There is a special challenge at the end for watching this video. Be sure to watch all the way for it. I'm going to start doing things like this more...
@@Cardknight-yk4pc I’ll tell you I did not cover that one. I purposely tried to find things that were barely covered or never talked about to hopefully make something interesting to people. This game has been explored to death!
Even after more than 2 decades, people still talk about this game for a reason. This game has grown a lot and it’s great to see you also talk about it. There were some mysteries I didn’t even know until now.
The biggest mystery for me is why no later 3D Mario games can match the feeling of movement this game has. It feels like such a joy to simply run around the worlds in this game, a sensation I just don't get in Sunshine, Galaxy or Odyssey. 😐
I actually feel the opposite. I grew up on 64, and absolutely loved it. Odyssey gave me a nostalgic feeling, like I was stepping back into one of my favorite childhood games. Mario was just so fun to for me to control in that game. Now I'm replaying Mario 64, and he just feels so janky... I feel like he slips and slides constantly, the timing for wall jumps and triple jumps are off, and the camera is the game's actual main boss. I guess it just comes down to personal preference in the end.
@@aej-xw7hi SM64's camera is one of the reasons I like it so much though! Sure there's a couple moments where it's a bother, but most of the time the chosen angles help showcase the worlds in truly dramatic ways. Maybe a video needs to be done on this because there certainly is a lot of hate for SM64's camera.
I love how you didn't just do the generic mystery video on mario 64, and you actually covered things that are interesting and haven't been overdone. Awesome video!
I almost think of the magic paint as the Mushroom Kingdom's equivalent to the Linking Books in the Myst universe. They function in the exact same way. They teleport you to strange new worlds that you've never visited before and you get transported back whenever you've completed something.
In Mario 64 DS, the Mirror pedestals were used for the power flowers of Luigi was present. So it could mean that at some point in the development of the n64 version, they could have served that purpose for Mario to collect, or maybe invisible caps so Mario could walk through the mirror.
Great video as always! Mario 64 has tons of strange mysteries! I only remember the classic "L is Real" one from way back in the day. As a kid, I always wondered if you had to take that other lost baby penguin to another penguin to get a secret reward...but I usually just chucked it off the cliff. 😅 The magic paint seems like something E. Gadd would have developed, but this was before he was introduced as a character.
Captain Toad hadn't yet become Captain Toad by SM64, he was still a member of the castle staff. If I am correct Bowser used the Power of the Stars on the paintings in SM64 to make them portals. The painting are more connected to the Power Stars than the Painting which was based on Van Gore's paintbrush. Also, the castle has been destroyed and uprooted multiple times. Not sure about the Penguin thing given depends if Snowman Land is near Shiver Mountain.
I remember when this game came out and was blown away by the graphics as a kid. Great memories and a classic mario game overall!!!!! Great video too bro of explaining the mysteries.
@jiggylookback it surely is, and after watching this video, you have inspired me to fire up my N64 and play this game again. It's been a while since I played this awesome game.
Great video as always and I have a theory about the castle power. After getting all 120 stars, if you talk to Yoshi on the roof, you get a special triple jump. Maybe that's the power from the castle we get?
I mean... getting all 120 power stars makes you stronger by unlocking the special triple jump.. so I guess that kinda counts for mario getting stronger..?
You’re taking “power from the castle” too literally. Mario isn’t gaining physical power; he’s gaining the magical power to unlock more doors as dictated by the number of Stars needed to progress to new Courses.
Mario 64 is evergreen for me. Flawed? Sure, but the amount of crazy ideas and details that weren’t necessary but add a sense of mystery and excitement makes it absolutely timeless. Peach’s castle has yet to be matched in the 3D platforming hub department. They’ve made bigger, but never as packed with secrets. The Banjo hubs come close
Nice touch with the challenge; if you're paying attention, you won't even have to rewind to do it. On the subject of the 'green spotted Bowser', in that particular fight, he's referred to as "Rainbow Bowser", according to the song that plays there from the OST. Presumably, the look was intended to look like a rainbow color palette. This sort of concept was later explored more fully by AlphaDream in Mario And Luigi: Dream Team for the final boss encounter of that game, with the concept of a visually darker version of heroes' powers seen earlier (thematically) in that franchise as the Dark Star and its minions contrasted against the positive power of characters like Princess Peach (related to the SM64 power stars, obviously) and the Star Sprites, as well as in Paper Mario 64, where Rainbow Bowser returns early in the game as an initial obstacle for Mario, stealing the power of the stars to make himself invincible and setting the events of that game in motion. Further, it's referenced in the classic Mario games by the Power Stars there turning Mario and friends both invincible and adding rainbow color effects, as well as spinoff sports games like Mario Kart. I believe the problem in SM64 was that they didn't actually animate Bowser's textures, and ended up with a darker, almost oily static color palette instead; I'm pretty sure the intention was that, as he was personally holding a power star, he would have used a similar shifting rainbow effect to the NES and SNES games' effect of the star on Mario. I'm pretty sure that they quickly discovered that a similar rendition of the flashy original effect on such a large character model would be almost epileptic, and