about how the hack was starting to weird me out, which in itself yielded some sarcastic responses. But hey, I expected it. Anyways after this my interest level in the hack skyrocketed, and along with it my paranoia. Oh boy, was in for a fun surprise. So I decided to head left. Upon reaching what was before known as Yoshi's Island 1, the level was now labeled, Never Come Back. Now I thought things were going to be all KZO death trap, because generally that is what people name their levels in KZO hacks to make sure the player doesn't go there. To my surprise it wasn't quite that way though, I wish that it had been. Upon entering level 105 I was greeted by the insanely loud clown car sound that Bowser's flying vehicle makes right before Peach falls out. Of course with my headphones being moderately high, the sound scared the living crap out of me, which wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been so nervous beforehand. I decided at this time it would be best if I turned the volume on my headphones down, as do not get any more unpleasant surprises such as that one. When I entered the level, other than the music, everything seemed to be the same, except for the fact that the little coop of that slides on the ledges wasn't there anymore, nor was the Banzi Bill. The dragon coin was still there, however for some odd reason, I wasn't able to collect it, or rather any dragon coins at all. The offer made certain of that. I also noticed that there was a brown used blot near the spot where the Banzi Bill normally shows up. I can only assume this was a revisit to the level after I had deeded it like I heard in some half-assed creepy stories in other Mario games. Now I was wondering why things were like this, making me wonder about the intro message. Had Mario done something previously to dinosaur land? Was this in Bowser's point of view? I quickly dismissed the latter option, because it seemed kind of stupid. So that left me thinking that Mario at one point in time in the author's story did something, but what? What did Mario do? My mind was nothing but rushing thoughts at this point. However I quickly dismissed them and ventured further into the level, only to find that all blocks had basically been hit, coins had been collected, save dragon coins, those were still there and unobtainable, that there were no enemies, and that I could no longer go down pipes. What kind of bullcrap am I playing here? I kept thinking to myself. At this point I felt uncomfortable. I decided to keep venturing. Eventually I came across a message box, which I wasn't surprised, was still in the level. Being the idiot I am, I went and hit the box. Upon hitting it, I was greeted with the familiar black box once again. The message was edited obviously. As I had figured that this was a given at this point. It reads as follows. Point of advice. I hate you. Now I thought things were starting to get the vibe that the author was a twisted and warped individual, and that I was right about Mario having done something. At this point I was basically rushing to get to the end of the level, so I just skirt by, and then I came across another message box. However this one was just a blank box with point of advice at the top with nothing else in it. I quickly disregarded it and headed off further to the right hoping to free myself of the hell that was once level 105. Upon reaching the end I saw a fire flower in the top block where the four-way block intersection used to be, however it was too high for me to reach by normal means, so I just continued onward, like the blind curious idiot I am would do. So I finally beat the level, and as usual the path to the yellow switch palace was unlocked. I decided to head up the path that normally leads to the yellow switch palace, and I found that when I entered the main overworld, every other landmass and decoration decides the ghosts from the ghost houses and Yoshi's island itself were gone. Nothing really changed at the yellow switch palace except for the switch message. All that changed was that switch palace was changed to Mario World. Boring. Anyways just when I thought I was done with this abomination that calls itself a heck, I found that Yoshi's Island 2 has also been edited. Oh joy. I thought to myself, upon reaching Yoshi's Island 2, I found that it had been renamed to Yoshi's house, the original name of level 104. I decided to enter and found that the palette of the level had been changed along with the background. They seem to have been changed to the same palette as Yoshi's Island 3, you know, greenish tan and such, except the background was pushed down some and was now rotting brown color, and that the vegetation on the foreground was now no longer present. I decided to explore the level again and came across the trail of Koopas, that countless players have used a shell to rack free one ups with. I decided to ignore them and go see if any more of the level was changed. I eventually came across the question mark block that calls Yoshi and decided to free him. Upon freeing him, I got this message. Hooray. Thank you for rescuing me. My name is Yoshi. On my way to rescue my friends, Mario trapped me in that egg. This had me wondering what kind of sick and twisted heck I was playing. I had thoughts of all possible scenarios of Mario attacking Dinosaur Land horribly and causing irreversible damage. The offer had me hooked with his sick little game, and like any other idiot, I took the bait and kept coming back for more. Somewhere not far off from the Yoshi block, I found a message box, in the same place I remember that it always had been though, if I've learned anything at all from playing this, it's that whatever had to be in that message box was not going to be even remotely normal in the slightest. This made me hesitant to get it, but I ended up doing so anyways. I wanted to find out more. The message I was greeted with was as follows. But, is there anything I can do to change your mind? What the fudge? I thought to myself. What the hell did this even mean? Change my mind. What would I change my mind