The 10 Most Entertaining Power Stars in Super Mario 64

This one is for all you fellow Nintendo 64 people out there. Super Mario 64 is a 3D platformer game with 15 courses, where you in total can obtain 120 power stars during the game. They range from not-so memorable to rage-quitting material. Here's a list of the ten stars I have the most fun recovering when playing the game. Oh, and... spoiler alert!

Lil Penguin Lost - Cool, Cool Mountain

This is a classic that I had a lot of fun with when I played the game as a child. You have to take a lost penguin chick from the top of the mountain down to its mother at the bottom of the mountain. If you get hurt or hit by anything, you'll drop the chick and it'll run away, and you'll have to catch it again. Making your way down the mountain is quite the trek, and you'll meet enemies and challenges on the way that up your chances of dropping the chick. When you reach the penguin mother, she gives you a star as a reward for finding her chick. A few things that make this star more fun is that you can interact with the mom in more ways than this. If you pick the chick up after delivering it to the mom, she'll lose her temper and chase you. She'll even push you off the edge of the course and kill you if you're stood near it. There's also a second penguin chick near the mom's location, and if you try giving it to her she'll reject it, and tell you that that chick looks nothing like her, when in reality it's identical to the other chick.

Fall onto the Caged Island - Whomp's Fortress

Another NPC I found entertaining as a child is the owl in Whomp's fortress. You have to wake it up by climbing the tree it's sleeping in, then you grab onto it by jumping into its talons. It then takes you for a flight lifting you into the sky, and you'll have to steer it to a small caged island and jump off, obtaining the star in the cage. It's a quick and easy star to get, but entertaining nonetheless. As a child I would grab the owl and take it on long flights around the fortress. It's a quirky and fun level, and it's fun that you get a chance to fly around and explore it from the air instead of on your feet. At this point in the game you don't have the Wing Cap yet, so getting a chance to fly around is something that's still quite new and fun.

Plunder in the Sunken Ship - Jolly Roger Bay

I wasn't gonna make this list and not include a star from Jolly Roger Bay, the most wholesome course in the game. The combination of the calm music, the rustic feel to the map and the different elements in it makes me really appreciate it as an adult, where as a child I didn't like playing it that much cause I was too scared of drowning. I chose to highlight this star specifically because it's not super straightforward and might take a few tries. You'll first have to lure the eel out of the shipwreck by swimming close to it. Once inside, there are three chests that need to be opened in a particular order, which will drain the ship from water. A yellow box containing the star will appear at the top of the slanted ship's bottom. If you're quick enough, you can swim up there before the water drains, if not you'll have to jump up the platforms to get to the star.

100 Coin Power Star - Big Boo's Haunt

As a person who loves Halloween but isn't a fan of scary things, Big Boo's Haunt is perfect for me. It has ghosts, big spiders and a haunted mansion, as well as spooky music and a creepy environment. I chose to mention the 100 coin star, as it involves exploring the majority of the course to find enough coins, and because it's a course that's not elevated and isn't water or fire based, it's not one where you'll die too easily and lose your progress, making it one of the more enjoyable 100 coin stars. This star will probably lead you to visit most rooms in the house to get those blue coins from the eyeballs and the blue coin switch. I absolutely love the mansion and the many different rooms it has, as it's a different kind of layout than most of the other courses in the game. You can go door to door and find different challenges and enemies in each room, which makes searching for 100 coins here a fun adventure.

Navigating the Toxic Maze - Hazy Maze Cave

As a child I didn't enjoy Hazy Maze Cave as much as it deserves, as I just felt constantly in danger and about to get killed from either fire, different enemies coming at me from all angles or the huge, falling rocks. It's a course that definitely keeps you on your toes, and it's also one where you need to explore a bit to figure out where to find the stars, as it's not always obvious. To get to the toxic maze you first need to go to the elevator room, which will involve a few long jumps and avoiding the fire shooting out from some of the many holes in the ground. When you get to the elevator room, the door to the maze is on the left wall, and you access the maze through a hole in the floor. Whenever I do this, I take it as a silly challenge to try and avoid Mario hitting his head on the sides (if you know, you know). This is where it gets tricky, as the maze is filled with toxic gas that hurts you. Navigating the maze is made a lot easier if you've unlocked the Metal Mario Cap, as it prevents you from taking damage from the gas. You're looking for a door that takes you to the star, which you can spot by looking for grass hanging down on the wall underneath it. This of course is made more difficult if the Metal Cap runs out or you don't have it at all, as in addition to the toxic gas there are also enemies that shoot at you. But I love a challenge, earning this star a spot on my list.

