---
title: "Shigeru Miyamoto; Mario’s Famous B-Dash Began as a Super Mario Bros. Coding Bug"
url: "https://www.nintendoreporters.com/en/news/general/shigeru-miyamoto-marios-famous-b-dash-began-as-a-super-mario-bros-coding-bug/"
description: "Mario’s B-Dash has been part of Super Mario Bros. since the beginning, but the famous movement mechanic was never originally planned. Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed"
author: "Patrick Dankers"
published at: "2026-08-09 15:10:28"
image: "https://www.nintendoreporters.com/storage/files/shigeru-miyamoto-marios-famous-b-dash-began-as-a-super-mario-bros-coding-bug.jpeg"
markdown url: "https://www.nintendoreporters.com/en/news/general/shigeru-miyamoto-marios-famous-b-dash-began-as-a-super-mario-bros-coding-bug.md"
---

Shigeru Miyamoto; Mario’s Famous B-Dash Began as a Super Mario Bros. Coding Bug | General News | NintendoReporters

 [![Shigeru Miyamoto; Mario’s Famous B-Dash Began as a Super Mario Bros. Coding Bug](https://www.nintendoreporters.com/storage/files/shigeru-miyamoto-marios-famous-b-dash-began-as-a-super-mario-bros-coding-bug.jpeg "Shigeru Miyamoto; Mario’s Famous B-Dash Began as a Super Mario Bros. Coding Bug")](https://www.nintendoreporters.com/storage/files/shigeru-miyamoto-marios-famous-b-dash-began-as-a-super-mario-bros-coding-bug.jpeg)**Summary:**

Mario’s B-Dash has been part of Super Mario Bros. since the beginning, but the famous movement mechanic was never originally planned. Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that the ability to race across small gaps while holding the B button emerged from a flaw in the game’s ground collision detection. A programmer noticed that Mario had failed to fall where expected and prepared to correct the problem. Miyamoto saw something different. Rather than treating the unusual movement as a mistake, he recognised that it made controlling Mario more playful and asked the team to leave it in the game.

The story provides a fascinating look at how Super Mario Bros. was created. The B-Dash was not the only familiar feature born from an unexpected technical result. Miyamoto also recalled how coins appearing in empty spaces inspired Hidden Blocks, while Takashi Tezuka’s idea for a fish that could leap from the water eventually became the Cheep Cheep encounters in World 2-3. Making that enemy work required the team to reconsider the surrounding level rather than simply alter the character.

These discoveries demonstrate that Super Mario Bros. was shaped through experimentation, discussion and collaboration. Programmers, artists, designers and composers contributed beyond the boundaries of their individual roles. Instead of immediately erasing every bug, the developers considered whether an accident could produce something enjoyable. Several of Mario’s most recognisable ideas survived because the team remained curious enough to ask a simple question: what if the mistake is actually fun?

---

## [](#marios-famous-b-dash-began-with-an-unexpected-coding-bug)Mario’s famous B-Dash began with an unexpected coding bug

The B-Dash feels so natural that it is difficult to imagine Super Mario Bros. without it. Hold the B button while moving and Mario accelerates, allowing him to cover more ground, build momentum and clear wider gaps. Players quickly learn that walking is useful when precision matters, while dashing transforms Mario into a much faster and more capable character. That distinction gives the controls an appealing rhythm. One moment you are carefully approaching an enemy, and the next you are racing across the screen with a trail of Goombas behind you. According to Shigeru Miyamoto, however, this familiar ability grew from a coding problem rather than a carefully documented feature proposal. Mario unexpectedly crossed a small opening because the game failed to recognise that he should fall. What looked like faulty collision detection became the foundation of a mechanic that would help define the entire series.

### [](#how-the-collision-detection-error-changed-marios-movement)How the collision-detection error changed Mario’s movement

The original error involved the way Super Mario Bros. detected the ground beneath its hero. When Mario moved quickly across a narrow gap, the game did not always register the absence of solid ground in the expected way. Instead of dropping immediately, he could continue moving across the opening. To a programmer, this behaviour naturally looked like something that needed repairing. Collision detection is supposed to tell a game where characters can stand, where they should fall and when they have struck an object. When it behaves incorrectly, the results can be messy. Yet this particular mistake did not break the experience. It gave Mario an exciting little advantage. Players could use speed to overcome a danger that would catch them while moving slowly. The bug introduced a clear relationship between momentum and success, making Mario feel less like a rigid collection of pixels and more like a character whose movement carried believable energy.

