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...

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. 😐

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.

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 😂

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)

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.

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.

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

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 found evil wario, this was such a fun idea!

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.

I found evil Wario! It was clever to put him in that spot in the video!

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.

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?

The mystery of the backwards long jump.

I found evil Wario. 😉

My childhood right here! Such a classic.

About time the N64 guy talked about the most famous N64 game.

I found evil Wario. Loved that detail!

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.

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

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

Great vid as always bud!!

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.

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.

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 found the superior reflection of Mario, Wario.

If this was Nintendo's first 3D game, then what was Star Fox?

Theres a lot to talk about this game lol

I found evil Wario.

It was the biggest thing as a kiddo, until banjo kazooie made it better, from my point of view🤔 Great Video again😃

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.

Found Evil Wario

I found evil Wario!

Nintendo would like to know your location

This was a good game 🎮

Everyone keeps commenting they found evil Wario what does that even mean? Please be nice about telling me I have autism

Not asking where he is, but I take it evil Wario can be seen in full color and not like the end image?

I found Evil Wario

Your voice sounds like it's a text to speech bot.

I want my 8 minutes back :(