N64‘s Super Smash Bros. Employed Unique Anti-Piracy โMeasure, Lockingโ Playersโ to Mario After 69 Plays
A curious โคanti-piracy tactic discovered in the nintendo 64โฃ versionโ of Super Smash Bros. limited playersโฃ using illegitimate copies to only โฃcontrolling Mario after launching the game 69 times.The detail was recentlyโ broughtโ to light by Supper Mario Broth and reportedโ by GamesRadar.
The method, described as a “delayed action” by Supper Mario Broth, allowed the game โto function normally โคfor the first 68 playthroughs. On the 69th launch,players would find themselves โขrestricted to using only Marioโข in single-playerโข mode,with any attempt to select another character resulting in โthe deletion ofโ save โdata. Two-player โmode remained unaffected.
This anti-piracy measure likely targetedโข the widespread availability of counterfeit N64 cartridges in the late 1990s.โ Common indicatorsโข of illegitimate copies included handwritten game titles โฃon โthe โcartridge โand black-and-whiteโข sticker art, sometimes featuring text in German.
The tactic stands in contrastโ to more aggressive โฃanti-piracy methods employed by other publishers at the time, such as โขhardware locks and disc checks, which often โinconvenienced legitimate customers and were quickly circumvented by pirates. A more effective, and consumer-amiable, approach-allowing extended gameplay before promptingโค pirates to โpurchase the game-has proven prosperous for indie developers.
While the choice ofโฃ 69 plays remains a point ofโ speculation, โขthe unusual method has garnered attention for its playful approach to combating software piracy.