FIRST INFO PAGE IS UP: BOB-OMB BATTLEFIELD
December 31, 2003
The first info page is now up! Once I finish them, every course will have its own info page. Right now, all the info in the page comes directly from my FAQ. It is better organised now, and all the course 1 info has been put on one page, rather than scattered throughout the FAQ. Eventually, once I've finished with the rest of the pages, I'd like to add even more info on each page, like various challenges for each level. Now it's time to say good-bye to 2003 and welcome in our new year! Thank you to all the SM64 players for a great year.
SITE LAYOUT UPDATED, DETAILED INFO PAGES TO FOLLOW
December 30, 2003
With the new year almost upon us, I thought it was the perfect time for a much-needed site update. Right now, the site is very small with only little bits of information about a few courses. Now with the new layout, I'll put up a bunch of information on every single course found in Super Mario 64. (Currently, this info can be found inside my FAQ.) Hopefully, it shouldn't take too long to get everything up. I hope you enjoy the new look and find some of the information useful.
EXPECT A SITE UPDATE SOON
December 17, 2003
This site was never meant to be anything huge, but I think I'll finally expand the site some more and change the current layout of it. I'll put up a lot of the info in my FAQ up so that they can be read in HTML pages, and maybe add some info on various challenges/glitches or anything else I think is interesting. I figured with the new year coming up, it'll be the perfect time. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone!
A NEW SCORE OR TWO, RANKINGS UPDATED ON OCT 25
November 29, 2003
I've been playing some SM64 again lately, and set two new personal records:
Footrace with Koopa the Quick: 0'16"1
Rematch with Koopa the Quick: 0'11"4
The first one is a tied "world record", and for the second one I now place third. Also, I forgot to mention that the new rankings page was put up on the N64HS. My position in the ranking slipped from 3rd to 5th, strangely I was passed by Andrew Kent even though he hasn't made any recent improvements! It must be because of my slide time... it still stands at 0'19"7, and that's in seventh now. I need to improve that! Anyway, by my calculations, these two improvements should just boost me by Kent and into fourth. Then I have Pier-Yves to worry about... Anyway, a big thanks goes to Andrew Kent for updating the N64HS rankings page - it needed it after all the new scores. Also, the splitting of the ranking into Traditional / Expert sections was a good idea!
MY COIN LOCATIONS FAQ FINALLY RELEASED!
November 14, 2003
Yes, finally my FAQ that I've been talking about for a year has been released. It contains coin locations of every coin in the game, although locations of the enemies are not currently included. (Just an enemy breakdown for each level.) As well, it includes locations of other items that can be found in the levels, including the caps, ! blocks, 1UPs, cannons, koopa shells, spinning hearts and teleports. Thanks to GameFAQs for hosting my guide.
THIS SITE CELEBRATES 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
November 9, 2003
Wow, it doesn't seem like a year has gone by since I started this site last November. Yesterday, 1 year ago, it first launched. The site started out as only 1-page and has grown a little bit, but still remains small. Over the course of the year, the main page has had just over 500 page views. (On average, that's over 1 a day.) It was never meant to be something huge anyway, just a record of some SM64 stuff. By the way, does anyone remember that FAQ I first mentioned last year? Well, it's finally finished! I'll submit it to GameFAQs soon and put it up on this site. Also, I was playing a bit of SM64 two days ago and set a new personal record: Rematch with Koopa - 0'11"7. I will improve on that! ...eventually. Looking over the past year, there was a lot of improvement made in some of those high scores, especially over the summertime months. I am happy to say I still own my world record for the warping Race with Koopa: 0'18"9. I own it by quite a margin, actually. (I know Alex will beat it eventually though.) I have to say the best new strategy overall was getting "Blast to the stone pillar" without the cannon. I still am in awe that it could be done without pole glitching. Awesome work, Alex! The staircase glitch was great as well - I can still remember first beating the game with 31 stars. Hopefully in the next year more improvements will be made and better strategies invented. Good luck to everyone!
NEW STRATEGY: BLAST TO THE STONE PILLAR WITHOUT THE CANNON!!!
August 25, 2003
The only person ever able to get Jolly Roger Bay's "Blast to the Stone Pillar" without the cannon was Myles Bukrim; he did this amazing feat by glitching up the pillar. Until now! Alex Penev does what everyone thought impossible with a surprising new strategy, which isn't even that difficult to pull off! It involves long jumping from the ship and wall kicking off the wall beside the platform. The trick is to get up enough speed with an extra long jump before, and pull off your second one on the railing of the ship. Using this method, I too have achieved 112 CC-less stars. A big thanks goes out to Alex Penev for this strategy.
