Super Mario 74 Extreme Edition (SM74EE for short) is a ROM hack made by Lugmillord. and released on Christmas 2012. It is the sequel of Super Mario 74, featuring 157 Stars, and the majority of the levels from the original hack are present. However, a lot of them have been altered, mirrored and redesigned to be extremely difficult, such as underwater sections and even solid ground being replaced by excessive lava falls or bottomless pits.
It was considered to be the hardest Super Mario 64 hack ever, until Star Revenge 2: Night of Doom came out in July 2013, just over half a year after this hack's release. It was then to be considered the second hardest SM64 hack in existence, just below Night of Doom, but since then most of the kaizo hacks have surpassed their difficulty level. Overall, Super Mario 74 Extreme Edition is widely acclaimed as the most popular difficult ROM hack in the SM64 ROM Hack community, and pioneered the extreme hack genre (later to be named kaizo).
There are also even harder joke "object edits" of this hack called "SM74EEEE", "SM74EEEEEE" (etc.), though they are not made by Lugmillord and only move objects around without changing any level geometry.
In January 2021, a follow-up sequel, Super Mario 74: Ten Years After, was released and created by Mariocrash (LinCrash), which is a crossover of SM74 and SM74EE, featuring new levels as well as new missions. It was made as a celebration for the 10-year release anniversary of Super Mario 74 though was released slightly before it.
Plot[]
Mario has been sleeping for "an eternity" up until the game's beginning following the events of the prequal, Super Mario 74. Mario awakens to find the kingdom destroyed and a nearby angry and spiteful Toad reveals why. Mario thought he hadn't beaten Bowser all that long ago but during his slumber, Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach again. He expected Mario to save her like always but Mario never appeared and Bowser had ample time to use Princess Peach's power to completely destroy the world Mario thought was safe. But what about Mario's recent adventures? They were all dreams. All of his easy and successful attempts to rescue the princess from Bowser since the events of Super Mario 74 were just imaginations and the real world is anything but nice. Bowser used the time Mario was gone to make it as difficult as he possibly could to stop him in the case the plumber reappeared. This previously trivial adventure for Mario was now filled with numerous lava pits and lakes, bottomless chasms, deadly quicksand patches and other hazards that made the courses nearly untraversable. To save Princess Peach, Mario must face these new challenges to reach the Ztar Zanctuary and put an end to Bowser once again but it will not be easy.
Main Courses[]
OW1: Ruined Valley of the Toads[]
| Area ID | Name | Level equivalent | Stars | Requirement | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Devil's Dice | Dice-Fortress | 7 | None | 130 | |
| C2 | Virusvine Veranda | Skyward Slopes | 121 | This course has a area under the course not present in Super Mario 74. It contains two stars. | ||
| C3 | Deepred Depths | Azure-Abyss | 130 | |||
| C6 | Infernopit Cave | Stalagmite Cave | 7 | 30 Stars | 117 | |
| C7 | Melting Icecrystal-Tower | Icecrystal-Tower | 113 | |||
| C8 | Overgrown Oasis | Overheating Oasis | 30 Stars OW1 Cannon |
119 | The lower level of this level has been replaced with water forcing the player to swim. This also means the red coin maze is underwater. | |
| C9 | Fireflower Fields | Flowery Gardens | 144 | This course has an area below the level not present in Super Mario 74 that can be reached by falling down the numerous holes hidden by the flowers. |
OW2: Lake of the Lords[]
| Area ID | Name | Level equivalent | Stars | Requirement | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C4 | System of a Downtown | System of a Town | 7 | Key 1 | 120 | |
| C5 | Drowned Factory | Haunted Factory | 103 | This course has an area above the level not present in Super Mario 74 that can reached using hidden passageways. |
OW3: Plasma Temple[]
| Area ID | Name | Level equivalent | Stars | Requirement | Coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C10 | Breezing Beach | Swampy Spring | 7 | Key 2 | 112 | This course has an underwater maze not present in Super Mario 74 that requires Mario to grab 6 red coins while not freezing to death by using spinning hearts. |
| C11 | Dried-Out Dead Desert | Sunny Beach | 106 | This course has a blue coin from a switch that is very difficult to reach effectively making the coin count 101 coins, meaning every coin is important here. | ||
| C12 | Cliff of Pain | Cliff of Wrath | 108 | This level requires performing first-frame wallkicks to advance. Also a few of the coins are believed to be impossible as they are placed out of bounds. | ||