went with the static palette instead, or perhaps they didn't have the tech. Either way, the intention behind the appearance change was to reflect that, instead of simply holding a key that time, he had a power star, but instead of the bright, heroic color of the Bros'. previous outings, the effect on the bad guy was sinister and dark (which I personally believe is what inspired M&L: Bowser's Inside Story's final boss.) The fact that a version of the classic invulnerability theme plays for both Metal Cap and Powerful Mario proves they did not forget where the concept of power stars came from. Of course, in the DS remake, the idea seems to have been completely scrapped, but that's a separate topic, and the theme "Rainbow Bowser" still plays for that encounter. I haven't seen anything to officially confirm or deny anything I've said here, most of it is conclusions I've drawn looking at the apparent evidence and connections, and especially the context of SM64, particularly what era of Nintendo it launched during. The vast majority of its inspirations would have to have been drawn from contemporary or prior games in the franchise, whether the Game Boy games with their explorations of worlds within worlds and non-linear progression paths (in particular, Super Mario Land 2 and 3/Wario Land 1 using hat swapping to portray powerups instead of changing the color of their costume) or Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3 featuring identical Toads as basic inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. Obviously, they wouldn't have been connecting the extra large star Rainbow Bowser was holding in SM64 to the Grand Stars of the Galaxy games, though we can make connections like that now. Which brings up the painting worlds, and the magic paint. As far as I'm aware, every instance in the Mario games post-SM64 where magic paint, painting worlds and portals to other regions or places have come up, they have been exclusively in relation to a magical paintbrush, most frequently seen in the hands of Bowser Jr. While magical or power-related paint comes up in Paper Mario: Color Splash, this is unrelated to the main series. The magic brush seems itself imbued with the paint, as it's never shown being dipped into any source, nor any indication given that it can, or does, run out of paint; actually, I believe it's a reference to the kinds of magical items displayed in Super Mario Bros. 3, such as the Magic Flute which can transport you to other worlds. The Mushroom Kingdom, and its neighbors, has always coexisted with strange and magical creatures and powers, and the brush seems to be one such anomalous object. It's clear that, as Mario Sunshine was developed after SM64, the former would have drawn its concepts from the latter most likely, rather than the other way around, so to me it makes more sense to look forward to understand what Nintendo would come to define the magic paint by, rather than entirely within SM64, as the game offers no real explanation for how or why it works (or why a pool of oil, a wall of water, or another wall of solid stone also had the power to transport you to another, if small, world.) I have a theory, however, and this is backed up by some of the levels featured in the Galaxy games; there is a mysterious painter (perhaps one of the Star Spirits seen in Paper Mario 64?) who creates novel little worlds, small, self-contained little places floating in an empty, liminal space (some of these being referenced in other, later games, such as the Galaxy games and Odyssey). Princess Toadstool - Peach! - happened to be a connoisseur of magical art, and selected a number of them to adorn her castle. But this brings up several more big questions. Firstly, why are there duplicates of some paintings that aren't active portals? Why is there one painting that alters the world depending on how high you jump into it, while there's another one that appears to be a clock, but alters the world it connects to based on the displayed time? Why is there an upstairs painting that shows a white swirl on a blue background that does nothing, but this same pattern on the top floor leads to a secret level (in the alcove across from Rainbow Ride)? Why in the world would Princess Peach buy that scary looking painting that leads to Lethal Lava Land, or the ones that show literal Goombas (in multiple sizes) seen in several rooms, despite these being minions of Bowser? Speaking of Bowser, it's mentioned that the power stars were scattered throughout the painting worlds, but there's also several that the Toads have hung onto, one in the secret slide, and others classified as 'the castle's secret stars'. When you beat him after collecting all 120, Bowser bemoans there being some that he wasn't able to find. Did his minions really put all the power stars in the painting worlds, or did the Toads hide some there? Were they always in the painting worlds? The sealed doors were sealed by the power of the stars, and having the power of enough stars within him allows Mario to summon that power to unseal those doors; but without any star power, Mario would have been stymied from the get-go. Did they have to use certain numbers of stars to seal each door, slowly running out of power as they went, until they finally had no more left to seal up Bob-Omb Battlefield, or were the seals a part of the castle from the get-go, and that whole shtick was just a misdirection? There's a number of things about the castle itself that are really anomalous (an underwater 'world' where the vanish cap can be found that doesn't have water in it, the wall of water leading to Dire, Dire Docks, the oil slick leading to Hazy Maze Cave, or Shifting Sand Land being hidden in a seemingly stone wall), and, assuming the Princess wasn't the one who purchased the painting for Lethal Lava Land (because why would anyone want such a scary painting leading to what amounts to a world of fiery death?), does that mean it was there from before? Did she inherit it, or was the castle ceded to her by the Toads (as she claims in the recent Super Mario Bros. movie.) Edit: Continued below, apparently I write too much for one comment sometimes.
