Super Mario 74: Ten Years After is a major ROM hack created by MarioCrash, AKA LinCrash. Released during January 2021, this hack is a crossover of Lugmillord's romhacks, Super Mario 74 and its Extreme Edition counterpart, which introduces newer themes for the levels, as well as new missions. It was made to celebrate Super Mario 74's 10th anniversary since its official release.
According to the title itself, this hack is the 3rd game of the series, which takes place 10 years later after the events of Extreme Edition; meaning that the levels are no longer devilishly difficult, although some appear more threatening than they previously were. While all of this is exclusive, the levels are mirrored again and fewer extras that weren't in both hacks have been included.
The new update, Deluxe Edition, released close to Super Mario 74's full release date, features extra QoL enhancements, polished design changes and the 2 newly reworked Sphere levels as a means to tone the game's difficulty down for blind/casual-friendly and experienced players alike.
Two years later, a new meta-update called Super Deluxe was released. Following the Deluxe Edition, this update features newer level redesigns with additional level areas/elements, newer Stars replacing red coin missions and many more gameplay fixes.
Plot[]
After saving Princess Peach from Bowser's evil clutches and stopping an extreme disaster, peace has returned in the Mushroom Kingdom. While its restoration process is underway, Mario notices that something is off around the worlds and is investigating the changes. Could this be Bowser taking revenge, or, some strange phenomenon about to spread across the kingdom once again?
Courses[]
| Area | Name | Stars | Requirement | Total coins | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Dice Domain | 7 | 136 | This level is Dice Fortress/Devil's Dice with new alterations thrown in. The lava from Devil's Dice has been replaced with hot water that acts like freezing water and the cave has been removed. It is located in New Valley of the Toads. | |
| C2 | Concrete Jungle | 124 | This level is Skyward Slopes/Virusvine Veranda with new alterations thrown in. Some stars are harder than their Extreme Edition counterparts. It is located in New Valley of the Toads. | ||
| C3 | Wallowing Wells | 141 | This level is a water-themed version of Deepred Depths that utilises the tide changing mechanic from Wet-Dry World to change the water height. It is located in New Valley of the Toads. | ||
| C4 | Bogey Bayou | 7 | Key 1 | 133 | This level is a swamp-themed version of System of a Downtown with the access point to the sewer system being moved to one of its original exits. One of the Stars is only accessible from a secret entrance via the Training Grounds. |
| C5 | Flamework Factory | 162 | This level is an unflooded version of Drowned Factory. It contains the same area above the level that requires warps throughout the level to reach. It contains a lot of lava and is inhabited by Bullies. | ||
| C6 | Stalactite Cave | 7 | 30 | 143 | This level is Stalagmite Cave/Infernopit Cave flipped upside down and is filled with water containing only a small area near the beginning that is not flooded. |
| C7 | Crumble Rumble Tower | 122 | This level is an island-themed version of Melting Ice-Crystal Tower. It is located in the New Valley of the Toads past the 30-star door. | ||
| C8 | Absolute Zeroasis | 7 | 30 | 143 | This level is a snow-themed version of Overheating Oasis/Overgrown Oasis. The water here is freezing water and damages Mario. It also has a new area containing an underwater maze like Overgrown Oasis that contains the red coins and star. |
| C9 | Nature Nocturne | 132 | A night-themed version of Flowery Gardens/Fire Flower Fields; home to King Bob-omb and a lot of pirahna plants. | ||
| C10 | Quicksand Beach | 7 | Key 2 | 128 | A desert-themed version of Sunny Beach/Breezing Beach; home to Eyerock. The lake/frozen lake has been replaced with a bed of quicksand that requires a shell to traverse. |
| C11 | Polluted Pond | 128 | A toxic swamp version of Swampy Spring/Dried-Out Dead Desert that is filled with slow-quicksand. One of the stars is hidden in an old unreachable area from Swampy Spring. | ||
| C12 | Cliff of Time | 7 | 178 | This level has two entrances. The left entrance spawns Mario in an altered version of Cliff of Pain while the right entrance spawns him in an altered version of Cliff of Wrath. Both areas are ghost-themed and have opposite rotations. Cliff of Pain is upside-down Cliff of Wrath. | |
| C13 | Sea Salt Peaks | 7 | 90 | 139 | Entered via the leftmost door at the top of the temple in the Master Temple. This level is Molten Treasure Chest/Acid Peaks turned into a refreshing, oceanic archipelago filled with life and water. It is also considered an easy stage for this part of the game. |