#### [](#miyamoto-stopped-the-programmer-from-removing-the-mechanic)Miyamoto stopped the programmer from removing the mechanic

Once the programmer spotted Mario crossing the gap, the expected response was to correct the collision logic. Miyamoto intervened because he found the result entertaining. His reaction was not based on whether the code behaved perfectly according to its original specification. He focused on what happened when someone actually played the game. Crossing the gap at speed felt rewarding, understandable and slightly mischievous, almost as though the player had discovered a secret trick. Miyamoto therefore asked for the behaviour to remain. That choice turned a technical flaw into an intentional part of Mario’s movement. It also reflects an important distinction in game development. A bug is usually undesirable because it damages control, fairness or reliability. When an unintended behaviour improves the experience, however, preserving it can be the smarter creative decision. In this case, the player’s enjoyment mattered more than making the underlying system behave exactly as first planned.

## [](#why-the-b-dash-became-essential-to-super-mario-bros)Why the B-Dash became essential to Super Mario Bros.

Keeping the B-Dash did more than preserve a convenient trick. It added another layer to nearly every level. Without the mechanic, Mario’s movement would have had fewer shades between cautious platforming and full-speed action. The dash allows experienced players to move confidently while giving newcomers the freedom to proceed at a gentler pace. It also affects jumping distance, enemy avoidance and the timing needed to reach moving platforms. In other words, one button changes how players interpret the terrain around them. A small gap stops being a mandatory jump and becomes something that momentum might conquer. A line of enemies becomes either a carefully timed obstacle or a challenge to race past. That flexibility helped make Super Mario Bros. approachable without making it dull. The rules are easy to understand, but players can combine running and jumping in increasingly skilled ways. The B-Dash turned a simple control scheme into something with lasting depth.

## [](#hidden-blocks-also-emerged-from-an-accidental-discovery)Hidden Blocks also emerged from an accidental discovery

The B-Dash was not the only recognisable Super Mario Bros. feature connected to an unexpected technical result. Miyamoto explained that coins once appeared in midair where no visible object had been placed. Rather than dismissing the occurrence as meaningless visual clutter, the team considered the playful possibility behind it. That accident contributed to the creation of Hidden Blocks, invisible objects that reveal themselves only when Mario strikes them from below. Hidden Blocks encourage curiosity because they teach players that the visible level is not necessarily the entire level. An apparently empty space may contain a coin, a useful item or another surprise. The idea rewards observation and experimentation, especially when the placement of nearby platforms or blocks suggests that something might be concealed. What began as an object appearing where it seemingly did not belong became an invitation to investigate. It made the Mushroom Kingdom feel as though it contained secrets just beyond the surface.

## [](#cheep-cheep-required-a-clever-change-to-the-level-design)Cheep Cheep required a clever change to the level design

Cheep Cheep demonstrates a different kind of creative problem-solving. The enemy did not simply emerge from a programming accident. Its initial concept came from graphic artist Takashi Tezuka, who imagined a fish capable of leaping from the water, briefly travelling through the air and dropping back below the surface. It was a lively idea with plenty of visual character, but translating it into fair gameplay created a problem. Mario could react to enemies falling from above because players had time to see them approaching. A fish suddenly launching from beneath his feet was much harder to predict. The concept risked feeling unfair, particularly if the player could not see the danger until it had already collided with Mario. Rather than rejecting Tezuka’s proposal, Miyamoto searched for a way to support it. The solution came not from changing the fish, but from changing the environment in which it appeared.

### [](#raising-the-platforms-made-the-enemy-feel-fair)Raising the platforms made the enemy feel fair

Miyamoto realised that Mario could be placed on elevated piers instead of running along the lowest possible surface. Raising the floor gave players a clearer view of the Cheep Cheeps as they launched from below. The fish could still surprise anyone charging forward without paying attention, but alert players now had a chance to observe their paths and respond. This reasoning shaped World 2-3, where Mario crosses narrow bridges while Cheep Cheeps leap through the air around him. The stage preserves the energy of Tezuka’s original suggestion without forcing players to absorb unavoidable hits. It is a neat example of solving one design challenge through another part of the game. The enemy did not need to lose its unusual movement, and the team did not have to discard an appealing idea. By adjusting the height and structure of the course, Nintendo found the setting in which that idea could work properly.

## [](#collaboration-shaped-the-entire-super-mario-bros-experience)Collaboration shaped the entire Super Mario Bros. experience

Miyamoto’s recollections underline how strongly Super Mario Bros. depended on collaboration. Tezuka supplied the initial Cheep Cheep idea, but the finished encounter required additional thinking about player reactions, enemy movement and stage construction. The B-Dash needed a programmer to notice an unusual result and Miyamoto to recognise its potential. Hidden Blocks similarly emerged because the team looked beyond what the program was expected to do. These were not isolated flashes of inspiration delivered by one person working behind a closed door. Each feature moved through several hands and benefited from different perspectives. Programmers understood the technical systems, artists brought imaginative visual concepts, designers considered the player’s experience and composers helped establish the game’s rhythm and personality. The finished result feels remarkably unified precisely because those disciplines were not treated as separate islands. Everyone could influence how the complete game looked, sounded and played.