Peach's Castle, as seen in SM64, appears to be placed very similarly to all the painting worlds, just hanging in a void that Mario reaches by a Warp Pipe. The water you can swim in has an edge you can't pass, the hills around the outside terminate in an invisible wall at a sheer drop, and even if you get on top of the castle, you can't even jump into the courtyard that should be visible from there. Is this castle just another painting or portal world? The answer is... apparently not! This exact castle is featured in the Mario Kart 64 track, Royal Raceway, and can be driven to with all its details during the race, as well as being the location of the award ceremonies after each Grand Prix. This was continued forward as this track was remastered, linking that castle to the greater Mushroom Kingdom, and presumably its various visual iterations across other games are either meant to be a take on that same castle, or other castles in the kingdom also belonging to the Toadstool nobility. That means its appearance in SM64 was a hardware limitation, rather than a design choice, since Royal Raceway directly connected it to the larger world of the Mushroom Kingdom, and its identical appearance as well as its near proximity to SM64 in release window as well as console lending weight to that concept being their true intention - Not so for the portal worlds, as some of these are reached in later games by means entirely different to the castle paintings, and these remain isolated in a void. ...Which also really, really makes me want to look into the completely ridiculous spread of lore regarding "castles" in the Mario franchise. *Everyone* seems to have a castle; in fact, even Mario had one, seen in the Mario Land series, obviously Bowser has had his fair share of Castles, Peach has had numerous unique castles, while forts and castles are prominent locations for fighting foes like Reznors and Koopalings in Super Mario World. Clearly, the world of Mario's games is filled with castle-obsessed folks; so is the one seen at Royal Raceway, the castle hosting the events of SM64, merely 'just another', if strange, castle in the Mushroom Kingdom, or is there some sinister mystery behind it, shadowy origins related to the malevolent basement worlds? Think about it: Lethal Lava Land (dangerous), Hazy Maze Cave (filled with rolling rocks, bottomless pits, and poisonous gas, dangerous), Shifting Sand Land (tornadoes and incredibly lethal quicksand, dangerous), Dire, Dire Docks (filled with sharks, cages, a swirling, inescapable death vortex, and apparently a way for Bowser to get a submarine in and out somehow, even the name sounds dangerous)... To me, these smack of the secrets of a dark past, especially with how much the 'dungeon' part of the basement contrasts against the rest of the castle, with its dark stone and wall torches. Could this be the dungeon of one of the demolished castles from a previous game, one of Bowser's castles perhaps, that Peach rebuilt her own castle on top of as a sort of trophy? I mean, it being former property of Bowser would explain not only why his submarine was present, but how he knew of a secret way to get it into the level from outside, somehow - or maybe it never left, and was always there since before the new castle was built; after all, once you finish Board Bowser's Sub, the water retreats down a hallway, a hallway made of the same kind of stonework as the rest of the dungeon with its dangerous and very different worlds, but it's only like that past the point where the wall of water originally sat; maybe the construction workers were too afraid to touch the water, and stopped building the new castle there. It also seems that the chute directly behind it, which leads to Bowser in the Fire Sea, was likely always there as well, untouched by the renovation, and perhaps that (or the sub itself) are the means Bowser used to break into the castle from the inside, bypassing the protection of the power stars and kidnapping Peach into her own castle (as there is no indication anywhere that his army attacked the castle from outside, and all indications are that his troops are exclusively within the various portal domains, with none present within the castle itself apart from that one lone Boo.) That's probably enough for one writing session.
@@NoahLoydOG Jesus Christ dude.. this is a top-level reddit post that's hidden away in a video posted by an uploader who doesn't even have 7k subscribers. You sound like me.. lmao. This was a dope read, and I _highly_ recommend you turn your theories here into a single reddit post on either r/Nintendo or r/Mario or something like that cuz _man,_ people would _love_ to read over what you wrote. Thanks for taking the insane amount of time it must have taken to write this. =)
@@wdburt91 Maybe thirty minutes of writing, not too much. I didn't even get into my theory that the system of raising and lowering the water Peach uses to raise the level of the moat was originally part of a sub-pen of sorts for the former (presumably Bowser-ly) owner, and that the reason the Dire, Dire Docks entrance 'portal' is placed at one end of a dead-end passage is because the area between that spot and the door to the bottom of the exterior moat was a passage for the sub to travel through. A constant flow of water from the outside (using the water pumping system) would have linked to the portal, allowing a constant water connection from the Docks to the outside world. The sub would simply sail up to and contact the portal to be transported in or out, then sail out to the lake beyond the current moat. You might notice when tumbling from the sky into the Docks level that the entire background implies being underwater, yet only the sections with no direct outlet have water in them. I envision the original setup saw perhaps the entire facility as underwater, perhaps that entire liminal domain, which would be a testament simultaneously to the wall of water being vertical rather than horizontal (notice you 'fall' into the level after walking straight into it) and explain why entrance is itself so very strange. It's not a painting, but it seems that it's literally supposed to represent a wall of water coming to a sudden barrier. Maybe Peach is responsible for that barrier, using the power of the power stars to push it back further and further (like Mario does after getting the star on the sub.) If the entire 'world' within the painting, or at least the part below where you enter, was originally filled with water, it would also explain how the sub got to the location it occupies. The obvious observation is that there's no way the sub navigated to its location by the same passage we approach it from. It's far too large for such a journey. But what about those rails and crane-like things hanging from the ceiling above the sub? What if they are connected to an airlock, a batch of sorts that the sub could have entered from above by diving down through it? Again, if the entire inside of the level was filled with water, there would be plenty of room to sail a sub straight in, then dive down into the secluded, secret docks. There is no other possible explanation for its presence there other than it being built in that location (pointless, why do that if it can't get out?) or somehow teleported there. I feel like the water world and ceiling hatch way more concisely answers the question, while further cementing my theory that the 'old ruins' of the castle, and some of its secrets, belonged to Bowser before Peach gained control over it, and perhaps how he had secret trap doors placed in parts of the castle seemingly under her control. Perhaps my most outlandish theory is that, if SM64 was considered by the developers to be a sequel to, or continuation, of the NES and SNES games, then Peach's castle was built on the ruins of none other than the "real" Bowser's Castle at the very end of Super Mario Bros. 1 (since fireballs taking down the prior 'Bowser' encounters prove them to be fakes.) What if Princess Toadstool ordered the construction of her own royal castle to be founded on the ruins of her erstwhile captor's home, or perhaps it's a tradition to do it whenever one of his castles is taken or razed? If that's the case, that feels really petty - and could potentially explain why Bowser, in turn, has been after petty revenge in nearly all the other main line entries in the franchise. Bowser was later confirmed to be a 'Star Child', after all, maybe the power stars in the castle had been his, and Peach stole them? It could also explain why he taunts Mario when the latter arrives at the castle and after every time you lose a life. It would also explain why he makes it a point to detail the princess within the castle itself, instead of subsequent games, where he pretty much always takes Peach from the castle and off to his own. This *was* his castle, I believe.
