How to Jump Over the Flagpole in Super Mario Bros. Level 1

Some hardcore gamer I am. All these years, I thought jumping over the flagpole in Super Mario Bros. was just a rumor, but videos of this very feat have been making the rounds on YouTube for years. But even if you knew about the pulley platform trick on level 3-3, Cinemassacre brings word of a new trick for jumping the flagpole in Super Mario Bros.’ first level.

They key is to stomp on the game’s first koopa troopa while he’s falling down the pit just left of the first 10-coin block. But instead of following the koopa into the pit, you’ve got to jump left from the high platform above the pit and exploit a glitch where the enemy is briefly vulnerable from the top of the screen. If you do it right, the koopa will re-emerge from its shell and walk with you to the end of the stage, where you can top-stomp it again to vault over the pole. You must be small Mario on the first stomp and big Mario when jumping the pole.

Your reward for this impeccable sense of timing? A vast wasteland that extends as far as you can sprint before the timer runs out. It’s as much of a letdown as the negative world, but just as impressive if you can pull it off with a friend present. [Cinemassacre via Reddit]