Super Mario 64 on N64 - The Complete Walkthrough with the Location of the 15 Courses and All the Secret Stars, Caps and Bowser Worlds

The story begins with Princess Peach's invitation to Mario to come and eat a nice cake. As usual, Mario arrives through a pipe in the castle garden. Before going in, take advantage of being in the garden to read the signs and try out the various possible moves (see the tutorial). As you cross the bridge, Lakitu will explain the basics of the camera. You can then go in, but instead of being greeted by the princess, an ominous voice tells you there's nobody home. No doubt about it, Peach has been captured by Bowser once again. The castle is the link between the game's 15 courses, often hidden behind paintings. Each contains 7 stars (one of which requires finding 100 coins in the course). Here and there you may come across gray stars; these are stars you've already found. There are also 15 bonus stars, 3 of them in the "Bowser worlds", which will let you find a key opening a new part of the castle. You'll also find some in the 3 "cap" levels, which will give you a new ability usable when you find a cap.

Once inside the castle, head left and climb the small staircase, then go through the door on the left. In front of you stands an immense painting of Bob-ombs. Approach this painting and jump into it; you're now in course 1: Bob-omb Battlefield.

If you followed my advice, you shouldn't have taken all 7 stars of the first course; you'll come back once you've found the red cap that lets you fly. However, you should have at least 1 star, so you can climb the grand staircase and go right to the door with a 1 engraved on a star. That 1 means you need at least one star to enter. Since you do, the door opens. While this room may seem empty at first glance, I'll let you consult the secret stars page to find out how to collect 2 new stars there. Once you have those, you can go back down to the bottom of the room and take the door requiring a star to the right of the little wooden door. The beautiful painting in front of you represents course 2: Whomp's Fortress. Jump into it to enter.

After smashing Whomps again and again, you should have enough stars to get the red cap. If you've passed 10 stars, you should see a beam of light entering the castle. Go to the red cap page to learn more. Once you have the cap, you can head all the way to the right of the room and go through the 3-star door to reach the aquarium. On each side of the room you'll notice small square holes; the one on the left contains a life, the one on the right a secret star. Once you've got it, you can enter the painting depicting a shipwreck to access course 3: Jolly Roger Bay.

Leaving the water and going into the cold is probably not a good idea, but it's probably all Bowser could come up with to stop Mario. Don't fall into the trap and take a little nap (well, actually, it's useless, but I only had 2 images to put here). Go back to the hall and take the last star door at the bottom of the room. At the far end, you see a painting of cute snowmen. This is course 4: Cool, Cool Mountain.

Go back to the hall and take a small wooden door. Follow the ghost to the end of the corridor and go through the door to reach the garden. There, find the Boo that "contains" a little merry-go-round and eliminate it with a ground pound to enter course 5: Big Boo's Haunt.

That's it, the first 5 courses are done; to go further there's no choice, you have to face Bowser. This first titanic fight takes place in the first Bowser world (Bowser in the Dark World). To get there, go back to the hall, climb the grand staircase and go left to open the big star door (which requires 8 stars). Mario will get a key.

Take one of the 2 wooden doors in the hall and go down the stairs to open the door with the freshly acquired key. On your right, you can follow an underwater passage to free the blue cap and find an additional secret star. You'll also see a rabbit that will give you a star if you catch it. In these corridors, you should spot a small door. Take it to arrive in a large room with a strange kind of substance. After talking to Toad (who will give you a star), jump into this black slime; there you'll find the switch for the green cap and, above all, course 6: Hazy Maze Cave.

Leave the course 6 room through the door and go straight ahead for a few seconds to spot a beautiful painting of flames on your right. Jump into it without fear to arrive in the course Lethal Lava Land.

On leaving "Lethal Lava Land", go right when your back is to the painting to follow the corridor. If it looks like a dead end, you'll notice as you approach that the wall ripples strangely. Jump through to find yourself in the course Shifting Sand Land.

The next course is behind the star door (30 stars) just after the locked door leading to the basement. You have to cross a big transparent blue "wall" to arrive in Dire, Dire Docks. Once you've got the first star, you can go fight Bowser in "Bowser in the Fire Sea" by entering the small chimney in front of the blue wall, which will have receded. You'll have to beat Bowser to get all the stars of Dire, Dire Docks. Once Bowser is defeated, you'll obtain a new key.

That's it, you have the key to the central door of the hall. Climb the stairs to open it, then take the spiral staircase. The Toad a bit further on the left gives a star, but go right immediately and take the first door with a star without a number on it. In this room there's a large mirror. If you look closely, you can see a painting in the mirror that you can't see on the wall. Jump into the wall as if that painting (with a snowman) were there. You'll pass through the wall and find yourself in Snowman's Land.

Leave the mirror room and head right. The next painting looks like a big water spider. Enter it to arrive in the world "Wet-Dry World". The higher you enter the painting, the more water it will be filled with at the start.

On leaving "Wet-Dry World", go to Mario's right until you spot a small painting of enormous mushrooms near a mountain. Jump into it to find yourself in the world "Tall, Tall Mountain".

After getting all the stars of the mountain, go left and enter the door near the painting of the ship. This course has 2 entrances, an enormous painting on the right and a small one on the left. Depending on where you enter, the course will be gigantic or tiny, hence its name: Tiny-Huge Island.

This floor is done. You can now climb the stairs toward the last 2 courses and a bit of a challenge, since there will be holes everywhere. Course 14 is located right after the star door, in front of you. It is Tick Tock Clock, whose behavior changes depending on the time shown on its clock face when you enter.

Only one course left. In the large clock room, you notice two openings on either side. The one on the left as you face the clock takes you to a small course in the clouds where you can find a star, but beware the fall, which will take you to the castle garden. On the other side is the large course Rainbow Ride, the 15th and last course before the final showdown.

The final fight is approaching! Peach, get the cake ready, here I come! Climb the giant staircase at the back of the room and go through the big star door. Go straight up the endless staircase (which is no longer endless since you have 70 stars) and dive into the hole leading to Bowser in the Sky.

Bowser is defeated and vanishes with a final groan, leaving a star behind. Take it and Mario will fly off on his own toward the end of the game.