Inside the Ancient Pyramid - Shifting Sand Land

This is an intense desert course where a small misstep can put you in quicksand that will eat you in under a second, giving you no time to get away from your grainy death. To reach this star you'll have to make your way through the course, which is a lot easier if you use the Wing Cap, as it helps you avoid the enemies and many sand traps on the way to the pyramid. Once inside, there's a whole bunch of obstacles you need to get through to climb your way up to the top. The road is filled with lots of different enemies, small ledges and platforms to jump between, climbing parts and more. It's a really fun star for me as it involves a variation of challenges, and getting to the top and obtaining the star is always very satisfying.

8 Red Coins - Bowser in the Fire Sea

I generally really enjoy the Bowser levels. They're challenging and fun, although easy to die in and having to replay the whole thing. Bowser in the Fire sea is my favourite of them, strangely enough as fire is a really annoying element in this game. When Mario gets burnt he panics and becomes hard to control, often leading to another interaction with the fire, which again might lead to death. Accidents aside, I really enjoy searching for the red coins, as you have to take your time instead of rushing through the map just to get to Bowser. The coins are often hidden in sneaky places out of sight, and are easy to miss if you just pass through without looking around.

Go to Town for Red Coins - Wet-dry World

Wet-dry World is another course I enjoy because of all its quirks. As you can tell by the name, it's a course that includes wet and dry spots. You can actually control the water level yourself by hitting different switches, thus leaving certain areas either wet or dry. The town area is separate from the main part of the course. You have to shoot Mario across to the entrance of the town with a canon, and then swim through a tunnel which leads to the entrance. This area of the course is one of the more relatable places in the game, as it actually resembles something we can find in the real world. It's a town-like place with buildings, fences and flowerbeds, and it's fun to explore. To find all the red coins you'll have to climb, do wall kicks, change the water level and definitely be quick. You know by now that I think searching around for coins is fun, and this is definitely one of those places I don't mind looking around in to find all eight red coins. Tip: Where on the painting you enter the course determines the water level, and this star is made a lot easier/quicker by entering with a higher water level, so try to enter at the top of the painting!

Scale the Mountain - Tall, Tall Mountain

I actually think Tall, Tall Mountain is my favourite course of the game, which might be surprising to some, especially as I've expressed my love for courses where you AREN'T floating in the air with high risk of falling to your death. This is a challenging course with lots of enemies that are constantly trying to throw you off of the map or violently kill you. For this star the name is quite self-explanatory, as you have to scale the mountain to get it. You spawn at the bottom of the mountain, and as you can probably guess, the road up the mountain is a long one. You can skip parts of it by long jumping off of the edge behind you, but this needs to be done perfectly, as if not you'll plummet to your death. Yes, it has definitely cost me a few lives over the years. You'll have to bring out your best Mario skills to get all the way to the top, as there's many dangers and challenges along the way, including wind, climbing parts, enemies, a rolling log and a cap-stealing monkey. Even though it's hard and full of traps, I really do enjoy this course.

Five Itty Bitty Secrets - Tiny-Huge Island

Let's be honest, even though this course is extreeeemely annoying at times, it's also really cool. Just the fact that you can enter it through two different paintings, which will determine what size you spawn as, is pretty neat. You're either tiny and the island is huge, or you're huge and the island tiny. As a child I used to be terrified of entering the water as tiny Mario, as I thought the Cheep Chomp would swallow me instantly. This star involves finding five secrets distributed around the course, and the process of finding them all includes many different challenges that might kill you, leaving you to start from scratch. I know this is probably slightly controversial, but I do enjoy getting this star. I like the stars where you have to search for secrets, as it forces you to search around the course. If you're lucky, you'll discover a few secrets when trying to obtain other stars, so you'll already know where to look when it's time for the secrets star. This star will take you all over this course, from the bottom to the very top, as well as to some risky edges. Even grabbing the star once you've uncovered it isn't straightforward, as you'll have to cross a narrow platform to get to the floating island the star is on.

That was my list, I hope you enjoyed reliving some of these stars and the adventure that recovering them can be. Please keep in mind that this is my opinion only, and my list is probably completely different to yours. Maybe your list even includes Rainbow Ride and Tick Tock Clock stars, but mine sure doesn't. Keep having fun and enjoying video games, as we're incredibly lucky to be alive in a time where we have access to all kinds of different worlds and adventures to immerse ourselves in.

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