The Super Mario 64 iceberg is an image that circulated along the internet and associates with the Super Mario 64 conspiracy rabbit hole. The iceberg is split into layers that delve deeper and deeper into Super Mario 64's anomalies, easter eggs and past. The surface level topics are a lot more common and well-known, while the ones deeper down are less known and much more estranged.
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Backwards Long Jump
The Backwards Long Jump (or BLJ) is a glitch which occurs because there is no backward speed limit while long jumping, this glitch is used very often among speedruns of the 16 and 0-star categories.
This glitch was patched in the Shindou version of the game and in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a port of the game for the Switch which uses an emulated version of the Shindou version but it is still in the Nintendo 64DD version of the game.
Impossible Coin
The Impossible Coin is the name given to an uncollectable coin in Tiny-Huge Island by pannenkoek2012. Due to how group coin spawners work, one of the five coins that should be located on a slope in the large version of Tiny-Huge Island does not spawn since it would spawn underground. This coin has been deemed impossible because of it.
Originally, the Impossible Coin's name was held by another coin in the small version of Tiny-Huge Island that was erroneously placed inside the wall. However, pannenkoek2012 would soon collect this coin on June 12th 2014 at 2:26 AM EST[1]. The Impossible Coin's name also belongs to the coin that resides within the Mystery Goomba.
Half A Press
A half A press is the name given to an A press which can leech off another A press. Some actions require the A press to be held rather than pressed, and some areas require the A press to enter. Henceforth, it would be more logical to hold down the A press after pressing it to get into the course, and then use the held A press to accomplish that task. When denoting the amount of A presses in a single level, this leeched A press is regarded as a half A press. This denotation is used within the A Buttonless Challenge. In Mish Koz's video the half a press is a term used in isolation to the star it's used on.
L is Real 2401
"L is Real 2401" is an interpretation of what the plaque texture reads inside the Castle Courtyard. Other interpretations have read it as "Eternal Star". The phrase "L is Real 2401" has become associated with the idea of unlocking Luigi in Super Mario 64, with the number 2401 being associated with how to unlock him. Coincidentally, 24 years and 1 month after the game was released, the July 25th 2020 leak revealed the unused model and textures of Luigi.
Mystery Goomba
The Mystery Goomba is a Goomba which spawns at the death barrier in Bowser in the Sky. This Goomba is apart of a Goomba triplet, and because of how the spawner operates and is placed, one of the Goombas ends up spawning off the platform and therefore onto the nearest surface: the death barrier. Since this is outside the spawner's range, the Mystery Goomba disappears immediately meaning he is only present for one frame.
Parallel Universes
Parallel Universes are a phenomenon and glitch in Super Mario 64. The values handling Mario's collision have less bits to work with than the actual value of Mario's position. Because of this, Mario is able to appear in invisible duplicate copies of the course far away from the level.
Spaceworld '95 Beta
A beta in-progress version of the game shown off at the Spaceworld 1995 exposition in Japan. This version of the game differed significantly from the release version, and some speculate that the Personalization AI might have had been present.
Whomp's Fortress 1-up
On the tower that appears on every star aside from the first on Whomp's Fortress, a 1-up can be found hidden within the tower by breaking away at the wall. This 1-up went unnoticed by many players, and spurred the idea of personalization when realized as many did not remember this 1-up existing.
Blargg
The Blargg was a red lizard-like enemy that was cut late in development. He would have been returning from Super Mario World and would have had appeared in Lethal Lava Land, and jumped out of the lava to attack Mario.
Bugged Fire Texture
The smoke texture that emits from Mario after he has been burned is actually in the incorrect format, making it display incorrectly.
Dancing Flowers
There are many weather settings used in Super Mario 64 within certain levels, whether it be the snowing in snowy levels or the lava bubbling in levels with lava. One of the settings that go unused create dancing flowers on nearby terrain to Mario. However, this setting would go unused. The animated graphic of the dancing flower can still be found in game.