KOOPA 1: WARP SPEED
August 21, 2003
I even surprised myself with this race. With Myles' new strategy for the CC-less Koopa 1 (must warp) challenge, I set a new world record, currently held by a large margin. It now stands at 0'18"9. Very, very fast! Looking back on it now, I think I might have had a bit of luck that race - but the time is possible if everything goes right. (Even though at the very end, I finished a bit to the right of the pole...) It was exciting when I saw that time on the screen! I tried many times afterwards to duplicate the run, and my best was a 0'19"2. Also, Alex Penev set some new notable times: including a very fast 0'18"9 in CC-less Koopa 1 (no warp)! Strange that right now both CC-less Koopa 1 records stand at the same time. Also, he tied Myles' 0'13"3 for shell-less Koopa 2 (I'm still stuck behind in that race) and got his 80-coin slide time up to 0'20"5. That's all for now...
MYLES BUKRIM RETURNS AND MAKES HUGE IMPROVEMENTS!
August 11, 2003
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Myles Bukrim (was previously listed as fifth place in Rankings) returns to submit some more times. It turns out he had lots of extra times that were never submitted. He also learned of the secret coin, and added that coin to his total. But he wasn't finished yet! He started playing again for a day or two, and achieved some really great times. Here is his complete update:
Koopa 1: 0'16"1
CC-less Koopa 1: 0'19"1
CC-less Koopa 1 Warp: 0'21"5!!!
Koopa 2: 0'10"3!!!
Koopa 2 No Shell: 0'13"3!!!!!
Total Coins: 2091
CC Total Coins: 2039
80 Slide Coins: 0'20"5
Coinless Stars: 76
70 Star Game Time: 1:30'23"
His Koopa 2 time without the shell is absolutely fantastic, as well as his CC-less Koopa 1 warping time. He developed new strategies for both of them. Using these, both Alex Penev and I were able to improve our times. I still need to work on the Koopa 2 No Shell time though. (And before I just had a great WR tie with Alex in that one! Back to the drawing board...) The new strategy uses the Shy Guy, and you take the same route as you would with the koopa shell. Check the records page for the complete update. Oh, and I'm well past Kent now in the Total Times, but still in third. Here's how they stand now:
Myles Bukrim: 2'13"1
Alex Penev: 2'13"2
Curtis Bright: 2'16"4
Andrew Kent: 2'20"2
Pier-Yves Lemire: 2'21"0
EVEN FASTER REMATCH TIME!!
August 1, 2003
WOW, I kept trying the Rematch challenge again (without the shell) and I have hit success again! Now I have my time down to a 0'15"6. It's a good thing I did this too; Alex Penev, never one to give up a record, managed an awesome 0'15"7. I'm just wondering why this wasn't done before? The record stood at Kent's 0'16"2 since I joined the N64HS. I'm just wondering if this time will be enough to stop Alex from taking over this challenge... probably not, so I'll be playing it some more. Oh, by the way, he used the "goomba bouncing" technique off the first goomba, while I did not, otherwise our strategies are the same. I'll try the goomba method again... Oh, and I'm very close to Kent now in the Total Times... Here's how they stand now:
Alex Penev: 2'18"0
Andrew Kent: 2'20"2
Curtis Bright: 2'20"3
Pier-Yves Lemire: 2'21"0
REMATCH WITH KOOPA: MACH 1 SPRINT SHOES!!
July 31, 2003
I improve both of my Rematch times:
With the shell: 0'12"5
Without the shell: 0'15"8
Amazing! That beats the previous world record held by Alex and Andrew... by 0"4! Will this new record stand, and can it be beaten? I think maybe with luck it can. Anyway, there's been so many new records set lately it's hard to keep track of them! Check the Rankings chart for the up-to-date records.
MORE RECORDS
July 29, 2003
I have set two new Koopa records:
Match with Koopa: 0'16"2
Rematch with Koopa: 0'13"1
However, Pier-Yves Lemire improved all his Koopa times, and has even beaten my recent 0'19"7 on CC-less Koopa 1! (And Alex Penev tied my time.) Good work Pier-Yves! However, I am also sorry to say that Pier-Yves has now passed me for his total time (Sum of all the Koopa and Slide Times). Here are the total times as they stand now:
Alex Penev: 2'18"7
Andrew Kent: 2'20"2
Pier-Yves Lemire: 2'21"3
Curtis Bright: 2'21"8
I will have to work on some times now...