| C13 | Acid Peaks | Molten Treasure Chest | 7 | 80 Stars | 113 | The hidden secret pipe to the Castle Grounds leading the way to Triarc-Bridge is located Inside the smallest peak. |
| C14 | Veneno-Sphere | Luminium-Sphere | 95 Stars | 179 | This level is one of the hardest of the game. It also contains 14 red coins. | |
| C15 | Crudelo-Sphere | Ombru-Sphere | 110 Stars | 194 | This level is one of the hardest of the game, with the red coin Star being the very hardest. It also contains 20 red coins. |
Secret Courses[]
| Area ID | Name | Level equivalent | Stars | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MC | Toxic Terrace | Toxic-Switch of Danger | 6 | None | This level replaces its SM74 counterpart as an exclusive course to this version. This is because Lugmillord didn't like the original course. |
| B1 | Bowser's Beautiful Backyard | Bowser's Badlands-Battlefield | 4 | 10 Stars | This level is nearly identical to its SM74 equivalent, but has a couple alterations added such as flower patches and a pool of lava. |
| SC | Lake of the Lords | Tower of the East | 6 | Key 1 | Despite being a secret course, this area acts as the second overworld. It also replaces its SM74 counterpart to compensate the exit warp system in this version. |
| VC | Dust Destination | Dust-Switch of Identity | This level has limited visibility due to the blue fog, making it nearly impossible to navigate. | ||
| SC | Old Supply Slide | Frozen Slide | 4 | Despite the blocks appearing nothing like ice, they have ice physics on nearly every platform, including the purple switch. | |
| WC | Devil's Pit | Lava-Switch of Eruption | 3 | 30 Stars OW1 Cannon |
|
| B2 | Bowser's Quicksand Pit | Bowser's Aquatic Castle | 5 | 50 Stars | The inner sections of Ztar Zanctuary can be found underneath Bowser's Quicksand Pit, which allows to skip ahead early in the game. |
| B3 | Ztar Zanctuary | Bowser's Crystal Palace | 6 | 125 Stars | This level contains 14 red coins; all of them are located around the final stretch. This level technically has only 4 Stars, as two of them are relocated in Bowser's Quicksand Pit. |
| SC | Triarc-Bridge | Champion's Challenge | 7 | 150 Stars | This level can be accessed via a hidden pipe in Acid Peaks. This leads to the castle grounds where entering the cannon leads to to the level. This level requires 150 Stars to be unlocked and contains 7 Stars. |
Overworlds[]
| Name | Level equivalent | Stars | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Overworld | Valley of the Toads | 3 | The same layout as Super Mario 74's first overworld but with lava, different level warps and brown, dead grass. Also contains some very evil toads. One of the Stars is held by a Toad; the other two are held by MIPS the rabbit. |
| Plasma Temple | Magma Temple | 2 | A large temple mostly surrounded by a river of dark matter known as plasma. Both Stars are held by a different Toad. One is inside the temple via a tunnel, and one is in a spike on top of the entrance building (requires Wing Cap which needs 125 stars). |
| Castle Grounds | 0 | Yoshi is mentioned by one of the signs, but does not appear in this game. The pipe leading to this level can be found in Acid Peaks. Do NOT enter this place before getting 150 Stars, as you'll be stuck; the only way to escape is by losing all your lives and returning to the title screen. This overworld contains the warp to Triarc Bridge which is hidden inside the cannon. | |
Music[]
| Used in | Track | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Title Screen Virusvine Veranda |
Stone Tower Temple | The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask |
| File Select Overworld Map |
Flipside | Super Paper Mario |
| Devil's Dice Fire Flower Fields |
Bob-omb Battlefield [File Select Mix] | Super Mario 64 |
| Deepred Depths | Dire, Dire Docks | Super Mario 64 |
| System of a Downtown Dried-Out Dead Desert |
Haunted House | |
| Drowned Factory Cliff of Pain |
Gloomy Galleon | Donkey Kong 64 |
| Infernopit Cave Toxic Terrace Dust Destination |
Floro Sapien Caverns | Super Paper Mario |
| Melting Icecrystal-Tower Breezing Beach |
Snow Mountain [Staff Roll Mix] | Super Mario 64 |
| Devil's Pit Overgrown Oasis Acid Peaks |
Bubblegloop Swamp | Banjo-Kazooie |
| Veneno Sphere | Tower of Riddles | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door |
| Crudelo Sphere Final Bowser Fight |
Ultimate Koopa | Super Mario 64 |
| Bowser's Beautiful Backyard Bowser's Quicksand Pit |
Sunken Ship | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars |
| Ztar Zanctuary | Black City | Bomberman 64 |
| Triarc-Bridge | Intro | Yoshi's Story |
| Bowser Fight 1 & 2 | Koopa's Theme | Super Mario 64 |
| Boss Battle | Stage Boss [Metal Cap Mix] | |
| Old Supply Slide Koopa Race |
Slider [Ending Demo Mix] | |
| Metal Cap | Metallic Mario | Super Mario 64 |
| Power Up | Powerful Mario [Staff Roll Mix] |