Super Mario 64 Hacks Wiki
Super Mario 64 Hacks Wiki


Super Mario 65 The Rainbow Stars is a major hack made by Skelenio using levels made by other creators. There are 165 Stars in this hack, which the creator considers to be a direct sequel to SM64.

Most of the assets used in this hack were taken from the Sketchup 3D Warehouse and other SM64 ROM hacks. Therefore, this hack is effectively a collage of levels from other creators, albiet with different textures, level scaling and objects, leading to great inconsistencies in level design and difficulty. Skelenio has claimed that he had permission for the levels that he used, but no evidence has surfaced that supports this, nor have the original authors backed this claim.

A final "N3.0" version of the game was released on December 31st, 2023. This version, made by ShiN3 and approved by Skelenio, credits the original authors for the first time and includes fixes made by Mariocrash and suggested by Katze789.

A sequel called "Super Mario 65 2: The Alternative Worlds" was planned at some point and is presumed to have been abandoned.

Plot

Two years after his defeat in Super Mario 64, Bowser decides to travel to other kingdoms rather than stay in the Mushroom Kingdom. During his travels, he finds the "Rainbow Starship", an ancient place where you could see from the sky a rainbow Star. Mario is warned of what happens, Bowser and his henchmen open the Castle of the Stars, a place where they have control of the Stars of Rainbow but to open the worlds need the soul of a princess, then capture Peach. Remember that "Rainbow Starship", is just to see the Stars, and "Castle of the Stars" is to obtain and control the Stars, so Mario is interrupted at home with the message that Peach has been captured.

Bowser expected Mario to come to "The Castle of the Stars", so he sets a trap for Mario after opening the second door of the castle of the Stars. The trap is to seal Mario for 7 years since Bowser captured Peach (CandyLand) and everything they read in part one of the story, Bowser has been left with absolute power and now has been locked in the "Dark World", along with Peach, a place where all the power of the "Rainbow Stars" is scattered but the only way to get there opening the Rainbow StarShip. However, Mario will first need some energy to go to Rainbow Starship, beat Bowser to get Peach and return 7 years in the past.

Difficulty

This section does not reflect an encyclopedic tone.

This section does not reflect an encyclopedic tone.

The difficulty in this hack varies widely, ranging from moderate to very hard. The first overworld is not too difficult, but will have the occasional tricky Star. However the 2nd and 3rd overworlds prove to be very difficult, sometimes about as hard as an extreme hack. Many of the later courses have secrets, reds and panels, meaning you will need expert navigation of already tough levels.

The last main course in particular has a lot of quicksand and absurdly tough wall jumps. This is also parted with the fact that there is exactly 100 Coins to be found throughout the level.

Authorship

SM65: The Rainbow Stars has a reputation for all of its levels being stolen from other hacks. While this is essentially true, the details are more complicated.

SM64: Revenge of the Others and SM65: Happy Birthday of Peach side-by-side.
SM64: Revenge of the Others and SM65: Happy Birthday of Peach side-by-side.

Prior to SM65: The Rainbow Stars, Skelenio released a hack in December 2015 called SM65: Happy Birthday of Peach. While characterised as an original hack in its upload, it is almost entirely just the hack SM64: Revenge of the Others by FrittenFriseurLP. The extremely small number of replacement images that were used were taken from other hacks without credit or permission.

SM65: The Rainbow Stars was first released on SMW Central as a short preview on January 17th 2016 listing Skelenio as the sole author, and with the stated goal of becoming a fully fledged major hack. This preview used a level that was downloaded from the SketchUp 3D Warehouse, which was originally created by MarioCrash. As this model was freely shared, this was not immediately called out as theft, but it should be noted that the models on SketchUp 3D Warehouse are shared under a license which forbids making false claims of ownership, along with requiring that full attribution is provided unless the author specifies otherwise. [1] [2] [3]

"...I recommend that you don't take in-game sprites for the [HUD] and menu screens from other hacks unless you've acquired the hackers's permissions, since I don't recall having you asking me for the star select image sprite."

MarioCrash

This comment would be ignored, and many more assets would be ripped from other hacks without permission and used without credit in SM65. Most of the levels in the game could be found on the SketchUp 3D Warehouse by searching for Super Mario 64, with no edits having been made to the geometry - although textures were often replaced. This would have been a necessity with models that did not meet SM64's texture limitations.

Skelenio's method of acquiring these custom levels from the SketchUp 3D Warehouse was hindered by him being unable to obtain enough level models. Consequently, in order to fill out the game, these models were reused, while he also included rips from other games. Skelenio has since claimed that he had permission to use levels taken from other hacks, however there doesn't appear to be any evidence that this is the case.

In December 2023 the ROM hacker ShiN3 gained permission from Skelenio to make a final version of SM65. In the .zip file for this version of the game (N3.0), credit was given to the original authors for the first time; this text document is transcribed below.

