Power Star

A Power Star is a collectible item within the Super Mario universe that holds great power. There are 120 of them to collect in Super Mario 64.

In Nintendo's ongoing lore for the Super Mario franchise, Power Stars have largely been replaced by other objects of Power, such as the Shine Sprites or, more recently, the Super Stars.

Function[]

The primary use for Power Stars in Super Mario 64 is for unlocking new areas within Peach's Castle and new levels. This is most commonly done by creating a door that requires a minimum number of Stars, with no alternative route available, but the Star count on a save file can have other effects. Among them is triggering changes in the overworld, and changing the behaviour of NPCs. For example, if all 120 Power Stars have been obtained, then the cannon hatch in the Castle Grounds will open, allowing Mario to use the cannon. Similarly, once Mario has collected ten Stars, the warp leading to Tower of the Wing Cap will appear in the Castle's main lobby.

Each of the primary courses in Super Mario 64 has seven Stars to collect, with the seventh Star being different from the others (note that they can be collected in any order). The seventh Star spawns in whenever the player's coin counter reaches 100, and as such is often referred to as the "coin Star". This can be spawned at any time or place, including over open voids and other dangers. Collecting one of the coin Stars has the unique behaviour of not warping Mario out of the level. This means that the player can carry on in that course without losing any progress.

If Mario collects a Star while in mid-air, he will continue to fall until he lands on any surface before the cutscene plays. The cutscene itself is commonly referred to as Mario's "Star dance", and it features Mario spinning around happily before giving a "peace" sign to the camera.

Lore[]

In Super Mario 64, certain NPCs have dialogue and behaviour that may provide insight into the effect of Power Stars. Most notably, Wiggler from Tiny-Huge Island grows to many times his size while in possession of a Power Star. It also seems to be the source of Wiggler's temper, given that Wiggler's as a species are typically quite docile, and that Wiggler's temper disappeared completely upon relinquishing its Star to Mario. In contrast, when Mario obtains a Star, it (if we suspend our disbelief) grants him temporary invulnerability and warps him back to Peach's Castle.

Green Stars and Comet Variants[]

Green Stars are a variation of Power Stars introduced in the Super Mario Galaxy games. They appear with the same 3D model but recoloured to be green. Green Stars acted as an extra game mode for the player to unlock after completing the main part of the game. It sent Mario back through all of the previous levels looking for Green Stars, which were hidden in unusual spots that the player would not typically explore.

The Green Stars have since become a trope all of their own, and there are now many ROM hacks that use this concept themselves. Popular hacks are re-released with new Green Stars for players to find, which often helps to give fans of those hacks some new content to enjoy. Hacks that use this trope often include some variation of "green" in their name, with many borrowing from Super Mario Galaxy's "Color" Comet trope and naming their hacks after a Green Comet. Other creators take a more alternative approach, such as Despair Mario's Gambit 64 having its Green Star edit named Despair Mario's Greens 64. More recently, a major hack included Blue Stars in place of Green Stars, which served the same purpose but, much like their originators in the Super Mario Galaxy games, were included in the same game without need to boot up a new ROM.

Comet Missions, like Green Stars, are a trope that was introduced in Super Mario Galaxy. They are defined by pre-planned one-time events that fundamentally change how a level is played. One of these comet mission types involved having the player revisit a sectioned-off part of a course to collect 100 purple coins (this was likely to replace the standard 100 coin Stars seen in Super Mario 64, as Super Mario Galaxy doesn't award Stars for collecting gold coins). Some of these comet tropes have served as inspiration for hacks; read more about purple coin comet missions in ROM hacks here.

Obtaining Stars[]

See also: Base Gameplay/Objectives

Symbolism[]

Most hacks that make reference to Power Stars treat them as objects of near-divinity, but there are some notable exceptions to this. In SM64: Beyond the Cursed Mirror, Power Stars are treated as trivial objects of power that simply pale in comparison to the Cosmic Seeds. B3313 also treats Power Stars with an arguably lackadaisical attitude, given that so many of them are needed to aid Mario in any way, and that they rarely help Mario to progress further into the Castle Plexus (that role belongs to the Red Stars).

Trivia[]

One of the more well-known fan theories for Super Mario 64 was about the existence of a 121st Star. Supposedly, this is the Star Mario collects after defeating Bowser in Bowser in the Sky, but collecting this final Star does not actually increase the Star count for that save file, so whether or not it can be considered the 121st Star is debatable.