Now that Super Mario 64 is available for Switch as part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a new generation of fans can take on the challenge of collecting all of the stars hidden inside Princess Peach’s castle. Some of these may be tough for newcomers to find, but in the case of one early star, there is a way to turn a tricky platforming challenge into a complete cakewalk, if one knows where to look.
Every one of the game's fifteen main levels comes with six stars that are each tied to a specifically named mission. While players are free to collect most stars in any order they choose, these missions are usually arranged to give them an idea of which of Super Mario 64's stars are harder to get.
Such is the case with Fall Onto the Caged Island, the fifth mission in the game’s second level, Whomp’s Fortress. As the name suggests, this mission’s star is located on a floating platform surrounded by a metal fence. This platform is elevated high above the rest of the level, connected to the fortress’ upper sections by a series of rotating platforms. While this section shouldn’t prove too much of a hassle for platforming veterans, newcomers to Super Mario 64 run the risk of falling off and plummeting all the way to the bottom of the level, resulting in at least a few minutes of backtracking (not to mention potentially dying from the fall damage).
Luckily, there’s a way to skip all of that entirely, and it’s right there when players enter the level. Players can find an owl hidden in the tree next to where Mario spawns in (climbing the tree will cause it to emerge), who will offer to carry them around the level. To do this, they need simply grab onto the owl by jumping into it and holding the jump button.
The owl will then ascend above the rest of the level, and at that point it becomes a simple matter of positioning Mario above the caged island so he can drop right onto the star. It’s simple enough, in fact, that players can clear the mission in just a few seconds and move on to some of the other tricky missions in Super Mario 64's early levels.
Of course, if that’s too easy, players also have the option to try to get the star by using the level’s cannon, which they may have unlocked by this point trying to blast away Whomp's Fortress' wall. However, the positions of the cannon and the caged island mean players will be pointings towards the edge of the level, so a badly-aimed shot runs the risk of shooting Mario off the stage completely, losing a life, and having to restart the mission.
Super Mario 64 is now available as part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