KOOPA 1: THE HUMAN BLUR
July 24, 2003
Recently, there has been a lot of activity in the SM64 records, with both Alex Penev and Pier-Yves Lemire setting some nice times. When they both got a time of 0'19"8 on Koopa 1 (without Wing Cap or Cannon), I decided it was time for me to get an under 20 time as well. And I succeeded... with a 0'19"7!! I even amazed myself with that time. I also improved my warping time down to a 0'23"2. I have dedicated a separate page just to SM64 records. Alex Penev has also reached 0'16"2 for the Rematch without a shell. Pier-Yves, on the other hand, has tied several records: 0'20"5 for 80-coin slide, and 0'19"6 for a no-shortcut slide. (I'm still waiting for my 0'19"6...) He has also reached 2,039 CC-less coins. Great job! Also, I've put up a cached version of the old "gera2000" topic from GameFAQs, it was history in the making. I only altered the page links in it. (Page 1 Page 2) Until next time... let's hope the excitement continues! I'll probably update the SM64 rankings again soon...
ONE MONTH LATER...
July 5, 2003
Well, the summer has arrived but I'm still busy with things... Yesterday I finally sat down to play some SM64 for the first real time in at least a month. (I tried to improve my Rematch with Koopa times, but didn't get anywhere.) Also, something else is coming up and I won't have computer access for about a week. After that though, I think I can finally relax and play some SM64 uninterrupted. I really want to try that total game time challenge sometime during this summer. That's all for now... oh I put a few more beta pics up on the info page if you're interested. So long for now, and happy SM64ing!
SUPER MARIO 64 RANKINGS UPDATED
June 6, 2003
Sorry for the lack of updates... I'm quite busy right now. However, in about a month things should be better for me, and then I think I'll finally be able to release my FAQ! Maybe work on my times a bit too... I still have to time myself beating the game with 70 stars. Anyway, the Super Mario 64 Traditional and Expert challenges were merged over at N64 High Scores, and I took it upon myself to get all the SM64 records up to date (Nick allowed me). I'm finally in the rankings page now, and I rank third overall! The challenges page can be found here. My total time ranks third as well. But I can improve...
IGN ENTERTAINMENT RANKS SUPER MARIO 64 AS THE FIFTH-BEST GAME OF ALL TIME
May 10, 2003
IGN entertainment recently put together a list of the 100 best games of all time. You can view the entire list at http://top100.ign.com. The list included games from all systems and eras... including all the ancient Arcade and Atari games. Not surprisingly, Super Mario 64 was ranked a very high fifth place. The games which placed higher than SM64 were as follows: Tetris in fourth place, Super Metroid in third, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in second, and in first place, the original Super Mario Brothers. As you can see, Nintendo games captured the top three, and Nintendo developed five of the top six games (with the exception of Tetris). Personally, I think this list is fairly accurate, although I was very surprised that Super Mario Bros. 3 didn't make the list. It's a better game than the original, in my opinion. In other news, I've improved my Rematch with Koopa (no shell) again; this time I've brought it from 0'16"7 down to a decent 0'16"5. I think my scores are turning out pretty good, but there's always room for improvement.
KOOPA 2 UPDATE
May 4, 2003
Improved my Rematch with Koopa (without shell) from 0'16"9 to 0'16"7... but I need to improve more! I also have discovered a interesting new glitch: I can make it to Wiggler without draining the water at the top of the island. (He still says everything is soaked, though.) More on that later...
SITE LAYOUT CHANGE
April 26, 2003
For now, all I did was move the (small amounts) of info I have up, and put them on a separate page. In the near future, I hope to add a lot more info, and maybe even start a listing of different SM64 challenges.
ANOTHER 1-UP FOUND: 121 TOTAL
April 18, 2003
I recently discovered that I indeed had missed a 1-UP in my original count. Actually, it was right under my nose the whole time: it turns out there are seven 1-UPs outside the castle. The extra 1-UP comes from another set of butterflies. I've know about it for a little while, but I thought you could only get one 1-UP from butterflies outside the castle, and then other set wouldn't give you anything. However, I now know it is possible to get a 1-UP from both sets without leaving the area. Although sometimes the butterflies do fly away leaving you empty-handed, and I'm not sure why. So maybe it was just a coincidence that I thought there was 120... (it just seemed like a nice round number.) The complete updated count can still be found here. I have also made a few additional notes: I think two of the 1-UPs in Bowser in the Fire Sea only appear once you've beaten Bowser. Also, has anyone ever gotten that second 1-UP on the slide shortcut in Cool, Cool Mountain?? It seems to go right through the wall! If you do know of a good way of getting it, please email me.
