There are 120 Power Stars players can collect in Super Mario 64. Of those, 15 are hidden in secret levels around Peach's Castle. These are known as the Castle Secret Stars.

While all these stars are not needed in order to beat Super Mario 64, it is required for players that want to get 100 percent completion. Some of them are easier to find than others, so some players may have found a few by accident.

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With 15 Castle Secret Stars in different levels, it may take players some time to collect them all. However, once players know their locations, it just takes going to the right place and completing the level mission.

Super Mario 64 Mario Outside Peach's Castle Exploring

The Princess's Secret Slide

Two well-known Castle Secret Stars are located on the Princess's Secret Slide. To find the slide, players will need one Power Star to unlock the one-Star door on the second floor of Peach's Castle. After entering the room, players need to jump into the Princess Peach stained glass window on the right side.

To beat the level, players will need to travel down the large slide without falling off. They can move left and right normally while sliding, move up to speed up, and move down to slow down. After players reach the end there will be a yellow block containing a Power Star. Players just need to hit it to collect it.

There is another Power Star located on the Princess's Secret Slide. In order to get the second star, players will need to make it to the bottom of the slide in under 21 seconds.

The Secret Aquarium

The next secret star is located in the room containing the painting that leads to Jolly Roger Bay. Players will need three Power Stars in order to unlock this level.

Instead of entering the painting to Jolly Roger Bay, players need to face the wall to the right of the painting. There is a small hole that can be backflipped into. This will lead to the Secret Aquarium level.

This level is an eight Red Coin mission that takes place completely underwater with no air. The only way to get oxygen back is by collecting coins, so players will need to get all eight Red Coins before running out of air. Four of the coins are on the floor of the aquarium, with the other four in the center of coin rings higher up. After collecting all the coins, the Power Star will appear in the center of the aquarium floor.

Toad Power Stars

Players may have noticed various Toads around Peach's Castle. While many of them provide flavor text or hints, some of them will give players Power Stars. These toads are:

  • The Toad near the entrance to Hazy Maze Cave
  • The Toad on the second floor of Peach's Castle near the Tall, Tall Mountain entrance
  • The Toad on the third floor of Peach's Castle to the right of the entrance to Tick Tock Clock
mario 64 mario wings to the sky walkthrough

Mips Power Stars

Alongside the Toads, players may notice a yellow rabbit hopping around the basement of Peach's Castle. This rabbit's name is Mips, and he is capable of alluding Mario by running away. He will first spawn in the basement after players have at least 15 Power Stars, and catching him will give players another Star.

Mips will appear in the basement again after players have collected at least 50 Power Stars.

Wing Mario Over the Rainbow

Another secret course can be found by the entrance to Tick Tock Clock. While facing the painting of Tick Tock Clock, players need to look to the left, where there will be a hole with a beam of light coming out of it. Jumping into this will lead to the secret course.

In this level, players need to collect eight Red Coins that are located on the various cloud islands around the level. They will have access to a Wing Cap to travel around and collect them.

After getting all eight Red Coins, the Power Star will appear on the cloud players originally started on.

Extra Eight Red Coin Missions

The rest of the Castle Secret Stars can be found in secret 8 Red Coin Missions in certain levels. These include Bowser levels as well as the levels that allowed players to unlock power-ups such as the Wing Cap. They are:

After collecting these, players will have every Castle Secret Star in Super Mario 64.

Super Mario 64 is now available as part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

MORE: Super Mario 64: Can You Get Luigi?

Source: IGN