By Nintendo is even more prolific than most video game publishers in its efforts to crack down on piracy, and it was implementing anti-piracy measures in its games even decades ago. That includes a series of triggers in Super Smash Bros. for N64 that slowly make the game more and more annoying to play, with a not-very-nice trap that’ll stick you in the Mario dimension forever.
“Super Smash Bros. contains a sneaky ‘delayed action’ anti-piracy measure to lull the illegitimate user into a false sense of security,” according to fastidious Mario trivia aggregator Supper Mario Broth on Bluesky. “The game will be normal the first 68 times it is launched. Starting with the 69th time, however, every selected character will turn into Mario.” The only way out of the Mario dimension is to completely delete your save file.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking, and I agree: nice. But it’s unlikely Nintendo picked that number for any meme-related reason. While the number 69 had developed its, er, connotations well before video games were even a twinkle in William Higinbotham’s eye, it had not yet become a ubiquitous gag the internet would eventually turn it into. Plus, it’s not even the only special anti-piracy number in Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. contains a sneaky “delayed action” anti-piracy measure to lull the illegitimate user into a false sense of security. The game will be normal the first 68 times it is launched. Starting with the 69th time, however, every selected character will turn into Mario.
— @mariobrothblog.bsky.social (@mariobrothblog.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-09-18T22:42:58.885Z
Supper Mario Broth’s explainer is based on research from The Cutting Room Floor wiki, which notes that there are actually four anti-piracy triggers in the Super Smash Bros. cartridge. If you load up versus mode 22 times, all fighter knockback values get randomized, “essentially making the game a lot more luck based.” Load versus mode 69 times, and you get the Mario lockdown described above.
Load 1P mode 43 times, and the control stick range will be halved, “essentially making it much more irritating to perform any movements and locking the player out of various attacks that require running.” Load 1P mode 93 times, and you’ll be forced to play Peach’s Castle in every versus mode battle.
In other words, the more you play a pirated copy of Super Smash Bros., the more annoying it becomes to continue playing. Why bother with this level of subterfuge, rather than simply lock out the game when the first piracy trigger hits? Well, a pirate would notice if the game didn’t boot at all, and would likely track down the trigger causing issues there. Odd bugs that only happen sporadically after repeated plays would be a lot harder to notice.
Similar sorts of anti-piracy measures are present in other games, too. My favorite example is in the 2011 FPS game Serious Sam 3, where if you flip the piracy trigger, you’ll be chased by a giant, immortal scorpion monster through the entire game.
But legitimate users often get caught out by anti-piracy tricks, too, and it seems that’s not entirely uncommon with Super Smash Bros. players. The piracy check can be triggered by GameShark devices, and a handful of comments on Supper Mario Broth’s post suggest that’s not a purely theoretical problem. “I remember using codes with it, then being confused as to why Mario was the only selectable character. This post solves my childhood mystery!”