Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days are over, but the retailer is still cutting prices – including a discount on Borderlands 4, which only launched a few weeks ago.
While it’s not the biggest discount at 19% off, it does mark the first saving on Gearbox’s open-world loot shooter, bringing the PS5 version down to $56.99.
This Borderlands 4 Deal Should Be Looted Immediately
Sadly, there’s no discount to be found on the Xbox version, but PS5 owners can get the standard edition a bit cheaper at least.
While our reviewer and loot shooter aficionado, Travis Northup, felt the open world wasn’t quite as open as it could be, he gave the game an 8 out of 10.
“Borderlands 4 gives the series the massive kick in the pants it has needed, with a fantastic open world and greatly improved combat, even if bugs and invisible walls can sometimes throw off that groove.”
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
Death Stranding and Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima recently revealed how repeated visits to the 1970 World Expo (Expo ‘70) as a child had a “life-changing” impact on him, profoundly shaping his outlook as a game developer. In a separate piece, the legendary video game auteur shared how he had a very different experience of the current Expo 2025.
As spotted by Automaton, the 62-year-old Kojima wrote an essay for An-An magazine detailing how Expo ’70 shaped his worldview: “Without that Expo, I wouldn’t have developed my future-oriented and globalized outlook. Metal Gear and Death Stranding would not have come into being.”
Osaka hosted the Expo ’70, with 76 countries and 32 organizations participating (source: Expo ’70 Commemorative Park official website). Kojima said that at the time he had just started elementary school and lived near the event site. This gave him the opportunity to visit the Expo many times.
“I could even go after school on weekdays,” he recalled, borrowing his dad’s brand new camera (the Ricoh Auto Half Expo ’70 Model) and snapping loads of photos. “Whenever you entered a pavilion, you received a badge,” he remembered, adding that children proudly showed off their collections to each other.
The main theme of Expo ’70 was ‘Progress and Harmony for Mankind.’ It even had its own theme song — Haruo Minami’s ‘Sekai no kuni kara konnichiwa’ (Hello from the countries of the world), which Kojima quoted in his essay — with lyrics that focus on saying “hello” and “holding hands” across countries and borders (the song is on YouTube with English subtitles).
“At the Expo, I experienced ‘Progress and Harmony for Mankind’ up close. I said ‘hello’ and ‘shook hands’ with (avant-garde artist) Taro Okamoto, (sci-fi novelist) Sakyo Komatsu, (architects) Kenzo Tange and Kisho Kurokawa, and (fashion designers) Junko Koshino and Hanae Mori. It was all a shocking ‘close encounter of the third kind,'” Kojima remembered. “Technology, science, design, fashion, history, the world, culture, society. You could say that that ‘hello’ back then shaped who I became. ‘Shaking hands’ with the Expo changed my life and my vision of the future.”
Kojima explained that “the Expo’s greatness wasn’t just in the glimpses it offered of cutting-edge technology and the daily life of the future. It showed me the global diversity of nations, ethnicities, races, religions, customs, and histories. It embodied the essence of ‘past and future’ and ‘the world and harmony.’ Without that Expo, I wouldn’t have developed my future-oriented and globalized outlook. Metal Gear and Death Stranding would not have come into being.”
One of the major attractions of Expo ’70 was the Moon Rock at the U.S. pavilion, which had been brought back from the Moon by Apollo 12 astronauts the previous year. Despite his many visits, Kojima said that “unfortunately, the U.S. pavilion, where I’d hoped to see the Moon Rock, was too crowded, so I never got to see it with my own eyes.” He also recalled waiting over two hours to get into the U.S.S.R pavilion.
But what does Kojima feel about the current Expo 2025 that is being held in Osaka, and how did his experience compare? In a follow-up essay published in An-An, Kojima wrote about visiting Expo 2025 on a very rainy day, camera in tow again: “I wanted to see for myself how ‘globalism’ and ‘visions of the future’ have changed over the past 55 years, and how the baton will be passed on (to future generations).” However, the experience gave Kojima a “strange feeling.”