Ghoul Medal
In Big Boo's Haunt, one of the signs outside of the large mansion reads that if the player makes it out alive, they deserve a "ghoul medal", a play on the term "gold medal". A ghoul medal is never recieved in game, so it was likely that this was just a throwaway line to taunt the player. However, some have claimed seeing and collecting this supposed ghoul medal. It could also be related to the unused key objects that were originally intended to be within this course.
MIPS Throwing
Shigeru Miyamoto stated that originally Mario was able to throw MIPS by his ears earlier in development. This was later removed in development, but it is still possible to throw MIPS by glitching him into the room where the moat gets lowered, and throwing him while underwater.
Mirror Room
The Mirror Room has been the subject to speculation and anomalous activity for quite a while. One of the most common points of contention was what's behind the mirror, and the door on the other side. This was answered in Super Mario 64 DS when playing as Luigi and using the Power Flower, where the door leads to an entirely blank white room with one of the Castle's Secret Stars.
"Please walk quietly in the hallway!"
On the second floor of the castle, a billboard can be found nearby the stairs that lead up to the third floor. It reads "Shhh! Please walk quietly in the hallway!". The sign has raised many suspicions as to what it is referring to, as the player isn't needed to be quiet within this floor and it isn't even a hallway. It could be that this sign was originally intended for another area, but was left in this area by accident.
Secret Aquarium
The Secret Aquarium is one of the Castle's many secret stars, found within a small alcove in the Jolly Roger Bay room. It's placement on the iceberg is questionable, since it is a well-known secret level and is mandatory in getting all 120 stars. However, there have been some anomalies relating to the aquarium, such as the darker Aquarium Limbo.
The Big Dud
"Big dud" is what the Pink Bob-ombs of Bob-omb Battlefield refer to King Bob-omb after his defeat in the first star. Coincidentally, a third rolling ball is added to the pit at the bottom of the mountain, which shares the same texture to the Bob-ombs that litter the stage. This has led some to believe that King Bob-omb has become a "dud" and has been relegated to a rolling ball at the bottom of the mountain.
Volcano Blocks
Volcano blocks refer to a bizarre formation of blocks at the end of the volcano in Lethal Lava Land. The placement of these blocks are out of place amongst the brimstone of the volcano, and are speculated to be the remains of a lost civilization of sorts.
Unagi's Tunnel
The Unagi eel in Jolly Roger Bay enters the level from a tunnel. In some versions of this game, the tunnel can be entered, leading to a secret area.
Yellow Cap Switch
In the game files there are assets for a cut yellow cap switch and yellow "!" block. It is unknown which cap that Mario was supposed to recieve from this block.
Yoshi's Saddle
Yoshi, who appears atop the castle after collecting all 120 stars, has a different saddle design in Super Mario 64. Notably, the white rim that should be around his saddle is missing. The modelling of Yoshi's saddle implies that the white rim was supposed to be there, but was erroneously colored red.
Bob-omb Village
In certian copies of the game, a secret area known as the Bob-omb village can be accessed. This area is said to be populated by pink Bob-ombs and contain stars for Mario to earn.
Bowser Broke the Door
The door into the Castle Courtyard is bricked up, as if it was broken through and quickly patched up. This has led some people to assume that Bowser broke into the castle through the back door.
Cold Cold Crevasse
Cold, Cold Crevasse is an area off-handedly mentioned within Cool, Cool Mountain on a sign nearby the spawn area of the course. It does not appear to match up to anywhere near where the sign is, leading many to believe that it is the remnant of a scrapped sub-area for Cool, Cool Mountain.
Debug Menu Names
Some levels within the game's debug level select have different names from their localized or Japanese counterparts. The most notable changes are as follows:
Big Boo's Haunt is called TERESA OBAKE, translated as "Boo Apparition".
Hazy Maze Cave is known as HORROR DUNGEON.
Wet-Dry World is known as POOL KAI, translated as "Pool Stage".
Jolly Roger Bay is known as WTDG & TINBOUTU, which appears to be shortened from "Water Dungeon & Submersion".
Tiny-Huge Island is known as BIG WORLD.
Tick Tock Clock is known as CLOCK TOWER.
