**PLEASE BE AWARE** of a horrible flashing between 0:25 to 0:28, this was not something i added in at all. It seems like there was an error somewhere along the lines with the upload to youtube. Sorry about that & I've sent an email to youtube to see if there's a way to black that part of the video out.

Imagine a non creepy super mario 64 romhack, where, yknow, the areas and music end up being much more cheery than it used to be

I think it would have been really cool if they solved the "emptiness" of the castle by adding toads whenever you collect more stars. Every 10 or 20 stars or so adds a new toad to the castle so you have a sense of progression "saving citizens". The toads walk around and have their own unique dialogue. "Thanks for saving me, Mario! Please rescue the princess!"

When I was a child I was terrified of the infinite stair case with the creepy music that leads to the last bowser stage. Also for some reason I thought I saw a friend in the mirror room use one of the pillars as a pipe to pop out in the other side of the mirror. But I was such a small kid I can’t tell if it was my imagination or a dream.

I've watched an ungodly amount of sm64 videos (despite having never owned the original and never completing the ds version bc i was too busy gambling with Luigi) and i thought i knew all there is to know about the game and its crazy fan theories, yet this video still somehow managed to contain things I'd never heard of. istg this channel never disappoints

The only “glitch” I ever experienced in SM64 was something that looked like a Mario Silhouette in peaches castle (like you mention) but it phased through the dire dire docks door and I never saw it again. But it stayed with me because it seemed like someone else was playing the game as I was

I did actually have the popular creepypasta of the white eyed chain chomp, it spooked alot of my friends (including myself) because it would always be outstretched towards the player without going back into an idle state. I've not been able to recreate it by cartridge tilt, but I know somebody who almost got there by scratching one of the copper access points (I forgot its name), 4th one from the left. Scratching it just enough removed some textures and caused a few of the AI to act bizarrely. We tilted it after that for funsies and it got wildly corrupted so they now have a horribly cursed Mario64 cartridge, and now I want to bring it back out since it's been over a year

You know... I really love videos that discuss theories, stories, or other things in the way shown in this video. It's so encapsulating and fun to watch or even just listen to.

23:58 Chain Chomp was based on a real life event from Miyamotos childhood when a dog almost bit his hand but was prevented from doing so because it couldn't reach him (due to being chained up) It's safe to say Chain Chomp was meant to scare kids.

Let's not forget. In this game Bowser was terrifying and powerful. Almost omnipotent. Now a days Bowser is almost viewed as a joke. But in 64 his presence is felt everywhere. Bowser basically is the castle. He's the one who trapped the toads in the walls and created the portals in the paintings. His voice is heard whenever you reach a locked area. It's his levels that are arguably the hardest. And each time you fight him he gets more powerful with stronger and more unsettling abilities. Bowser is nothing less than a lovecraftian eldritch being who is always present and watching you up until the final boss. And when you finally face Bowser for the final time, after the deeply unsettling endless staircase Not only is Bowser in the sky the toughest level in the game, but when you face Bowser, his face is distorted and his classic theme is replaced with an epic and haunting piano song. And let's not forget, Bowser literally means "Demon King"

I felt that strangeness back when the game was relatively new. It just has a lucid dream quality and the loneliness in the world.

To me the correct word for the feeling in Wet Dry world is melancholy. Like you pointed out, aside from the very top of the level the only enemies are insects, and the level itself is very static, giving the feeling of being trapped by yourself in this empty space

The scariest thing that ever happened to me was while jump kicking walls I heard Boo's laugh (I was in whomp's fortress room) but about a year ago or so I heard someone mention it was something coded in by developers but didn't have proof but just that it was something known was comforting to me because I was traumatized from playing the game for weeks, and when I did I avoided the hallway towards the garden every. Single. Time.