The developer explained: “I didn’t get that sense of a tremendous future like I did as a child (at Expo ’70). It wasn’t thrilling or exciting. Just a ceaseless, predictable tomorrow stretching on and on. It wasn’t that there was no ‘future’ — rather that I couldn’t ascertain the next ‘tomorrow’ for myself. The ‘future’ I dreamed of at that (1970) Expo — I’ve already experienced most of it. Robots, videophones and moving walkways have become commonplace. The tomorrow that this (2025) Expo promotes is one that children will witness.
Kojima gave the opinion that World Expos are primarily for children, as they are the ones who will take mankind into the future. Whether the futuristic designs at the 2025 Expo will be representative of what the real future will be is “something old people can never know.” However, Kojima added that he enjoyed the Expo: “Although I will not be able to experience this future firsthand, I plan to go again.”
Any player of Metal Gear Solid or Death Stranding doesn’t have to look far to see how both series feature diverse casts of characters, with stories often set in the near future that grapple with both the tremendous possibilities and dangers of technology. MGS1 explored genetic engineering and the concept of gene-therapy enhanced soldiers, MGS2 delved into the dangers of internet censorship and human-sounding AI chatbots (making it an interesting revisit in 2025), while MGS4 showed a mech-filled future in which paramilitary conglomerates wage endless wars for profit.
With its Chiral Network, Death Stranding holds up a mirror to the benefits and dangers of the internet and digital society, and the struggle to reconnect a fragmented, post-apocalyptic world. Legacy and passing on the future to subsequent generations are also big Kojima themes, and it seems they were shaped by his childhood experiences of Expo ’70.
As a side note, the Expo ’70 site is still open to the public today, although all the pavilions that awed the young Kojima have since been demolished. Now called the Expo’70 Commemorative Park, it still features the event’s symbolic Tower of the Sun, a sculpture by Taro Okamoto.
Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Kojima Productions.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
The anime MMORPG Blue Protocol: Star Resonance is out on October 9, and it’s arriving with plenty to do. Whether you’re interested in digging deep into the grind and challenges or just want to know how to get started, Maxroll’s comprehensive Blue Protocol: Star Resonance guide can help you every step of the way.
Getting Started in Blue Protocol: Star Resonance
Maxroll has spent the last few months creating detailed yet beginner-friendly guides for every major BPSR system. A great place to start is the Beginner’s Guide, which introduces you to the core mechanics of the game with detailed explanations and tips. If you’d like a character progression roadmap for your first few weeks, the Game Plan for Weeks 1-4 is an ideal companion.
Blue Protocol: Star Resonance Build Guides
At launch, Blue Protocol: Star Resonance features eight classes, built around the traditional trio of Tank, DPS, and Healer. Each class branches into two specializations, offering unique playstyle variations. Maxroll’s BPSR Class Build Guides break down the ins and outs of each role and class:
Blue Protocol: Star Resonance Character Progression
Like any MMO, you’ll need to hone your skills and upgrade your gear to take on tougher challenges. To learn the basics of gear progression and upgrades, start with these two guides:
Few experiences in MMOs rival the thrill of conquering dungeons and defeating powerful bosses. For casual players, Normal and Hard difficulty dungeons and raids are designed to be accessible and rewarding, without hours-long grinds.
Those looking for a greater challenge can test themselves in Master difficulty, which demands preparation, communication, and mastery of boss mechanics.
Explore how to best approach BPSR daily and weekly tasks with Maxroll’s guide, and then when you’re ready to try something new, check out these other helpful guides to make sure you get the most out of the game’s side content:
These are only a few of the side activities you’ll find on your journey in Star Resonance. Make use of the guides on Maxroll before you embrace the true end content of this game: Fashion!
Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days finish today after a shorter run than in July, but the retailer isn’t the only one with deals to go around.
Target’s Circle Week, which offers deals for anyone who’s a Target Circle member (it’s $99 a year or $10.99 annually), has sales on Apple tech, LEGO, and even Magic: The Gathering cards and video games. Here are our picks.
