Super Mario 64 Land is a ROM hack of Super Mario 64 by Kaze Emanuar, the creator of Super Mario 64: Last Impact and Super Mario 64: Ocarina of Time. Unlike most 64 hacks, this one is in the style of Super Mario 3D Land, with eight worlds containing five levels each that resemble the 3D Land ones. Stars are hidden in each level. The game also has some new power-ups as well as ones carried over from Last Impact, and at the end of each world is a unique custom boss battle.
The story is that it's Princess Peach's birthday, and all of the Toads are joining in to eat some cake… all except one, who stayed behind to guard the Grand Ztar. Unfortunately, Bowser breaks in and easily scares off the Toad. Now he has stolen the Grand Ztar and is using it to carry out his latest evil plot; it is up to Mario to get it back and stop him.
The hack can be downloaded here
.
This hack contains examples of:
- Animated Actors: The main menu shows the game as a set, and the story is being filmed in-universe as a movie. In the secret ending, gotten by achieving 100% Completion, Mario can talk to the various actors, represented by enemies, and hear their thoughts on the film and their roles.
- Artifact of Doom: The Grand Ztar is a version of the Grand Stars with negative star energy; this leads Bowser to steal it so he can use its power.
- Astral Finale: World 8 is in space, with Bowser's headquarters being there.
- Band Land: Downplayed with World 7-2, Rhythm Factory. While there are no instruments, the machinery moves to the sound of the level music.
- Big Bad: Bowser, as usual. This time, he has stolen the Grand Ztar to power his army and try to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Big Boo's Haunt: World 7-4, Haunted Clock, is a clock tower with Boos and Mr. I enemies.
- Brutal Bonus Level: Champion's Road, unlocked by getting 120 stars.
- Boss-Arena Idiocy:
- The Angry Sun is fought near a big lake, which you must use to fill the nearby bucket with water and splash the sun with it.
- Master Hand has three Jenga-esque towers with pins at the very top in his arena that can be used to damage him.
- Tyrant Tormentoso has a cannon lying around near him that Mario can use to blast himself into the tyrant's face.
- Wario fights you inside a room with conveyor belts that, if he is stunned, can drop him into a spike pit below.
- Bowser himself does not seem to have learned from Super Mario 64, as he still has the same bombs lying around the corners of his arena.
- Boss-Only Level: Oddly for a Super Mario 64 hack, all the boss levels only have the boss in it, as opposed to a short level beforehand as is usual.
- Casino Park: World 8-2, Sun-Moon Casino, combines this with Space Zone, being a giant casino in space.
- Clock Tower: World 7-4, Haunted Clock.
- Crystal Landscape: World 5 is a city that is both digital and made of crystals.
- Damsel in Distress: Oddly averted with Princess Peach; even though Bowser is the Big Bad, he never actually kidnaps her at any point.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Unlike most Super Mario 64 hacks, Mario has infinite lives here to compensate for the courses being shorter. 1-Ups still exist, but they're worth 500 points for your Gameplay Grading.
- Dynamic Entry: Bowser is introduced this way: he breaks through the wall of the chamber where the Grand Ztar is being held and scares the Toad guard away.
- Eternal Engine: World 7 is a giant factory that even contains a nuclear power plant.
- Evil Is Cool: In the secret ending, the Bob-omb Buddy expresses this opinion:Why do we Bob-omb Buddies always have to play good guys? Playing villains is much more fun! I can live out my dreams of universal domination… absolute power, over EVERYTHING! Muhahaha!
- Excuse Plot: As the game is in the style of the main Mario platformers, it has this. Bowser has stolen the Grand Ztar, so Mario must venture through 8 worlds to stop him. That is about the extent of it — exactly what Bowser plans to do with the Ztar is never explained.
- Fantastic Racism: Played for Laughs in the secret ending, where a Battle Bob-omb expresses disdain at playing a villain:Why are we Battle Bob-ombs typecast as the baddies? It’s... It’s... Well, it’s disrespectful!
- Green Hill Zone: World 1, as usual for a Mario game.
- Jungle Japes: World 4-3, Paper Jungle Adventure, is this but in a Paper Mario 64 style.
- Level Ate: Downplayed with World 3-4, Fridge, which has some food items and containers serving as platforms.
- Lethal Lava Land: World 8-3, Volcano Cluster, is a cross of this and Space Zone, as the volcanic rocks are floating in space.
- Level in the Clouds: World 6 is sky-themed, with a whole Nostalgia Level referencing the Sand Bird.
- Levels Take Flight: As in Super Mario Sunshine, World 6-3, Sandbird, has you flying on the back of the titular Sandbird.
- Locomotive Level: World 5-4, Synthmetro, and the boss fight against Shadow Mario both take place in a metro where Mario must jump from train-top to train-top.
- Macro Zone: World 3 is a giant house belonging to Master Hand. The levels consist of a kitchen, toy room, bathroom, and freezer.
- Metropolis Level: World 5 is a city that is made of crystals.
- Nostalgia Level:
- Each level in World 4 is a reference to a Mario game. 4-1 plays in a stage resembling a level of Super Mario Bros. 3, 4-2 is the Bowser's Castle track from Mario Kart 64, 4-3 is done in a Paper Mario 64 artstyle (and even references the partner system with Chuckyeet, a partner of sorts), and 4-4 is a 3d version of a typical Super Mario World level. The boss, Bowser Jr, is fought in a similar manner to his battles in the New Super Mario Bros. series.
- World 6-3, Sandbird, has the titular Sandbird from Super Mario Sunshine return, and the level is a similar one to the Sandbird level from the game where you need to ride the Sandbird and collect the red coins while the bird passes them (although the coins are optional here).
- World 7-4, Haunted Clock, is like Tick Tock Clock from the original Super Mario 64, but with Boos and a more tense atmosphere.
- World 8 is one giant reference to Super Mario Galaxy, with the overworld and levels bearing resemblance to galaxies from the game.
- Pinball Zone: World 8-2, Sun-Moon Casino, has a giant pinball machine near the end.
- Playable Menu: You control Mario to jump into a pipe in order to select a file.
- Shifting Sand Land: World 2, which — being a Mario 64 hack — has many resemblances to the Trope Namer.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: World 3-4, Fridge, takes place in a giant fridge. It's so cold, in fact, that it passively drains Mario's health.
- Space Zone: World 8, which doubles as an Astral Finale and is a Nostalgia Level referencing Super Mario Galaxy.
- Space Station: Bowser's Space Base.
- Tactical Suicide Boss:
- The Goomba King charges at Mario; when he bumps into a wall, he falls down face-first, allowing Mario to ground-point him.
- Master Hand can be harmed with the pins only when he does his fist-slam attack.
- Bowser Jr. throws Bob-ombs at Mario, which also happen to be the only way to hurt him.
- Bowser, unlike in the original game, cannot be grabbed by the tail and thrown into the bombs; instead, Mario needs to wait until he is about to do a shell spin, then lure him into one of the bombs.
- Toy Time: World 3-2, Toy Room, is a large room filled with giant toys, as part of the general “giant house” gimmick of World 3.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: World 8, the space world. The final normal level is Bowser's Space Base, a large ascent to the top of a base, while “Showdown with Bowser” is a Boss-Only Level.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The Scuttlebug in the secret ending is terrified of the Dorrie hybrids in 7-3.