## [](#miyamoto-encouraged-open-communication-inside-nintendo)Miyamoto encouraged open communication inside Nintendo

Creating that kind of collaboration required an environment where information could move freely. Miyamoto recalled that he even prohibited headphones in the office because he wanted team members to hear one another and participate in ongoing discussions. The rule may sound strict to anyone who enjoys disappearing into a favourite playlist during work, but the reasoning fits his description of the development process. Conversations were not limited to formal meetings or carefully scheduled presentations. Ideas could be questioned, improved or redirected as the work continued. A programmer might uncover an unusual behaviour, an artist could suggest a new character and a designer might reshape a stage to make that character function properly. Open disagreement was part of the process rather than a sign that the team had failed to plan. Through discussion and occasional argument, rough concepts could become practical features. The game grew through repeated exchanges instead of following a perfectly straight path.

### [](#the-original-team-built-a-lasting-creative-partnership)The original team built a lasting creative partnership

The people behind Super Mario Bros. did more than complete one historically important project and move in different directions. Miyamoto highlighted his continued connection with several key collaborators, including Takashi Tezuka, programmer Toshihiko Nakago and composer Koji Kondo. Their long working relationship is significant because each brought a different strength to Nintendo’s games. Tezuka became one of the company’s central figures in Mario development, Nakago helped translate ambitious ideas into responsive systems and Kondo created music that remains instantly recognisable decades later. Their continued cooperation suggests that the methods established during the original game were not temporary solutions. The willingness to exchange ideas across disciplines became part of a broader creative culture. Super Mario Bros. may look simple beside modern productions involving enormous teams, but its development required trust, flexibility and a shared understanding of what made interaction enjoyable. Those qualities continued to influence Nintendo long after the original release.

#### [](#what-these-stories-reveal-about-nintendos-design-philosophy)What these stories reveal about Nintendo’s design philosophy

The B-Dash story is sometimes summarised with the familiar joke that a bug became a feature, but the real lesson is more interesting. Nintendo did not preserve the behaviour merely because fixing it would require extra work. Miyamoto and the team kept it because they tested the result, understood how it affected movement and decided it made the game better. The same pattern appears in the creation of Hidden Blocks and the design of World 2-3. Unexpected events were examined rather than automatically erased, while incomplete ideas were developed instead of immediately rejected. This approach placed the player’s experience above rigid obedience to an original plan. Plans still mattered, of course, but they could change when experimentation produced something more enjoyable. Good design was not treated like a recipe where every measurement had to remain untouched. It was closer to a conversation, with the game continually answering back through the way it behaved.

##### [](#conclusion)Conclusion

Mario’s B-Dash began as flawed collision detection, yet it became one of the defining mechanics of Super Mario Bros. because Shigeru Miyamoto recognised the fun hidden inside the mistake. The same curiosity helped transform misplaced coins into Hidden Blocks and an unfinished fish concept into the memorable Cheep Cheep stage in World 2-3. Together, these stories show that the game’s success did not come from one person following an unchangeable blueprint. It grew from programmers, artists, designers and musicians sharing ideas, challenging one another and responding to unexpected results. Nintendo’s team did not simply ask whether every system worked exactly as intended. They asked whether it felt enjoyable in the player’s hands. Sometimes the best idea arrived disguised as a problem, and the smartest decision was to resist fixing it.

##### [](#faqs)FAQs

- **Was Mario’s B-Dash originally planned?**
    - No. Shigeru Miyamoto said the ability to cross small gaps at speed emerged from flawed ground collision detection during the development of Super Mario Bros.
- **Why did Nintendo keep the B-Dash bug?**
    - Miyamoto believed the unexpected behaviour was fun. He stopped the programmer from removing it, allowing the team to turn the accident into an intentional movement mechanic.
- **How does the B-Dash work in Super Mario Bros.?**
    - Players hold the B button while moving to make Mario run faster. The additional speed helps him jump farther, avoid obstacles and cross certain small gaps without falling.
- **Did Hidden Blocks also originate from a bug?**
    - Miyamoto recalled that coins appearing in apparently empty spaces helped inspire Hidden Blocks, which remain invisible until Mario strikes them from below.
- **Why does World 2-3 use raised platforms?**
    - The raised piers allow players to see Cheep Cheeps leaping from below. This preserved the enemy’s surprising movement while giving Mario a fair opportunity to avoid it.

##### [](#sources)Sources

- [Miyamoto Reveals the Origins of the Famous Dash Mechanic in Super Mario Bros.](https://nintendoeverything.com/miyamoto-reveals-the-origins-of-the-famous-dash-mechanic-in-super-mario-bros/), Nintendo Everything, August 1, 2026
- [SUPER MARIO BROS. AND DESIGN](https://casabrutus.com/magazines/mook/%E3%80%8Esuper-mario-bros-and-design%E3%80%8F), Casa BRUTUS, 2026
- [Casa BRUTUS Extra Issue Super Mario Bros. and Design](https://magazineworld.jp/books/paper/5795/), Magazine House, March 12, 2026

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