Haunted Dirt Texture
In the game files there is said to be a dirt texture with a face. It is said that this face belongs to a Koopa, after being crushed into the dirt by Mario.
How Bowser got into the Castle with his Sub
In Dire, Dire Docks, there is a submarine belonging to Bowser. It is theorized that Bowser used this submarine to enter the castle's basement, and then break into the castle and kidnap Princess Peach.
Original Resolution Textures
The textures used in Super Mario 64 are downsized to 32x32 (sometimes 32x64 or 64x32) to save on file size, although many of these textures can be sourced back to pre-existing images or textures[2].
Removed Courses
In the game's debug level select, there are seven slots that are empty and don't relate to any levels within the final game. Unused Level 32 is the only level in the final release to have any code relating to it, and it has to do with cap switches and fishes. Some of these levels were recovered in the July 25th 2020 leak, where some are test levels and others seem to be proper levels that were seen in early pre-release footage. In addition, many level concepts did not make it into the final game and can be found in pre-release interviews about the game or concept art.
THE END Screen
The screen that appears at the end of the credits has unsettled many for it's odd perspective and empty atmosphere. Behind the cake, some weird shapes can be seen. Many have assumed it is Yoshi.
True Locations of the Painting Worlds
The worlds within the paintings are not tied to the painting, and exist as seperate worlds. This can be seen with Whomp's Fortress, which reappears in Super Mario Galaxy 2 as Throwback Galaxy. Excluding Rainbow Ride's appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series, this is the only time a course from Super Mario 64 has been revisited in another Mario game. It also implies that the painting worlds are situated in completely separate galaxies to the one where Mario's planet is.
Additionally, the pool of water outside of Princess Peach's Castle can be accessed through a tunnel within Dire, Dire Docks. While not painting worlds, Cavern of the Metal Cap is known to be behind the waterfall near Princess Peach's Castle and Wing Mario Over the Rainbow is situated far above the castle's moat as that's where Mario spawns when falling off the stage.
Wet-Dry World Skybox
The Wet-Dry World skybox is different to any other skybox used in the game. This is part of the Negative Emotional Aura theory. This theory posits that Wet-Dry World has a negative aura that makes people who play the level feel depressed and melancholic.
Zelda 64 Beta Assets in Wet-Dry World
These two games sharing assets is expected and not unheard of, as the two were developed at the same time. For instance, the plaque that can be seen on the Eternal Star Statue is reused in Ocarina of Time.
"Ally with Info"
Only in Super Mario 64 DS, a Toad can be found on the second floor who refers to an "ally with info" within the mirror room. This supposed ally with info does not appear to be referring to Wario, as Toad will still talk about them when talking to Wario. It is not an error either, as Toads have different sets of dialogue depending on which of the four characters is being played. The Toad will mention this ally with info to all four characters, even Wario.
Brain Diagram
Wet-Dry World supposedly has a brain texture within its files, most depictions of this texture resemble one of the paintings seen in the game. The level itself is also meant to be a physical representation of a brain, where the level's structure is meant to simulate a brain and its activities. The hidden town underwater and away from the level is meant to represent the subconscious. The fact it's underwater could be related to the condition of Hydrocephalus[3].
Hazy Maze Cave Conspiracy Theories
The entrance to Hazy Maze Cave is laced with pipes across the walls leading some to believe that the room is related to the castle's sewer system. Others jokingly speculate that Hazy Maze Cave is also the castle's very own sceptic system due to the existence of poisonous gas being flatulence and the rolling boulders being large lumps of feces.
Metal Mario Texture
The texture used for Metal Mario is the defualt texture for metal in the SGI workstation. Interestingly, this texture would never be reused for any of Metal Mario's future appearances, even with his old Super Mario 64 model returning as a costume in Super Mario Odyssey. It is speculated that this is because of the texture being associated with illegal mind control expierements, and is known to induce paranoia and disloyalty in viewers.
The Bowser Room
The Bowser Room is a famous speculated room, with plain white walls and a picture/window of Bowser looking in on the player. The intention of this room is entirely unknown, and it varies from copy to copy. In some instances, it has even been an extension of another area. It has either been an accommodation for Bowser to stay in, a trap Mario ends up in or as a base of operations for Bowser.