Credits

Super Mario 65 The Rainbow Stars N3.0.

This romhack was made by Skelenio by taking many people's assets without permission, putting them together, and adding objects.
Updates to this romhack made by LinCrash, and later ShiN3 with the help of katze789.

LEVEL MODEL AUTHORS:
Splashscreen Overworld: Skelenio
Overworld 1: TheGael95
Overworld 2: LinCrash
Overworld 3: LinCrash
Course 1: LinCrash
Course 2: LinCrash
Course 4: LinCrash
Course 5: LinCrash, church credit unknown
Course 6: LinCrash
Course 7: Tower by LinCrash, see rest below
Course 8: Nintendo (Lethal Lava Land from Super Mario 64)
Course 9: 22neptun
Course 10: 22neptun
Course 11: 22neptun
Course 12: 22neptun
Course 13 Area 1: Nintendo (Death Mountain Trail from Zelda Ocarina of Time)
Course 13 Area 2: Blazedy
Course 15: Nintendo (Bowser's Castle from Mario Kart DS)
Bowser 1: LinCrash
Bowser 2: LinCrash
Bowser 3: Blazedy
Wing Cap: MarioGame2222
Slide: LinCrash
THH: LinCrash
MMW: Unknown
SSC: Yoshi74 and MaxiLuci77
Candyland: LinCrash, with extra stuff thrown in
The End: TheGael95

Mario model: FireMario74
HUD: BroDute

Courses 3, 7 and 14 are, more than likely, made out of putting a bunch of random models by different people together,
which makes it near impossible to track their original authors.

Twoopliss/Legz_g, BroDute, Pilzinsel64 and Mizu, are namedropped in the hack alongside the level model creators,
but unfortunately, it's anything but easy to tell what they did.

MUSIC CREDITS:
01 Super Mario Galaxy Star Get - Unknown
02 Sector X - MrMartley64
03 NSMBDS Flowing Lava - Midoji/Sanji02
04 Click Clock Woods Winter - ShrooboidBrat
05 SMRPG Sunken Ship - windows10acerpc10
06 OoT Boss Battle - Probably by ShrooboidBrat
07 Koopa's Road Dark Remix - ShrooboidBrat
08 E Gadd's Time Machine - TheGael95
09 FreezeFlame Galaxy - LuigiXHero and Twoopliss
0C Starshine Beach Galaxy - ShrooboidBrat
0D Spikler Harbor Plus Version - Unknown
0E SMS Sky and Sea - ShrooboidBrat
0F Lava Rock Lair - VanessaWolfe2015
11 Piranha Creeper Creek - Unknown
13 Melty Molten Galaxy - Unknown
16 King Dodongo / Volvagia Battle - ShrooboidBrat
18 Hoohoo Mountain - ShrooboidBrat
1A TP Hyrule Castle 4th Floor - ShrooboidBrat
25 SM3DW Bowser Castle - Twoopliss
26 (old) Puzzle Plank Galaxy - MrGreenThunder
26 (new) SM3DW Sprawling Savannah - ShrooboidBrat
27 Mad Monster Mansion - Probably by ShrooboidBrat
28 Final Battle with Dark Bowser - Unknown
29 Tal Tal Heights - LuigiXHero
2B SM3DW Overworld - Probably by MrGreenThunder
2C Buoy Base Galaxy - Mosky2000
2D Fortress - Unknown
2E Grape Garden - ShrooboidBrat
2F Sonic Lost Worlds - Unknown
30 Norfair - cpuHacka101
31 (old) Rainbow Factory - 22neptun
31 (new) Raiden II Burnt Field - Rambi_Rampage
32 Desert Sand Empire - Unknown
33 Weapons Factory - ShrooboidBrat
34 Forest Maze - Unknown
35 Underworld Music - Unknown
36 Goomba Road - Unknown
37 Bowser Land - ShrooboidBrat
39 MK64 Rainbow Road - DobieMeltfire
3A Sonic 3 Final Boss - TheGael95
3B Bomberman 64 Credits - Unknown
3C Volcano - Unknown
3E End Music - Unknown

Levels

Main Courses

Name Replaced Stars Location -

Requierements

Coins Image
Bob-Omb’s Grassfield Bob-omb Battlefield 7 From the Overworld 213
Course1 SM65
Freeze Polar Land Whomp's Fortress 280
Course2 SM65
Piranha Swamp-Mushroom Jolly Roger Bay 219
Course3 SM65
Sand Valley Highway Cool, Cool Mountain 271
Course4 SM65
Creepy Boo's Church Big Boo's Haunt 277
Course5 SM65
Peach Beach Hazy Maze Cave 1st Key to enter the castle 206
Course6 SM65
Lava Lava Towers Lethal Lava Land 132
Course7 SM65
Lethal Acid Sewer Shifting Sand Land 144
Course8 SM65
Koopa's Bloodied Waters Dire, Dire Docks 128
Course9 SM65
Crystal Snow Beach Snowman's Land 141
Course10 SM65
Grass Paradise Wet-Dry World 2nd Key to enter Candyland 117
Course11 SM65
Shifting Gloomy Temple Tall, Tall Mountain 177
Course12 SM65
Whomps Volcanic Mountain Tiny-Huge Island 108
Course13 SM65
Thwomp Sky Harbor Tick Tock Clock 109
Course14 SM65
Bowser's Mirror Castle Rainbow Ride 100
Course15 SM65