I doubt you can defeat the boo in the hallway. I cant check, but I really doubt its actually an object, just a (i dont know the proper term) "gif" i guess, for lack of a better term. Its like the snowflakes falling in the snow levels, its just an effect not an actual object.
Well, the ghost is just a boo with a fixed path and no collusion. It's the same as normal boos, just with no hit box if that makes sense. The snow is a layer iirc.
Even though SM64 was my first game ever, I honestly prefer SM64 DS. finding all the extra secrets and unlocking mario, luigi and wario was super cool to me. also the minigames were an amazing bonus.
Captain Toad head canon accepted. Also, I totally found Evil Wario and am not lying 👀 Edit: I actually did find him. He's right there in the [redacted] section of the video at [redacted] time
At the very very end of the video it explains it. There is an Evil Wario that appears somewhere in the video. You have to watch through and try to find it and when you do you can comment I found evil wario. Just don’t spoil where you found it!
there was one thing that always bothered me We do See Peach At the End of 64 But Where actually is she although the toads say shes in the castle walls but we don't see her in the castle like the toads do when they vanish in and out of the walls but peach is no where to be found
Nah, It's crazy people on the internet conditioning you into feeling this way. Personally, it was the only places that made me feel uneasy were wet dry world and big boo's haunt.
@@dr.metroid6119no, it's just because you haven't experienced it like others. There's some truth to the strange, because all early 3D games have this feeling. I can name several areas in other games that made me feel like that in the era, like OoT, MM, Spyro, Crash, etc.
@@jiggylookback completly agreed!!!! I tried Gex 3 on PS1 and even this was not so well crafted about the formula, cos it's a bit annoying + confusing too. It's a combination of collectathon on mario 64 and banjo and it's not really good. Including the german voice overs were annoying. Graphicalwise looks damn good. But on PS1 prefer more spyro than crash.
There is a special challenge at the end for watching this video. Be sure to watch all the way for it. I'm going to start doing things like this more...
Do the mystery of the city in wet dry world
@@Cardknight-yk4pc I’ll tell you I did not cover that one.
I purposely tried to find things that were barely covered or never talked about to hopefully make something interesting to people. This game has been explored to death!
Your right this game has been explored by millions
@@Cardknight-yk4pc I think I got some good mysteries tho!
It’s a fun idea!
Even after more than 2 decades, people still talk about this game for a reason. This game has grown a lot and it’s great to see you also talk about it. There were some mysteries I didn’t even know until now.
Hope my weird ones captured some nostalgia!
The biggest mystery for me is why no later 3D Mario games can match the feeling of movement this game has. It feels like such a joy to simply run around the worlds in this game, a sensation I just don't get in Sunshine, Galaxy or Odyssey. 😐
I think Odyssey did a pretty good job. But I feel that about the others
@@jiggylookback For sure, credit where it's due, Odyssey does feel better than most.. but SM64 still has it beat, at least to me. 🙃
I actually feel the opposite. I grew up on 64, and absolutely loved it. Odyssey gave me a nostalgic feeling, like I was stepping back into one of my favorite childhood games. Mario was just so fun to for me to control in that game. Now I'm replaying Mario 64, and he just feels so janky... I feel like he slips and slides constantly, the timing for wall jumps and triple jumps are off, and the camera is the game's actual main boss. I guess it just comes down to personal preference in the end.
@@aej-xw7hi SM64's camera is one of the reasons I like it so much though! Sure there's a couple moments where it's a bother, but most of the time the chosen angles help showcase the worlds in truly dramatic ways. Maybe a video needs to be done on this because there certainly is a lot of hate for SM64's camera.
I get the sensation in Sunshine and Galaxy, Galaxy more so than Sunshine.
I love how you didn't just do the generic mystery video on mario 64, and you actually covered things that are interesting and haven't been overdone. Awesome video!
@@catlunatic2122 that’s my goal with all my stuff!! I don’t want to rehash things and try to find things no one ever looks at!
It's nice to see someone with a Mario 64 video about other mysteries besides the ones that are over done, (example: L is real, 2401)
That was my goal. To find things not many talk about.
That's not even a mystery anymore
Found Wario! I saw it on first playthrough and i was about to go on the game to see if it was always there until your message at the end 😂
I almost think of the magic paint as the Mushroom Kingdom's equivalent to the Linking Books in the Myst universe. They function in the exact same way. They teleport you to strange new worlds that you've never visited before and you get transported back whenever you've completed something.
I found evil Wario without even fully noticing 😆
That makes no sense
In Mario 64 DS, the Mirror pedestals were used for the power flowers of Luigi was present. So it could mean that at some point in the development of the n64 version, they could have served that purpose for Mario to collect, or maybe invisible caps so Mario could walk through the mirror.