Save On Tech And Toys At Target
Kicking off with a doozy, you can get this LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Helmet for under $50 with Target’s deals. It’s an 834-piece build, so is ideal for intermediate builders, and shows off arguably the most iconic helmet in cinematic history (seriously, who comes close other than Stormtroopers?).
Target also has some Apple tech deals. The Apple Watch Series 10 is down to just over $300 now that the Series 11 is here, and considering the new model adds very little on top of what the Series 10 offers, it’s well worth that if you want a device that’s a seamless extension of your current iPhone.
Next up for Apple, there’s a $100 discount on the ridiculously powerful iPad Pro M4. I’ll be honest, there’s a good chance an M5 version arrives in a few weeks, but this is a phenomenally powerful tablet that can take advantage of iOS 26’s new features like multitasking and more Mac-like features.
The Apple deals continue, with half off the Beats Studio Pro over-ear headphones, and 32% off the AirPods Pro 2, although expect the latter to get cheaper for Black Friday since the third-generation ones are out.
Next up, you can get a compact Anker Power Bank for $14.99, saving around $10 – ideal for charging your phone while out and about.
Next up Target is running a Buy 2, Get One Free promotion across books, movies, music, and uh, Funko Pop figurines. If you’ve been lacking in any of those areas, now’s the time to splurge, with books like the recently released Alchemised, movies like Moana 2 and Thunderbolts, and more included.
PS5 gamers can pick up some first-party exclusives on the cheap, too. The Last of Us Part 1 and Gran Turismo 7 both see 56% discounts, dropping to $29.99 each.
Finally (ha!) the Final Fantasy Limit Break Commander Deck is now cheaper than MSRP. This is the one that’s tended to hold its value since launch in June, and it’s now reduced by 22% – and you don’t even have to be a Target Circle member for this one, either.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
Battlefield 6‘s servers are ready for launch day on Friday, one of the game’s developers has insisted.
Battlefield lead producer at DICE, David Sirland, replied to a question on X/Twitter about server readiness with a sort of confident sounding “should be!”
“We are planning for [servers to be ready], of course,” Sirland said, “and open beta helped gauge the interest as well.”
He’s not wrong about the beta helping to gauge interest. Battlefield 6 became the series’ biggest beta ever, hitting a peak concurrent user count of 521,079 players on Steam alone, resulting in a lengthy queue for those trying to get into August’s open beta. Whether or not the full, paid release will garner such a draw remains to be seen — but we’ll find out one way or the other on Friday.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
While at first glance it may not look like there are many links between Silent Hill f and the Silent Hill games that preceded it, someone has discovered a cheeky little Easter egg hidden in plain sight.
As shared by Frankielollia on TikTok and one of her livestream viewers, during Hinako’s exploration of the Ebisugaoka Middle School, you’ll hear someone tinkling the ivories before opening the stairway door to the second floor. And it’s in one of these second-floor rooms that you’ll find a nod to the original game: a sheet of music displaying the opening notes of the original Silent Hill’s main theme.
As someone who can’t read music, I missed this entirely on my first playthrough, but Frankielollia happened to be streaming when someone who could read music and had a guitar to hand was watching. Together, they worked out what the notes depicted.
Silent Hill f takes us to 1960s Japan, where we follow Hinako Shimizu, a teenager struggling under the pressure of expectations from her friends, family, and society. It’s out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Dead Space fans have reacted in dismay at the cost of cosplaying as series star Isaac Clarke in EA’s new free-to-play Skate, which is currently available in early access.
Skate’s new Isaac Clarke bundle, which includes a homemade-style cardboard Isaac Clarke costume for your skater, a themed skateboard, the Necro Stomp emote and a bunch of stickers, is priced at 3,350 San Van Bucks — Skate’s in-game currency.
A pack of 2,800 San Van Bucks costs $25, while a 500 San Van Bucks pack costs $5. Inconveniently, buying these will leave you needing another 50 Van Bucks — so you’ll need another 500 pack ($5), making for a minimum total spend of $35. (There is at least a USG Ishimura T-shirt for free.)
While Skate is a free-to-play game funded by microtransactions, Dead Space fans have reacted to the bundle’s pricing in disbelief, with many comparing its cost to the price of the franchise’s full games.