The Course in the Bowser Painting
On both the first floor and third floor, there is a painting of Bowser. Unlike the other unique paintings, these cannot be entered at all. This has led many to believe, and some to claim that there is a level behind the painting that not everyone can access. What this level exactly is varies between theories and reports, but some usually either say it's the Bowser Room, a fourth Bowser level or potentially the Eternal Fort.
Toads Literally Trapped in the Walls
Upon entering the castle, Toad tells Mario that Bowser has trapped the inhabitants of the castle in the walls. It's unknown if he's being literal or not, however Bowser has used his magic to transform Toads into brick blocks in the original Super Mario Bros.. Additionally, some Toads only appear after a certain amount of stars have been collected, potentially meaning they were freed from the castle walls.
Wario Apparition
The Wario Apparition is perhaps one of Super Mario 64's most infamous anomalies. Appearing as a floating Wario head in the hallway to Dire, Dire Docks, the existence of the Wario Apparition is reported to induce feelings of paranoia and trauma into any player who spots it due to the Wario Apparition's bizarre and shocking appearance. The reason behind the Wario Apparition's appearance is unknown but speculated to be the A.I. pulling unused Wario assets to create a boss of sorts. The Wario Apparition would go on to be referenced in an E3 1996 panel, "Focused on Fun".
Delicious Cake
"Delicious Cake" is an unused string of text within Super Mario 64 that has no known correlation to anything else within the game. Some people presume that it has something to do with either a cut course or the ending due to its proximity with strings relating to those objects, and others presume it's related to the cake that Princess Peach promises Mario at the start and end of the game.
Enchanted SC88 samples used in the soundtrack
Apparently some SC88 samples were enchanted and were able to gain several weird effects on the one who's listening to the samples or the songs that the samples are used in.
Internal Plexus of the Castle
The Internal Plexus of the Castle is a mysterious entry on the iceberg which can refer to many things. Commonly, it refers to how the castle is arranged in a bizarre way and may be a reflection of the A.I.'s programming and arrangement with how rooms should overlap with each other and stretch out of the castle. Other interpretations of the Internal Plexus site it as what's behind the castle walls, a series of misshapen and bizarre rooms that feel unsettling due to their strange appearance.
Miyamoto stole Mario 64 from Argonaut
Before the existence of Super Mario 64, Argonaut pitched a 3D game featuring Yoshi. Miyamoto initially turned down this game, but went onto create Super Mario 64 which, according to Jez San of Argonaut, "had the look and feel of our Yoshi game - but with the Mario character, of course". Although Miyamoto also apologised for not picking up the Yoshi game too shortly after.
NFR Cartridge Differences
The "Not For Resale" cartridges of Super Mario 64 are presumed to have differences in comparison to the retail release of the game. This could include beta content, changes to the personalization's algorithms or much more.
Sequel was Cancelled due to Temporal Leakage
A sequel to Super Mario 64 was in the works for the Nintendo 64DD, but was cancelled with the console's commercial failure. However, some theorise that the sequel was instead cancelled because of a Class TX4 "Temporal Leakage" scenario. In this scenario, events that would normally happen in a given timeline don't, due to them "leaking" out of the flow of causality. This scenario is likely due to time stream damage resulting from a misuse of time travel technology. As such, it is hypothesized that the development of Super Mario 64 did not occur in the "Prime" timeline, and our timeline is in fact a "Branch" timeline resulting from time travel used to go back in time and develop Super Mario 64 when it previously didn't exist. This lends credence to the theory that the Personalization AI may be from the future.
Shared Nightmares
Shared Nightmares is a concept which spans outside of Super Mario 64, although it heavily relates to conspiracy theories. Many people who played Super Mario 64 claim to have nightmares which are strikingly similar to those other users in their communities have. The most common of these nightmares relate to the Haunted Piano, and a Kellogg's partnership with Super Mario 64, where beta versions of the penguins seen in the game were put on the box art of their cereal. These penguins were unsettling to many, and spurred nightmares where they would babble in an unintelligible language.
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