@@rosseenglimmer8962 that’s entirely possible.
The reason the "grasshopper box" has its name is because the original model was a grasshopper.
5:13 IT WAS LUIGI 😂
Great video as always! Mario 64 has tons of strange mysteries! I only remember the classic "L is Real" one from way back in the day. As a kid, I always wondered if you had to take that other lost baby penguin to another penguin to get a secret reward...but I usually just chucked it off the cliff. 😅
The magic paint seems like something E. Gadd would have developed, but this was before he was introduced as a character.
He could have still invented it, we just hadn't met him yet.
@@PaperBanjo64retroactive lore is the laziest way to make lore
Captain Toad hadn't yet become Captain Toad by SM64, he was still a member of the castle staff.
If I am correct Bowser used the Power of the Stars on the paintings in SM64 to make them portals.
The painting are more connected to the Power Stars than the Painting which was based on Van Gore's paintbrush.
Also, the castle has been destroyed and uprooted multiple times.
Not sure about the Penguin thing given depends if Snowman Land is near Shiver Mountain.
I found evil Wario! It was clever to put him in that spot in the video!
I remember when this game came out and was blown away by the graphics as a kid. Great memories and a classic mario game overall!!!!! Great video too bro of explaining the mysteries.
Thanks so much! Yeah this is a timeless game, was still a lot of fun to go replay again
@jiggylookback it surely is, and after watching this video, you have inspired me to fire up my N64 and play this game again. It's been a while since I played this awesome game.
Great video as always and I have a theory about the castle power. After getting all 120 stars, if you talk to Yoshi on the roof, you get a special triple jump. Maybe that's the power from the castle we get?
Perhaps!!
I found Evil Wario. Took me a second watch to find him for sure.
@@Shadowzero4 heck yeah. I was trying to be somewhat sneaky with him
I mean... getting all 120 power stars makes you stronger by unlocking the special triple jump.. so I guess that kinda counts for mario getting stronger..?
I suppose it could be!
You’re taking “power from the castle” too literally. Mario isn’t gaining physical power; he’s gaining the magical power to unlock more doors as dictated by the number of Stars needed to progress to new Courses.
Right right, but it’s interesting the 100 coins stars are the only thing to give us that message. All other stars simply take us out of the world.
Mario 64 is evergreen for me. Flawed? Sure, but the amount of crazy ideas and details that weren’t necessary but add a sense of mystery and excitement makes it absolutely timeless. Peach’s castle has yet to be matched in the 3D platforming hub department. They’ve made bigger, but never as packed with secrets. The Banjo hubs come close
About time the N64 guy talked about the most famous N64 game.
Nice touch with the challenge; if you're paying attention, you won't even have to rewind to do it.
On the subject of the 'green spotted Bowser', in that particular fight, he's referred to as "Rainbow Bowser", according to the song that plays there from the OST. Presumably, the look was intended to look like a rainbow color palette. This sort of concept was later explored more fully by AlphaDream in Mario And Luigi: Dream Team for the final boss encounter of that game, with the concept of a visually darker version of heroes' powers seen earlier (thematically) in that franchise as the Dark Star and its minions contrasted against the positive power of characters like Princess Peach (related to the SM64 power stars, obviously) and the Star Sprites, as well as in Paper Mario 64, where Rainbow Bowser returns early in the game as an initial obstacle for Mario, stealing the power of the stars to make himself invincible and setting the events of that game in motion. Further, it's referenced in the classic Mario games by the Power Stars there turning Mario and friends both invincible and adding rainbow color effects, as well as spinoff sports games like Mario Kart.
I believe the problem in SM64 was that they didn't actually animate Bowser's textures, and ended up with a darker, almost oily static color palette instead; I'm pretty sure the intention was that, as he was personally holding a power star, he would have used a similar shifting rainbow effect to the NES and SNES games' effect of the star on Mario. I'm pretty sure that they quickly discovered that a similar rendition of the flashy original effect on such a large character model would be almost epileptic, and went with the static palette instead, or perhaps they didn't have the tech. Either way, the intention behind the appearance change was to reflect that, instead of simply holding a key that time, he had a power star, but instead of the bright, heroic color of the Bros'. previous outings, the effect on the bad guy was sinister and dark (which I personally believe is what inspired M&L: Bowser's Inside Story's final boss.) The fact that a version of the classic invulnerability theme plays for both Metal Cap and Powerful Mario proves they did not forget where the concept of power stars came from. Of course, in the DS remake, the idea seems to have been completely scrapped, but that's a separate topic, and the theme "Rainbow Bowser" still plays for that encounter.
I haven't seen anything to officially confirm or deny anything I've said here, most of it is conclusions I've drawn looking at the apparent evidence and connections, and especially the context of SM64, particularly what era of Nintendo it launched during. The vast majority of its inspirations would have to have been drawn from contemporary or prior games in the franchise, whether the Game Boy games with their explorations of worlds within worlds and non-linear progression paths (in particular, Super Mario Land 2 and 3/Wario Land 1 using hat swapping to portray powerups instead of changing the color of their costume) or Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3 featuring identical Toads as basic inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. Obviously, they wouldn't have been connecting the extra large star Rainbow Bowser was holding in SM64 to the Grand Stars of the Galaxy games, though we can make connections like that now.
