Super Mario 64 Endgame

After having beaten Super Mario 64 with all 120 stars and the maximum number of coins on most levels, what is there left to do? For most games, you'd say nothing. But for SM64, there's a lot left to do.

For most games, glitches are problematic and annoying. But with SM64, they are actually quite the opposite. Having played through the game multiple times and never encountering a serious glitch once, the game retains its fun, not annoying gameplay. But when you have mastered the game, the glitches (which are somewhat hard to find) become a sort of mini-game by themselves.

I find that I now want to seek out these glitches and exploit them. In my mind, I cannot be a true master of SM64 until I am able to do some of the more difficult glitches and tricks throughout the game. For example, I just recently made it to the top of the castle without using the cannon. It is difficult and took me a good amount of time to complete it, but I did it. I also just recently, managed to complete Princess's Secret Slide in 14.0 seconds exactly, another feat that is quite difficult (the record is 12.4).

There is a lot left for me to accomplish, such as the MIPS trick (using the rabbit to finagle your way through a couple doors) and the "backwards long jump up the infinites stairs" trick. It is possible to complete the entire game with only 16 stars (this was done in under 20 minutes). You can also get an infinite number of coins in a few different levels, after a very tedious, lengthy, and difficult process.

So if you have completed Super Mario 64 with 120 stars, make an attempt at getting every coin in each level. Then when you've done that, try getting on top of the castle and beat you record for the races. Try to utilize the various shortcuts in the game. Then start exploiting glitches. There is a great deal of fun to have, even after completing the bulk of the game.