The Hostile Castle Protocol – Entry 3: Finishing Rainbow Ride

Game: Super Mario 64 Randomizer
Platform: Steam Deck
Format: No Commentary

Video: The final three stars of Rainbow Ride, an overdue visit to the big house, and the first completed late-game course of the run.

Back To The Big House

When the recording begins, I’m still standing on the crow’s nest of the floating ship. Unfortunately, staying there forever is not a viable strategy, so I climb down the pole and start trying to work out how I’m supposed to reach the big house without donating half my health bar in the process.

While looking around, I notice the falling logs below me and begin wondering whether they could be used as a shortcut.

I have absolutely no idea if the plan will work.

That has never stopped me before.

I stand on one of the logs and wait for it to descend. To my surprise, it lowers me directly onto the carpet route leading towards the house.

Good to know.

The castle had finally provided me with a safer route.

More Coins, More Questions

Working my way up past the maze, I spot a few extra coins and a pair of boxes sitting nearby.

The coins are what interest me most, so I grab them and realise my red coin total has reached seven.

That leaves only one missing.

At this point I’m assuming the final red coin is either inside the house or somewhere along the carpet route leading towards it.

The boxes are also worth investigating, but after hitting the first one I get blown clean off the platform.

Normally that would be a problem.

This time it actually helps because I needed a way back down anyway.

On the way back up, I pause for a quick look at the course menu just to make sure I haven’t missed anything obvious.

Three stars remain.

No more. No less.

The House In The Sky

It takes a few more trips along the carpets before I finally reach the big house.

Part of that delay comes from wanting to check the second box I’d spotted earlier.

Eventually, though, there is nothing left to do except step inside.

The moment I enter, it feels like I’ve interrupted some sort of gathering.

Almost every enemy in Rainbow Ride appears to be packed into the building together.

Apparently this is where they’ve all been hiding.

More importantly, I spot star number five.

I hop off the carpet to collect it and immediately notice something even more useful.

The final red coin.

One quick collection later and the red coin star appears back at the triangles.

While exploring the house, I also collect the last few coins needed for the 100 Coin Star.

Just like that, only one objective remains.

The red coin star.

After that, Rainbow Ride is finished.

The Final Star

Reaching the final star still requires one more risky move.

I attempt a long jump towards the maze and spend the entire jump wondering whether this is actually a sensible idea.

I’m fairly certain I did something similar during my previous randomizer run, but certainty feels like a luxury in this seed.

Thankfully Mario grabs the ledge.

From there, the rest is simply a matter of staying focused and not making a careless mistake.

I take my time crossing towards the star.

There is no point rushing now.

Not after all the effort it took to reach this point.

A few moments later, the final star is collected.

Rainbow Ride is complete.

Looking Ahead

Before leaving, I check the course menu one final time.

All seven stars have been collected.

The course can officially be crossed off the list.

Back in the lobby, I realise this has opened most of the doors currently available to me.

The light still isn’t shining down from the ceiling, so I clearly haven’t reached the requirement for that area yet.

What lies ahead remains a mystery.

One thing has become obvious, though.

If I’m going to keep track of where I’ve been, what courses I’ve found, and what the randomizer keeps throwing at me, I need to start taking notes.

The castle is only getting stranger.

Stars Collected: 14 / 119
Lives Remaining: 8
Courses Cleared: 2
Rainbow Ride Stars Collected: 7 / 7

Continue The Journey

← Entry 2
Entry 4 →
The Hostile Castle Protocol Hub
Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Survivor Edition

1st Jul 2026 0

KRUNCH% Entry 3 | Darkmoon Caverns Fights Back

Seed: 232968 • Platform: Steam Deck • Character: Krunch • Format: No Commentary

Darkmoon Caverns Round Two

With Darkmoon Caverns still fresh in my mind, I decide it is time to tackle my first silver coin challenge of the randomizer.

For those unfamiliar with Diddy Kong Racing’s silver coin races, the objective is simple in theory: collect all eight silver coins and still finish the race in first place.

Unfortunately, this is KRUNCH%, where nothing is ever allowed to remain simple.

With the randomizer settings active, I have no idea how many laps the game is about to demand. Thankfully, Darkmoon Caverns gives me five laps to work with. Considering the alternative could have been one lap, I am choosing to view this as mercy.

Attempt One Goes Poorly

The first attempt actually goes reasonably well from a coin collection perspective. I manage to locate and collect every silver coin without too much trouble.

The racing itself is the problem.

By lap four, it becomes painfully obvious that the run is collapsing. Krunch is fighting every corner, momentum is inconsistent, and the race no longer feels recoverable.

I decide to restart.

Which, honestly, feels like the correct survival decision.