Which brings up the painting worlds, and the magic paint. As far as I'm aware, every instance in the Mario games post-SM64 where magic paint, painting worlds and portals to other regions or places have come up, they have been exclusively in relation to a magical paintbrush, most frequently seen in the hands of Bowser Jr. While magical or power-related paint comes up in Paper Mario: Color Splash, this is unrelated to the main series. The magic brush seems itself imbued with the paint, as it's never shown being dipped into any source, nor any indication given that it can, or does, run out of paint; actually, I believe it's a reference to the kinds of magical items displayed in Super Mario Bros. 3, such as the Magic Flute which can transport you to other worlds. The Mushroom Kingdom, and its neighbors, has always coexisted with strange and magical creatures and powers, and the brush seems to be one such anomalous object.
It's clear that, as Mario Sunshine was developed after SM64, the former would have drawn its concepts from the latter most likely, rather than the other way around, so to me it makes more sense to look forward to understand what Nintendo would come to define the magic paint by, rather than entirely within SM64, as the game offers no real explanation for how or why it works (or why a pool of oil, a wall of water, or another wall of solid stone also had the power to transport you to another, if small, world.) I have a theory, however, and this is backed up by some of the levels featured in the Galaxy games; there is a mysterious painter (perhaps one of the Star Spirits seen in Paper Mario 64?) who creates novel little worlds, small, self-contained little places floating in an empty, liminal space (some of these being referenced in other, later games, such as the Galaxy games and Odyssey). Princess Toadstool - Peach! - happened to be a connoisseur of magical art, and selected a number of them to adorn her castle.
But this brings up several more big questions. Firstly, why are there duplicates of some paintings that aren't active portals? Why is there one painting that alters the world depending on how high you jump into it, while there's another one that appears to be a clock, but alters the world it connects to based on the displayed time? Why is there an upstairs painting that shows a white swirl on a blue background that does nothing, but this same pattern on the top floor leads to a secret level (in the alcove across from Rainbow Ride)? Why in the world would Princess Peach buy that scary looking painting that leads to Lethal Lava Land, or the ones that show literal Goombas (in multiple sizes) seen in several rooms, despite these being minions of Bowser? Speaking of Bowser, it's mentioned that the power stars were scattered throughout the painting worlds, but there's also several that the Toads have hung onto, one in the secret slide, and others classified as 'the castle's secret stars'. When you beat him after collecting all 120, Bowser bemoans there being some that he wasn't able to find.
Did his minions really put all the power stars in the painting worlds, or did the Toads hide some there? Were they always in the painting worlds? The sealed doors were sealed by the power of the stars, and having the power of enough stars within him allows Mario to summon that power to unseal those doors; but without any star power, Mario would have been stymied from the get-go. Did they have to use certain numbers of stars to seal each door, slowly running out of power as they went, until they finally had no more left to seal up Bob-Omb Battlefield, or were the seals a part of the castle from the get-go, and that whole shtick was just a misdirection? There's a number of things about the castle itself that are really anomalous (an underwater 'world' where the vanish cap can be found that doesn't have water in it, the wall of water leading to Dire, Dire Docks, the oil slick leading to Hazy Maze Cave, or Shifting Sand Land being hidden in a seemingly stone wall), and, assuming the Princess wasn't the one who purchased the painting for Lethal Lava Land (because why would anyone want such a scary painting leading to what amounts to a world of fiery death?), does that mean it was there from before? Did she inherit it, or was the castle ceded to her by the Toads (as she claims in the recent Super Mario Bros. movie.)
Edit: Continued below, apparently I write too much for one comment sometimes.
Peach's Castle, as seen in SM64, appears to be placed very similarly to all the painting worlds, just hanging in a void that Mario reaches by a Warp Pipe. The water you can swim in has an edge you can't pass, the hills around the outside terminate in an invisible wall at a sheer drop, and even if you get on top of the castle, you can't even jump into the courtyard that should be visible from there. Is this castle just another painting or portal world? The answer is... apparently not! This exact castle is featured in the Mario Kart 64 track, Royal Raceway, and can be driven to with all its details during the race, as well as being the location of the award ceremonies after each Grand Prix. This was continued forward as this track was remastered, linking that castle to the greater Mushroom Kingdom, and presumably its various visual iterations across other games are either meant to be a take on that same castle, or other castles in the kingdom also belonging to the Toadstool nobility. That means its appearance in SM64 was a hardware limitation, rather than a design choice, since Royal Raceway directly connected it to the larger world of the Mushroom Kingdom, and its identical appearance as well as its near proximity to SM64 in release window as well as console lending weight to that concept being their true intention - Not so for the portal worlds, as some of these are reached in later games by means entirely different to the castle paintings, and these remain isolated in a void.
...Which also really, really makes me want to look into the completely ridiculous spread of lore regarding "castles" in the Mario franchise. *Everyone* seems to have a castle; in fact, even Mario had one, seen in the Mario Land series, obviously Bowser has had his fair share of Castles, Peach has had numerous unique castles, while forts and castles are prominent locations for fighting foes like Reznors and Koopalings in Super Mario World. Clearly, the world of Mario's games is filled with castle-obsessed folks; so is the one seen at Royal Raceway, the castle hosting the events of SM64, merely 'just another', if strange, castle in the Mushroom Kingdom, or is there some sinister mystery behind it, shadowy origins related to the malevolent basement worlds? Think about it: Lethal Lava Land (dangerous), Hazy Maze Cave (filled with rolling rocks, bottomless pits, and poisonous gas, dangerous), Shifting Sand Land (tornadoes and incredibly lethal quicksand, dangerous), Dire, Dire Docks (filled with sharks, cages, a swirling, inescapable death vortex, and apparently a way for Bowser to get a submarine in and out somehow, even the name sounds dangerous)...
