Line #33 Headscratchers/SuperMario64


1	* Who does the other baby penguin on Cool, Cool Mountain belong to?
2	** I'm thinking possibly the penguin you race inside the cabin since he's the only other adult penguin on Cool, Cool Mountain.
3	* Why exactly is BigBoosHaunt located inside of a tiny birdcage in the Castle Courtyard, instead of a painting? Is there some context to it that isn't obvious, or is it just a [[BiggerOnTheInside weird size gag?]]
4	** Considering that Lethal Lava Land's painting is NightmareFuel, I think that Nintendo drew the line there, and didn't make an even scarier painting for the Haunt.
5	*** It's the latest in convenience: homes you carry with you!
6	** On the subject of levels that don't have paintings, what about Hazy Maze Cave, Shifting Sand Land, Dire Dire Docks, Snowman's Land, Tick Tock Clock, and Rainbow Ride?
7	*** Given the totally bizarre physics of the Mushroom Kingdom in general, it stands to reason that many of the levels may actually be "physical" locations within the castle and its grounds. The haunted mansion in the birdcage exists right where it is, and Mario shrinks down to enter it. Tick Clock Clock is an actual magical clock within the castle that Mario jumps inside to mess around with. Rainbow Ride seems to physically exist somewhere above the castle, as you wind up landing on the castle grounds if you fall out of it. The paintings therefore are something separate, pocket dimensions which Bowser either created portals to or fabricated entirely using the power of the stars.
8	** Snowman's Land had a painting, Dire Dire Docks was a specific stall tactic on Bowser's part, and Tick Tock Clock is located inside of a clock, which it milks for all it's worth. As for the others... probably so they didn't just keep repeating the same motif over and over.
9	** One could assume that because BigBoosHaunt was located in the castle's backyard, a painting would look really out of place in there (same logic for potential Hazy Maze Cave and Shifting Sand Land paintings being out of place in a flooded basement. The LethalLavaLand painting can be justified as being too creepy to hang on the upper rooms).
10	** Because a birdcage is [[RuleOfScary much scarier]] than a painting. Think about it. It's a particularly out-of-place object compared to the rest of the game. The gigantic mansion being inside of a tiny birdcage may make you even feel trapped. To top it all off, it doesn't even make half as much sense as the magical paintings do. Just imagine interacting with that thing in real life!
11	** Well, let's think about this from a story standpoint: In order to stay "powered" the castle needs stars. Boo's like mansions and don't really care where they place it in. To keep the power star safe, Bowser offered them a temporary location. Because they no longer have a reason to stay after their power star is gone, most of them just leave.
12	* Why does Bowser surround his levels with bombs?
13	** In hopes that you really are a loser and will run straight into 'em
14	** I assume that the "levels" aren't actually made by Bowser, but rather, he is simply making use of them, in an effort to protect the keys.
15	** The same question can be asked of why Bowser fights in places designed like the ones in the original Super Mario Bros, where he gets dunked into lava, with a similar answer - he didn't make those levels, he just utilized them.
16	** You'd think after the second time, he'd at least choose a different type of venue...
17	** He gets smart in the last area, he makes the bombs VERY hard to reach.
18	** Because it wouldn't be a fair fight otherwise, obviously ;).
19	* "A gentle sea dragon lives here. Pound on his back to make him lower his head. Don't become his lunch" (talking about Dorrie). What's this about becoming Dorrie's lunch?
20	** Supposedly, you could slip off of Dorrie's head before he raised it, resulting in Mario landing in front of his mouth and getting eaten accidentally. As far as I know, this wasn't actually possible, and was either just a joke, a rumour, or perhaps a small feature that got scrapped in the final game.
21	*** Seemed to be a scrapped feature, which made it more obnoxious by the NarmCharm applied when Dorrie looked more Yoshi-like in the DS remake.
22	*** And perhaps Dorrie's are notorious eating machines like Yoshi. But since Mario is friendly, he's off the menu.
23	* Are the painting worlds entirely created by Bowser, or are they links to places that already exist?
24	** Considering the [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Throwback Galaxy]], I'm inclined to believe it's the second option.
25	** I think of the courses as the paintings themselves, and Mario as an [[IntrepidFictioneer intrepid fictioneer]]. It would explain how he is able to jump between different points in time within the painting world, apparently temporarily replacing the past version of him who originally obtained that particular power star, but how it will just be an outline and [[TimeyWimeyBall history will only be rewritten if he succeeds.]]
26	** Super Mario Odyssey uses them as one-way-portals. So they are most likely physical places.
27	** According to the Toad in the castle's entrance hall, Bowser used the stolen Power Stars to "create" the worlds in the paintings and the walls. Which, I suppose, would imply that most of not all of them didn't exist before the Stars were stolen.