Secret Stages

Name Replaced Stars Location -

Requirements

Coins Image
Stormy Sky Circuit The Princess's Secret Slide 6 Course 2, on a Pipe 72
PSS SM65
Spooky Wooden Slide The Secret Aquarium Below the Mushroom from the Start

(Need the Super Leaf to get it)

16
TSA SM65
Candyland ★ Wing Mario Over the Rainbow 2nd Key to enter it 23
WMOTR SM65
Database Geometry Tower of the Wing Cap On top of the Overworld Level (shell), shoot the canon (more info later) 161
Wing SM65
The Honey Hive Cavern of the Metal Cap On the castle, you need to disable the red blocks (more info later) 317
Metal SM65
Murky Murky Waters Vanish Cap Under the Moat Course 5, on a Hole 87
Vanish SM65
Secret Rainbow Stars End Cake Picture Below the 3rd Bowser Battle Stage, on a pipe (Need the Super Leaf to get it) 16
Cake SM65

Overworld

Name Replaced Stars Image
Mushroom Start Castle Grounds 0
Castle1 SM65
Overworld Inside Castle 4
Castle2 SM65
Blue Castle Castle Courtyard 1
Castle3 SM65

Bowser Stages

Name Replaced Stars Required Stars Coins Image
Bowser's Retro Castle Bowser in the Dark World 4 30 60
Bowser1 SM65
Bowser's Factory Bowser in the Fire Sea 69 74
Bowser2 SM65
Bowser's Rainbow Starship Bowser in the Sky 120 66
Bowser3 SM65

Bowser Fights

Name Boss Image
Bowser's Retro Castle Boss Big Boo
BowserBoss1 SM65
Bowser's Factory Boss Big Bob-omb
BowserBoss2 SM65
Bowser's Rainbow Starship Boss Big Bowser
BowserBoss3 SM65

Music

Name Original Game / Source Used in
Sector X Star Fox 64 File Select
Puzzle Plank Galaxy Super Mario Galaxy 2 Bob-Omb's Grassfield (v1.0 - Final Lincrash Edit)
Sprawling Savanna Super Mario 3D World Bob-Omb's Grassfield (N3.0)
Freezeflame Galaxy (Ice) Super Mario Galaxy Freeze Polar Land
Rainbow Factory WoodenToaster Piranha Swamp-Mushroom (v1.0 - Final Lincrash Edit)
Burnt Field Raiden II Piranha Swamp-Mushroom (N3.0)
Gobi's Valley Banjo-Kazooie Sand-Valley Highway
Beware the Forest's Mushrooms Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Creppy Boo's Church
Starshine Beach Galaxy Super Mario Galaxy 2 Peach Beach
Bowser Land Mario Party 2 Lava Lava Towers
Mad Monster Mansion Banjo-Kazooie Lethal Acid Sewer
Lower Norfair Super Metroid Koopa's Bloodied Waters
Tal Tal Heights The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Crystal Snow Beach
Piranha Creeper Creek Super Mario 3D World Grass Paradise
Hoohoo Mountain Mario & Luigi: SuperStar Saga Shifting Gloomy Temple
Barrel Volcano Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Whomps Volcanic Mountain
Fortress New Super Mario Bros. Wii Thwomp Sky Harbor
Hyrule Castle The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Bowser's Mirror Castle
Grape Garden (Remix) Kirby Super Star Stormy Sky Circuit
Slide Super Mario 64 Spooky Wooden Slide
Credits Bomberman 64 Candyland ★
Rainbow Road Mario Kart 64 Database Geometry
March Ahead Paper Mario 64 The Honey Hive
Tricky Maze ...for Lost World Sonic Adventure Murky Murky Waters
Birthday Cake Mario Party Secret Rainbow Stars
Sky & Sea Super Mario Sunshine Using Leaf Cap
Super Bell Hill (Overworld) Super Mario 3D World Overworld
Underworld Kid Icarus: Uprising Blue Castle
Bowser's Lava Lake Keep (Castle) Super Mario 3D World Bowser's Retro Castle
Buoy Base Galaxy Super Mario Galaxy Bowser's Factory
Koopa's Road (Dark Remix) Super Mario 64 Bowser's Rainbow Starship
Dinosaur Boss Battle The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Bowser's Retro Castle Boss

Stage Boss

Final Boss Sonic 3 & Knuckles Bowser's Rainbow Starship Boss
Power Star Get! Super Mario Galaxy Star Get