To me, these smack of the secrets of a dark past, especially with how much the 'dungeon' part of the basement contrasts against the rest of the castle, with its dark stone and wall torches. Could this be the dungeon of one of the demolished castles from a previous game, one of Bowser's castles perhaps, that Peach rebuilt her own castle on top of as a sort of trophy? I mean, it being former property of Bowser would explain not only why his submarine was present, but how he knew of a secret way to get it into the level from outside, somehow - or maybe it never left, and was always there since before the new castle was built; after all, once you finish Board Bowser's Sub, the water retreats down a hallway, a hallway made of the same kind of stonework as the rest of the dungeon with its dangerous and very different worlds, but it's only like that past the point where the wall of water originally sat; maybe the construction workers were too afraid to touch the water, and stopped building the new castle there. It also seems that the chute directly behind it, which leads to Bowser in the Fire Sea, was likely always there as well, untouched by the renovation, and perhaps that (or the sub itself) are the means Bowser used to break into the castle from the inside, bypassing the protection of the power stars and kidnapping Peach into her own castle (as there is no indication anywhere that his army attacked the castle from outside, and all indications are that his troops are exclusively within the various portal domains, with none present within the castle itself apart from that one lone Boo.)
That's probably enough for one writing session.
@@NoahLoydOG Jesus Christ dude.. this is a top-level reddit post that's hidden away in a video posted by an uploader who doesn't even have 7k subscribers. You sound like me.. lmao. This was a dope read, and I _highly_ recommend you turn your theories here into a single reddit post on either r/Nintendo or r/Mario or something like that cuz _man,_ people would _love_ to read over what you wrote. Thanks for taking the insane amount of time it must have taken to write this. =)
@@wdburt91 Maybe thirty minutes of writing, not too much. I didn't even get into my theory that the system of raising and lowering the water Peach uses to raise the level of the moat was originally part of a sub-pen of sorts for the former (presumably Bowser-ly) owner, and that the reason the Dire, Dire Docks entrance 'portal' is placed at one end of a dead-end passage is because the area between that spot and the door to the bottom of the exterior moat was a passage for the sub to travel through. A constant flow of water from the outside (using the water pumping system) would have linked to the portal, allowing a constant water connection from the Docks to the outside world. The sub would simply sail up to and contact the portal to be transported in or out, then sail out to the lake beyond the current moat.
You might notice when tumbling from the sky into the Docks level that the entire background implies being underwater, yet only the sections with no direct outlet have water in them. I envision the original setup saw perhaps the entire facility as underwater, perhaps that entire liminal domain, which would be a testament simultaneously to the wall of water being vertical rather than horizontal (notice you 'fall' into the level after walking straight into it) and explain why entrance is itself so very strange. It's not a painting, but it seems that it's literally supposed to represent a wall of water coming to a sudden barrier. Maybe Peach is responsible for that barrier, using the power of the power stars to push it back further and further (like Mario does after getting the star on the sub.) If the entire 'world' within the painting, or at least the part below where you enter, was originally filled with water, it would also explain how the sub got to the location it occupies.
The obvious observation is that there's no way the sub navigated to its location by the same passage we approach it from. It's far too large for such a journey. But what about those rails and crane-like things hanging from the ceiling above the sub? What if they are connected to an airlock, a batch of sorts that the sub could have entered from above by diving down through it? Again, if the entire inside of the level was filled with water, there would be plenty of room to sail a sub straight in, then dive down into the secluded, secret docks. There is no other possible explanation for its presence there other than it being built in that location (pointless, why do that if it can't get out?) or somehow teleported there.
I feel like the water world and ceiling hatch way more concisely answers the question, while further cementing my theory that the 'old ruins' of the castle, and some of its secrets, belonged to Bowser before Peach gained control over it, and perhaps how he had secret trap doors placed in parts of the castle seemingly under her control. Perhaps my most outlandish theory is that, if SM64 was considered by the developers to be a sequel to, or continuation, of the NES and SNES games, then Peach's castle was built on the ruins of none other than the "real" Bowser's Castle at the very end of Super Mario Bros. 1 (since fireballs taking down the prior 'Bowser' encounters prove them to be fakes.) What if Princess Toadstool ordered the construction of her own royal castle to be founded on the ruins of her erstwhile captor's home, or perhaps it's a tradition to do it whenever one of his castles is taken or razed? If that's the case, that feels really petty - and could potentially explain why Bowser, in turn, has been after petty revenge in nearly all the other main line entries in the franchise.
Bowser was later confirmed to be a 'Star Child', after all, maybe the power stars in the castle had been his, and Peach stole them? It could also explain why he taunts Mario when the latter arrives at the castle and after every time you lose a life. It would also explain why he makes it a point to detail the princess within the castle itself, instead of subsequent games, where he pretty much always takes Peach from the castle and off to his own. This *was* his castle, I believe.
Thanks for the intense lore dump. I dig it!
lol well I mean I’m growing fast :P my channel is about a year and a half old
Cool Wario easter egg at 4:32, in the middle mirror for a flash!
It’s the challenge if you watch till the end!!
My childhood right here! Such a classic.
It really is!
bowser looks like that because he's been blown up twice already.
