This is one of the castle's paintings. Really.

Every now and then, it doesn't hurt to remember that the video game worlds and characters we love are really little more than bits of data, pieced and strung together to compose the beauty and fun we see before us. And there's no better way to appreciate that said data is so well organized than witnessing the abominations that are possible when it gets nudged askew.

YouTube account vinesauce has posted a collection of Super Mario 64 corruptions, the latest example of glitched out wonkiness to make the rounds. Check out the video below for an N64 sideshow including psychedelic colours, unnaturally stretched appendages, and Peach starting to Hulk out:

The majority of the corruptions shown in the video — if not all — were replicated on ROMs using a special program; naughty, we know. You can also get similar effects by moving the game cartridge while your console is on, but both methods could cause various types of trouble and frankly give us the willies.

Have you ever had glitches like this happen to you during normal play? Let us know below.

[source kotaku.com]