Continue in Super Mario Bros? mind blown

[matt]

So thanks to this thread over at reddit, (http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/gf0bu/til_holding_a_while_pressing_start_at_the_super/) I just learned if you hold A while pressing START at the Super Mario Bros. main menu you will continue from where you last died. How have I not known this for 20+ years???

[scott]

You have to be kidding me. I'm trying this shit tonight.

[monochrome]

omg you guys didn't know that?  Come to think of it, I have no idea who or where I learned that from as a kid... but somehow I knew that wayy back in '88.  Could it have been Nintendo Power?  The world will never know.

Did you know the second player can control a duck in Duck Hunt???

[scott]

Ya I knew about duck hunt, I used to cheat that way. Gun in one hand controller in the other.

[tpugmire]

I knew about the continue thing as a kid, but I also can't remember where I heard about it.  I'm fairly sure it wasn't Nintendo Power though. Doesn't it start you at the beginning of the world though?  Like if you die in 4-3, you start at 4-1.  It's been too long.

[scott]

Ya, it's the beginning of the world. I did some looking into it and it was in one of the first issues of Nintendo Power.... back when Nintendo Power was still cool. ha

[monochrome]

I still like Nintendo Power :/