
This is an archive of all notable and surviving past versions of Super Mario Bros DX. 

These are mostly NOT the originally distributed IPS patches. They are newly created patches from
old modified ROMs, and include some fixes where necessary. Versions up to 2.0 were created from
badly dumped ROMs and made for old, outdated emulators with inaccurate behavior and colors. The
originally released versions of some patches also caused iNES header corruption. Fixes have been
applied so that the patched games will not corrupt headers, will not crash on modern emulators
or real hardware, and will look as intended with most modern emulator palettes. 

These past revisions have otherwise been left as they were, for posterity, with no further
updates or corrections, even when there are obvious errors I could go back and fix. Current
versions of Super Mario Bros. DX look almost completely different now than in 1997, but looking
through this archive of past iterations, one can see how the project evolved over time.

All of these patches should be applied to a clean, headered, NTSC ROM of Super Mario Bros for
NES/Famicom. Other versions or hacks are not tested. These are NOT meant to be applied to ROMs
already patched with newer versions of Super Mario Bros DX. They come with even less warranty or
support than the up-to-date patch (which is already none at all).


Filename:                               Notes:

-SC-_FREAK.ips                      -   1997 headless gag. Original filename. Crash fixed.¹²
SMBDX v0.5a (1997).ips              -   Reconstructed. Crash fixed.³⁴
SMBDX v1.1a (1999).ips              -   Zophar's Domain release. Crash, header, & palette fixed.
SMBDX v2.0a (2005).ips              -   1st RHDN release. Crash, header, & palette fixed.
SMBDX v3.2 (2010, unreleased).ips   -   Was 100% ready but never released.
SMBDX v3.4 (2018).ips               -   2nd RHDN release.
SMBDX v3.5 (2020, unreleased).ips   -   Was ready but never released.
SMBDX v4.0 (2022).ips               -   Initial Anniversary Edition release.
SMBDX v4.2 (2022).ips               -   Anniversary Edition update 1.
SMBDX v4.4 (2023).ips               -   Anniversary Edition update 2.


Notes: 

¹In 1997, I released a joke hack featuring a headless Mario. I was not the only one to release a
similar gag, but mine was not naked or bloody, and had some extra silliness. The hack was based
on a 1997 WIP version of Super Mario Bros DX, with only the Mario and powerup mushroom sprites
altered. Mario's open-mouth fireball animation was inspired by the common 80s/90s misconception
that he *spits* the fireballs. TVs were hella blurry back then. This animation change had the
unintended side-effect of making it look like Mario is drowning when underwater. So I leaned
into this accident by making his arms flail while swimming. Both of these changes have the
combined side-effect of Mario gaping and flapping his arms on vines and flagpoles, as mostly the
same frames are used. Absolutely no mockery or disrespect is or was ever intended toward persons
with any kind of disability other than fire-breath or accute headlessness.

²-SC- is short for -SoUlCruShEr-, one of my online handles in 1997.

³The version of Super Mario Bros DX I distributed on IRC and message boards in 1997 was lost in
a hard drive crash, and it did not have any permanent hosting online. For almost 25 years, it
has been effectively lost. However, I was able to find the headless joke hack from 1997. By
replacing the modified tiles with their original Super Mario Bros 3 versions, it's possible to
accurately restore the very first release of Super Mario Bros DX. To celebrate 25 years of Super
Mario Bros DX, I have done so and provided it here.


⁴_Blues_ is another name I used online in 1997 before settling on "flamepanther" everywhere.



