Minigame House is a (not-so-) secret level in the first overworld of SM64 Last Impact, which appears once Mario has collected 20 stars, at the same time as the path opens to Bowser's Fiery Castle. The outside of the building is a cel-shaded Toad House, which pops out of the ground when Mario approaches it. There is an easel at the front of the house, which displays game stats (playtime, stars, coin score total, game overs, one ups, calculated score, and single course coin records). Next to the easel is a Toad who asks Mario his favorite color, which determines the color of Yoshi in the game.
In the back room is a pipe surrounded by 5 buttons and a Toad. Mario can use the five buttons to select five different minigames, all of which reward a star for beating or matching the high score. If Mario speaks to the Toad, he will explain the rules of the currently selected game.
The first two minigames are available by default, while the last three are unlocked by completing Rainbow Coin Challenges, where Mario must collect five rainbow coins in 30 seconds, in Super Sweet Sugarland, Sky-High Islands, and Luna Park.
The other thing in the back room is a Jukebox that plays all of the background music in the game, 61 tracks in total, which is unlocked after Mario has collected all 130 stars.
Levels[]
Star 1: Whack-a-Mole[]
Jump on as many Monty Moles as possible within the time limit. Try to line up the Moles so that Mario can bounce off multiples before hitting the ground. Mario can just walk into the Moles - they don't deal damage and it still counts - but that method is slower, get at least 40 points and a star will appear for you to grab.
Star 2: Hexagon Heat[]
The objective of this game is simply to not fall in the lava. Each round, all but one platform will shake and drop into the lava. Try to return to the middle platform after each round so that all of the platforms can be reached quickly. The lava deals damage as normal, but Mario heals to full when entering the game, so is unlikely to die, get at least 20 points and a star will appear for you to grab.
Star 3: King of the Log[]
Mario must roll a log through a swamp without falling off while collecting coins. Falling off the log will cost Mario a life. There are 5 coins on the platform at the end of the path, and if you get there, you will have finished, so it may be a good idea to get to the end as quickly as possible so that only 5 more coins need to be collected along the way, as getting at least 10 points will make a star appear at the end, or in the minigame house for you to grab.
Star 4: Flower Shower[]
Monty Moles throw coins down on a tilting flower and Mario must collect as many as possible without falling off. The key to this game is to focus on collecting the blue coins, which are worth five each. The Moles can also throw rocks, which are almost impossible to see in advance but they usually don't pose a serious risk. A good strategy is to continually run around the flower, trying to keep the petals out of the quicksand, which both allows Mario to travel around the flower safely, and keeps fewer coins from falling off, get at least 75 points and a star will appear for you to grab.
Star 5: Cake Defense[]
Mario must prevent the Goombas who come out of holes in the walls from reaching the cake in the center of the stage. Try to continuously move the camera either left or right, so that Goombas can be spotted as soon as possible. The Goombas can be killed by normal means or by running into them, however they do deal damage, so doing so too many times will cause Mario to lose the game. Allowing a Goomba to reach the cake will not cost Mario a life, although it will lose the game, but running out of health from hitting too many Goombas will cost you a life, get at least 25 points and a star will appear for you to grab.
Enemies[]
- Goomba
- Monty Mole
Trivia[]
- A very similar version of the Whack-a-Mole game appears in Super Donkey Kong 64, also by Kaze, in the level Fungi Forest.
- Hexagon Heat is a minigame taken from Mario Party 2.
- Flower Shower is based on the minigame Coin Shower Flower from Mario Party.
- King of the Log is based on levels from New Super Mario Bros Wii