Super Mario 64 Trivia Quiz

Answer: A cake

The game begins simply enough with Mario being requested at Princess Toadstool's castle so that he can enjoy a freshly-baked cake. Interestingly, this is the first instance in any "Mario" game to date in which Princess Toadstool signs off by her name 'Peach'.

With that, Mario will emerge from a pipe on the grounds, wasting no time in heading to the castle and very quickly determining that something is amiss. The princess has been captured by Bowser and a new adventure awaits.

Answer: Lakitu

Before Mario can even make it in the front door of the castle he'll wind up stopped by a Lakitu with a camera at the end of his fishing line. Introducing himself as one of the Lakitu Bros., he'll indicate that he's here to record the adventures as they happen, providing you with a cameraman for the duration of the game. On the original N64 controller, the camera could be controlled by the C buttons, repositioning the view in 3D to help accommodate the best vantage points or, in some cases, snapping back behind Mario for an over-the-shoulder option.

Answer: Paintings

Once Mario starts poking his head into the different rooms in Princess Peach's castle he'll find that the building is almost just an expansive art gallery of unique, thematic pieces, and some of those will turn out to be portals to other worlds (known as 'courses' in the game) where he can collect Power Stars to advance further.

There are fifteen Courses in the game, most of which have paintings exclusive to them, and some might not even look like paintings from the surface.

Answer: Eight

Mario can collect several Power Stars in every one of the game's fifteen courses, and one of those will always require that he collect eight Red Coins. The game is particular about its coinage-- yellow coins are worth 1; red are worth 2; blue are worth 5. Generally, the star name (seen at the start of the course) will give insight into how to find the coins, but sometimes they're general, implying they could be found in any old part of the map. Once you have all eight, the Power Star will appear at a pre-determined spot for you to collect.

Answer: 100

Each of the game's fifteen courses also contains numerous coins-- always more than one hundred-- which Mario can collect to replenish his health, but going out of his way to get as many as possible can also prove quite fruitful. As soon as Mario tips the total over one hundred in any given course a Power Star will appear and be obtainable directly over Mario's head. You can, of course, continue to collect more and more for a high score. All coins contribute to the grand total, even Red Coins (which count as 2) and Blue Coins (which count as 5).

Answer: Three

Although Mario comes into the adventure with his standard-issue red hat, he can't collect all of the game's Power Stars without some added help, and that comes in the form of three unique hats-- one in a red box, one in blue, and one in green-- that can give him access to new locations in each course.

The red box gives Mario the Wing Cap, allowing him to fly for a limited time; the blue box has the Vanish Cap, giving Mario the benefits of incorporeality; the green box contains the Metal Cap, giving Mario the heft to survive virtually anything.

Answer: Buzzsaw

Even with a couple of duplicated ecological niches encountered across the game's fifteen courses (and bonus courses), there are diverse locations to which Mario can travel to risk life and limb for Power Stars. The more dangerous hazards come up with higher frequency in the basement of the castle because in places like Hazy Maze Cave, he'll encounter toxic gases; in Lethal Lava Land he'll find pools of hot, hot lava; in Shifting Sand Land he'll find expansive pools of quicksand. Though saws appeared in "Super Mario World", they didn't make a return in "Super Mario 64".

Answer: Rabbit

Originally modelled early in the game's development, MIPS remained in the game after the fact as a small challenge making use of Mario's 3D navigation. You'll first encounter MIPS, a yellow rabbit, in the basement of the castle, and if you can get into position to leap and grab him while he hops around, you can get a star from him. You can find MIPS one more time, later on in the game, in the same area. Both of his Power Stars contribute to a 'Castle's Secret Stars' count that'll round out your 120 star total.

Answer: Bowser in the Sky

Bowser in the Dark World will be the earliest, accessible once you get eight Power Stars and head to the room up the stairs in the main lobby of the castle; Bowser in the Fire Sea is next, accessible once you board Bowser's sub in Dire, Dire Docks; Bowser in the Sky is at the end, near the top of the castle, when you collect seventy Power Stars.

In all three cases you need to make your way through a platforming stage before facing Bowser on his boss platform. After grabbing onto his tail, you need to spin and swing him into bombs three times to finish the encounter.

Answer: Yoshi

Once you have all one hundred twenty Power Stars in your possession, a cannon will open up on the grounds of Peach's Castle and you'll be able to shoot yourself up to the roof of the building. There's not much up there, but you will find Yoshi stationed at this spot, there to give you a congratulations message for achieving the perfectionist's goal of the game. Yoshi will relinquish one hundred lives before parting ways, just as a gift for doing so well.