The bit about a game that picks up on you struggling and making those areas easier actually sounds great to me, I'd love for something like that to exist. Imagine an ai specifically trained to keep you in the flow state, making what's too easy to you harder and what's too hard for you easier

It’s a crime that you don’t have more views. I’m literally watching all these videos right as they come out. Kudos to the editing 🎉

I'm amazed by the quality of the editing, as well as the script of the video itself. Looking at your channel feels like looking at a 1M+ subscribers one, so imagine my surprise when I saw you only had 30k+. Keep up the great work, I'm sure you're gonna blow up soon man

I had this nightmare about SM64 once. I was playing the game in a dark room. I put the cartridge in and say the Mario head in the beginning. All seemed normal until the Mario head actually started… saying full sentences. Slowly, the sentences got creepier and Mario’s head started to decapitate. I quickly started the game and spawned outside Peach’s castle. I went inside and the castle was darker and I thought I saw a ghost of Toad with red eyes staring at me from where he usually is, and he said “Hope is lost now, save yourself.” Then I went into Bob-Omb Battlefield. The music was eerie, sounded like something straight out of a horror movie. The clouds were dark red and there was blood everywhere. The Bob-Ombs were dead and when I jumped on a Goomba, blood splattered everywhere instead of a coin. The Chain Chomp seemed to be speaking to me, saying “Leave. Leave. Leave” in a deep voice. I quickly reset the game but when I turned around I heard a noise. I expected it to be my parents or siblings or something, maybe they had gotten a snack or were sleepwalking? I walked out of my room, and I somehow was outside PEACH’S CASTLE. I backed away as the sky got extremely dark and something came down from the sky, it was Princess Peach, and she was dead. I saw Toads and everyone was dead. Yoshi was on the roof, trying to stay away from me, saying “Go away. He’ll find you.” I was confused, and when I turned around, I saw Mario standing there and he jumped on me with a creepy voice. I immediately woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.

The 5th generation was one of the biggest game-changers in gaming history. Not just in terms of graphics or gameplay, but in the way gamers viewed video games. These were no mere games anymore, they were like alien worlds we could only see through our TV screens. There was nightmare fuel in games now, there was uncanny valley, and liminal spaces, experience all of that at an age when your mind doesn't always perfectly know fantasy from reality and of course your imagination is going to run wild. Is it any wonder so many bizarre theories and urban legends spawned from this era?

The boo leading to the courtyard always scared me as a kid, now I find boos adorable.

Chain Chomp was DEFINITELY made to be at least somewhat scary. It's based off of a childhood story of Shigeru Miamoto, where he was chased by a dog only for it to be stopped by it's leash. Also, this is the first I've ever heard of the Birthday Toad, so I guess I learned more about this rabbit hole today.

To anyone who played sm64 when they were 4-6 yrs old they know this was always a horror game. Single handedly developed my anxiety from this game

this is FANTASTIC, and im honestly baffled that you dont have more views - amazing stuff man, love it

Just as I was starting to write my own video on SM64, one of my favorite creators suddenly uploads a video on the game too?? Really impeccable timing, can't wait to watch it! 😄

I knew the personalisation AI isn’t real but I still pretended it was real because it is so fun and exciting.

The original Spyro trilogy had a similar experience of liminal spaces and loneliness. Especially in the first Spyro game. When you 100% a level, the leve is completely empty and you're all alone.

The best part about the "all super mario 64 copies are personalized" creepypasta is that for me has been a real thing. I played mario 64 during my childhood thanks to my aunt giving me a nintendo 64 as a gift with a copy of the game, but I already knew it from a friend from my school that let me play it when I went to his house. Except every time I played the game I could literally use Luigi as a playable character, and there were so many extra levels that weren't in my copy of the game. I also invited my friend to my house many times to show him the discrepancy between our games and we couldn't understand why. Obviously my friend had a mario 64 ds copy of the game which is very different from the original, but we didn't know the difference between a N64 game and a ds game at the time and we were so confused by it. I spent so much time looking for the luigi portrait in big boo's mansion without finding it and i find it hilarious now.

The negative emotional aura one is the one I most believe. Music can be a powerful influence, and that track has a pretty unsettling second half (the first part has some pretty sick slap bass that I didn't remember at all). Couple that with an unexpectedly eerie and mysterious environment, in what was likely the most immersive game of it's time, and it's no wonder it had that effect on some people.

When alone in a calmer game it isn't hard to feel uneasy to feel like you're being watched

I never got to beat the game as a kid, so I played it as an adult and finally beat it. So all the stages were quite literally new to me. None of them made me feel these negative emotions other than anger due to the difficulty in getting all 120 stars. Oh God Tick Tock Clock… Great video and discussion.

