Video games are big things with lots of code. Through testing the makers are supposed to weed out the places where things get a little sticky, but once they release them out to the general public lots of times players discover things that are missed even in the most rigorous playtests for the exact same reason that people sometimes lock monkeys in rooms with word processors. Eventually one will put out Atlas Shrugged and try to prove why they should have more bananas than the others.

Today we look at five glitches that not only gave the players an advantage, but actually made beating the game a matter of child's play.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Aside from Final Fantasy VI there isn't a more epic title on the SNES than Link's sole adventure on that console. It featured two sprawling worlds full of dungeons and an unforgettable cast of characters. And if you know the right trick you can bypass all of that without even having to swing your sword.

Through a weird set of Save and Quits followed by a well-timed hit from a guard the first time you enter Hyrule Castle you'll gain the ability to walk through walls. As you skulk around like this it's possible to walk right pass Ganon and into the credit screen and celebrate your hard-sneaked victory.

Pokemon Yellow This one is even more convoluted, but the rewards are worth it. In Pokemon Yellow you have to start a new game with no previously saved game files. From there you have to walk down to one exact tile in your house after naming your character Blue. There, you save your game and turn it off at a very specific point in the shut down process.

It's hard as hell, but if you time it right the main menu will have a save file that will contain a glitched Pokemon screen and a glitched item screem. The complicated process of swapping invisible items is better explained in the video above, but basically each item contains code about the game that helps determine your progress. Through just the right amount of screwing around, you can trick the game into warping you to the Hall of Fame with a completely filled Pokedex and a game clock that read 0:00 if you do the whole thing fast enough.

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Super Mario 64 Through exploiting a very special glitch it is possible to beat Bowser for good in less than eight minutes. It's called the backwards long jump glitch. On certain walls it's possible to long jump, then tap A to make Mario repeatedly jump upon landing. Done right, this allows Mario to pass through walls.

A player named Xiah found a way to use the glitch to enter the first Bowser fight with out acquiring any stars, and then use it again in the basement to enter the third Bowser fight again without stars. Honestly, though, watch Xiah just play his regular speed run up there is a thing of beauty. That guy is the Michelangelo of jumping.

Luigi's Mansion There is a way to skip right to King Boo in the game, but it's a complete pain in the ass. You can reach the spot that you need to get to right after defeating Chauncey, which means you only need four portrait ghosts and none of Mario's items.

After that, as you can see from the video above, it's just a maddening attempt to position Luigi so that he falls just the right way. It's extremely easy to fall back into bounds or get stuck in the cut scene that boots you back out. If you manage to make your way through, though, you'll be right at King Boo within minutes.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time More than a decade after Ocarina of Time debuted a man named Cosmo Wright finally found the ultimate speedrun glitch in the legendary title. Previously he and other speedrun fanatics had discovered insane paths like being able to reach the Spirit Temple right after the Deku Tree, and through jumps that were thought to be impossible.

Nothing compared to what Wright found. By molding the games coding like a damned alchemist, he invented a way to warp from the first boss battle right to the post-Gannon running scene with Zelda. I can't even begin to explain it to you because listening to Wright do so is like taking a physics class. All I know is that there are Meat Loaf songs longer than his speedrun of one of the longest N64 games of all time, and he used science to do it.