UPDATE ON REMATCH WITH KOOPA THE QUICK
April 11, 2003
These were probably some of my worst scores... so I kept playing them over again tonight, and was able to improve both my scores for the rematch challenge. I cut my time without a shell down to 0'16"9 from 0'17"3, and the time with a shell I cut by almost a full second... from 0'15"1 down to 0'14"2. Still have a lot of time to cut off those, especially for the challenge with a shell. I have updated the chart from yesterday.
SUPER MARIO 64 RECORDS
April 10, 2003
For the past two weeks or so I've been trying to improve all my records in SM64, and now have some half-decent scores. I've been getting some tips from the best (Alex Penev) which has also helped my scores a lot. I have now submitted them to the "N64 High Scores" site, to see how they stack up against the best. My ranks for the challenges range from tied first places to a tied 12th place. Perhaps my best, most surprising record is my 80-coin slide time, which ties a previous world record set by Andrew Kent. It actually beats Penev's, which I think deserves a great big WOW! It may not stay that way for long though... I stayed up all night to get that score, but it was worth it! Anyway, here's a chart showing all the challenges, my record, and the world record. The only challenge I haven't completed yet is the total game time with 70 stars.
SM64 RECORDS NOW ON A SEPARATE PAGE
EVERY 1-UP LOCATION REVEALED
March 31, 2003
Okay, I've been promising this info for a while now... Sorry to everyone who was waiting for it. The complete list with all 120 the locations can be found here. Remember, if you find any I missed, please contact me! Hope this info comes in handy... My FAQ still isn't finished, because lately I've been trying some other SM64 challenges, to try and higher my scores. With any luck, I'll get them up to first-class scores. Oh yeah, and speaking of that, Alex Penev has now beaten the previous world record for Koopa 1, with an incredible 0'16"1!!! Simply amazing that records are still being broken, years after it's release.
I REVEAL MY METHOD OF BEATING THE GAME WITH 31 STARS
March 28, 2003
Like I said on March 19th, I was able to beat the final bowser with only 31 stars, using an extension of the glitch reported by gera2000, from a Mexican magazine "Club Nintendo". I have now released the method I used to beat the game with 31 stars, on the very same message board. [You can view the cached topic here.] Using this glitch, the SM64 master Alex Penev has already now beaten the game in a mere 49 minutes, 20 seconds!! He amazingly was able to complete the glitch on both staircases in only 80 seconds... very nice! There's also the possibility of beating the game with zero stars, but would require you do complete the glitch on the small staircase in the caster foyer. I haven't been able to do it, but it still could be possible. Here's what I posted on the message board:
From: Brightguy | Posted: 3/27/2003 10:53:16 PM
Okay, I'll share how I beat the game with only 31 stars, and some more info on the glitch. Here goes:
First, you beat the 1st Bowser and then collect 30 stars. Next, you go to Dire, Dire Docks and complete the star for Bowser's sub. Then beat the 2nd Bowser. Now you have 31 stars and are able to make it to the second floor.
Once you get there, you use the same backwards long-jumping method on the set of stairs before the 50-star door. You don't have an unlimited amount of stairs now though, so you have to get Mario going the really quick long-jumps fast, on your first or second try. If they don't start, run to the bottom of the stairs and try again. If you're lucky, Mario will start to long-jump up the stairs super quick, and with even more luck, the speed at which you are now moving will be enough to send you through the wall or door at the top of the stairs. Now you can scale the never-ending staircase and beat the final Bowser, beating the game with less than half the stars you are supposed to have! :)
You know how when you jump on a steep slope and you slide down to the ground and then kind of start walking backwards? (And if you run into a wall with this backwards motion, you start to slide across it.) Well when you do this long-jump on the stairs glitch, and start long-jumping very fast, you get the same type of backwards motion when you reach the top of the stairs (provided you don't long jump again or punch or something to stop it.) Except, this "backwards" motion is incredibly strong. You have some control over it, but basically it's just Mario running backwards and sliding across walls super fast. It's strong enough to let you go up and down the "endless" stairs like 5 times (while sliding on the wall - but if you open the door it stops), or you can do several laps around the Tick Tock Clock room (backwards of course), or even sometimes it can propel you through walls.
Using this glitch I have ended up in many strange places: gone straight through the stairs into Wet-Dry World, fell through the floor to the one below, ended up in the Tick Tock Clock room, and sometimes even inside those big blocks to the left/right of the clock. Of course, doing this glitch to get you through the 50-star door can take some time. But if you can get the 31 stars quickly, then do the glitch quickly, the game is definitely beatable in under an hour, with some luck.