The Coin That Nearly Ended Me

The second attempt goes significantly better.

I collect seven coins cleanly and know exactly where the final one is waiting. More importantly, I spend a large portion of the race holding first place, which immediately makes the pressure worse.

By the final lap, things begin to unravel slightly.

I drop into second place while still missing the final coin. Thankfully, the racer ahead of me clips one of the craters, allowing me to retake the lead. Suddenly, the race is still alive.

All I need to do is grab the final coin positioned before the second loop.

I drive directly into it.

At that point, I know the race is mine.

I head into the loop already doing victory laps in my head while Krunch somehow continues holding the lead together long enough to survive the final section of the race.

One final corner remains.

I cross the finish line in first place.

I immediately start fist pumping the air in celebration.

The hardest challenge of the randomizer so far is finally complete.

Although somewhere out there, Wizpig 1 is still waiting for me, and I strongly suspect that particular problem is going to be considerably worse.

Crescent Island Appears

With nine balloons collected, I briefly get lost trying to remember where I actually intended to go next.

Eventually, I remember that the nine-balloon door inside Snowflake Mountain still needs investigating.

Behind it waits Crescent Island.

And naturally, the randomizer decides this should be another five-lap race.

At this point, I am beginning to suspect the island simply enjoys watching my hands suffer.

The Sherbet Island key is available here, so I prioritise grabbing that before restarting properly for the race win.

Tiptup proves to be an immediate problem.

Not only are they faster than me, they also appear significantly more capable of driving in a straight line. Meanwhile, Krunch continues narrowly missing boost pads like he has developed a personal grudge against them.

Eventually, I manage to overtake Tiptup and maintain the lead for the remainder of the race.

Thankfully, Crescent Island is nowhere near as physically painful as Darkmoon Caverns. There are still some tight turns, but nothing too severe.

Although I suspect the silver coin challenge here will eventually attempt to change that.

The Hovercraft Challenge

With ten balloons collected, it is finally time for the hovercraft challenge.

Compared to everything else happening in this randomizer, the challenge itself is surprisingly straightforward. Three laps pass without any major disasters.

The real struggle begins when attempting to actually collect the balloon afterwards.

It genuinely feels like the balloon is attempting to actively avoid me.

Eventually, I manage to grab it and secure balloon number eleven.

Which means the door to where Sherbet Island should normally be is now open.

Unfortunately, I still have not investigated the door leading to where Snowflake Mountain itself has ended up.

But that feels like a problem for another day.

Episode Video

Progress Log

Current Seed: 232968
Balloons: 11
Bosses Defeated: Bubbler 2, Smokey 2
Silver Coin Challenges Cleared: Darkmoon Caverns
Current Threat Level: Increasing mechanical instability

Continue the Journey

Entry 2 | Darkmoon Caverns And The Five Lap Disaster ←

Krunch% Archive

— All entries in this run.

Super Mario ROM Hacks Archive

— All Mario ROM hack content.

Entry 4 | Krunch Versus Basic Driving →

28th Jun 2026 0

The Hostile Castle Protocol – Entry 2: Rainbow Ride

Game: Super Mario 64 Randomizer
Platform: Steam Deck
Format: No Commentary

Video: Rainbow Ride becomes the second course of the run, bringing difficult stars, risky jumps, and a growing appreciation for solid ground.

Course Number Two

A quick check of the castle doors revealed that there was only one place I could actually go next.

Normally this doorway would lead to Princess’s Secret Slide.

Instead, the randomizer had other ideas.

Course number two was Rainbow Ride.

Yep. Second course of the entire playthrough and already I was dealing with one of the game’s final levels.

At that point I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy run.

I spawned on the platform that would normally contain the first star in a regular playthrough. Unfortunately the star wasn’t there. What was there was the immediate problem of figuring out how I was supposed to get down.

There was really only one option available, so I checked where the platforms below were, took a leap of faith, and jumped.

I survived the landing.

My health bar didn’t come through quite as well.

Half of it disappeared on impact.

Exploring Rainbow Ride

After that less-than-ideal introduction, I worked my way towards one of the seesaw platforms and found my first star of the session.

I grabbed it and started exploring the area around me, collecting whatever coins I could along the way. Rainbow Ride is not the sort of course where I want to be careless with health, especially when the first thing it did was take half of it away for landing.

A Fly Guy decided to get involved as I reached the falling log platforms on the way towards the triangles. That gave me another hit to think about and a reminder that this course was not short on ways to become a problem.

The triangles were useful at least, since that seemed to be where the red coin star would appear. I made a mental note of that and kept moving.

Once I was satisfied there was nothing else useful nearby, I started working my way back up and spotted another star.

This one was floating above the first carpet route.