Currently, the original Dead Space trilogy is available via Steam for $20 each, though individual games have been offered for as little as $4 each during sales. The celebrated 2023 Dead Space remake is currently $60 — although has been offered for as little as $12 during sales.
In one post on reddit titled “The state of Dead Space,” IllustriousReveal962 wrote: “Let’s hope that one day Dead Space will reach state as an IP that it isn’t solely relegated to just being a skin in a mediocre always online game to boost mtx.”
“You can buy 3 Dead Sapce games with that money (and probably 3 Skate games),” wrote another fan, Diogo Rodriguez, in a post on X. “Dead Space 2 remake got cancelled and now we get this,” wrote cayo0663.
On the left is Isaac Clarke from Dead Space in Skate 3. Model looks incredible & could only be obtained through a cheat code.
On the right is an Issac Clarke outfit in a bundle (pic included of bundle) on Skate 4. It costs roughly $30-$40 and looks horrible.
EA’s Dead Space and Skate franchises have something of a history, with a snazzy Isaac Clarke skin and cool sci-fi skateboard unlockable in Skate 3 for free via cheat code. The franchise’s celebrated 2023 Dead Space remake meanwhile featured an in-game Easter egg for a fictional “Skate 3000.” Many fans have said it should have been a positive this crossover is continuing — but not priced like this.
Image credit: @Realradec.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Activision has announced an eye-catching free trial of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 that just so happens to clash with the launch week of rival first-person shooter Battlefield 6.
The week-long free trial of Black Ops 6, which includes full access to the campaign for the first time ever, as well as all of Multiplayer (excluding Ranked Play) and Zombies, kicks off at 9am PT on October 9 — just a day before Battlefield 6’s October 10 release date — and ends 10am PT on October 16.
The Black Ops 6 trial even includes new content from The Haunting update, like the Gravity, Rig, and Mothball Multiplayer maps, Haunted Havoc Zombies limited-time mode, and more.
While Activision hasn’t come out and said this trial is a direct attack on EA’s Battlefield 6 launch, fans are under no illusion about the optics here. It’s worth noting that Black Ops 6 is already playable via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, but the trial will benefit Essential and Premium users on Xbox and of course players on PlayStation and Steam.
It’s the latest salvo in what has become a popcorn-worthy back-and-forth between Activision and EA, with each mega publisher’s big budget FPS vying for the hearts and minds of the gaming community this holiday season.
In a recent interview with DBLTAP, Battlefield 6 design director Shashank Uchil doubled down on EA’s commitment to grounded realism, and even pointed to Call of Duty’s infamous Nicki Minaj skin as something Battlefield 6 doesn’t need.
“It has to be grounded,” he said. “That is what BF3 and BF4 was — it was all soldiers, on the ground. It’s going to be like this,” Uchil said, pointing at the key art featuring soldiers in soldier gear looking out over a wartorn New York City.
He added: “I don’t think it needs Nicki Minaj. Let’s keep it real, keep it grounded.”
Both games are crucial releases for their publishers. Battlefield 6 leads the charge, releasing October 10 before Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 counter-attacks on November 14. It will be interesting to see which of the two mega publishers is happiest when the dust settles.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The long wait for Battlefield 6 is nearly over, but that isn’t stopping fans from arguing about whether multiplayer is better with Open or Closed Weapon classes.
EA and the four-company team at Battlefield Studios will let loose their new entry in the large-scale military shooter series this Friday, October 10, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S (find out when, exactly, here). Along with a new campaign, guns, gadgets, and maps, the developers behind Battlefield 6 have told fans to look forward to a return to form following the disappointment that was Battlefield 2042.
Beta and Battlefield Labs players have largely come away excited for what Battlefield 6 promises, but the debate surrounding Open and Closed Weapons is the main thing on fans’ minds just two days out from launch.
The conversation picked up when players went hands-on during the August Battlefield 6 beta tests. While many past Battlefield games feature Closed Weapons – a design decision that locks classes to a specific set of guns – many were surprised to see the new Battlefield game add and prioritize an option for Open Weapons, which largely removes gun restrictions between classes.