What's more, if you could use this same trick on the stairs in the first room of the castle (to make it through the second locked door), you could beat the game with ZERO stars! That would be cool... except I haven't ever gotten the fast long-jumps on that set of stairs. Not only is it very small, I don't know if the stairs are steep enough... But if it is possible, wouldn't that just be great??
On a side note, Alex Penev has now completed the Koopa 1 race in only 0'16"2, which ties a previous world record. I'll have to try that challenge now, too... Signing off for now.
TOWER OF THE WING CAP 'PERFECT' SCORE OF 53 COINS
March 27, 2003
I started trying this challenge again recently (obtaining 51 coins only three days before), and yesterday I can finally say I have reached the "perfect" score: 53 coins. There are 63 total coins in the level, so that's missing only 10 of them... and I really don't see how one could top this score. It took a lot of flying practice, skill, and luck, but they finally all came together now I have a new record; one that I cannot see myself (or anyone else) beating. The reason I call it 'perfect' is because you simply cannot fly through the level getting any more coins than I did - you have to skip at least ten, in my opinion. So I guess that's it -- I had fun doing it, and of course recommend all you potential flyers to give it a go. Good luck!
NEW TOWER OF THE WING CAP HI SCORE: 51 COINS
March 24, 2003
Yesterday I decided I'd go back and try a challenge that I hadn't tried for a little while. After getting another one or two 50s, I got lucky and raised my hi score up to 51. (The game of course doesn't record it though, in fact you get nothing except a 1-UP for it.) Tower of the Wing Cap is the only course (with the exception of Tiny-Huge Island and the impossible coin) where it is not possible to get every coin in one run-through. I really have no way of knowing the "world record" for this challenge, since I don't think it's considered as a main one (like the Koopa/slide races). Although it was posted on the GameFAQs board a while back, and my score was the highest. So perhaps this is one record I can claim my own. If you would like to try it, remember that you can use more than one Wing Cap to get some of the lower coins, but you must get them all in one run-through. Is it possible to raise this score? Well, only time will tell, but I wouldn't yet call it 'perfect'...
TOTAL NUMBER & BREAKDOWN OF 1-UP MUSHROOMS REVEALED
March 23, 2003
Although I haven't released this information because I was waiting for my FAQ to be ready, I figured I would release it now anyway. I released the breakdown of all the 120 1-UP mushrooms that I have personally found on this message board. Are there still any more left? I think I've found them all, but it's definitely possible that I missed a few. If you want to know the individual locations of them, I may release them here, otherwise you'll have to wait for my FAQ. (Don't worry, it's coming...) The complete breakdown of all 120:
Bob-omb Battlefield: 3
Whomp's Fortress: 4
Jolly Roger Bay: 2
Cool, Cool Mountain: 6
Big Boo's Haunt: 2
Hazy Maze Cave: 4
Lethal Lava Land: 8
Shifting Sand Land: 9
Dire, Dire Docks: 1
Snowman's Land: 4
Wet-Dry World: 4
Tall, Tall Mountain: 11
Tiny-Huge Island: 10
Tick Tock Clock: 4
Rainbow Ride: 9
Tower of the Wing Cap: 0
Vanish Cap Under the Moat: 4
Cavern of the Metal Cap: 2
The Princess's Secret Slide: 2
The Secret Aquarium: 1
Wing Mario over the Rainbow: 4
Bowser in the Dark World: 6
Bowser in the Fire Sea: 6
Bowser in the Sky: 6
Outside the Castle: 6
Inside the Castle: 2
Castle Courtyard: 0
TOTAL 1-UP MUSHROOMS: 120
NEW SM64 GLITCH: CLIMBING THE ENDLESS STAIRS!
March 19, 2003
Now, thanks to a glitch reported by gera2000, it is possible to reach the final bowser with only 50 stars. The glitch allows you to actually reach the top of the "endless stairs", using Mario's ability to long-jump backwards. If multiple backwards long-jumps are timed correctly, Mario will start to jump backwards up the stairs very fast, reaching the top. You can see gera2000 performing the glitch in this movie. The glitch was reported on the GameFAQs SM64 board, and you can view the [now cached] topic here. Using an extension of this glitch, I have managed to complete the game with only 31 stars (a world record?)... less than half what you are supposed to have! A big thanks goes out to gera2000 for the trick. I still find it amazing that even after almost 7 years, more SM64 secrets are still being revealed.