Super Mario 74

Super Mario 74 is a ROM hack created by Lugmillord. It was released in June 2011 and contains 151 Stars.

This hack is one of the most popular hacks and received high reviews worldwide during its development until the official release. While being the first full-length hack of its time to compete against Super Mario Star Road, Super Mario 74 steps itself away as a unofficial sequel to Super Mario 64 featuring new custom worlds, music tracks and textures (although the same textures are sourced from the original).

Since the initial v1.0 release, it has advanced onto version updates to version 1.12, with various bugs being fixed and quality of life improvements being made; the post-v1.0 versions of this hack have been co-authored by Galaxtic, FrostyZako, Mariocrash, and sm64pie,

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Other Versions[]

Moreover, the creator made an even harder version called Super Mario 74 Extreme Edition reusing levels from this game (replacing Champion's Challenge with Triarc-Bridge), but for the purpose of making them devilishly difficult.

The graphics are still the same as the original game, but there are few changes like the music, though most of the tracks still stay the same. The overworlds mostly contain pipes and instant warp zones hidden inside the pseudo-paintings in order to transport between the levels.

There also exists a "chaos edition" version of this hack, meaning that the custom mechanics from Super Mario 64 Chaos Edition have been added into this one. Like SM74, the Chaos Edition is available to play in both English and German, with both versions being available to download from SM74's RHDC page (see first download link).

This hack also has a very silly tone and is most likely meant to be a parody. The NPCs are there mostly for a quick laugh or joke, and getting a specific amount of Stars usually results in a message taunting the player, saying that they're going too slow. Even some of the Star names are taunting the player, such as any of the ones that are simply called "Secret..." or "Can You Find Me?". There are also some times that the game mentions the original Super Mario 64 by name/game and breaks the fourth wall.

In January 2021, Mariocrash (LinCrash) released a crossover of SM74 and SM74EE, called Super Mario 74: Ten Years After, which introduces new themes for the levels, as well as new missions. It was made as a celebration of SM74's 10th anniversary in 2021.

Plot[]

The plot is explained by a Toad close to Mario's starting point in the Valley of the Toads, which is the first overworld. As usual, Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser. This time, however, there are a total of 151 Stars to collect- allegedly, these extra 30 Stars happened to be hidden in a toilet during the events of Super Mario 64. In Super Mario 74, these 30 Stars are placed throughout the overworlds and in the secret stages.

Also, once you get to the final two levels, Mario learns of the Kubus(es), which are cubes that control certain aspects of every video game in existence. Though there are five in total, only two are introduced as levels. The Kubus of Light provides energy for sunlight in every video game, and the Kubus of Darkness produces all of the darkness in every video game.

Main Courses[]

OW1: Valley of the Toads[]

Area ID	Name	Stars	Requirement	Coins
C1	Dice-Fortress	7	None	121
C2	Skyward Slopes			122
C3	Azure-Abyss			131
C6	Stalagmite Cave	7	30 Stars	135
C7	Icecrystal-Tower		30 Stars	167
C8	Overheating Oasis		30 Stars OW1 Cannon	144

OW2: Tower of the East[]

Area ID	Name	Stars	Requirement	Coins
C4	System of a Town	7	Key 1	147
C5	Haunted Factory			251
C9	Flowery Gardens			110

OW3: Magma Temple[]

Area ID	Name	Stars	Requirement	Coins	Notes
C10	Swampy Spring	7	Key 2	133
C11	Sunny Beach		Key 2	100	The coin total has increased to 134 in v1.15.
C12	Cliff of Wrath		Wing Cap	116
C13	Molten Treasure Chest	7	75 Stars	255
C14	Luminium-Sphere		85 Stars	148
C15	Ombru-Sphere		95 Stars	141

Secret Courses[]

Area ID	Name	Location	Stars	Requirement	Notes
B1	Bowser's Badlands-Battlefield	Valley of the Toads	4	10 Stars
MC	Toxic-Switch of Danger	Valley of the Toads	5	0	This entire level contains toxic air that can decrease Mario's health very quickly.
SC	Tower of the East	Tower of the East	6	Key 1	Despite being a secret course, this area acts as the second overworld.
WC	Lava-Switch of Eruption		3
VC	Dust-Switch of Identity		6
SC	Frozen Slide		4
B2	Bowser's Aquatic Castle		5	50 Stars
B3	Bowser's Crystal Palace	Magma Temple	6	110 Stars	There are 16 red coins in this level. In addition, there is also a hidden secret entrance leading to the base game's Castle Grounds located in the basement of the Crystal Palace.
SC	Champion's Challenge	Magma Temple	2	Key 2	The second Star in this level is also the 151st and final Star in the game.