This Open style is similar to the system used in Battlefield 2042, but it’s not the bad taste in players’ mouths that has them bickering. Closed Weapons defenders argue these restrictions encourage players to not only think on their feet but also rely on teamwork, a key element for many longtime fans of the series. The system could also pour cold water on meta gameplay strategies that could result in an unbalanced number of players relying on one particularly powerful gun.
Those on the other side of the fence feel Open Weapons offer players of all skill levels more freedom to craft a loadout that fits their playstyles while rewarding those who choose specific loadouts. Though perhaps not quite as vocal, there are plenty of players who feel Open loadouts are the way to go – and BF Studios agrees.
Battlefield Studios Says Players Prefer Open Weapons
Debate continued up to earlier this week, when BF Studios offered a pre-release breakdown for its Battlefield 6 launch day plans, previewing the contents of its day one patch for those looking forward to in-game changes following post-beta feedback. It came hand-in-hand with confirmation that data pointed to “a vast majority of players” preferring the Open system more than the Closed system after trying both options between different playlists.
“This reinforces our belief that Open Weapons is the right path forward for Battlefield 6,” the message from BF Studios says. “At the same time, we recognize that some players prefer the Closed Weapons experience. To support them, official Closed Weapons playlists will be available at launch.”
No matter how loud fans of the Closed method are, BF Studios is adamant that players mostly gravitate toward an Open system, even if Battlefield 6 will continue to support both options. Meanwhile, many have used this latest update only as fuel to continue their mission to see this week’s new Battlefield game shift its focus to the Closed system.
Their argument revolves around the notion that open beta players only favored Open Weapons because relevant playlist options are the first to appear on the Battlefield 6 multiplayer menu screen. So, the idea is, if your average player, who is unfamiliar with the discourse, boots up the game, they’ll need to dig for a Closed option, resulting in skewed data.
It’s a criticism many are leaning on that EA and BF Studios have already stepped in to stomp out. Lead Battlefield producer at DICE David Sirland took to X/Twitter to explain how the team came to their conclusion. He addresses the argument that Closed playlist options were hidden from players, reminding displeased fans that playlist and mode tiles often moved around, and their data accounted for that.
“Yes they moved around alot, as you may have noticed,” Sirland said in response to a fan asking for clarification. “We did this to all tiles, [Conquest] vs [Breakthrough] etc. See how much tile placement impact pick rates and how single mode vs playlist with multiple modes differed, etc.”
Sirland’s explanation still hasn’t quite quelled the uproar, as one third of the Battlefield 6 community demands more answers while another third is voicing their support for Open playlists more than ever. That final third mostly just wants the fighting to come to an end.
Brutal truth:
Casuals won’t care about Closed Weapons. Or Open Weapons. Or even what weapon they’re using most of the time.
As BF Studios and EA barrel toward the launch of Battlefield 6, disgruntled fans continue to take to comment sections across social media to ask the developers to give Closed playlists more time in the spotlight. Complaints and memes poking fun at the situation have flooded Reddit, in particular, with many replies from users calling out debaters as simply being a vocal minority.
“I would be surprised if the open vs closed weapon debate represents more than 10% of players,” one popular comment said. “I think 10% is being very generous lol,” another replied.
We asked Ripple Effect about its feelings surrounding the Open vs. Closed Weapon debate during an interview last month. At the time, senior console combat designer Matthew Nickerson said the team didn’t want to “make a decision or really pigeonhole” how players experience Battlefield 6.
“I think it’s ongoing, and I think it’ll continually evolve, but again, from a design side, we don’t want to make a decision for the player base at the end of the day,” Nickerson added. “We want to support both moving forward, and again, a key mantra for Battlefield 6 is, ‘Play Battlefield how you want to,’ so we’re making sure we support both open and closed systems. We just don’t want to make the decision for the player.”
It’s unclear if EA and BF Studios have any plans to address the Open vs. Closed Weapons debate further ahead of the launch of Battlefield 6. With the recent acknowledgment reaffirming its commitment to the Open system while reassuring players that Closed options will remain available, it seems unlikely BF Studios will change course anytime soon.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Quick, gather ’round everyone. New Mario levels just dropped.