about anyways? Was this about Mario and whatever he did, and about how people were trying to convince him to stop? Was Yoshi talking to me through message boxes? Or was it about me? About me playing the heck, asking me, as if the heck was trying to talk to me through message boxes. Either way, whether it was for more backstory on what Mario had done, or if it was questioning my decision to keep going, I decided to keep progressing despite the obvious signs that I should have quit playing the heck a while ago. As I progressed further, I found that I was right, all agitation was now gone, and nothing was left at all. Save a few enemies, like chucks, bulls and such, even the pipes were gone. I came across another message box. Like all other times before, I decided to get it. I was greeted with yet another cryptic message. Point of advice. This is the selfish way out. The selfish way out? What the hell? Was he calling me selfish for continuing to play the heck despite the warnings? Had Mario made some kind of selfish decision that only benefited him? Was Yoshi still trying to talk to me? What the hell was this by trying to tell me? At this point I was creeped out to the point that I was shaking slightly, a mix of anticipation, fear, and the fact that my room was terribly cold last night. I closed the message box and once again proceeded further. The area with the moles seemed the same, except for the fact that the block next to the vine block was gone, along with the happy clouds and dragon coin the vine allowed access to. This made me feel gloomy to say the least, not so much frightened as I was depressed. It's a feeling I couldn't really explain well. From this point on, it was basically just a big empty stretch of land to the end of the level. I proceeded quickly, I wanted to get the fudge out of there, as I felt that I had spent enough time looking around. Sony and Yoshi, I still had him at the time, opened up the next path on the overworld. It too was changed. What was once Yoshi's Island 3 now read as Yoshi's Island 7. Memories of Superbobito world flooded my mind how the levels would take giant leaps in number order which made it seem ridiculous, though at this time I didn't quite find it as humorous due to common sense and obvious reasons explained earlier. I entered the level. As I entered, I was welcomed by a solid black background and a blue and gray colored floor. The place seemed frozen, lifeless and barren. There was nothing in the level at all, save the goal point. Just a clear stretch of land with nothing else at all. I quickly lost interest and finished the level. This was what seemed like the most empty and creepy level in the game, though as you'll read on, it gets far worse. With the level beaten, a new path opened up. Yoshi's Island 4 was now just, leave now. Now I hesitated as to whether I would stop playing, but my interest kept me going further. At this point, hashtag SMWC was nothing but me posting findings and messages from the heck, so others could experience what I was experiencing. The channel sadly wasn't usually inactive, seemed like no one really cared, or wasn't around. I felt alone. I proceeded into the level. For the most part, everything seemed the same, save for the fact that there was now no water at all to keep me from falling in pits without using Yoshi as a sacrifice. The level was also void of all enemies as well. Whenever I got to an area that seemed too far for me to jump, I found that I could just walk right across on the air, thus getting rid of the need to use Yoshi as a sacrifice. It's apparent that the heck wanted me to keep him, I could tell that much. I was able to get to the pipe that usually leads to the exit level. I went in and found that the room was exactly the same, everything in the right place and nothing edited, or so I thought. The message box once again broke the mood of that brief moment of relief I had gained upon entering the pipe. At this point I was questioning whether I should keep going to see how it ends, or quit now while I still have a bit of common sense left. The message box was sort of indistinguishable, and I couldn't really make sense of it. You get if you cut the at the end. If you can collect you can. For a moment I tried to figure out what the box meant but eventually I just gave up and beat the level. I figured that box wasn't worth the time anyways. With the level beaten, the path to the first world castle opened, now renamed from number one, it used castle to number one, go back. I sure did feel welcome here. I decided to completely ignore the level name, as I just wanted to get this over with and to be done with it forever. What seemed like a normal castle intro was made especially creepy, given the fact that I had to dismount Yoshi. I felt for the first time that I was actually abandoning him, and I wish I had taken him with me. The inside room of the castle looked strange. There was this darkish blueish greenish black love on the ceiling, and there were goal points that looked like pillars. Aside from that, next to each pillar, there was an increasing amount of message boxes next to each pillar the further I got. The room was basically just a big hallway with no enemies or anything of the sort. Every message box I pressed either gave me a blank box with Yoshi's signature at the bottom, or the message that read as follows. Another cryptic message, though at this point I wasn't surprised, not in the slightest. Don't you think you've caused enough trouble? Again the thoughts in my head started circling. Wondering what exactly Mario had done, why he was here, and why everything seemed to hate everything about him and wanted him gone forever. I was feeling more depressed than scared at this point to be honest, and I had no idea what to expect next. I proceeded down the long hallway, checking message boxes filled with nothing but the same two messages over and over. It's like they were telling me to stop playing, or something. Obviously I ignored them and kept going. I eventually reached the end of the hallway. There was a door, which I