Super Mario 64

1. Master the analog stick in the first 60 seconds. Light pressure walks, medium runs, full tilt sprints. Camera C-buttons rotate and zoom; double-tap C-up for Lakitu-cam. Spend five minutes in the castle courtyard learning momentum carry — Mario holds speed through turns if you don’t fight the stick.

2. Triple-jump into everything. Three consecutive A-presses stack height; the third launch is your primary vertical tool. Chain it with a wall-kick (jump at a wall, tap A on contact) to reach high platforms. Long-jump (run + crouch + jump) eats horizontal distance.

3. Hit Bob-omb Battlefield’s gimme stars first. Enter the main-hall painting, grab “Big Bob-omb on the Summit” (straight climb, boss fight), then re-enter for “Footrace with Koopa the Quick” (long-jump downhill, skip the bridges). Two stars in under ten minutes.

4. Talk to every Toad. Pink Toads in the castle drop free 1-ups and hint star locations. The one near the Bob-omb painting mentions cannon unlocks (talk to the pink Bob-omb in each stage to open shortcuts).

5. Collect 8 red coins in Bob-omb Battlefield for an early star. They’re scattered on the obvious summit path. Red-coin stars spawn regardless of which mission you select.

6. Swim to the basement early. Beat Bowser in the Dark World behind the 8-star door on the first floor for the basement key, then head down and ground-pound the two pillars to drain the basement’s underwater passage. Opens Dire, Dire Docks and the 30-star door upstairs.

7. Skip 100-coin stars on your first pass. They’re grindy and you’ll collect them later when you know enemy spawn patterns. Focus on mission stars and red coins to build your count toward the Bowser gates (8 stars, 30 stars, 70 stars).

• Triple-jump into wall-kicks for vertical reach. The triple-jump alone gets you high, but chaining it into a wall-kick off any vertical surface adds another full Mario-height of altitude. Essential for stars like the red coins on the Floating Island or the tower climb in Whomp’s Fortress.

• Long-jump across gaps, not triple-jump. Run, then crouch (Z) and jump (A) for the long-jump; it covers more horizontal distance than a triple-jump, but it does require a run-up. You can also long-jump immediately after a side-flip for even more distance.

• Dive-recover preserves momentum on flat ground. Press B mid-air to dive, then mash A as you hit the ground to pop back into a run without losing speed. Faster than waiting for Mario to stand up naturally. Speedrunners chain this with long-jumps for cross-map movement.

• Grab ledges with the analog stick, not the button. When you’re falling toward a platform edge, tilt the stick toward the wall and Mario auto-grabs. Mashing A mid-fall does nothing; the grab is directional input only.

• Backward long-jumps (BLJs) break star doors. Turn Mario’s back to a slope or staircase, crouch, and repeatedly long-jump backward into the incline. The collision system stacks speed with each bounce. This lets you skip star-count doors entirely—70-star door bypassed with a few seconds of staircase BLJs ^cite.

• Grab Bowser’s tail with B. Hold B to grab him, twirl him around to build up momentum, then release to throw him into one of the spiked orbs. Makes it easier to aim him into the bombs on the arena edge.

• Camera-lock (C-Up) during precision jumps. The Lakitu cam loves to swing during critical moments. Tap C-Up to lock it in Mario-view for tight platforming sequences like the pyramid or rainbow-cloud cruiser.

Whomp’s Fortress — King Whomp fight. New players circle-strafe and punch the front, which does nothing. Wait for Whomp to raise both arms overhead, side-step the slam, run behind, ground-pound the bandage on his back. Three cycles. If you’re taking hits, you’re attacking from the wrong angle — always wait for the slam animation, never engage from the front.

Dire, Dire Docks — submarine star (100 coins or “Board Bowser’s Sub”). The sub only surfaces during specific star missions; select “Board Bowser’s Sub” from the level menu. Players who enter via a different star and swim to the sub location find empty water. Object spawns are mission-dependent in SM64 — unlike 2D Marios, the mission picker changes what appears. If the sub isn’t there, exit and re-enter on the correct star.

Tall, Tall Mountain — slide star (“Mysterious Mountainside”). The slide entrance is a small alcove near the mountain’s mid-height, easy to sprint past. Look for a break in the outer wall on the spiral path, roughly halfway between the start and the peak. If you’ve climbed to the top without seeing it, you passed it. The slide itself is a tight S-curve; hold neutral on the stick through the first two bends, then steer gently. Over-correction sends you off the edge.

Tick Tock Clock — 100-coin star with moving platforms. Enter when the minute hand points to 12:00 (clock frozen) or 3:00 (slow speed); 9:00 makes everything fast instead. Entering at 6:00 (random speed) or any other time makes coins on moving platforms nearly impossible to collect safely. The clock face on the door shows real-time; wait for the correct position before entering. This is the only stage where entry timing changes geometry behavior.

Rainbow Ride — magic carpet sequence. The carpet despawns if you step off. Once you board, stay on until the next platform. If you jump to grab a coin and miss the landing, the carpet continues without you. The red coins on this segment require standing-height jumps only — no dive-recoveries, no long-jumps. Treat it like a tightrope; movement, not acrobatics.