Overworlds[]

Name	Stars	Notes
Valley of the Toads	4	Two of the Stars are held by a different Toad. The other two are held by MIPS the rabbit.
Magma Temple	1	A large temple mostly surrounded by a river of lava. The only star is held by Toad. Upon collecting 125 Stars, a door will be unlocking to gain access to the last of the five Mysterious Hidden Objects behind that door.
Castle Grounds	0	Accessed via a hidden Star door in Bowser's Crystal Palace. Yoshi will still appear on the roof if you have at least 120 Stars.

Extra Content[]

Five Mysterious Hidden Objects[]

Throughout this hack, there are five "mysterious hidden objects" hidden in obscure locations in the later levels. The last three require the Wing Cap to reach, and have a Wing Cap box next to them so that Mario does not get stuck there after landing in front of the object.

Mysterious Hidden Object 1 of 5[]

This one is located in Molten Treasure Chest.

Mysterious Hidden Object 2 of 5[]

This one is located in Luminium-Sphere.

Mysterious Hidden Object 2 of 5[]

This one is located in Ombru-Sphere.

Mysterious Hidden Object 4 of 5[]

This one is hidden inside Bowser's Crystal Palace. To reach it, grab the Wing Cap near the Warp Pipe leading to Bowser, and fly out around the palace to the right (right as in, if you were facing looking out of the window with the Wing Cap box).

Mysterious Hidden Object 4 of 5 This object displays perfection (at least that's what I think). Having friends to help you out is always nice, but sometimes there are tasks you need to do on your own. Connect the worlds and show me ya moves. Will we ever see the glory again? This question remains unanswered.

Mysterious Hidden Object 5 of 5[]

This one is hidden inside a small room requiring 125 Stars to access, in the Magma Temple. A Bob-omb Buddy is also in this room, and will explain the existence of these objects.

Medal Challenges[]

In the .zip file that contains the patch file for this hack, three text files can be opened and read. The third of them is titled SM74 Medal Challenges, and it contains a list of 56 different challenges for the player to fulfill. The creator intended for it to be an in-game feature comparable to the Xbox Achievement System, but wasn't able to figure out how implement that at the time, so included it as a text file.

Of the 56 challenges, #1 through to #10 correspond to game progression; #11 through to #26 are reserved for getting 100% of all coins in all of the courses, and the rest are all level-specific challenges.

Music[]


Used in	Track	Source
v1.0
Demo Screen Skyward Slopes	Title	Super Mario 64
File Select Overworld Map	Flipside	Super Paper Mario
Dice-Fortress System of a Town Flowery Gardens Sunny Beach Cliff of Wrath	Main Theme [Peach's Message Mix]	Super Mario 64
Azure-Abyss Swampy Spring	Dire, Dire Docks	Super Mario 64
Haunted Factory	Frantic Factory	Donkey Kong 64
Stalagmite Cave Toxic-Switch of Danger	Cave Dungeon	Super Mario 64
Icecrystal-Tower	Snow Mountain
Overheating Oasis Molten Treasure Chest Lava-Switch of Eruption	Lethal Lava Land
Luminium-Sphere Piranha Plant's Lullaby	Stone Tower Temple	The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Ombru-Sphere	Stone Tower Temple (Inverted)	The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Bowser's Badlands Battlefield Bowser's Aquatic Castle	Koopa's Road	Super Mario 64
Bowser's Crystal Palace	Hideout Helm	Donkey Kong 64
Bowser Fight 1 & 2	Koopa's Theme	Super Mario 64
Final Bowser Fight	Ultimate Koopa
Frozen Slide Koopa Race	Slider
Champion's Challenge	Eternal Star	Mario Party
Dust-Switch of Identity	Windmill Hut	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Metal Cap	Metallic Mario	Super Mario 64
Power Up	Powerful Mario
Boss Battle	Stage Boss
v1.10 - v1.12
Champion's Challenge (1.10/1.12 Hotfix 4+)	Eternal Star (New Star ver.)	Mario Party
Champion's Challenge (1.11 - 1.12 Hotfix 3)	Slider	Super Mario 64
Dust-Switch of Identity (1.10/1.12 Hotfix 4+)	Windmill Hut (Reworked)	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Dust-Switch of Identity (1.11 - 1.12 Hotfix 3)	Frantic Factory	Donkey Kong 64