| C14 | Veninium-Sphere | 100 | 168 | Veninium-Sphere is a mirrored and heavily nerfed version of Veneno-Sphere retextured to look like Luminium-Sphere, whereas Delombru-Sphere is Crudelo-Sphere retextured to look like Ombru-Spherein the same way. In both Deluxe and Super Deluxe, they have a different layout as well as a new color palette. Both courses are located in the Master Temple. | |
| C15 | Delombru-Sphere | 110 | 148 |
Secret Courses[]
| Area | Name | Stars | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC | Underground Slide | 4 | This level is an enhanced and nerfed version of Frozen Slide/Old Supply Slide with Hazy Maze Cave visuals. The Metal Cap Switch was relocated to this level. | |
| B1 | Bowser's Park Party | 15 | This level is an altered version of Bowser's Badlands-Battlefield/Bowser's Beautiful Backyard. The key fight has the level mirrored from Extreme Edition and is filled with lava forcing the player to utilise the metal cap to traverse the area. | |
| WC | Lava Pit of Inversion | 3 | 30 | This level is a mix-up of the lava basin from Devil's Pit at the bottom with suspended towers from Lava-Switch of Eruption high in the sky. |
| SC | Training Grounds | 6 | Key 1 | This level is a slightly altered version of Lake of the Lords with few changes and different star placements. |
| MC | Aerial Alpine | This level is a snow-themed version of Toxic Terrace that has almost the same structure. The Metal Cap Switch was originally in this level until it was moved to Underground Slide. | ||
| VC | Dusty Darkness | This level is an enhanced and altered version of Dust-Switch of Identity/Dust Destination with greyscale visuals. The fog and blizzard (or falling snow in Deluxe) effect are still present. | ||
| B2 | Bowser's
Tidal Tropics |
5 | 50 | This level is a beach-themed version of Bowser's Aquatic Castle/Bowser's Quicksand Pit. The key fight is a nerfed, slightly altered and mirrored version of Bowser's Quicksand Pit. The key that unlocks the Master Temple is located here. |
| SC | Void of the East | 1 | Key 2 | This level is a hard version of Tower of the East covered in quicksand and recoloured grey. It only contains one Star obtained through collecting the five secrets throughout the level. |
| B3 | Bowser's
Rainbow Realm |
7 | 120 | This level is split into two sections with the same layout as Ztar Zanctuary. However, it now has 8 red coins instead of 14, which are all past the cannon. |
| End Cake Picture | Grandmaster's Goal | 3 | 50+ | This level is split into two sections: Champion's Challenge with two hidden Stars and the final secret bonus level unlockable at 154 Stars, which is a giant gauntlet that combines segments of courses from the 74 trilogy in one final challenge, of which Triarc-Bridge awaits at the end of, containing the final star. |
Hub Worlds[]
| Name | Stars | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Valley of the Toads | 3 | The Star is held by a Toad nearby the entrance of Nature Nocturne. The other two are held by MIPS the Rabbit at the building near the Starting point. | |
| Master Temple | 1 | 50+ | Mostly surrounded by a lava river, and is now mirrrored back to its original layout. Once 150 Stars are collected, the player will access to the secret area that is the original game's Castle Grounds. |
| Castle Grounds | 150 | The Star will be given by a Toad near the cannon. Yoshi will appear on top of the roof to give the player 100 lives and the special triple jump. |
Music[]
Trivia[]
- The level name, Bogey Bayou, is a reference to the music playing in the level "Bayou Boogie" in which the name is a play on words with "Bogey/Boogie". Also, the way Alternate Entrance is used is a reference to the Other Entrance in Star Road.
- The level name "Absolute Zeroasis" is a reference to the word "Absolute Zero" as the level is a snowy desert filled with very cold temperature water hence the word "Oasis".
- Stalactite Cave is Stalagmite Cave flipped upside down and is a water level compared to the usual fire cave level.
- Void of the East is only the level that did not make in Extreme Edition, its darker color and vibes are inspired from Remnant of Doom's Forgotten Lands.
- Signs in the third overworld have quotes dedicated to speedrunners such as FramePerfection and CartoonBuffoon.
- Both Veninium and Delombru are a mix of the four spheres as per the similar layout they present, and they can be pretty confusing to navigate from the mirrored rotations.
- The level and name Bowser's Rainbow Realm is a reference to Star Road's Rainbow Rumble by the fact visuals are from this hack and the music plays the same in the 3rd Bowser level.
- Grandmaster's Goal had three parts: Champion's Challenge (but with 21 second timer), a new bonus level that is the True Grandmaster's Goal, a hard road with lots of past world structures, like Dice Fortress or Bowser's Quicksand Pit, and finally the Triarc-Bridge, as the same original level but with a different background, that it has the only final Star of the level.