The 10 Most Frustrating Power Stars in Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 is one of the best games ever made, hands down. But as with most of the games you get really into, it gets frustrating when things are tricky. Here are the ten most frustrating power stars from the game (in my opinion).

1. Slip Slidin' Away - Snowman's Lost His Head

This snowy course is one of the first ones you get access to. Snowman's Lost His Head is not a particularly difficult star to get, the challenging bit is that the method is very specific. You need to go speak to the snowman first, then go back up to the top of the slide, and have the snowman's head follow you back down. You need to get in front of the rolling head and stand right behind the snowman, as the head is aiming for you. Before learning exactly how to do this, I've had the head roll off the edge multiple times.

2. Big Boo's Haunt - Big Boo's Balcony

I love Big Boo's Haunt, it's definitely one of my favourite courses in the game. To get to Big Boo's Balcony you need to do a wall-kick in an awkward angle, which is one of those things I'll either do easily on the first try, or spend five minutes struggling before getting it right. When you then defeat Big Boo, the star appears on the top of the roof. This means you need to jump from the balcony to the roof, climb it, and then walk over to the star on the narrow top of the roof. All of this is done with terrible camera angles, by the way.

3. Hazy Maze Cave - Elevate for 8 Red Coins

This star is recovered by finding the eight red coins in the basement area of the Hazy Maze Cave. To get to all the coins, you need to use a flat elevator that glides through the air, with arrow buttons on it that you need to press to change directions. I don't know if it's just me, but I find the elevator difficult to operate. The area is full of obstacles, and if you hit something your elevator will bounce for a moment, making you unable to move. If you fall down, you need to go back to the beginning and make your way over to the coins again. It's not by any means the most difficult star in the game, I just have limited patience with falling down and having to start over.

4. Lethal Lava Land - Elevator Tour in the Volcano

To get to this star you need to enter the volcano in the middle of the course, and take the lift to get up to a pole. When climbing up this pole, you'll need to jump to the next one, which is on a platform with a spinning fire canon, which will make you fall if it hits you. After this, a set of tiny platforms with just enough space for your feet will lead you to the star. If you miss a pole or a platform, you'll fall straight into the lava. There are few opportunities of dry land at the bottom of the volcano, so you're not very likely to survive the fall. And that means starting all over again.

5. Dire, Dire Docks - Pole-Jumping for Red Coins

This star is my absolute least favourite in the whole game. Above Bowser's submarine, there are platforms in the air, and above them, poles attached to the ceiling that move back and forth in a set pattern. On the platforms and suspended in the air are the eight red coins that you need to collect. To do this, you'll need to jump from pole to pole. I don't know if I'm just terrible at pole-jumping, but I tend to fall down into the water a few times. To get back up, you need to press one of those purple buttons that make boxes appear for a few seconds, allowing you to jump up. This process is quick to annoy me, and I always dread getting to this star.

6. Shifting Sand Land - Free Flying for 8 Red Coins

As long as you don't enter the pyramid, it's not locating the eight red coins that's the issue with this star. It's how easy it is to mess up. To collect all the red coins that are spread around the desert course, you need to wear the Wing Cap, which boxes are a bit out of the way from where the coins are. This means that you have to time your flying right, and get another cap before it runs out, and you fall into the sand. There are lots of dangerous sand pits, enemies and whirlwinds that can kill you. That means, of course...starting all over again.

7. Tall, Tall Mountain - Blast to the Lonely Mushroom

This course might be my favourite in the game, it's full of weird stuff and cool challenges. It's definitely a difficult level, and this star in particular usually has me dying a couple of times before I get it. You need to get in a canon and shoot yourself over to a single mushroom with a star on it. There's nothing there to grab onto, so you need to hit the star exactly, or you'll fly straight past it. What makes it so difficult is that you have no reference point, so it's hard to know where to aim. Like I said, I usually die a few times before getting it right.

8. Tiny-Huge Island - 100 Coin Power Star

I think this is the course that scared me the most when I played the game as a kid. It felt like there were no safe spots, and enemies (sometimes gigantic ones) coming at me from all angles. I don't find the island quite as intimidating anymore, but it sure is a challenging one, especially is you're collecting the 100 coins. The issue is staying alive for long enough to reach a hundred. If I get 95 coins and then fall down and die, there's no way I'm going back in there to try again. That star will be recovered on another day.

9. Tick Tock Clock - Stomp on the Thwomp

No one can be surprised to see Tick Tock Clock on this list. Pretty much every star in this course is frustrating. For Stomp on the Thwomp, there are just too many things that can go wrong. You need to climb all the way to the top of the clock, and in the process, avoid being burned, zapped or crushed. Most importantly, you need to not fall down. Tick Tock Clock is one of the courses without any ground level, so any slip-up could lead to you falling to your death, and having to start all over again. It's really annoying.

10. Rainbow Ride - The Big House in the Sky

It was honestly hard not to over-represent Rainbow Ride on this list, for obvious reasons. Anyone who's played the game knows how incredibly annoying this course is. After putting a lot of thought into which star's the most frustrating, I decided on The Big House in the Sky. You basically need to stay on a magic carpet going all the way to the top of a house, while facing a bunch of obstacles on the way. The most annoying one is the fireplace inside the house. If it gets you just as the carpet's turning to go up to the roof, there is no way to get back on it. You just have to jump down or re-enter the course, and start the long journey all over again.

Those were my ten most annoying stars! Do you agree with my list? Which star makes you the most frustrated?

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