I also caught a glimpse of another star over by the maze.

So at least I knew where two of the remaining stars were.

Knowing where they were did not make them comfortable.

Backflips And Bad Ideas

The star above the first carpet looked awkward straight away. The carpet moves, the space is limited, and there wasn’t much room to stand around thinking about better options.

I only had one idea, and no real confidence that it would work.

I went for a backflip.

Somehow, it worked.

I collected the star and landed back on the carpet before the whole idea could become evidence against me.

From there I headed for the maze and used the same basic approach for the next star. Another backflip, another brief moment of concern, and another star collected.

At that point I had exhausted the stars I could clearly see. I checked the maze properly, grabbed the coins available, and looked around for anything else the randomizer might have hidden nearby.

There was nothing obvious left.

Which meant my options were starting to narrow.

The Big House In The Sky

With the easier routes running out, I headed for the big house.

That did not go well.

I failed the route twice and ended up down to two wedges of health. At that point, forcing the issue started to feel less like persistence and more like offering the castle a written invitation to end the run.

I decided to cut my losses and try again later.

There was still another route available, so I changed direction and headed for the floating ship instead.

That is probably the first point in this run where The Hostile Castle Protocol really felt like it was doing what it was meant to do. This was not just about collecting stars. It was about deciding when a route had become too expensive to keep pushing.

The big house could wait.

My remaining health could not.

The Floating Ship

The journey up the carpets towards the floating ship was tense, but it also gave me time to notice something I wasn’t expecting.

Rainbow Ride actually felt better with the background the randomizer had given it.

The music, unfortunately, did not have the same effect. It felt out of place, which is a shame, because the course itself already had enough going on without the soundtrack making things feel stranger.

Still, the route paid off.

I found another star on a box on the platform before the floating ship. Naturally, this one also required another backflip, because apparently Rainbow Ride had decided that was the theme of the session.

The ship itself had plenty of coins, which finally got me back to full health. After spending so much of the recording one bad hit away from serious trouble, that felt like its own reward.

I checked the crow’s nest and looked around the ship, but there was nothing else waiting for me there.

End Of Entry Status

By the end of the session, I had four of Rainbow Ride’s seven stars.

That sounds decent on paper.

It felt less decent while actually doing it.

Three of those stars were in awkward places, and the big house had already taken enough out of me to make it clear that charging ahead was not the smart choice.

Eventually I had to admit there was no getting around it. The big house in the sky would need to be dealt with.

Just not immediately.

After the amount of work it took to collect those four stars, I decided to stop there, pause the run, and compose myself before continuing in the next entry.

Jolly Roger Bay gave me a friendly start.

Rainbow Ride has corrected that misunderstanding.

Stars Collected: 11 / 119
Lives Remaining: 7
Courses Cleared: 1
Rainbow Ride Stars Collected: 4 / 7

Continue The Journey

← Entry 1
Entry 3 →
The Hostile Castle Protocol Hub
Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Survivor Edition

24th Jun 2026 1

KRUNCH% Entry 2 | Darkmoon Caverns And The Five Lap Disaster

Seed: 232968 • Platform: Steam Deck • Character: Krunch • Format: No Commentary

Back Into Snowflake Mountain

With progression still fairly limited, I decide to return to Snowflake Mountain to investigate what waits behind the six-balloon door.

Apparently, the answer is Dino Domain.

So if I want to visit Dino Domain in this randomizer, I now need to take a detour through Snowflake Mountain first. That feels entirely normal and not concerning whatsoever.

I briefly consider checking where Snowflake Mountain itself has been relocated to, but curiosity wins out. I want to know what the randomizer has hidden behind Dino Domain’s doors first.

The results are already questionable.

Darkmoon Caverns now occupies Hot Top Volcano’s slot, while Smokey 2 has been shoved behind Fossil Canyon’s door.

So naturally, I decide to fight Smokey 2.

Smokey 2 Goes Better Than Expected

Beating Smokey 2 would secure the second piece of the Wizpig amulet and remove another major boss from the campaign early. Unfortunately, the randomizer has once again decided this should happen on the mirrored Adventure 2 version of the race.

Over four laps.

Could be worse, I suppose.

I get the best possible boost at the start of the race and immediately fly directly into a fireball, which feels like an excellent summary of KRUNCH% so far.

Thankfully, the recovery goes significantly better than the opening corner.

Between aggressive flying, momentum preservation, and two blue balloon speed boosts, I manage to overtake Smokey shortly before the end of lap one. Once Krunch gains momentum, he becomes surprisingly difficult to stop, even if controlling him still feels like negotiating with heavy machinery.

From there, I hold the lead for the remainder of the race and secure the second Wizpig amulet piece.