The mystery of the backwards long jump.
i found evil wario, this was such a fun idea!
Awesome! I’m going to start doing things like that in my videos from now on.
It will encourage multiple views just to get people finding it
@@PaperBanjo64 yeah for sure!!
I found the superior reflection of Mario, Wario.
😎
I found evil Wario. Loved that detail!
Awesome! I will be doing more of things like that in my videos from now on
I really enjoyed watching this video too. And, it's cool to learn about the mysteries of this Super Mario game I have never played.
Oh man this is a classic you should really play it!
@@jiggylookback I definitely should play it
I always liked trying to beat the Boo in the hallway to the door as a kid 🤣 Those two coins under the bridge aaaalways bothered me.
Yes! Everytime try to get passed him and out the door first!
I found evil Wario. 😉
Good job, I'm still looking...edit I found him!
Good work you’re the first!!
I found evil Wario
Great vid as always bud!!
Thanks so much! Really appreciate that :)
My favorite worlds in SM64 are
1. Bob-omb Battlefield
2. Jolly Roger Bay
3. Dire Dire Docks
4. Hazy Maze Cave
5. Tiny Huge Island
6. Wet Dry World
yikes
Wet Dry World and Shifting Sand Land are my favourites.
I doubt you can defeat the boo in the hallway. I cant check, but I really doubt its actually an object, just a (i dont know the proper term) "gif" i guess, for lack of a better term. Its like the snowflakes falling in the snow levels, its just an effect not an actual object.
Well, the ghost is just a boo with a fixed path and no collusion. It's the same as normal boos, just with no hit box if that makes sense.
The snow is a layer iirc.
3:03 you do not exit the level when you get the 100 coin star. I’m digging these videos though!!!
Even though SM64 was my first game ever, I honestly prefer SM64 DS. finding all the extra secrets and unlocking mario, luigi and wario was super cool to me. also the minigames were an amazing bonus.
I like all the extra content but gameplay wise 64 all the way
If this was Nintendo's first 3D game, then what was Star Fox?
If we get technical here sure.
Then this is the first Nintendo game with 360 degree movement in a 3d space.
I don’t think it’s a needed argument lol
I found evil Wario.
Heck yeah
@@jiggylookback another fantastic video from you by the way mate!!👍🏻
@@StephenYTchannel thanks so much! I so appreciate that!
Captain Toad head canon accepted.
Also, I totally found Evil Wario and am not lying 👀
Edit: I actually did find him. He's right there in the [redacted] section of the video at [redacted] time
Everyone keeps commenting they found evil Wario what does that even mean? Please be nice about telling me I have autism
At the very very end of the video it explains it.
There is an Evil Wario that appears somewhere in the video. You have to watch through and try to find it and when you do you can comment I found evil wario. Just don’t spoil where you found it!
Ok@@jiggylookback ty
If you pick up the missing baby penguin after bringing it back to mama penguin she will get mad at you until you put it back.
Yeah it’s funny lol
And you can take MIPS into a level with you but when you get there he disappears.
Theres a lot to talk about this game lol
actually you don’t exit the level with 100 coin stars
there was one thing that always bothered me We do See Peach At the End of 64 But Where actually is she although the toads say shes in the castle walls but we don't see her in the castle like the toads do when they vanish in and out of the walls but peach is no where to be found
I liked Game Theory talking about how Bowser's star at the end IS Peach
Mario 64 has the strangest atmosphere when your in the worlds it’s exiting, but when you’re in the empty castle you’re kind of uncomfortable.
Yeah 100%
Nah, It's crazy people on the internet conditioning you into feeling this way. Personally, it was the only places that made me feel uneasy were wet dry world and big boo's haunt.
@@dr.metroid6119no, it's just because you haven't experienced it like others. There's some truth to the strange, because all early 3D games have this feeling. I can name several areas in other games that made me feel like that in the era, like OoT, MM, Spyro, Crash, etc.
@@dr.metroid6119don't assume things
It was the biggest thing as a kiddo, until banjo kazooie made it better, from my point of view🤔 Great Video again😃
Thanks so much.
And I agree Banjo took the formula and did it better!
@@jiggylookback completly agreed!!!! I tried Gex 3 on PS1 and even this was not so well crafted about the formula, cos it's a bit annoying + confusing too. It's a combination of collectathon on mario 64 and banjo and it's not really good. Including the german voice overs were annoying. Graphicalwise looks damn good. But on PS1 prefer more spyro than crash.
@@FarmerSlideJoeBob yes Spyro for sure!!
I found evil Wario!
And since my comment got hearted: it is literally the perfect hiding spot, good job
Found Evil Wario
This was a good game 🎮
Nintendo would like to know your location
*Turns Switch internet connection off*
Not asking where he is, but I take it evil Wario can be seen in full color and not like the end image?
Correct
@@jiggylookbackupdate I found our yellow clad behatted friend
I found Evil Wario
😎
Your voice sounds like it's a text to speech bot.
I question the capability of your hearing lol
I have been told that I have super sonic hearing.
@@Superminecraftsonic ahhh then you must hear something I and others don’t.
I will take your word for it!
Thanks I guess.
I want my 8 minutes back :(
K
Mario 64 is the goat
@@catchall4574 what are you talking about?
@jiggylookback go look 4:33 he's there for 1 sec right side of mario
@ that’s freaky…
@jiggylookback very nice you had me going i had to look for myself on my N64
@ 😂😂😂