This content is amazing! Especially the editing, oh my god, the editing. Everything is animated, has pictures, it’s clear you put in so much effort! Keep up the great work 👍

Only just found your videos for the first time, this editing has already made me extremely drawn to your content. count me in! Great work :)

This game is like a very great old friend you may not see them for years but they always stop by and it seems like no time has passed at all, very beautiful and amazing game

It was always a horror game. Between the way Mario would drown believably to the damned PIANO, that's some real spooky crap.

Have you ever hear of/ played the rom hack called B3313? It goes into many aspects of things you covered in this video starting out as a beta version of the game but as you progress you end up exploring the castle plexus and finding anomalies on the iceberg. It's a really neat experience and I would recommend it to anyone into this kinda thing, even if you don't go for all 144 stars or even find the true ending of the game. Just wandering around and trying to wrap your ahead around it and discovering bizarre worlds. Also this was an incredibly well made video and you definitely deserve more views, hope the algorithm does it's thing in your favor. PS I like your profile picture of the yeti from Spyro my other favorite 3d platformers

I really felt that wet-dry wold one, it always seemed like a mystery as to the historys of the paintings and who, or what they were made for.

6:02 btw for those who don't know: this was the first iceberg. This started everything.

Amazing quality as always!! I am so happy that I've find your videos in my recommendations a couple of months ago!

this is my first video ive seen by you and wow the editing is so good, you deserve more subscribers

I'm on my brother's account but I just had to comment. This script is genuinely brilliant, S tier. And this editing looks like it took an ungodly amount of time, every second is packed with visual detail. You are so thorough and thoughtful with your analysis as well, and managed to make me a little emotional at points with just how much you encapsulated my love for this game. I think you should do more of this kind of analysis/video game essay content. I can tell you were genuinely passionate in making this video, and you just released a video last month I noticed, like how? I'll throw you a sub on this account, (sorry to my bro) and also a sub on my own account when I can get on it lol. Stay imaginative!

I thought this trend started because of Mario 64 fever dreams that people had that were quite unsettling. I've personally only had a couple of dreams of play Mario 64 and exploring the castle but things were very different and way more rooms than the actual game has. It felt ominous because it was dark and I'm there all by myself feeling like something is following or watching me

Dude in the first 10 seconds I was already shocked of how good the editing in this video is. You definitely deserve more subscribers. Can't imagine how long that must have taken

This really does say a lot about society, that the game of our childhood went from fond memories to horrifying trauma

This is Game Theory minus the cringe.

I've actually had two of these ''personalised'' Moments. I don't remember if it was a dream or something, but I remember two pirana-plants and a bowser-painting on top of the staircase. The other one was, and I think many other people know this too, when you get all 120 stars, you can shoot youself through the Peach-Picture outside of the Castle. There would be a secret Level with many toads and Peach herself Walking around, and if you spoke to Peach, you would receive a secret star.

AA, I REALLY LOVE THE EDITING, You're so talented! ❤️ I really enjoyed the video!

its crazy to me i am already subbed to u i dont remember why(will stalk after i finish typing) but this video is so amazingly edited and i love the premise im surprised i havent watched already or been recommended more yet and ur only just about to hit 50k subs soon... i can see you at 1m easily keep it up bro

The DS version of the game definitely gave me my share of nightmares: Usually stumbling into levels that weren't real: A grassy hillside with a giant half-buried koopa shell leading to some dungeon, peach's castle stained black and ochre with a formidable maze surrounded with arching walls and brambles, a watery basement like the crystal palace haunted by Boos. Everything close but nothing was right. I remember once I was playing as Peach herself, she was crawling in a large corridor quietly. I think the idea was that sudden movements would trigger a trap in the area and she needed to retrieve an item. Tension was mounting, and just before she succeeded, the glass doors slammed shut in her face. The death screen was just zoomed in on her pixelated face frozen in the broken glass, as if she was consumed by the castle.