For a character widely considered one of the worst racers in the game, Krunch becomes genuinely dangerous once the speed starts building.

Whale Bay And A Quick Reconnaissance Mission

With Smokey 2 defeated, I investigate the remaining balloon doors inside Dino Domain.

One leads toward Dragon Forest.

The other leads to Whale Bay.

I choose Whale Bay first. The randomizer grants me a relatively merciful version of the race this time: only two laps on the mirrored Adventure 2 layout.

Compared to everything else happening in this seed, the race feels surprisingly stable. I secure first place without much resistance and continue exploring the island to see what other horrors the randomizer has prepared.

Fire Mountain’s entrance now leads to Sherbet Island, which somehow feels completely believable at this point.

The Return To Darkmoon Caverns

Then I remember something important.

The music in Darkmoon Caverns.

I spent an unreasonable amount of time in this course back when I originally played Diddy Kong Racing, and now that it has appeared early in the randomizer, there is no chance I am leaving without revisiting it properly.

So I head into Darkmoon Caverns.

The randomizer responds by handing me my first five-lap race of the campaign.

And very quickly, I realise this was a mistake.

Darkmoon Caverns is normally one of the later tracks in the game. It expects you to already understand your chosen racer. Meanwhile, I am still actively fighting Krunch every time I attempt to take a corner cleanly.

After a failed attempt and a restart, I finally remember an old technique from years ago: holding the brake button during drifts to tighten turns.

Suddenly, everything starts making sense again.

The race transforms from complete instability into five laps of uninterrupted concentration.

Five laps later, I secure first place, although I am fairly certain my hands have partially cramped in the process.

The silver coin challenge for Darkmoon Caverns still remains waiting in the future, but that can wait for another day.

Right now, I just want to sit in Darkmoon Caverns and listen to the music for a while.

Episode Video

Progress Log

Current Seed: 232968
Balloons: 8
Bosses Defeated: Bubbler 2, Smokey 2
Wizpig Amulet Pieces: 2
Current Threat Level: Escalating instability

Continue the Journey

Entry 1 | Snowflake Mountain Was Not Supposed To Be Here ←

Krunch% Archive

— All entries in this run.

Super Mario ROM Hacks Archive

— All Mario ROM hack content.

Entry 3 | Darkmoon Caverns Fights Back →

21st Jun 2026 1

The Hostile Castle Protocol – Entry 1: Back Into The Castle

Game: Super Mario 64 Randomizer
Platform: Steam Deck
Format: No Commentary

Video: Jolly Roger Bay, seven stars collected, and the first discoveries about Non-Stop Mode.

Back Into The Castle

I told myself I wouldn’t come back to this anytime soon.

Apparently that plan lasted about as long as most of my attempts at sticking to a schedule.

At the time of writing this, Krunch% is still ongoing, but the more I thought about my original Super Mario 64 Randomizer run, the more I found myself wanting another trip through the castle.

Before long, I was setting everything up again.

This time the difficulty has been increased a little. To keep things fair, I deleted the test save file I’d been using while checking the settings and started fresh.

Non-Stop Mode is enabled this time around, which means once I enter a course, I stay there until I choose to leave, run out of health, or the game decides to remove me from the level.

Given my previous experiences with randomizer chaos, none of those possibilities can be ruled out.

The Castle Opens Its Doors

With the settings chosen, it was time to see what the randomizer had prepared for me.

Its answer was Jolly Roger Bay.

That wasn’t what I expected.

In my original randomizer run, Jolly Roger Bay ended up being one of the more straightforward courses. I wasn’t about to complain, although the course itself seemed determined to make sure I didn’t become too comfortable.

The balancing pillars inside the cavern appeared to have developed a personal interest in my whereabouts and spent much of the session trying to introduce me to the water below.

Despite that, progress came quickly.

Seven Stars In Jolly Roger Bay

One by one the stars started falling.

The objectives themselves weren’t especially difficult, but the randomizer had added just enough uncertainty to keep me paying attention.

While working on the 100 Coin Star, I remembered that I would eventually need to raise the sunken ship guarded by the eel.

My assumption was that collecting the star inside the ship would force me to leave the course and re-enter before I could finish the final objective.

Apparently Non-Stop Mode had other plans.

After collecting the ship star, I was simply placed back into Jolly Roger Bay with the final objective still available.

That left only Can the Eel Come Out to Play?

Convincing the eel to cooperate took a few attempts. During that time I was fully expecting the randomizer to have hidden the star somewhere completely different.

Thankfully, tradition survived the randomization process.

The eel eventually emerged with the star still attached to its tail, allowing me to collect the seventh and final star of the course.

Jolly Roger Bay was officially cleared.

