Mario's Nightmare 64 is a Game Mod of Super Mario 64 by Aeolus that has 140 Power Stars to collect and focuses on nightmarish difficulty. It also has levels nested within levels, requiring a lot of exploration.
The plot, such as it is, is that Bowser has somehow trapped Mario within a never-ending nightmare, and Mario must collect Power Stars in order to escape. Sadly, what the nightmares lack in raw scare factor, they make up for by being hair-pullingly difficult to safely navigate.
Tropes featured in Mario's Nightmare 64:
- Adaptational Name Change: Several of the levels had their names changed when the game was updated to Version 1.2.
- Big Fancy Castle: There are no fewer than five areas set in Bowser's Castle, including two of the main courses.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Played straight in most areas, but averted with a vengeance in Course 7, Volcano Interior, where all but the uppermost regions of the course passively drain Mario's health as he traverses the already-hazardous terrain.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: While we don't actually get to see it happen, Bowser's speech when defeated in the final battle implies that he's about to be trapped in the nightmare realm in Mario's place as the latter escapes.
- Shifting Sand Land: Course 8, Lost in the Sands/Sandstorm Desert, is a desert area much like the Trope Namer, with multiple pyramids to explore. As the name implies, it also has god-awful visibility, resulting in lots of Fake Difficulty and Trial-and-Error Gameplay.