28	** A little bit of both. The worlds in the paintings were created by Bowser go hide the stars in, but some of those paintings were of or inspired by real places which lead to rough copies of the real thing being created. Given the inhabitants are explicitly Bowser's minions trying to keep Mario from getting the stars that's where most of the population comes from.
29	* Why did Bowser leave the door to Bob-omb Battlefield unlocked? If it wasn't for that level, you wouldn't be able to get any stars.
30	** AntiFrustrationFeature, maybe? In-universe, probably this is part of the effort the Toads are doing to save the Princess, they were able to open that door, and we can do the rest.
31	** Bowser hadn't gotten around to locking that door by the time Mario made it to the castle.
32	** In 64 DS, and several other games, Bowser considers Mario his arch-nemesis. My view is that this whole scheme, even if he couldn't admit it to himself, is just to challenge Mario. Really, he had already won. He held the castle, he controlled the power of the Stars, and Peach was his prisoner. But what else was he going to do? Unless he actively defeats Mario (and not just keep him outside), he wouldn't consider his victory to be worth anything.
33	** Bomb-omb Battlefield is left open because the doors are locked by the power of the Stars, and Bowser never finds 15 of them. Maybe he needed all 120 to seal up the castle from top to bottom.
34	* How did Koopa the Quick get from Bob-omb Battlefield to Tiny-Huge Island?
35	** Jumped through the painting?
36	** Technically, it should be the other way around, since he states in Tiny-Huge Island that it's his home course.
37	** Maybe he walked from one location to the other manually?
38	** He had two stars originally, and gave one to Mario after being beaten in the race. Then he somehow 'collected' his other star, ran through the castle into Tiny-Huge Island, and jumped into the painting. The same star let him get out of Tiny-Huge Island in the first place, and Bob-Omb Battlefield was an open room he could enter. The reason he never appears in any other levels is that he has no other stars and no way to get any because Mario took them all.
39	* Speaking of Koopa the Quick, cheating is looked down upon when racing him, but unless you aren't a considerable distance ahead of him/he sees you do it, how exactly does he know you cheated?
40	** Surely, Mario flying through the sky after being shot from a cannon wouldn't be an UnusuallyUninterestingSight.
41	** Alternatively, [[FridgeBrilliance he checks Lakitu's footage or directly asks him if Mario cheated or not]].
42	** I have always used the teleport on the hill yet Koopa The Quick has no problem with that and still gives me the star for some reason. Why is this allowed if other forms of cheating aren't?
43	** He can't see you teleport unless you're right by as he runs, and even then he might chalk it up to seeing things while running, so he has no way of knowing you cheat. On the other hand, hearing a cannon being shot and seeing Mario ahead of him can tip him off, especially if he were to look in the source of the noise's direction and see Mario helping himself to the finish line with war machinery. Additionally, he never said that climbing or scaling King Bob-Omb's hill through the walls was forbidden, since Mario would still be doing the course with actual effort (not that Koopa the Quick realizes Mario's actually making use of a literally hidden teleportation point) and may have just assumed that Mario caught up with his jumping and newly (at the time) implemented wall jump mechanic.
44	* FridgeBrilliance courtesy of Medibot and [=MyNameIsKaz=] while they were playing ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'': the Princess' Secret Slide is basically an emergency escape tunnel in case of whatever. (Unfortunately for her, she hasn't been able to make use of it, ever.)
45	* What do the Power Stars do in this game? I know that in ''Sunshine'', the Shine Sprites bring sunshine to Isle Delfino and the Power Stars in ''Galaxy'' and ''Galaxy 2'' serve as fuel for the Comet Observatory and Starship Mario, but is it ever explained what they do for Princess Peach's castle?
46	** In-story they just produced a general magical effect. The more of them were brought together in one place (Mario's pocket or wherever he keeps them), the weaker Bowser's hold over the castle got. Hence how the more stars you had, the more doors you could enter. Now as to what they did ''before'' Bowser stole them all, I don't think that ever gets explained.
47	** It's mentioned that the Power Stars are, as the name implies, the "power source" for the castle, although exactly what that means is never expanded upon (the castle isn't dark and seems largely illuminated by natural light, although presumably there's some electricity going through the walls). The Toads in the second floor hallway also mention that Mario's recovery of the Stars is "slowly restoring life to the castle"--maybe that's why it's so barren despite the Princess and presumably her whole entourage living there. It may also explain why more Toads appear as you advance in the game--Bowser's spell, which sealed them in the walls, is weakening, allowing them to begin to manifest and even share the Stars they found with you.