An Unexpected Discovery

With the course complete, I decided to experiment with the menu options.

Choosing to exit the course launched Mario out of the level and immediately cost me a life.

Useful information to have.

Not information I was particularly pleased to discover.

To make sure it wasn’t some strange one-off, I entered the course again and selected the option to return to the lobby instead.

This time Mario simply appeared back inside the castle with no life penalty attached.

Lesson learned.

The castle apparently charges a fee for leaving incorrectly.

End Of Entry Status

The first course is complete and seven stars are already on the board.

I also learned a few important things about how Non-Stop Mode behaves, which is knowledge that will hopefully save me from losing additional lives in the future.

I forgot to check how many stars are required for the various doors throughout the castle, but that’s a problem for the next entry.

I’m also not sure whether the Boos have appeared in the courtyard yet.

Those are both questions for future me.

For now, the castle has been surprisingly cooperative.

I’m sure that won’t last.

Stars Collected: 7 / 119
Lives Remaining: 5
Courses Cleared: 1

Continue The Journey

Entry 2 →

The Hostile Castle Protocol Hub

Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Survivor Edition

17th Jun 2026 1

KRUNCH% Entry 1 | Snowflake Mountain Was Not Supposed To Be Here

Seed: 232968 • Platform: Steam Deck • Character: Krunch • Format: No Commentary

The Island Introduces Itself

The genie of the island greets me by explaining that he is here to help and wishes me good luck. Given the state of the randomizer and my choice of driver, I can only assume this was less encouragement and more a warning.

I begin by collecting the overworld balloons. There are four available immediately, all reachable using the plane, which conveniently gives me a chance to relearn how flying works before the randomizer fully starts dismantling the island around me.

It goes about as well as expected.

I am already crashing into objects I had no intention of crashing into, which unfortunately feels very on-brand for both Krunch and the challenge itself.

One balloon in particular sits near the entrance that should normally lead to Dino Domain. Somehow I manage to collect it cleanly, which may genuinely be the most surprising moment of the episode.

Snowflake Mountain Is Apparently Dino Domain Now

With enough balloons collected, I enter the first available door expecting Dino Domain.

Instead, the randomizer reveals that Dino Domain has been replaced entirely by Snowflake Mountain.

So this is how the island intends to behave.

At this point, my available options are still limited. Two doors remain locked behind additional balloon requirements, leaving only a couple of places to investigate. I enter the first available track and discover Ancient Lake waiting for me.

Except it is not really Ancient Lake anymore.

It is the Adventure 2 mirrored version of Ancient Lake, and the race has been reduced to two laps.

The Dino Domain key is also available.

I briefly consider trying to win the race and collect the key simultaneously before remembering that I am driving Krunch through a mirrored randomizer while relearning how Diddy Kong Racing functions in the first place.

I used to main Tiptup back in the day. Krunch handles like someone replaced the steering wheel with a polite suggestion.

The First Reset

The key attempt immediately turns into a disaster.

I grab a boost balloon, panic slightly, and instead of reversing properly, Krunch launches himself forward like he has suddenly remembered somewhere else he needs to be.

T.T. politely informs me I am going the wrong way while I attempt to recover what little dignity remains.

Attempt number two goes far better. I secure the key successfully, although by that point the race itself is completely lost, so I restart the event and focus purely on survival.

Without the distraction of the key, the mirrored Ancient Lake race becomes surprisingly manageable. I take first place cleanly and secure the Dino Key without much additional trouble.

For a brief moment, the island allows optimism.

Bubbler 2 Appears Far Earlier Than Expected

Door number two immediately removes that optimism.

Behind it waits Bubbler 2.

So apparently we are doing this already.

The race is mirrored again thanks to the Adventure 2 setting, although this time the randomizer grants me four laps instead of two. Given how the fight starts, I absolutely need all four of them.

Fortunately, I feel much more comfortable using the hovercraft than the kart. Even with Krunch handling like an active mechanical dispute, the hovercraft gives me enough control to keep the situation from collapsing completely.

That does not stop me from landing in bubbles repeatedly.

Three laps in and I am still sitting in second place, but I can feel the race stabilising. My mistakes become less frequent each lap, the homing rockets start connecting consistently, and Krunch slowly transforms from an uncontrollable disaster into a very fast uncontrollable disaster.

And once Krunch builds momentum, he builds momentum quickly.

At the start of lap four, I finally overtake Bubbler and manage to hold the lead for the remainder of the race.

The first piece of the Wizpig amulet is mine.

The Car Challenge

Leaving Snowflake Mountain triggers the next event immediately: the car challenge.

Thankfully, the randomizer decides not to become completely unreasonable just yet.

One lap.

Simple enough.