My personal favorite kind of horror is when on the surface, it appears to be childish, but with creepy undertones

this editing style is like game theory, i like it

this video feels like its made and edited by a channel with millions of subs, keep going this is awesome!

No, the floating head entered the Zeitgeist from Walmart N64 demo stations. Back in the mid 90s, Walmart had a square, walled off electronics section in the center of their store. It was a big deal and a huge draw for children. The Mario 64 demo started with a huge Mario face that you could click a button and pull his face around. Kids loved playing with Mario's face more than being able to run around in-game for 5 minutes before the unit was force-rebooted.

Honestly, mario 64 isnt scary at all. WDW doesn't seem incomplete or empty, it's perfectly fine. Luigi missing makes sense due to the limitations of the N64.

I got an R4 card for my ds when I was 5. It had SM64DS in it and I always remember talking about stuff like floating castles and secret rooms with a friend at school. These theories take me back, man.

All things aside, that's some real nice editing.

It’s not horror it’s a fun game and the DS version of it.

None of the games in 3D All Stars are remakes.

Ocarina of Time: Am I a joke to you?

your editing is INSANE

b i r t h d a y t o a d a w a i t s

*see thumbnail* I'd love if there was a cancelled Majora's mask style sequel for Mario 64 lol. I'm just more so curious what these "horror 64 fans" as I'm now calling em think of 64 ds as I don't remember anyone caring about it despite the fact the mirror room with Luigi in the castle creep me out as outside of the white void secret star, your "mirrored" self entered the "real world" in the castle. Just... Seem like some type of horror fuel there, yet no one cares 😂

I happened to look and HOW DOES THIS VIDEO ONLY HAVE 6k VIEW you deserve a lot more than that rant aside keep up the amazing videos

being in those OG threads in 2020 and bringing this to YT have been some of my favourite memories in recent years :')

😂 Of course this started in 2020. That’s the year where everyone over thought literally everything because we were forced to stay inside and when that happens we are so limited in our space and socializing that our mentality gains negative characteristics. At the same time I still love watching these videos as I love the uncanny and unknown.

Plot twist: The game truly IS personalized and that this video and others like it are propaganda to convince you it’s not! Am I going crazy? Probably. I’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole. Save yourself. Don’t try to save me. I’ve lost it. Ahahahahahahaha

Good job you made a great video and I watched the whole thing without realising it was 30 minutes 😮

I have OCD, and as someone doing my best to get my bachelor's in philosophy, getting sucked into rabbit holes is a weakness of mine. I think it's really prevalent in my case that growing up means that sometimes it feels almost comforting to think of things that I grew up WITH in new ways, but I also think that's where the horror aspect comes in for some people. I agree that early 2020 was a fittingly uncertain time for ideas like these to take root. I mean, that uncertainty in relation to one's childhood is kind of the selling point for analog horror as far as I can tell. The idea of Mario being a cautionary tale against consumerism and drug use (which I have actually heard people say), is an amusing one, but I think it does connect in a way to how people can fall down a rabbit hole capitalizing off of these ideas. I've heard everything from urban legends about a darker side to Mario's character and the like, to theorization of the games being about a kind of purgatory. I think the almost mysterious surrealism of the series is actually part of its charm. Different characters, like Bowser seem simplistic at first, but we see how in some titles there's almost a sense of longing for a childhood he never had, and in a way that could almost be seen as a message linking to the importance of experiencing that childhood and sense of exploration. And I think that's very fitting in a cultural push for identity. So, in a way, that feeling of liminality that comes from the innovation of Nintendo experimenting with a more open world to explore is not only the same thing fueling the sense of fear, but the sense of mystery that has kept Super Mario 64 beloved and alive for so long. And I think the game IS a personal experience in that way. Also, I think Nintendo probably knows that leaving some questions unanswered helps create that kind of lasting intrigue. The fact that people can almost endlessly find something new that way means that Mario, as an idea, can grow as we do. 🙂

y'all are thinking too much. enjoy the game as it is like i do

I liked my own comment

So much insane editing, underrated

I just got out of the movie theater, I get to enjoy another great thing today! Can't wait to watch the video.

15:42 Gave me lots of butterflies bro, The video on the top right was my old channels most viewed video!