You heard me. New levels. In Mario. Specifically, in Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, a game that first released in 1986 and which, you’d think, everyone had already discovered every single secret in.
Nope. There was still more to find. And a speedrunner named Kosmic managed to uncover over 20 previously unseen (and at times very glitchy) playable levels in the game after a lot of community help, experimentation, patience, and jumping off springs.
Kosmic has recorded his full journey in a 40-minute video here, and I highly recommend watching it because he does some crazy stuff and has a detailed explanation of how and why this works the way it does. But very, very basically, in the original Super Mario Bros. and its sequel, The Lost Levels, the game determines what level and world to send you to at the end of each level based on what object you “use” to clear the level. Grabbing a flagpole increases the “Area” number by 1 (the “2” in “1-2”) while grabbing the axe on a castle bridge increases the “World” number (sending you to “2-1” after beating “1-4”, for instance).
Then there’s Warp Pipes. For years, the Mario community has known about the infamous “Minus World” glitch – an infinitely-looping water level accessed by entering the Warp Zone in 1-2 in such a way that the zone doesn’t fully load, and the pipes aren’t set up yet to send you to the correct world and area. In the original Super Mario Bros., doing this and then entering the far left or right pipes sends players to a level designated “World -1”, or Minus World. In The Lost Levels, this glitch was removed, with the pipes instead sending players to whatever destination is currently loaded into its memory. But if you enter the pipe while moving, the Warp Zone can load after you’ve entered, and you can trick the game to send you to the very beginning of the Area that the pipe wants to send you to.
That’s all pretty complicated, and honestly it’s making my head spin too. Again, Kosmic’s explanation is the best one, but the even shorter version is that using a combination of flags, axes, and pipes, you can manipulate the game into sending you into increasingly unhinged areas. You can force the game to load wacky stuff like World 2-5, 2-9, and so forth. And in The Lost Levels, quite specifically the Super Mario All-Stars edition, this weirdness is compounded by the fact that the game has save states accessible from the menu that will save your access to these weird worlds, but will load them in differently if you’re accessing them from the menu instead of from the previous world.
Kosmic was able to combine all of this to start loading world after world beyond The Lost Levels’ lettered bonus levels. First, from B-4, he made it to B-5, then B-6, 7, and 8. With some difficulty, he reached B-A, B-B, B-C, and B-D. Up to this point all these levels were largely just repeated versions of other levels, albeit with some occasional weirdness. But after B-D, it was unclear what was going to load.
The answer was B-E. At first, it just seemed sort of silly. Then, Mario briefly went to jail:
The only way out was to save and quit. Kosmic escaped, headed to B-F, which started a series of repeat normal levels. From here, he went all the way to B-L, after which point a spring and a giant pit stopped him from playing further. But he could still load all these levels from the menu for different variations, and B-H resulted in this:
Things only got weirder from there:
In total, Kosmic found over 20 “new levels”, which ranged from nearly identical to existing levels, to total messes like what you see above. Eventually, playing them just crashed Kosmic’s game, and they’re probably not that fun from a platforming perspective, but they were cool to see.
So why did it take 39 years to find these levels? Kosmic has theories:
“Fewer people played Lost Levels compared to the first game. This trick is deep into the game, like in bonus worlds, not even in the main worlds. To see the full extent of the glitch, it only works on the All-Stars version, and it gets a bit technical…but the main reason I’d say is it’s actually really hard.”
Kosmic demonstrates this in his videos. The most difficult part about it involves entering a pipe when the Warp Zone isn’t fully loaded in, which requires being very precise with your movement as well as where the camera currently is. Some levels are easier to manipulate than others, but for this glitch to work there’s one particularly tricky Warp Zone that Kosmic had to pull some very specific tricks to master.
Congrats to Kosmic and the entire Super Mario Bros. community, who now have a bag full of weird new levels to mess around with and the certainty that it’s never too late to discover something new about a classic video game.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