I clear the challenge successfully and secure balloon number six.

For now, progression remains limited, but the next destination is already obvious. There is still one locked door waiting back in Snowflake Mountain, and whatever sits behind it is probably not going to improve the situation.

Still, for a first proper look at KRUNCH%, this was a surprisingly strong introduction to what this randomizer intends to become.

Unstable. Confusing. Occasionally hostile.

And somehow still survivable.

Episode Video

Progress Log

Current Seed: 232968
Balloons: 6
Keys Collected: Dino Key
Bosses Defeated: Bubbler 2
Wizpig Amulet Pieces: 1
Current Threat Level: Controlled instability

Continue the Journey

Krunch% Archive

— All entries in this run.

Super Mario ROM Hacks Archive

— All Mario ROM hack content.

Entry 2 | Darkmoon Caverns and The Five Lap Disaster →

14th Jun 2026 1

Super Mario 64 Randomizer – Epilogue: Thirty Years Later

Game: Super Mario 64 Randomizer
Platform: Steam Deck
Format: No Commentary

Why This One Needed an Epilogue

It has been a while since I last wrote an epilogue, but this run felt like it deserved one.

Nearly thirty years ago we were given the game that set the standard for 3D platformers, and in many ways for games in general. Very few titles can be called truly influential, but Super Mario 64 is one of them. Even decades later people are still playing it, still finding new tricks, and still discovering ways to push the game further than anyone expected.

I have watched world records being broken, seen people complete the game blindfolded, and watched runs that make it look effortless. That was never what this was about for me. I wanted something familiar, but different enough that I couldn’t rely on memory alone.

That is why I chose the randomizer.

Familiar, But Never Safe

I could have played through the original game again without any problems, but the randomizer forces you to slow down and think. Stars are not where you expect them to be, levels don’t behave the way your memory says they should, and suddenly a course you know inside out becomes something you have to learn all over again.

It didn’t take long for the run to remind me of that. Getting Rainbow Ride and Tick Tock Clock early in the run felt like the game was testing me right from the start. Those are not the levels you expect to deal with when you are still trying to figure out where everything is.

And then there was the hunt for the Wing Cap Switch Palace. For a while I genuinely thought it might end up being in the very last place I could possibly check. That search alone made the randomizer worth doing.

The Stars That Fought Back

If there was one type of star that caused the most trouble, it was the red coins. A lot of them turned into puzzles I wasn’t expecting to solve.

Bowser in the Fire Sea was one of the worst. The coins were placed in spots where grabbing them felt like a risk every time. It wasn’t enough to know the level, I had to work out how to reach them without burning Mario in the process.

Rainbow Ride was another one that stuck with me. Collecting the red coins there only to see the star appear at the opposite end of the course felt like the game reminding me that nothing in a randomizer run is ever simple.

Even near the end the run kept finding ways to surprise me. Wet-Dry World being the final course felt a little anticlimactic, but that is the nature of a randomizer. You don’t choose the order. The seed does.

Thirty Years Later, Still Worth Playing

What surprised me the most about this run is how well the game still holds up. Even after all this time, Super Mario 64 is still fun to play, still satisfying to finish, and still able to throw challenges at you when you least expect them.

That is probably why people are still playing it after all these years. Not because of nostalgia alone, but because the game itself is strong enough to keep people coming back.

The Journey Ends

I don’t know if I will do another randomizer run in the future, but I’m glad I did this one. It turned a game I already knew into something unpredictable again, and it made the final credits feel earned in a way they normally wouldn’t.

This journey took longer than I expected, gave me more trouble than I planned for, and reminded me why this game became a classic in the first place.

For now, I’m happy to say the run is finished.

And I had a blast doing it.

Not Quite the End

As much as this feels like the end of the run, it doesn’t feel like the end of the experience.

Super Mario 64 might be finished, but I’m not done with it yet.

So instead of stopping here, I’m taking it further. The same ideas, the same structure, but rebuilt on a much larger scale.

Next, I’m stepping into a version of this game that doesn’t stay contained in a castle.

A galaxy-sized version of it.

Continue the Journey

← Log 25

🧢 Mario 64 Randomizer Hub

7th Jun 2026 0

Super Mario 74: A Survivor’s Journey Log 9 – Ice-Crystal Tower

Super Mario 74 – Log 9: Ice-Crystal Tower

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Original Edition
Rules: No savestates (except between entries)
Format: No Commentary

Video: Ice-Crystal Tower exploration, King Whomp rematch, red coins, and Wing Cap climbs (no commentary)

With Stalagmite Cave done, I stayed in the same room and moved into the next course: Ice-Crystal Tower. Every time I enter, there’s a Goomba waiting to start something. I’ve made a point of ignoring it unless it becomes a problem. So far, that’s worked well enough.