I played this game a lot when I was a kid, and while I saw it mostly as a lighthearted bit of fun, there were certain things that scared me. Mainly everything in Big Boo's Haunt, but also the Hazy Maze with the toxic yellow vapor. Also the path across the quicksand in Shifting Sand Land with those metal box things that would crush you if you stood in the wrong spot. For some reason the eel never scared me.

I have to say, I'm at 8:59 and I feel like you've used that time well to already make some really solid points. I'm now sold and going to finish the video. Thank you, and goodnight.

What if Mario is actually DEAD,and the empty castle to show his loneliness,and jumping in and out in the paintings is showing the memories of his adventures😳

Never felt any of the "uneasy" parts on the water level, it is so weird to see how such a cute game got reduced to a "oooh spooky" type of thing on the internet.

For some reason, the Mandela effect may exist as an anomaly in the game- shapes, paths, colors, patterns, and arrangements of level build vary across player memory. The liminality and speculated hidden areas of the game only added eerie dimension to the uncanny 3d castle interior/exterior and painting worlds. Even auras of certain levels kinda give a feel that particular things in this Mario ame don't belong there, concerning how we know Mario and the games before, I swear I remember two eels in jolly Roger bay, with the water being much deeper/spacious. Also, I recall speculating that a snow version of shifting sand lands (yet having the same music, oddly enough) existed. This turned out to be snow man's land, which gave me chills when discovering its true existence. The creepy topics of cartdrige design/secrets, M64 having every copy personalized/"alive," plexus, apparition in the basement, etc.. makes you wonder how unsettling game conspiracy theories are. And this doesn't even cover rom hacks.

I was never a big fan of this game back in the day and hadn’t played it since 2002 maybe. Something about it gave me the creeps back then, so imagine my surprise all these years later when I discover that so many other people felt the same way.

It's so refreshing to see a video mention the old Waluigi rumours. As a kid, I was obsessed with them.

I have a distinct memory as a kid playing mario ds when you go to unlock mario there is a stage that’s filled with poison when i died there the game deleted its self

i grew up on the DS version, and my two older brothers and i would share the one cartridge to play. i have vague memories of playing the game when i was very young on me and my brothers save files, but one stands out to me the most, one that has left me with many questions throughout the years. before i was old enough to read, i was messing around with the main menu and file menu after getting frustrated with the game itself, not knowing what i was doing i erased my oldest brothers save file. he might have had all 150 stars, he might not have, but i remember so vividly them being furious and me being upset by erasing his save. he and my other brother told me that they had unlocked the secret character in that save file, and now it was gone. my brother still to this day might tell you he remembers vividly walking into that fourth door and coming out as bowser, and playing as him too. both of my brothers told me this, and my memories of seeing it may be just imposed from second hand. i felt so guilty i spent years trying to get all the stars and solving every last mystery in that game, all to make up for what i had done. in an era before i had access to the internet, this was wild. spending hours upon hours searching these worlds and attempting anything to access a secret through the mirror room, the boo garden or the hidden window from the menu screen. it drove me crazy because i knew that there was always something just outside my grasp. funnily enough, i was the only one of my brothers to 100% complete that game, and when it came down to it, i gave up on finding bowser. by the time i had access to the internet i remember looking up if bowser was really ever there, but i found nothing. plenty of similar mysteries but nothing on bowser being a playable character. i was just left to wonder what it was all for, and how this memory was so vivid for both my brothers and me, to the point that any of us would remember it in an instant today. really plays into talk of personalized versions of the game, and i still cant shake the fact that ive never heard anything on this same Mandela effect and how personal it really is.

10 seconds into the video and the editing is already pretty damn great.

I used to play Mario 64 as a kid, and every time I was playing it I was either with someone else in the room or with something entertaining on tv otherwise I had this feeling of emptiness and sometimes being scared, especially when you go to the secret boo level, that shimata had me scared out of my mind, and that damn monster piano, the amount of nightmares I got as a kid about that damn thing.

I still have dreams about this game and being in peach’s castle. That’s how much this game is engrained in my mind from playing it so much in my childhood

28:00 I was not expecting that image of Luigi to appear. Geez. Now I'm all spooked.

