Granted, it’s unofficial and constructed entirely by a dedicated fan, but it still seems to capture a lot of what made its predecessor such a classic.
Dubbed Super Mario Star Road, the game is a modification of the original Super Mario 64. A “ROMhack” if you prefer. Here’s the official description from creator “Skelux:”
‘Super Mario Star Road’ is a complete Super Mario 64 modification which I have completed after more than a year of work.
Some of the features of this immense fan game are:-Over 120 stars
-More than 30 nicely designed areas
-Nearly 50 catchy tunes
-Many new objects for Mario to interact with
-Well-polished gameplay
-Lots of goomba stomping
-Mario-style humor
Alright, straight up, that was kind of an underwhelming feature list. I was with him for the first two, but then it just devolved into filler and whatever “Mario-style humor” is supposed to be. That said, the trailer released just before Christmas is the real draw here. The video embedded above? Yeah, click on that.
So? Looks like classic Super Mario 64 hijinks, right? And in any case, since Nintendo never actually got around to finishing the SM64 sequel it had in the works, this will have to suffice for those who found Super Mario Sunshine a bit underwhelming.
For those of you interested in playing the game, I’ve got good news, bad news and then even more bad news. On the good side, Super Mario Star Road is available free of charge from various links found in that clip’s YouTube description. On the bad side, since this game is a modification of the original Super Mario 64 ROM, and is played by patching said ROM, you’ll have to own a copy of the game to avoid violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
And then there’s the really bad side: Nintendo absolutely hates stuff like this, and as soon as word spreads to Redmond, the company will likely deploy a squadron of lawyers to drown Skelux in cease and desist orders. This despite the fact that no one seems to be profiting from the modification. Nintendo is just really tenacious when it comes to its intellectual property.
So, if you meet the proper legal obligations and want to play this thing, get a move on. Those links won’t stay live for long.
Source: Nintendo Everything