The first task was a rematch with King Whomp. I spent enough time practicing the route up to him that it’s become familiar, even if I wouldn’t trust myself to do it without thinking. The fight itself is different this time. Smaller platform, less room to recover, and if you fall, you’re climbing all the way back up to try again. There is a metal box that can help, but positioning matters more here than anything else.

I’ve seen the trick where you phase through him with a ground pound, but I’ve never managed to make it work consistently, so I stuck with what I know. Wait for him to turn away from the box, move in, ground pound, and reset. It’s slower, but it works. Three clean hits later, the fight was done and the star was mine.

Waters of Pain was next, a section I’d already passed through on the way up. The ice behaves more like lava here, which changes how you approach everything. The star itself sits in a box above a small platform, just out of reach unless you commit to the jumps properly. I didn’t quite get it right, clipped the ice, and ended up bouncing onto the platform anyway. Not clean, but effective enough.

Almost the Top lives up to its name. The climb back up is familiar by this point, but the risk doesn’t really go away. One mistake and you’re either back on the snow or falling out of the level entirely. The Spindrifts are the main problem here, each one placed just well enough to knock you off if you’re not careful. This time they stayed out of the way, and the star was taken without issue.

The red coins came next. Some of the jumps here felt worse than the earlier climb, mainly because there’s less room to recover if anything goes wrong. I started the 100-coin collection at the same time, but it became clear fairly quickly that I wasn’t going to reach the total on that pass. Rather than force it, I settled for the red coin star and moved on, knowing I’d come back to the full collection properly.

How High Can You Get? turned into the real 100-coin attempt. The plan was simple enough — climb as high as possible, then use the Wing Cap to cover the remaining platforms. In practice, it didn’t go cleanly. Two separate mistakes, both costing time and momentum, both forcing me to adjust mid-run. Eventually everything lined up, and I was able to collect the remaining coins before reaching the top. Not perfect, but enough to secure the star.

The final star, Very Well Hidden Star, needed the Wing Cap again. The name isn’t exaggerating. The star sits below the starting platform, easy to miss even if you know it’s there. My first attempt went straight past it, which wasn’t surprising given the angle. The second attempt was better. Adjusted the approach, lined it up properly, and this time the landing worked.

With that, Ice-Crystal Tower was done. Another course cleared, and one less area left hanging over the run.

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Super Mario 74 – Log 8

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Super Mario 74 – Log 10 (coming soon)

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Super Mario 74 – A Survivor’s Journey

15th May 2026 0

Super Mario 74: A Survivor’s Journey Log 8 – Stalagmite Cave

Super Mario 74 – Log 8: Stalagmite Cave

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Original Edition
Rules: No savestates (except between entries)
Format: No Commentary

Video: Stalagmite Cave exploration, descent route, red coins, obstacle courses, and Cap-Combination attempts (no commentary)

With Dice-Fortress finally behind me, the obvious next step would have been to head back to the Tower of the East and continue there. The problem is that the next course in that area needs the Vanish Cap, and I’d rather avoid unnecessary backtracking if I can help it. So instead, I stayed where I was, unlocked another star door, and made use of what was already available. Inside was the pink Bob-Omb, who opened a cannon I’ll be coming back to later, but for now there were two courses to choose from. The first of those was Stalagmite Cave.

The first star, Downwards, doesn’t leave much room for interpretation. A sign at the top makes two things clear before you even start: once you go down, there’s no going back, and there are no coins waiting at the bottom. With that in mind, I took the drop. The plan was to land cleanly in the water. The reality was the same as it had been during practice — not quite. Close enough to recover, though, and once I was in the water the star was straightforward to collect.

Sweating Tunnel came next, and getting there meant heading back up through the level. Wall kicks, careful movement, and just enough awareness to avoid losing progress to something minor. The bat up there isn’t dangerous, but it’s the kind of thing that can break your rhythm at the worst possible moment. I passed the Thwomps and the Chuckya platforms on the way, both of which I knew I’d be dealing with later, and kept moving toward the lava path. A series of descending platforms over lava isn’t the place to hesitate, so I stuck with long jumps and kept the momentum going. It worked this time, though I know from practice that it doesn’t always.

The red coins and 100-coin star followed, and this part of the course felt more controlled. There’s space to move, room to plan, and not much pressure unless you create it yourself. I made a point of leaving the final coins close to where the red coin star would appear, just to avoid any unnecessary movement at the end. It paid off. No mistakes, no wasted time, just two more stars added cleanly.

Hot Obstacle Course was next, though the name doesn’t quite match what it asks of you. This is where the Thwomps come into play properly. Three of them, spaced just far enough apart to force you to commit to each jump. It’s more about timing than anything else. Get that right, and the star is waiting at the end.