entered. I was welcomed by nothing but a small section of land, and at that, the level was auto-scrolling. So I figured that this must be the end, that the offer wanted me to jump in the pit and commit suicide or something, thus ending my journey. I was wrong, the auto-scroll pushed me over the ledge, and I was still walking, unfortunately. The whole level was nothing but a long stretch of invisible land to another small piece of land just big enough for a boss door to fit. The auto-scroll came to a stop, and I prepared for the worst. I gathered my composure, swallowed some of the spit in my mouth, and took a deep breath. I entered. Nothing but a normal iddy boss, I felt cheated in a way though. I was happy to think it was finally over. I defeated iddy with two jumps effortlessly, which was actually the quickest I'd ever beaten him before. After he fell in the lava, the course clear message popped up as usual. It ended and I was brought to the rescue egg scene, though instead of the usual message, I was shown something disturbing and vastly different, like a profile for the scene of a crime. It was as follows. Victim number one. Eyeballs were unable to be found. The victim was found lying on her carpet. Causes of death and known, hand marks with an identifiable fingerprints were found all over the corpse. What the fudge is wrong with this guy? I said as I read the disturbing message. I mean, it was a heck, but still. Who the hell was this victim? Why were her eyeballs gouged out, and just what could have made those an identifiable fingerprints that were found on her body? Was this Mario's doing? Is this what the offer was trying to tell me? And furthermore, was the girl princess told still? It took me a while to see if I read the message correctly, then I proceeded outwards, though I was wondering what happened next, since the main map was completely gone and there was no trace of it anywhere. To my surprise, it still showed the path marked for Donut Plains. The eventiles still being there, marking the path to the lone level on the giant map that was once the main world. It was still called Donut Plains 1. I thought we were finally done once more, but when I entered the level I could see that like the previous times, I was once again wrong. Upon entering I saw two message boxes. They said as follows. There is no way out of here. Fly away. I found it quite strange that both message boxes were contradicting each other. One was telling me that there was no way out of this accursed hell, and the other was telling me that, if I could fly away, I could be free, though I saw no feather or enemies to grab one with. Was this telling me that I could either rise up and go to heaven, or stay in hell forever, while a wing in despair? Did I need a cape to proceed? And what happens after this? Is the whole game like this? I began to create more thoughts in my head trying to figure the message boxes out, but to no avail. I proceeded to walk to the right. I made a jump, but I found that I was stuck in the area, there was an invisible wall, and I had thought I had a dead end. When I landed I tried moving right again to see if there was any way to go on. All of a sudden I heard the pipe sound, and I was making the pipe animation, except there was no pipe present, so it looked quite odd. I was then taken to a level with a black background, stone blocks for ground, and a small door. I was immediately given a mushroom to prevent me from entering it, so I proceed further to see if there is anything else in the level. I found that the room was nothing but a long stretch of concrete blocks and doors that were too small for me to enter because of the mushroom I got. It's obvious that the offer didn't want me going through any of them, or I wouldn't have gotten the mushroom in the first place. As I proceeded I found myself at a dead end. Since there was nothing left for me to look at, I tried to go right again. It worked, I went through the brick wall. It acted like a pipe, and I did a pipe animation that looked like I was going into the darkness. I was then taken to a small room, with what seemed like a pit, and a wall. I jumped down the pit seeing as how there was no other option, though I found that the bottom of the pit was solid. I tried pressing down in a bunch of areas, until I came across a pipe. Mario slowly did the pipe transition downwards off the screen. Expecting another level, I waited, but there was no more. Just a black screen. I wasn't able to continue. Unable to pause or exit the level, or move. There was nothing, nothing at all. This was the video game representation of death, a crash. Mario had died. After playing, I think I finally understand what was happening. I believe Mario was atoning for his actions, eventually being plummeted into a hell that looked exactly like Yoshi's Island, where he was lost to the grip of death, forever. I was finally done playing and quite relieved at that. The nightmare was over, activity on the IRC seemed to be back up again. I quickly shared my tales with the rest of hashtag SMWC, and typed this documentation of it. If you feel daring enough, you too can witness my tale, first hand. Remember guys, it's only a hack, it can't hurt you. Or can it? This hack, being the first of its kind to get SMW central, of course gained a lot of attention, even the site's founder and administrator Kieran, currently Kieran Minner, who then immediately recognized the text file that Adam mistook for the SMC, rum image, converted into text, as a JPEG file, due to its header. He tried manually converting it back into JPEG, but the result was barely viewable, the only recognizable part was the very top. He then continued searching Google for images with his attempts resolution, 327x277, and the second result struck him as relevant. You can find Kieran's post here, his original attempt only displays a broken image now. This hack's novelty on SMW central wore off however, and it was removed from the hack database after being accepted for being the first of its kind, a creepypasta hack, maybe linked to username 6666.