Softlock

A softlock occurs when the game is put into a state where, though it has not crashed or ceased functioning, there is no way to progress without resetting the console.

Known softlocks

  • Repeatedly bonking within a glitchy wall[1]
  • Getting stuck in some Black Room of Death
  • Activating a death, star, sign text, or painting entrance cutscene at the same time as a specific type of star activation cutscene (mainly item box stars)[2][3][4]
  • Being grabbed by Heave-Ho or Chuckya while releasing its clone or the clone of its anchor object [5]
  • Being grabbed by Chuckya while in Time Stop[6]
  • Attempting to speak to a bob-omb buddy while in Time Stop
  • Being thrown by a Heave-Ho while underwater[7]
  • Being grabbed by Chuckya the same frame he dies or being grabbed in midair and having Chuckya unload[8]
  • Collecting a star in vertical wind [9]
  • Collecting a star in a situation where Mario repeatedly ledge grabs[10]
  • Activating a star outside the 12k limit[11][12]
  • Talking to Yoshi while your lives counter is stuck (i.e. while having 1000 coins on the Japanese version)[13]
  • Talking to Yoshi while it's falling off the roof[14]
  • Dying when Lakitu's textbox is triggered at the start of the game (this is exclusive to the Japanese 1.0 version).[15]
  • Activating certain text boxes while the camera is stuck
  • Being thrown by Chuckya while holding a handsfree teleported bloated bob-omb[16]
  • Going into a tornado while permanently squished[17]
  • Being shell Mario in certain geometry[18]
  • Repeatedly being knocked back while being pushed off a floor by an object. [19]
  • Being stuck in a sliding state while sliding into a ceiling or out of bounds. [20]
  • Activating a textbox from an object and then unloading the object

References