Chuckya’s Challenge lived up to its name a bit more. Platform to platform, each one guarded, each one needing just enough precision to avoid being grabbed and thrown back. I decided to push back a little on one of them, which didn’t go to plan the first time, but the second attempt was cleaner. A few long jumps later, and that was another star secured.

That left the reason I came here in the first place: Cap-Combination. This one needs both the Metal Cap and the Wing Cap active at the same time, which meant heading back down the slide and setting things up properly. I grabbed the Metal Cap first, then the Wing Cap, partly out of habit and partly because I trust the Wing Cap timer slightly more, even if I don’t know exactly how much difference it makes.

From there, it was a matter of flying over to the underwater switch, activating it, and dealing with the timed path that follows. It’s longer than it looks, and the slope works against you just enough to make every second count. Walking is possible, but I found jumping kept the pace up better. Even then, it took a few attempts to get everything lined up properly. Timing, positioning, momentum — all of it had to come together. Eventually it did, and once it did, the rest of the path felt manageable.

One final flight to the star, and Cap-Combination was done.

There’s still another course in this area to deal with, but that can wait for the next entry. For now, Stalagmite Cave is cleared, and more importantly, one of the more awkward stars in this section is out of the way.

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Super Mario 74 – Log 7

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Super Mario 74 – Log 9

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Super Mario 74 – A Survivor’s Journey

8th May 2026 1

Super Mario 74: A Survivor’s Journey Log 7 – Reaching the Top

Super Mario 74 – Log 7: Reaching the Top

Platform: Steam Deck
Mode: Original Edition
Rules: No savestates (except between entries)
Format: No Commentary

Video: Tower climb, Lava-Switch of Eruption stars, wing cap flights, and Dice-Fortress completion (no commentary)

Options were starting to narrow. I still needed to unlock the remaining caps, and the next one was waiting at the very top of the tower in this area. Getting there was the problem. The only way up was a chain of triple jumps, one after another, and missing even one meant dropping all the way back to the start. It took more attempts than I care to count before I was confident enough to even start recording, so when it finally came together in one clean run, it felt earned.

At the top sat the pipe leading to Lava-Switch of Eruption, the Wing Cap switch course for this area. First priority was the switch itself. I’d rather have the cap unlocked before worrying about anything else, so I went straight for it. With that done, there were still three stars left in the course, and the first attempt didn’t go well enough to keep. A quick reset and a change of approach made more sense.

I went for the red coins next. They’re spread across towers and platforms, and in theory it’s straightforward, just a matter of planning the route. In practice, I managed to ignore my own plan and leave the highest coin until last. The course forces you to use the cannons to reach everything, and timing matters more than it first appears. On the first proper attempt, the Wing Cap ran out just as I was closing in on the final coin. Close enough to see it, not close enough to reach it.

The second attempt went better. I got the last coin, the star appeared, and then the same thing almost happened again. The Wing Cap ran out just as I was going for the star itself. This time though, I was low enough that the fall didn’t matter. No panic, no recovery needed, just a clean landing and the star collected.

Under the Tower was next, and this was the one that caused problems earlier. This time it didn’t. One clean attempt and it was done, which made a nice change. The Tallest Tower followed, and although I’d already been there, the star itself wasn’t where you’d expect it. You can go for it with the Wing Cap, but dropping down to it felt more reliable, so that’s what I stuck with.

With the Wing Cap course cleared, it was time to go back to Dice-Fortress and finish what I’d left behind. The Observation Tower was first. At the top, along with the star box, was a sign pointing out what I already suspected. To reach the platforms ahead, I’d need to start my flight from the highest point in the map. Which naturally leads into the final star: Secrets in the Sky.

Finding that highest point wasn’t as straightforward as I remembered. The video makes that fairly obvious. I ended up going in the wrong direction more than once, even managing to grab the Observation Tower star again by mistake. At one point I even tried to kill Mario just to reset my position, and somehow failed at that as well. Not exactly the cleanest part of the run.

Once I finally found the right spot, the plan was simple. Launch from the highest point, hold the jump button to glide, and keep as much height as possible on the way over. Simple on paper, less so in execution. It took several attempts before the flight lined up properly, but eventually everything clicked, the box was broken, and the final star was free.

One more flight to reach it, repeating the same route, and this time it worked without issue. With that, Dice-Fortress was complete.

That brings the total to forty stars. Still a long way to go, but progress is steady. One hundred and eleven left.

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Super Mario 74 – Log 6

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Super Mario 74 – Log 8 (coming soon)

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Super Mario 74 – A Survivor’s Journey

1st May 2026 1