The purpose of this page is to document all of the known tricks of the game Super Mario 64, one of two launch titles for the N64 system.

Because of the nature of this site, we concentrate on tricks that are most useful in the making of tool-assisted speedruns. Many of these tricks are difficult to reproduce in real time, so a TAS-capable emulator is a must-have.

TODO: There is a lot to do, maybe adding gif's or embedded videos might be a good idea.

See also: Super Mario 64 Tricks / List of BLJ Locations

The BLJ has puzzled many gamers and glitch finders ever since its discovery, and it can be used in various ways. It is a result of a minor oversight by the game's programmers: there is no reasonable cap on Mario's speed when it goes negative. BLJs can only be done while standing next to certain slopes, stairways, and obstacles. Do a long jump facing away from the obstacle but moving backwards towards it. Mario will collide with it, leaving him on the ground and enabling him to backwards long jump again. This causes a speed increase of approximately 45-50% of Mario's currently stored speed each time it is repeated. Once the desired speed is reached, simply stop jumping and Mario will zoom off backwards at incredibly high speed. If you continue BLJing long enough, Mario's speed will eventually reach MAX_INT and then stop increasing.

You can use BLJs to:

While all BLJs work by the same principal, there are many different methods of pulling it off. There are numerous places where a BLJ is possible throughout the game (virtually every level contains at least one), and it is unlikely that all such locations have been discovered.

Possible on very steep slopes that do not cause Mario to slide. Most of the slopes on the roof of the castle are suitable for this kind of BLJ.

This probably the easiest one to do. BLJs are possible on rising elevators because the elevator will catch up to Mario as soon as he leaves the ground, interrupting the first jump and allowing him to jump again. The elevators in Hazy Maze Cave and Bob-omb Battlefield are good places to practice.

These are probably the trickiest locations to find because some of them are invisible or are just plain easy to overlook. Mario doesn't even have to get jammed in order for it to work since in a tight space Mario's speed does not return back to normal before he can BLJ again. One example of this is under either of the Lobby pillars.

The first kind of BLJ to be discovered. A step BLJ involves using tiny ledges, getting Mario trapped inside and BLJing. This makes Mario appear on top of the step. This effect must be prolonged to build up Mario's speed. This can be done facing up a stairway, thus using a multitude of tiny ledges to build up speed, or by facing sideways and by purely using one step or ledge. To achieve this effect, Mario must first be almost parallel with the step, then land on it and slide onto the lower step. It should be noted that some stairs are actually slopes and so BLJs will not be possible. Two classic areas featuring this BLJ opportunity include the stairs leading to the 50 star door and the endless stairs leading to Bowser in the Sky.

This trick is allows Mario to BLJ 30 times per second instead of 15. While BLJing, do the following sequence:

Basically, the start button acts like a frame buffer and adds 1 more BLJ while saving 1 frame. This works on slope, stair, and elevator BLJs but does not work on side or low ceiling BLJs.

Basically, get into close up mario camera and BLJ somewhere. While in the process of running, press C^. This will cause mario to go in the direction his back is facing until he hits a "wall" or runs out of speed. This enables mario to do strange things such as flying up random slopes as long as a "wall" or super steep slope gets in the way. This trick might be useful for improving some stars, and will be a great freerun trick.

Grinding is when Mario repeatedly falls off and continually catches a ledge, which leads to him being able to repeatedly dive along an edge or double jump. This can be both the fastest way for Mario to climb up some slopes, and occasionally be a method of accessing normally inaccessible areas, such as the deserted city area in Wet Dry World while holding Chuckya. In order to do this Mario needs to be at a slight angle, preferably inwards facing the ledge; if he faces too far outwards, he may dive or jump off and not catch the ledge. He needs to land on the surface and be moving towards a seam; this will cause a collision detection where Mario can jump or dive again.

This glitch works in THI and TTM. It requires some minutes to get enough speed, so it is doubt useful. To do this glitch, just get Mario stucked under a slope with wind pushing him up.

Dust frames are present when you don't execute a dive on the first frame possible. It considerably slows down Mario. When doing optimized dives, you shouldn't see any dust; to do so, press "A" or "B" on the first frame possible when hitting the ground; Mario will recover as soon as possible, without leaving dust.

Though now an obsolete trick, MIPS was once necessary in any low% run. MIPS is a rabbit who appears in the basement once Mario collects 15 (and later, 50) stars; usually, Mario grabs him, takes his star, then goes on with the rest of the game. The rabbit was not meant to go anywhere outside the "green" part of the basement: Mario could not open a door and carry MIPS at the same time. However, a glitch was discovered that allowed Mario to merge MIPS with any "normal sized" door. This would put MIPS on both sides of the door, and Mario could jump out and grab him from the "wrong" side. When used with the entry to the part of the basement with the 30 star door, MIPS could actually be taken right up to that place. A second, similar glitch allowed Mario to get through the 30 star door: as Mario walked up to the side of the door using MIPS, letting him go while pressing Z gave Mario a sort of push, which put him on the other side of the door (an alternative, harder, and slower method was to let go of MIPS just before the door, and jump between it and the door, which would also push Mario through). This discovery led to the completion of the game with only 16 stars.

This trick is similar to BLJing, but instead of abusing Mario's unlimited negative speed, it utilizes another oversight by the game's programmers; unlimited forward speed via wall kicks. By wall kicking over and over again on the first frame possible, Mario gains speed. Repeatedly wall kicking for long periods of time can get you enough forward speed to pass through walls, star doors, and even the endless stairs!