48	** For what it's worth, the original manual said that the Power Stars "protect the castle," and that Bowser intends to use them to turn all of the peaceful painting world occupants into his monstrous army.
49	* One for the DS remake... why do the characters wearing caps share the disguises [[IdleAnimation Idle Animations]]? In most cases, its not too bad... but when you see Mario or Luigi scratching their butt as Wario, you begin to question why they bother.
50	** If the caps give you the character's appearance and abilities, I don't think it's a stretch to think they'd give you the person's mannerisms as well.
51	** So that the developers didn't have to animate multiple idle animations for each character.
52	* Why can't Yoshi enter Big Boo's Haunt?
53	** Because as we ''all'' know, it's illegal to eat ghosts.
54	** Throwback to Yoshi being scared of Ghost Houses in Super Mario World?
55	* Speaking of the DS version, what happened to Waluigi?
56	** Probably not a friend enough of the Mario Bros. to be invited for cake.
57	** Also, Waluigi's never appeared in a Super Mario platformer before or since. For all intents and purposes, he doesn't exist in the canon of the main series, appearing only in spinoffs.
58	* Why was there water in the basement of the castle anyways?
59	** Leaking pipes?
60	** Did everyone just forget about the lake of water that's literally around the castle?
61	* What was the point of most of the rooms in the castle anyways? Most of them only had paintings and there was no sign of any kitchens or bedrooms anywhere.
62	** There was no gameplay purpose to have bedrooms or kitchens. The true point of the rooms from a gameplay perspective was to prevent Mario from progressing to new courses until he got enough stars to enter them.
63	** Maybe Bowser and his minions destroyed all the furniture.
64	** Remember that this was one of ''Peach's'' many castles. One of their uses would be for castle stuff and party stuff.
65	* How does Mario leave the worlds? He enters by jumping into paintings, but there doesn't seem to be a way out.
66	** The Power Stars are probably involved somehow.
67	** The ''Galaxy'' games showed the Power Stars seeming to carry Mario back to their respective hub worlds once he collected them. The same probably applies inside Peach's castle.
68	*** But what about pausing and exiting course? How does Mario go back without collecting a star?
69	*** Simple, he uses one of the stars he already has on him.
70	*** What if he doesn't have any stars yet?
71	*** I would think this can be left at GameplayAndStorySegregation. In the actual canonical story, Mario never enters into a level unless he’s there to collect a star at the end. If ever the player leaves a level without collecting one, that amounts to a continuity rewind — Mario didn’t enter the level and then magically leave somehow, he was just reset to before he ever entered it.
72	* What exactly ''was'' Mario supposed to be saying? Most people heard "So long, gay Bowser" but what is it exactly? "So long, de Bowser"?
73	** It's supposed to be "So long, King Bowser!"
74	** I always thought it was supposed to be "So long-a, Bowser". It's just Mario's accent adding in that extra confusing sound.
75	** [[https://www.twitter.com/charlesmartinet/status/1122713913269710848 Charles Martinet confirmed]] that it's "So long Kinga Bowser!"
76	* If Mario doesn't need to breathe while wearing the Metal Cap, why does he still cough when he stands in a Toxic Cloud?
77	** Guess: he does still breathe, even underwater. The cap oxygenates the water so he can draw air from it without swallowing it. It can also oxygenate the toxic cloud so he can breathe it, but it's still an unpleasant taste.
78	** GameplayAndStorySegregation. Mario still does the coughing animation because they didn't want to go to the trouble of coding it out depending on whether he was wearing the Metal Cap or not.
79	* Who is Yoshi referring to when he says that "they" told him he might see Mario if he waited on the roof of the castle?
80	** The developers, perhaps? They ''did'' give Yoshi a message to give Mario, after all.
81	* The manual for DS mentions that Mario is followed to the castle by “party crashers Luigi and Wario”. Wario crashing a party does make sense, but Luigi? It feels severely out of character for Luigi to be a party crasher. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Luigi to just also be invited, with Wario being the only party crasher?
82	** Reminder that Luigi is being constantly forgotten by his own friends. So it seems rather in-character for him and the other people to not invite Luigi. Luigi, being resentful and hurt, crashed the party.
83	* Why is it stated by a Toad and Bowser that the Toads were trapped within the castle? The front door isn't locked, as Mario can just waltz in.
84	** They weren't locked within the castle as in by the front door, but literally ''within'' the castle walls. You saw them throughout the castle, able to talk to you, right? They are intangible and only just able to visually manifest so that they can chat with Mario.
85	** Wait, what? All Toads are tangible (you can't go through them) and are standing ''next'' to walls, not within them.
86	** That's just the [=N64=] draw distance at work, not something that's actually part of the story.

Context Headscratchers / SuperMario64