Regarding the section on the shadow/silhouette Mario, it almost certainly occurred that some people encountered weird glitches where extra Marions would appear on screen. I recall back in the day a few people were be inspired by these sort of glitches and created Machinima series in SM64. Shade and the Spirits, Luigi and the Time Crystals and so on.

One of my favorite pieces of media that came out of this... trend? Resurgence? Was the romhack, B3313. It felt like a bit of a homage to some of the big creators at the time (like Greenio) while wrapping it all in a nice box of "this looks like it could have been". And I can't forget about how they made the castle. Truly, a delightfully confusing and maze-like interior that plays on the whole internal plexus thing well. Frankly, there's a lot more I could go on about, but I'd like to keep this comment from being too long.

Awsome video. Very good editing, I must say.

“Then Fredy farzbar appeared on screeen with bleeding eyes than kiled Mario!!1!1!11!1!1” But for real, I was obsessed with this Mario game specifically when I was 8, (2018.) Which is why I was so excited to get 3D All Stars in 2020, and my Nintendo 64 in 2022. I always felt warm and happy with it. Seeing my own generation relating it to mascot horror and creating so many different creepy pastas about it, it makes me wonder how I grew up with such a different experience with this game. Then again, my mother told me it was her favorite game, and as I looked through the colorful levels, I enjoyed it so much, most likely because of my interest in retro and classic games. Although I can understand why people were made uncomfortable by it, the textures and polygons compared to todays standards can be kind of shocking of a difference. Especially with 3D All Stars.

I played SM64 back when I was very young. I didn’t know how to say it back then, but there was something very off about how large and intimidating the castle felt, but then you had the cheery music inviting you in. I don’t know what you’d call that feeling but.

weirdly enough I have a vivid memory of playing SM64DS, finding a small staircase leading down to a door in the courtyard, entering it, and reaching some kind of bully room. To this day I have no idea where it came from or how to recreate it or anything. EVERY COPY IS PERSONALIZED CONFIRMED GUYS!!1!!11!11!

I love this game. But i do remember a lot of weird stuff happening when I was a kid. I do remember a black star that followed you like some of the lives in the game and if you touched it, it kicked you back to the start menu and your file would be gone. I also remember if you kept trying to go through a locked door without a key, like the 10th time bowsers laugh got super loud. As far as the dreams go, I had MULTIPLE dreams where if the player went through the door where cool cool mountain was, it was a endless hallway with the endless staircase music playing and there were double locked doors on both sides. I had another dream where I was playing as mario, flying around in the courtyard and there were 2 castles. Like the regular version and a shadow version. When I flew into the shadow version, a rainbow star started chasing me and eventually caught me and the screen had rainbow stripes with a corruption code. That one was really freaky because I was so young that I didn’t know what a error or corruption code screen looked like. Also had many dreams where bowser would be out in the open and chase you throughout the castle and the levels

Love this iceberg like video style and editing keep doing ur thing bro

Scary mario 64 mods: im the scariest Nintendo thing ever!! Luigi's mansion 1 game over screen: before me

Weird how a creepy pasta from only 3 years ago is nostalgic and also how I feel nostalgic for the release of Mario 3d all stars.

As someone who grew up with this game, it’s hard to believe that anyone would think that the feeling of eeriness started in 2020 is wild. I used to get so anxious while playing this game that I would get nauseous and feel absolutely terrified. My (older) sister refused to play it at all because she was afraid of it. The DS version is completely different. It’s what got me back into the game. It doesn’t have that lonely, disorienting feeling. I’m now trying to complete the 3D All Stars version on switch. But yeah, this has always been a thing. I vividly remember wanting to progress in the game as a kid, but getting freaked out and not wanting to play anymore. And my favorite thing at that time was watching my dad play Quake, so it’s not like it was too scary for me lol.

That bowser laugh always scared the colour out of me as a kid.

I swore up and down that you could fly on yoshi. I think my young mind associated the flight cap with yosh. It shattered my entire universe 😂

Your editing style reminds me a lot of game theory

12:00-ish l loved the editing and answer 😂

I've delved deep into the theory of personalization in SM64, and this is only the first time that I've heard of the birthday toad.